The Irrawaddy Magazine

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• Hope Fades in Burma Search for Buried Spitfires
• New Rules to Help Burmese Migrants Apply for Passports
• Take Control or Leave Opium Farmers Alone, Pa-O Leader Tells Burma Govt
• Ethnic Leaders Want Suu Kyi to Observe Signing of National Ceasefire
• ‘Made in Myanmar’—and With Vivid Colors
• On Obama’s Foreign Policy Report Card, Burma Gets a Pass
• America’s Cartoon Cat Garfield Gets TV Makeover in Indonesia
• Chinese Military’s Ability to Wage War Eroded by Graft, Its Generals Warn
• Thein Sein: Poster Boy of Reform?
• Thai Junta Boosts Spending on Defense, Education in Draft Budget

Hope Fades in Burma Search for Buried Spitfires Posted: 19 Aug 2014 03:45 AM PDT David Cundall, a British aviation enthusiast who has led the search for dozens of Spitfires believed to be buried in Burma, addresses the media in Rangoon on Jan. 9, 2013. (Photo: JPaing / The Irrawaddy) RANGOON — A quest to unearth dozens of British Spitfire aircraft thought to be buried in Burma looks likely to come to an unsuccessful end in October, with monsoon rains hampering excavation efforts as the two-year search contract's expiration nears. For years, rumors have persisted that many of the unassembled planes had been buried in Burma after World War II in 1945, though hard evidence to support the claims has not surfaced. During the war, the famed Spitfire fighter planes were used by the British in multiple theaters, including over Burma. David Cundall, a British citizen and aviation enthusiast who has acted as team leader, took the reins of the project in late 2012, telling journalists that searches would being carried out at three locations: in Mingaladon Township near Rangoon International Airport, Myitkyina Township in Kachin State and Meikhtila Township in Mandalay Division. Cundall said he believed there were at least 60 Spitfires buried after World War II by Britain's Royal Air Force. The majority of the planes were said to be buried within Rangoon's Mingaladon air base compound, today the site of the commercial capital's international airport. In mobilizing support for the search, Cundall has cited the testimonies of American, English and Burmese eyewitnesses who claimed to have helped bury the planes. However the excavation team has been prevented from digging around Mingaladon airport since June due to heavy rains. Excavation efforts have been carried out by Cundall's DJC company and local partner firm Shwe Taung Paw, with the permission of Burma's Department of Civil Aviation (DCA). "We're going to end the project to excavate the Spitfires in October when the contract ends if there are no leads. We still believe that there might be Spitfires in Burma," said Tun Kyaw, a spokesperson for Shwe Taung Paw said. He said Cundall had returned to his home in Britain in June. "We've stopped surveying around the airport since June because of heavy rains. Since then, we have been prohibited from surveying in some restricted areas of the airport due to international air rules. We still hope that there might be Spitfires under the ground [in restricted areas], but we can't dig there," Tun Kyaw said. He added that excavations in Myitkyina and Meikhtila were halted early last year due to security concerns. "So Mingaladon Airport was our only major excavation site. Now, we are going to stop all surveying," Tun Kyaw said, adding that digs around Mingaladon had produced no trace of the planes. Win Swe Tun, the DCA's director general, told The Irrawaddy that the contract to search for the Spitfires would not be extended beyond October. The search team would be expected to cover the cost of restoring excavated airport grounds to their pre-hunt condition, he added. Tun Kyaw declined to reveal how much the team had spent on its Spitfire search. Early reports indicated that Belarus-based Wargaming.net, a video gaming company, had pledged to put up to US$1 million toward the project, before pulling out in February 2013. The iconic Spitfire is one of Britain's most famous combat aircraft and gained its reputation during the Battle of Britain, when the agile single-seat fighter played a major part in fending off the German aerial assault. While some 21,000 Spitfires were built, only 35 remain in a good enough condition to fly. Despite the enthusiasm generated among aviation enthusiasts by the prospect of the buried planes, a growing chorus of voices has cast doubt on their existence, with little in the way of official records that might be related to the rumor. The post Hope Fades in Burma Search for Buried Spitfires appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine.

