The Irrawaddy Magazine |
- Govt Neglecting Student Demands, Mandalay Protestors Say
- Ethnic MPs Select Aye Maung for Proposed Talks on Constitution
- Suu Kyi Woos Military Lawmakers Ahead of Talks on Constitution
- Attack on KIA a Setback for Nationwide Ceasefire, Negotiators Say
- Family Worried Over Soldier Held After Signing NLD Charter Petition
- Steam Train Service to Target Bagan’s Upmarket Tourists
- Permanent Residency for Exiles, Foreigners to Start Next Week
- Supreme Court Rejects Appeal of Unity Journalists
- How China’s Shadowy Agency Is Working to Absorb Taiwan
- Japan Eyes Military Aid to Spur Defense Exports, Build Security Ties
- Sexpartite: Playing to Whose Tune?
- New Thai Tourism Strategy: ‘I Hate Thailand’
- Poor and Besieged, Burma’s Arakanese Join Rohingya Exodus
| Govt Neglecting Student Demands, Mandalay Protestors Say Posted: 27 Nov 2014 03:58 AM PST  Students in Mandalay protested against the National Education Law on Thursday. (Photo: Teza Hlaing / The Irrawaddy) MANDALAY — Student activists here said authorities are neglecting the desires of students and teachers despite a sustained campaign of public protests against the controversial National Education Law. About 50 students from student unions of Mandalay, Sagaing, Monywa and Myingyan took to the streets of Burma's second biggest city again on Thursday and set up camp in front of City Hall, where they held an unauthorized demonstration against the education legislation. "The authorities are still neglecting our opinion on the National Education Law. We gathered here to create awareness. We will do these kinds of protests until our demands are met," said Swe Lin Tun, one of the protesting students. The students said they noted President Thein Sein's pledge to approve the formation of student unions, which the president made while meeting with divisional lawmakers in Rangoon on Wednesday. "In fact, we are not demanding only [the right] to form student unions. We are demanding the abolition of the centrally controlled education system," said Min Thwe Thit, who also participated in the protest and added that the president's promise alone would not guarantee student unions' legal existence. "The students have been treated like guinea pigs for more than 50 years under this outdated education system. How long will we continue with this system?" he said. The student activists were under tight police surveillance on Thursday, after protestors went forward with the planned demonstration despite not having obtained a permit from local authorities, as is required by law. Police initially prevented them from exiting the Eain Daw Yar Pagoda compound, the students' planned meeting point. They managed to convince police to let them proceed with the demonstration, after pleading with officers that the protest was for the good of their own children's education. Police eventually allowed the students to march to City Hall, where they set up a protest camp. A significant police presence remained at the venue on Thursday. Students wrapped up their protest with a march to Mandalay's famed Mahamuni temple, where 17 pro-independence leaders were martyred during the British colonial era. "We are protesting not just for us, but for every student, including their children. If they want to arrest us for doing something good for everyone, let them," said Ei Thinzar Maung. Beginning on Nov. 14, more than 300 representatives from students' organizations across the country staged a four-day protest in Rangoon against the National Education Law. Activists decided to suspend the protest after announcing a 60-day deadline for the government to respond to its criticisms of the law. The students have threatened to take the demonstrations nationwide if they do not hear back from education officials by then. A lack of university autonomy and the unclear legal status of student unions are among the complaints that students have put forward regarding the law. They also say their input and that of education experts was not solicited by parliamentarians. The National Education bill was signed into law in September. Bylaws for the legislation have yet to be drafted. The post Govt Neglecting Student Demands, Mandalay Protestors Say appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine. | |
| Ethnic MPs Select Aye Maung for Proposed Talks on Constitution Posted: 27 Nov 2014 03:53 AM PST  Aye Maung at Rangoon International Airport in February 2014 (Photo: JPaing / The Irrawaddy) Ethnic parliamentarians on Thursday voted for Arakanese lawmaker Aye Maung to represent them at a proposed six-member roundtable meeting on constitutional reform, but neither the president nor the commander-in-chief have yet indicated whether they will take part. On Tuesday, Burma's Parliament passed an urgent proposal requesting a meeting between President Thein Sein, speakers Shwe Mann and Khin Aung Myint, opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, Commander-in-Chief Snr-Gen Min Aung Hlaing and an ethnic representative. The proposed high-level talks, originally slated to take place on Friday, come one month since the government held a 14-member roundtable meeting in late October, led by President Thein Sein. Those discussions were broader in scope and did not result in any discernable progress. Pe Than, a Lower House representative of Myay Pone in Arakan State, said lawmakers had approved the proposal for high-level charter talks "because they have seen the deadlock in amending the 2008 Constitution." In mid-November, military representatives in Parliament signaled they would not support constitutional change and on Nov. 18, Parliament Speaker Shwe Mann said that any changes to the military-drafted charter could only be enacted after next year's general elections. Pe Than said that MPs believe a high-level meeting is the only way to create a platform for constitutional change, since any attempts to put amendments to a vote in parliament would be blocked by military and Union Solidarity and Development Party parliamentarians. Independent political commentator Yan Myo Thein told The Irrawaddy that key political players should meet to create an agenda for change. "The meeting should be started with just a few leaders from the government, the military, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and ethnic representatives. In this way, it would be more effective and then after they have established basic agreements, they could expand for wider participation." Pe Than said that Thursday's vote by ethnic lawmakers reflected their support for the talks. Five of 14 ethnic parliamentarians voted in favor of Aye Maung while Wa parliamentarian Sai Pao Nut polled second, with one less vote. The legislative sector's move seems less likely to win the support of the executive. Presidential spokesperson and information minister Ye Htut told The Irrawaddy that the proposal was "incomplete" and "not pragmatic" as it "left out other ethnic leaders and ethnic political parties." He questioned whether the single ethnic representative could effectively represent all ethnic nationalities at the meeting. Yan Myo Thein also suggested that ethnic representatives be drawn from outside the Parliament, including from ethnic armed groups. He said that the nomination of Aye Maung, who was put forward as a vice presidential candidate after the 2010 elections, was "politically suitable." Ye Htut did not indicate whether Thein Sein would join the talks, saying that he had not discussed the issue with the president. Aung San Suu Kyi and her party have long called for a sit-down between herself, the president, the military chief and the parliamentary speaker to discuss the issue of charter reform. On Tuesday, she told reporters that she did not oppose the parliament's latest proposal for talks. The post Ethnic MPs Select Aye Maung for Proposed Talks on Constitution appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine. | |
