Friday, July 13, 2018

The Irrawaddy Magazine

The Irrawaddy Magazine

Govt Approves Sites For 3 New Economic Zones Along China Border

Posted: 13 Jul 2018 06:18 AM PDT

YANGON — The government approved sites for three “economic cooperation zones” in Kachin and Shan states along Myanmar’s border with China on Thursday as part of Beijing’s ambitious Belt and Road Initiative, according to the chief minister of Kachin State.

U Khet Aung said the sites were approved at the first implementation meeting of the Economic Cooperation Zones Central Committee in Naypyitaw, and followed a recent trip to China by Commerce Minister U Than Myint.

He said the zones will be built in Kanpiketi town, in Kachin State’s Special Region 1, under the control of the New Democratic Army-Kachin militia; Chinshwehaw, in Shan State’s Laukkai Township, part of the Kokang Self-Administered Zone; and in Shan State’s Muse Township.

Chinshwehaw  and Muse are already major trading hubs along Myanmar’s border with China’s Yunnan Province. Kanpiketi currently does regular trade with China as well.

"The [commerce] minister pushed us to start the projects soon. The zones will be established on both sides of the border. We already started clearing the site in Kanpiketi," U Khet Aung told The Irrawaddy on Friday.

According to a Commerce Ministry spokesman, U Than Myint visited China last week and returned on Tuesday, but the ministry has not released any more official information about the trip. According to U Khet Aung, Chinese officials told the minister that they expected the zones to not only boost border trade but help bring “peace and stability” to the restive regions.

At Thursday’s committee meeting in Naypyitaw, U Than Myint also said that the zones would create local jobs, boost small and medium businesses and support the peace process by promoting stability, and that he urged relevant ministries to support the projects, according to a statement from the Ministry of Information.

The Commerce Ministry spokesman said officials from Kachin and Shan states and from Kokang also attended.

U Khet Aung said the Kanpiketi zone was expected to receive an initial investment of $5 million and be finished by the end of this year.

In 2017 China and Myanmar signed five memorandums of understanding (MoUs), including one between their respective commerce ministries, during State Counselor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi’s visit to Beijing to attend a forum on the Belt and Road Initiative.

Since then, the details have been hammered out by a Joint Committee on China-Myanmar Border Economic Zones. Myanmar’s team is headed by U Than Myint, with the chief ministers of Kachin and Shan states and the president of the Kokang Self-Administered Zone serving as deputies.

As part of the Belt and Road Initiative, Beijing and Naypyitaw have also agreed to a 15-point MoU on the China-Myanmar Economic Corridor, the director of Myanmar’s Directorate of Investment and Company Administration, U Min Zaw Oo, told The Irrawaddy last week.

The corridor will reach from Yunnan Province to Mandalay in central Myanmar, from where it will stretch south to Yangon and west to the Kyaukphyu Special Economic Zone in Rakhine State.

Under the MoU, the two governments have agreed to collaborate in many sectors including infrastructure, construction, manufacturing, agriculture, transportation, finance, human resource development, telecommunications, research and science.

Launched in 2013, the Belt and Road Initiative is Chinese President Xi Jinping's signature foreign policy project . It aims to build and expand roads, rail lines and shipping lanes linking at least 70 countries from China to Europe through central Asia, the Middle East and Russia to boost trade and investment.

Many see Myanmar uniquely situated along the route as it sits between South and Southeast Asia and offers landlocked Yunnan Province its quickest path to the Indian Ocean.

The post Govt Approves Sites For 3 New Economic Zones Along China Border appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Tatmadaw Invites Ta’ang, Kokang and Arakan Armies to Participate in Ceasefire

Posted: 13 Jul 2018 04:54 AM PDT

NAYPYITAW — The Myanmar Army made a conditional offer for three rebel ethnic armed groups to sign the Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement (NCA) following a period of dialogue, according to Brig-Gen Tar Khu Lan, vice chairman of the Ta'ang Nationalities Liberation Army (TNLA), one of the groups that has yet to join the peace process.

