Wednesday, June 11, 2014

The Irrawaddy Magazine

The Irrawaddy Magazine

Build Trust to End the Kachin War

Posted: 11 Jun 2014 05:13 AM PDT

The war in Kachin State, northern Burma, is about as old as the country's reform process. On June 9, 2011, a mere three months after President Thein Sein assumed office, a 17-year-old ceasefire broke down and fighting erupted between the Burma Army and the Kachin Independence Army, the military wing of the Kachin Independence Organization (KIO).

The war has since driven more than 100,000 ethnic civilians—mostly Kachin, but also Shan and Palaung—from their homes and they continue to languish in camps on both sides of the frontline. This week, the war entered its fourth year and there are no shows signs that the conflict will end soon.

Burma's government and the KIO have held a number of meetings over since March 2013 in order to end the fighting and reach a ceasefire, but an agreement has proven elusive and clashes continue. In April, fighting escalated again on the border of Kachin and Shan states and some 2,700 civilians were newly displaced. Some reports have put the total number of clashes and skirmishes in the last three years at about 2,500.

It's not easy to end conflict between the government and the various ethnic armed groups, but in Kachin it seems more difficult than elsewhere. The KIO and its ally the Ta'ang National Liberation Front are the only two major armed groups that have not yet signed a ceasefire with Thein Sein's government.

"It is like solving the chicken and the egg problem," Khon Ja, a well-known Kachin peace activist said of ending the conflict.

Yet, Khon Jha believes the Burma Army and the flawed, military-drafted Constitution are largely to blame. "Looking from one side, it is the Constitution which is problem. According to the Constitution, only one person can make war and end war. Because the commander-in-chief is standing at the top of the hierarchy, according to the Constitution, he alone is accountable in this matter. If the Constitution would provide checks on the commander-in-chief, the war would have been over by now."

The main concern for every single ethnic armed group is to get equal rights and self-determination for their people, as agreed upon in the Panglong Agreement signed in 1947. But Burma's Constitution puts great political power in the hands of the military and gives the government and army control over ethnic regions.

Critics like Khon Ja openly question whether the president can even control the military. Thein Sein has said numerous times that there will be a nationwide ceasefire soon, but he has never publicly disagreed with the army over its operations in Kachin.

What is certain is that distrust between the government and ethnic groups is the one of the biggest obstacles to peace, and the recent escalation fighting in Kachin has only deepened this distrust.

Both sides in the Kachin conflict must immediately take steps to build up trust and ceasefire negotiations must resume in earnest. The Kachin people who have suffered more than anyone else during this conflict deserve to go home after three years of war.

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Permanent Residency System for Foreigners by October: Minister

Posted: 11 Jun 2014 04:22 AM PDT

Foreign Relations

Minister of Immigration Khin Yi gives a press conference at the Rangoon Division Parliament building in May. (Photo: May Kha / The Irrawaddy)

NAYPYIDAW — A permanent residency (PR) system for foreign nationals will be implemented by October of this year, Burma's immigration chief said last week.

"We will allow a PR system in four months, not later than October. The duration of permitted stay will start with a five-year term," Minister of Immigration and Population Khin Yi told The Irrawaddy, adding that foreigners would be able to extend residency upon expiration of their five-year stay in the country.

The Ministry of Immigration and Population will invite foreigners and evaluate their applications based on a prioritization of the country's needs, Khin Yi said.

The system will take a four-tiered approach in weighing candidates, with the forthcoming framework for permanent residency based in part on a study of the systems in place in other Asean member states and Europe.

"We will invite intellectuals and technicians, which the country needs. Secondly, [we] will invite investors. Third, former Burmese citizens. Finally, we will also accept Burmese citizens and his or her extended family who have studied abroad or went abroad for various other reasons," Khin Yi said.

"Those who apply cannot enlist as civil servants or found a [political] party," the minister said, adding that additional details would be released when the system is implemented, as some issues were still being discussed.

Khin Yi said that the law, which a team of 11 ministers is working to finalize, had already been "accepted" by President Thein Sein and Parliament.

"This is a new process for Burma, so it takes time," he said. "We also have to harmonize this with existing laws, as foreigners will be staying here long-term. We will also allow [foreigners] to buy housing, so we also have to harmonize this with the condominium law. They might bring their children along, so we also need to harmonize it with laws on education and health care, plus the taxation law."

A former Burmese national who now holds a US passport told The Irrawaddy that implementation of a permanent residency program would need to come with a simple and unambiguous framework, adding that some former Burmese were waiting for the roll out of such a system before returning to Burma.

Burma does not allow dual citizenship, under the country's 1982 Citizenship Law.

A Ministry of Immigration and Population official estimated that about 8,000 foreign nationals are currently in Burma on long-term visas.