New Rules to Help Burmese Migrants Apply for Passports Posted: 19 Aug 2014 03:28 AM PDT Illegal Burmese migrants who were arrested by Thai police in Mae Sot in early June. (Photo: Mann Myo Myint / The Irrawaddy) CHIANG MAI, Thailand — The Burmese Embassy in Thailand is revising procedures for Burmese migrants to receive regular passports, the Burmese government says. The revision comes after many Burmese migrants were not able to apply for passports because they did not have a valid Burmese ID. After seizing power in a May coup, the Thai junta launched a crackdown on illegal migrant workers, putting pressure on people to apply for proper documentation. The Burmese Ministry of Labor announced on Monday that a 10-member committee of embassy officials and labor rights specialists would soon begin a "national verification process" to check the IDs of Burmese migrants in Thailand. Any migrant with a valid ID and household registration can apply for a regular passport, labor attaché Thein Naing told The Irrawaddy. But many migrants did not bring their IDs or household registration with them when they left Burma. And in the aftermath of the coup, they have been reluctant to return home to retrieve this paperwork, fearing they might be stopped from coming back to Thailand. Under the revised procedures for passport applications, migrants without IDs will need to return to Burma to acquire one. With a temporary stay permit issued from the Thai junta, they can make the trip and come back to Thailand without any trouble from law enforcement. The temporary stay permits were initially valid for only two months but were extended recently to March 2015 due to a backlog of applicants at one-stop service centers along the border. According to the ministry's statement, passports can be picked up at the embassy in Bangkok or at offices in three border towns: Tachileik, Myawaddy and Kawthaung. Kyaw Thaung, a member of the national verification committee, as well as a director of the Myanmar Association Thailand, said he believed it would be ineffective to check for Burmese ID cards in Thailand because so many migrants lacked official documents. "I recommend continuing to implement the current temporary passport process," he said. Thein Naing, the labor attaché, urged Burmese migrants to apply whenever possible for an MoU passport, available to those who have already agreed to a contract with an employer in Thailand. "It is the most effective way to solve labor dispute problems," he said. According to official figures last year, there were 1.7 million Burmese migrants legally registered in Thailand, while migrant rights activists estimated another 1.3 million migrants were unregistered. The Thai government says 190,000 Burmese workers have now registered for temporary stay permits, while another 150,000 are expected to register soon. The post New Rules to Help Burmese Migrants Apply for Passports appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine.

Take Control or Leave Opium Farmers Alone, Pa-O Leader Tells Burma Govt Posted: 19 Aug 2014 03:02 AM PDT Farmers harvest opium poppies in northern Karenni State. (Photo: KADAC) RANGOON — An ethnic Pa-O political leader has issued advice to the Burmese government on its opium eradication efforts—either take serious action or stop harassing the farmers who are left with few choices but to grow poppies. Political parties met with government peace negotiators and ethnic armed groups in Rangoon on Monday in the latest talks in efforts toward a nationwide ceasefire agreement. A leader of the Pa-O National Organization (PNO) used the meeting to report his observations on the impacts of government opium eradication efforts in rural Shan State—where the Pa-O ethnic group mostly lives and where most of Burma's massive illicit opium crop is grown. Khun Soe Myint, a member of the PNO's Central Committee, said that although the government professes to take a zero-tolerance approach to poppy cultivation, local authorities regularly levy taxes against farmers growing the crop, which is used to produce heroin. But paying dues to unscrupulous local officials doesn't stop farmers later being targeted by the same authorities in so-called eradication efforts, he said. "Our region doesn't have shooting and gun-firing, but we don't feel safe because our opium plots get destroyed during the harvest season," Khun Soe Myint told The Irrawaddy after the talks, repeating his message to the government during the meeting. "They say it is part of a government project and they raid the houses of opium cultivators and arrest them since they find opium and drugs in their homes. The lives of opium cultivators are at risk." Khun Soe Myint said he had visited remote areas of Mauk Mae Township and Pin Laung Township and found that "75 percent to 100 percent" of all villagers lost most of their incomes to taxes collected by authorities or by local militias. He argued that rather than the current "muddled" approach, which left farmers in a precarious situation, the government should either allow opium cultivation in a regulated form or take charge by offering farmers some alternatives and taking action against local officials who break the law. "None of the villagers want to cultivate opium. They are doing this because of poor transportation [infrastructure] and the situation of the market for crops," he said. "If the government doesn't want them to cultivate opium, it should effectively take control over that issue. But now, it is acting muddled and the ones who finally have to suffer are the local farmers." According to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, Burma produced an estimated 870 metric tons of opium in 2013—a 26 percent rise on the previous year and the second largest opium crop in the world after Afghanistan. The post Take Control or Leave Opium Farmers Alone, Pa-O Leader Tells Burma Govt appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine.

