Friday, September 21, 2018

The Irrawaddy Magazine

The Irrawaddy Magazine

Local Committee Defuses Border Row Between Muse Residents, Chinese Villagers

Posted: 21 Sep 2018 08:53 AM PDT

CHIANG MAI, Thailand – District-level officials this week reached a temporary settlement in a dispute over the boundary between Myanmar and China on the Ruli River near northern Shan State's Muse Township.

The agreement was negotiated by a district-level boundary committee. The dispute erupted after Chinese villagers put up a fence nearly 30 meters inside Myanmar in Hpai Kawng village near Pang Sai Kyukote sub-township in Muse on Wednesday. When Myanmar villagers complained, the Chinese stopped the activity and took down the fencing materials.

Kachin News Group first reported the story and uploaded a video showing the fence being constructed. The video quickly went viral. Kachin News' report quoted locals as saying this is not the first such dispute; squabbles over the location of the border have simmered on and off since 2008.

The fencing activity was halted at around 5 pm on Wednesday after villagers in Hpai Kawng objected, said Sai Poe Myat, a Lower House lawmaker representing Muse constituency.

He told The Irrawaddy, "The border boundary pillars are there already as demarcated; they should not be removed by one side, but as we saw on the social media post, it was the Chinese who tried to move the pillars and redraw the boundary."

Local residents lack knowledge about official negotiations relating to the boundary, he added.

Asked about official efforts on border demarcation, government spokesman U Zaw Htay told The Irrawaddy on Friday at a regular press briefing at the Presidential Palace in Naypyitaw that, "We heard that the district-level committee had settled the dispute, [marking the] boundary [in the middle of] the waterway."

Boundary disputes that cannot be settled at the district level are referred to the ministerial level. In such cases, officials consult technical experts who travel to the areas and conduct surveys in accordance with the bilateral agreements between the two countries.

Parts of the Myanmar-China border near Muse are demarcated in the middle of the Ruli (Shweli) River. A director general at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) explained that such disputes emerge often. They are normally settled quickly, as the China-Myanmar border is fully demarcated, the official said.

"Disputes are more frequent over boundaries on waterways than over inland boundaries, because sometimes river currents cause changes or sediments build up. Local residents may be unaware and begin farming or putting up fences on the newly created land. It happens all the time with residents of both countries," said U Soe Han, the director general of the MOFA's Political Department and also a ministry spokesman.

He added that the ministry was in constant communication with the Chinese Embassy.

The Irrawaddy tried to contact to the MOFA’s Boundary Department spokesman for details, but the official could not be reached.

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Local Brand Uses Traditional Fabrics to Produce Handmade Shoes

Posted: 21 Sep 2018 07:02 AM PDT

YANGON—Myanmar's various ethnic groups all have their own traditional costumes, which make use of specific fabrics and draw on their unique cultural backgrounds. But one thing they have in common is that they're all colorful and attractive in their own ways. One local entrepreneur is using those different traditional fabrics to create a vibrant range of handmade shoes and bags.

Under the brand name Myanmar's Heart, local entrepreneur Ko Soe Moe Aung aims to promote his local handmade arts and crafts to the world as a kind of souvenir of the country.

He started the brand three years ago; prior to that he operated a souvenir shop at Bogyoke Market.

"I was working for the German Embassy and opened a small souvenir shop at Bogyoke Market. I collected good quality souvenir products from across the country and sold them; I didn't have my own brand at that time," Ko Soe Moe Aung said.

Myanmar's Heart shoes are displayed at the Pyinsama Arts and Crafts showroom. /Htet Wai /The Irrawaddy

One day, a German friend visited his shop and advised him to make shoes using local fabrics, pointing out that most of the souvenirs available in Myanmar are decorative items, whereas foreigners want things they can wear.

"He was right. Most of our souvenirs are not useful in daily life, and are just for decoration. People need to change their shoes depending on what they are wearing; most women own at least five pairs," Ko Soe Moe Aung said.

He took his friend's advice and made plans to begin creating high-quality, locally made souvenirs that are useful in the daily lives of both locals and foreigners.

Next, he needed to decide whether to make shoes or slippers. His aim was to produce Myanmar's Heart footwear that tourists would purchase as a souvenir or gift for when they returned from their visit to Myanmar.

"I chose shoes. There are already a lot of slippers made from fabric on the market, and my products are aimed at locals and foreigners. I'm always concerned about the availability of quality shoes," Ko Soe Moe Aung said.

He started with flat shoes because they're light, easy to wear and suitable for any occasion, but soon added sandals. Myanmar's Heart now makes high-heeled shoes as well.

In the beginning, foreign women were his main customers for Myanmar's Heart shoes; local people were not.

"The sad fact is that most local people don't value their own country's products and neglect them," Ko Soe Moe Aung said of his early business struggles.

A few months later, though, locals started expressing an interest in the shoes; some bought the shoes to wear while traveling abroad.

Bags in various designs/Htet Wai /The Irrawaddy

"But I'm still not satisfied; I will do my best to create more demand among locals. I want them to see Myanmar's Heart products as everyday wear," Ko Soe Moe Aung said.