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Burmese Govt Blacklists Former Activist, Journal Chief

Posted: 11 Jun 2014 04:17 AM PDT

blacklist

A letter, signed by the assistant direct of the Ministry of Immigration and Population, instructing airlines not to allow activist Moe Thee Zun, journal chief executive Moe Hein, and Moe Hein's wife and son, back into Burma. (Photo: Moe Thee Zun / Facebook)

RANGOON— Burma's Ministry of Immigration and Population has blacklisted a former activist leader as well as the chief of a popular Burmese-language weekly journal, informing airlines not to allow either man into the country under any circumstance.

Moe Thee Zun, a former leader of the 88 Generation Students Group, and Moe Hein (aka Washington Roosevelt), chief executive of The Sun Rays journal, have been blocked from returning to Burma, according to Maung Maung Than, director-general of the Department of Immigration and National Registration.

Both men are based in the United States and hold American citizenship, but were trying to move back to Burma under President Thein Sein's quasi-civilian government. Moe Hein's wife and son, also American citizens, have been blacklisted as well.

Airlines were informed on June 4 not to allow the four blacklisted people back into the country. The orders came from a government ministry department, said Maung Maung Than, who declined to specify the department.

"We informed airlines not to allow them to fly here. If they come, we will deport them—it will just be a waste of time and money," the director-general said.

"I don't know why they are not allowed to come back here," he added.

Moe Thee Zun was a prominent student activist during the 1988 pro-democracy uprising, after which he fled to Thailand and the United States. He returned to his homeland in 2012 with plans to stay permanently, but eight months later he was told he would need to leave again to renew his visa.

One official with the government-affiliated Myanmar Peace Center (MPC), Hla Maung Shwe, reportedly encouraged him not to return. "He said activities to amend the Constitution were increasing, and that the peace process was running into problems, so he thought my staying here might be harmful for those things," the activist told The Irrawaddy.

He applied for another visa in Bangkok, with a sponsorship letter from his mother, but the embassy told him he would need to try again in Washington. His application was also rejected by the embassy in the United States.

Moe Hein founded The Sun Rays when his previous journal, Sunlight, stopped publishing after its offices were allegedly raided last year by a group backed by the grandson of Burma's former dictator Snr-Gen Than Shwe and the son of Commerce Minister Win Myint.

The Sun Rays ran into trouble soon afterward with the Ministry of Information, which accused it of publishing "unethical" writing and "hate speech." The journal published scathing stories attacking members of the former military regime and so-called "crony" businessmen that benefitted from links with the junta. In November, the powerful Burmese tycoon Tay Za said he would sue after it ran a front-page story with his photo under the headline, "Cronies should jump into the Andaman Sea."

The chief executive was planning to move back to Burma with his family, after being based in the United States.

"Moe Hein's little son is only five years old now, and he is also the blacklist. It shouldn't be—he was about to start school in Burma. U Khin Yi [the immigration minister] is responsible," said Moe Thee Zun.

Myanmar Airways International, the country's international flag carrier, confirmed that it had received instructions not to allow the four Burmese to enter the country. "We have already passed along the announcement to our stations in Bangkok and others," said airline spokesman Aye Mra Tha.

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Mon State Faces Shortage of Teachers for Mother-Tongue Education

Posted: 11 Jun 2014 04:04 AM PDT

Mon language

Mon students attend a Mon-language school in Karen State administrated by the New Mon State Party, an ethnic armed group. (Photo: Kaowao Newsgroup)

Mon language
RANGOON — After passing a bill to allow the Mon language to be taught in government schools, the Mon State government is facing a shortage of teachers capable of doing the job, regional lawmakers said.

The state legislature agreed a plan in April for the state to be the first of Burma's ethnic regions to formalize the teaching of a mother-tongue other than Burmese, which was the only language allowed in state schools for more than 50 years.

The government in the state in southern Burma invited ethnic Mon university graduates to apply for teaching jobs and the language is meant to be being taught in addition to Burmese during the current school year, which began early this month.

However, according to Nai San Tin, a member of the state's Parliament, not enough applicants came forward, leading to a shortage of Mon-language teachers.

"Our government is discussing with the state education department about what to do about this," he told The Irrawaddy, adding that a central working committee was formed last week in the state capital, Moulmein, in an attempt to hire more Mon-speaking educators across the state.

"Our committee will land on the ground and help the people. We don't know how many school teachers are needed so that we have enough."

The state government will provide salaries of just 30,000 kyat per month (just over US$30) for teachers, who must be able to read and write the Mon language.

Community leaders have said the salary is too low to attract teachers. It compares to the monthly wage of 100,000 kyat for regular teachers at government schools.

Nai San Tin said the central committee may seek donations from local communities to bolster the salaries of Mon teachers.

He emphasized that the school year just getting under way was the first in generations when Mon teaching was part of regular schooling in the state, and therefore some difficulties were to be expected.

"If the central government provides for an education project, those school teachers may get a higher salary. Our state government can only provide this amount at the moment," he added.

Aung Naing Oo, another Mon State lawmaker, said that in his constituency of Chaungzon Township sufficient teachers had been found, since ethnic Mon Buddhist monks had volunteered to help teach the language.