Ethnic Leaders Want Suu Kyi to Observe Signing of National Ceasefire Posted: 19 Aug 2014 01:33 AM PDT Ethnic leaders meet with Aung San Suu Kyi at her Rangoon home on Monday. (Photo: NLD chairperson / Facebook) RANGOON — Leaders from ethnic armed groups met with Burma's opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi at her house in Rangoon on Monday to discuss the ongoing peace process. Nai Hong Sar, head of the Nationwide Ceasefire Coordination Team (NCCT), an alliance of ethnic armed groups, said the meeting was informal. "We decided to meet her because we were in Rangoon. She was interested when we told her our peace process plans," he told The Irrawaddy. Ethnic leaders declined to comment when asked whether they sought advice from Suu Kyi as they negotiate with the government to sign a national ceasefire accord. Nyan Win, a spokesman for Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy (NLD) party, also declined to comment. This is the second time ethnic leaders have met with the NLD chairwoman. Ethnic leaders say they want her to participate more in the peace process, even perhaps as an eyewitness during the signing of the nationwide ceasefire accord, which could come as early as October. "We proposed this to the government already, but there has been no response yet," said Khun Okkar, secretary of the United Nationalities Federal Council (UNFC), another alliance of ethnic groups. Suu Kyi, a lawmaker in Naypyidaw, has herself expressed a desire to take a greater role in the peace process as the country attempts to recover from decades of civil war. There will be another meeting between the NCCT and the government's peace negotiation team early next month to hammer out remaining disagreements in the draft of the nationwide ceasefire accord. The NCCT has proposed a list of third parties to participate in the signing of the accord, including observers from the United States, the United Kingdom, Japan, China, France and the United Nations. The post Ethnic Leaders Want Suu Kyi to Observe Signing of National Ceasefire appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine.

‘Made in Myanmar’—and With Vivid Colors Posted: 18 Aug 2014 05:30 PM PDT A painting by Khin Zaw Win depicts an old mossy tree stump that seems to be bleeding, in a message about the dangers of excessive logging, at the Lokanat art gallery in Rangoon. (Photo: Sai Zaw / The Irrawaddy) RANGOON — A group art show, "Made in Myanmar," is now on display at the Lokanat art gallery in downtown Rangoon, and as its name suggests, it features paintings that depict life in Burma. From ordinary people to ancient royalties, and from vibrant, native flowers to old tree stumps that have shriveled, a range of subjects can be seen in the paintings, which all employ vivid colors that seem to imply the colorfulness of Burmese culture itself. The exhibition's organizer, Khin Zaw Win, has been a part-time artist for almost 18 years. "I have organized this group show with friends who do not usually hold one-man shows. … It's been a while since we've last had an exhibition of our work," he said. Khin Zaw Win is showing a series of his own paintings, titled, "Save Me." Each painting, using bright red colors, depicts old mossy tree stumps that at first glance seem to be bleeding. "I want to say, 'Help us!' on behalf of the trees that are suffering pain from excessive logging," he said. "Made in Myanmar" is open to the public at the Lokanat Gallery of Art on Pansodan Street from Aug. 18-23 (9 am to 5pm every day). The post 'Made in Myanmar'—and With Vivid Colors appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine.