Vice Snr-Gen Soe Win, the deputy head of the Myanmar Army, made the offer during a sidelines meeting with the leaders of the TNLA, Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (Kokang), and Arakan Army (AA) – on Wednesday at the Office of the Military Commander-in-Chief in Naypyitaw. The three, together with the leaders from four other groups, had flown in to the capital to join the third session of the 21st Panglong Union Peace Conference, which is currently underway.

"He invited us to sign a bilateral agreement first, and then to purse a dialogue until we could reach an agreement on terms for joining the NCA," Brig-Gen Tar Khu Lan, who attended the meeting, told The Irrawaddy on Friday.

But the offer was conditional, as the ethnic armed groups would need to make an announcement that they had agreed to disarm before signing the bilateral deal, the TNLA leader said,

Tar Khu Lan said such a commitment would be difficult to make as it's something TNLA members and the Ta'ang ethnic people are opposed to.

"I explained at the meeting that it wouldn't work if the leaders sign (such a disarmament deal) without first obtaining the consensus support of their followers. So I replied that a decision could not be made alone by our chairman but needed to involve our peace-negotiating committee, which would lead us in choosing the right wording."

The Myanmar military's request for the groups to agree to disarm is nothing new. During an informal meeting in August 2016 between the three armed groups and the government's Peace Commission, they were offered a similar terms for joining the NCA.

"They have previously asked us to release a statement [about disarmament]. But in the negotiations, the wording was a problem and now they have raised it again. If there are no changes to the wording (of the agreement) and the same terminology is used, it is not OK for us," Tar Khu Lan said.

Because of the Tatmadaw's insistence that the groups disarm, the negotiations between the Peace Commission and the three EAOs — the MNDAA, TNLA and AA — were postponed for a long time and the groups later joined the Federal Political Negotiation and Consultative Committee (FPNCC). Previously, these groups had collaborated with the now-defunct United Nationalities Federal Council, to find ways to join the NCA.

The TNLA said the meeting with the deputy army chief on Wednesday was constructive and that it would help support the peace process. The TNLA vice chair said his group also welcomed the offer to sign a bilateral ceasefire and eventually join the NCA.

"But it is the demand we pledge to disarm, as we were told previously there was no need to give up our guns until the time our desires are met," he said.

The Office of the Commander-in-Chief said on Wednesday evening that matters related to the NCA, such as trust-building and peace-building issues, were discussed during the talks.

On the Tatmadaw side, the deputy army chief was accompanied by Lt-Gen Than Tun Oo from the Commander-in-Chief's Office, other senior generals, and the secretary of the Peace Commission, former Lt-Gen Khin Zaw Oo. The TNLA's Tar Khu Lan, AA Deputy Chief of Staff Brig-Gen Nyo Tun Aung and Phone Win Naing of the MNDAA represented their groups at the Wednesday meeting.

The MNDAA, TNLA and AA are members of the FPNCC along with the United Wa State Army, Kachin Independence Army, Shan State Progress Party and Mongla's National Democratic Alliance Army. The FPNCC has instituted policies of exploring alternatives to the NCA, and to follow an allied position in political talks rather than trying to negotiate on an individual basis.

The post Tatmadaw Invites Ta'ang, Kokang and Arakan Armies to Participate in Ceasefire appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

China Does Not Have Special Interests in Supporting Myanmar’s Peace Process: Official

Posted: 13 Jul 2018 04:31 AM PDT

NAYPYITAW — Chinese Special Envoy Sun Guoxiang said China does not have its own interests in supporting Myanmar's peace process.

"We urge [the stakeholders] to negotiate and discuss. But our country doesn't have any interests regarding that," he told reporters in Naypyitaw’s Horizon Hotel on Thursday.