| Suu Kyi Woos Military Lawmakers Ahead of Talks on Constitution Posted: 27 Nov 2014 03:32 AM PST  Aung San Suu Kyi walks passed military MPs as she is about to take the admission oath in Burma's Parliament in 2012. (Photo: Reuters) RANGOON — Burmese opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi has invited military lawmakers to dinner in a bid to build ties ahead of a proposed summit on changing the Constitution, which bars her from the presidency, a senior member of her party said on Thursday. On Tuesday, parliament unanimously endorsed talks among Suu Kyi, President Thein Sein, the speakers of the two houses of parliament, military chief Gen. Min Aung Hlaing, and a member of a party representing an ethnic minority. On Thursday evening, Suu Kyi hopes to dine in the capital, Naypyidaw, with unelected military MPs who hold a quarter of parliamentary seats, said Nyan Win, a spokesman for her National League for Democracy Party (NLD). "It will be our first meeting with the military lawmakers," Nyan Win told Reuters. "We’re not going to talk about any serious matters, but I’m sure it will definitely promote mutual understanding." Mutual understanding has long been in short supply in Burma, which emerged in 2011 from 49 years of rule by military generals who unleashed bloody crackdowns on pro-democracy demonstrators and imprisoned political activists. Suu Kyi has endorsed reforms by the semi-civilian government of former general Thein Sein. She was famously pictured watching a military parade in Naypyidaw last year, alongside members of the previous junta that had kept her under house arrest for more than 15 years. But over the past year Suu Kyi, a Nobel Peace laureate, has been critical of the government, accusing it of stalling the reform process. Her party has gathered about 5 million signatures in support of a petition to amend the military-drafted Constitution to reduce the military’s role in politics. With just a few hours remaining before Thursday’s event at a hotel in the Burma capital, the military lawmakers had not responded to Suu Kyi’s overture. No date has been set for the proposed constitutional talks and they can only go ahead if Thein Sein and Min Aung Hlaing agree to take part, said Andrew McLeod, director of the Burma program at the law faculty of Oxford University. The talks would be "significant," he said, but warned against putting too much emphasis on them, especially in light of next year’s general election. "I don’t think anybody really thinks it’s feasible to have constitutional change before the election," he said. Military lawmakers could not immediately be reached for comment. The post Suu Kyi Woos Military Lawmakers Ahead of Talks on Constitution appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine. | |
| Attack on KIA a Setback for Nationwide Ceasefire, Negotiators Say Posted: 27 Nov 2014 03:02 AM PST  KIA sources have said 23 cadets were killed by artillery fire launched by the Burma Army on Wednesday, Nov. 19, 2014. (Photo: Jade Land Kachin / Facebook) CHIANG MAI, Thailand — The recent deadly attack on a Kachin rebel training school has been a significant setback for the nationwide ceasefire process and it seems unlikely that a breakthrough can be achieved before the end of the year, negotiators on both sides said on Thursday. "The attack is a big obstacle for the peace process," said Nai Hong Sar, the head of the Nationwide Ceasefire Coordination Team (NCCT), which represents an alliance of 16 ethnic armed groups that have been discussing a nationwide ceasefire agreement with the Burmese government and army. On Nov. 19, the Burma Army surprised cadets carrying out exercises when it fired several shells at a Kachin Independence Army (KIA) training school. Four Kachin commanders were injured, while 23 trainees were killed belonging to KIA allies, the All Burma Students' Democratic Front; Arakan Army; Chin National Front and Ta'ang National Liberation Army (TNLA). The army claimed it fired the shells into the grounds in response to a KIA attack on a road construction site, but the KIA denied it had carried out an attack. Nai Hong Sar was speaking after a meeting in Chiang Mai, northern Thailand, where the NCCT held discussions with the Myanmar Peace Center (MPC), a government-affiliated institute involved in ceasefire negotiations. He said he believed that there is only a small chance that the NCCT and the government can reach an agreement before the year's end, adding that a meeting between the NCCT and Minister Aung Min's Union Peace-making Work Committee planned in the days before Christmas would be an important moment to assess how fast the ceasefire process could move forward again. Hla Maung Shwe, a government advisor at the MPC, acknowledged that the attack on the KIA base had affected the ceasefire negotiations, but he still held out some hope that a breakthrough could occur at the upcoming meeting and lead to a nationwide ceasefire this year. "There will be some difficulties to move forward with the nationwide ceasefire agreement. But the nature of politics is like the tide; it goes up and down," he said. "Instead of highlighting this [attack on the KIA], it is important that we move forward to a political dialogue." The meeting in Chiang Mai did not result in any concrete agreements as the MPC plays an advisory role and has no authority to negotiate on behalf of the government and Burma Army. Observers at the meeting said the recent attack had damaged trust between both sides and that the ethnic groups—and especially the KIA, which is one of the largest armed groups and influential within the NCCT—were wary of the government and army's intentions, a situation that is likely to slow down the process. One observer, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said he believed that the Kachin rebels were preparing for the conflict to escalate again if no breakthrough in the ceasefire talks is reached soon. "One [road] is to going to political dialogue, and another one is to go back to war," he said. More than a dozen ethnic armed groups have signed bilateral ceasefires with the government since President Thein Sein's nominally-civilian administration took office in 2011, but attempts to reach a comprehensive nationwide ceasefire hit a deadlock in recent months. Bouts of deadly fighting between the army and the KIA and TNLA have occurred frequently in northern Burma in recent months. The KIA and the Burma Army fought an at times intense war in northern Burma's Kachin and northern Shan states since a 17-year-old ceasefire broke down in June 2011. Fighting peaked in late 2012 and early 2013, but quieted down in February 2013 when the first rounds of bilateral ceasefire talks began. These have, however, not led to an agreement and the KIA and the TNLA are the only groups that have no agreement with the government. The post Attack on KIA a Setback for Nationwide Ceasefire, Negotiators Say appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine. | |
