The Irrawaddy Magazine

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• Analysis: Will Shwe Mann Make a Comeback?
• Observers Play down Prospects of Charter Change in Final Parliamentary Session
• Defamation Charge Lacks Evidence: Kachin Activist’s Lawyer
• Govt to Hand Over Unfinished SEZ Business to NLD
• Return to Arakan IDP Camp, Kaman Migrants in Rangoon Told
• Former Saopha of Shan State Revisited in New Film
• Official Vows Crackdown on Illegal Jade Mining in Hpakant
• Cycling Enthusiasts Prepare for Mandalay Challenge
• Graffiti Students Released, Vow to Continue Protest Campaign
• Ethnic Ministers Irrelevant Without More Funding, Power, Say Incumbents
• Hsipaw Haw—Abode of Tragic Shan Prince
• NGOs Seek Kyaukphyu SEZ Delay as President Pushes Implementation
• China Govt Blamed for 85 Missing after Shenzhen Landslide
• The Politics of Tibet’s Poisonous Religious Divide
• Would-be Japan PM Says Defense Shift Could Be Excuse for Attack
• Life Inside the Long-Planned Dawei Special Economic Zone

Analysis: Will Shwe Mann Make a Comeback? Posted: 22 Dec 2015 11:27 AM PST Shwe Mann, speaker of the Union Parliament, greets National League for Democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi before their meeting at the Lower House of Parliament in Naypyidaw, Nov. 19. (Photo: Soe Zeya Tun / Reuters) RANGOON — It's rare in Burma for a political leader to leave office of their own accord, rarer still for an ousted leader to return to political life. The country's first Prime Minister, U Nu, was deposed in a military coup, and his attempts to return to the spotlight during the heady days of 1988 were rebuffed by a new generation of democrats. Former spy chief Khin Nyunt has kept a low profile since his release from house arrest in 2012—particularly after a quiet visit from Special Branch officers when he publicly denied responsibility for orchestrating the Depayin Massacre. His ex-dictator boss, Ne Win, finished his life under house arrest with his family despite his official departure from politics after the 1988 uprising. Now, if recent comments from senior levels of the National League for Democracy (NLD) are to be believed, Shwe Mann is set to break the mold. The influential former Brigadier-General, who was given the honorific title Thura after leading a brutal offensive against Karen insurgents in the 1980s, was number three in the military junta before Burma's transition to a quasi-civilian government in 2010. Tipped by some analysts to be elected the country's first president, Shwe Mann was eventually passed over in favor of Thein Sein. The relationship between the two men began to deteriorate in 2013, owing to Shwe Mann's perceived closeness to NLD leader Aung San Suu Kyi. That year, he called for the amendment of Article 59(f), the section of Burma's military-drafted 2008 Constitution which effectively bars Suu Kyi from the presidency, should be amended. He has supported the democracy icon's calls for political dialogue with senior leaders, and allowed the Union Parliament to call an ultimately unsuccessful vote on constitutional reforms promoted by the NLD and democracy activists. Eventually, his decision as chair of the Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) to block the candidacies of scores of government ministers and serving military personnel led to his downfall. At least two prior attempts to vote him out of the chairmanship in 2015; in August, despite Shwe Mann retaining the support of a majority of party officials, the USDP's executive committee were called to to the party's Naypyidaw offices and ordered to vote the chair and his allies out of office. The Global New Light of Myanmar, publishing a belated explanatory memorandum four days later under the innocuous title "Clarification of Recent Events", characterized the incident as "part of a normal course of business for a registered political party". With the party purge, observers thought the former chairman's time in the spotlight was at a definitive end. Among the more cynical, rumors swirled that he would be arrested on trumped up charges when his parliamentary immunity lapsed at the end of January. A long-delayed impeachment bill—defeated resoundingly after USDP lawmakers failed to offer their support—was seen as a transparent means of hastening his departure from public life. Finally, a defeat in his hometown constituency of Phyu in Pegu Division during the November election hardened perceptions of a man at the end of his career. In the weeks after NLD's landslide victory in the Nov. 8 election, however, Shwe Mann is resurgent. He was the first rival political leader to sit down with Suu Kyi after the poll result, and the pair have met regularly in the time since. It was revealed after the fact that Shwe Mann was responsible for brokering her surprise meeting with Snr-Gen Than Shwe earlier in December, where the former dictator referred to her as the "future leader" of Burma and promised his assistance during the political transition. Last week, NLD spokesman and central executive committee member Win Htein told the Voice Weekly journal that it was likely that Shwe Mann would play a role in the next government, to be formed by the victorious party at the end of March. "He is smart and brave. Everybody knows he accepted his defeat," he said. "When you consider the need for inclusiveness from the USDP and ethnic people for establishing a democratic country, Thura Shwe Mann may be included. He is likely to be in." The question of Shwe Mann's character has been hotly debated. His role as a senior member of the military regime, a combat commander and a member of the current parliament has raised questions about his goals and his motivations, a debate that resurfaced with his fall from grace in August. A 2007 US State Department cable profiling the speaker, published by Wikileaks in 2010, reported that some sources alleged Shwe Mann helped to plan the assault on Suu Kyi's convoy through Depayin in 2003, during which more than 70 people were killed by regime thugs. (Khin Nyunt's memoir, released earlier this year, laid responsibility solely at the feet of now-deceased Gen. Soe Win.) The cable relayed sources claiming Shwe Mann's involvement in a number of going business concerns, his relations with business tycoons close to the former military junta, and suggestions that his sons had used their father's connections to further their own business empires. One of one of his close allies in the USDP, former party secretary-general Maung Maung Thein, was recently named by Global Witness as one of the primary beneficiaries of Kachin State's lucrative and controversial jade trade. The sons of Aung Thaung, another party ally of Shwe Mann's who died in July, are in charge of the International Group of Entrepreneurs, a firm with sprawling interests in construction, resources and banking which is currently subject to US sanctions. At the same time, the 2007 cable acknowledged that many considered Shwe Mann a potential reformer seeking to reengage with the international community—an impression supported by numerous reports of his meetings with civil society groups during the course of his parliamentary business. His courtship of Suu Kyi, together with his attempts to strengthen the Union Parliament into more than the rubber-stamp legislature predicted by international observers, has put him in good standing with the new order. Mya Aye, a senior member of the 88 Generation Peace and Open Society, said that over the course of his parliamentary career, Shwe Mann had cultivated a mutually beneficial relationship with the NLD, and both had reasons for continuing along their current path of collaboration. "It's true that the NLD's electoral success has resurrected him," he said, adding that the party's priority on national reconciliation and collaborating with the military would have a bearing on the decisions of its leadership. "I have no reason to object to what the NLD is doing now." Khin Zaw Win, the director of Tampadipa Institute think-tank, said that Shwe Mann's appeal as a potential minister in the next government was strengthened by his conduct in the last five years. He cited the examples of the speaker initiating impeachment proceedings against members of the Constitutional Tribunal who failed to demonstrate legal knowledge, as well as Shwe Mann's support for constitutional reform. "As a Speaker, U Shwe Mann has a good name among lawmakers. Plus, apart from his five-year experience in the parliament, he knows the military well, as he used to be a general. Daw Aung San Suu Kyi needs that kind of person beside her as an ally," he said. "So, they will likely to offer him a position. He would be an asset for her." Burma expert Bertil Lintner is not so sure that Shwe Mann can serve as the NLD's go-between with the military. He told The Irrawaddy that the military high command was more likely to see a possible ministerial appointment as an antagonistic gesture