Sun Guoxiang, the special envoy of Asian Affairs under China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, has helped facilitate peace negotiations between the Myanmar government and ethnic armed groups based along the China-Myanmar border.

He told reporters that China is committed to supporting Myanmar in achieving peace for the sake of all Myanmar nationals.

"If peace is not achieved, it is also harmful for stability," he told reporters.

He added that if the country achieved peace, the China and Myanmar border would also be peaceful and stable.

The special envoy met with the army chief Snr-Gen Min Aung Hlaing on Friday and discussed the peace process, border security, the Rakhine crisis and bilateral cooperation.

As Myanmar's largest neighbor, China has been a critical player in the peace process. Since 2013, China became closely involved through the appointment of special envoys and invitations for Myanmar leaders to come to China.

After China intervened, the northeastern-based ethnic alliance the Federal Political Negotiation and Consultative Committee (FPNCC) led by the United Wa State Army (UWSA) joined the second session of the peace conference in May of last year.

The seven members of the FPNCC are in Naypyitaw this week to participate in the third session of the peace conference. Before the conference, the alliance sought further support from China in ensuring security for the groups that are in ongoing clashes with the Myanmar Army.

The government and military met the FPNCC members separately on Wednesday and Thursday. In regards to those meetings, the State Counselor's Office said it discussed issues related to conflict reduction, peace negotiations and the Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement.

The post China Does Not Have Special Interests in Supporting Myanmar's Peace Process: Official appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Second Wa Delegate Hospitalized in Naypyitaw Amid Peace Talks

Posted: 13 Jul 2018 03:12 AM PDT

NAYPYITAW — Two senior members of the United Wa State Army (UWSA) have been hospitalized during their sojourn in Naypyitaw this week to attend the third session of the Union Peace Conference, where government, military and ethnic minority leaders are looking for ways to end the country's decades-long civil war.

UWSA liaison officer Zhao Guo An was hospitalized on Friday morning due to glucose deficiency, according to a government spokesman.

On Thursday, UWSA Vice Chairman Bao Yu Yi fainted ahead of a meeting with State Counselor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi. The spokesman attributed the episode to the vice chairman’s heart condition and the difference in climate between Naypyitaw and the cooler temperatures of Wa State.

"U Zhao Guo An is fine now. We put him in the hospital to make sure he is alright," the spokesman told media.

He said both UWSA officials were being treated at the 1,000-bed General Hospital in Naypyitaw.

"For U Bao Yu Yi, we have assigned some cardio specialists from the military [hospital] for better treatment," he added.

The UWSA is the most powerful ethnic armed group among seven that have not signed the government's Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement (NCA).

On Friday afternoon, Myanmar military chief Senior-General Min Aung Hlaing visited the two Wa leaders in the hospital to ask about their conditions, according to a press release from the commander-in-chief’s office.

Photos posted to his Facebook account show the military chief personally serving Bao Yu Yi  a bowl of bird nest soup.

In his remarks at the opening ceremonies of the peace conference on Wednesday, Snr-Gen Min Aung Hlaing said the government and the military were actively engaged in the peace process not because they were weak.

Some delegates at the conference expressed concern that his decision to highlight the military’s strength, and his remarks in general, would hinder the negotiations with ethnic armed groups, both with those that have not signed the NCA and those that have.

The post Second Wa Delegate Hospitalized in Naypyitaw Amid Peace Talks appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

12 Tatmadaw Troops, 1 RCSS Soldier Killed in 4 Days of Fighting in Mong Kung

Posted: 13 Jul 2018 03:04 AM PDT

MON STATE — Twelve Myanmar Army troops and one Restoration Council of Shan State soldier have been killed in this week's armed clashes in Mong Kung Township, according to separate reports from the organization and an aligned media outlet on Friday. An undisclosed number of RCSS troops have been injured, according to a spokesperson for the group.