| Family Worried Over Soldier Held After Signing NLD Charter Petition Posted: 27 Nov 2014 02:36 AM PST  An image of Maj. Kyaw Swar Win, in which he appears to be signing a pro-constitutional amendment petition in Pyin Oo Lwin, went viral online. RANGOON — The family of an army officer facing a military tribunal, allegedly for signing a petition in favor of amending Burma's Constitution, remains unable to see him nearly eight months after he was detained. Maj. Kyaw Swar Win has been in military custody since early April after he was photographed signing what appears to be a pro-amendment petition circulated by the National League for Democracy (NLD) party. A military court is handling the case and it is believed that a verdict is pending "instructions from above," people close to the defendant's family suggested. "He is still in military prison. None of his family members are allowed to see him. We heard he is in good health, however," said a man close to the defendant's family on condition of anonymity. "Since his arrest made headlines, no one has been allowed to see him until now. According to military law, the maximum detention period is six months and it is likely that he will be given some punishment in the next month at the instruction of higher-ups," he added. Dressed in his military uniform, the major is pictured with pen in hand at a table in Pyin Oo Lwin, Mandalay Division, where campaigners were collecting signatures for the constitutional amendment petition. He was arrested the same day. A family member of Kyaw Swar Win said: "He signed the petition at the request of his friend who is an NLD member, in front of the Pyin Oo Lwin market. He did not know exactly what the petition was, but then his photo went viral on the Internet and he was summoned by the military immediately and put in prison." The petition by the NLD, which garnered nearly 5 million signatures nationwide, calls for changing the 2008 Constitution's Article 436, a provision that gives military members of Parliament an effective veto over amendments to most of the charter. Kyaw Swar Win is a graduate of the second intake of the Defense Services Technological Academy. He had been assigned to an engineering unit in Pyin Oo Lwin when he was arrested in April. "The military spread news that he was arrested because he released a corporal who deserted from his unit as troop commander in Arakan State, but in fact, he was charged for signing the charter amendment petition. Disciplinary action had already been taken against him for that case in Arakan State in July last year," said a family member of the major. Though the military has denied that Kyaw Swar Win was arrested in connection with his signing of the petition, the interrogation focused on the incident captured in the viral photograph, according to a military man from Pyin Oo Lwin who did not want to be named. The major is believed to face the charge of "breach of military discipline," he said. Bo Kyi, a joint secretary of the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP), said that like the family, his organization has not been able to contact the major. "We don't know the details about him, as we could not reach him since his arrest. If he was detained for signing the charter amendment petition, we would recognize him as a political prisoner," Bo Kyi said, adding that Kyaw Swar Win was not yet on the AAPP's list of 27 political prisoners who remain behind bars. Additional reporting by Nyein Nyein. The post Family Worried Over Soldier Held After Signing NLD Charter Petition appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine. | |
| Steam Train Service to Target Bagan’s Upmarket Tourists Posted: 27 Nov 2014 02:30 AM PST  The steam train that will operate between Bagan and Kyaukpadaung from Dec. 16. (Photo: Sai Zaw / The Irrawaddy) RANGOON — A vintage steam train will start operations between Bagan and Kyaukpadaung in Mandalay Division next month, seeking to cash in on the expansion of Burma's boutique tourism sector. Running each Tuesday from its inaugural service on Dec. 16, the 110-kilometer (78-mile) return journey will cost a staggering US$250 per ticket, pricing out all but the most dedicated rail fans. The train will take up to 120 passengers at a time and will, understandably, be pitched at high-end foreign tourists. "I am not only seeking business success but also the improvement of the tourism industry," said Zaw Weik, director of Bright View Steam Locomotive Tours. "I want the historical record to show that we have had a steam train run in Bagan." Included in the price is a short educative stop in a local village, meals and transportation by car to and from nearby Mount Popa once passengers alight at Kyaukpadaung. A typical return journey from Bagan to Mount Popa by private taxi costs 35,000 kyats (US$34). Zaw Win Cho, president of the Bagan Tourist Guide Organization, told The Irrawaddy that the locomotive would be a popular draw card despite the ticket price. "I think the cost is high, but wealthy package tourists will ride it," he said. "There is a one hour hot air balloon ride here that costs US$360, but tourists still ride it." Zaw Weik defended the ticket cost, saying it was a reflection of high operating and maintenance costs for the locomotive. There have been 240,000 visitors to Bagan so far in 2014, compared to fewer than 200,000 visitors for the whole of last year, according to Zaw Win Cho. The post Steam Train Service to Target Bagan's Upmarket Tourists appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine. | |
| Permanent Residency for Exiles, Foreigners to Start Next Week Posted: 27 Nov 2014 01:55 AM PST  Minister for Immigration and Population U Khin Yi. (Photo: J Paing / The Irrawaddy) RANGOON — Foreigners who have resided in Burma for more than one year will be able to apply for permanent residency from Dec. 5, according to the Ministry for Immigration and Population. Details will soon be announced about the entitlements and tax obligations of permanent residents. Former Burmese citizens and foreign investors will be treated separately in their permanent residency application, according to Than Naing Tun, director of the ministry. "[Foreigners] can't apply permanent residency at once, but only after one year they live here with the proving document," he said. "Former Burmese citizens who have taken another nationality will be given more entitlements. They will also be charged less in permanent residency applications." Though a general agreement has been reached about the tax rate to be levied on potential permanent residents, it has yet to be confirmed in detail, an officer from the Internal Revenue Department of the Ministry of Finance told The Irrawaddy this week. Under the