The Irrawaddy Magazine |
- Burma Govt Says ‘Public Service,’ Journalists See Propaganda
- Govt, Army and Ethnic Groups Closing Differences, Forging New Approach
- Upper House Approves Ban on Politics for Non-Citizens
- Jade Prospectors Face a Bumpy Road to Riches
- Burma Infrastructure Projects ‘At Risk’ From Political Uncertainty
- ‘Lady of the Lake’
- Official Confirms Burma By-Elections Due This Year
- Can ASEAN Respond to the Chinese Challenge?
- China Says Uighur Militant’s Support of Knife Attack Proves Terror
- Australia Checking 2 Objects in Search for Plane
- UN Chief Concerned at China Activist’s Death
- Family Anger Erupts as Malaysia Jet Search Appears Deadlocked
| Burma Govt Says ‘Public Service,’ Journalists See Propaganda Posted: 20 Mar 2014 08:29 AM PDT  State-owned newspapers have changed appearance but been criticized for remaining as government propaganda (Photo: Reuters) RANGOON — Rangoon-based journalists say they cannot accept a public service media (PSM) bill submitted to Parliament's Lower House by the government on Monday, criticizing the legislation as a self-serving proposal put forward by the Thein Sein administration. A number of journalists told The Irrawaddy that they believed the law, if enacted, would not provide the general public with a real service, and would instead be used as a tool for government propaganda. On Monday, the Ministry of Information (MOI), while submitting the bill to the Lower House, stressed that the PSM legislation was developed with expertise from the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (Unesco), and was drafted with the public good in mind. It envisions a transformation of state mouthpieces like the New Light of Myanmar newspaper and broadcaster MRTV into "public service media." "Public service broadcasting is needed in a country like Burma, but not a newspaper of such a kind," journalist Sithu Aung Myint told The Irrawaddy. "A newspaper should not be placed and published under the 'public service' label. Such practice doesn't exist internationally." If the bill is adopted, he said it would be used as a government propaganda vehicle ahead of national elections in 2015, in which many expect the opposition National League for Democracy (NLD) party will unseat the ruling Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP). Under the PSM bill, 70 percent of total funding for public service media outlets would come from taxpayers, while the rest would be provided by advertising revenue, newspaper sales and international funding. "I can't accept that budget either," said Naing Min Wai, the editor-in-chief of the soon-to-be-published People Power private newspaper. "Will the government be able to provide real services using the people's money? It can't just label its propaganda as a public service." In a meeting on public service media last year, Ye Htut, the deputy minister of information, told participants that an independent Media Council to provide technical assistance and advice to public service media would be formed, consisting of 15 people selected equally by the president, the Lower House speaker and the Upper House speaker. An administrative body would also be formed under the Media Council, but these bodies would not compromise the editorial independence of public service media, he claimed. Sithu Aung Myint said the proposed Media Council's independence was doubtful, given that it would be selected by USDP leaders who were also senior members of Burma's former military regime. Myint Kyaw from Burma's Interim Press Council told The Irrawaddy that the ostensible purpose of the proposed legislation was admirable, but impracticable. "What is written in the bill, such as [its goal] to bring in ethnic and minority voices and to remove economic bias, is good, but I don't think these objectives can practically be implemented," said Myint Kyaw. "Having existed as state media for many years and with the way they [the MOI] think, I don't believe the public will be provided with a real service." Upon the bill's submission, Information Minister Aung Kyi told lawmakers that out of 49 million people who are literate in Burma, about 43 million did not have access to newspapers, a gap in coverage that only nonprofit, public service media could fill. "I accept television and radio, but I don't think newspapers should be published under this title [public service]," said Myint Kyaw. "Moving from a state-controlled propaganda model to editorial independence is almost impossible." Pe Than, a lawmaker from the Rakhine Nationalities Development Party (RNDP), told The Irrawaddy that he would instead recommend that the government offer assistance to strengthen private media if the PSM bill is discussed in Parliament. "We now have private newspapers competing with the government's ones," said Pe Than. "The public does not have interest in the state-owned newspapers, which are much different from private ones that stand on the side of the people." Currently, there are about 10 private and three state-owned newspapers published daily in Burma. The post Burma Govt Says 'Public Service,' Journalists See Propaganda appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine. | |
| Govt, Army and Ethnic Groups Closing Differences, Forging New Approach Posted: 20 Mar 2014 08:08 AM PDT  Lian Hmong Sakhong, NCCT lead negotiator in the nationwide ceasefire talks with the government, speaks during the opening of Pyidaungsu Institute in Chiang Mai early this month. (Photo: Nyein Nyein / The Irrawaddy) RANGOON — Early last week, Burma's government and ethnic armed groups agreed to try to jointly draft a single text for a nationwide ceasefire accord by drawing from the two ceasefire proposals brought forth by both sides. According to Lian Hmong Sakhong, a Chin National Front representative who helped draft the ethnic groups' proposal, this new approach to the ceasefire talks could lead to a long-awaited breakthrough, in particular because the military's leadership has now become directly involved. "Previously [during talks], each side just exchanged their proposals, but at the last meeting [on March 9-10], instead of continuing like this, we agreed to form a joint drafting committee. This committee will finalize a single text from our document and their document," he said during a recent interview at The Irrawaddy office in Rangoon. The new joint committee tasked with drafting a ceasefire text will comprise 18 members: three government officials, three military leaders, three lawmakers, and nine ethnic leaders. Sakhong, who is a leading member of the Nationwide Ceasefire Coordination Team (NCCT) which represents 16 rebel armed groups, said the military had followed the talks closely before, but direct discussions with the top commanders had not taken place until last week. "At least five generals, a number of colonels and brigadier-generals were there, so that was very encouraging," he said. "We were told that the Tatmadaw is totally committed to peace and want to sign a nationwide ceasefire agreement as soon as possible, at the 1st of August at the latest." The new initiative comes after a planned nationwide ceasefire conference in the Karen State capital Hpa-an was repeatedly delayed. The two sides held the first such high-level negotiations in Myitkyina, Kachin State, in November. Those talks were deemed successful but failed to produce an agreement. Fourteen out of the NCCT's 16 armed groups have signed bilateral ceasefires with President Thein Sein's reformist government since 2011. A nationwide ceasefire between the NCCT and Naypyidaw would consolidate the gains made in recent years and mark a major step toward a comprehensive solution for Burma's decades-old ethnic conflict. A nationwide ceasefire would be followed by a political dialogue to address the long-term political demands of the ethnic