because of his fraught relationship with Thein Sein and his decision to align himself with the rival party. "To them, Shwe Mann is a 'traitor' who’s been fraternizing with Aung San Suu Kyi and even began to promote constitutional changes," he said. Nonetheless, Lintner concedes Shwe Mann's political abilities, particularly the adept manner in which he positioned himself as a kingmaker, which forced an end to delays around high level political discussions between Suu Kyi, Thein Sein and Burma Army chief Snr-Gen Min Aung Hlaing. "I believe it was a brilliant move," he said. "Before the meeting with Than Shwe's grandson, Thein Sein and Min Aung Hlaing had said that they were not going to talk to Suu Kyi before all complaints had been considered. And she did meet Than Shwe after those meetings—but the point was that Than Shwe, by sending his grandson to see her, gave an endorsement that Thein Sein and Min Aung Hlaing could not ignore." Should Shwe Mann keep his political instincts in fighting form, it appears unlikely that the end of his parliamentary term in January will be the end of his time in high office. The post Analysis: Will Shwe Mann Make a Comeback? appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Observers Play down Prospects of Charter Change in Final Parliamentary Session Posted: 22 Dec 2015 04:25 AM PST National League for Democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi attends Burma's first session of Parliament after the November 8 general election. (Photo: Soe Zeya Tun / Reuters) Political observers, including an incumbent lawmaker, have hosed down suggestions a constitutional clause that prevents Aung San Suu Kyi from assuming the presidency could be suspended in the current and final parliamentary session. Earlier this month, ruling Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) lawmaker Thura Aung Ko told the BBC's Burmese service that Article 59(f) of the 2008 Constitution could be suspended with the support of a majority of lawmakers, allowing Suu Kyi to formally assume the country's top post. The article in question states that individuals whose children or spouse "owe allegiance to a foreign power" cannot assume the presidency, barring Suu Kyi because her late husband and children hold British passports. While there is no constitutional provision related to the suspension of a given article, interpretations have varied as to whether the notion has currency. Head of the Myanmar Lawyers Network, Aung Thein, told The Irrawaddy this week that "as there is no such limitation [on the suspension of a clause] described in the Constitution, Union lawmakers could bypass or suspend it with majority approval." "It all depends on the lawmakers who represent the public's voice," he said. "They can decide whether it should be temporarily dodged for a certain period, based on the reasoning that the clause could not be amended." Prior to the National League for Democracy (NLD)'s landslide victory in last month's general election, Suu Kyi had repeatedly insisted she would be above any individual the party nominated for the role of president. The NLD secured a sufficient majority on Nov. 8 to put forward two candidates for president, as selected by Lower and Upper House MPs, with military lawmakers selecting a third. The deciding vote is determined by the Union Parliament, which serves as the country's electoral college. The possibility of Suu Kyi assuming the presidency gained traction in some circles in recent weeks, following a meeting between the NLD leader and former dictator Than Shwe. During that surprise confab, according to Than Shwe's grandson, the junta-era leader referred to Suu Kyi as "the future leader" of Burma and said he would assist her as best he could. But other observers see little chance of legislative moves to enable a Suu Kyi presidency in the current parliamentary session, which is scheduled to conclude at the end of January. "It is impossible to suspend [the clause] in the current parliament," said Aye Maung, an incumbent lawmaker with the Arakan National Party who lost his seat in the Nov. 8 poll. "We have to follow the constitutional procedures, as of chapter 12 of the Constitution. If we try to suspend the clause, in an unconstitutional way, that would affect the future parliamentarians' efforts to amend that clause or other clauses." Aye Maung suggested that an NLD-dominated legislature in 2016 should push for amendments. In June this year, Burma's Union Parliament voted down changes to the junta-drafted charter, including Article 59(f), with military lawmakers, who make up 25 percent of the chamber's MPs, wielding their effective veto power. "We have waited for this long and we just have to wait a little bit more," Aye Maung said. "The new lawmakers can mobilize the 25 percent of military representatives for the changes." Rangoon-based political commentator Yan Myo Thein agreed there was little likelihood of constitutional change during the Parliament's final session. He also raised the prospect of further constitutional difficulties if Suu Kyi did manage to assume the top post. "If she takes the role of President, she is constitutionally barred from leading the party, which would lead to difficulties for the party," Yan Myo Thein said. "I am sure that Daw Aung San Suu Kyi is also aware of that situation." The post Observers Play down Prospects of Charter Change in Final Parliamentary Session appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Defamation Charge Lacks Evidence: Kachin Activist’s Lawyer Posted: 22 Dec 2015 04:05 AM PST Kachin activist Patrick Khum Jaa Lee leaves the courthouse in Rangoon's Hlaing Township after a hearing on Tuesday. (Photo: Steve Tickner / The Irrawaddy) RANGOON — The lawyer of imprisoned Kachin activist Patrick Khum Jaa Lee argued on Tuesday that a defamation suit brought against his client should be dropped due to a lack of solid evidence in support of the charge. The activist was arrested on Oct. 14 after allegedly sharing a Facebook post with a photo of a man wearing a Kachin-style longyi stepping on a portrait of Burma's commander-in-chief, Snr-Gen Min Aung Hlaing. "The lawyer told the court today that there is not enough evidence to accuse him of defamation, and even if he had posted that, the text [accompanying] the photo is just reminding others not to share that in case of persecution," his wife May Sabe Phyu, a high-profile peace and gender equality activist, told the media on Tuesday. "So it is obvious that there is no intent to defame [the military]. So we strongly believe that he shouldn't be sued." The defense team has made several bail requests for Khum Jaa Lee, citing his ailing health condition, which have been denied by the court. May Sabe Phyu said the defense had asked the doctor at the prison to provide a statement to the court supporting bail for her husband on the grounds of his ailing health, but the penitentiary's physician was unable to make an appearance at Tuesday's hearing due to a busy schedule. The defendant's team will bring in a doctor who has treated Khum Jaa Lee outside of prison to provide testimony in support of bail on health grounds at his next hearing, which has been set for Dec. 28. "It was really obvious that he is in a bad health condition at the court," May Sabe Phyu said. "They are intentionally not granting bail for his health just because they don't want to." The post Defamation Charge Lacks Evidence: Kachin Activist's Lawyer appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Govt to Hand Over Unfinished SEZ Business to NLD Posted: 22 Dec 2015 03:58 AM PST A jetty for oil tankers at Madae Island in Arakan's Kyaukphyu Township, Oct. 7. (Photo: Soe Zeya Tun / Reuters) RANGOON — While preparing to come to power in 2016, Burma's main opposition party the National League for Democracy (NLD) must also gird itself for the substantial challenges of completing three special economic zones (SEZ)—Thilawa in Rangoon Division, Dawei in Tenasserim Division and Kyaukphyu in Arakan State. Maung Maung Soe, a former professor of economics, warned that the incoming NLD-headed government will not be able to avoid SEZ developments because plans for them are already taking shape, though many of the individual projects have yet to be put into action. "These are huge responsibilities that the new government will have to handle. Every SEZ is a different situation that will have to be handled carefully," he said. "Burma's new government will have to be transparent, and it will also have to know how these different zones can bring benefits to the country." At a meeting with incumbent President Thein Sein on Monday, the chairmen of the various SEZ development committees—Hset Aung for Thilawa, Han Sein for Dawei and Myint Thein for Kyaukphyu—discussed the status of their respective zones. According to the state-run Global New Light of Myanmar, Vice President Nyan Tun said that of the three SEZs, Thilawa had been the most successful