Wednesday, July 4, 2018

The Irrawaddy Magazine

The Irrawaddy Magazine

Army-Backed Mytel Ordered to Halt ‘Shake’ Program

Posted: 04 Jul 2018 08:44 AM PDT

YANGON – Deputy Director General U Myo Swe of the Post and Telecommunications Department, a branch of the Ministry of Transport and Communications, told The Irrawaddy on Wednesday that the agency has ordered the country's fourth telecom operator, Mytel, to halt its "Shake Mytel" program, which offers a "free" service to its customers.

Mytel is a joint venture between the Myanmar Army-backed Star High Company, which owns 48 percent, Vietnam's Defense Ministry, which holds 28 percent, and Myanmar National Telecom Holding Public Ltd, a group of 11 local companies with a combined 23-percent stake.

The company's launch in Yangon on June 9 was attended by Army chief Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, Deputy Minister of National Defense of the Vietnam People's Armed Forces Senior Lieutenant General Tran Don and nearly a dozen generals from both countries.

Telecommunications Department official U Myo Swe said Mytel initially proposed the Shake program as a lucky draw, but in practice the company has offered free service to users for weeks.

"As you know, in a lucky draw, when you shake the phone you can't win every single time, but their program offers it to you many times every day. If you shake around 10-15 times then you will win a number of times. It doesn’t involve giving cars, phones or other items to participants; it offers 'free service' to phone users," said U Myo Swe.

U Myo Swe said, "The reason the tariff framework prohibits free service is that it could lead to firms fighting each other [in the telecom sector], with the strongest company defeating its rivals. If we allow telecom companies to offer free service, the biggest conglomerates could come in and wipe out their rivals. ”

He pointed out that in recent years unfair competition had become a problem in neighboring countries including India, Laos and Cambodia. The Ministry of Transport and Communications has been drafting a new Tariff Regulatory Framework in order to create a sustainable telecom sector with fair play rules for operators.

Under the current Tariff Regulatory Framework, operators cannot price their voice call, SMS and mobile data services below fixed floor prices. During promotional periods and for their renewed special packages, operators are normally allowed to reduce the floor price by nearly 40 percent but Mytel has been granted permission to decrease the floor prices by 70 percent during its promotion period, which has lasted for about three months, as the ministry assumes it would have little impact on established operators.

U Zaw Min OO, Chief External Relations Officer of Mytel Company, acknowledged that it changed the program on June 27. However, the Shake Mytel program is still active. He explained that Shake Shake offers free Internet MB, text messages and phone calls. According to him, the company gives out a total of 10,000 reward points per day.

To take advantage of the offer, Mytel users need to download the Mytel Android application and simply try the Shake program. The Mytel communications officer said that when users shake the mobile device they can receive 5-10 SMS calls for free, and sometimes 10-100 MB and 10-15 minutes of free calls. He elaborated that such opportunities cannot be won by every subscriber as the promotion only works in Android phones and doesn't function on Java and IOS phones. He also claimed that the company had limited users at that time.

In fact, the free service started six days before Mytel's opening ceremony.  The "Shake Mytel" service began June 9 and ended on June 27 (free service) as the telecommunications regulatory department was besieged with questions by other operators over fair play in the market. Plus, Mytel already offered free Internet service to users amounting to about 1,500 MB and 150 voice calls, which can be used within three months.

U Myo Swe said the agency informed the company on June 20 and the company officially stopped the program one week later, on June 27. Mytel had offered the free service for 19 days and the reward points indicate that the company has given a maximum of 190,000 points to its SIM users. U Zaw Min Oo roughly estimated that the company spent over 100 million kyats.

Although the company has practiced "lucky draw" systems in different ways, they were not fined by the Telecom Department. U Zaw Min Oo said that starting from June 27, it was quickly changed to a traditional lucky draw system, which currently offers car, phone and other electronic items to Shake Mytel participants as the company has reached more than 1.5 million active SIM users across the country.

According to his explanation, if the user shakes the phone they will get a code number. The Mytel company announces Shake winners weekly on its official Facebook page.

The mobile penetration rate in Myanmar has reached a peak since Telenor and Qatar's Ooredoo arrived in 2014, abruptly changing the monopoly market of state-owned Myanma Posts and Telecommunications (MPT), which charged millions of kyats for a SIM card during the military administration and early in ex-president Thein Sein's term. Now, people can easily get every kind of SIM card for 1,500 kyats on the street.

The three operators jointly announced in a statement in February that about 53 million people use their services across the country. MPT, which partnered with Japan's KDDI in 2014, was on top with 25 million subscribers while Telenor got second place with 19 million and Ooredoo had 9.5 million users.

The post Army-Backed Mytel Ordered to Halt 'Shake' Program appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Families of Detained Reuters Reporters Struggle to Stay Positive

Posted: 04 Jul 2018 07:33 AM PDT

YANGON — Ma Pan Ei pulls herself together for her unborn child and keeps hope alive that a lawsuit against her husband, Ko Wa Lone, and his colleague Ko Kyaw Soe Oo is dismissed before the girl is delivered. Ma Pan Ei found out she was pregnant a few weeks after the two Reuters reporters were arrested on Dec. 12.