policy, foreign investors will be charged US$500 each to apply for permanent residency. "Foreigners will be charged $500 per head. We'll charge less for their children, depending on their age," the Finance Ministry official said. "If Burmese exiles want to come back, they will be charged half." The permanent residency systems of Asean countries and some European countries were studied to develop a model suitable for Burma, said Immigration and Population Minister Khin Yi. According to the proposal, the initial residency period is five years and applicants can extend year by year after the initial period expires. "We'll officially launch the system on December 5. For the time being, we are preparing to issue a by-law," said Than Naing Tun. Than Naing Tun said that the permanent residency policy is aimed at wooing more foreign investment and promoting national reconciliation. He added that the ministry decided to grant permanent residency only to those who had lived in the country for more than one year for fear that a more lax system would open the door to members of international criminal gangs. "Foreigners from any country can apply for permanent residency, but we have contacted Interpol for security and we won't allow applications from those who are on Interpol's list," he said. A team comprised of 11 ministers and headed by vice-president Nyan Tun will oversee the scrutinizing of permanent residency applicants, according to the Immigration and Population Ministry. The invitation for permanent residency application will be posted on the ministry's website. The post Permanent Residency for Exiles, Foreigners to Start Next Week appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine. | |
| Supreme Court Rejects Appeal of Unity Journalists Posted: 26 Nov 2014 10:56 PM PST  Unity journalist Lu Maw Naing (L) and the paper's CEO Tint San on their way to Pakkoku Township Court in July. (Photo: Citizen Journalist) RANGOON — Burma's Supreme Court on Wednesday rejected an appeal by four journalists and the CEO of the defunct Unity journal, who are serving a sentence of seven years in prison with hard labor, the lawyer of the journalists said. Robert San Aung said journalists Lu Maw Naing, 28, Sithu Soe, 22, The Yazar Oo, 28, and Aung Thura, 25, had appealed for full acquittal by the Supreme Court in the capital Naypyidaw on Oct. 4, adding that the CEO Tint San, 52, who is represented by a different lawyer, had appealed to have his sentence reduced to five years in prison. "The court dismissed the appeal of the journalists yesterday at 3 pm, and also dismissed the appeal of the CEO," he said. Robert San Aung said he would now file an appeal by special leave—the last appeal option for a defendant with the Supreme Court—on behalf of the four journalists. "We will try again for the journalists to get full acquittal, but if the special leave appeal is rejected then there are no more [legal] options," he said. Robert San Aung said the Supreme Court had been wrong to reject the appeal, adding that the courts should not have sentenced them and accepted charges that his clients had violated the colonial-era State Secrets Act. "This is an issue related to human rights because journalists have the right to report and write freely—they are not guilty," he said. On July 10, a Pakokku Township Court sentenced the journalists and the CEO to 10 years imprisonment with hard labor under State Secrets Act for reporting allegations that a Burma Army facility in Magwe Division was being used to manufacture chemical weapons. The President's Office initiated the case against the journalists after the Unity journal published a front-page story about the facility. On Oct. 2, the Magwe Divisional Court reduced the sentence of the five men from 10 to 7 years' imprisonment with hard labor following an appeal by the defendants. The five men are currently being held at Pakokku Prison. The harsh sentencing of the Unity journalists outraged the Burmese media and rights activists, and has given rise to concerns over a worsening of media freedom under the Thein Sein government, which has initiated a number of criminal cases against several media organizations in the past year and passed controversial media laws. The post Supreme Court Rejects Appeal of Unity Journalists appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine. | |
| How China’s Shadowy Agency Is Working to Absorb Taiwan Posted: 26 Nov 2014 10:49 PM PST  Taiwan's envoy to the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation forum Vincent Siew, left, shakes hands with China's President Xi Jinping during a welcoming ceremony in Beijing on Nov. 11, 2014. (Photo: Reuters) TAIPEI / HONG KONG — Ever since a civil war split the two sides more than 60 years ago, China has viewed Taiwan as a renegade province that needs to be absorbed into the mainland. To that end, the legion of Taiwanese businessmen working in China is a beachhead. In June, hundreds of those businessmen gathered in a hotel ballroom in the southern Chinese city of Shenzhen. They were there to toast the new head of a local Taiwan merchants' association. They sipped baijiu liquor and ate seafood as a troupe performed a traditional lion dance for good luck. An honored guest, senior Communist Party official Li Jiafan, stood to deliver congratulations and a message. "I urge our Taiwanese friends to continue to work hard in your fields to contribute to the realization of the Chinese dream as soon as possible," said Li, using a nationalist slogan President Xi Jinping has popularized. "The Chinese dream is also the dream of the people on both sides of the Taiwan Strait—our dream of reunification." Li, who ended his speech to beating drums and loud applause, is a department chief in the Shenzhen arm of the United Front Work Department, an organ of the Communist Party's Central Committee. Its mission: to spread China's influence by ultimately gaining control over a range of groups not affiliated with the party and that are often outside the mainland. United Front documents reviewed by Reuters, including annual reports, instructional handbooks and internal newsletters, as well as interviews with Chinese and Taiwanese officials reveal the extent to which the agency is engaged in a concerted campaign to thwart any move toward greater independence by Taiwan and ultimately swallow up the self-ruled island of 23 million. The United Front's 2013 annual work report for the Chinese province of Zhejiang, for instance, includes the number of Taiwanese living in the province, the number of businesses they run as well as an entry on background checks that have been conducted on the Taiwanese community in the province, an entrepreneurial hub near Shanghai. The United Front hasn't confined itself to the mainland. It is targeting academics, students, war veterans, doctors and local leaders in Taiwan in an attempt to soften opposition to the Communist Party and ultimately build support for unification. The 2013 work report, reviewed by Reuters, includes details of a program to bring Taiwanese students and military veterans on visits to the mainland. Influencing Politics Through the United Front and other Chinese state bodies like the Taiwan Affairs Office, which