to dat. Its first phase includes the development of residential and commercial areas over some 1,000 acres of land. 48 companies from 12 countries are expected to invest over US$500 million in the project. Regarding Dawei, "it was agreed to [in a joint high-level committee meeting] last week that Japan's holding in the project will be equal to that of Burma and Thailand," Kyaw Swar Oo, personal assistant to Han Sein, told The Irrawaddy. The Dawei SEZ is slated to include a deep-sea port, an expressway and heavy industry facilities. Japan will provide technical and financial support for the project. However, the Kyaukphyu SEZ, particularly its first phase, has proven particularly tenuous. A coalition of 107 nonprofit organizations demanded at a forum last weekend that the zone be suspended until power has been transferred to the NLD, citing local Arakanese concerns over displacement and land compensation that have yet to be adequately addressed. Khaing Kaung San, chairman of the Wunlark Development Foundation, located in Sittwe Township, Arakan State, told The Irrawaddy on Monday of transparency concerns. Tender bids for development of the zone ended last November, with one local firm and 11 international firms submitting proposals. Yet although Myint Thein, deputy minister for rail transportation and head of the Kyaukphyu SEZ management committee, and Thein Sein have urged that the project be carried out quickly, the tender winner has yet to be revealed. Political analyst Yan Myo Thein echoed these challenges, saying that the Kyaukphyu SEZ, hoped to be Burma's western economic gateway, will be most problematic for the NLD. "The new government will have to ask the outgoing one for details on the project, such as data and figures, because problems inevitably lie ahead," he said. "Going forward, the project ought to be transparent in the new government era." The Kyaukphyu SEZ is expected to include an industrial zone, a housing estate and two deep-sea ports on Ramree and Maday islands, and it will cover 4,289 acres of land. The post Govt to Hand Over Unfinished SEZ Business to NLD appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Return to Arakan IDP Camp, Kaman Migrants in Rangoon Told Posted: 22 Dec 2015 03:05 AM PST Ethnic Kaman Muslims, who are being pressured by immigration authorities to return to Arakan State, show their national registration cards in Rangoon. (Photo: K Zun Nwe / Myanmar Now) RANGOON — The Kaman National Progressive Party (KNPP) is pushing back against an order by immigration authorities that 22 ethnic Kaman Muslims living in Rangoon return to Arakan State, where they previously lived in a displacement camp following communal violence in 2012. Tin Hlaing Win, the Rangoon-based general secretary of the KNPP, said Tuesday that his party had sent letters to the National League for Democracy (NLD) and President Thein Sein, asking the government not to send the 22 people back to Arakan State. "Our Kaman have the right to travel in the country, based on the 2008 Constitution, as they have citizenship ID cards. This is why there is nothing wrong with them being in Rangoon. However, immigration came to check on them and told them to go back to Arakan," Tin Hlaing Win told The Irrawaddy. The men and women in question originally hailed from Ramree Township, where their houses were burned down during 2012 violence that pitted Arakanese Buddhists against Muslims in Arakan State. Following the violence, they had been living in a camp for the displaced. Southern Arakan State is home to a sizeable population of ethnic Kaman Muslims, who are recognized as one of 135 "official ethnicities" of Burma entitled to citizenship. Though the state's minority Rohingya Muslims—who are not recognized by the government as an official ethnic group—bore the brunt of the 2012 violence, Arakanese Buddhists and Kaman too were displaced to a lesser degree. The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA) said this month that there are about 140,000 internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Arakan State, most of whom are Rohingya. The KNPP leader said hardships at the camp in Ramree Township, including a dearth of employment prospects, had led the 22 Kaman to try their luck in Rangoon, while some of the younger migrants had wanted to continue their studies at Rangoon University. The group traveled to the commercial capital about a month ago, and began getting pressure from immigration authorities last week, according to Tin Hlaing Win. "The immigration told us that these 22 people did not inform the camp authority when they left the camp. Therefore, immigration told us that they have to send them back to Ramree camp," he said. The internal migrants are living at a number of different locations in Rangoon, and an official from the Rangoon Division Immigration and National Registration Department who asked not to be named said the instruction for their return was made according to "official procedures" and that there were no other motivating factors. The Irrawaddy's Thu Zar contributed reporting. The post Return to Arakan IDP Camp, Kaman Migrants in Rangoon Told appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Former Saopha of Shan State Revisited in New Film Posted: 22 Dec 2015 02:31 AM PST Click to view slideshow. CHIANG MAI, Thailand — A new film on the life of the late Shan prince, Sao Kya Seng, based on a book written by his Austrian wife Inge Sargent, is slated to screen internationally in early 2016. Directed by Austrian filmmaker Sabine Derflinger, the two-hour drama "Twilight over Burma" depicts the fascinating love story between the Shan prince, or saopha, and his Austrian bride who would assume the title of Sao Thusandi, the Mahadevi (celestial princess) of Hsipaw. The film was shot in several locations in Shan State and northern Thailand, including Chiang Mai and Mae Hong Son provinces, as well as Rangoon, Colorado in the US and Austria. Maria Ehrich, Pauline Knof and Simon Schwarz or among the film's stars, which features several Thai and ethnic Shan actors and actresses. Sai Myo Aung, the coordinator of Shan Youth Power, an ethnic Shan youth organization based in Chiang Mai, assisted the filmmakers with researching Shan culture, tradition and language for the film which depicts Shan State in the 1950s and 60s. "I'm glad to contribute to this movie. I helped them with background research on what the lifestyle and dress of Shan people looked like during the 1950s and 60s. I think they tried their best to be authentic," Sai Myo Aung told The Irrawaddy. "I'm happy as the movie tells the story of the Shan prince and international audiences will know more about our Shan culture, tradition and history. There are many Shan movies, but they are only known locally. This one is at an international level." The book "Twilight Over Burma: My Life as a Shan Princess" was written by Inge Sargent and published in 1994. The well-known book is an invaluable account of Shan life and of the respected saopha whom Sargent married in the early 1950s after they first met at a college in Colorado. In the book, written in the third-person, Sargent describes her arrival in Rangoon by ship in 1953 and the revelation that her husband was a Shan prince—a fact only revealed when she saw on the docks "hundreds of well-wishers displaying banners, playing homemade musical instruments, carrying bouquets of flowers." As she writes, her husband then explained to her that he was "more than just a recently graduated mining engineer—he was the Prince of Hsipaw, ruler of an autonomous state in Burma's Shan mountains. The welcome was for him and his bride, the Princess of Hsipaw." "That was a very touching moment when she realized who her husband was only when they arrived at the dock," said Khuensai Jaiyen, a veteran Shan journalist. "I like the book as it was well-written in a simple way that even ordinary people can understand." In an interview with Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB) in June 2011, speaking in Burmese, Sargent recalled the husband she spent around a decade with in Shan State. "Even though my husband was a prince, he liked freedom and democracy. He loved his country. I had a very good time in Hsipaw and I still miss it. He served his people and I supported him however I could," she said. During her time in Shan State, Sargent was deeply involved in Sao Kya Seng's work. She learned the Shan language, the culture and history of Hsipaw, and worked with her husband to improve local lives in the remote locale. Their romance came to an abrupt and tragic end when Gen. Ne Win assumed power in a military coup in 1962. Sao Kya Seng was arrested near Taunggyi, without explanation. Conflicting speculation as to his fate continued over the years, but despite her efforts to locate him, Sargent never saw the prince again. "The government wanted to control power and centralize the ethnic regions," she told DVB in 2011. "My husband