groups. Sakhong believes that the new joint committee approach will make a significant difference as the government team and military commanders had shown an increasing willingness to study the NCCT's ceasefire proposal. "This time, I sense that they are really committed to the nationwide ceasefire agreement and the political dialogue," he said. One of the key conditions set out in NCCT's 30-page draft ceasefire is that a political dialogue will have to start within 90 days after the signing of a nationwide ceasefire. It also insists on creating a code of conduct for the military and insurgents in the field in order to prevent renewed clashes during the political dialogue. "A code of conduct is very important; both sides should follow and observe that, so that we cannot blame the other side [if fighting erupts]. Now we don't have such rules," Sakhong said. The political dialogue proposed by ethnic groups would have a broad focus and involve ethnic leaders, government officials, top political leaders, MPs and civil society groups. Discussions would center on the long-standing demands of the ethnic minorities for greater political autonomy within a federal union, cultural rights and control over the natural resources in their areas, but other key issues, such as the future of the military-drafted 2008 Constitution, would also be included. Another "very important" point in the ethnic groups' ceasefire proposal, Sakhong added, is the inclusion of an interim arrangement that would allow the armed groups to manage their areas of control while a political dialogue takes place, a process that could take years to complete. Sakhong said, "For example, the [Kachin Independence Organization] signed a ceasefire agreement in 1994, but they did not sign an interim arrangement and so they lost all their controlling power and during that [ceasefire] period of 17 years, the Kachin lost almost all their forests, their jade mines and so on. We don't want to repeat that kind of mistake." The ceasefire proposal from the government side indicates that some important but sensitive issues will not be up for discussion during nationwide ceasefire talks, key among them the question of how to create a federal army that would include the ethnic armies—a topic that the NCCT raised during negotiations in November. "The federal army issue will not be part of a nationwide ceasefire agreement, but will be part of the political dialogue," said Sakhong. "Personally, I think that's a good thing, because this issue is too big. … Even if the political dialogue takes one or two years, we won't be able to solve the security forces reform issue. It will maybe take 10, 20 years, who knows." However, despite optimism about the ceasefire process among the NCCT, government officials and government advisors at the Myanmar Peace Center (MPC), fighting has flared up in recent months between the military and the Kachin Independence Army (KIA), the Ta'aung National Liberation Army (TNLA) and the Shan State Army-North (SSA-North). The KIA and TNLA have not signed a ceasefire with Naypyidaw, but both are members of the NCCT. The SSA-North is a NCCT member and one of the 14 armed groups that have a bilateral ceasefire with the government. Sakhong said the recent clashes in northern Burma underline the need for a nationwide ceasefire with a clear code of conduct, so that lingering mistrust between the sides will not lead to new fighting. So far, no precedent has been set for the implementation of a code of conduct in maintaining bilateral ceasefires. Early last year, several ceasefire groups, such as the Karen National Union (KNU) and the Karenni National Progressive Party (KNPP), agreed to establish a bilateral code of conduct and joint monitoring committee with the government, but little progress has been made since. Sakhong conceded that fighting also continues because there are commanders who benefit from the status quo in the anarchic conflict areas, where militias and Burma Army units reportedly reap huge profits from taxing the illicit trade in drugs, timber and gems, in particular in Kachin and Shan states. "Maybe there are leaders on both sides who are benefiting from the conflict, we don't know. Those who benefit, they don't want it to stop. So even if we create a nationwide ceasefire agreement, this problem is not going to stop, but we are going to try to reduce the fighting to zero on both sides," he said. "[But] among the ethnic leaders they are not the majority and we're hoping that among the government they are also not the majority." Divisions among the myriad ethnic armed groups in Burma's rugged periphery are another challenge to achieving a nationwide ceasefire. The Shan State Army-South is not a NCCT member but has joined nationwide ceasefire talks. The country's most powerful armed insurgent group, the United Wa State Army, and its smaller neighbor the National Democratic Alliance Army in Mongla and three other small groups have not participated in the talks at all. Sakhong said the 16 NCCT members were unified in their commitment to ceasefire talks, adding, "The others, like Mongla, the Wa and so on, we'll try to bring them on. During the next [nationwide ceasefire] meeting they are invited. So I hope these five will come." Another recent development that Sakhong believes will aid the peace process is the establishment of the Pyidaungsu Institute in Chiang Mai, Thailand, a study center and secretariat that will support the various ethnic minority groups as they negotiate with the government. Norway and Sweden have promised to fund the new institute. The government-affiliated MPC in Rangoon has played a key role in advising the government during the ceasefire talks and the center has received generous support from the European Union, which has granted US$28 million in funding for Burma's peace process, more than $1 million of which was reserved for the MPC. Sakhong, who is one of the directors of the new institute, said the Chiang Mai-based organization would play a similar key role on the side of the ethnics. "The government side has the MPC, so it will be like that center," he said, adding that originally foreign donors had envisioned the MPC to be a meeting place for all parties involved in Burma's conflict—an idea that Sakhong dismissed. "The idea that the MPC would be a place where the ethnics and the government can work together is a totally wrong assumption, because officially we are still enemies," he said. The post Govt, Army and Ethnic Groups Closing Differences, Forging New Approach appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine. | |
| Upper House Approves Ban on Politics for Non-Citizens Posted: 20 Mar 2014 08:03 AM PDT  A session of Union Parliament in Burma's capital, Naypyidaw. (Photo: The Irrawaddy) RANGOON — Burma's Upper House on Thursday passed an amendment to a clause in the Constitution, removing the right of temporary citizenship card holders to form parties. The decision could further reduce the rights of stateless Rohingya minority in Arakan State, many of who only hold such cards. The proposed amendment could also pose a problem for political dissidents who lack citizenship cards because they lived abroad for decades under the former military regime and are now returning to Burma during the democratic transition. During a session Thursday, Upper House MPs did not object to the amendment put forth by the Arakan National Party (ANP), a proposal first suggested by ANP in August last year. The amendment will now have to be approved by the Lower House. ANP Chairman Aye Maung, whose party represents the Buddhist Arakanese community in western Burma, said the decision was important to ensure that the political process in the country remained under control of those with full citizenship rights. "We need to protect our ethnic rights to participate in