On Obama’s Foreign Policy Report Card, Burma Gets a Pass Posted: 18 Aug 2014 05:00 PM PDT Burma's President Thein Sein, right, is pictured alongside US President Barack Obama as they participate in a group photo at the East Asian Summit in Nusa Dua, Bali, on Nov. 19, 2011. (Photo: Reuters / Jason Reed) Next year's elections in Burma will be a key indicator of how leaders in the country want to move forward, with many an assessment of the reform process hinging on the outcome. Among those who will be watching the election returns will be US President Barack Obama, for whom the stakes may be a bit higher than most: Having failed elsewhere in the world, Obama in 2014 finds his foreign policy assailed by critics, and his legacy on the global stage in doubt. In Burma, the US president has taken credit for reforms enacted since 2011, but has Obama gone "all in" on a questionable hand? Many in dissident circles have warned that there should be a Plan B. What if, as in 2010, the election is rigged and conducted without transparency? What if it lacks inclusivity? Will the United States stand by such a government as a partner in reform, as it has since Burma's nominally civilian leadership took power in 2011? John Kerry, the US secretary of state, visited Burma earlier this month and said the United States would do everything it can to encourage reform in the country, especially by supporting nationwide elections in 2015. "Next year's election will absolutely be a benchmark moment for the whole world to be able to assess the direction that Burma is moving in," he said in Naypyidaw. Kerry met Burma's President Thein Sein and opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, the latter of whom remains constitutionally barred from running for president as the country heads into next year's pivotal elections. She met Kerry at her lakeside residence in Rangoon, the same venue where she received Obama in 2012—when the country's reforms were subject to much less skepticism than today. Indeed, many Burmese were counting on the United States to inject some life into a reform program increasingly viewed as stalled. Kerry would not leave the country empty-handed, the thinking went, without a concrete expression of the government's commitment to further reform. Aung Zaw is founder and editor of the Irrawaddy magazine. He can be reached at aungzaw@irrawaddy.org. Details of Kerry's talks with both Thein Sein and Suu Kyi, however, were not made public, with Kerry revealing little other than to say that he had a "frank" discussion with the president. He offered a slightly more critical assessment in remarks at the East-West Center in Honolulu following his trip to Burma. "Defining a new role for the military; reforming the Constitution and supporting free and fair elections; ending a decades-long civil war; and guaranteeing in law the human rights that Burma's people have been promised in name," he said, referring to some of the challenges still facing the Southeast Asian nation. "All of this while trying to attract more investment, combating corruption, protecting the country's forests and other resources. These are the great tests of Burma's transition. And we intend to try to help, but in the end the leadership will have to make the critical choices." Underneath all the rhetoric on democracy, human rights, and free and fair elections, there is major US commercial interest in resource-rich Burma, a country strategically located between China and India. Before Kerry's visit, US Secretary of Commerce Penny Pritzker in June made her first visit to Burma, a strong indication of Washington's high-level commercial push. The United States opened the way for economic engagement with an easing of sanctions on Burma in 2012. Last week the United States went further, waiving remaining sanctions on Burma's timber sector for one year. The decision was not without controversy, prompting an outcry from some civil society groups. During a visit in which she opened a new Commercial Service Office at the US Embassy in Rangoon, Pritzker stressed the United States' commitment to closer economic ties. As of April 30, 2014, American companies had plans to invest US$244 million in Burma's economy, and US exports had increased from $9.8 million in 2010 to $145.7 million in 2013. "Our Commercial Service officers help to increase opportunities globally, for our businesses and for yours," she said, adding that US companies would bring technical know-how and a commitment to corporate social responsibility. US businesses are coming to Burma in what looks like an increasingly unstoppable tide, and to facilitate investment, some blacklisted cronies may benefit. One already has, with Kerry staying at a blacklisted tycoon's hotel in Naypyidaw during his recent visit to Burma. Forced to respond to questions about the sleeping arrangement, the State Department insisted America's chief diplomat was not in violation of the blacklist sanctions, but not before controversy had been stirred. Those currently on the Specially Designated Nationals (SDNs) list are prevented from doing business with US firms, but in June senior State Department officials met privately with some of these tycoons, telling them to put forward a request to have their names cleared. They would be expected to show their commitment to transition, sever ties with the military, avoid involvement in land seizures and respect civilian rule. It is only a matter of time, it seems, before some cronies are removed from the blacklist, having been sufficiently rehabilitated in the eyes of US officials at the Treasury Department. It is difficult to know whether the United States' fast-moving policy on Burma might have been different, more critical perhaps, had the international landscape been more kind to the US president. Once a pariah and still frequently taken to task by the international human rights community, Burma is Obama's foreign policy success story over the course of a presidency of global chaos that some critics have chalked up to a failure of White House leadership. In an address at West Point in May, he claimed, "We're now supporting reform and badly needed national reconciliation through assistance and investment, through coaxing and, at times, public criticism. And progress there could be reversed, but if Burma succeeds, we will have gained a new partner without having fired a shot." In an article in The New York Times published on Aug. 15, critics pointed out Obama's foreign policy struggles in Syria, Iraq and Ukraine as cause for "a palpable sense of disappointment with Mr. Obama's leadership on the world stage as well." With 58 percent of Americans disapproving of his foreign policy, according to a June poll, Obama needs a good news tale from abroad. Burma may be his best bet, but claiming credit for the move toward democracy, such as it is, won't sit well with the skeptics who assert that reforms remain incomplete and the military and its former generals are still calling the shots in a country that is far from a success story. The post On Obama's Foreign Policy Report Card, Burma Gets a Pass appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine.