and I believed that there should be power sharing between the central government and ethnic states. It was hard to believe in the emergence of a federal union as the central government at that time didn't grant autonomy to ethnic states." After moving back to the United States, Sargent later remarried and is now retired after a busy career teaching, writing and traveling. She continues to support Shan civil society organizations and has occasionally visited Shan communities in Thailand. The post Former Saopha of Shan State Revisited in New Film appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Official Vows Crackdown on Illegal Jade Mining in Hpakant Posted: 22 Dec 2015 02:04 AM PST Miners search for jade stones at a mine dump Hpakant, Kachin State. (Photo: Soe Zeya Tun / Reuters) MANDALAY — As talk heats up over jade mining in Kachin State's troubled Hpakant region amid reports of frenzied extraction of the precious gems there in recent months, Burma's deputy minister of mines vowed Monday to prosecute illegal jade miners large and small. The ministry's plan was discussed during a session of Parliament's Upper House, where lawmakers called on the Union government to take action to restore rule of law in the region and prevent further landslides and environmental degradation. "The ministry is going to take legal action against illegal miners and prospectors who are looking for residual jade in the pilings of mining waste," said Than Tun Aung, deputy minister of mines, in response to a motion submitted by Kachin lawmaker Khet Tein Nan urging government solutions to some of the problems that have beset the jade trade in Hpakant Township. The deputy minister said the ministry was mulling possible amendments to Burma's Gems Mining Law to ensure better environmental protections and prevention of illegal mining, a tightening of permitting and enforcement on limits to the use of heavy machinery. The measures would be aimed at making gems mining a more sustainable sector, he added. Regarding complaints that the fundamental ill afflicting Hpakant is an absence of the rule of law, Than Tun Aung said on this matter the ministry would cooperate with local authorities, the Kachin State government, the military and even ethnic armed groups operating in the region. The Upper House on Monday approved Khet Tein Nan's motion, and the chamber's missive to the government was followed by a notice to President Thein Sein, sent from parliamentary Speaker Shwe Mann on the same day. In the notice, the speaker called on the Union government to submit an explanation, as soon as possible, for the frequent landslides in Hpakant and a reported increase in large-scale mining in the region that has brought an influx of potentially hazardous heavy machinery. Deadly landslides of mine waste pilings have occurred frequently this year in Hpakant. The deadliest, last month, killed at least 114 people, so-called "hand pickers" who scavenge through the waste of excavation sites in hopes of finding gems missed by large companies. Dozens of others have died in smaller incidents. The pilings of mining waste are also negatively affecting the region's environment and crops, and the detritus blocks some waterways, causing severe floods in recent years. Even amid growing calls for a review of business as usual in Hpakant, the director of the Myanmar Gems Enterprise, which is under the Ministry of Mines, said Saturday that now is the "right time" to be extracting jade from the region. "Since the process of mining is to remove the soil waste and unearth the jade beneath, the jobs need to be done before the rainy season, and now is the right time for the mining of jade," said Aung Nyunt Thein, as quoted in the state-run Myanma Alin daily. Burma's rainy season typically begins in April or June. The director also explained that mining companies were being forced to dig deeper than ever before to strike jade, having depleted shallower deposits. According to Aung Nyunt Thein, about 627 mining companies, all owned by Burmese nationals, were operating in the Hpakant and Lone Kin jade mining regions. A Reuters report last week asserted that much of the large-scale mining taking place in Hpakant is being done by Chinese companies that have accelerated their extraction in recent months, fearing the incoming government led by the National League for Democracy (NLD) will attempt to rein in the industry's excesses. Additionally, research from the environmental watchdog Global Witness in October alleged that the Burma Army, at least one sitting cabinet minister, ethnic armed groups and several of Burma's "cronies" all have ties to the jade trade. Regardless of who is behind the mining, locals say the number of large machines and pace of jade extraction in the region is unprecedented. "I've never seen such mining processes in my life. It is true that all mines could not work in the rainy season, but this year, they are mining as if they were starving monsters, devouring the earth in one gulp," said La Htaung, a local miner in the Hpakant region. "Prosecuting the illegal miners, especially the hand-pickers, is not the solution to solve the problems we are facing now. What we want is to review the mining companies, as soon as possible," he added. The post Official Vows Crackdown on Illegal Jade Mining in Hpakant appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Cycling Enthusiasts Prepare for Mandalay Challenge Posted: 22 Dec 2015 12:18 AM PST A woman rides her bicycle in downtown Mandalay, February 2014. (Photo: Teza Hlaing / The Irrawaddy) MANDALAY — In the last week of December, dozens of professional and amateur cyclists will take to the streets of Mandalay for a bicycle race now in its fourth year. The Mandalay Hill Bike Challenge, organized by a group of local amateur cyclists, is now well-known across Mandalay Division and has received the backing of the Ministry of Sports and the Myanmar Cycling Federation. This year for the first time, the mountain bike course will be complemented with a 17.2 km road race "In the road race, both racers and mountain bikers will participate, racing along the city's road heading to Mandalay Hill, going up the hill and finishing there," said Aung Aung, the manager of Mandalay Free Rider group which organized the challenge. Another event includes the 1,500 meter downhill off-terrain course, where mountain bikers will compete by negotiating the rocky slope of Mandalay Hill. "There will be an elite level for the professionals, a master level for experienced bikers and an entry level for new bikers in the downhill race. A couple of professional bikers from Thailand will also compete," Aung Aung said. The challenge will be held on December 27 with at least 120 professional and amateur cyclists, including seven women and 10 elderly bikers, enrolled to compete so far. Organizers said this year's challenge will utilize a better judging system than in the past. "Unlike past years where the organizers themselves had to serve as judges, we have hired experienced judges who took part in the Southeast Asian Games' races this year. We will also assign ushers for the convenience of the racers," Aung Aung said. According to organizers, the number of participants in this year's competition has risen compared with previous races. "This will be the fourth time that Mandalay bikers and bike lovers have had such a race," said author and cycling enthusiast Nyi Pu Lay. "Cycling is good for health and we are glad to see many Burmese youth still have affection for cycling and hope this culture will continue." The post Cycling Enthusiasts Prepare for Mandalay Challenge appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Graffiti Students Released, Vow to Continue Protest Campaign Posted: 21 Dec 2015 11:00 PM PST The three student protesters from Yadanabon University outside Mandalay's Obo Prison on Tuesday morning. (Photo: Min Htet Nyein Chan / The Irrawaddy) RANGOON — Three students jailed for spraying anti-government slogans on the grounds of their university were released from Mandalay's Obo Prison on Tuesday morning, but have vowed to continue their advocacy for students behind bars elsewhere. Naing Ye Wai, Aung San Oo, Jit Too, and Nyan Lin Htet, all four students of Mandalay's Yadanabon University, were arrested in July after spray-painting messages calling on the government to resign and demanding the release of a number of students and their supporters detained during the nationwide demonstrations against the National Education Law earlier this year. The four were found guilty of unlawful assembly and incitement charges and sentenced to six months' imprisonment, well short of the possible three-year maximum sentence under the charges. Those released on Tuesday had their sentences reduced by a week for good behavior. Naing Ye Wai, president of the Yadanabon University Student Union, is serving an additional three months and remains in prison. Aung San Oo, 20, said the trio