politics. I am worried about those who are not citizens of Burma influencing power in the country," he told The Irrawaddy. "Those who run political parties in the future have to have citizenship. Those who hold white cards [temporary cards] should apply for citizenship," said Aye Maung. He added that his party would soon ask Parliament to also remove the voting rights of those with temporary citizenship. The current 2008 Constitution, written by the former military regime, allows people to form political parties, run for office and vote in elections if they possess a temporary citizenship cards, also called "white cards." Burma's former military government issued white cards to many of the Rohingya population in northern Arakan State's Maungdaw and Buthidaung townships. Even though the government maintains the approximately 1-million strong minority are not Burmese citizens and officially refers to them as "Bengalis" to suggest they are illegal immigrants from Bangladesh. The cards were issued to the Muslim group so that they could vote in support of a constitutional referendum in 2008, as well as for the Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) in the national elections in 2010. Recent reports in local media quoted the parliamentary bill committee information as saying that there are 850,000 white card holders in Burma. Several USDP lawmakers in Parliament come from Muslim-majority constituencies in northern Arakan State. Despite this situation, the USDP-dominated Upper House did not stop the amendment from being passed on Tuesday. All Mon Region Democracy Party MP Nai Banyar Aung Moe told The Irrawaddy that he had supported excluding white card holders from forming parties. "It's very important to have this law, so that Chinese, Muslims and [Burmese] with English nationality who come from other countries cannot have influence and power," he said. Abu Tahay, A Rohingya leader and chairman of the Union Nationals Development Party, an organization from Buthidaung Township that the government has declined to recognize, said the new measure would pose problems for Rohingyas seeking exercise their political rights. Abu Tahay said he could agree with the new amendment if Rohingyas would be given opportunities to obtain citizenship, adding, however, that this was nearly impossible. "People need to have full documents to become citizenship … [but] many of our people do not have full documents for many reasons," he said. The Rohingya in northern Arakan have faced widespread discrimination and human rights abuses at the hands of authorities and security forces in recent decades. In 2012, violence flared up between Arakanese Buddhists and Rohingya Muslims in the state. About 150,000 people were displaced and about 200 killed in communal violence in June and October 2012. The post Upper House Approves Ban on Politics for Non-Citizens appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine. | |
| Jade Prospectors Face a Bumpy Road to Riches Posted: 20 Mar 2014 06:00 AM PDT  The landscape of Hpakant, in northern Burma's Kachin State, has been devastated by large-scale jade mining. (Photo: JPaing / The Irrawaddy) HPAKANT, Kachin State —About three hours outside of Myitkyina, I realized I was traveling on the worst road I have ever taken. It was a red-dirt road riddled with huge pot holes that could easily overturn a carelessly driven truck. My destination was Hpakant, the jade town just 60 miles from the state capital, but it took the whole day to get there. Located about 220 miles north of Mandalay, Hpakant is famous for producing the world's highest-quality jade. It's a journey the Burmese government has long banned foreigners from making, although traders from China—where most of the jade ends up—often make it there. The extraction of the region's earth-bound riches has utterly transformed the landscape. The local environment has been wrecked by large-scale jade mining companies, mostly affiliated with the Union of Myanmar Economic Holdings Ltd. (UMEHL), a Burmese military-run conglomerate that dominates many sectors of Burma's economy. When we arrived, I felt I was entering a construction site, rather than a town. I saw two-story high piles of tailings—the refuse left once jade is separated from rock. They were left over from mining operations that ceased in June 2011, when fighting broke out between the Kachin Independence Army and government soldiers.
Since then, large-scale mining has been suspended, but small-scale miners have come in. On the second day in the area, I witnessed them at work using primitive hand tools to scour the mountains, which are already stripped bare by heavy machinery. Most of the workers are aged somewhere between 18 and their late-thirties. Though they have come from different parts of the country, from Upper Burma to the Irrawaddy Delta, they share a same dream—to get rich. However, they say, that's not easy. Prospectors point out the town's rampant drug abuse, numerous gambling dens and widespread prostitution as the main culprits for their failure to fulfill the dream. Plus, they say, small-scale mining is both illegal and highly dangerous for its practitioners, meaning arrest or injury are always a risk. But for these small-scale miners, their hopes remain high. "Everybody here is a would-be millionaire," said one prospector in his late twenties, while digging on a mountain slope in search of the precious green stone. "No one knows what lies here beneath the earth." JPaing is a photojournalist working for The Irrawaddy. The post Jade Prospectors Face a Bumpy Road to Riches appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine. | |
| Burma Infrastructure Projects ‘At Risk’ From Political Uncertainty Posted: 20 Mar 2014 04:56 AM PDT  The main building at existing Rangoon International Airport. (PHOTO: Reuters) Uncertainty about reforms to Burma's military-dominated Constitution threatens to undermine foreign investment in major infrastructure projects such as the ambitious Hanthawaddy International Airport project, a business risk assessor said. The assessment from Business Monitor International (BMI) follows the collapse of negotiations on an airport contract between Burma's Department of Civil Aviation and a consortium led by South Korea's Incheon International Airport Corporation. "We believe this breakdown once again supports our concerns about the financial viability of [Burma's] large-scale airport projects. We highlight there is scope for a breakdown in political stability within [Burma] and this poses a major downside risk to these airport projects," said London-based BMI. "It is increasingly likely that the government will fail to amend the Constitution in a meaningful way before the 2015 general elections. A failure to address the most pressing issues in the current Constitution would have repercussions for the ongoing reform drive, which could destabilize [Burma's] already challenging business environment," BMI said in its latest risk analysis newsletter for Southeast Asia. The government had named Incheon last August as the winner of a tender to develop Hanthawaddy in a so-called public-private partnership (PPP) with the government. But the Ministry of Transport was quoted by Reuters last week saying there had been a "major change in project policy" which required the South Korean firm and three other shortlisted for the contract to resubmit bids. The new deadline for bids is April 22, but the ministry admitted to Reuters that the delays would push any completion date for the US$1.1 billion airport back beyond 2018. It was originally intended for the airport to be ready by 2016 as Burma's existing airports struggle to cope with a mushrooming foreign tourism industry. Located near Pegu, 60 miles from Rangoon, the new airport is intended to be capable of handling up to 12 million passengers per