Myanmar's Heart produces both handmade and machine-made shoes. Most of the flat shoes and sandals are handmade but all the shoes are made from different traditional fabrics, including those from Chin, Rakhine, Kachin, Kayin, Shan and elsewhere.

"I collect them from different sources across the country," Ko Soe Moe Aung said. "The fabrics are not naturally died, but they use low-chemical dyes and are safe for the skin."

Sometimes, customers order organic fabric; he has a source for that too.

"Natural dye fabrics are really expensive. So far I haven't been able to make such shoes because the production cost is too high, but I am taking orders," he said.

He says Myanmar's Heart shoes are made entirely from local products except for the glue, which he orders from abroad.

Myanmar's Heart shoes made from various types of fabric/Htet Wai /The Irrawaddy

"I have some clients from European countries; they checked the shoe quality and determined them to be safe; Myanmar's Heart is available in Singapore too," said Ko Soe Moe Aung, who designs the shoes himself. Myanmar's Heart also designs handbags made from traditional fabric.

"I use sheets of longyi [the traditional cloth worn in Myanmar] for shoes, and use blankets to make the bags; some ethnic people see the use of traditional blankets to make shoes as disrespectful," Ko Soe Moe Aung explained.

Nowadays, women are always looking for something new in fashion. So, he decided to produce bags to match the shoes.

Myanmar's Heart shoes sell for 15,000-25,000 kyats, while the bags are priced at 10,000-20,000 kyats.

Ko Soe Moe Aung is also secretary of the Myanmar Arts and Crafts Association; the group's ambition is to promote local products in local markets and establish a Souvenir Center in Myanmar.

"We want to create awareness of local arts and crafts among locals and foreigners and want to build a place where all locally made souvenirs are available," he said.

Myanmar's Heart shoes and bags are available at shopping centers and the Pyinsama Myanmar Arts and Crafts Showroom on Shwegonedine Road in Yangon's Bahan Township.

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UK Foreign Secretary Hunt Gets Rare Cold Shoulder From Commander-in-Chief

Posted: 21 Sep 2018 06:26 AM PDT

YANGON — Commander-in-Chief Senior General Min Aung Hlaing has received a number of foreign diplomats, UN officials and high-profile international figures over the crisis in northern Rakhine State. UK Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt has just become the exception.

Hunt had asked to meet with the general in Naypyitaw but was declined. Yet the commander-in-chief has received nearly a dozen Western diplomats and UN officials since the start of 2017; some were even given helicopter tours of the country’s conflict zones.

When a 15-member delegation from the UN Security Council visited Myanmar in April, Snr. Gen. Min Aung Hlaing brought nearly a dozen military generals together to meet them. At least one top general from the Defense or Home Affairs ministry meets the visiting diplomats when the commander-in-chief is busy or away.

Hunt, who replaced Boris Johnson as the UK’s top diplomat in July, was on his first visit to Myanmar in the role. Before arriving, he even announced his trip on Twitter during a meeting with Rohingya activists in the UK.

The foreign secretary landed in Myanmar on Wednesday and headed by helicopter to northern Rakhine State, where a late-2017 military crackdown that followed militant attacks on local security forces has driven some 700,000 Rohingya to neighboring Bangladesh. There he met with local authorities, displaced Hindus, ethnic Rakhine, and Rohingya villagers in areas spared the arson that engulfed much of the region at the time.

A United Nations Facts Finding Mission (FFM) recently recommended that some of Myanmar’s top military generals be referred to the International Criminal Court (ICC) for ethnic cleansing and genocidal intent against the Rohingya.

Immediately after meeting with State Counselor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi in Naypyitaw on Thursday, Hunt posted a tweet urging the international community to consider all options to bring the country’s military leaders before the ICC if they were not held to account in Myanmar. The government has rejected the FFM report as “one-sided.”

"We need to be absolutely clear that there can be no hiding place for anyone responsible for these kinds of atrocities," Hunt said on Twitter.

The State Counselor’s Office announced on Thursday evening that Hunt and Daw Aung San Suu Kyi had discussed recent developments in Rakhine State including repatriation arrangements and debate on the violence at recent UN meetings.

U Maung Maung Soe, an expert on Myanmar’s ethnic affairs, said Snr. Gen. Min Aung Hlaing’s failure to meet with the UK foreign secretary was likely a reaction to the latter’s tweet. He said Hunt appeared to come with orders for Naypyitaw rather than for a genuine diplomatic exchange, and predicted that Myanmar’s relations with some European countries could deteriorate further if they continue to demand accountability of the military.

“How can the army meet with a person who supports the ICC prosecutor? I would say this is very simple,” said U Maung Maung Soe.

A UN Security Council referral to the ICC requires that there be no vetoes from permanent members Russia, China, the United States, Britain and France. Some local experts predict that Russia and China, which has a long history of military relations with Myanmar and numerous development projects underway in the country, would block any attempt.

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‘The issue has prompted serious challenges for us’: President’s Office Spokesman

Posted: 21 Sep 2018 06:20 AM PDT

YANGON—Myanmar's President's Office spokesperson has said the recent UN report on the Rohingya issue may cause divisions between ethnic groups in the country and encourage the disintegration of the state.