is responsible for implementing policies toward Taiwan on issues including trade and transport, Beijing has also tried to influence politics on the island, in part by helping mobilize Taiwanese businessmen on the mainland. Many of them are heading back home this weekend to vote in mayoral elections that are being viewed as a barometer of support for Taiwan's ruling Nationalist Party, or Kuomintang (KMT), which favors closer ties with China than does the pro-independence Democratic Progressive Party (DPP). A large number of those businessmen, who a senior KMT source said will largely vote for the party, will be flying on deeply discounted airfares being offered by Chinese and Taiwanese airline companies. "The goal is simple—peaceful unification," said a person with ties to the Chinese leadership in Beijing. Soft power, not armed force, is the strategy. "To attack the heart is the best. To attack a city is the worst," the source said, quoting Sun Tzu's "Art of War." Questions sent by fax to the Beijing office of the United Front Work Department were not answered. The Chinese government's Taiwan Affairs Office referred Reuters to a statement on its website saying it does not comment on elections on "the island." What's happening in Taiwan is part of a broader effort by Beijing to bolster its control over restive territories on its periphery. The United Front has long been active in Hong Kong, which is ruled under the "one country, two systems" model that enshrines a wide range of personal freedoms for its residents and which China's leaders have proposed as a model for Taiwan. Reuters reported in July that United Front operations in Hong Kong had shifted from the backroom courting of academics and businessmen to the streets, where new groups of pro-Beijing agitators were attempting to silence critics of China. "What the United Front is doing to Taiwan now is the same as what it has been doing in Hong Kong since the 1980s—a quiet, slow but extensive penetration," said Sonny Lo, a professor at the Hong Kong Institute of Education and author of a book on China's covert control of the city. Unlike Hong Kong, Taiwan is a fully democratic entity. It has an army but does not have membership in the United Nations, and China has refused to rule out the use of force to gain control of the island. Since the KMT won the presidential election in 2008, cross-Strait ties have been warmer than ever. More than 20 trade deals, including the establishment of the first direct flights between Taiwan and the mainland, have been inked. No trade agreements were signed under the previous DPP-led administration. Earlier this year, Chinese and Taiwanese officials held their first official meeting since 1949. Taiwan's economy has become increasingly intertwined with China's. About 40 percent of Taiwan's exports are to China and some key sectors like technology have much of their manufacturing on the mainland. The world's biggest electronic components maker, Foxconn Technology Group, which assembles Apple Inc's iPhones, has many of its plants in China. Taiwan presidential spokesperson Ma Weikuo said Taiwanese heading home to vote were exercising their right as citizens. "It is normal that Taiwanese businessmen living in Hong Kong, Macau, mainland China, Europe, Japan and other parts of the world want to return to Taiwan to vote," she said. Prized Honor The United Front's annual work reports and handbooks provide a window into the agency's methods. It has at least 100 offices in Zhejiang. The 2013 work report said 30,000 Taiwanese businesspeople and their families were living in the province and 6,800 Taiwanese enterprises had operations there at the end of 2012. United Front officials reported creating a more friendly business environment by helping to smooth investment problems and resolve legal disputes for resident Taiwanese. In the Zhejiang city of Ningbo, one United Front office said it spent 110,000 yuan (about US$18,000) to buy life and traffic accident insurance for 137 Taiwanese businessmen. Under a "three must visit" system in effect across the mainland, United Front officials are instructed to visit Taiwanese businesspeople and their families during traditional holidays, when a family member is ill and when someone is facing economic troubles. "They help with our business as well as little problems in daily life such as car accidents, illness and schooling for kids," said a Taiwanese man surnamed Lin, who works in the property sector in Changsha, the capital of Hunan Province. One enticement China has dangled in front of the Taiwanese business community residing on the mainland is provincial and municipal membership in the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), which serves as an advisor to the government. It is a prized honor for businessmen whose livelihoods are directly dependent on the mainland. The position affords access to government officials and a form of protection in a country that lacks an independent judicial system. "There will be a force that helps protect your business on the mainland," said Lin. "They won't make trouble if you are a CPPCC member." Holding CPPCC membership is a violation of Taiwanese law that bars citizens from taking positions in state or party bodies in China. It is, however, legal to be an honorary, non-voting CPPCC member. The Association of Taiwan Investment Enterprises on the Mainland (ATIEM), which lists some 130 Taiwanese business associations across China as members, met with Taiwanese President Ma Ying-jeou in December 2012 to try changing that. Their bid to persuade him to allow Taiwanese citizens to become full-fledged CPPCC members ultimately failed. Taiwan's Mainland Affairs Council announced that same month that Taiwanese could not sit on the CPPCC. Earlier in 2012, Taiwan's National Security Bureau had handed a list of 169 Taiwanese suspected of being CPPCC members to the island's Mainland Affairs Council, which implements policy toward China on a wide array of issues including business, shipping and travel. The council whittled the list down to 32. Ultimately, no one was punished after Taiwanese authorities determined those named were all either honorary CPPCC members or weren't holders of a Taiwanese passport. Far-Reaching Deals Taiwanese working on the mainland have actively lobbied for increased trade ties with China. ATIEM, the business lobby, lists some of Taiwan's largest companies as members on its website. Several of the group's founding members urged the Taiwanese government to sign far-reaching deals with China, arguing it would boost Taiwanese business on the mainland. They held meetings with Taiwan's Mainland Affairs Council to help lay the groundwork, a senior member of the organization told Reuters. Their efforts were rewarded when Taiwan signed trade deals in 2008 that for the first time allowed direct flights, shipping and mail links with the mainland. ATIEM hasn't always been on the winning side. In March, students occupied the Taiwan legislature in a bid to block passage of a deal that would have allowed for freer trade with China. The protests, dubbed the Sunflower Movement, fed off fears the pact would give China greater sway over Taiwan. The protest ended when