Some teachers were already teaching the Mon language during school holidays and they were also recruited for Mon teaching in government schools, he said.

"We have 36 schools in our township. We appointed 78 school teachers. We give priority first those who already worked in the community, and the second priority is for those who have graduated from university," said Aung Naing Oo.

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Second Human Rights Film Festival to Kick Off Sunday

Posted: 11 Jun 2014 03:08 AM PDT

film festival

Programs for the international "Human Rights, Human Dignity" film festival that runs from June 15-19 in Rangoon. (Photo: JPaing / The Irrawaddy)

RANGOON — For the second year, an international film festival focused on human rights is set to kick off at two cinemas in Rangoon on Sunday.

The "Human Rights, Human Dignity" festival, which runs through June 19, is organized by award-winning filmmaker Min Htin Ko Ko Gyi with support from opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi and renowned activist Min Ko Naing. It will feature 67 documentaries, shorts and animations, with free admission at Waziyar Cinema and Junction Cineplex.

Dozens of international documentaries are on the lineup—ranging from "Ai Wei Wei: The Fake Case," about the famous Chinese dissident artist; to "Jalanan," about street musicians in Indonesia; and "The Missing Picture," an Oscar-nominated documentary about life under Cambodia's Khmer Rouge. Local documentaries cover topics including the struggles of gay men in Burma, the story of a women's shelter near the headquarters of an armed group in Kachin State, and the impact of an anti-protest law known as Article 18.

Min Htin Ko Ko Gyi said this year's festival would include a new award category for filmmakers in member states of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean).

"Last year there were only two categories—for national and international. This year we added one more, for Asean, because Burma became the chair of Asean and we wanted to highlight that," he told The Irrawaddy.

As with last year's festival, awards will be granted to the best documentary, the best short and the best animation. Three new awards have been added in memory of former Czech President Václav Havel, who was a strong supporter of the Burmese democracy movement; Burmese activist and journalist Win Tin, who passed away in April; and Canadian documentary filmmaker Peter Wintonick, who served as a judge in last year's festival before passing away in November.

After the award ceremony, the film festival will hit the road to offer free screenings at smaller cities across the country. "We are cooperating with student unions to screen films at different universities," Min Htin Ko Ko Gyi said.

The Burmese filmmaker is currently busy producing his own documentary about the life of Suu Kyi, though the process is taking longer than expected.

"You know, she is very busy so we are still waiting to get more interviews with her," he said.

He is also reaching out to Hollywood for assistance on a biopic about Suu Kyi's father, Burmese independence hero Gen. Aung San.

"Last year in November we finished our script, and we could have just filmed to local standards of quality, but we want to make an international-quality film so we are looking for an international producer," he said.

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Burmese Trafficking Gang Busted in Thailand

Posted: 11 Jun 2014 02:48 AM PDT

Migrant workers from Burma work on a fishing boat at the port of Mahachai, near Bangkok, on Sept. 24, 2011. (Photo: Reuters / Soe Zeya Tun)

CHIANG MAI, Thailand — Five Burmese nationals who allegedly trafficked their countrymen into neighboring Thailand were arrested in a joint operation by Thai authorities and Burmese advocacy groups last week, according to a member of the team that made the bust.

A force consisting of the Thai police's Anti-Human Trafficking Division, the Myanmar Association in Thailand (MAT) and the Foundation for Education and Development (FED) made the arrests on Friday after a Burmese worker who managed to escape from the captivity of traffickers reported his case to MAT.

"All the gangsters are Burmese citizens who have been living for a long time in Thailand and they are now detained at a police station. Thai authorities will take action against them in accordance with the law," MAT director Kyaw Thaung, who took part in the arrest, told The Irrawaddy.

"The human brokers Ko Kyaw, Ko Aung Naing and Ko Khin, and gang leaders U Thein Oo and Daw Chan, were arrested separately in Bangkok, Mahachai and at fishing ports in southern Thailand. They all are in custody at AHTD [the Thai Anti-Human Trafficking Division] station and will be put on trial on June 10."

In an interview with MAT, Ko Paing—the trafficking victim turned escapee—said he had been sold to a fishing boat at a price of 10,000 baht ($US308) by the brokers after being promised that he would be paid 15,000 baht per month working at a bakery.

Traffickers are known to exploit Burmese nationals seeking work abroad, with the latter often lured by promises of jobs and income that they would not otherwise be able to find in their home country. Thailand is a major destination, with laborers trafficked through border passages like Myawaddy, Tachileik, Kaw Thaung and Htee Khee.

"Seizure of this trafficking gang does not mean human trafficking has been stopped," the FED's Min Oo, who also took part in the bust, told The Irrawaddy. "There are a lot of gangs like it and human trafficking is a big industry here."

The same day of the bust, four Burmese migrant workers sold to a coastal fishing vessel were rescued by a joint force from Thailand's Department of Special Investigation (DSI) and the FED, an advocacy organization for Burmese migrants based in southern Thailand. A broker accused of selling Burmese workers to boats was also arrested, according to Min Oo.