year, compared with Rangoon International Airport, which today can process fewer than 3 million passengers. The problems being encountered in securing a developer for the Hanthawaddy airport underline the difficulty of attracting private foreign investment into large and expensive infrastructure projects, analysts note. In Burma's current political-economic climate, foreign investors are more inclined to opt for less complicated investments in consumer goods-related businesses, economist Sean Turnell told The Irrawaddy. "Consumer goods industries are a relatively known quantity, with brands and products for which there is a readily identifiable demand," he said. "[They] require much lower levels of capital." Big infrastructure projects like the airport, on the other hand, "need substantial commitments of capital, which may be scarce in this interim period between the old and new Burma," said Turnell, of Macquarie University in Australia and co-editor of the Burma Economic Watch. A Naypyidaw government official was quoted off the record by Reuters saying Burma is seeking Official Development Assistance (ODA) to help with the Hanthawaddy project. ODA involves loans and grants for developing economies from Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development countries, mostly European but including the United States, Japan and Australia. Earlier this month, the Asian Development Bank was quoted saying that a $2 million grant to "assist in the regulation and management of public private partnerships" was being awarded to Burma. The ADB has said there has been an erratic approach by the Burmese government to PPPs. "The government urgently needs to take control of this process to be confident that PPPs meet the country's needs," ADB adviser Grant Hauber was quoted by Myanmar Times. "Private sector involvement in [Burma's] development can help promote rapid growth, but projects must be set up and managed properly to ensure they're successful," said Hauber. It remains unclear why Naypyidaw ditched its deal on the Hanthawaddy project with Incheon, but another international economist, speaking on condition of anonymity, argued the high risks involved would have been a factor. "There are three sectors in which foreign investment requires extra attention and deep analysis—natural resource extraction, banking-finance, and infrastructure—for different reasons," the economist said. "Setting the first two aside, the reason for giving infrastructure investment extra attention is because, almost by definition, every private sector infrastructure investment is a form of public-private partnership and these PPPs are extremely difficult to structure successfully for several reasons. "The biggest reason is pricing. The investors always want their investment recovered quickly, which argues for high prices. The next biggest reason is time. Among all investment projects, the payback periods for infrastructure tend to be the longest. The longer the payback period the higher the risk for both the foreign investor and the government," said the economist, who has regularly visited Burma. Two other airport tenders were awarded alongside the Hanthawaddy preferred-bidder status in August. A consortium led by Japan's industrial conglomerate Mitsubishi was named as the preferred bidder to renovate, expand and operate Mandalay Airport. However, no details have been made public on a final agreement. Pioneer Aerodrome Services, linked with Burmese construction conglomerate Asia World, leads a partnership awarded a contract to expand Rangoon Airport to handle around 5.5 million passengers per year. The post Burma Infrastructure Projects 'At Risk' From Political Uncertainty appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine. | |
| Posted: 19 Mar 2014 09:52 PM PDT  Daw Yin Myo Su says a bright future for Inle Lake is possible. (Photo: Sai Zaw / The Irrawaddy) Daw Yin Myo Su is no Johnny-come-lately to the hospitality industry. As a young girl she performed traditional dances to entertain guests at an inn run by her family in Nyaung Shwe, a town near Inle Lake, and today she is managing director of two resorts: Inle Princess Resort, also near the Shan State lake, as well as Mrauk Oo Princess Resort in Rakhine State. But Daw Yin Myo Su, also known as Misuu, is a woman of many interests, with a reputation near the lake for founding the Inthar Heritage House, a center dedicated to preserving the ethnic Intha traditions of her ancestors. She is also the winner of the 2013 Goldman Sachs & Fortune Global Women Leaders Award. In a conversation with Irrawaddy senior reporter Kyaw Phyo Tha, she discussed environmental conservation and women's empowerment, and explained why she believes development should not come at the cost of local culture. Question: What's your vision for Inle Lake? Answer: I belong to the Intha tribe and had many sweet childhood memories at Inle Lake, so I'm very proud to come from this simple and warm Inle community. My vision is not that complicated. I believe I inherited the lake from my ancestors, so it's my responsibility to hand it over to the next generation just as I received it, but with some improvements, like in health and education. I understand nothing lasts forever but I don't want to give it up without a try. Q: Now tourists are rushing in. Will this help improve the lake and the lives of local people? A: So far it has generally had a positive impact on Inle people indirectly, by creating jobs as local guides, boat drivers and souvenir sellers. But there are no more than a dozen locally owned hotels and very few successful local entrepreneurs. With tourism booming, I think locals should see a good share of the benefit. If not, in the long term they will feel alienated. Q: Do you mean you oppose foreign investment or foreign-run hotels? A: No, I don't. You can even learn from them. Instead of seeing them as rivals, we have to compete with them by offering quality services to guests. At the same time, if they want to sustain their businesses, outside investors should take care of the local community. If Inle is no longer attractive to tourists, no one will come—no matter how much you invested. Of course we all need to make money, but you have to contribute to the community. Foreign investors are welcome. Show us a smart way to invest, teach us a smart way to work, be our model. Inspire us. Help us this way, and we will help you. It's a win-win situation. Q: How can local businesses stay competitive? A: Being a local is part of the brand—it's valuable. Being a local is attractive for tourists who want to visit our country because they really want to understand who we are or how we live. They don't come here to see something they can see in other countries. For them, something local is authentic. You have to be creative with your current assets to ensure the comfort of your clients. Plus you need to work as hard as foreigners. Don't be lazy, especially at this moment when everyone is interested in Myanmar. Q: What are you doing now? A: I'm working on the Inle Heritage Foundation to preserve the tangible and intangible heritage of Inle and its surroundings. I started with breeding Burmese cats at the Inthar Heritage House, and I also have an aquarium that conserves the endemic fish species of Inle Lake. Since last year we have run a hospitality vocational training center at the Inthar Heritage House for local young people, to help the community diversify their livelihoods and get a bigger share in the development of this industry. We are also running pilot projects on good agricultural practices and waste management for the lake. Q: Why did you go into the hospitality industry? A: Hospitality is in every Myanmar person's DNA. It is taken for granted in Shan State that even a stranger will have a cup of green tea when he drops by at a farmer's home. I feel great when I make someone happy. I want to help people. If guests tell me during checkout that they were satisfied with our service, I'm on cloud nine! That kind of happiness is beyond expression. Plus I get money from them. Don't you think it's good? This article was first published in the March 2013 print issue of The Irrawaddy magazine. The post 'Lady of the Lake' appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine. | |
