Friday, May 4, 2018

The Irrawaddy Magazine

The Irrawaddy Magazine

Fighting Between Two Allied Ethnic Armies Injures Two in Northern Shan

Posted: 04 May 2018 08:29 AM PDT

YANGON – Two villagers in Mansa village near Namtu Township in northern Shan State sustained shrapnel wounds when clashes erupted between the Shan State Progressive Party and the Ta'ang Nationalities Liberation Army on Friday morning.

The two armed groups are both based along the China-Myanmar border and both are members of the northeast-based Federal Political Negotiation and Consultative Committee (FPNCC). While they have so far avoided heavy fighting, occasional skirmishes flared between the two groups in northern Shan in 2016 and 2017.

More than 100 villagers from Mansa fled to Mong Ying village, about 1 mile away, and were taken to a shelter at the village monastery, according to U Tun Hline, the village administrator of Mong Ying.

"The fighting broke out at about 9 am on May 4 in Mansa village in Mansa Lone village tract, and ended at around 12:30 p.m.," U Tun Hline told The Irrawaddy on Friday.

The two villagers were injured when an artillery round struck the village, he said, adding that "the shell hit the compound of U Aik Sai, who suffered abdominal wounds. He was sent to Lashio Hospital. Daw Aye San, a woman who was passing by, was hit in the shoulder and sent to Namtu Hospital."

"I think the artillery shelling is from the Palaung [TNLA], because the SSPP [troops] live inside the village," he said.

However, TNLA spokesman Major Mai Aik Kyaw told The Irrawaddy that he could not confirm the reports of fighting.

"We haven't received any reports from our ground forces yet, but I have heard the stories," Maj. Mai Aik Kyaw said, referring to Facebook posts on the clash.

SSPP spokesmen were unavailable for comment regarding Friday's incident. However, a Shan-language report regarding the clash was posted to the SSPP's Facebook page on Friday afternoon. The post states that "about 300 troops from TNLA Battalion 1 attacked the SSPP camp at Namhsaun [Mansa] from 9:30 am to 2:00 pm. Casualties on both sides are unknown. After the attack, the TNLA retreated but a nearby Myanmar Army unit continued to attack the SSPP."

The FPNCC has a policy of engaging in collective peace negotiations with the government. Early this week, however, the SSPP held bilateral peace talks with a delegation representing the government's Peace Commission led by former military leaders at the party's headquarters in Wan Hai, Kehsi Township.

Despite the talks, it was reported on Friday that the SSPP also engaged in clashes with the Myanmar military, or Tatmadaw, at Loi Yin outpost in Kyauk Mae Township, northern Shan State.

Nyein Nyein contributed to this report. 

The post Fighting Between Two Allied Ethnic Armies Injures Two in Northern Shan appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

More Than A Dozen Killed as Debris Mound Collapses at Mine in Hpakant

Posted: 04 May 2018 08:17 AM PDT

WAI HKA, HPAKANT, Kachin State – Fourteen people are confirmed dead, with six people injured and many more still missing after a slag heap collapsed at a jade mine in Kachin State's Hpakant Township in northern Myanmar early Friday morning.

Between 30 and 50 people are believed to have been buried when the mound of debris from the mine collapsed at around 4 am in Wai Hka village, Seik Mu village tract.

Rescue workers had retrieved 14 bodies by Friday afternoon, according to local residents and rescue workers. A total of eight injured people were taken to Hpakant Hospital, two of whom later died of their injuries, said U Shwe Thein, the NLD chairman of Seik Mu village. Conflicting reports on the precise death toll were being published Friday evening.

Ko Aung Myint San, who has been working as an informal mine worker in the jade mines for a decade, told The Irrawaddy that he was among the lucky ones, as he had decided not go to scavenging for stones on Friday morning. He said, "We usually go and wait at the worksite until the company workers take their break. Soldiers guarding the site allow us to search for stones at certain times. This morning, the cliff collapsed in a landslide."

 

An informal mine worker, or 'hand-picker', shows The Irrawaddy's reporters the site of Friday's slag heap collapse. (Photo: Nan Lwin Hnin Pwint/ The Irrawaddy)

Home to more than 30,000 people, Wai Hka village is surrounded by mines. U Shwe Thein said Friday's disaster occurred in an area that was once the region's highest mountain, but which was now riddled with holes and mineshafts, some more than 1,000 feet in depth.

An officer on duty at Hpakant police station said the rescue effort was ongoing, but the search was being hampered by rain. The victims are believed to have been informal, self-employed prospectors, or "hand-pickers", searching for pieces of jade at a site operated by a licensed company. They were not on the slag heap itself, according to the officer.

The worksites involved are Sein Shwe War Co.'s site No. 443 and Kyauk Myat Shwe Pyi Co.'s site No. 558. Many of the victims were males in their 20s. The youngest confirmed so far was 18 and the oldest 45.

Ying Hkawng, the chairman of the Green Land environmental group based in Hpakant, said, "The landslide happened when the company halted work at 4 am and the informal mine workers came to pick over the site for jade. The 14 recovered bodies are now in the hands of local funeral service operators. They will wait for three days for family members to come and retrieve the bodies. Social organizations will cremate those victims whose bodies are not claimed."