planned to continue their advocacy for education reform and the students detained in Pegu Division's Thayawady Prison after the infamous Letpadan protest crackdown on Mar. 10. "We will keep demanding the release of detained students and their supporters in effective ways," he told The Irrawaddy. The post Graffiti Students Released, Vow to Continue Protest Campaign appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Ethnic Ministers Irrelevant Without More Funding, Power, Say Incumbents Posted: 21 Dec 2015 09:25 PM PST Woman make cotton weaving at Myitkyina in Kachin State. ( Photo – Thaw Hein Htet / The Irrawaddy) RANGOON — Outgoing ethnic affairs ministers say the next government of Burma should hasten plans to establish a dedicated ethnic ministry when it takes office next year, claiming that their ability to carry out their mandate has been hampered by a lack of responsibilities and resources. Section 161 of Burma's military-drafted 2008 Constitution gives state and divisional legislatures additional lawmakers to represent ethnic minorities, if an ethnic group comprises 0.1 percent or more of the national population within that state or division. In Rangoon, for instance, the division's sizeable Karen and Arakanese communities are both able to vote for ethnic affairs ministers to represent them in the divisional parliament. There are a total of 29 ethnic affairs ministers elected to positions across 13 of Burma's 14 regional parliaments—Chin State does not have an ethnic minority group sizeable enough to qualify for special representation. Those elected to the position sit in parliament and exercise the same voting rights as other lawmakers, and are not official members of regional cabinets. Though they are ostensibly allocated parliamentary seats to represent the interests of their ethnic community, Burma's highly centralized Constitution puts their activities and budget at the discretion of regional chief ministers, whose own powers are in turn almost entirely dependent on the delegation of authority and funding from the Union government in Naypyidaw. As the first government to operate under the 2008 Constitution nears the end of its term, ethnic affairs ministers say that they have been hamstrung by a lack of cooperation with government departments and a refusal by regional governments to allocate them funds. Several have complained that their constituents ridicule them as nothing more than "opening ceremony attendees", who exist only to help regional governments burnish their credentials among ethnic minorities. Khin Pyone Yi, who was elected to the Kachin Parliament in 2010 to represent that state's Shan community, said that the government had not supported any of her efforts to assist internal refugees fleeing the renewed conflict between the government and the Kachin Independence Army, which began again after the collapse of a 17-year ceasefire in 2011 and has since displaced more than 100,000 people. She told The Irrawaddy that she had resorted to spending her own money to donate food, clothes and cash to war victims at a number of Kachin refugee camps. "I only got given an office this year. I haven't even got a place to live," said the Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) lawmaker, who lost her seat to a rival candidate from the National League for Democracy (NLD) in the Nov. 8 election. The Ethnic Rights Protection Law, enacted in February, provides for the establishment of a Union-level Ministry of Ethnic Affairs, along with an elaboration of constitutional guarantees for the rights of ethnic communities to study their native language and practice longstanding cultural traditions. When the law comes into effect next year, the creation of the ministry will be the responsibility of the next government, which will be formed by the NLD at the end of March after that party's comprehensive election victory. The NLD campaigned on a platform which called for a drastic reorganization of Burma's creaking bureaucracy, including a reduction in the overall number of ministries. Khin Phone Yi said the lack of support given to ethnic affairs ministers needed to be urgently addressed, beginning with the planned creation of the new Union ministry. Her comments were supported by Aung Kyaw Thein, the outgoing USDP ethnic affairs minister for Mon State's Karen community. He said that the creation of a new ministry would give the financial and administrative support for ethnic affairs ministers to represent their communities effectively, rather than relying on the generosity of chief ministers. Speaking to The Irrawaddy, Aung Kyaw Thein said that ethnic ministers were barred from attending cabinet meetings if not invited beforehand, frustrating his attempts to present reports to the state government which detailed social, educational and health problems among Mon's Karen people. "We don't have our own budget to work for ethnic people, so often we are incapable of solving problems if there is no budget shared by the cabinet," he said. "None of the three ethnic ministers in the Mon State government had offices until recently, when the government set up a room for us. I asked other ministers in other states and they have even less than us." The NLD won 21 of the 29 ethnic affairs minister posts in the November election, performing strongly in ethnic areas after committing to national reconciliation, the protection of ethnic rights and a negotiated end to Burma's decades-old ethnic conflict. As successful candidates prepare to take their seats at the end of January, however, the NLD's incoming ethnic affairs ministers have been reluctant to discuss their plans for their new roles and what specific policy developments they wanted to see. Tin Saw, who will represent Irrawaddy Division's Arakanese community, was one of five elected ethnic affairs ministers from the NLD to be recently contacted by The Irrawaddy. He said that he supported the establishment of a Ministry of Ethnic Affairs next year, hastening to add that national reconciliation and ethnic affairs were the party's first priorities. Asked what specific ethnic issue would be first on the party's agenda, his response mirrored that of his four counterparts: "I will follow the decision of the central executive committee. At the moment, I don't know what the plan will be," he said. The post Ethnic Ministers Irrelevant Without More Funding, Power, Say Incumbents appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Hsipaw Haw—Abode of Tragic Shan Prince Posted: 21 Dec 2015 09:22 PM PST Hsipaw Palace in Shan State, seen in 2012, in dire need of restoration. (Photo: The Irrawaddy) With news that a new TV film based on the book "Twilight Over Burma," written by Inge Sargent, an Austrian woman who married famed Shan Prince Sao Kya Seng, is complete, The Irrawaddy revisits a story first published in September 2012 about a trip to the late prince's neglected residence in Hsipaw, Shan State. Here, the Shan saopha, or prince, lived with his Austrian bride until he was arrested in March 1962 following the military coup launched by Gen. Ne Win. Presumed killed, his fate was never officially acknowledged by Burma's military rulers. During my last trip to Burma in June, I went up to Lashio, northern Shan State, and decided to stop in en route at Hsipaw to visit the residence of famed Shan Prince Sao Kya Seng. Otherwise known as East Haw, the house is surrounded by a large compound and guarded by tall tamarind trees. Yet when we arrived the place seemed deserted—the gate was locked and all was quiet. After bellowing for a short time, a young man wearing the region's traditional loose trousers emerged and met us at the gate. He was flanked by a dozen canine bodyguards and carried a Shan sword. At first, he was reluctant to allow us in and I appreciated the sensitivity of the situation. As ethnic Bamar, or Burman, we were guests in Shan State. The young boy was polite and smart yet I could feel his innate mistrust of these "foreign" visitors. He explained that his great uncle was arrested for "tourism charges" and only recently released. I showed him our business cards and was glad to learn that he was familiar with The Irrawaddy and the famous Shan cartoonist Harn Lay who has contributed fantastic work. But even with our credentials confirmed, he steadfastly refused to open the gate. My driver went back to the car and started the engine so gave one final plea of, "Can we come back tomorrow on our way back from Lashio?" Then he smiled and I felt the mood change. I dropped the names of a few prominent Shan people I know living in northern Thailand. "Do you want to come in now?" he relented. The gate finally opened. Sao Kya Seng's palace is in a sad state but, with a little careful restoration, could be a great place to learn about the history of Hsipaw and tragic tale of its royal family. I had read Twilight Over Burma by Sao Kya Hseng's wife, Inge Eberhard, and so had wanted to visit Hsipaw Palace