America’s Cartoon Cat Garfield Gets TV Makeover in Indonesia Posted: 18 Aug 2014 09:48 PM PDT A drawing of Garfield from the comic strip's official Facebook page. (Photo: Garfield / Facebook) JAKARTA/SINGAPORE — The comic strip cat Garfield was created in America, but the animated television series based on the famous Jim Davis cartoon character is produced at a sprawling studio on the Indonesian resort island of Batam. Infinite Studios started in 1997 as a film post-production company with 13 people. In part building on the success of Garfield, it has diversified into creating its own content production as well as animation and visual effects, with facilities that employ 200 people in Indonesia and Singapore. Southeast Asia has been emerging as a film production center, with an expanding local workforce and growing exports to the region or even to the traditional creative powerhouses like the United States and Europe. "The Southeast Asian region is very new to the media game. I think we've been in the business for about a decade or just over a decade, whereas the rest of the world has had a lot of time developing their creative economy," Infinite Chief Executive Mike Wiluan told Reuters. "I think it's a great opportunity. When we go out to the world, we come out as a region as opposed to just coming out as a singular country and trying to compete within such a small region." The film industry in Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam is worth a total of $1.15 billion in 2014 through ticket sales (box office) and cinema advertising, and is projected to jump nearly 17 percent to $1.34 billion by 2018, according to PricewaterhouseCoopers estimates. Britain's Pinewood Studios Group, famous for its James Bond film franchise, partnered the Malaysian government's investment arm Khazanah Nasional Berhad to open Pinewood Iskandar Malaysia Studios in June. American studio The Weinstein Company will use the $170 million complex in the southern Malaysian state of Johor as the shooting site for "Marco Polo," a series about the Italian merchant traveler from Venice, media reported. It will be shown on US video streaming service Netflix. In Singapore, "Star Wars" creator Lucasfilm launched a visual effects and animation hub in January to work on Hollywood blockbusters and bolster its marketing efforts in Asia. 'Creation Bible' The learning curve to animate Garfield, which started as a comic strip by Davis in 1978, is not too steep for Infinite's team of animators who are mostly Indonesians, Wiluan said. France's Dargaud Media, which owns the rights to "The Garfield Show," has come up with a "creation bible" which is followed by the subcontractors in the production process. "It basically enables anyone to follow the instructions of how this character would look, feel and act," Wiluan said. "I guess why Garfield has been so successful all over the world is because it's the adventure of a really cute cat and everyone understands it." On top of bringing to life characters originating in the West, Southeast Asian film makers are increasingly tapping on local culture to create unique content that appeals to both domestic and international markets. "The Raid 2," an action movie co-produced by Indonesia's PT. Merantau Films about a police officer using the traditional silat martial arts to fight thugs, was shown at the Sundance Film Festival earlier this year to several positive reviews. Malaysian animation studio Les' Copaque Production Sdn Bhd produces the popular "Upin and Ipin" television show about a pair of 5-year-old twins experiencing their first-ever fast in the Muslim month of Ramadan. The show is broadcast by the Disney Channel, Turkey's Hilal TV, as well as television stations in Malaysia and Indonesia. Reporting by Eveline Danubrata in Jakarta; Additional reporting by Anuradha Raghu in Kuala Lumpur. The post America's Cartoon Cat Garfield Gets TV Makeover in Indonesia appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine.