parliament agreed to suspend a review of the bill. ATIEM did not respond to questions sent by email. Some Taiwanese officials warn against United Front encroachment. In late September, the head of Taiwan's Overseas Community Affairs Council, which handles matters related to citizens living overseas, told a parliamentary committee that the United Front was stepping up work among Taiwanese business leaders and younger Taiwanese on the mainland and abroad. "They are drawing the Taiwanese who are more receptive to China over to their side, exerting pressure on Taiwan's government and affecting its mainland policies," Alexander Huang, a former vice chairman of Taiwan's Mainland Affairs Council, which is responsible for ties with China, told Reuters. He didn't cite specific examples. Mainland Affairs Council spokesperson Wu Mei-hung said United Front activity shouldn't be interpreted in an "overly negative way." "China has some political intentions," she said. "But Taiwan has its own advantages in terms of systems, core values and soft power. All of these, we hope, will impact China via exchanges." The ruling KMT dismisses charges from the opposition DPP that it is benefitting from United Front activity. Kuei Hung-cheng, the KMT's director of China affairs, acknowledged the close relationship between Taiwanese businessmen on the mainland and the Chinese authorities, but said that did not mean Beijing held sway over the party. "The KMT will not be influenced or controlled by the Chinese Communist Party. That is not possible," he said. A Magic Tool The United Front is a legacy of the earliest days of Leninist communist revolutionary theory. China's version of the United Front, dubbed a "magic tool" on the agency's own website, helped the Communist Party become established on the mainland and ultimately prevail in a civil war that forced Chiang Kai-shek's Kuomintang (KMT) to retreat to Taiwan in 1949. The United Front has as its primary goal the promotion of "motherland unification" and blocking of "secession." A 2007 handbook for United Front workers in Beijing instructs cadres to "unite neutral forces in order to divide and attack enemies." It also directs them to "make friends extensively and deeply with representatives from all sectors" in Taiwan and abroad to "form a mighty troop of patriots." A senior Taiwanese defense official, who did not want to be named, referred to the United Front's tactics as a "war." The ultimate goal was "to overturn the Republic of China," he said, using Taiwan's official name. The front's activities haven't been confined to harnessing China-friendly forces. The southern Taiwanese city of Tainan, which is a bastion of the pro-independence DPP, has been singled out. One group in the city that has gotten special treatment is doctors, who have been invited on trips to the mainland, according to a 2011 work report from an organ associated with the United Front. The visits had "successfully enhanced identification with the motherland among some pro-green Taiwanese," the Taiwan Democratic Self-Government League, a nominally independent political group that is permitted to operate by the Communist Party, wrote in its report. Green is the color associated with the opposition DPP. Some politicians in Taiwan unabashedly favor unification. Among them is Chang An-lo, the head of a pro-unification party. Known as the White Wolf, Chang was once a leader in a triad group, a traditional Chinese criminal syndicate, called the Bamboo Union. He lived for a decade in China as a fugitive from the law in Taiwan but ultimately was never tried. He also spent 10 years behind bars in the United States on drug-smuggling charges. Sitting in his office in Taipei dressed in a white jacket and black shirt, Chang says he and his party have regular contact with Beijing's Taiwan Affairs Office and he has "friends in the United Front." The Chinese government, he says, has provided all-expenses paid trips for members of his party to the mainland. "Getting carrots from China is better than getting sticks," he says. Unspoken Consent The United Front and the Taiwan Affairs Office are also deeply involved in an activity that in Communist China is strictly prohibited: democratic electoral politics. Taiwanese businessmen based in Shenzhen and Shanghai told Reuters they have been encouraged by United Front officials to head home to vote in past elections. This year, the stakes are high for Beijing. The Democratic Progressive Party champions independence. The ruling KMT government backs a status quo position of "no unification, no independence, no war." Election airlifts helped the KMT to victory in 2008 and 2012. Close to a quarter million Taiwanese residents on the mainland headed home to vote in the 2012 presidential election, according to a senior member of the ruling party who estimates there are about one million Taiwanese working and living in China. As many as 80 percent voted for KMT leader Ma, who won a second term promising closer ties with Beijing, the official said, citing an internal survey. This year, the airlift may not be enough to turn the tide in the most important mayoral run-off— in Taipei. Final opinion polls published by Taiwan's leading media outlets showed the KMT's candidate trailing an independent by 11.5 to 18 points. A victory for the independent would mark the first time in 16 years that the KMT has not ruled the capital. But Beijing isn't giving up. More than a dozen airlines, including state-owned Air China and Taiwan's largest carrier China Airlines, have agreed to provide discounted flights from the mainland to Taiwan at the end of November, according to a notice sent to members by ATIEM. The Beijing-based organization lists the Chinese minister in charge of the Taiwan Affairs Office as an honorary chairman on its website. A senior official at Taiwan's China Airlines told Reuters that "with tickets selling at 50 percent off, airlines will incur losses." But the carrier would nevertheless "100 percent meet the demand from Taiwanese businessmen." China Airlines spokesman Jeffrey Kuo said the company was offering "promotional tickets for all flights" because November was "the low season." Air China did not respond to questions sent by fax and email to its Beijing office. China's Taiwan Affairs Office said it was aware that Taiwanese businessmen wanted to vote in the elections. ATIEM had negotiated with airline companies to allow them to fly home, it said. He-tai Chen, president of the Taiwan Merchant Association in Shenzhen, said the Taiwanese business community on the mainland was "China's best public relations tool." "There are 7 to 8 votes in my family," he said. "And am I not the one who decides to whom those votes go?" The United Front has also been working to penetrate other layers of Taiwanese society. As part of an operation called "Collecting Stars," it has targeted military veterans in Taiwan, inviting them to China for visits. In May 2012, retired Taiwanese and mainland generals who were once sworn enemies met for an invitational golf tournament in Zhejiang, United Front documents show. Outreach to students takes the form of summer camps, corporate internships and discover-your-roots tours to the mainland. Tsai Ting Yu, a 15-year-old junior high school student who joined a trip in 2013 and in 2014, said she attended classes with her mainland hosts and visited popular tourist sites, including the Great Wall and the Forbidden City. "Before the trips, I kind of resisted the idea of China. But through the programs I got to know them better and that resistance gradually disappeared," said Tsai. She says she is now considering doing an undergraduate degree on the mainland. The post How China's Shadowy Agency Is Working to Absorb Taiwan appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine. | |