Wai Hka village experienced a previous dumpsite collapse in May 2016, in which 12 prospectors died, 13 were injured and a number of people remain unaccounted for.

According to local residents, workers at many of Hpakant's jade mines are at risk of being buried alive under slag heaps, some of which are hundreds of feet high. Many of the mines are secured by Myanmar military (Tatmadaw) troops and operated by companies backed by either the Tatmadaw or the Kachin Independence Army.

In March, a collapse occurred at the Kan Kham jade mine in La Maung village. The same mine was the site of a deadly landslide in November 2015 that claimed more than 100 lives.

Including Friday's collapse, at least five such incidents have occurred at Hpakant's slag heaps this year alone, killing dozens of scavengers searching for discarded pieces of jade.

Chit Min Tun contributed to this report.

The post More Than A Dozen Killed as Debris Mound Collapses at Mine in Hpakant appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Court Holds Hearing in Corruption Case Against FDA Chief

Posted: 04 May 2018 07:21 AM PDT

MANDALAY — Mandalay Divisional Court on Friday held its first hearing in the corruption case against the head of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

FDA director-general Dr. Than Htut was arrested and sued under Section 56 of the Anti-Corruption Law on April 19. (https://www.irrawaddy.com/news/burma/anti-corruption-commission-files-case-fda-chief.html)

At Friday's court session, plaintiff U Than Zaw Win, an investigator from the Anti-Corruption Commission, submitted evidence against Dr. Than Htut including documents from a construction company showing it built two houses and a swimming pool for the official and furnished the homes with TVs, refrigerators, air conditioners, paintings and other items in exchange for being awarded a tender to build laboratories for the agency.

The investigator told the court the director asked the company to build him two homes and a swimming pool and provide household items. The alleged bribe is worth more than 15 million kyats in total.

The next court hearing is scheduled for May 11. The plaintiff is expected to submit further documents as evidence. The court will then hear from witnesses for the plaintiff. The court is scheduled to hear from 36 witnesses in all.

If he is convicted, the director-general faces a maximum of 10 years' imprisonment and a fine.

The post Court Holds Hearing in Corruption Case Against FDA Chief appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

News Editor Loses Bid to Have Evidence Thrown Out

Posted: 04 May 2018 05:50 AM PDT

Mandalay— Mandalay District Court on Friday rejected an appeal by the editor of the Myanmar Now newspaper to rule evidence submitted by the plaintiff in a lower court was unreliable.

Ko Swe Win, the chief editor of Myanmar Now, was sued by a supporter of the ultranationalist monk U Wirathu. The plaintiff had submitted a video clip of an interview Ko Swe Win had done with Radio Free Asia RFA's Burmese language program.

Ko Swe Win and his lawyers complained that the video clip was edited prejudiciously to support the lawsuit and that it should be declared as untrustworthy evidence.

"The district court rejected our appeal and said the evidence would be accepted and the trial allowed to proceed. So, we will have to continue with the trial at Maha Aung Myat township court," said U Khin Maung Myint, a legal advisor to Ko Swe Win.

The editor and his lawyers decided not to appeal to a higher court to save time. The next court hearing at the Maha Aung Myay Township court will be on May 11.

"The recorded segment of the interview is incomplete, which could mislead the trial and the judge to make a wrong decision," U Khin Maung Myint said.

"The video clip was copied from U Kyaw Myo Shwe's mobile phone and is incomplete. And it was not verified by RFA that it could be trusted," he said.

According to the lawyers, the video segment submitted by U Kyaw Myo Shwe included only the part in which Ko Swe Win criticized U Wirathu.

Meanwhile, Ko Swe Win's lawyers have also submitted a complaint to the Maha Aung Myay township court to take legal action against U Kyaw Myo Shwe for submitting unreliable evidence. The court will issue a decision on whether action should be taken against the Mandalay resident on May 11.

Ko Swe Win was arrested and released on bail in July last year. He was sued under Article 66 (d) of the Telecommunications Law by U Kyaw Myo Shwe in March on the grounds that he had insulted U Wirathu.

The post News Editor Loses Bid to Have Evidence Thrown Out appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Lacquerware Maker Experiments With Fashion Accessories to Keep Local Interest Alive

Posted: 04 May 2018 05:13 AM PDT

Traditional lacquerware, or Yun De as it is known in Burmese, has its own unique style. The art form, also known as Pan Yun, appears to have originated in Bagan around the 12th or 13th century and the ancient capital remains the center for the traditional Burmese lacquerware industry today.

There you can find large workshops where teams of artisans still practice the handicraft although interest in lacquerware among the locals is slowly declining.

"The traditional lacquerware art has existed since the Bagan era and it's over a thousand years old. It is also a traditional family business that has been passed down from generation to generation. So, I would like to attract the next generation to be interested in it as well," said Daw Maw Maw Aung, the owner of the Bagan House lacquerware shop.

"But the new generation is mostly interested in the latest technological gadgets and they are forgetting to value traditional things. They just want to spend their money on luxury goods," she added.