| Official Confirms Burma By-Elections Due This Year Posted: 20 Mar 2014 04:10 AM PDT  Tin Aye, the chairman of Burma's Union Election Commission, addresses reporters at his office in Naypyidaw on March 28, 2012. (Photo: The Irrawaddy) A second by-election since reformist President Thein Sein took power three years ago will be held in Burma later this year to fill at least 30 vacant seats in the Union and state-level parliaments. Tin Aye, the chairman of the Union Election Commission (UEC), confirmed that the poll would be held in answer to a question from Phyo Min Thein, a lawmaker from the opposition National League for Democracy (NLD) party, during a parliamentary session on Thursday. Fellow lawmaker Phay Than told The Irrawaddy that "Chairman U Tin Aye did not say when it would be held, but they will announce it three months before the by-election date." "He said it will be done when the weather is good," added Phay Than, who also had asked about whether there were any plans to hold a by-election during a parliamentary session last year. At that time, the commission said it did not intend to hold by-elections before Burma's 2015 general election. Thaung Hlaing, the director of the Union Election Commission (UEC), told The Irrawaddy that this year's by-election would likely come after the rainy season concludes, which is generally in September or October. "We will announce beforehand, but right now we have the census [being conducted nationwide from March 30 to April 10] and then will come the rainy season, so we will hold it not until winter." The vacancies are for six seats in the national Parliament's Upper House, 13 constituencies in the Lower House and 11 seats in state and divisional parliaments, according to the UEC official. The empty seats are in the constituencies of 11 states and divisions—Kachin, Karen, Mon, Arakan, Chin and Shan states, and Mandalay, Sagaing, Rangoon, Irrawaddy and Tenessarim divisions. The seat vacancies are primarily the result of their former holders' moves to ministerial posts or departmental positions within government. A handful of other constituencies' representatives have died. Thaung Hlaing said the commission had decided to hold the by-election at the request of parliamentarians. Lawmakers had raised the issue with the UEC, pointing out that the constituencies in question would remain without a representative voice in the various legislatures for more than a year if by-elections were not held. Burma is slated to hold its next general election in 2015, presumably at some point in the second half of the year. On April 1, 2012, Burma held its first by-election since a 2010 general election that led to the selection of Thein Sein as the country's first nominally civilian head of state in 50 years. The NLD contested the 2012 poll, the first time it had participated in elections since it won a landslide victory in 1990 that was ignored by the military regime of the time. The country's main opposition party fared equally well in its 2012 campaign, taking 43 of 45 seats contested. The ruling Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) won one seat, as did the Shan Nationalities Democratic Party. The post Official Confirms Burma By-Elections Due This Year appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine. | |
| Can ASEAN Respond to the Chinese Challenge? Posted: 19 Mar 2014 11:38 PM PDT  Chinese naval soldiers stand guard on China's first aircraft carrier Liaoning, as it travels towards a military base in Sanya, Hainan province, in this undated picture made available on November 30, 2013. (Photo: Reuters) CANBERRA — China and the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations, ASEAN, resume consultations on the South China Sea in Singapore today. In theory, active work on a declaration and code of conduct for the South China Sea—the arena of conflicting territorial claims—should ease tensions, but the opposite may be true. On March 9 China took the unilateral step of blocking Philippines ships attempting to resupply marines on Second Thomas Shoal. Also, growing tension between China and Malaysia over the fruitless search for missing Malaysian flight MH307, carrying 239 people, including 154 Chinese, could further sour the meeting. The first round of consultations, in China in September, was under the umbrella of the Joint Working Group to Implement the Declaration on Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea, or DOC, and the first time that the group held preliminary discussions on a Code of Conduct in the South China Sea, or COC. Although consultations on the DOC and COC are proceeding in parallel, China insists that priority should be given to implementing the DOC. ASEAN would prefer separate consultations on the DOC and COC, with the latter raised from working group to senior-official level. ASEAN also advocates an "early harvest" approach on the COC—as soon as agreement is reached on one issue it should be implemented immediately, not waiting for agreement on the entire COC. ASEAN also would like the COC to be legally binding. In private, ASEAN diplomats state they would like the COC finalized before the end of 2015 when the ASEAN Political-Security Community comes into being. ASEAN faces at least two problems in its pursuit of a COC with China. First, although the DOC enjoins the parties "to exercise self-restraint in the conduct of activities that would complicate or escalate disputes and affect peace and stability," China has continually altered the status quo in its favor through unilateral actions. For example, in November, China announced its prerogative to establish an Air Defense Identification Zone over the South China Sea. Also that month, Hainan provincial authorities announced revisions to fishing regulations covering nearly 60 percent of the South China Sea including the exclusive economic zones of several claimant states. Under the revised regulations, foreign boats are required to seek prior permission before fishing in this area. In January, China commenced regular patrols to enforce these regulations; authorities report arrests of foreign fishing boats on a weekly basis. Chinese Coast Guard vessels took the unilateral step March 9 of blocking two Philippines ships attempting to resupply marines on Second Thomas Shoal. The Philippines was forced to resupply the marines by air. ASEAN diplomacy has failed to convince China to exercise self-restraint. The second problem for ASEAN in attempting to secure an agreement on a binding COC with China is maintaining unity during negotiations. Beneath ASEAN's veneer of diplomatic unity on South China Sea issues, individual members remain divided on how to pursue a binding COC. For example, domestic political tensions in Phnom Penh could result in Cambodia once again playing the spoiler role on South China Sea issues at China's behest. The Hun Sen government is beset by mass protests over its manipulation of national elections. China has shown signs of distancing itself from Hun Sen. Opposition leader Sam Rainsy , perhaps hoping to capitalize, has stated his belief that Chinese territorial claims in the South China Sea are valid. If Sam Rainsy should take office and endorse Chinese maritime claims, Cambodia would be the only ASEAN member country to do so The four ASEAN claimant states to the South China Sea hold differing views on the South China Sea. The Philippines broke