Repeating the response made by the Myanmar's ambassador to the UN on Sep. 18 during the UNHRC meeting in Geneva, the spokesperson U Zaw Htay told media on Friday that the report could derail the country's democratic transition.

The spokesperson said the Rakhine issue has badly damaged the country's image as well as the interests of the state and its people.

"The issue has prompted serious challenges for us," he said.

Myanmar has been facing mounting international pressure over the issue in which nearly 700,000 Rohingya have fled to Bangladesh after security forces' clearance operations in northern Rakhine were triggered by Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army's attacks on security outposts there. The government has denounced them as a terrorist organization.

The international community, including the UNHRC, has called for the persecution of Myanmar Army leaders at the International Criminal Court for the security forces' human rights abuses against the Rohingya during the clearance operations.

The spokesperson said the issue has taken a front seat for the government pushing back other challenges like the democratic transition, development and the peace process.

"When we have an international delegation, they raise the Rakhine issue first. We have lost the trust of international investors," he said.

Despite the call for prosecution, Myanmar's government has rejected the UNHRC's fact-finding mission and their report, questioning the report's impartiality and claiming that the information presented in the report is groundless.

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USDP Official in Sagaing Faces Defamation Suit over Rohingya Aid Claims

Posted: 21 Sep 2018 05:20 AM PDT

YANGON—Police in Sagaing Region have filed a defamation lawsuit against the chairman of the Union Solidarity and Development Party's Shwebo District.

The lawsuit was filed at the Shwebo Township Court under Section 505 (b) of the Penal Code, which prohibits defaming the state.

Shwebo Township management committee chairman U Soe Min Aung instructed township police chief Police Colonel Tar Zan to file the complaint against U Soe Aye over his alleged use of hate speech at a meeting with local residents in Pa Laing village on Sept. 8.

"I have no comment. I was asked by the township management committee to file the lawsuit. I was on leave before that," the police colonel said.

Police quoted U Soe Aye as saying at the meeting: "Despite the fact that Bengalis [a term used by the majority of people in Myanmar to refer to Rohingya] raped a schoolteacher in Rakhine State, State Counselor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi has built houses and paved roads and supplied electricity and water utilities to them.

"Sagaing Region Chief Minister Dr. Myint Naing also has to assume responsibility for building around 80 houses [for Rohingya]. Daw Aung San Suu Kyi has brought around 4,000 Bengalis [from Rakhine] and allowed them to live in Yangon.

"[Myanmar] will soon become a Bengali country," he was quoted as saying.

U Moe Kyaw Thu, a National League for Democracy lawmaker in the Sagaing regional parliament, told The Irrawaddy, "If they want to rally support from the public, they can do it honestly. They don't need to unfairly criticize the other side and defame the government. Such racial instigation is a dirty trick. For our part, we don't attack others," the lawmaker said.

The Irrawaddy was not able to reach U Soe Aye, but U Aung Soe Win, an executive of the Shwebo district chapter of the USDP, told The Irrawaddy that the township court had not summoned U Soe Aye yet.

"As the court has not yet summoned us, it is still too early to talk about the case," U Aung Soe Win said.

"We will help him face trial in line with the law. We have no plan to take action against U Soe Aye," said USDP spokesperson Dr. Nanda Hla Myint, adding that the party has sufficient evidence to support U Soe Aye's claim.

"Politicians have a duty to the country to point out the faults of the government," he said.

Section 505 (b) carries up to two years' imprisonment without labor and/or a fine.

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Serenity of Artist’s Latest Paintings Only Skin Deep

Posted: 21 Sep 2018 04:43 AM PDT

YANGON — Visitors to the latest art exhibit by MPP Ye Myint, showing now at Yangon's Lokanat Gallery, might think that the artist has gone soft.

MPP Ye Myint is known for works depicting the negative political and social dimensions of Myanmar. But for his latest show he has seemingly chosen a more pleasant theme: Bagan, the cultural centerpiece of Myanmar.

One of the paintings depicts a horse cart passing through Tharabar Gate, the only surviving gate of the 9th century city, as young women fetch water from the lotus-filled moat around it.

But not every viewer may know that the previous military regime added five steps to the original three in the staircase of the gate, that the junta never restored the moat, or that electric bicycles have driven the horse cart drivers out of business.

The exhibit, "Tharabar Gate & Dhammayangyi Temple," draws attention to modern-day Bagan’s deterioration.

"In my painting, I drew only three steps in the stairs of Tharabar Gate. And the horse cart culture nearly vanished when e-bikes from China flooded the city. Consequently, horse cart drivers had a hard life. I don't like that," MPP Ye Myint said.

"My elders said that they could fish in the moat in front of the Tharabar Gate. Saya Paragu [one of Myanmar’s most successful writers] also mentioned it in his book," titled “Bagan Wayfarer.”

"I want [the government] to clean the moat, fill it back with water and restore it. I drew these paintings because I want [the government] to do so," the artist said.

Some of his paintings show Dhammayangyi Temple surrounded by swirling clouds influenced by the brushwork of Vincent van Gogh.