The process of making Burmese lacquerware is not easy. There are a lot of steps and it requires teamwork. One single person can't handle the whole process and it takes between six months to a year to complete one item. So, the products are not cheap.

Various lacquerware accessories made by Bagan House. / Zaw Zaw

"That's one reason that local people stopped buying lacquerware. It's expensive but it is our intangible cultural heritage," Daw Maw Maw Aung said.

"If you use it well, you can pass it on to your descendants. I have a lot of lacquerware items that I got from my grandmother and grandpa. I'm so proud to have them until now."

Nowadays, a lot of lacquerware shops depend on foreigners and the hotel decoration market to drive demand, Daw Maw Maw Aung said.

"So, I choose to target local people, mainly youth, to try to interest them in lacquerware through fashion accessories."

Bagan House creates fashion accessories like bracelets, rings, necklaces, and scarves painted with the sap (Thit Si) used in making lacquerware.

The store owner organized an event to showcase the shop's products and activities on April 29, the full moon day of Kasong. At the event, girls wore traditional dresses with the Bagan House's lacquerware fashion accessories and scarves.

The designs are not too modern but look classic and gorgeous. Some accessories are too big and not really suited to wear to an everyday event.

"Yes, we are trying to attract local people but we can't forget about the foreigners. So, we make designs that might appeal to both locals and foreigners," Daw Maw Maw Aung said.

The basic dried lacquerware color is black and it is turned into art with the use of needles to make etchings and the addition of some other colors such as red, green and yellow.

A young woman inspects the traditionally inspired products at the Bagan House lacquerware shop. / Zaw Zaw

"Myanmar traditional lacquerware has only four colors. We don't have too many techniques to get the color powder but we can buy some from Japan and other countries that also have a lacquerware tradition," Daw Maw Maw Aye said.

The price of lacquerware fashion accessories ranges widely and depends on the item. A bracelet costs only 4,000 to 5,000 kyats while a necklace can go for between 20,000 to 40,000 kyats.

"We are trying to produce more accessories and come up with cool designs that might appeal to local people," Daw Maw Maw Aung said.

So, if you are a fashion lover, proud to wear traditional things on your body, Bagan House is the place you should while visiting Bagan.

The post Lacquerware Maker Experiments With Fashion Accessories to Keep Local Interest Alive appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

All But Forgotten

Posted: 04 May 2018 05:07 AM PDT

United Nations Security Council delegates wrapped up a four-day visit to Bangladesh and Myanmar on Tuesday. They met Senior-General Min Aung Hlaing, commander-in-chief of the Myanmar military, and State Counselor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi on their last day.

Members of the country’s many ethnic minority communities, perhaps the Kachin most of all, hoped the UN delegation would condemn the military for its many human rights abuses against them. But as most expected, the team focused exclusively on the Rohingya crisis.

Fighting in northern Kachin State has recently flared up between the military and Kachin Independence Army (KIA), driving nearly 10,000 civilians from their homes. Some, including international rights groups and local media outlets, were left disappointed that the UN delegation failed to speak out about it.

The military largely ended its offensive in Rakhine State — which has driven some 700,000 Rohingya Muslims fleeing to Bangladesh since August — after the international community started applying pressure, possibly scared by the prospect of new UN sanctions. Instead, the military turned its attention to the ethnic armed groups in the north, launching a major new offensive on April 11.

Myanmar’s ethnic minorities, many of whom are Christian, rarely invoke their religion in their struggle for equal rights. But since the UN delegation’s failure to address their plight, some have begun emphasizing their religious minority status in predominantly Buddhist Myanmar in hopes of attracting more attention from the international community.

At a protest in the Kachin capital of Myitkyina earlier this week, participants urged the military and government to let them rescue some 3,000 civilians trapped by the latest clashes and to bring the fighting to an end. Similar protests were also held recently in Yangon and overseas in Canada, Japan and the US, where participants also asked for donations to help the displaced families, now spread over at least 10 townships across Kachin.

The military and KIA have been fighting in Kachin off and on since a 17-year ceasefire broke down in 2011, displacing more than 150,000 civilians over the past seven years.

The US Embassy in Myanmar and Yanghee Lee, the UN’s special rapporteur on the human rights situation in Myanmar, have issued statements expressing concern for the displaced families. They urged the military and government to let humanitarian aid into the conflict zone and to protect civilians from the fighting.

The military has racked up a long list of human rights abuses in the country’s ethnic minority areas over the past several decades, from forced labor to extrajudicial killings. Now in Kachin, those displaced by the latest fighting have no idea when they will feel safe enough to return home, or if they will even have homes to return to.

It is high time for the UN Security Council to speak up about their plight and press the military, or Tatmadaw, for their protection.

"The failure of the [UN Security Council] to express concern for Kachin civilians trapped in conflict gave the green light to the Tatmadaw to continue their abuses,” said David Mathieson, an independent analyst of conflict and peace issues.

“It was inexcusably callous to come all this way and only discuss the Rakhine crisis,” he said. “If the people of Kachin and northern Shan State and other conflict areas think the world has forgotten them in their obsession with the terrible Rohingya crisis, it's because the UN Security Council just proved it."