| Japan Eyes Military Aid to Spur Defense Exports, Build Security Ties Posted: 26 Nov 2014 09:18 PM PST  Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe (L) reviews members of Japan Self-Defense Force during an Air Review to celebrate 60 years since the service’s founding at Hyakuri air base in Omitama, northeast of Tokyo Oct. 26, 2014. (Photo: Reuters) TOKYO — Japan is considering creating a government-backed financing arm for weapons exports, a move that would accelerate Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s shift away from the country’s pacifist past and strengthen Tokyo’s regional security ties as China’s military power grows. As a first step, the government plans to convene an advisory panel to consider specific proposals to create a way to finance military sales by Japanese firms and fund defense industry cooperation abroad, four people involved told Reuters. One possibility to be considered is for a government-backed body to provide concessional financing for military projects modelled on the self-financing Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC) and the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), said the people involved. They asked not to be identified because of the sensitivity of talks on a move that would likely upset China, where memories of Japan’s wartime past run deep and which has already criticized Abe’s decision in April to end a decades-old ban on arms exports. Japan’s Defense Ministry declined to comment. "We are considering a number of options in regard to defense equipment, but as of yet, nothing has been decided," a spokesman said in response to a question from Reuters. Abe dissolved parliament last week and called lower house elections for Dec. 14, which his Liberal Democratic Party and its coalition partner are expected to win. The advisory panel would meet after the election. It would comprise about 10 members, including a legal and a banking expert as well as academics and defense industry executives, people involved said. "The panel will look at everything from finance to finding deals, the negotiating process and maintenance and support," one of the sources said. JBIC issues its own bonds to finance energy projects. Overseen by the Finance Ministry it also helps Japanese industrial firms expand abroad by providing loans for overseas customers to buy Japanese machinery. JICA is the Foreign Ministry’s main conduit for dispersing much of the nation’s $17 billion in annual overseas development aid. The agency builds schools and hospitals and finances agriculture and health projects, with Japanese engineers, nurses and other experts often involved. Other ideas under consideration include adding a financing arm to a defence procurement agency planned for next year or to expand JBIC’s remit to cover military projects. Kawasaki Heavy Industries, which builds aircraft and submarines, last year told Reuters it had approached JBIC about possibly financing foreign sales of a civilian version of its C-2 military transport plane. Submarines to Seaplanes A number of potential deals under discussion in recent months could benefit from concessional financing from Tokyo. They include a possible sale of state-of-the-art submarines to Australia, US-2 patrol seaplanes to India and the development in Japan with foreign companies of a troop carrying helicopter. Defense bureaucrats are also looking at joint development projects with Southeast Asia that would build military industrial ties that in turn would strengthen security cooperation and act as a counterweight to China. Such officials have already travelled to Indonesia and Malaysia to assess the potential for deals, the sources added. Abe’s government in September also invited representatives from the region to a seminar in Tokyo to promote defense industry cooperation. The diplomats were taken to a shipyard near Tokyo building minesweepers, according to one of the delegates who spoke to Reuters. Despite the enthusiasm from Abe’s government, many Japanese corporations have been reluctant to push into overseas deals for weapons systems, people involved say. Mitsubishi Heavy Industries at the start of the year entered a tentative agreement to build a rear fuselage component for Britain’s BAE Systems, one of the companies building the Lockheed Martin Corp F-35 stealth fighter. Talks, however, collapsed because the Japanese firm was worried about potential losses on a tightly priced deal without government backing. In Japan’s highly fractured defense industry, few companies rely on military sales for more than a few percent of income and firms that make military equipment rarely publicize such business lines. Among them: ball-bearing maker Minebea also makes 9 millimeter pistols. Daikin Industries, a leading maker of air conditioners also fabricates rifle grenades, and Komatsu Ltd, which sells its yellow excavators around the world, builds armored vehicles. "It’s not up to us to promote our defense business, the government has to decide what it wants to do, and it has to be something that Japanese citizens are comfortable with," Hideaki Omiya, chairman of Mitsubishi Heavy, told Reuters in October. "We are not proactively going overseas to sell our products." The post Japan Eyes Military Aid to Spur Defense Exports, Build Security Ties appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine. | |
| Sexpartite: Playing to Whose Tune? Posted: 26 Nov 2014 09:06 PM PST  Playing to whose tune? The post Sexpartite: Playing to Whose Tune? appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine. | |