MPP Ye Myint is upset that some of Bagan’s temples have been commercialized by businessmen who have incorporated them into their hotel compounds or used them to stage cultural shows. He feels that some dishonest people are taking advantage of the government’s policy of national reconciliation with the military.

"Because of its national reconciliation policy, it has to cooperate with cronies for fear that the grassroots might be impacted,” he said, as well-connected businessmen control much of the economy.

“I didn't draw these paintings for pleasure. Maybe you can call me pessimistic."

More than 50 paintings depicting Tharabar Gate and Dhammayangyi Temple from different perspectives and in various environments will be on display through Monday.

MPP Ye Myint has had 16 prior solo exhibits. His works have been collected by national museums of Singapore and Malaysia and the Fukuoka Museum of Japan.

Translated from Burmese by Thet Ko Ko.

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National Planning Law Expects Highest Growth in Telecom, Industrial, Financial Sectors

Posted: 21 Sep 2018 04:40 AM PDT

YANGON—Amid a slowing economy and complaints from the business community, Myanmar's parliament has approved a National Planning Law for the 2018-2019 fiscal year which expects to see the highest growth rate in the country's telecommunications, industrial and financial sectors.

On Wednesday, President U Win Myint signed the bill with the approval of the Union Parliament and it is to be effective from October 1 this year to September 30, 2019.

According to the National Planning Law, the government expects to increase the growth of GDP from 6.8 percent to 7.6 percent, while the telecommunications sector is projected to grow by 15 percent, the industrial sector by 11.2 percent and the financial sector by 9 percent in the coming fiscal year.

The law states that the government will make efforts to improve the trade sector by 7.7 percent, the mineral sector by 7.5 percent and the social management sector by 7.3 percent.

Meanwhile, a growth of only 4 percent is expected in the fisheries sector, 2.9 percent in the energy and electricity sector, 2.4 percent in agriculture and 1.1 percent in the forestry sector.

The government projects that the highest growth rates will take place in Yangon Region, Naypyitaw Union Territory, and Kachin State with rates of 9.8 percent, 9.6 percent and 9.3 percent respectively.

The relative ministries will draw up implementation plans in order to facilitate improvements across the sectors. The law also instructs the government departments to make a review of all national projects and assess whether they are beneficial to the people or not. It states that projects must be suspended or canceled if they are found not to be beneficial to the people.

The government departments need to compose a list of state-owned enterprises (SOEs) which make annual loses and suggests that they should be converted to private enterprises, according to the law.

The Ministry of Planning and Finance has said that 10 out of 32 state-owned enterprises make annual loses which are expected to amount to 1 billion kyats in the 2018-2019 fiscal year.

Businesses in Myanmar are suffering chronic loses due to the instability of the exchange rate which has caused inflation rates to rise at the fastest pace in recent years. This has affected imports and also raised fuel and transportation costs and overall consumer costs in the country. In their July inflation report, Myanmar Statistical Information Service (MSIS), a department under the planning and finance ministry, cited that the year-on-year inflation rate accelerated to 7.56 percent from 5.90 percent during the three-month period of May to July.

A recent survey by the Republic of the Union of Myanmar Federation of Chambers of Commerce and Industry (UMFCCI) said Myanmar's economy has been slowing since 2016 and business in all sectors has declined significantly this year. Overall business confidence is down by nearly 25 percent compared to last year with the manufacturing sector and import and export trading sectors experiencing significant downturns in this year.

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Govt to Probe Claims Citizenship Cards Wrongly Issued to Rohingya, Minister Says

Posted: 21 Sep 2018 01:43 AM PDT

NAYPYITAW — The Ministry of Labor, Immigration and Population will investigate allegations that more than 3,000 residents in southern Rakhine State's Ramree Township issued National Registration Cards (NRCs) as ethnic Kaman are actually Rohingya.

"The Kaman National Progressive Party [KNPP] has filed a complaint,” Labor, Immigration and Population Minister U Thein Swe told reporters on the sidelines of a workshop of Myanmar’s labor market in Naypyitaw on Thursday.

“Our ministry has carefully scrutinized it, and we will scrutinize it again. And we will act as necessary in line with the law based on our findings," he said.

The KNPP lodged a complaint with the President’s Office and State Counselor’s Office earlier this month alleging that more than 3,000 NRCs designating the holders as ethnic Kaman were wrongly issued to Rohingya in Ramree Township's Kyauk Ni Maw Village.

U Thein Swe insisted that the ministry’s Immigration Department was issuing NRCs, which are commonly known as pink cards and grant full citizenship, in line with the Citizenship Law.

Though ethnic Kaman in Kyauk Ni Maw number just over 200, the Immigration Department has issued 3,306 NRCs designating the holders as Kaman in the area, according to KNPP Secretary U Tin Hlaing Win.

The KNPP claimed that some people, in an apparent reference to Rohingya, have been trying to gain citizenship by claiming to be Kaman in order to be able to vote in elections.

"The party has been pointing out those who are not Kaman since the campaign season of the 2010 general election. We assume that we are responsible if someone takes advantage of our Kaman ethnicity for political gains,” said U Tin Hlaing Win.