Four days of fighting in Mong Kung have also forced hundreds of ethnic Shan to flee their villages, according to local sources.

The casualty figures were reported by both the RCSS and Tai Freedom, a local media organization under its control.

The RCSS also claimed to have seized some equipment from Myanmar military (or Tatmadaw) units, including a drone and artillery shield.

Lieutenant-Colonel Sai Oo, a spokesperson from the RCSS, confirmed to The Irrawaddy on Friday that according to RCSS troops, there had been casualties on the Tatmadaw side.

"Our ground troops' reports are not much different to [Tai Freedom's] reports," Lt-Col Sai Oo said.

He said one of his organization's troops was killed and a number were wounded.

The fighting began on July 9 and continued through Thursday, he said.

Tai Freedom serves as the RCSS's information department. It has reported daily since July 9 on fighting between the Myanmar Army and RCSS in Mong Kung. It has published photos showing RCSS members with seized military equipment.

Tatmadaw aircraft have been seen in the area, but they have apparently only been used to observe the conflict zone and have not fired on RCSS positions, according to a July 12 report from Tai Freedom.

Growing numbers of local ethnic Shan have fled their villages near the conflict zone, which is about 10 miles from Mong Kung town.

Local aide groups put the number of IDPs at over 600 and said they were all sheltering at a Buddhist monastery in Mong Kung Township.

"The situation is deteriorating for IDPs, as the fighting continued [on Thursday]," said a local resident from Mong Kung township who visited an IDP camp Thursday and donated some food there.

Most IDPs fled their villages suddenly and were unable to take food with them, he said.

Some local groups have distributed food to the IDPs, he added.

The RCSS is a signatory to the Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement (NCA). Some of its leaders are currently attending the ongoing third session of the 21st Century Panglong Union Peace Conference in Naypyitaw, even as their troops clash with the Tatmadaw in Shan State.

The location of the line of demarcation between the zones controlled by the Tatmadaw and the RCSS remains disputed, despite the two sides having signed a bilateral agreement to delineate a boundary, and despite the RCSS's signing of the NCA in 2015.

This has led to occasional clashes, usually involving the Tatmadaw attempting to push the RCSS out of territory it claims is disputed.

Just prior to the latest round of fighting, the Myanmar Army warned RCSS troops to return to their old bases from areas in southern Shan that the Tatmadaw claims the group is not permitted to operate in under the Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement (NCA).

More Myanmar Army troops have been deployed in RCSS areas recently, and the Tatmadaw has engaged in some large troop movements according to the ethnic organization. The Tatmadaw attack that led to the latest round of fighting was directly related to its warning last week, according to Lt-Col Sai Oo.

The post 12 Tatmadaw Troops, 1 RCSS Soldier Killed in 4 Days of Fighting in Mong Kung appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Naga Youth Oppose Aung San Statue in Sagaing

Posted: 13 Jul 2018 02:55 AM PDT

MANDALAY — Amid criticism over the erection of a statue of the late General Aung San in the ethnic region, Naga youth from Khamti, Sagaing Region issued a statement to show their opposition to the statue bring built in their town.

The statement issued by the Council of Naga Affairs and dated July 7 said that the committee to erect the statue did not first seek the opinion of Naga people or youth.

"Instead of emphasizing the promise of General Aung San, erecting statues of the late general without consulting ethnic minorities is just a symbol of Burmese supremacy," said the statement released by Council of Naga Affairs, which was founded by Naga University students to support the welfare of Naga youth.

The Naga youth also said in the statement that building Gen Aung San statues across the country was the opposition of reconciliation and unity in parts of the country where ethnic minorities fear the loss of their dignity and culture.

The statement then urged the Naga people living in Khamti region not to join in erecting the statue or attending the opening ceremony scheduled for July 21.

"We would like to urge the Naga people not to attend the ceremony, especially not with Naga costumes," said the statement, which circulated to the Naga Literature and Cultural Association, which said it did not agree with this view.