for a long time. Sao Kya Hseng was last seen in March 1962 being arrested in the state capital Taunggyi while visiting his ailing sister. He was blissfully unaware of what had taken place in Rangoon at the time. Gen Ne Win had staged a coup that placed the military at the head of state power. The prince was arrested on his way to Heho Airport to catch a flight to Hsipaw. He was last seen being taken to an unknown place of detention by armed soldiers. Born in 1924, Sao Kya Hseng was educated at schools at Darjeeling, India, and went to study engineering at the Colorado School of Mines in Denver, the United States, where he married his Austrian bride. Eberhard decided to follow her husband to live in Burma—a country she had never visited. It was a fairytale trip as she had no idea that Sao Kya Hseng was a Shan saopha or prince (some Shan spell it chofa while it is sawbwa in Burmese) and the ruler of Hsipaw. Only when their ship arrived in Rangoon did Eberhard see the hundreds of people playing music and carrying flowers to welcome their illustrious guests. She wondered who the important passengers on board were until her husband then explained about his royal blood. It quickly became apparentl that she had married a Shan prince. Eberhard subsequently took the name Sao Nang Thusandi and became Mahadevi (celestial princess) of Hsipaw. These days, however, the luster has dimmed a little on the royal household. Our young guide took us inside East Haw where Sao Kya Hseng and Sao Thusandi lived with their children and servants. We saw the family tree and living room as well as photos of the prince and his family. East Haw is in a sorry state of disrepair. Burma is blessed with many historic buildings but too many are neglected and forgotten—indeed, Hsipaw Palace has been left overgrown by bushes seemingly for political reasons. While it would be valuable to restore the palace to reveal the real story of Sao Kya Hseng, and it would certainly receive some tourists, the authorities would no doubt constantly harass the occupants. Our young guide, a relative of the late prince, was proud to show how his ancestor built the palace and brought in the old tractor still parked by the portico. He also explained how Sao Kya Hseng introduced new ideas regarding the state's age-old feudal system. Journalist Bertil Linter wrote in his foreword to Twilight over Burma, "Perhaps the most radical idea was to give all the princely family's paddy fields to the farmers who cultivated them. In addition, [Sao Kya Hseng] bought tractors and agricultural implements that the farmers used free of charge, cleared land to experiment with new crops, and began mineral exploration in the resource-rich valley." Sao Kya Hseng was undoubtedly more than just a privileged landowner. He was an MP for Burma's House of Nationalities, a member of the Shan State Council and secretary of the Association of Shan Princes. He remained in politics while many Shan saophas gave up their positions. But then in the 1950s, a cloud descended onto Shan State. In 1958, Burmese government troops arrived to drive out a Chinese Kuomintang incursion and quell a rising resistance movement which wanted Shan State to secede from the Union. Shan rebels and sympathetic villagers were arrested, tortured and disappeared. However, the Shan were not even united amongst themselves. Amid this turmoil, it is uncertain how Gen Ne Win and his loyal military officers viewed Sao Kya Hseng as they prepared to seize power in a coup. In her book, Sao Thusandi said that the Shan who desired an independent Shan State wanted Sao Kya Hseng to lead the revolt but he was reluctant. On the other hand, pro-Union advocates suspected him of being a secessionist due to his open criticism of Burmese politics and army misconduct. Indeed, Ne Win and Sao Kya Hseng certainly did not get along well. When Ne Win, then army chief, was passing through Hsipaw, the prince wanted to invite him for lunch at East Haw where Burmese ministers and politicians often visited. One of Ne Win's officers declined on his behalf and instead asked the prince to wait by the roadside for the general's motorcade. Shocked to hear such a disrespectful suggestion, the ruler of Hsipaw declined. Sao Kya Hseng's supporters insisted that Ne Win and his military intelligence chief Col Lwin—also known as "Moustache Lwin"—must have had knowledge of what became of the prince after his detention. However, Ne Win's regime denied taking part and made several contradictory statements regarding the prince's disappearance. In fact, Sao Thusandi received a short letter from her husband that said he had been detained in Ba Htoo—a garrison town in Shan State—and was still OK. Nevertheless, the Burmese authorities never officially admitted apprehending the prince. Sao Thusandi went to meet Ne Win's wife Khin May Than in Austria in 1966 where the general was having medical treatment. The dictator often went to Europe where he would meet Professor Hans Hoff, chairman of the Psychiatric and Neurological University Hospital of Vienna. Some sources close to the general suggested that he suffered from bipolar disorder. Hans Hoff had earlier written a letter to Sao Thusandi in Rangoon that stated her husband was in detention. Ne Win assured his doctor that the Shan prince was well and two orderlies have been assigned to take care of his every need. Hans Hoff then wrote, "The physician who looks after Sao [Kya Hseng] was introduced to me, and he testified that Sao is in good shape, both physically and emotionally." Yet that same day Sao Thusandi received a letter from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs saying that the government had never detained the Shan prince. Was Ne Win trying to deceive his psychiatrist for some reason? Meanwhile, several associates of Sao Thusandi told her that the prince was no longer alive. One of them was Bo Setkya—a member of the legendary Thirty Comrades. Bo Setkya, who must have had supporters in the army, came to meet the princess and told her that her husband had died. Sao Kya Hseng was killed near Ba Htoo several weeks after his arrest, he said. Sao Thusandi and her family finally left Burma in 1964. It is not known what actually happened to the prince, although Ne Win and his top officers must have been well aware of his fate. One theory was that Sao Kya Hseng died during interrogation, while another said that he was killed trying to escape—army officers were given "shoot to kill" orders at the time. The last theory was that he was caught alive and when young officers asked a superior what to do, they were simply ordered to execute him. Those involved then cowardly remained silent after they realized the magnitude of what had taken place. We walked towards a wooden building far from East Haw surrounded by spirit houses and were told that this is where the late prince prayed and read books. The building, if restored, would be an elegant addition to Burmese ethnic culture, but unfortunately it has already almost collapsed. Since the day Ne Win staged a coup, Sao Kya Hseng was prevented from ever seeing East Haw again. However, perhaps his soul somehow managed to return to this royal abode.                   The post Hsipaw Haw—Abode of Tragic Shan Prince appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

NGOs Seek Kyaukphyu SEZ Delay as President Pushes Implementation Posted: 21 Dec 2015 09:20 PM PST Activists attend the All Arakanese Civil Society Organization Forum in Kyaukphyu Township, Arakan State. (Photo: Khaing Kaung San) RANGOON — A coalition of 107 nonprofit organizations has demanded that the Kyaukphyu special economic zone (SEZ) project be suspended until power has been transferred to a government led by the National League for Democracy (NLD), as incumbent President Thein Sein urged just the opposite on Monday. Khaing Kaung San, chairman of the Wunlark Development Foundation in Sittwe Township, Arakan State, told The Irrawaddy on Monday that the organization held a meeting—the All Arakanese Civil Society Organization Forum—from Dec. 18-20 in Kyaukphyu, also located in Arakan State. More than 200 people participated in the forum and drew up a list of 12 points detailing why the government ought to halt construction of the project. Myint Thein, deputy minister for rail transportation and head of the Kyaukphyu SEZ management committee, outlined the project, billed as Burma's western economic gateway, to Lower House lawmakers on Dec. 3, urging that it be carried out quickly. The state-run Global New Light of Myanmar on Tuesday reported that Thein Sein also urged acceleration of the tendering process for the project, "so that the next government can continue to implement the project in easy way," during a meeting the day prior with the Myanmar Special Economic Zone Central Working Body, which he chairs. Announcement of the tender winner for the project has been beset by a series of delays. Although the president this week pushed for