Though the journalists have been detained since, she has been able to meet with her husband at each court hearing and visits him at Yangon’s Insein Prison every week. Their meetings at the court can last a few hours at a time, but her prison visits are kept to a strict 30 minutes, often after a long wait.

"The news of having my child gives me hope to make it through my time in prison. I have been able to encourage myself not to get depressed," Ko Wa Lone — whose real name is Thet Oo Maung but is best known by his nom de plume — told The Irrawaddy after a court hearing in June.

Ko Wa Lone and Ko Kyaw Soe Oo were arrested after leaving a dinner they were invited to by police in Yangon and had charges filed against them on Jan. 10 under the Official Secrets Act for allegedly possessing classified documents, which could see them sentenced to up to 14 years in jail if convicted.

At the time of their arrest, they were investigating the massacre of 10 Rohingya Muslim men in September in Indin village, in northern Rakhine State’s Maungdaw Township. Reuters published a story based on their reporting on Feb. 8 and by April the Myanmar Army announced that seven soldiers had been sentenced to 10 years in jail with hard labor for participating in the extrajudicial killings.

On Monday, July 9, the Northern District Court of Yangon will rule whether to charge the two Reuters reporters.

The families of both men say they expect the court to drop the case.

"We pray and we believe that the judge's decision at the upcoming court ruling will be the right one," said Ma Pan Ei.

She said her pregnancy has brought joy to the family amid the hardship.

"Maung Wa Lone told me he has a future now that our angel is on her way," she said.

U Tin Myint, Ko Wa Lone’s father, said he was optimistic about Monday’s ruling because his son "did nothing wrong." He said he tells his eldest son to be strong every time they meet, though he has not been able to attend every hearing.

"We did not expect this. Now that we are facing this, we feel very sorry," he told The Irrawaddy.

The baby will be his first grandchild.

"I feel both sad and happy for my first grandchild because we were expecting this moment [the pregnancy]. But now my son is in prison, so my sadness is beyond words,” he said softly.

The families are all smiles when they meet at court under the public’s gaze, but Ma Pan Ei said the cheer is a show to lift each other’s spirits.

"I don't want him to worry, so I try to stay happy and smile as much as I can. I only want him to know that everything is fine. He also always says everything is fine. But we both know the real feeling," she said.

“I just want the father of my child to be releases before she is born,” she said through tears.

Ko Kyaw Soe Oo and his wife, Chit Su Win, hold hands after a court hearing in Yangon on April 4. / Myo Min Soe / The Irrawaddy

The families of the two reporters insist Ko Wa Lone and Ko Kyaw Soe Oo are not enemies of the state, but journalists and fathers who believe in the truth, respect everyone and reject ethnic or racial discrimination.

After one of their court hearings last month, Ko Kyaw Soe Oo told The Irrawaddy that he did not want his daughter to go through what he has had to.

"We are facing unjust laws, and we have a poor education system. I don't want my child to have an attitude of racial hatred and discrimination,” which a poor education system can breed, he said.

His daughter, who will turn 3 this month, comes along to every hearing, the only chance she and her father have to play together.

Ko Kyaw Soe Oo’s wife, Chit Su Win, hopes her husband will be freed in time for their daughter’s birthday in three weeks.

She said she smiles when they meet so he doesn’t worry too much, “but I can’t help being sad when I see my daughter crying and asking for her father."

She visits Ko Kyaw Soe Oo in prison almost every day and brings him home-cooked meals.

"Even if we live in an apartment, we want to go out. How hard must it be for him being surrounded by those prison walls?" she said.

Ko Kyaw Soe Oo’s daughter, Moe Thin Wai Zin, stands outside court during a hearing in Yangon on May 29. / Reuters

Between prison visits and court hearings, Ko Wa Lone and Ko Kyaw Soe Oo spend much of their time reading and even do a little gardening.

"Maung Wa Lone asks for at least five or six books a week, and for seeds and seedlings of different plants and flowers,” said Ma Pan Ei. “When I asked him why he wanted these seedlings, because you won't be staying there forever, he told me that he wanted to leave something good behind."

In 2017 a total of 11 journalists were arrested under various laws, including the Officials Secrets Act, the Unlawful Associations Act, the Telecommunications Law and the Media Law. Though the cases against eight of them have been dropped, the two Reuters reporters and an editor for Myanmar Now are still being prosecuted.

The post Families of Detained Reuters Reporters Struggle to Stay Positive appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Obsession With Statues Only Fuels Distrust in Union Government

Posted: 04 Jul 2018 06:58 AM PDT

YANGON — Looking at images of security forces clashing with local ethnic people protesting a plan to erect a statue of General Aung San in the Karenni state capital Loikaw the other day, one could only wonder why state governments are so obsessed with putting up likenesses of the national independence hero.