ranks with ASEAN by unilaterally filing a claim with the United Nations asking for an Arbitral Tribunal to make a determination of its legal entitlements under the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea – without prior consultation with other ASEAN members. China privately lobbied other ASEAN members not to join the Philippines. The Arbitral Tribunal has been set up. The Philippines must submit its full statement of claims by March 30. Vietnam and Malaysia weighed the pros and cons of joining the Philippines, though appear to have adopted a wait-and-see attitude. Vietnam claims sovereignty over the Paracel Islands and would like this archipelago included in the COC's geographic scope. Other members of ASEAN view the Paracels as a bilateral matter between Beijing and Hanoi. In contrast to the Philippines, Vietnam has managed to keep the South China Sea dispute from affecting its overall bilateral relations with China. Malaysia and Brunei, the other claimant states, have studiously adopted a low public profile on the South China Sea. Chinese fishing boats regularly intrude into Malaysia's EEZ. Chinese paramilitary vessels, now rebadged as the China Coast Guard, regularly challenge vessels operated by Petronas, the state oil company, servicing off-shore rigs in Malaysia's EEZ. In 2013 and in January this year a People's Liberation Army Navy flotilla has travelled to James Shoal, 80 kilometers off the coast of East Malaysia and the southernmost point of China's nine-dash line claim to the South China Sea. Official Malaysian spokespersons incredulously denied knowledge of these events. Malaysian officials are aware of illegal Chinese fishing activities and other assertions of Chinese sovereignty in the exclusive economic zone. In 2013, for example, Malaysian diplomats privately briefed academics from an ASEAN think tank and told them that aerial photos confirmed that PLAN flotilla near James Shoal. This year, after Malaysian officials denied knowledge of the PLAN visit to James Shoal, the chief of the Malaysian Armed Forces confirmed the Chinese flotilla had been monitored as it "strayed into Malaysian waters… As long as it was an innocent passage, that is okay with us." Malaysian officials privately state that the "see nothing, know nothing" stance is dictated by Prime Minister Najib Razak who controls South China Sea policy and suppresses official statements critical of China. Yet a day after Malaysian the prime minister presented on the search for flight MH307 at a press conference, commentary in Xinhua, March 15, noted that the efforts were "either a dereliction of duty or reluctance to share information in a full and timely manner." The Philippines hosted the first ASEAN Claimants Working Group on February 18 in an effort to forge consensus among the states most concerned. In a blow to ASEAN consensus, Brunei failed to show. A month earlier, Brunei also declined to participate in a side meeting with three other claimant states at the ASEAN Foreign Ministers Retreat in Myanmar. One positive aspect of that meeting, according to observers, was that Malaysia played a more engaged role than previously. In the lead-up to the renewed ASEAN-China consultations, the United States has played a more proactive role in pressing China to bring its maritime territorial claims into accord with international law. The core members of ASEAN appear to be more unified than previously in pressing China to agree to cease unilateral actions that undermine regional security. China has already warned that no one should expect quick results. In remarks to the National People's Congress, Foreign Minister Wang Yi stated with respect to maritime disputes in the South China Sea, "China would like to carry out equal-footing consultation and negotiation and properly handle by peaceful means on the basis of respecting historical facts and international law. There will not be any change to this position." Wang added, "We will never bully smaller countries, yet we will never accept unreasonable demands from smaller countries." Carlyle A. Thayer is emeritus professor, The University of New South Wales at the Australian Defence Force Academy, Canberra. The post Can ASEAN Respond to the Chinese Challenge? appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine. | |
| China Says Uighur Militant’s Support of Knife Attack Proves Terror Posted: 19 Mar 2014 11:24 PM PDT  Blood is seen on the ground outside after a knife attack at Kunming railway station in Yunnan province on March 1, 2014. (Photo: Reuters) BEIJING — A Uighur militant leaders support of an attack this month in China in which 29 people were knifed to death is clear proof that the world should support China’s fight against terror, the foreign ministry said on Wednesday. Beijing blamed the stabbings at a train station in the southwestern city of Kunming on extremists from China’s far western region of Xinjiang, home to the Muslim Uighur people. Abdullah Mansour, leader of the rebel Turkestan Islamic Party, called the March 1 attack an "expensive offer" for China to reconsider its "cruel" policies in Xinjiang, the SITE monitoring service said late on Tuesday, citing a video by the group. "If the fighters of East Turkestan are now fighting with swords, knives, and mallets, our dear Allah will soon give us opportunities to fight the Chinese using automatic guns," Mansour said. "Know that blood of those who are killing themselves is not being spilled for nothing, for their blood will bring tens of more to carry out jihad." China says it faces a serious threat from armed groups who seek to establish an independent state called East Turkestan, and has reacted with anger to suggestions its policies are to blame for stoking Uighur resentment and violence. Mansour told Reuters this month that his fighters were gearing up for retribution against China. The Turkestan Islamic Party, which China equates with the East Turkestan Islamic Movement (ETIM), keeps a low profile in Pakistan, where it is holed up in a lawless tribal belt. Unlike the Taliban, it almost never posts videos promoting its activities or ideology. Its exact size is unknown and some experts dispute its ability to orchestrate attacks in China, or that it exists at all as a cohesive group. Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Hong Lei told reporters that Mansour’s video "exposes the true nature of their terrorist organization" with their open support for the Kunming attack. "Terrorism is the public enemy of mankind. Cracking down on the ETIM terrorist group is an important part of the international community’s fight against terrorism," Hong added. "We hope that the international community can clearly know their true terrorist nature of the TIP which represents ETIM and their serious threat, and understand and support China’s policies against terrorism." Xinjiang, resource-rich and strategically located on the borders of central Asia, has been beset by violence for years, blamed by the government on Islamist militants and separatists. Exiles and many rights groups say the real cause of the unrest is China’s heavy-handed policies including restrictions on Islam and the Uighur people’s culture and language. The government strongly denies such accusations but it has begun to recognize the economic roots of some of the upheaval, such as the lack of jobs in Uighur areas like rural southern Xinjiang, and it has poured money in to rectify the problem. In the latest plan, the government wants to increase to one million people the number of people working in Xinjiang’s textile industry by 2020, up from the current 200,000, as a way of drawing unemployed youths away from joining militants, the official China Daily said on Wednesday. More than 100 people, including several policemen, have been killed in violence in Xinjiang since last April, according to state media reports. The post China Says Uighur Militant’s Support of Knife Attack Proves Terror appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine. | |