Chinese Military’s Ability to Wage War Eroded by Graft, Its Generals Warn Posted: 18 Aug 2014 09:42 PM PDT Soldiers of the People's Liberation Army practice with guns in a drill during an organized media tour at a PLA engineering academy in Beijing on July 22, 2014. (Photo: Reuters / Petar Kujundzic) BEIJING — As tensions spike between China and other countries in Asia's disputed waters, serving and retired Chinese military officers as well as state media are questioning whether China's armed forces are too corrupt to fight and win a war. A slew of articles in official media in recent months have drawn parallels with the rampant graft in the People's Liberation Army and how a corrupt military contributed to China's defeat in the Sino-Japan War 120 years ago. The concerns are striking given the rapid modernization of the PLA, from the development of stealth fighter jets to the launch in 2012 of China's sole aircraft carrier. Backed by a budget that is second only to the United States, China's military is projecting power deep into the South and East China Seas, unsettling the region as well as Washington. But two scandals have shone the spotlight on deeply rooted graft in the PLA—a key target of President Xi Jinping's sweeping anti-corruption drive. China said in June it would court-martial Gen. Xu Caihou, who retired in 2013 as vice chairman of the Central Military Commission, the top military decision-making body, for taking bribes. Earlier this year authorities charged one of his protégés, Lt-Gen Gu Junshan, with corruption. Gu was the deputy head of the PLA Logistics Department until he was sacked in 2012. Sources have told Reuters that Gu stands accused of selling hundreds of military positions, raking in millions of dollars from a position that gave him sway over appointments and development contracts for military-owned land. What worries some generals and other Chinese experts is that the buying and selling of senior jobs—long an open secret in China—has led to those with talent being cast aside. "However much you spend on the military, it will never be enough if these corrupt officials keep appearing," retired Maj-Gen Luo Yuan, one of China's most widely read military figures, told Shanghai-based online news portal The Paper last week. "The money sucked up by corrupt officials like Xu Caihou and Gu Junshan is hundreds of millions or billions of yuan. How many fighter jets could you build with that? If corruption is not excised we will be defeated before we even go into battle." Reuters has not been able to reach either Xu or Gu for comment. It is not clear whether they have lawyers. The Defense Ministry did not respond to a request for comment on the corruption in the PLA. Bloody Nose From Vietnam Xi has demanded that the 2.3 million strong armed forces, the world's largest, become more combat ready, although the government stresses it wants peaceful ties with its neighbors. Chinese forces were last seriously tested in 1979, when the army invaded Vietnam as punishment for Hanoi's ousting of Cambodia's China-backed leader Pol Pot. The PLA, however, was beaten back by Vietnam's battle-hardened troops. China stepped up a crackdown on corruption in the military in the late 1990s, banning the PLA from engaging in business. But the military has gotten involved in commercial dealings in recent years due to a lack of checks and balances, sources say. For officers who pay bribes to be promoted, corruption is a way to make a return on their investment, military experts say. Examples of graft include leasing military land to private business, selling military license plates, illegally occupying PLA apartments or taking kickbacks when buying food or equipment. Underscoring his resolve to tackle such graft, Xi is set to promote Gen. Liu Yuan, a whistleblower whose accusations in 2012 paved the way for the corruption charges against Xu and Gu, to the Central Military Commission, sources told Reuters this month. Liu is currently political commissar of the PLA's Logistics Department. "Corruption in the military absolutely must be eliminated, this is imperative for the development of our armed forces," a retired senior officer told Reuters, speaking on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the matter. Warnings From the Past The growing concern within China over military corruption has coincided with the 120th anniversary of the start of the Sino-Japan War, which ended with the signing over of Taiwan to Japanese control a year later, a national humiliation that resonates in China to this day. Ties with Tokyo, long strained over Japan's occupation of parts of China before and during World War II, have worsened because of an increasingly ugly spat over the ownership of uninhabited islets in the East China Sea. Coastguard ships and fighter aircraft from both sides routinely face off around the islands, fueling fears an accident could spark a clash. Chinese newspapers have focused on how