It was not the first time a state government has faced serious criticism over the issue, especially in ethnic areas. Since 2015, ethnic Chin, Mon and Kachin demonstrators have confronted their state governments over plans to put up statues. Karenni State was only the latest one. These governments have taken an uncompromising approach, treating the issue with the utmost seriousness while ignoring local criticism. They claim that erecting such statues honors the national hero and is done in the spirit of Aung San's vision of national unity.

In Myanmar, Gen. Aung San, the father of State Counselor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, is nationally regarded as the country's independence hero for his struggle to free the country from British colonial rule 70 years ago. Shortly before independence, he pledged to transform Myanmar into a country exemplifying federalism and ethnic equality in the 1947 Panglong Agreement. However, 71 years after the general's untimely death that same year, those pledges remain unfulfilled.

That is the source of ethnic people's discontent. With state governments apparently more concerned about putting up statues of Gen. Aung San than fulfilling his promises, ethnic people have taken to the streets to vent their anger and opposition to the statue plans, occasionally resulting in clashes.

It's embarrassing to see state governments so determined to erect the statues while failing to listen to the public's voice. It's ridiculous that this should happen under a democratic government.

If the state governments — who are footing the bill in most cases — want to avoid controversy, they should take the money budgeted for statues and spend it on regional development. While the cost of a bronze statue varies depending on its size, the minimum cost is around 10 million kyats (more than US$7,000). It was alarming to learn that Karenni State — one of the least developed regions in the country — plans to spend more than US$56,800 on its statue. That amount of money could make a big difference in the lives of ethnic people in far-flung areas.

Known for his modesty, Gen. Aung San himself would not be happy to see what his so-called admirers are doing: paying more attention to superficial activities than trying to achieve what he longed to see in Myanmar—unity and equality among all people residing in the country. Make no mistake: The state governments' deafness to the voices of their people is an insult to the feelings of ethnic people and will only fuel distrust in the central government. If that happens, it will hinder the peace process the National League for Democracy-led government has been promoting as it strives for the national reconciliation that was the essence of the 1947 Panglong Agreement.

The post Obsession With Statues Only Fuels Distrust in Union Government appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

All Members of Northern Alliance Invited to Attend Panglong Peace Conference

Posted: 04 Jul 2018 05:21 AM PDT

MON STATE — The government has invited all members of the Federal Political Negotiation and Consultative Committee (FPNCC) to attend the third session of the 21st Century Panglong Peace Conference in Naypyitaw next week, according to an official from one of the members of the alliance of northern ethnic armed organizations.

"We received the invitation yesterday," Major Tar Aike Kyaw, a spokesperson for the Ta'ang National Liberation Army, told The Irrawaddy on Wednesday. He said the TNLA is still discussing who will represent it at the peace conference.

"[The TNLA] will attend the conference, but we are still negotiating who will lead the delegation," he said.

The FPNCC is a political alliance of armed groups based in northern Shan and Kachin states. It has seven members: the United Wa State Army (UWSA); Kachin Independence Army (KIA); National Democratic Alliance Army (NDAA); Shan State Progress Party (SSPP); TNLA; Arakan Army (AA); and Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA).

The Myanmar Army (or Tatmadaw) and the government initially said they would not invite the TNLA, AA or MNDAA, with the UWSA, KIA, NDAA, and SSPP being the only groups from the alliance allowed to attend the conference.

However, all FNPCC members received invitation letters from the government. To prepare for the conference, the alliance will hold a meeting in Panghsang, the capital of the Wa Self-Administered Zone, in northern Shan on July 5.

The third session of the Panglong Peace Conference is scheduled to start on July 11.  China, which has served as a peace negotiator between the FPNCC and the Myanmar government in the past, will help arrange travel to the conference for all FPNCC members. They will first travel to China, and fly from there to Naypyitaw.

According to the peace conference's rules, participation in discussions is limited to existing ethnic armed groups who have signed the Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement, while those who have yet to sign the NCA are excluded from negotiations.

The individual FPNCC members are not yet clear on the degree to which they can participate in discussions at the peace conference. However, Maj Tar Aike Kyaw said, "This time they invited us not only to attend the opening ceremony and dinner, as in the past, but also to attend meetings. They did not mention whether we would participate in the meetings as representatives, however," he said.

The FPNCC's policy in the past has been not to participate in peace conferences unless all of their members are invited. All the member groups will attend the peace conference next week, but it was too early to say whether the invitations are a positive development.

"First, we will see what the conditions are like in terms of what we can say at the conference," Maj Tar Aike Kyaw said.

The Myanmar Army and government wants all of the members of the FPNCC to sign the NCA, but the alliance wants the agreement to be amended before signing.

The army has rejected this demand, and fighting between the Tatmadaw and ethnic rebels from the north of the country continues in Kachin and northern Shan.