| Australia Checking 2 Objects in Search for Plane Posted: 19 Mar 2014 10:44 PM PDT  A man watches a large screen showing different flights at the departure hall of Kuala Lumpur International Airport on March 13, 2014. (Photo: Reuters / Damir Sagolj) KUALA LUMPUR — Australia's prime minister said Thursday two objects possibly related to the missing Malaysia Airlines flight have been spotted on satellite imagery in the Indian Ocean and an air force aircraft was diverted to the area to try to locate them. The Orion aircraft was expected to arrive in the area Thursday afternoon, Prime Minister Tony Abbott told Parliament in Canberra. Three additional aircraft are expected to follow for a more intensive search, he said. But Abbott cautioned that the task of locating the objects will be extremely difficult and "it may turn out that they are not related to the search for flight MH370." He did not say where the objects were. Military planes from Australia, the United States and New Zealand were covering a search region over the southern Indian Ocean that was narrowed down on Wednesday from 600,000 square kilometers (232,000 square miles) to 305,000 square kilometers (117,000 square miles). The hunt for the Boeing 777 has been punctuated by several false leads since it disappeared March 8 above the Gulf of Thailand. Oil slicks that were spotted did not contain jet fuel. A yellow object thought to be from the plane turned out to be a piece of sea trash. Chinese satellite images showed possible plane debris, but nothing was found. But this is the first time that possible objects have been spotted since the search area was massively expanded into two corridors, one stretching from northern Thailand into Central Asia and the other from the Strait of Malacca down to southern reaches of the Indian Ocean. Abbott said he spoke to the prime minister of Malaysia, Najib Razak, about the latest developments. Australia's high commissioner to Malaysia, Rod Smith, joined a meeting of senior Malaysia search officials at a Kuala Lumpur hotel after Abbott's announcement. Smith did not respond to reporters' questions. Nearly two weeks after the plane went missing, the FBI has joined forces with Malaysian authorities in analyzing deleted data on a flight simulator belonging to the pilot of the missing jet. Files containing records of flight simulations were deleted Feb. 3 from the device found in the home of the pilot, Capt. Zaharie Ahmad Shah, Malaysian police chief Khalid Abu said. It was not clear whether investigators thought that deleting the files was unusual. They might hold hints of unusual flight paths that could help explain where the missing plane went, or the files could have been deleted simply to clear memory for other material. Defense Minister Hishammuddin Hussein told a news conference Wednesday that Zaharie is considered innocent until proven guilty. He said members of the pilot's family are cooperating in the investigation. Zaharie was known to some within the online world of flight simulation enthusiasts. A US official, speaking on condition of anonymity because the official was not authorized to discuss the ongoing investigation by name, said the FBI has been asked to analyze the deleted simulator files. US Attorney General Eric Holder said in Washington that the FBI was working with Malaysian authorities. "At this point, I don't think we have any theories," he said. Flight 370 disappeared March 8 on a night flight from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing. Malaysian authorities have not ruled out any possible explanation, but have said the evidence so far suggests the flight was deliberately turned back across Malaysia to the Strait of Malacca, with its communications systems disabled. They are unsure what happened next. Investigators have identified two giant arcs of territory spanning the possible positions of the plane about 7½ hours after takeoff, based on its last faint signal to a satellite—an hourly "handshake" signal that continues even when communications are switched off. The arcs stretch up as far as Kazakhstan in central Asia and down deep into the southern Indian Ocean. Police are considering the possibility of hijacking, sabotage, terrorism or issues related to the mental health of the pilots or anyone else on board, and have asked for background checks from abroad on all foreign passengers. Gelineau reported from Sydney, Australia. Associated Press writers Eric Tucker in Washington, Rod McGuirk, Satish Cheney in Kuala Lumpur, Niniek Karmini in Jakarta, Indonesia, and Kristen Gelineau in Sydney, Australia, contributed to this report. The post Australia Checking 2 Objects in Search for Plane appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine. | |
| UN Chief Concerned at China Activist’s Death Posted: 19 Mar 2014 10:21 PM PDT 
UNITED NATIONS — UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon joined the United States, the European Union and human rights groups Wednesday in expressing concern at last week's death of a detained Chinese human rights activist in a Beijing hospital. Last month, Human Rights in China quoted Cao Shunli's lawyer as saying she suffered from tuberculosis, liver disease and other conditions and was not receiving proper medical treatment. China's Foreign Ministry has denied that she died because of lack of medical care. UN deputy spokesman Farhan Haq said Ban shares the "deep concern" of human rights chief Navi Pillay that Cao was detained for seeking to allow the public to contribute to a report reviewing human rights in China for the UN Human Rights Council and was saddened at her death Friday. Cao, a human rights lawyer, staged a two-month sit-in with other activists outside China's Foreign Ministry in Beijing and was detained on Sept. 14 as she tried to leave for Geneva to attend a UN session for human rights advocates. She was formally arrested in October on suspicion of "picking quarrels and provoking troubles" and was held in a detention center until she was transferred to a hospital in critical condition on Feb. 19. Her death was raised Tuesday at the Human Rights Council in Geneva by the US, the EU, and a group of UN human rights experts. Pillay's office said Cao's initial disappearance, arbitrary detention, failing health and denial of medical care were brought to the attention of the UN experts who issued a statement on Oct. 16 expressing alarm. "A formal response from the Chinese authorities indicating that she had no serious health problems and had access to medical care was questioned by the experts" the UN rights office said. The experts urged Chinese authorities to investigate the circumstances leading to Cao's death promptly. "The death of Ms. Cao is a tragic example of the results of criminalization of the activities of human rights defenders in China and reprisals against them," the experts said in a statement. "It is unacceptable that civil society activists pay the ultimate price for peaceful and legitimate interaction with the United Nations and its human rights mechanisms." US State Department spokesman Jen Psaki said Saturday in a news release that the United States was "deeply disturbed" at reports of Cao's death and had repeatedly raised concerns about her detention and deteriorating health with Chinese authorities. The post UN Chief Concerned at China Activist's Death appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine. | |