The party secretary said the KNPP was not trying to prevent Rohingya from gaining citizenship. But he said issuing NRC’s that identify the holder as Kaman to people who have a different language and culture harms the Kaman community.

U Aung Kyaw Zan, a community elder in Kyauk Ni Maw, said the more than 3,000 people issued the NRCs as Kaman are in fact Kaman, speak their language and practice their customs.

"We share the same culture. What do they want to say? We speak both Arakanese and Burmese, we go to [public] schools, and we have family members and relatives who are civil servants," he said.

On Sept 10, the Upper House of Parliament blocked  a proposal by ethnic Rakhine lawmaker Daw Htoot May to review the NRCs in dispute.

On Thursday, lawmaker U Than Maung, who represents Ramree Township in the national legislature, urged the Rakhine State Parliament to review the cards instead.

The Kaman minority is one of 135 officially recognized ethnic groups in Myanmar and one of the seven ethnic subgroups in Rakhine State. Unlike the Buddhist Rakhine, the Kaman are Muslim.

They have been living in Rakhine for centuries. During the Arakan Kingdom, the Kaman served as royal archers, but the profession vanished when the kingdom fell to the Burmese Konbaung Dynasty in 1784. Nowadays, there are about 45,000 ethnic Kaman Muslims across the country.

Translated from Burmese by Thet Ko Ko.

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Ethnic Mro Murdered in Maungdaw, N. Rakhine

Posted: 21 Sep 2018 01:28 AM PDT

SITTWE—An ethnic Mro man from the village of Thit Tone Na Kwa Sone in northern Rakhine State's Maungdaw Township was murdered on Wednesday.

The victim, identified as Duu Lu (40), reportedly went to the woods near his village to put the cattle out to pasture on Wednesday. He did not come back and when villagers searched for him the following day, they found him dead with stab wounds some 2.4 kilometers (1.5 miles) north of the village.

"He took eight cows to pasture, and we only found six cows," Maungdaw Township administrator U Myat Khaing told The Irrawaddy.

Police are investigating the murder, he said.

Lower House lawmaker U Aung Thaung Shwe of Buthidaung Township blamed the lack of rule of law in Buthidaung and Maungdaw townships in northern Rakhine State for the killings, adding that security services are not sufficient for the safety of local ethnic people.

"Though [authorities] provide a security apparatus, it can't protect ethnic people so, [they] will be continued to be killed in the future," U Aung Thaung Shwe told The Irrawaddy.

"I proposed in the Parliament to form a militia with local villagers but it was rejected. Now, almost all the ethnic people have left their villages," he added.

On August 3, last year, eight Mro people of Kaing Gyi village in Maungdaw were killed by the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army, according to reports of state-run media.

State-run media has made several other reports about the murders of individual Mro villagers in Maungdaw since then.

A majority of the Mro ethnic minority live in the northern parts of Maungdaw with more Mro in the southern parts of Maungdaw of Seinpan Myaing, Shwe Baho and Kaing Gyi.

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Singapore Panel Recommends Regulation of Tech Firms Over Fake News

Posted: 20 Sep 2018 10:18 PM PDT

SINGAPORE — A Singapore parliamentary committee said on Thursday the government should consider legislation to ensure technology companies rein in online fake news and that those responsible are punished.

The committee, set up to make recommendations on fighting “deliberate online falsehoods,” said measures were needed as companies such as Facebook, Google and Twitter “have a policy of generally not acting against” content known to be false.

“I think there is increasing recognition on all sides that there has to be responsibility on the part of tech companies and that governments have to intervene to ensure that responsibility,” Law Minister K. Shanmugam, a member of the panel, told reporters.

He said the government’s response to the recommendations had to be “urgent and serious.”

The ministries of Law and of Communications said in a statement the government accepted the recommendations in principle and it would work with stakeholders to adopt legislative and non-legislative measures in the next few months.

It did not elaborate on what those measures would involve.

Global tech companies have expressed concern about Singapore’s plans to bring in new laws to tackle fake news, saying sufficient rules are already in place.

In an emailed statement on Thursday, Google said it took “the issue of false information seriously” and looked forward continuing to work with the Singapore government to address the issue.

Twitter said it also cared “deeply about the issues of misinformation” and their “potentially harmful effects on the civic and political discourse.” It added that it looked forward to the Singapore government’s engagement with industry “on the full range of approaches to address these issues.”

Facebook did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Criminal sanctions

Singapore’s efforts to tackle fake news and the spread of false information online mirror those in various countries amid growing questions about the influence of internet companies and influence of foreign entities in domestic political processes.

Neighboring Malaysia’s opposition-led Senate blocked an effort to repeal a law against fake news this month, presenting the first major challenge for the new government of Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad.

Facebook’s WhatsApp messaging platform in July published advertisements in key Indian newspapers to tackle the spread of misinformation there, its first such effort to combat a flurry of fake messages that prompted mob lynchings.

As well as tackling tech companies, the Singapore committee’s lengthy report also said criminal sanctions should be imposed on “perpetrators” of deliberate online falsehoods.