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Kachin State Chief Minister Says He’ll Try to Evacuate IDPs

Posted: 04 May 2018 03:29 AM PDT

MYITKYINA, Kachin State — The Kachin State chief minister has agreed to seek the evacuation of more than 160 people trapped in Kachin State's Lai Nawng Hku by clashes between the Myanmar Army (or Tatmadaw) and the Kachin Independence Army (KIA).

Around 300 Kachin youths staged a sit-in protest in Myitkyina on April 30 calling on the government to rescue displaced people who have been trapped since early last month by fighting in a number of areas including Tanai, Waingmaw, Injangyang, and Hpakant's Kamaing.

Another 1,000 local residents joined the sit-in in the town center on Thursday, demanding talks with the chief minister.

"We'll go and bring those trapped in Lai Nawng Hku [to Myitkyina] today. We'll go there together with the government. As Tatmadaw troops are deployed there, negotiations are required with the military. I heard that [the Kachin State government] is negotiating with [the Tatmadaw]," said Lamai Gum Ja of the Peace-talk Creation Group (PCG).

The Tatmadaw has reportedly barred residents of conflict zones from leaving their villages. They have been trying to flee since the fighting broke out.

Religious leaders, PCG officials and demonstrators will join government officials led by the chief minister to bring those trapped in clashes to safety, Lamai Gum Ja said.

Displaced persons take shelter at a Catholic church in Tang Phre village in Myitkyina. / Nan Lwin Hnin Pwint / The Irrawaddy

Kachin State Chief Minister U Khet Aung met religious leaders, demonstrators, and leaders of the PCG at his office on Thursday evening. After four hours of talks, the chief minister agreed to try and arrange the evacuation of people trapped by fighting.

"But if the Tatmadaw says we can't go there for security reasons, we can do nothing, as the Kachin State government alone can't make the decision," Lamai Gum Ja said.

Sut Seng Htoi, one of the lead demonstrators, said they would also negotiate with the state government to rescue other groups trapped by fighting.

The demonstrators slept on the streets on Thursday night, and returned to the Manaw grounds in Si Ta Pu ward on Friday morning. They would wait and see whether the chief minister's trip to Lai Nawng Hku proceeded on Friday, Sut Seng Htoi said.

The protesters planned to suspend the sit-in if those trapped in Lai Nawng Hku were evacuated, and hoped to continue talks with the new government to rescue displaced persons in other townships.

Displaced persons take shelter at a Catholic church in Tang Phre village in Myitkyina. / Nan Lwin Hnin Pwint / The Irrawaddy

The Tatmadaw's Northern Command earlier distributed leaflets to local residents stating that it only attacked KIA outposts and urging local residents to stay put.

Fighting between the Tatmadaw and KIA has forced more than 100,000 locals from their homes since 2011.

Around 2,000 displaced persons from Awng Lawt village in Tanai Township have been trapped in forests since April 11 and around 500 residents of Injangyang Township are also trapped, according to the Kachin Baptist Convention (KBC).

More than 5,000 local residents took to the streets of Myitkyina on Monday calling for the government's intervention to rescue displaced persons.

Kachin civil society organizations and religious leaders have been sending letters to the chief minister since the second week of April seeking the evacuation of displaced persons. The chief minister had been silent on the issue until Thursday.

Translated from Burmese by Thet Ko Ko.

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Artist Strives to Develop Myanmar Art Scene

Posted: 04 May 2018 03:16 AM PDT

Whenever he returns from a foreign country, Khin Zaw Latt feels unwell with frustration. He feels sick, but not because of Zika or SARS, but at the drought of art in his country. Art museums and communities in countries like the United States, France, Singapore, and Indonesia where he has been make him realize what his country lacks. He is desperate for Myanmar's art scene to develop.

"It will take at least nine years for us to catch up to Thailand, and that is only if Thailand's scene stops developing in the meantime," said Khin Zaw Latt.

Khin Zaw Latt, who has studied and held exhibitions in Asia and Europe since 2005, has noticed for a long time how much Myanmar has lagged behind in terms of art.

Two artists at Khin Zaw Latt's artist-in-residence. / Supplied

"When I say there is no art museum in our country, my foreign friends think I am joking. There is not a single art museum in the whole country, so the gap is quite huge," he said.

"If the government buys a certain number of paintings from individual artists as the collection of the country, then future generations will be able to enjoy them. Now, we have to go to Singapore to enjoy artist Aung Soe's works. [The government] could not keep them some 40 years ago, and it still can't."

Khin Zaw Latt graduated from the National University of Arts and Culture in 2012. His Blissful Buddha, Moving Forward and Street Story series were a hit outside of Myanmar.  He won four art awards at home and abroad, and held art exhibitions in Thailand, Hong Kong, the United States, France, Canada and more. Born in 1980, the artist has achieved a high level of success at a young age.

His paintings—Buddha drawn from a non-religious perspective, street boys, vendors, common people—however, are not popular among local art enthusiasts. Only four or five paintings have been sold in Myanmar.

"It is meaningless to draw what fans like. Artists must lead them," he said.