Min Oo said the risks associated with apprehending potentially dangerous traffickers, along with the need to work with Thai officials, presented formidable challenges to anti-trafficking efforts.

Kyaw Thaung added that the Burmese government's indifference to the plight of migrant workers was another issue.

"The Burmese Embassy does not even pick up the phone," he said.

Like the FED, the Bangkok-based MAT is an organization that provides assistance to Burmese migrant workers. In collaboration with the Royal Thai Police Force, the association has saved some 90 trafficked Burmese workers from early 2014 to June 6. It has also helped to nab eight Burmese human traffickers, according to MAT records.

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Burma’s Buddhist Council, Police Raid Monastery in Land Dispute.

Posted: 11 Jun 2014 12:02 AM PDT

A gate at Rangoon's Kaba Aye Pagoda, to where monks evicted from the Maha Thanti Thukha monastery have been taken. (Photo: JPaing / The Irrawaddy)

RANGOON — Police and Burma's state-backed monastic council sealed off a Buddhist monastery in Rangoon's Tamwe Township at about midnight on Tuesday, evicting monks who reside at the site.

The ownership of the Maha Thanti Thukha monastery has been in dispute since earlier this year, with both the abbot, U Pyinya Wuntha—also known as Penang Sayadaw—and the council, the State Sangha Maha Naya, both claiming to be the rightful owner. The monastery was reportedly donated to the abbot by Burma's former military junta.

From about 9 pm Tuesday, about 300 police besieged the monastery and monks from the council read an eviction order to the monks inside, said acting abbot U Ottara, adding that property was also confiscated from the site.

U Pyinya Wuntha is currently on visiting Japan, but the Sangha ordered the monastery sealed off purportedly so that the dispute to be solved in accordance with the law, U Ottara told The Irrawaddy.

The monastery's monks, whose number is not known, were taken away on buses to Kaba Aye Pagoda.

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Hilton Plans to Open Five More Hotels in Burma

Posted: 10 Jun 2014 11:55 PM PDT

Hilton

The Hilton hotels group plans to open five hotels in Burma in the next three years. (Photo: Reuters)

SINGAPORE — Hilton Worldwide Holdings Inc., the world's largest hotel operator by market value, said it plans to open five more hotels in Burma in the next three years, even as its maiden project in the country is facing delays.

Hilton has signed management agreements with Eden Group Company Limited, a business conglomerate in Burma, for the hotels.

Two, which are existing properties, will be rebranded and open as Hilton hotels in October 2014. The other three are slated to open in 2016 and 2017, it said in a statement.

A surge in the number of tourists in recent years has sparked a boom in hotel development in Burma, where only six five-star hotels were in operation at the end of 2013. Hotel and service apartment operators including Hilton, Accor Group, Shangri-la Group and Pan Pacific Hotels Group, are racing to open new hotels in the country.

Hilton's first project in Burma, originally scheduled to open this year, is now expected to open in late 2015 or early 2016, said Martin Rinck, president of Hilton, Asia Pacific.

"Working in an environment such as Myanmar where sometimes not everything goes like Swiss clockwork, the project is coming later than expected," Rinck said, adding the delay is not deterring Hilton from further expansion in the country.

"Hilton really is a company that likes to be on the forefront, to be the first when it comes to entering emerging markets."

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Burmese Air Force Fighter Jet Crashes: Eyewitness

Posted: 10 Jun 2014 11:50 PM PDT

fighter jet

Burmese Air Force fighter jets fly over 2013 Armed Forces Day celebrations in Naypyidaw. (Photo: JPaing / The Irrawaddy)

MANDALAY—A Burmese Air Force fighter jet appeared to crash in central Burma's in Magwe Division on Wednesday morning, according to an eyewitness.

The accident happened around 8:30 am at Yaung Mae Nga village tract, in central Burma's vast plains and about 40 miles east of the divisional capital, Magwe, where an Air Force base is situated.

Local man Myint Win told The Irrawaddy that he heard a loud bang in the sky and saw two pilots eject from the flaming jet and parachute to safety.

Access to the crash-site was immediately blocked, the witness said. Burmese Air Force officials could not be reached for comment.

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Sushi Success Story

Posted: 10 Jun 2014 05:00 PM PDT

Sushi

Hissho Sushi CEO Philip Maung. (Photo courtesy of Philip Maung)

In 1989, Philip Maung arrived in the United States from Myanmar with just $13 in his pocket and a dream of making a new life. Today, he is the CEO of Hissho Sushi, a leading company in the US supermarket sushi industry. After spending years learning every facet of the sushi business, he and his wife took the plunge in 1998, pooling their finances to found the business in their family dining room. The Irrawaddy's Kyaw Hsu Mon spoke with him recently about his company's history and where he plans to take it from here.

Question: What did you do in Myanmar before you left for the United States?