"The statement did not comply with our opinion. We've told the Naga people here to make their own decisions and we've given no instructions regarding the ceremony," said U Aung Htet, the president of the Naga Literature and Culture Association, based in Khamti. "The statement did not represent us, the Naga people here in Khamti, by far."

Khamti, located in the upper region of Sagaing Region, is the closest region to the Naga hills, where about 40 percent of the population is Naga.

According to the committee to build the statue of Gen Aung San in Khamti, Naga and other ethnic leaders from Khamti were included in the decision making and it does not understand why the Naga youth issued the statement.

"There were no disagreements when we formed this committee and had discussions a year ago. There were Naga elders who participated," explained U Pho San, the treasurer of the committee.

The committee told The Irrawaddy that the opposition only arose when the bronze statue of General Aung San riding a horse arrived in Khamti in July.

"The council is from Yangon and it seems they didn't know the reality in Khamti," he said.

Although the statement of the Council of Naga Affairs showed its disagreement, the committee said it would hold the opening ceremony as planned.

"Since there are no official complaints and the regional and local governments have already agreed, we will reveal the statue as planned," he added.

The post Naga Youth Oppose Aung San Statue in Sagaing appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Rise of Robots Fuels Slavery Threat for Asian Factory Workers: Analysts

Posted: 12 Jul 2018 10:30 PM PDT

LONDON — The rise of robots in manufacturing in Southeast Asia is likely to fuel modern slavery as workers who end up unemployed due to automation face abuses competing for a shrinking pool of low-paid jobs in a “race to the bottom,” analysts said on Thursday.

Drastic job losses due to the growth of automation in the region — a hub for many manufacturing sectors from garments to vehicles — could produce a spike in labor abuses and slavery in global supply chains, said risk consultancy Verisk Maplecroft.

More than half of workers in Cambodia, Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam and the Philippines — at least 137 million people — risk losing their jobs to automation in the next two decades, the United Nations’ International Labor Organization says.

The risk of slavery tainting supply chains will spiral as workers who lose their jobs due to increased robot manufacturing will be more vulnerable to workplace abuses as they jostle for fewer jobs at lower wages, said Alexandra Channer of Maplecroft.

“Displaced workers without the skills to adapt or the cushion of social security will have to compete for a diminishing supply of low-paid, low-skilled work in what will likely be an increasingly exploitative environment,” she said.

“Without concrete measures from governments to adapt and educate future generations to function alongside machines, it could be a race to the bottom for many workers,” the head of human rights at Britain-based Maplecroft said in a statement.

Farming, forestry and fishing, manufacturing, construction, retail and hospitality are the sectors in Southeast Asia where workers are most likely to be replaced by robots, Maplecroft said in an annual report, with Vietnam the country at most risk.

Workers in the garment, textile and footwear industry — mostly women in countries such as Cambodia and Vietnam — face the biggest threat from automation in the region, Maplecroft said.

The five countries the report lists are already considered high-risk for modern slavery as labor abuses are rife, wages low and the workforce dependent on low-skilled jobs, the firm said, with automation set to make things worse.

“Automation has always posed a risk to low-skilled jobs, but governments and business can determine how it impacts on workers,” said Cindy Berman of the Ethical Trading Initiative, a group of unions, firms and charities promoting workers’ rights.

“Technology can be disrupting, but it can also be part of the solution by creating opportunities for better jobs,” its head of slavery strategy told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.

The post Rise of Robots Fuels Slavery Threat for Asian Factory Workers: Analysts appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

China Chemical Plant Blast Kills 19, Injures 12

Posted: 12 Jul 2018 09:39 PM PDT

SHANGHAI/BEIJING — An explosion at a chemical plant in China has killed 19 people and injured 12, authorities said on Friday, the latest deadly industrial incident in the world’s largest producer of chemicals.