Students from a French school see Khin Zaw Latt's paintings at his residence in Yangon's Bahan Township. / Supplied

In 2010, he bought a four-acre compound in Yangon's Kyuaktan Township to do his part for art development in Myanmar. He created an art garden and opened a free school called the Bamboo School in 2012. The school teaches art, computers and English to children in the neighborhood.

Last year, he realized a dream that he had after participating in an artist-in-residence program in Malaysia in 2008. Together with four other like-minded artists, he opened an artist residency in his art garden, which provides accommodation, meals, equipment and an allowance for artists.

As a second step, he opened an art gallery opposite the Secretariat, which features the paintings from the artist-in-residence program and other artists.

"As I earn money, I want to spend it on the development of our art scene. I invest my earnings in the art industry. The profits may be low, but the industry will develop more. I should spend the money I get from art back on art," he said.

He wants to see Myanmar's art standards on par with ASEAN countries but he understands quite well that this is not possible without the assistance of the government.

"The government should help open art museums, collect the works of Myanmar artists and create spaces where artists can create their works freely," he said.

In fact, late artists had tried for this after independence in Myanmar. Artists submitted their plans for art development to then Prime Minister U Nu, but those plans never materialized amid the political instability of the country.

"We lag far behind our neighbors because there is no political, economic or social stability in our country. As political leaders who managed the country in successive periods were not able to bring stability, we became poor in every aspect," said veteran artist U Win Pe.

"There must be political and economic stability in a country for artists to get support. But, as our country is poor, the government cannot provide them any incentives. And artists need to think freely and widely. They have been boxed in by fear."

"If they can remove these barriers, the art world will develop. It is good that Khin Zaw Latt is striving for it philanthropically," he said.

Khin Zaw Latt, the father of two, said: "I feel like creating new things at the moment. I am more interested in three dimensional and ready-made art. I will organize more artist-in-residence programs. I also have a plan to build an art museum on my own. I have my own collections. But, a lot remains to be done."

The post Artist Strives to Develop Myanmar Art Scene appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Upgrades to Yangon-Mandalay Rail Line to Start in July, Operator Says

Posted: 04 May 2018 01:26 AM PDT

YANGON — Upgrades to the railway line running from Yangon to Mandalay will begin in July, according to a Myanma Railways official.

"We are upgrading the railroad network across the country, and we are inviting tenders to upgrade the Yangon-Mandalay line. We expect to start upgrades in July," U Ba Myint, general manager of the state rail operator, told The Irrawaddy.

He said bridges along the 620-km section would be repaired as part of the work and that modern technologies and equipment would also be added to locomotives and cargo operations.

"We have divided the Yangon-Mandalay line into three sections. About three companies have submitted bids for each section. I can't reveal their names for the time being, but I will make an announcement when we sign contracts with them," U Ba Myint said.

The line will be upgraded in three sections — Yangon-Toungoo, Toungoo-Yamaethin, and Yamaethin-Mandalay — starting with the first one.

Myanma Railways will borrow 271.64 billion yen ($2.49 billion) from the Japan International Cooperation Agency to complete the upgrades, which are expected to cut travel time between the country’s two largest cities from 14 hours to eight.

"It is a huge project," said U Ba Myint, adding that work was expected to finish in 2023.

Myanma Railways will also purchase new locomotives and coaches with additional loans from Japan. Of the state rail operator’s more than 400 locomotives, nearly half are past their service life. A quarter of the roughly 1,200 carriages it has in use are in poor condition.

Translated from Burmese by Thet Ko Ko.

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Renewed Clashes Leave 4 Dead in Chin State: AA Spokesman

Posted: 04 May 2018 12:58 AM PDT

Renewed clashes between the Myanmar Army and Arakan Army troops near Kone Pyin village in Chin's State Paletwa Township on Thursday left four Myanmar Army soldiers dead and five others injured, according to an Arakan Army (AA) spokesman.

Khine Thukha, the AA spokesman, told The Irrawaddy on Friday that a clash happened on the morning of May 3 when Myanmar Army troops from Light Infantry Battalion 541, based in Minbya Township, Rakhine State, entered into AA-controlled areas along the Kaladan River.

"The [Myanmar Army] soldiers' dead bodies were still alongside the riverbank on Thursday night,” said Khine Thukha, adding that there were no fatalities on the AA side.

He said that if Myanmar Army troops continue to advance that the fighting would continue, as the AA would defend itself.

There have not been many clashes over the past four months along the upper section of the Kaladan River but heavy fighting occurred in November and December of last year.

In November, the clashes displaced more than 1,000 ethnic Chin and Arakanese locals who sought shelter in nearby villages in Paletwa as well as in India near the Myanmar-India border.

According to Paletwa Township residents, local Kone Pyin villagers who fled in 2017 are still unable to return to their homes.

"As there is still fighting near Kone Pyin, it is impossible for the villagers to return," said Mai Aung Ma Phyu, a Paletwa resident.

The AA is a member of the seven-member Federal Political Negotiation and Consultative Committee (FPNCC), an alliance based in northeastern Myanmar. Some of the FPNCC members are holding separate peace talks with the government this year, despite its initial stated policy of only holding peace talks with the government as a bloc.

