Reuters

BANGKOK: Myanmar civil society groups said on Tuesday they are suing the Norwegian telecoms giant Telenor, alleging it shared customer data with the Southeast Asian nation&rsquo;s ruling military that allowed the junta to track, imprison and kill civilians. The firm, which is majority-owned by the Norwegian government, sold its business in Myanmar after the 2021 military coup that unseated an elected government, to avoid European Union sanctions after pressure from the junta to activate intercept surveillance technology. The claimants allege Telenor, which was one of the largest foreign investors in the Southeast Asian nation, handed over data from some of its 18 million customers to comply with requests from the military before selling to a new majority-owner with a history of business ties to the military. Telenor said in a statement to Reuters that it did not see anything in the legal notice that had not already been addressed including in previous police and court investigations in Norway. It said the company found itself in a &quot;terrible and tragic situation&quot; in Myanmar with &quot;no good options&quot; as disobeying orders from the junta would have &quot;been perceived as terrorism and sabotage, and would have put employees in direct danger.&quot; &quot;Like all operators in any country, Telenor Myanmar was legally required to provide traffic data to the authorities,&quot; the company said. Joseph Wilde-Ramsing of the Center for Research on Multinational Corporations (SOMO), a nonprofit organisation working with the civil society groups, said the data handed over included &quot;call logs and location data that could be used to track down the junta&#39;s political opponents and their family members&quot;. In a statement, the groups said they had sent a pre-action letter to Telenor, the first step in bringing a lawsuit, a copy of which was seen by Reuters. They said the sale of Telenor to majority-owner Shwe Byain Phyu in March 2022 effectively granted the military &quot;unfettered access&quot; to customer data. Shwe Byain Phyu did not immediately respond to requests for comment, nor did Myanmar&rsquo;s military government. LAWMAKER EXECUTEDMyanmar has been in crisis since the coup and ensuing military crackdown on protests, which sparked a nationwide armed rebellion. The junta has killed almost 7,000 people and arrested close to 30,000, according to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners, a nonprofit monitoring group. The military denies accusations it has targeted civilians and says it is fighting &quot;terrorists&quot;. The civil society groups bringing the lawsuit, Defend Myanmar Democracy and the Myanmar Internet Project, said several people were arbitrarily detained and tortured in custody after their Telenor data was shared and at least one person was killed. Phoe Zeya Thaw, a popular hip hop artist and lawmaker, was executed alongside three other activists accused of helping carry out &quot;terror acts&quot; in 2022, prompting an international outcry. The lawmaker&rsquo;s wife, Tha Zin, who is among the claimants, said in the statement she was &ldquo;terribly disturbed and shocked&rdquo; by Telenor&rsquo;s link to his arrest, which she said came a few weeks after the firm passed data from his cell phone to the military. The statement did not cite specific evidence but a lawyer at Simonsen Vogt Wiig, the firm representing the groups, said the decision to hand over data went &quot;all the way to the top&quot; of Telenor. Ko Ye, another claimant in the lawsuit, told Reuters many Myanmar people chose to use Telenor&#39;s network because they believed it was the safest option due to its international connections. &quot;Those corporations they have to respect our rights. Our data is part of our rights, they cannot do whatever they want,&quot; he said.

Business

Myanmar civil society groups are suing Norway’s Telenor, alleging it shared customer data with the military, enabling arrests and killings after the 2021 coup. Telenor denies wrongdoing, citing legal obligations and threats to employee safety.

Myanmar groups to sue Telenor over data sharing with junta

<span style="font-size: 18px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: 700; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">BANGKOK: A bipartisan group of US lawmakers pushed for more military-to-military dialogue in a meeting Sunday with China&#39;s Premier Li Qiang, a rare congressional visit since the US-China relations soured. <span style="font-size: 18px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The last trip by a group of senators was in 2023, and Sunday&#39;s delegation was the first from the House of Representatives to visit Beijing since 2019. <span style="font-size: 18px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Li welcomed the delegates led by Rep. Adam Smith called it an &ldquo;icebreaking trip that will further the ties between the two countries.&rdquo; <span style="font-size: 18px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">&ldquo;It is important for our two countries to have more exchanges and cooperation, this is not only good for our two countries but also of great significance to the world,&rdquo; Li said. <span style="font-size: 18px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Smith, a Democrat on the House Armed Services Committee, said both sides were in agreement on the overarching aim of the visit. <span style="font-size: 18px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">&quot;Certainly, trade and economy is on the top of the list ... (but also) we&rsquo;re very focused on our military-to-military conversations,&rdquo; he said in opening remarks. &ldquo;As a member of the Armed Services Committee, I&rsquo;m deeply concerned that our two militaries don&rsquo;t communicate more.&rdquo; <span style="font-size: 18px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The delegation also included Michael Baumgartner, a Republican member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, as well as Ro Khanna and Chrissy Houlahan, both Democrats on the House Armed Services Committee. The lawmakers are in China until Thursday. <span style="font-size: 18px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">US-China relations have taken a downturn since President Donald Trump&#39;s first term and have been hobbled by trade tensions, the status of the self-ruled island of Taiwan, which China claims as its own territory, Beijing&#39;s support for Russia and China&#39;s vast claims in the disputed South China Sea. <span style="font-size: 18px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">&ldquo;China and the US are the two most powerful and influential countries in the world, it&rsquo;s really important that we get along, and we find a way to peacefully coexist in the world,&quot; Smith said. &quot;I really welcome your remarks about wanting to build and strengthen that relationship.&rdquo; <span style="font-size: 18px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Trump said he would meet Chinese leader Xi Jinping at a regional summit taking place at the end of October in South Korea and will visit China in the &ldquo;early part of next year,&rdquo; following a lengthy phone call between the two on Friday.

China's Premier Li Qiang at the  46th Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Summit 

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China

A bipartisan group of U.S. lawmakers pushed for more military-to-military dialogue in a meeting Sunday with China's Premier Li Qiang.

Articles tagged with "Military"

Myanmar groups to sue Telenor over data sharing with junta

US lawmakers call for military dialogue in rare China visit