speedier implementation of the Kyaukphyu SEZ, locals worry about the project's societal impacts, particularly for farmers, who often lose out as a result of such large-scale, land-heavy developments. Previous deep-sea port and gas pipeline projects have generated problems that are as yet unresolved, mostly relating to land confiscation and compensation. While governments and companies receive huge benefits from such projects—China currently holds an 85 percent share of the Kyaukphyu SEZ—similarly positive outcomes are typically lost for villagers. "Nobody knows, specifically, how the government will relocate village residents should they be forced to move. They haven't said anything about villagers' futures, if they will compensate them for land lost [as a result of the project]," said Khaing Kaung San. He pointed to a lack of transparency on government activities and information, such as the budget in Arakan State, revenue generated from natural resources, and how much the state has spent over the past five years. Such data are not made available to the public, he claimed. Tun Kyi, a forum participant on behalf of the Kyaukphyu Rural Development Association, said: "I think that the power transfer [to an NLD-led government] will happen in March, not far from now. We just want to discuss [the project] with the new government." He said a committee had been formed out of the forum, including about 40 people from different organizations who are demanding a conversation concerning the project with the new government, though the committee has yet to nominate a central executive body. Tun Kyi said the Kyaukphyu SEZ management committee claimed to have hashed out a compromise with villagers, agreeing to develop local career prospects and training schools for farmers' families. Doubts that these pledges would come to fruition had motivated the calls for a suspension of the project, he added. The Kyaukphyu SEZ would cover 4,289 acres of land, with an industrial zone being built across five village tracts in the first phase of the project. The post NGOs Seek Kyaukphyu SEZ Delay as President Pushes Implementation appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

China Govt Blamed for 85 Missing after Shenzhen Landslide Posted: 21 Dec 2015 09:14 PM PST Rescue workers climb a ladder and onto a damaged building after a landslide hit an industrial park in Shenzhen, Guangdong province on Monday. (Photo: Reuters) SHENZHEN, China — Rescuers searched Monday for 85 missing people a day after the collapse of a mountain of excavated soil and construction waste that had been piled up over two years in China's manufacturing center of Shenzhen. Authorities said the landslide buried or damaged 33 buildings in the industrial park in Shenzhen, a city near Hong Kong that makes products used around the world ranging from cellphones to cars. Residents blamed the government while officials cited human error, with one ministry saying, "The pile was too big, the pile was too steep." The landslide Sunday covered an area of 380,000 square meters (450,000 square yards) with silt 10 meters (33 feet) deep, authorities said. At least 16 people were hospitalized, including children, the official Xinhua News Agency said. The Shenzhen government said seven trapped people had been rescued and 85 others remained missing Monday evening. Earlier in the day it had said 91 people were missing and seven rescued, but it gave no explanation for the change in the missing. No deaths had been reported. The landslide is the fourth major disaster to strike China in a year following a deadly New Year's Eve stampede in Shanghai, the capsizing of a cruise ship in the Yangtze River and a massive explosion at a chemicals warehouse in Tianjin on the coast near Beijing. Human error has been suspected or confirmed in all three previous disasters, pointing to an often callous attitude toward safety in China despite the threat of harsh penalties. In Sunday's landslide, the Ministry of Land and Resources said a steep man-made mountain of dirt, cement chunks and other construction waste had been piled up against a 100-meter (330-foot)-high hill over the past two years. Heavy rains in the region saturated the soil, making it heavy and unstable, and ultimately causing it to collapse with massive force. "The pile was too big, the pile was too steep, leading to instability and collapse," the ministry said, adding that the original, natural hill remained intact. Some residents blamed government negligence. "If the government had taken proper measures in the first place, we would not have had this problem," said Chen Chengli. Chen's neighbor, Yi Jimin, said the disaster wasn't an act of nature. "Heavy rains and a collapse of a mountain are natural disasters, but this wasn't a natural disaster, this was man-made," Yi said. Aerial photos from the microblog of the Public Security Ministry's Firefighting Bureau showed the area awash in a sea of red mud, with buildings either knocked on their side or collapsed entirely. Posts on the microblog said the mud had filled many of the buildings, leaving the "room of survival extremely small." Cellphone camera video of the disaster on state broadcaster CCTV showed a massive wall of debris slamming into the buildings and sending up huge plumes of dust. A man who runs a store selling cigarettes and alcohol less than a kilometer (a half mile) from the site said local residents had known that the pile of soil was dangerous and feared something bad would happen. "We heard a sound like an explosion and then all we saw was smoke," said the man, who gave only his surname, Dong. "We knew what had happened immediately." The Ministry of Land and Resources said it had dispatched personnel to help guard against a second collapse. The damaged buildings included 14 factories, two office buildings, one cafeteria, three dormitories and 13 sheds or workshops, Shenzhen Deputy Mayor Liu Qingsheng said at a news conference. The Shenzhen government said 600 people had been relocated. Nearly 3,000 people were involved in the rescue efforts, aided by 151 cranes, backhoes and other construction equipment, along with rescue dogs and specialized life-detecting equipment. CCTV said President Xi Jinping and Premier Li Keqiang issued orders to make rescuing those trapped the top priority. The initial landslide sparked an explosion in a gas pipeline owned by PetroChina, the country's top oil and gas producer. By Monday morning, the fire was extinguished and a temporary section of pipe was being laid. Three decades of headlong economic growth have been catching up with China in terms of safety and damage to the environment. Many of the country's major cities suffer from chronic air pollution. A four-day smog red alert continued in Beijing on Monday, forcing schools to close, factories to curtail production and half the city's cars off the roads. The post China Govt Blamed for 85 Missing after Shenzhen Landslide appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

The Politics of Tibet’s Poisonous Religious Divide Posted: 21 Dec 2015 08:58 PM PST Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama reads religious scriptures as he delivers in the southern Indian state of Karnataka on Monday. (Photo: Abhishek N. Chinnappa / Reuters) HONG KONG — The doctrinal schism that the Chinese Communist Party is using to hound the Dalai Lama arose long ago in the internecine politics of his own school of Tibetan Buddhism. Dalai Lamas are drawn from the dominant Gelugpa School, one of the four major Buddhist traditions in Tibet. When the 5th Dalai Lama united Tibet in the 17th Century, he made an effort to embrace the other schools to enhance political unity, according to the French Tibetologist Thierry Dodin. This move angered other senior members of the Gelugpa School who opposed sharing power and privilege. They united in a clique within their school around the worship of Dorje Shugden, then a little-known "protector deity." Over the centuries, Shugden devotees came to dominate the Gelugpa School and the religious politics of Tibet. After the Communists came to power in 1949, Shugden practitioners became influential in the exiled Tibetan communities in India and Nepal. At first, they were hostile to Beijing, particularly after Tibetan monasteries and cultural relics were destroyed during the Cultural Revolution. That changed with the current Dalai Lama, 14th in the line. He too had been educated under senior Shugden monks. But from the mid-1970s, he began to shape a more inclusive doctrine. In part, this was a political move aimed at unifying the different traditions in Tibetan Buddhism in the face of pressure from Beijing, according to Dodin and other Tibet scholars. During a period of reflection, the Dalai Lama began to question the value of Shugden worship on the grounds it was harmful. In 1996, he publicly advised his followers to shun the practice. Since then, scholars say, there has been a gradual shift towards