| New Thai Tourism Strategy: ‘I Hate Thailand’ Posted: 26 Nov 2014 08:59 PM PST  Thai soldiers patrol around the Democracy Monument as tourists walk beside in Bangkok. (Photo: Chaiwat Subprasom / Reuters) BANGKOK — It’s been a bad year for tourism in Thailand, and at first glance it looked like a new YouTube video was adding to the misery. The video called "I Hate Thailand" drew more than 1 million views within days of being posted last week. But it turned out the clip was produced by Thailand’s tourism authority, using a counterintuitive strategy to attract tourists after the country’s image was battered by a military coup in May and the brutal murders of two British tourists on an idyllic beach in September. The 5-minute video shows an angry British tourist on a beach. He introduces himself as James and says his bag was stolen: "I hate this place. I hate Thailand," he tells a handheld camera. After mouthing off to a policeman, he meets an attractive Thai woman and finds reasons to like Thailand. In the end, the unshaven, bare-chested foreigner cleans up, puts on clothes, befriends the locals and gets his bag back — wallet, passport and all. Several Thai newspapers reported the video as a real news item last week, prompting the Tourism Authority of Thailand to issue a press release Monday saying it was behind what it called the “romantic-comedy short film.” "There’s been much hype and speculation following the release of the I Hate Thailand video," TAT Governor Thawatchai Arunyik is quoted as saying. "The intention of this video is solely to depict the renowned Thai hospitality." The tourism authority said it was inspired by research showing that "unbranded" advertisements tend to receive more interest than conventional commercials. The video, which bears no indication of being funded by the Thai government, was posted on a YouTube account that also gave no clue of ties to officialdom. The strategy is part of a massive campaign to restore Thailand’s battered image overseas and revive tourism, which accounts for about seven percent of the economy. The tourism authority has forecast that tourist arrivals for 2014 will drop for the first time in years, after a record year in 2013 when 26.7 million visitors came to Thailand. The post New Thai Tourism Strategy: ‘I Hate Thailand’ appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine. | |
| Poor and Besieged, Burma’s Arakanese Join Rohingya Exodus Posted: 26 Nov 2014 08:51 PM PST  Hla Tun Oo, 30, a ethnic Arakanese, is pictured in Maw Ya Waddy village near Maungdaw town in northern Arakan State November 10, 2014. (Photo: Reuters) MAUNGDAW — For years, tens of thousands of Rohingya Muslim boat people have fled this remote corner of western Burma for nearby countries. But another huge exodus has grabbed far fewer headlines. Ethnic Arakanese Buddhists, bitter rivals of the Rohingya, are also leaving Arakan State to seek jobs in Malaysia and Thailand. Small numbers of Arakanese are even following the same smuggling routes plied by the Rohingya and, like them, falling victim to human traffickers. The exodus reflects a wider economic malaise. Burma's quasi-civilian government has launched many reforms since taking power in 2011, but hasn't created enough jobs. "Go to Rakhine [Arakan] villages and you find only children and old people," said Tun Maung, a prominent businessman in the Arakan capital Sittwe. "The young people have already gone." The exodus of both Rohingya and Arakanese accelerated in 2012, after a year of violence between the two communities left hundreds dead and 140,000 homeless—mostly Rohingya. Many displaced Rohingya now live in squalid camps along the Arakan coast with easy access to ramshackle human-smuggling ships. About 100,000 Rohingya boat people have left since the 2012 violence, said the Arakan Project, a Rohingya advocacy group. The mass departure of Arakanese has been less noticeable because they usually travel by road and air, carrying passports unavailable to the mostly stateless Rohingya. But Arakanese have also left in greater numbers since 2012, said Burmese officials, after the unrest crippled a local economy neglected during nearly half a century of military dictatorship. Millions of Burmese seek work abroad. About two million live in neighboring Thailand alone, said the International Labor Organization. Many are unlikely to return until Burma's economy improves. 'We Don't Trust Them' The Arakan exodus could worsen those economic woes and communal tensions. In much of Arakan State, home to 3.2 million people, the Rohingya are a persecuted minority outnumbered two to one by the Arakanese. But in the Maungdaw area, on the state's northern border with Bangladesh, those figures are reversed. Out of 510,000 people, only 30,000 are Arakanese or non-Muslims, township chief Kyi San told Reuters during a rare visit to Maungdaw by a foreign reporter. As young people abandon their villages for jobs abroad, the Arakanese who remain feel besieged and vulnerable. Hla Tun Oo, 30, has just returned to Maw Ya Waddy village after seven years working at a factory in Malaysia. In June 2012, while he was gone, the Arakanese village was burned to the ground by a Rohingya mob. Maw Ya Waddy was rebuilt with the help of the Burmese government and international aid agencies. It was also militarized. Soldiers watch the fields from a hilltop. More soldiers are encamped at a Buddhist monastery between Maw Ya Waddy and the populous Rohingya villages along the coast. Rakhine villages nearby have a permanent police presence, and all are linked by new, military-built roads which allow Arakanese to avoid Rohingya communities. An 11pm to 4am curfew remains in force. "I was born here and love my land. I want to protect it," said Hla Tun Oo, explaining why he returned. But about 100 villagers, including Hla Tun Oo's two brothers, work in Malaysia or elsewhere, leaving Maw Ya Waddy with only 20 or so men of working age. Relations with Muslim neighbors remain strained. Arakanese farmers no longer hire them as laborers, as they did before 2012. "We don't trust them anymore," said village chief Maung Maung Thein. Yet the Arakanese have much in common with the Rohingya. Pyu Tote, 30, an Arakanese man with no passport, paid a broker about US$600 to smuggle him into Malaysia. Rohingya, who rarely have travel documents, also rely on brokers. Pyu Tote was driven to southern Burma. He crossed into Thailand by boat, then trekked through hilly jungles into Malaysia, a route also plied by thousands of Rohingya. Thirty people trekked with him. "Most were Rakhine," said Pyu Tote, who worked at a Malaysian factory for a year. Like Rohingya, the Arakanese are also vulnerable to exploitation. In August the International Organization for Migration arranged the return of 14 Arakanese men who were trafficked onto Thai fishing boats in Indonesian waters earlier this year. The men were lured by the promise of well-paid jobs in Thailand. Labor Isn't Working Many Arakanese families depend on remittances from overseas. Hla Tun Oo sent home about $200 a month, and had saved another $20,000 after seven years in Malaysia. But the departure of so many young Arakanese isn't helping a local economy reeling from the 2012 bloodshed. Arakan State suffers from chronic poverty. Malnutrition is rife and its infrastructure is shoddy or non-existent, with factories few and far between. After 2012, the price of vegetables and seafood, largely supplied by Rohingya, soared. So did the cost of labor. Sittwe businesses aren't allowed to hire Rohingya, who were driven from the city and are now confined in distant camps ringed by police checkpoints. "Violence and segregation have hit the economy hard," said Richard Horsey, an independent Burma analyst. "Muslims are stuck in camps, unable to work, and the instability has made it harder to attract vital foreign investment." Economic growth would encourage Arakanese job-seekers to stay put. Or so hopes Tun Maung, the Sittwe businessman, who runs two restaurants and a hotel. He has advertised for staff for six months. "Nobody has applied," he said. The post Poor and Besieged, Burma's Arakanese Join Rohingya Exodus appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine. |
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