Answer: I was a student and helping out with my parents' business.

Q: Where and when did you start your sushi business? And what is the meaning of the name?

A: We started out in Charlotte, North Carolina, in April 1998. "Hissho" is a Japanese word that means "certain victory."

Q: What did you study in Myanmar?

A: I went to medical school first and later somehow ended up as a chemistry major. However, I dropped out of chemistry in my final year. I guess it wasn't my destiny to become a doctor. I've always wanted to help people, and now I can help many by providing jobs. Most of my employees and franchise owners are Burmese.

Q: How many sushi shops do you have now, and how many people do they employ?

A: Hissho currently has over 500 locations in 34 states. Since we are a franchise company, not everyone [who works for Hissho] is our employee. But of those that are, the total is approximately 500.

Q: What is the hardest part of this business? And why did you decide to start a sushi company?

A: Starting a business is always difficult if you're trying to do it without sufficient capital. I could not get any bank loans because I had no collateral, and no track record. Maintaining cash flow is always a challenge, but at least I can say now that the banks come to me. I opened up Hissho because I learned how the business operated and truly believed I could do it better.

Q: How much did you have to start off with?

A: Hissho was started on a shoestring with money borrowed from credit cards, my meager savings, and loans from my family. I started with virtually nothing, and we'll make more than US$60 million in revenue this year.

Q: How has sushi culture developed in the US?

A: The sushi culture continues to grow with innovative and delicious "Westernized" creations and we are constantly doing research and development to find new ideas. The public is becoming more familiar with it and the young children are our target market. They love the colors, the textures, and healthy products. The kids are the ones that often drag their parents to buy sushi for them, and in turn learning more about it themselves. But educating the public is an ongoing process as many still think sushi is raw fish.

Q: Who are your biggest customers?

A: We have recently started opening businesses on college and university campuses and have enjoyed tremendous success, and have plans to open even more.

Q: Who are your major competitors?

A: We have many competitors, some large, some small, but since we believe in consistency of product and service, and are always striving to improve, and believe that every single customer should be a friend for life, we continue to grow at a steady pace. We are interested in quality, not quantity.

Q: How do you maintain the quality of your sushi?

A: We continue to use the very best ingredients available on the market with emphasis on sustainability. We train our chefs at our headquarters in Charlotte, and maintain very high standards of customer service, innovative sushi rolls, hot bars, new concepts, and always put the customer first.

Q: Please tell me about your meeting with US President Obama.

A: I was invited by First Lady Michelle Obama to visit the White House, and to attend the President's Address to Congress. President Obama was touting the success of small businesses and how it was these entities that were helping America get back on its feet after the recession of 2008.

The impact of my being there, and even being seated on the first row of the Gallery next to the First Lady, resound even to this day. The effect was immediate in that I was interviewed by all the major media concerns in the US, and from the media all over Asia.

The attention was something I'd never experienced before, and is humbling for me. Growing up poor in Burma does not prepare anyone to one day be in the presence of the President and First Lady of the United States.

Q: Do you have plans to expand your business to Myanmar?

A: There are no plans to do so at this time, but hopefully, one day, this will become a reality.

Q: What do you think are the main challenges facing foreign businesspeople interested in investing in Myanmar?

A: The infrastructure is the biggest obstacle, and lack of skilled workers is a big challenge. Logistics would also be a challenge that ties into infrastructure.

Q: Have you ever thought about what your life might have been like if you hadn't left Myanmar?

A: Of course I've thought about this, but I didn't dwell on it because of my entrepreneurial spirit. I can't imagine how I would've ended up if I hadn't come to the US. Maybe I would be selling something on the street, or in Yuzana Plaza, or opening fashion shops.

This interview first appeared in the June 2014 issue of The Irrawaddy magazine.

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Bottlenecks on the Road to the AEC

Posted: 10 Jun 2014 05:30 PM PDT

Slow going: Cambodian vendors transport goods using motorcycles at the Cambodia-Vietnam border at Bavet in Svay Rieng Province. (Photo: Reuters)

BANGKOK — An over 620-mile journey that begins in Thailand, cuts through Cambodia and ends in Ho Chi Minh City has become, for obvious reasons, the route of choice for Thai truckers shipping cargo to that city in southern Vietnam. But despite the ostensible convenience of this overland run, Thai transport companies are not tooting their praises for improvements in road conditions in neighboring countries; nor are they expressing much enthusiasm for the prospect of increased regional connectivity and cross-border trade.

The border crossing in Aranyaprathet, on the Thai side, and Poipet, on the Cambodian side, offers reasons for such restraint. Time-consuming customs procedures and quotas limiting the number of Thai trucks from entering Cambodia slow the flow of cross-border traffic to a crawl. Under a quota system, only 40 Thai trucks are permitted to cross into Cambodia daily—30 of which are passenger trucks.