Khine Thukha said the AA still upholds the FPNCC's policy negotiating for peace as an alliance.

Military leaders have repeatedly said that the Myanmar Army would not hold peace talks with the AA unless it disarmed because it was established only after Myanmar had elected a quasi-civilian government, under former President U Thein Sein in 2011.

The AA, which has taken part in fighting by allying with Kachin, Ta'ang and Kokang troops in Kachin Independence Army-controlled areas in northern and northeastern Myanmar since 2011, has said its troops have been mobilized since 2009.

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New Website Lets Public Track Legislation, ‘Vote’ on Bills

Posted: 04 May 2018 12:17 AM PDT

YANGON — I AM A BILL, a new website that tracks legislation and monitors Parliament, was officially launched on Tuesday. The site provides the full history of every piece of legislation — from the date a bill is submitted to the lawmakers who submitted it and every debate it faces until it is pulled, rejected or approved.

Users will also get to vote and comment on whether they support or oppose a bill and find out what legislation is in the process of being drafted. They can also check in on what the lawmakers representing their constituencies are working on and what issues they have raised in Parliament.

Peace & Justice Myanmar, a local NGO, has been developing the site since May 2017 and by August hopes to have uploaded all bills introduced since February 2016, after the NLD was voted into power.

The Irrawaddy spoke with the founder and executive director of Peace & Justice Myanmar, Daw Shwe Yee Win, about what I AM A BILL hopes to achieve and how it can help voters.

What are your hopes and expectations for the site?

The main aim of I AM A BILL is to post the submissions and discussions of bills in Myanmar's Union Parliament in real time. We also aim to enhance public participation in the legislative processes using technology and to make the bills accessible at any time to the public, including lawyers, legal experts and [members of] civil society advocating for legal reforms.

Do you have data from the previous Parliament [under the government of U Thein Sein]?

We will try to post that. But because we get data from meeting minutes [posted on official websites] and live videos of parliamentary sessions, it is hard for us to get data from the previous Parliament.

How will this affect voters?

There are bills that directly relate to public daily life. It is better to include public views and comments when drafting such bills. We will have data analysis of public opinions and can forward that to lawmakers.

But people generally have little interest in lawmaking.

Yes. In our country, only after the 2010 election were parliamentary sessions reconvened [more than two decades after they were suspended]. So lawmakers and the public were not very familiar with the parliamentary process. But the second Parliament [under the NLD] is ongoing. There are broadcasts of parliamentary discussions, but it is hard to go back when necessary and the information is not complete. Eventually, it [the site] will become an archive of the bills that have been submitted in the Myanmar Parliament.

The most important thing is to know clearly the winning party’s policies and which sectors they want to reform and develop through legislation.

What would you like to tell users?

They can find out what the lawmakers they elected for five years are working on through this bill tracking website, because the 2020 election is now close. We need to know what our representatives have done for their constituencies, including their questions and proposals in Parliament.

The post New Website Lets Public Track Legislation, ‘Vote’ on Bills appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

US Treasury Secretary Says Having Good Trade Talks in China

Posted: 03 May 2018 11:28 PM PDT

BEIJING — A US trade delegation in China has been having very good conversations, US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said on Friday, as he heads into the second and likely last day of talks in Beijing.

A breakthrough deal to fundamentally change China’s economic policies is viewed as highly unlikely during the two-day visit, though a package of short-term Chinese measures could delay a US decision to impose tariffs on about $50 billion worth of Chinese exports.

The discussions, led by Mnuchin and Chinese Vice Premier Liu He, are expected to cover a wide range of US complaints about China’s trade practices, from accusations of forced technology transfers to state subsidies for technology development.

“We are having very good conversations,” Mnuchin told reporters as he left his hotel. He made no other remarks.

China, which has threatened retaliation in equal measure, including tariffs on US soybeans and aircraft, has so far given no comment on how the talks are going.

The official China Daily newspaper said in a Friday editorial that the brewing tensions between the two countries underscored how “niggly” differences had become and “how difficult it will be for the two sides to walk away happy.”

It added “fingers would be crossed” around the world that a deal could be struck because “failure would herald a slug fest of tariffs that would leave global trade reeling.”

US President Donald Trump on Thursday praised his relationship with Chinese President Xi Jinping as the US delegation began their talks, which are taking place at a state guest house in the western part of the Chinese capital.

The arrival of the US trade delegation indicated the United States has “taken a step towards avoiding a massive trade war,” China’s widely read and often hawkish Global Times newspaper said in a commentary.

“Since both sides have their bottom lines to keep, it may be hard to reach a deal, but it is good to start somewhere.”

No Illusions

US-based trade experts have said they expected Beijing to offer Trump’s team a package of policy changes that may include some previously announced moves, such as a phase-out of joint venture requirements for some sectors, auto tariff reductions and increased purchases of US goods.

US complaints about Chinese intellectual property, or IP, abuses are at the core of the current dispute. The Trump administration says US companies lose hundreds of billions of dollars annually to China’s theft of trade secrets.

James McGregor, chairman of PR giant APCO Worldwide’s greater China region, told Reuters there was a “very strong possibility” the talks would not avert the implementation of tariffs.