Beijing by the Shugden movement—a move that accelerated in the past decade. China is careful to avoid obvious public references to its Shugden strategy. But on the ground, evidence abounds that Beijing has thrown its weight behind Shugden devotees. Generous Funding Chinese authorities have poured funds into rebuilding and maintaining Shugden monasteries in the Tibet Autonomous Region and surrounding provinces. Reports in the state-run media show that China has financed extensive restoration at the Ganden Sumtseling Monastery in Yunnan Province and the Dungkar Monastery near Tibet's frontier with India, both leading Shugden monasteries. "There's a massive drive to keep the remaining Shugden strongholds alive with a lot of support from the party," said Dodin, director of the website TibetInfoNet. "This does not mean that others are left in decrepitude, but there is no such thing as a poor Shugden monastery." Buddhists who openly follow the Dalai Lama's teachings face persecution by Chinese authorities, according to human rights groups and exiled Tibetans. It is now a criminal offence to discourage Shugden worship, they say. Beijing also allows Shugden monks to travel overseas to teach and study with foreign Buddhists and exiled Tibetans. In December 2012, Beijing sponsored the visit to Switzerland of Lama Jampa Ngodup Wangchuk Rinpoche, the first Tibetan lama sent abroad by the government to teach, according to the website dorjeshugden.com, one of the websites that publish news and commentary about the sect. "By officially nominating him to travel abroad to teach, this would mean that the Chinese government is openly encouraging the proliferation of Buddhism, China's ancient heritage and Dorje Shudgen's practice," an article on the website said. Protective Custody Another clear signal of Beijing's preference: Senior Shugden monks are central to China's effort to educate the Panchen Lama, second only to the Dalai Lama in religious stature. In 1995, the Dalai Lama recognized a six-year-old Tibetan boy, Gedhun Choekyi Nyima, as the reincarnation of the 10th Panchen Lama. The boy and his family soon disappeared; Chinese authorities have said he is in protective custody. To sideline the Dalai Lama's choice, Beijing then recognized another Tibetan boy, Gyaltsen Norbu, as Panchen Lama. This maneuver was crucial to Beijing's plans to control Tibetan Buddhism, as the Panchen Lama plays a major role in recognizing reincarnations of the Dalai Lama, according to supporters of the Dalai Lama and experts on Tibetan Buddhism. Many of the senior teachers responsible for educating Beijing's hand-picked Panchen Lama are Shugden practitioners, according to experts on Tibetan Buddhism. Lama Gangchen, the most influential Shugden monk living abroad, has been photographed with this Panchen Lama as well. President Xi Jinping in June met the party-approved Panchen Lama in Beijing. The monk told Xi he would "resolutely uphold the unity of the motherland and its people," state television reported. Chinese authorities have put aside their atheist convictions to insist they will vet the selection of the next Dalai Lama, according to official statements and reports in the state-run media. This is part of an effort to ensure that the future spiritual leader of the more than six million ethnic Tibetans in Tibet and bordering provinces are loyal to the Communist Party. In response, the Dalai Lama has suggested he may reincarnate outside China or, perhaps, not at all. That idea drew an outraged response from Zhu Weiqun, the point man in Beijing's efforts to neutralize the Dalai Lama. "The reincarnation of the Dalai Lama has to be endorsed by the central government, not by any other sides, including the Dalai Lama himself," Zhu said, according to a March 11 report in the state-run Xinhua news agency. The post The Politics of Tibet's Poisonous Religious Divide appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Would-be Japan PM Says Defense Shift Could Be Excuse for Attack Posted: 21 Dec 2015 08:39 PM PST Seiko Noda, a former cabinet minister and Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) policy chief, poses for a photo after an interview with Reuters at her office in Tokyo, Japan, December 21, 2015. (Photo: Toru Hanai / Reuters) TOKYO — Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's defense policy shift to allow the military to fight abroad for the first time since 1945 could be used by militants as an excuse to attack Japan, a ruling party lawmaker who hopes one day to succeed Abe said on Monday. Laws enacted in September will allow Japanese forces to aid friendly countries, such as the United States, under attack based on the Abe administration's reinterpretation of the constitution. Such collective self-defense was banned by previous governments as a violation of the post-war charter. Seiko Noda, a former cabinet minister and Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) policy chief, said that for now, Abe's pivot back to focus on the economy had distracted the public from concerns about the security laws, which had sparked huge street protests. But the move might backfire if terrorism struck Japan, she told Reuters in an interview. "By strengthening Japan's partnership with the United States, this creates a convenient excuse for IS [Islamic State]," Noda said. "I pray that this will not happen … but it is no longer the case that this [terrorist attack] could not happen in Japan," she said, noting recent attacks in France and elsewhere. Often mentioned as a contender to become Japan's first female prime minister, Noda said she was not opposed to allowing Japan to exercise collective self-defense, but that Abe should have formally revised the constitution—a political tough hurdle never yet achieved—not just reinterpreted it. Noda, who tried to challenge Abe's re-election as LDP leader in September, said she would "of course" make another bid when Abe leaves office. His term as party chief ends in 2018. Last time, she failed to get backing of the 20 lawmakers needed to launch a formal challenge, partly, she said, because of pressure from those close to Abe who wanted to "protect him." Noda, who gave birth at age 50 after conceiving via donor eggs and in vitro insemination, said Abe's policies to raise Japan's low birth rate and cope with its fast-ageing population were in the right direction but not bold enough. "There is a gap between the [policy] points and the funding sources," she said. "I'm not saying this just because I am a woman, but the only savior that can change Japan is a major policy change." The post Would-be Japan PM Says Defense Shift Could Be Excuse for Attack appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Life Inside the Long-Planned Dawei Special Economic Zone Posted: 21 Dec 2015 08:27 PM PST Click to view slideshow. DAWEI, Tenasserim Division — The Dawei special economic zone (SEZ) has been billed as an economic gateway that will, for better or worse, irrevocably change this once remote and sleepy capital of Tenasserim Division in Burma's southeast. As part of the long-stalled project, a deep-sea port is expected to rival Singapore's, and the SEZ itself will reportedly cover a 196 square kilometer patch of land that would make it one of Southeast Asia's largest industrial zones. However, since the project's plans were unveiled, large-scale local opposition has arisen due to environmental and social concerns. According to the Dawei Development Association (DDA)'s 2014 "Voices from the Ground" report, the project will affect upwards of 43,000 people living in 36 villages inside the SEZ. The report bemoaned the lack of consultation with affected communities and inadequate compensation for confiscated land. Some who were promised payment are still waiting. In one area, protective coastal mangrove forests were cleared to make way for the zone, the report said, and the government's plans to utilize coal in powering the project's construction have also been criticized. On the other hand, some locals remain hopeful that new factories to be built in the zone will bring jobs and thus stimulate a long-suffering local economy. Funding shortages have meant the billion dollar project has been stalled since 2013—the latest in a string of setbacks since the SEZ was officially initiated in 2008. But with Japan joining Burma and Thailand in developing the project, developers expect construction to inch along in 2016. With so many delays, nothing can be taken for granted, not least projections for the project's completion, now set for 2023. What is certain is that by the time the SEZ is complete, this remote jewel on the Andaman Sea coast, with unpolluted water and pristine beaches, and home to dozens of quintessential fishing villages, will be forever changed. The post Life Inside the Long-Planned Dawei Special Economic Zone appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

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