Negotiations between the Thai and Cambodian governments are ongoing, and the two sides aim to surmount this barrier by the end of this year. Thailand wants the quota to be eased to permit 500 cargo trucks to cross into Cambodia daily, according to the Thai National Shippers Council (TNSC). That would end the current practice: the majority of trucks unloading their cargo at the border, only to be reloaded into Cambodian-owned trucks for the rest of the journey.

Traffic Jams at Border Points

Across mainland Southeast Asia, such impediments to cross-border trade abound. Traffic jams are the norm wherever cargo trucks hit the international borders separating Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam. Only now, as the governments of the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) hail the imminent birth of the Asean Economic Community (AEC) by the end of 2015, are efforts to address this issue gaining real momentum. Under the AEC 2015 Connectivity Plan, easing pressures at border checkpoints is seen as key to achieving regional economic integration.

To help smooth the way, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) has stepped in to promote Cross Border Transportation Agreements (CBTA), including one between Bangkok and Phnom Penh focusing on the Aranyaprathet-Poipet crossing. The agreement between Thailand, Laos and Vietnam permits each country a quota of 400 cargo trucks to cross the borders annually. Consequently, more Thai trucks are heading down this route, taking two days to deliver cargo to Da Nang. Before, ships were regularly used to ferry the Thai cargo to the port city on Vietnam's central coast, often taking 15 days.

But there is still a distance to travel to convert such agreements into reality.

"Two main issues continue to hamper the full benefits [of improved roads]," said Jayant Menon, lead economist in the ADB's office of regional and economic integration. "The first involves bottlenecks in the full implementations of the CBTA. The second involves missing infrastructure links, which have reduced the effectiveness of completed projects."

Such shortcomings have not been ignored by the World Bank's latest "Logistics Performance Index," an assessment that exposes the potholes in Asean's logistics terrain in 2014. Only Singapore, ranked fifth, made it to the top 10 of 160 countries surveyed by the bank for customs clearance, infrastructure, international shipments, logistics competence, tracking and tracing products and timeliness. Its closest regional contender was Malaysia, 25th, followed by Thailand, 35th, Vietnam, 48th, and Cambodia, 83rd. Laos, ranked 131st, and Myanmar, at 145th, were among the worst in the index.

"[The] challenges for Asean include narrowing the gaps in trade facilitation and logistics performance across Asean members, [and] reducing excessive and time-consuming documentation requirements," Mr. Menon told The Irrawaddy. "[Asean members have to] address irregular and arbitrary payments for expediting customs procedures."

Thai transport companies admit to discrepancies in bilateral agreements for hauling cargo over borders. Even though Thailand has a memorandum of understanding with Myanmar and Cambodia, "it is not practiced in fact," said NoppornThepsithar, chairman of the TNSC, in an interview. "It will take a period of time to adjust to collaborate with neighboring countries."

And Thailand looms as the ideal terrain to gauge progress on this logistics front. None of its mainland neighbors match it for its network of roads—including the 12 Asean highways that crisscross it. That has boosted its cross-border trade with its neighbors (including Malaysia), which hit one trillion baht (US$30 billion) in 2013, up from 770 billion baht (US$21.64 billion) in 2010, according to the Thai Chamber of Commerce University.

The main Thai exports to its four neighbors are natural rubber, computer parts, rubber products and auto parts, while its imports are natural gas, electrical machines and parts, and copper products. These are part of the export volume of 10,800 tons and imported volume of 12,700 tons annually that are transported through the 25 cross-border trade points spread across the 3,468-km border Thailand shares with its neighbors.

No wonder AEC's connectivity blueprint has been hailed by its supporters as a future windfall for the logistics sector. And some of its benchmarks could spur progress at the borders.
"The lead-up to 2015 is thus important because it creates peer pressure for individual member implementation," said PavidaPananond, associate professor of international business at Bangkok's Thammasat University.

"But overall, AEC will be lucky if it can follow the Asean average of implementing around 30 percent of what it agrees on paper."

This story first appeared in the June 2014 issue of The Irrawaddy magazine.

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China Seeks to Counter Vietnam’s ‘Slander’ on South China Sea

Posted: 10 Jun 2014 10:30 PM PDT

Anti-Vietnam protesters hold posters during a protest defending China's territory claims and condemning Vietnam's anti-Chinese protests, in Hong Kong on May 19, 2014. (Photo: Reuters / Tyrone Siu)

BEIJING — China said on Tuesday that it wanted to counter Vietnam's "slander" to the world about what was happening in disputed areas of the South China Sea, after Beijing asked the United Nations to circulate documents outlining its position.

A senior US diplomat called on China to provide evidence to back up its claim to 90 percent of the sea, believed to be rich in energy and minerals.

And the Philippines, embroiled in disputes with China over its claims to parts of the sea, defended a weekend get together on the disputed Spratly Islands of Philippine and Vietnamese servicemen and said another gathering would be staged next year.

Tensions have been running particularly high between China and Vietnam, focusing on China's positioning of an oil rig near another disputed archipelago, the Paracel Islands, which has led to rammings at sea and anti-Chinese violence in Vietnam.