The post All Members of Northern Alliance Invited to Attend Panglong Peace Conference appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Corruption Czar Puts Bribe Payers on Alert

Posted: 04 Jul 2018 02:44 AM PDT

YANGON — Anti-Corruption Commission Chairman U Aung Kyi warned on Monday that those who pay bribes will also be punished, not just those who take them.

His warning, at a seminar on business ethics hosted by the Union of Myanmar Federation of Chambers of Commerce, follows amendments made to the 2013 Anti-Corruption Law in early June.

"We've amended Article 3 (a), defining in greater detail the giving and receiving of bribes. The original article didn't specify the giver and recipient. Now the amended provision allows us to take action against anyone involved," U Aung Kyi said.

The law had already been amended on three prior occasions — in 2014, 2016 and 2017 — but the changes were not significant.

"There is a Burmese saying that you succeed by giving. Myanmar people by nature are willing to give out of generosity. But according to the [new] law, I would say that it is too risky now," said U Aung Kyi.

The government has also broadened the definition of a bribe.

"Not only cash and pricey gifts, but also treating [to lavish dinners, etc.] and service charges will be regarded as a bribe. If we pay attention to these, corruption will surely decline," the chairman said.

U Aung Kyi said the key to combating graft was to promote integrity and that the fight against corruption would only succeed with the cooperation of each and every citizen.

The commission was also planning to establish anti-graft bodies within public service agencies and government departments, said U Aung Kyi, and would provide the necessary training.

In what’s considered the most significant new amendment to the Anti-Corruption Law, the commission will be allowed to launch investigations into civil servants who appear to be suspiciously wealthy at its own discretion. Until now it could only act in response to formal complaints filed with strong supporting evidence.

The amendments also expand the country's anti-graft body, with commission branches to open in other states and regions. U Aung Kyi reaffirmed that the commission would also educate the public about combating corruption, starting in primary schools.

The commission is also formulating a by-law to facilitate the enforcement of the amended Anti-Corruption Law and expects to finish it within three months.

Translated from Burmese by Thet Ko Ko.

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World Bank Denies Blocking Myanmar Projects to Pressure Govt on Rohingya Return

Posted: 04 Jul 2018 02:37 AM PDT

YANGON — The World Bank has denied a report from Bangladesh that it has stopped approving projects in Myanmar in order to pressure Naypyitaw to peacefully repatriate displaced Rohingya to Rakhine State in accordance with an MoU signed between the government and two UN agencies.

"We have no plans to halt ongoing projects in Myanmar. We confirm that we will continue to support new projects in Myanmar, especially in Rakhine State," said the World Bank's Myanmar communications officer, U Kyaw Soe Lynn.

On July 2, Bangladesh's The Independent newspaper reported that the World Bank had stopped approving projects for Myanmar as part of international moves to pressure Naypyitaw to facilitate the peaceful return of Rohingya people currently sheltering in refugee camps in Bangladesh. The story quoted Bangladesh Finance Minister AMA Muhith after his meeting with World Bank Group president Jim Yong Kim in Dhaka.

Kim and UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres visited a Rohingya camp in southeast Bangladesh near the Myanmar border on July 2. More than 700,000 Rohingya have fled to camps in the area from Myanmar since a security crackdown was launched by the Myanmar military last August.

The World Bank last week promised to provide US$480 million to Bangladesh to support its Rohingya assistance operations.

The false report of a suspension of World Bank activity in Myanmar spread rapidly on social media after some local media outlets translated the Independent's story and published it on their websites in Burmese.

"There might be some misunderstanding," said U Kyaw Soe Lynn regarding the Bangladesh finance minister's comment.

"I have received phone calls from government officials asking whether we had really stopped approving projects in Myanmar," he told The Irrawaddy.

"Our projects will continue to focus on peace, social inclusion and economic transition across the country. We will start new programs to build peaceful and prosperous communities in Rakhine State," he added.

The World Bank's vice president for East Asia and Pacific, Victoria Kwakwa, is due to visit Myanmar from July 8 to 10. She will meet State Counselor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, other high-ranking government officials and relevant stakeholders in the bank's partnership with Myanmar. According to a statement issued by the World Bank, she will discuss the use of resources from the International Development Association for investments to enhance social inclusion and foster peace within the country.

The World Bank is supporting the government's implementation of its MoU with the UNHCR and UNDP, and of the recommendations of the Annan Commission Report on Rakhine State, U Kyaw Soe Lynn said.

According to the World Bank statement, the bank has since 2012 committed US$2 billion in soft financing to support economic transition and peace building, focusing on improving school enrolment and learning outcomes, strengthening basic health services, extending rural electrification, increasing agricultural productivity and enhancing management of public resources.

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Disaster Cave Slated to Be Thailand’s Next Tourist Attraction

Posted: 04 Jul 2018 02:07 AM PDT

BANGKOK — The Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) plans to promote Tham Luang cave in Chiang Rai province as a key attraction after its time in the global spotlight, which climaxed with the missing soccer team of 13 being found alive on Monday night.