It added that for such sanctions, there should be a “threshold of serious harm such as election interference, public disorder, and the erosion of trust in public institutions.”

Singapore, which has been run by the same political party since its independence from Britain more than 50 years ago, is due to hold elections by early 2021.

Singapore says it is vulnerable to fake news because of its position as a global financial hub, its mixed ethnic and religious population and widespread internet access.

Activists worry that laws aimed at stopping fake news could be used by governments to stifle free speech and target legitimate news outlets that are critical of them.

Another of the committee’s recommendations was for media organizations and other industry partners to consider establishing a “fact checking coalition” in Singapore, although it said consideration was needed over whether the government should be involved.

Singapore ranks 151 out of 180 countries in a World Press Freedom Index issued by Reporters Without Borders, a non-government group that promotes freedom of information.

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Former Malaysian PM Charged with Money Laundering, Abuse of Power

Posted: 20 Sep 2018 10:05 PM PDT

KUALA LUMPUR—Malaysian prosecutors charged former Prime Minister Najib Razak with 21 counts of money laundering and four counts of abuse of power on Thursday over hundreds of millions of dollars received in his personal bank account.

The charges bring the total number against Najib to 32 as investigators ramp up a probe into how billions went missing from scandal-plagued 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB), a state fund that he founded and chaired.

Najib has denied all charges, which have piled up since he unexpectedly lost a general election in May to Mahathir Mohamad, who reopened the 1MDB investigation.

Prosecutors, describing the abuse of power charges, said Najib used his position as prime minister, finance minister and chairman of 1MDB to obtain funds totaling about 2.3 billion ringgit ($556.23 million) between 2011 and 2014.

The money-laundering charges describe how Najib received 2.1 billion ringgit ($508 million) from Tanore Finance Corp, which US authorities have said was used to siphon money from 1MDB.

“The charges made today will give me a chance to clear my name, that I am not a thief,” Najib told reporters.

He was released after the judge set bail of 3.5 million ringgit ($846,430), to be paid by Sept. 28.

Prosecutors said it was a matter of “national disgrace” for a head of state to be facing such charges.

“This is a case involving a man holding the highest elected office. And him, facing such serious charges, must face some consequences in the eyes of the court,” lead prosecutor Gopal Sri Ram said, arguing for a bail amount of 5 million ringgit ($1.2 million).

Najib has faced corruption allegations since the Wall Street Journal reported in 2015 that $681 million was sent to a personal bank account of the then-prime minister in 2013. A year later, the US Department of Justice confirmed the transaction and said the funds originated from 1MDB.

Najib has said the funds were donations from Saudi Arabia, most of which he returned.

Despite growing calls to step down, he clung to power by cracking down on dissent and the media. But Malaysians voted him out earlier this year and he has since come under close scrutiny.

In recent months, prosecutors brought a total of seven charges against Najib over 42 million ringgit ($10 million) that allegedly flowed from SRC International, a former 1MDB unit, into his bank account.

The Department of Justice has said a total of $4.5 billion was stolen from 1MDB through a complex web of transactions and fraudulent shell companies. Malaysian financier Low Taek Jho is described as a central figure in the scandal.

More charges?

Azam Baki, the deputy commissioner of the anti-graft agency, said more charges could be brought against individuals.

When asked if Najib’s wife, Rosmah Mansor, could face charges, he said: “I’m not denying that.” Rosmah was questioned by investigators earlier this year and has been barred from leaving the country.

Najib’s lawyer, Muhammad Shafee Abdullah, described the charges against his client as “bizarre”.

“Can you be accused of money laundering for returning funds? It doesn’t make sense,” he said.

Shafee himself was charged with money laundering last week after allegedly receiving 9.5 million ringgit ($2.3 million) from Najib.

Both Malaysian and US authorities have described how Najib returned most of the money he received to the Tanore account he originally received the money from.

However, US authorities have said Tanore was controlled by an associate of Low and held funds diverted from 1MDB.

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China Tightens Embrace of Hong Kong With Bullet Train, Other Mega Projects

Posted: 20 Sep 2018 09:58 PM PDT

HONG KONG — Hong Kong’s first bullet train glides out of a sleek harborfront railway station bound for mainland China on Saturday, launching a new era of integration and raising fears for some for the territory’s cherished freedoms.

Unlike other cross-border connections, the $11 billion train project has stoked considerable controversy, with Hong Kong, a former British colony, having had to concede part of its jurisdiction to China for the first time.

Passengers entering the modernist building will have their documents stamped by Chinese immigration officers and will be subject to Chinese law while zipping across Hong Kong at 200 kph to the mainland.

Hong Kong and Beijing officials have justified the unusual arrangement as a one-off, while touting its logistical and economic benefits.

But critics say the railway is a symbol of continuing Chinese assimilation of Hong Kong, which returned to Chinese rule in 1997 with guarantees of widespread autonomy and freedoms not enjoyed on the mainland, including an independent legal system.

“I worry that Hong Kong will no longer be Hong Kong,” said Martin Lee, a veteran democrat and barrister who is fighting to derail the project in the city’s courts.