military corruption was a key reason for China's defeat to Japan in the waning years of the Qing dynasty, a theme taken up last week in the weekly paper the Study Times, published by the Central Party School, which trains rising officials. "In the late Qing dynasty …. the military [was] unbearably degenerate with lax discipline, superficial training, gambling, frequenting brothels, smoking opium and other wantonness running rampant," it wrote. It is an issue being discussed at length by China's military establishment. "Military corruption is at a dangerously unprecedented level," Maj-Gen Kun Lunyan, an influential military commentator, wrote in May in the Global Times tabloid. "Do we want this historic tragedy to be repeated by our people's army?" Kun wrote, noting that soldiers today "abhor" the practice of only being able to get promoted if they "rely on cash to buy their way up." China's Communists don't have to go back 120 years to understand the importance of having a clean military. The party is aware that one reason the Nationalists lost the Chinese civil war and were forced to flee to Taiwan in 1949 is because of rampant corruption. Writing about that period last month, the official Xinhua news agency reminded its readers that "corrupt elements" were executed by firing squad as Mao Zedong plotted his revolution in the caves in northeastern China in the 1930s and 1940s. "History proves time and time again that the biggest threat to the military is not the test of gunfire and smell of gunpowder, but the encroachment of corruption into the ranks," it said. The post Chinese Military's Ability to Wage War Eroded by Graft, Its Generals Warn appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine.

Thein Sein: Poster Boy of Reform? Posted: 18 Aug 2014 09:38 PM PDT Thein Sein: Poster Boy of Reform? The post Thein Sein: Poster Boy of Reform? appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine.

Thai Junta Boosts Spending on Defense, Education in Draft Budget Posted: 18 Aug 2014 09:31 PM PDT Thai Army Chief General Prayuth Chan-ocha. (Photo: Reuters) BANGKOK — Thai junta leader General Prayuth Chan-ocha, stressing that the military had a "limited time" in power before a return to civilian rule, submitted a draft fiscal 2015 budget on Monday, with defense and education receiving hefty increases. The military seized power in May after months of street demonstrations which led to the ouster of Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra. The Ministry of Education was allocated 498.16 billion baht (US$15.66 billion), a 3.2 percent increase from last year's budget and 19.5 percent of the total budget allocations. Prayuth has called for education reforms as part of his plans to reshape the country and restore political stability. Defense spending, which typically increases in Thailand after a coup, grew 5 percent from last year's allocation to 193.07 billion baht ($6.07 billion). "If we don't increase the budget and purchase new weapons, then nobody will fear us," Prayuth told reporters. The 2.58 trillion baht ($81.08 billion) draft budget, up around 2 percent from 2014, was submitted to the military-dominated National Legislative Assembly and will be considered by ad-hoc committees and adopted in the coming weeks. "The NCPO wants every ministry to put the budget to the best use possible because we have a limited time in power," Prayuth said, referring to the National Council for Peace and Order, as the junta is formally known. The economy may expand 3.5 percent to 4.5 percent next year, he added, as the political situation stabilizes. The National Economic and Social Development Board, which compiles gross domestic product data, on Monday trimmed its 2014 full-year growth forecast to 1.5-2.0 percent from a 1.5-2.5 percent range. Thailand avoided recession in the second quarter, the state planning agency said on Monday, but questions remain about the pace and depth of growth. The board said it expected to see steady economic recovery in the second half of the year. Prayuth, who led the May 22 coup, will likely become prime minister in coming days, according to legislature members. Prayuth has outlined a three-phase plan of reconciliation, formation of a government and elections in 2015. "I hope that in 2015 the country will come into its own," Prayuth said. "We seized power in order to improve confidence in the country." Since taking power, the junta has made delayed payments to rice farmers, capped fuel prices and made a point of reassuring foreign investors that Thailand will return to democracy within a year. It has also approved urgent infrastructure projects. The moves appear to have helped consumer confidence which rose to the highest in 11 months in July, data this month showed. The post Thai Junta Boosts Spending on Defense, Education in Draft Budget appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine.

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