However, the US side may be able to convince China the United States has fundamentally shifted tack on trade relations.

“I don’t think there are a lot of illusions in America that you can make China change,” McGregor said, noting the “Made in China 2025” plan to upgrade domestic manufacturing, viewed with suspicion abroad as an import substitution scheme, is a key initiative rolled out under Xi.

“The idea is how do we readjust the interface with China to protect America, American innovation and American companies. If protecting what’s on your side of the equation incentivizes China to do things differently, then that’s a win,” he said.

US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer said on Tuesday it was not his objective to change China’s economic system, but that he would try to find ways to limit the damage it causes to the United States and open it further for US companies.

But the diverse US trade delegation is likely to have differing views among its members on the merits of any deal China might be willing to make.

Mnuchin and new White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow are seen as likely to favor a package that keeps financial markets on an even keel and doesn’t interfere with strong economic growth.

The group also includes Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross, Lighthizer, a hardline and experienced trade negotiator, and White House trade and manufacturing adviser Peter Navarro, a noted China trade hawk.

Navarro advised Trump throughout his 2016 election campaign, during which the candidate routinely threatened to impose a 45 percent across-the-board tariff on Chinese goods as a way to level the playing field for American workers.

In recent months, Trump has demanded a $100 billion annual reduction in the $375 billion US goods trade deficit with China, and responded to Chinese vows of retaliation over US tariffs with threats of duties on another $100 billion worth of Chinese exports to the United States.

The post US Treasury Secretary Says Having Good Trade Talks in China appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Top Sri Lanka Officials Arrested While Taking Bribe: Anti-Graft Body

Posted: 03 May 2018 10:37 PM PDT

COLOMBO — Sri Lanka’s anti-graft body arrested President Maithripala Sirisena’s chief of staff and another state official on Thursday in the act of accepting a bribe, officials said.

Officials of the Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption (CIABOC) arrested I.H.K. Mahanama, the president’s chief of staff, and P. Dissanayake, the head of the State Timber Corporation (STC), the commission said.

“Our officials arrested Mahanama and Dissanayake while accepting 20 million (rupees),” Sarath Jayamanna, the director general of CIABOC told Reuters, indicating a sum equivalent to $126,863.

He added that the officials were recording statements from Mahanama and Dissanayake, and later on Thursday or early on Friday the two individuals would be produced before the courts.

Jayamanna said Mahanama, the former secretary of the lands ministry, had asked for a bribe of 540 million Sri Lankan rupees ($3.43 million) from an Indian investor interested in acquiring a state-owned sugar factory.

The two were arrested at a car park of a luxury hotel in the capital Colombo while they were accepting a 20 million rupees bribe from the investor for the transfer of land, he said.

The President’s office said in a statement the service of both the officials had been suspended, and the president had instructed the CIABOC officials to enforce the law strictly against the two without any obstruction.

Representatives of Mahanama and Dissanayake were not immediately available for comment.

The arrest comes as Sirisena's government is under heavy criticism for not fulfilling his main 2015 election pledge to eliminate rampant corruption.

The previous government under former leader Mahinda Rajapaksa was defeated in the 2015 poll amid widespread allegations of corruption. However, Sirisena’s administration since coming to power has taken insufficient steps to deal with past corruption, his critics allege.

The governing coalition of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) led by Sirisena and the United National Party (UNP) of Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe lost local government polls in February partly due to failure to fulfill promises to punish corrupt politicians and officials.
Top Sri Lanka Officials Arrested While Taking Bribe: Anti-Graft Body

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Ancient Fort Community in Bangkok Loses 25-Year Battle Against Bulldozers

Posted: 03 May 2018 10:17 PM PDT

BANGKOK — For more than two decades, a community of more than 300 people living next to an old fort in Bangkok staved off drug dealers keen to extend their turf, and city officials eager to tear down their homes and build a park to draw more tourists.

Last week, the handful of residents who still remained conceded defeat and left their old wooden homes in Fort Mahakan, even as historians and civic groups slammed the city’s modernization plan, saying it is uprooting thousands of people.

The community in Mahakan is believed to have lived behind the octagonal fort for more than 300 years. The area was earmarked for a park in 1978, and eviction orders issued in 1992, when officials said they were living there illegally.

The residents organized protests, filed a petition in court to be allowed to stay, and even proposed a heritage museum that they could run on site. But the demolitions soon began.

“We have lived here through all the changes the city has gone through, and we have helped protect the fort and this neighborhood. Now we are being kicked out,” said Khomonlak Supawatchai, 40, a third-generation resident.

“We were ready to give up some land if we could live here and help people…learn about the history of the fort and the community. But they do not want us here,” she said.

The eviction of the community is part of a wider effort to modernize Bangkok. Authorities are also clearing the sidewalks of vendors and food stalls, and removing homes and shanties along the Chao Phraya river to build a promenade.

Civic groups say the evictions mostly target poor communities who have no formal rights over their land or property, yet are an integral part of the city, contributing to its economy and colorful character.

Authorities say they are removing encroachers to make sidewalks and riverfront areas accessible to more people.