Karuna Dechatiwong, director of TAT's Chiang Rai office, said the agency will work with local authorities and the private sector to promote the cave and other attractive nearby venues as it anticipates a number of tourists will flock to the area in the near future.

"After the rescue team found the 12 young soccer players and their coach on Monday night, the cave has become of interest for both local and foreign travelers," Karuna said.

She said people may want travel and activity information before visiting the area, and the agency is ready to work out a route to the cave and other destinations in Chiang Rai.

The tranquil and beautiful cave in Khun Nam Nang Non Forest Park in Mae Sai district is suited to the summer season, but permission from authorities is needed before entering in the rainy season.

Initially, TAT is considering creating a new route not only to promote the cave but also nearby communities such as a village that makes mulberry tree paper, an Isan Lanna community, and a community that produces seed tea.

All the communities are located along the road in between Chiang Rai town and Mae Sai on the border with Myanmar.

TAT will ask local administrations to prepare tourism management, improve safety standards and upgrade services, she said.

The promotion of Chiang Rai province as an adventure destination was also floated by Tourism and Sports Minister Weerasak Kowsurat and Chiang Rai Governor Narongsak Osot-Thanakorn. The two also talked with hotels and transport companies in Chiang Rai to arrange an appreciation trip specifically for the rescue teams.

TAT Chiang Rai reported the province attracted 2.7 million tourists last year and generated tourism income of nearly 30 billion baht (US$905 million). The number of visitors is expected to increase gradually as the province also plans to promote elderly tourism along with adventure and cross-border tourism.

Earlier this year, the renovated river port in Chiang Saen was opened to serve higher demand from southern China.

The post Disaster Cave Slated to Be Thailand's Next Tourist Attraction appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

3 Civilians Reportedly Killed by Landmines in Shan State in June

Posted: 04 Jul 2018 02:00 AM PDT

Mon State — At least three people were killed by landmines in northern Shan State last month, according to a local resident and an aid group, amid ongoing fighting in the area between the Myanmar Army and ethnic armed groups.

A man and woman from Kyaukme Township were killed on June 20 when their motorbike hit a mine in a conflict area, according to a resident.

Some locals in Kyaukme believe the Ta’ang National Liberation Army (TNLA) planted the mine after it heard that the Myanmar Army was heading that way, but the pair ran over the mine before any soldiers arrived.

"The TNLA already warned locals not to travel in the area. But those two were not from the area, so they did not know about it," said Mai Yan Naing, a township resident.

In another incident, Free Burma Rangers, a humanitarian aid group, reported that a 65-year-old man in Kutkai Township was killed when he stepped on a mine while foraging for mushrooms on June 17.

The Myanmar Red Cross reported that 95 people were killed and 106 were wounded by landmines between 2014 and 2018.

The Myanmar Army usually blames ethnic armed groups for laying the mines, mainly the TNLA and Kachin Independence Army (KIA), while the armed groups tend to blame the army or each other. The KIA has accused the army of planting many mines in Kachin State’s Tanai and Injangyang townships recently while withdrawing their troops.

"They withdrew from some amber and gold mining areas, but they did not withdraw from all of their bases. They continue to be based in some important areas," Colonel Naw Bu, a spokesman for the KIA, told The Irrawaddy.

The KIA says its fighters recently defused about 80 landmines in Injangyang, in northern Kachin.

"The Tatmadaw [Myanmar Army] planted those landmines," Col. Naw Bu said.

The colonel said the army had also planted many mines in areas the KIA claims in Tanai, but he did not know how many of those the KIA had defused to date.

Col Naw Bu said KIA and army mines were easy to distinguish because the KIA’s mines were improvised and the army’s were factory-made.

Free Burma Ranger also reported that four civilians were killed and four were wounded by mines in Kachin since April. It accused the army of laying the mines.

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Is Modi Govt Getting its Act Together for a Better Act East Asia Policy?

Posted: 04 Jul 2018 01:49 AM PDT

GUWAHATI, India — Every year we hear about India's much-touted 'Act East Asia' policy and how it will catapult the country's northeastern region into the international market, connecting Myanmar and the rest of Southeast and East Asia and beyond. The Act East Asia (AEA) policy, which was rechristened as such in 2014 from the earlier 'Look East Asia' policy after the ascension of Narendra Modi as the country's 15th prime minister under the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led government, does not have much to show in terms of actual achievement, except that it has continued to play up the importance of inter–regional connectivity and linking northeast India to Myanmar, Thailand, other ASEAN countries and China.

Without any malice intended, it must be said that apart from the tall talks of connectivity, the only thing that has been visible is grand events hosted by Indian Prime Minister Modi, such as the hosting of the 10 ASEAN leaders as chief guests at India's 69th Republic Day Parade on February 26 this year. Prior to that, Modi invited all of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) leaders to his swearing-in ceremony in May 2014. The BRIC (originally Brazil, Russia, India, and China, before the induction of South Africa in 2010) summit in October 2016 also saw an outreach summit organized with all seven leaders of BIMSTEC (Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation). Besides these events, Prime Minister Modi has not left any stone unturned to organize grand road shows at home for leaders from China, Japan and, most recently, Israel, who visited India in the past four years, and also to spice up his frequent foreign visits with huge get-togethers with India's diaspora abroad.