| Family Anger Erupts as Malaysia Jet Search Appears Deadlocked Posted: 19 Mar 2014 10:10 PM PDT  A Chinese family member of a passenger onboard the missing Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 screams as she is being brought into a room outside the media conference area at a hotel near Kuala Lumpur International Airport March 19, 2014. (Photo: Reuters) KUALA LUMPUR — Chinese relatives' anger over sparse information on the fate of their loved ones on board a missing Malaysian airliner sparked chaotic scenes on Wednesday at the headquarters of an increasingly deadlocked search operation. Malaysia's transport minister ordered an inquiry after security guards carried out the distraught mother of a passenger on Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 from a briefing room where she had protested about a lack of transparency, 12 days after the plane vanished. "They are just saying wait for information. Wait for information. We don't know how long we have to wait," cried the woman before being whisked away from a massive media scrum. Minister Hishammuddin Hussein said he regretted the anguish. "Malaysia is doing everything in its power to find MH370 and hopefully bring some degree of closure for those whose family members are missing," he said in a statement. Prospects that a 26-nation operation would lead to quick results appeared to be dwindling, however, as investigators confirmed they were focusing on the remote southern Indian Ocean after failing to find any traces of the jet further north. "Our top priority is being given to that area," Hishammuddin told the news conference, confirming an earlier Reuters report. No wreckage has been found from Flight MH370, which vanished from air traffic control screens off Malaysia's east coast at 1:21 a.m. local time on March 8 (1721 GMT March 7), less than an hour after taking off from Kuala Lumpur bound for Beijing. An unprecedented search for the Boeing 777-200ER is under way in two vast search "corridors": one arcing north overland from Laos towards the Caspian Sea, the other curving south across the Indian Ocean from west of Indonesia's Sumatra island to west of Australia. "The working assumption is that it went south, and furthermore that it went to the southern end of that corridor," said a source close to the investigation. The view is based on the lack of any evidence from countries along the northern corridor that the plane entered their airspace, and the failure to find any trace of wreckage in searches in the upper part of the southern corridor. Some sources involved in the investigation have voiced fears it could be drifting towards deadlock due to the reluctance of countries in the region to share militarily sensitive radar data that might shed new light on the direction the jet took. Two people familiar with the probe said the search had been hampered in some cases by delays over the paperwork needed to allow foreign maritime surveillance aircraft into territorial waters without a formal diplomatic request. "These are basically spy planes; that's what they were designed for," said one source close to the investigation, explaining the hesitance of some nations to give blanket permission for other countries to scour their waters. Hishammuddin confirmed that some assets that could be involved in the search were waiting for diplomatic clearance. "The search for MH370 involves diplomatic, technical and logistical challenges," he told the news conference, held in a Kuala Lumpur airport hotel that has served as a temporary crisis coordination centre and a base for dozens of news organizations. Malaysia has come under the spotlight for its handling of the crisis, but insists it is directing smoothly what it believes to be the largest peacetime search and rescue effort. China has called on Malaysia to speed up and expand the search operations during an episode that has tested relations between the peninsular nation and Asia's largest power. Never Found? Malaysian and US officials believe the aircraft was deliberately diverted perhaps thousands of miles off course, but an exhaustive background search of the passengers and crew aboard has not yielded anything that might explain why. If it did indeed end up in the southern Indian Ocean, one of the remotest places on Earth and also one of the deepest seas, it increases the chance it may never be found – and investigators may never know for sure what happened on board. Hishammuddin said the difficulty of searching such a huge expanse of ocean made the operation in the southern corridor "much more challenging". Officials believe that someone with detailed knowledge of both the Boeing 777 and commercial aviation navigation switched off two vital datalinks: the ACARS system, which relays maintenance data back to the ground, and the transponder, which enables the plane to be seen by civilian radar. The source close to the investigation said that it was thought "highly probable that ACARS was switched off prior to the final verbal message" received for the cockpit. That message, an informal "all right, good night" radioed to Malaysian air traffic controllers to acknowledge their handover of the plane to Vietnamese airspace, was believed to have been spoken by the co-pilot, the airline said earlier this week. Investigators piecing together patchy data from military radar and satellites believe that minutes later the plane turned sharply west, re-crossing the Malay Peninsula and following an established commercial route towards India. After that, ephemeral pings picked up by one commercial satellite suggest the aircraft flew on for at least six hours. The data from the satellite placed the plane somewhere in one of the two corridors when the final signal was sent at 8:11 a.m. Hishammuddin said the latest in a series of reported possible sightings of the plane, this time over the Maldives, had been investigated and had been determined to be untrue. Flight Simulator Data Deleted The methodical shutdown of the communications systems, together with the fact that the plane appeared to be following a planned course after turning back, have been interpreted as suggesting strongly that foul play, rather than some kind of technical failure, was behind the disappearance. Police have searched the homes of the 53-year-old pilot Zaharie Ahmad Shah and co-pilot Fariq Abdul Hamid, 27. Among the items taken were a flight simulator Zaharie had built in his home. Malaysia's police chief, Khalid Abu Bakar, said an examination of the flight simulator showed its data log had been cleared on Feb. 3. "The experts are looking at what are the logs that have been cleared," he told the news conference. U.S. and other security services have analysed passengers but have come up with no connections to terrorism or possible criminal motives, two sources close to the investigation said. Malaysian officials said all countries whose citizens were on the jet had run background checks except Ukraine and Russia. China has said there is no evidence that Chinese passengers, who made up over two-thirds of those on board, were involved in a hijack or act of sabotage. Australia is leading the search of the southern part of the southern corridor, with assistance from the US Navy. It has shrunk its search field based on satellite tracking data and analysis of weather and currents, but it still covers an area of 600,000 sq km (230,000 sq miles), roughly the size of Spain and Portugal. Because of its size, scale of human loss and sheer uncertainty over what happened, the airliner looks set to establish itself as one of the most baffling transportation incidents of all time. A breakthrough is still possible, experts say. Wreckage could be found, although the more time elapses since the aircraft's disappearance, the more it will be scattered. "It's a mystery and it may remain a mystery," said Elizabeth Quintalla of the Royal United Services Institute in London. The post Family Anger Erupts as Malaysia Jet Search Appears Deadlocked appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine. |
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