China and Vietnam have traded accusations about the behavior of their ships, including the use of water cannon and intentional rammings.

Chinese state news agency Xinhua said that Wang Min, China's deputy permanent representative to the United Nations, had asked UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon in a letter to circulate documents outlining China's position to all UN member states.

China, he said, sought to "tell the international community the truth and set straight their understanding on the issue."

Asked about the move, foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said Vietnam had been stepping up its harassment at sea and trying to vilify China on the international stage.

"On the one hand, they have been increasing their damaging and harassing activities on the scene, while internationally everyone has seen they have been unbridled in starting rumors and spreading slander, unreasonably criticizing China," she told a daily news briefing.

China, she said, had to explain the "real situation" to be clear "about Vietnam's real aim in wantonly hyping things up."

A policy document released at the weekend accused Vietnam of ramming its ships more than 1,000 times in the oil rig dispute, though it said Beijing wanted good relations with its neighbor.

The spat is the most serious deterioration of relations between the Communist states and traditional rivals since a brief war in 1979 following Vietnam's invasion of Cambodia.

The US Assistant Secretary of State for East Asia and the Pacific, Daniel Russel, urged China to seize the "significant opportunity" of a call from an international court last week for evidence to back up its claims.

"This … opens the door to the removal of some ambiguity regarding China's claim that has helped fuel tension and uncertainty in the region," Russel said in a telephone briefing with reporters in Hong Kong.

Russel said he had raised the issue with regional officials at a meeting in Burma of the 10-nation Association of South East Asian Nations (Asean).

A judges' panel at the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague said last week that it was giving China six months to respond to a case filed by the Philippines in March. China's Foreign Ministry last week restated its refusal to participate.

China rejects any international solution to the territorial disputes and calls for individual talks with claimant countries.

The Philippines, Malaysia and Brunei each claim some of the Spratlys, while China, Taiwan and Vietnam claim the whole chain.

Servicemen from the Philippines and Vietnam staged a get-together last weekend on a Vietnamese-administered part of the archipelago, playing football and volleyball and drinking beer. China denounced the gathering as a "clumsy farce."

A Philippine navy spokesman told reporters Manila would host a get-together next year on a Philippine-run island, with all claimant countries invited.

"If the end is to maintain good relations and amity with a neighburing nation and sports is one of the means to attain it, then the navy will have to pursue it," Col. Edgard Arevalo said.

"The least of our intentions is to pick quarrels with anyone. Definitely, it's not meant to pick on China."

Additional reporting by Rosemarie Francisco in Manila and Greg Torode in Hong Kong.

The post China Seeks to Counter Vietnam's 'Slander' on South China Sea appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine.

Laos Extradites Suspects to China in Drug Case

Posted: 10 Jun 2014 10:24 PM PDT

methamphetamine

Bags of methamphetamine pills seized by Thai authorities are displayed in Ayutthaya province, nearly 80 km (50 miles) north of Bangkok, in June 2013. (Photo: Reuters)

BEIJING — Lao police are sending five suspected members of a drug ring to China in an exchange highlighting growing law enforcement cooperation between the neighbors.

Three suspects were transported to the southwestern Chinese city of Kunming on Tuesday and two more were being moved Wednesday, China's Public Security Ministry said.

Police wouldn't say what nationality the suspects were. They were caught in Laos on March 19, 2013, along with more than half a ton of methamphetamine produced in the lawless "Golden Triangle" region encompassing parts of Laos, Burma and Thailand.

China stepped-up law enforcement cooperation with its southern neighbors in the wake of the killing of 13 Chinese crew members in an attack on their ships on the upper reaches of the Mekong River in October 2011.

In that case, six suspects were extradited to China from Laos and Burma, four of whom were executed in March 2013. After temporarily suspending shipping on the river, China signed an agreement with Thailand, Burma and Laos to conduct joint patrols on the river, which originates in the mountains of western China before flowing through the Golden Triangle and out to the South China Sea.

The post Laos Extradites Suspects to China in Drug Case appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine.

Clock Ticks as Japan PM Pushes to Loosen Constraints on Military

Posted: 10 Jun 2014 10:15 PM PDT

Japan military constitution

Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, second left, and Defense Minister Itsunori Onodera, third left, review an honor guard at the Defense Ministry in Tokyo Jan. 20, 2013. (Photo: Reuters)

TOKYO — Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's campaign to ease constitutional curbs that have kept the military out of overseas conflicts for nearly 70 years is going down to the wire.

With less than two weeks before a self-imposed deadline, a gulf yawns between the hawkish leader and his dovish coalition partner on changes that would allow Japan's military to go to the aid of a friendly nation under attack.

The stalemate has sparked speculation that Abe might call a snap poll to seek a mandate to lift the ban on so-called collective self-defense, though skeptics say an election would distract from efforts to revive the economy, a top priority since Abe took office in December 2012.