After so much showbiz, it is only natural that just about everyone – at least in Northeast India – is asking "how has all of this helped AEA achieve its objectives," and more importantly, where does Northeast India fit in all of this? The Modi-led government has been especially loud about how the government had planned to make Northeast India the most sought after business and tourist destination with the rolling out of the AEA policy. Thus, while the BJP gears up for general elections early next year, calls asking what AEA has achieved are gaining momentum.

The AEA promises a lot at least on paper. It aims to focus on the extended neighborhood of the Asia-Pacific region. The endeavor, according to India's ministry of external affairs, "promotes economic cooperation and cultural ties, and develops strategic relationships" with countries in the Asia-Pacific region through continuous engagement at bilateral, regional and multilateral levels. The other perhaps more crucial feature is that the policy would help in providing enhanced connectivity to the states of the Northeastern region including Arunachal Pradesh with other neighboring countries. This was emphasized recently by India's External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj in a meeting with the chief ministers of all of the northeastern states.

But what is perhaps missing from New Delhi's list of 'do's' is the political will and the willingness to translate its plans into action, at least insofar as the northeast is concerned. This is perhaps because India's northeastern region, which comprises the states of Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Sikkim and Tripura, is extremely complex, given its enormously diverse ethnic composition and distinctly different cultures from the rest of India, as it shares an international border of 5,182 kilometers (about 99 percent of its total geographical boundary) with neighbouring countries such as China, Myanmar, Bangladesh, Nepal and Bhutan, making it an exceptionally important geo-strategic space. India surely does not want to make any mistake, especially regarding the security of the region.  It has been a hotbed of insurgency, cross-border militancy, migration issues and extreme forms of communal violence – making the area a prime concern and a top priority.

It would also be wrong to say that the need to engage the northeastern states has not been felt by the Indian establishment in New Delhi since its Look East policy which was launched in 1991 by the then Congress Prime Minister P V Narasimha Rao. Following that, the BJP government under Atal Behari Vajpayee and the subsequent Congress-led government under Dr. Monmohan Singh took it forward. However, with few gains since then, it was renamed the Act East policy by Modi in 2014 after he took over as prime minister and he placed emphasis on engaging the northeastern states in order to unlock the vast potential of the region.

Indian PM Narendra Modi with other global leaders at the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) Summit held from June 9-10, 2018.   / Ministry of External Affairs India.

However, efforts to involve these states have been piecemeal to say the least, with occasional exchanges and visits from chief ministers and junior ministers and some India-ASEAN motor rallies through Myanmar ending up in Malaysia or Singapore. There has not been a concerted effort to engage even the key states of Manipur, Nagaland, Mizoram or even Assam in any of the business conclaves that have been held either in New DelThe recent meeting of the northeastern chief ministers with India's external affairs minister Swaraj made up for some lost ground, as most of the chief ministers that attended the meeting voiced their concerns. A laundry list of what needed to be done was handed over to Swaraj, including a need to address the issues that confront the people of the northeast, to build better connectivity within the states that make up northeast, and to display cautiousness in handling security issues involving the Indian military establishment and the various insurgencies in the region.

Soon after the meeting with Swaraj, chief minister of Meghalaya State Conrad Sangma wrote to the former reminding her that the Northeast states need to be kept at the heart of the Act East policy. In his letter to Swaraj, the Meghalaya chief minister floated the idea of all eight chief ministers of the northeastern states traveling together in a bus to the neighboring countries of Bangladesh, Bhutan and Myanmar.

"Along this journey the chief ministers and officials can interact with civil society groups, farmers, youth and the people of these countries," the chief minister said.

The Meghalaya chief minister also acknowledged the creation of the NITI forum (a platform under the Planning Commission of the government of India) for the northeast as "a welcome step," convinced that it would accelerate the Act East policy. He also suggested the creation of an 'Act East Cell' in the NITI Aayog (Planning Commission) that would coordinate between the states. Another suggestion that went out was for the meetings of the NITI Forum for northeastern states to take place on a rotational basis in each of the capital cities of the eight states "with a specific theme which can bring out the common concerns of the region."

A final suggestion was to hold the next meeting of the NITI Forum in Shillong with the theme, "A Stronger Northeast for a better Act East."

Meghalaya Chief Minister Sangma who heads a BJP supported coalition government admits that on the ground "there is more that needs to be done." In a recent interview with The Irrawaddy held at Shillong he said, "To be fair to the whole thing is not easy. To get all the states of the Northeast along with the countries in ASEAN and BIMSTEC together with Nepal and Bhutan there is a challenge at a very high level." The Meghalaya leader also pointed to "intra-regional and intra-state politics," stating that in his view these complicate the situation further.