It comes amid a drive to strengthen industrial safety, with China ramping up checks over the last year, in the wake of some high-profile incidents at coal mines and chemical plants.

The cause of Thursday evening’s blast at Yibin Hengda Technology in an industrial park several hours southeast of Chengdu, the capital of the southwestern province of Sichuan, is not yet known, the local government in Jiang’an county said.

The injured are in stable condition and an investigation has begun, state news agency Xinhua said.

The company, which makes chemicals for the food and pharmaceutical industries, did not immediately answer telephone calls from Reuters to seek information.

Photographs on Chinese social media showed a huge fire and plumes of smoke rising from the facility. The fire, which broke out early on Thursday evening, was put out by 11:30 p.m., the government said in its statement.

A trio of three-story buildings was reduced to its steel frames by the explosion, the Sichuan Daily newspaper said, citing eyewitness accounts.

Windows of nearby buildings were shattered by the explosion at the factory, which is surrounded by a sand and gravel plant, it added.

The plant has three production lines, making 300 tons per year of benzoic acid, which is used in food preservatives, and 2,000 tons per year of 5-nitroisophthalic acid, for medicines and dyes, the regional environmental protection bureau says.

China’s breakneck pace of economic growth during the last decade has resulted in a spate of industrial accidents.

In 2015, an explosion in a chemical warehouse in the northern port city of Tianjin killed 165 people. Last year a blast at a petrochemical plant in eastern Shandong province killed eight people and injured nine.

The post China Chemical Plant Blast Kills 19, Injures 12 appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

UN Readies to Send Experts to Myanmar’s Rakhine after Rohingya Return Deal: Official

Posted: 12 Jul 2018 09:33 PM PDT

YANGON — The United Nations is preparing to send teams of experts into Myanmar’s Rakhine State to begin work aimed at eventually repatriating Rohingya Muslims who fled violence last year, the regional head of the UN development agency said on Thursday.

The UN agencies for development and refugees struck an outline deal with Nobel laureate Daw Aung San Suu Kyi’s government at the end of May to allow Rohingya Muslims sheltering in Bangladesh to return safely and by choice.

Haoliang Xu, the United Nations Development Program’s director for the Asia-Pacific region, said UN officials were last week allowed to travel freely around northern Rakhine for the first time since August 2017.

But an initial work plan still needed to be devised with the government before proper assessment could begin, Xu told Reuters in an interview in Myanmar’s largest city, Yangon.

“You can say we are working with an extreme sense of urgency,” he said. “We're also preparing in parallel to send in teams.”

Those teams would assess the needs of an estimated more than 200,000 Rohingya and other communities who remain in northern Rakhine, he said.

Myanmar’s main government spokesman Zaw Htay was not available for comment.

Myanmar’s military launched a crackdown in the northern part of Rakhine in response to militant attacks in August, driving 700,000 stateless Rohingya across the border to Bangladesh.

Daw Aung San Suu Kyi’s civilian administration defended what it described as a legitimate counter-insurgency operation, and denied allegations of ethnic cleansing. It says it is ready to accept back those who fled.

Xu said that the plan was designed to “create the conditions for return… by undertaking quick impact projects that will benefit the population who are still there,” such as cash-for-work projects, small-scale infrastructure improvements or agricultural schemes.

The deal between the UN and the government was not made public, but a draft was seen by Reuters and also leaked online last month.

Refugee leaders and human rights groups criticized the memorandum of understanding (MoU) for failing to give explicit guarantees that those who return will get citizenship or be able to move freely throughout Myanmar.

The Rohingya, who regard themselves as native to Rakhine State, are widely considered interlopers by Myanmar’s Buddhist majority and are denied citizenship.

Xu said tackling these issues required taking “small steps," and said Myanmar had committed to providing a “pathway to citizenship."

The post UN Readies to Send Experts to Myanmar’s Rakhine after Rohingya Return Deal: Official appeared first on The Irrawaddy.
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