He said Hong Kong risked losing its allure as a financial hub underpinned by strong rule of law as Beijing steps up a push to fuse the city into the vast hinterland of the Pearl River Delta including nine Chinese cities dubbed the Greater Bay Area.

Several other infrastructure projects will open this year, including a $20 billion sea bridge to Macau and Zhuhai, while Beijing is now working with Chinese tech giant Tencent to let people replace their travel documents by using a mobile phone WeChat app to cross the border in future.

“Little ant in a box”

“Hong Kong will be completely submerged into the Greater Bay, and we don’t know what it’s going to be like,” said the 80-year-old Lee, who helped found the city’s Democratic Party.

“That’s the worrying thing. Hong Kong is going to be put like a little ant into a box.”

In recent years, especially since mass pro-democracy protests in 2014 that ended with no concessions from the government, Beijing has struggled to win hearts and minds, especially among those youths who reject any notion of being part of mainland China and have chafed at perceived meddling in Hong Kong’s affairs.

As protesters demanded greater freedoms amid some talk of splitting Hong Kong from China, Beijing tightened its grip, jailing some young protest leaders, forcing others to flee and taking the wind out of the democracy movement’s sails.

Hong Kong officials dismissed concerns that Hong Kong’s identity was being swamped.

“In such a closely knitted hinterland, there is always a wish to bring down any sort of unnecessary barriers,” Hong Kong Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development Edward Yau told Reuters.

“But that’s not to say compromising on one country, two systems,” Yau said, referring to the formula by which Hong Kong returned to Chinese rule with the promise that its “capitalist system and way of life” would remain unchanged until at least 2047.

“The bottom line will still be one country, two systems,” Yau added. “The Basic Law [Hong Kong’s mini-constitution] does not have an expiry date of 2047.”

Bernard Chan, who runs an insurance business and sits on Hong Kong’s Executive Council, which advises the government on policy, said he believes China wants to make Hong Kong work in its best interests.

The high-speed rail and bridge will bolster existing infrastructure that already allows more than 600,000 people to shuttle between the two sides daily by road, rail and sea.

Beijing wants the Greater Bay Area, home to some 68 million people with a combined GDP of $1.5 trillion, roughly that of Australia or South Korea, to model itself on San Francisco Bay and Tokyo Bay, to better meld people, goods and sectors including finance, tourism, logistics, manufacturing and tech.

“The truth of the matter is, of course, we are integrating fast, economically and socially,” said Chan. “The one part that is not integrating at all is politics.”

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US Sanctions China for Buying Russian Fighter Jets, Missiles

Posted: 20 Sep 2018 09:43 PM PDT

WASHINGTON—The Trump administration imposed sanctions on the Chinese military on Thursday for buying fighter jets and missile systems from Russia, in breach of a sweeping US sanctions law punishing Moscow for meddling in the 2016 US election.

The US State Department said it would immediately impose sanctions on China’s Equipment Development Department (EDD), the branch of the Chinese military responsible for weapons and equipment, and its director, Li Shangfu, for engaging in “significant transactions” with Rosoboronexport, Russia’s main arms exporter.

The sanctions are related to China’s purchase of 10 SU-35 combat aircraft in 2017 and S-400 surface-to-air missile system-related equipment in 2018, the State Department said.

They block the Chinese agency, and Li, from applying for export licenses and participating in the US financial system.

It also adds them to the Treasury Department’s list of specially designated individuals with whom Americans are barred from doing business.

The administration also blacklisted an additional 33 people and entities associated with the Russian military and intelligence, adding them to a list under the 2017 law, known as the Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act, or CAATSA.

CAATSA also seeks to punish Russia for its aggression in Ukraine and involvement in Syria’s civil war.

Doing significant business with anyone on that list can trigger sanctions like those imposed on China.

Some of those added to the list, which now contains 72 names, were indicted in connection with Russian interference in the 2016 US election, the official said.

Earlier on Thursday, President Donald Trump issued an executive order intended to facilitate implementation of the sanctions.

A federal special counsel is leading a criminal investigation of Russian interference in the US election, and any possible cooperation with Trump’s presidential campaign.

Trump has insisted there was no collusion with Russia. Moscow denies any effort to meddle in US politics.

Aimed at Moscow—or Beijing?

One US administration official, who briefed reporters on condition of anonymity, said the sanctions imposed on the Chinese agency were aimed at Moscow, not Beijing or its military, despite an escalating trade war between the United States and China.

“The ultimate target of these sanctions is Russia. CAATSA sanctions in this context are not intended to undermine the defense capabilities of any particular country,” the official told reporters on a conference call.

“They are instead aimed at imposing costs upon Russia in response to its malign activities,” the official said.

In Moscow, Russian member of parliament Franz Klintsevich said the sanctions would not affect the S-400 and SU-35 contracts.

“I am sure that these contracts will be executed in line with the schedule,” Klintsevich was quoted as saying by Russia’s Interfax news agency. “The possession of this military equipment is very important for China.”

Security analysts in Asia said the move appeared to be largely symbolic and would serve only to push Moscow and Beijing closer together.

“The imposition of US sanctions will have zero impact on Russian arms sales to China,” said Ian Storey, of Singapore’s ISEAS Yusof Ishak Institute.