"Let us not forget that though the similarities are there, there are also differences among us in this region. There are challenges and a lot of work needs to be done," the young political leader from Meghalaya said, perhaps echoing other chief ministers of Northeast India.

The author is a former senior journalist who has worked for national and international news media in India and elsewhere. Currently he is a contributing editor for The Irrawaddy.

The post Is Modi Govt Getting its Act Together for a Better Act East Asia Policy? appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

India Asks WhatsApp to Curb Spread of False Messages

Posted: 03 Jul 2018 09:33 PM PDT

MUMBAI — India has asked Facebook Inc.-owned WhatsApp messenger to take steps to prevent the circulation of false texts and provocative content that have led to a series of lynchings and mob beatings across the country in the past few months.

With more than 200 million users in India, WhatsApp’s biggest market in the world, false news and videos circulating on the messaging app have become a new headache for social media giant Facebook, already grappling with a privacy scandal.

So far this year, false messages about child abductors on WhatsApp have helped to trigger mass beatings of more than a dozen people in India — at least three of whom have died.

In addition, five people were beaten to death by a mob on Sunday in a fresh incident of lynching in India’s western state of Maharashtra on suspicions that they were child abductors.

“Deep disapproval of such developments has been conveyed to the senior management of WhatsApp and they have been advised that necessary remedial measures should be taken,” India’s IT ministry said in a strongly-worded statement on Tuesday.

The ministry said law enforcement authorities were taking steps to apprehend culprits responsible for the killings but the repeated flow of fake news messages on WhatsApp was also a matter of deep concern.

It also said that messaging platforms “cannot evade accountability and responsibility” when such services are abused by users to spread misinformation.

“The government has also conveyed in no uncertain terms that WhatsApp must take immediate action to end this menace and ensure that their platform is not used for such mala fide activities,” it added.

WhatsApp said it does not want the platform to be used for spreading misinformation, adding the dissemination of false messages was a challenge that companies and society should address.

The firm also announced awards for researchers to explore misinformation related issues and share their proposals with the messaging service, its parent Facebook, academia and policymakers.

Facebook did not respond to a request for comment on the government’s statement.

WhatsApp previously told Reuters that it is educating users to identify fake news as well as considering changes to the service. For example, there is now a public beta test that is labeling any forwarded message. Last week, it also introduced a new setting which allows only the administrators or owners of groups to send messages.

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Ambitious Plans for Southern China Megalopolis Trigger Big Hopes and Fears in Hong Kong

Posted: 03 Jul 2018 09:32 PM PDT

HONG KONG — Some Hong Kong officials and lawmakers are encouraging younger residents to consider living across the mainland China border so that they can escape the territory's sky-high apartment prices and find more job opportunities. It is not an easy sell but some pro-China business leaders say resistance to the idea will eventually crumble.

The government has seized upon a Beijing plan to integrate the former British colony into the Pearl River Delta to create the Greater Bay Area, a region comprising nine cities in China’s Guangdong province, plus Hong Kong and Macau, that would have the equivalent of the fifth-largest economy in the world by 2030 and a population of nearly 70 million. Hong Kong’s population is currently about 7.4 million.

Moving to one of those other cities would mean that Hong Kong's millennial generation, many of whom have been priced out of Hong Kong's housing market, could afford to buy their own homes or rent more than a shoe box. They would also have a wider range of jobs to choose from.

They may, though, miss the freedoms of Hong Kong that are guaranteed under a “one country, two systems” system for the 50 years after the British handover of the territory to China in 1997. In Hong Kong, for example, the media and the Internet are relatively freewheeling, while in China they are censored vigorously.

A further diffusion of people who are Hong Kong born and bred into the mainland may dim support for the pro-democracy movement in the territory, especially if more rich mainlanders move into Hong Kong to replace them.

But Beijing has made it clear that economic integration is key to reinforcing its sovereignty over Hong Kong – and it gets support from within the business community.

“We will no longer be Hong Kong people, but Greater Bay Area people,” Jonathan Choi, Chairman of the Chinese General Chamber of Commerce of Hong Kong, told the Hong Kong Economic Times last month. “We should therefore focus on integration rather than on the interests of Hong Kong,” said Choi, who is also a member of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, the top advisory body to China's Parliament.

Building Bridges

A series of major infrastructure projects due to be finished in the next three months are going to connect major cities in the region through fast trains and road bridges, reducing the time to commute to and from Hong Kong significantly.

"That distance, I believe, will no longer be a problem once they have learned about the latest progress of our growing transport infrastructure links with the Bay Area,” Hong Kong Chief Secretary Matthew Cheung said in a blog in June titled, “Debunk the myths over Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Bay Area."

The migration has already been happening. At least 500,000 Hong Kong people resided in the mainland last year, up from 155,000 in 2009 and just 62,000 in 2003, according to official data.

It is a stunning transformation from the days only 40 years ago when the Pearl River Delta was more of a sleepy, poor agricultural region that was not much more than a curiosity to people in Hong Kong. It is now one of the world’s industrial engines, whose cities have among the highest per capita incomes in China.