“The people in Pom Mahakan have lived illegally on public land for many years. We want to build a public park so more people can enjoy this historic site,” said Bangkok’s planning department chief, Sakchai Boonma.

“We have offered compensation and a relocation site, and have had discussions with them for a very long time. Now they have to leave,” he said.

Beautification

Rattanakosin Island, where Fort Mahakan is located, is the original settlement of Bangkok and home to some of its top tourist attractions such as the Grand Palace and the Wat Pho temple, known for its giant reclining Buddha.

Fort Mahakan, built in the 18th century, is one of the oldest structures in Bangkok, one of 14 citadels that once guarded the city. Only one other fort remains.

The eviction of the community and the demolition of their elegant wooden homes is a big loss to the city, where skyscrapers and malls threaten to engulf all traditional architecture and edge out the poor, conservationists say.

“Vernacular architecture is being destroyed in the name of development,” said Chatri Prakitnonthakan, an associate professor of architecture at Silpakorn University, who was involved in the proposal for a heritage museum at Fort Mahakan.

“‘Beautification’ is invoked as a justification for an urban reorganization that threatens existing ways of life and ignores the aesthetic values and social needs of poorer residents.”

Signs in English and Thai outside some of the Mahakan homes traced family lineages and evoked lost traditions.

One house was the site of the first performances of likay, a traditional theater form. Its residents now sell fish maw soup, made from the swim bladders of large fish.

Residents of another home, called the House of Waterworks, sold water to the community; other buildings were called Gold Melting House, Earthenware House and House of Music.

City officials have said about a dozen homes, some of them more than 200 years old, will be preserved as a museum.

But historians and conservationists say the plan is inadequate and insensitive to the needs of the community.

“This represents the best of Thai culture — extraordinary examples of architecture and the everyday life of a community in a single site,” said Michael Herzfeld, an anthropology professor at Harvard University who wrote a book on Fort Mahakan.

“They are being sacrificed on the altar of a touristic experience. It’s a tragedy for Bangkok and for Thailand,” said Herzfeld, who had opposed the evictions.

Ethical Interpretation

Fort Mahakan is not the only historic site in the country where long-time residents have come under threats of eviction.

Only a few have ended favorably for communities.

In February, officials gave up a plan to move more than 1,600 families in the Phimai temple complex in Nakhon Ratchasima province in the country’s northeast, after residents protested and said they had legal titles to their homes.

The insistence on removing communities from monuments and historical sites is misguided, said Herzfeld.

“Many modern architects and planners are in favor of a symbiotic relationship between caring for monuments and communities that live in or near them,” he told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.

In Mahakan, while the residents did not have legal rights to the land, authorities could have used an “ethical interpretation” of the law to allow them to stay and help take care of the site as they had offered to, Herzfeld said.

“The authorities could’ve shown the world a superb example of the self-sufficiency of a community. Instead, they will show a manicured lawn that reflects an ideal of urban beauty that isn’t particularly Thai,” he said.

For the residents packing up to leave Fort Mahakan, a glorious past has given way to an uncertain future.

“I can’t think about not living here. I don’t know where we will go,” said Khomonlak, as bulldozers waited. “It will be hard to build another community like this one.”

The post Ancient Fort Community in Bangkok Loses 25-Year Battle Against Bulldozers appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Ex-UN Chief Annan Tells Facebook to Move Faster on Hate Speech

Posted: 03 May 2018 09:51 PM PDT

SAN FRANCISCO — Former UN chief Kofi Annan told Facebook Inc on Thursday that it should consider establishing a special team to respond more quickly to threats of sectarian violence in countries such as Myanmar that are at high risk.

Facebook, the world’s largest social network, is under pressure from authorities and rights groups in many countries for its role in spreading hate speech, false stories and government-sponsored propaganda.

Annan, appearing on stage before an audience of Facebook employees, was asked by Facebook Chief Product Officer Chris Cox if he had a recommendation for the company to help protect elections.

He responded that Facebook should look for societies where people are likely to put out “poisonous messages,” and then monitor the language there.

Facebook could “organize sort of a rapid response force, rapid reaction group, who can be injected into a situation, when you see it developing, so that they can try to see what advice they can give the electoral commission or those involved,” Annan said, according to a live broadcast of the event.

Facebook says it has more than 7,500 workers who review posts for compliance with its rulebook.

It some countries, though, it acknowledges it is short-handed. It said last month that it needed more people to work on public policy in Myanmar.

UN human rights experts investigating a possible genocide in Myanmar said in March that Facebook had played a role in spreading hate speech in the country. Nearly 700,000 Rohingya Muslims have fled Myanmar into Bangladesh since insurgent attacks sparked a security crackdown last August.

Annan headed a commission that last year recommended to the government of Myanmar, a majority Buddhist country, that it avoid excessive force in the crisis.

Since then, social media may have made the crisis worse, he told Facebook employees.

“If indeed that was the case, was there a point somewhere along the line when action could have been taken to disrupt the dissemination of the messages? These are issues that you may need to think through,” Annan said.

Cox replied: “That’s something we’re taking very seriously.”

The post Ex-UN Chief Annan Tells Facebook to Move Faster on Hate Speech appeared first on The Irrawaddy.
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