“Both countries are opposed to what they see as US bullying and these kinds of actions will just push Beijing and Moscow even closer together,” he said, adding that Moscow needed Chinese money and Beijing wanted advanced military technology.

Collin Koh, a security analyst at Singapore’s S Rajaratnam School of International Studies, said the sanctions would do little to counter the evolving research and development relationship between China and Russia.

China relied less on large big-ticket purchases from Russia as in previous years, but Chinese defense industries were seeking expertise from Russia and former-Soviet states to plug knowledge gaps, he said.

The measures come as the Trump administration pursues a variety of strategies to clamp down on China and faces growing pressure to respond strongly to US intelligence agency reports that Russia is continuing to meddle in US politics.

Members of Congress, including many of Trump’s fellow Republicans, who passed the sanctions bill nearly unanimously, have repeatedly called on the administration to take a harder line against Moscow.

Administration officials said they hoped the action against EDD would send a message to others considering buying the S-400.

US officials have been discussing the issue particularly with NATO ally Turkey, which wants to buy the Russian-made S-400 surface-to-air missile batteries.

Washington has expressed concern that Turkey’s planned deployment of the S-400s could pose a risk to the security of some US-made weapons and other technology used by Turkey, including the F-35 fighter jet.

US officials have warned that Turkey’s purchase of the system could contravene CAATSA.

“We hope that at least this step will send a signal of our seriousness and perhaps encourage others to think twice about their own engagement with the Russian defense and intelligence sectors,” another US official said.

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UK’s Hunt Says Pressed Suu Kyi on ‘Justice and Accountability’ for Rohingya

Posted: 20 Sep 2018 09:31 PM PDT

NAYPYITAW — Myanmar must ensure there is “no hiding place” for those responsible for crimes against its Rohingya minority if it is to avoid a lasting stain on the country’s reputation, Britain’s foreign secretary, Jeremy Hunt, said on Thursday.

Hunt told Reuters he pressed Myanmar’s civilian leader, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, on the importance of holding the armed forces accountable for any atrocities, adding that if that did not happen within the country other options should be considered, including referral to the International Criminal Court (ICC).

“If there isn’t accountability through domestic processes the international community will not let it rest at that,” Hunt said in an interview at the end of a two-day visit to the former British colony previously known as Burma.

“We need to be absolutely clear that there can be no hiding place for anyone responsible for these kinds of atrocities.”

Myanmar’s main government spokesman, U Zaw Htay, was unavailable for comment.

United Nations-mandated investigators have said Myanmar’s military carried out mass killings and gang rapes of Rohingya with “genocidal intent” in an operation in Rakhine State, in the west of the country, that drove more than 700,000 refugees across the border to Bangladesh.

The investigators called for commander-in-chief Senior General Min Aung Hlaing and five generals to be prosecuted for genocide and crimes against humanity.

Myanmar has rejected the UN findings as “one-sided.” It says the military action, which followed militant attacks on security forces in August last year, was a legitimate counterinsurgency operation.

Myanmar has launched several domestic probes that have largely dismissed allegations made by Rohingya refugees. In July, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi appointed a commission chaired by retired Filipino diplomat Rosario Manalo to investigate the allegations of human rights violations.

Reuters case raised

Hunt said he had witnessed a “climate of fear” during a visit to Rakhine, where he was taken to empty centers built by Myanmar to house Rohingya the government says it is ready to welcome back. Refugees needed to see “accountability and justice” for atrocities to feel confident enough to return, he said. “If there isn’t accountability and justice, this will be as big a stain on Burma’s history as the Khmer Rouge are for Cambodia.”

Asked whether he would support referring Myanmar to the ICC, Hunt said there were “a number of different options.”

In separate comments on Twitter, Hunt noted an ICC referral would need the support of the UN Security Council “which it may not get so we need to look at other options too.”

A Security Council referral would need nine votes in favor and no vetoes from the permanent members Russia, China, the United States, Britain and France. Diplomats say Russia and China are unlikely to agree to such a move.

The ICC declined to comment. On Tuesday, the ICC prosecutor said her office had begun a preliminary examination into whether alleged forced deportations of Rohingya from Myanmar into Bangladesh could constitute war crimes or crimes against humanity.

During his trip, Hunt visited a group supporting political prisoners in Yangon and met Daw Aung San Suu Kyi in the capital, Naypyitaw. The military declined Hunt’s request for a meeting, he said.

Hunt said he was “extremely concerned” about the case of two Reuters journalists who were arrested last December while investigating a massacre in Rakhine.

Reporters Ko Wa Lone and Ko Kyaw Soe Oo were sentenced to seven years in prison after being convicted this month under the colonial-era Official Secrets Act.

Hunt said he raised specific concerns with Daw Aung San Suu Kyi about the conviction and asked her to consider giving them a pardon.

“She indicated that the judicial processes would probably need to be concluded before that could be considered, but I did put that squarely on the table as something I hoped she would consider,” he said.

“This is a critical moment for Burma as one of the newest democracies in the world to show that its court system is effective and there is due process, and I think there are a number of grounds for concern that that didn’t happen in this case.”

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