Property agents in southern China said they had seen a jump so far this year in the number of Hong Kong people looking to buy homes across the border, especially in cities such as Zhuhai and Zhongshan, although most were sophisticated investors rather than the youth the government is targeting. One said the increase had been as much as 40 percent.

Jackie Chan, a Hong Kong investor unrelated to the movie star of the same name, bought a home in the southern Chinese city of Zhongshan in April, betting that Beijing’s backing of the Bay Area plan was sure to bolster prices.

“I bought for the Greater Bay Area concept because it’s a national initiative and it will support the development of many new industries,” said Chan, who already owns four apartments in Hong Kong, among the world’s most expensive real estate markets.

In Zhongshan, homes can be snapped up for 1,400 yuan ($209.47) per square foot, while those in Zhuhai go for around 4,000 yuan per square foot – a steep discount to the roughly HK$15,000 ($1,923) per square foot for an apartment in Hong Kong.

Still, the bulk of Bay Area purchases so far have been for investment purposes or holiday homes, rather than as primary residences.

Another barrier is China’s “Great Firewall," which ensures many foreign websites are blocked on the mainland in the name of maintaining social stability, but that is not the case in Hong Kong.

Reluctance Shown in Poll

While supporters of Hong Kong independence remain a small minority in the city and the pro-democracy camp faces a crisis of confidence over its future, younger residents overwhelmingly identify themselves as Hong Kong people, rather than mainland Chinese.

Hong Kong Youth Power Association, a pro-establishment organization, published a survey in May that showed almost 60 percent of the 878 young people polled said they would not consider working or living in the Bay Area.

Reasons included not wanting to be far from home, higher income taxes on the mainland and being unfamiliar with Chinese government policies.

Hardline activists say that young people will just never buy into the idea of living across the border.

“Many young people don’t reject the idea of visiting the mainland for fun. But if you want them to live there, you have your head in the clouds,” said prominent activist Nathan Law, 24, who was elected as Hong Kong’s youngest legislator in history before he was ousted by the government. “You can’t even use WhatsApp or watch YouTube videos. You are isolated from the world.”

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Former Malaysian PM Pleads Not Guilty to Breach of Trust, Abuse of Power

Posted: 03 Jul 2018 09:07 PM PDT

KUALA LUMPUR — In a stunning fall from grace, Malaysia’s former Prime Minister Najib Razak was charged in court on Wednesday as part of an investigation into allegations of extensive corruption and misappropriation at a state fund he founded.

Najib pled not guilty to three charges of criminal breach of trust and one count of abuse of power, in relation to a suspicious transaction involving SRC International, a former unit of 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB).

Each of the four charges carries a prison sentence of up to 20 years. The abuse of power charge carries a fine of not less than five times the “value of gratification."

“As a public official, which is prime minister and minister of finance, used your position for self gratification (for a) total of 42 million ringgit,” Attorney General Tommy said referring to the abuse of power charge.

The charges relate to funds that allegedly went from SRC International into Najib’s personal bank account, but are only a fraction of the total amount allegedly misappropriated from 1MDB.

The US Department of Justice has said more than $4.5 billion was siphoned from the fund.

Najib has denied wrongdoing since news of the scandal emerged.

SRC is the initial focus of Malaysian investigators as all the suspicious transactions involving the firm were made through Malaysian entities, unlike other 1MDB related transactions that went through foreign banks and companies.

Najib was arrested at his home on Tuesday, less than two months after an unexpected election defeat to a coalition led by his mentor-turned-foe Mahathir Mohamad. Police and anti-graft agency officials have revived investigations into the fund’s missing billions since his ouster.

Some of Najib’s children were present in court, including his stepson, Riza Aziz, who on Tuesday was questioned by anti-graft officers.

Najib, who spent the night in lockup, arrived at 8:20 a.m. at the court complex in Malaysia’s capital of Kuala Lumpur, wearing a dark blue suit and a red tie.

Crowds of media and onlookers jostled to catch a glance of the former premier as he was led to a sessions court to face the charges.

Some members of Najib’s UMNO party chanted and held up placards in support of their former leader.

Earlier, state news agency Bernama broadcast the movement of Najib’s convoy live as it moved through rush-hour traffic during the drive from the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission’s offices in the administrative capital, Putrajaya, to the court in Kuala Lumpur.

A spokesman for Najib said on Tuesday that the SRC charges and the 1MDB investigations against the former leader were “politically motivated," and that Najib will contest the charges and clear his name in court.

Mahathir said in an interview with Reuters last month that embezzlement and bribery with government money were among the charges that Malaysia was looking to bring against Najib, 64, adding that Najib was fully responsible for the 1MDB scandal.

Since his loss at the polls, Najib has been barred from leaving the country and had millions of dollars of items seized from properties linked to his family.

In a pre-recorded message posted on Twitter after his arrest, Najib said he was not perfect and not all the accusations against me and my family are true.

“Let investigations be carried out. I have not had a chance to defend myself,” he said.

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