Abe has made clear he wants his cabinet to adopt a resolution to let Japanese forces engage in combat overseas, which has been ruled out under a decades-old interpretation of the post-World War II, US-drafted pacifist constitution.

The United States and some Southeast Asian countries would welcome the change, while rival China would almost certainly criticize it as further evidence that Tokyo, rather than Beijing, is ramping up regional security tension.

But the ruling Liberal Democratic Party's (LDP) junior coalition partner, the New Komeito, and the lay Buddhist group that backs it, are wary of signing off on what would be a major shift in Japan's security policies.

"At present, we can't say that the gaps between the LDP and New Komeito have narrowed," LDP Vice President Masahiko Komura told reporters after inter-party talks on Tuesday.

If a draft cabinet resolution is not presented at the next round of talks on Friday, the schedule would be too tight for it to be adopted during parliament's current session, he said.

Abe, who has long fretted under the restraints of the US-drafted constitution, wants the cabinet to adopt the change before parliament breaks on June 22.

That would allow it to be reflected in an update of US-Japan defense cooperation guidelines the allies aim to complete by the end of the year.

Abe and his aides fear that if the talks drag on, momentum for the change, which many voters oppose for fear Japan would be drawn into overseas wars, will be lost.

Critics say the re-interpretation of the constitution would gut its war-renouncing Article 9 and bypass politically tough amendment steps. Advocates say growing regional threats, including from an increasingly assertive China, mean Japan cannot afford to wait.

Sino-Japanese ties have been strained by a feud over tiny isles in the East China Sea, distrust of each other's defense policies, and rows stemming from the legacy of Japan's wartime occupation of much of China.

"Overdue homework should be done in a hurry because the possibility of a clear and present potential threat is increasing," said former Japanese diplomat Kunihiko Miyake.

"The longer it takes, the less furious debate will be. We have to strike while the iron is hot."

If Abe were to call a snap election for parliament's lower house, as some media has speculated, he could cast victory as public backing for his security stance.

"All options are conceivable … If support rates were low, he wouldn't do it, but now support rates are high, so it wouldn't be a problem," LDP General Council head Seiko Noda told Reuters. "But this is something only the prime minister knows, so I can't comment."

A survey by the NHK public broadcaster released on Monday put support for Abe's cabinet at 52 percent, down four points from a May poll. Forty-one percent were undecided about collective self-defense, while those in favor and those opposed accounted for 26 percent each.

At 36.9 percent, backing for Abe's LDP dwarfed the 5.1 percent who supported the main opposition Democratic Party, but 42.4 percent supported no particular party.

Political experts said, however, that chatter about a snap election was more likely a tactic aimed at getting the New Komeito to compromise.

The LDP has a clear majority in parliament's lower house, but needs the New Komeito's support to pass bills in the upper chamber, which can block legislation. Support from the lay Buddhist Soka Gakkai group which backs the smaller party is also critical for many LDP lawmakers to keep their seats.

"The New Komeito has a final card to play—refusing to cooperate with the LDP in an election," said Tomoaki Iwai, a political science professor at Nihon University. "The possibility [of a snap election] is not zero, but it is not very realistic."

The next general election must be held by 2016.

The post Clock Ticks as Japan PM Pushes to Loosen Constraints on Military appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine.

China Announces Round Up of Alleged Cult Members

Posted: 10 Jun 2014 10:06 PM PDT

Chinese police stand next to their motorcycles during a drill against emergency terror incidents in Shenyang, Liaoning province, May 14, 2014. (Photo: Reuters)

BEIJING — China on Wednesday announced the roundup of hundreds of alleged cult members following a deadly attack in which a group of adherents beat a woman to death in a McDonald's restaurant.

Slightly more than 1,500 cult members have been detained and prison terms handed out to at least 59, the official Xinhua News Agency said Wednesday. It wasn't clear when the arrests took place, although the reports said some went back as far as two years.

Wednesday's reports appeared to be an effort to reassure the public following outrage over violence and other illegal activity blamed on cult adherents.

The reports said cult members were given terms of up to four years on charges of "using a cult organization to undermine enforcement of the law." Accusations against them included that they used threats, violence and other illegal measures to expand their memberships and organizations.

Those detained were allegedly members of the Church of Almighty God and the Disciples Sect, groups drawing on an unorthodox reading of Christian scripture.

Six members of the Church of Almighty God are accused of beating a woman to death at a McDonald's in the eastern city of Zhaoyuan last month after she refused to tell them her phone number as part of a recruitment drive.

The group, whose Chinese name "Quannengshen" also translates as "All-powerful spirit," was founded in the northeastern province of Heilongjiang in the early 1990s and later spread to the country's eastern provinces, according to Chinese media reports.

China has struggled at times to control grassroots religious movements based on Christian or Buddhist ideology, most notably the Falungong meditation movement that attracted millions of adherents before being repressed in 1999.

The post China Announces Round Up of Alleged Cult Members appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine.
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