Friday, March 15, 2019

The Irrawaddy Magazine

The Irrawaddy Magazine

Govt Forms New Committee on Rakhine; Members Caught by Surprise

Posted: 15 Mar 2019 08:37 AM PDT

YANGON — The government has announced a new committee tasked with bringing stability to Rakhine State, whose northern townships have seen heavy fighting between the Myanmar military and the rebel Arakan Army (AA) since late last year.

Some of the appointed lawmakers, however, say they knew nothing until reading about it on Facebook.

In an announcement issued Thursday night, the President’s Office said the 14-member committee would report back to the President’s Office and draw its budget from the Union Government Office. Its duties include meeting with Rakhine residents to consult and explain government policy and to suggest ways to stabilize the region and foster inter-ethnic harmony. It is also tasked with facilitating dialogue between the government, lawmakers and locals.

The announcement, signed by President U Win Myint, says the committee will be led by U Aye Tha Aung, the deputy speaker of the Union Parliament Upper House, and two deputies — all ethnic Rakhine.

However, Union lawmakers for the Arakan National Party (ANP) named to the committee said they were not informed that they had been appointed.

Upper House lawmaker Daw Htoot May said she only found out Thursday night via Facebook.

"I only found out when the announcement from the President’s Office spread on social media, but there is no official notification about it,” she told The Irrawaddy on Friday.

Lower House ANP lawmaker U Oo Hla Saw was also named but had not been informed, either, according to Daw Khin Saw Wai, a fellow ANP lawmaker not named to the committee.

"He told the media that he would not participate because this was a childish act,” she told The Irrawaddy.

She said the announcement also reserves a seat on the committee for an unnamed Rakhine State lawmaker.

“I heard the state speaker also has no idea who it is,” she added. “The party has not been given any information.”

The National League for Democracy has been trying in vain to bring some stability to Rakhine State since taking power in early 2016. It has been heavily criticized for excluding key political and civic Rakhine figures and ignoring local public opinion.

Considering that the government has formed a number of committees already to develop and stabilize the troubled state, "we need to review whether there is a need to form another,” said Daw Htoot May.

The question, she added, is "whether the existing committees are effective; we need to assess whether they are really working."

For the new group to have any chance of success, the government "should have sought the consent of those who will be on the committee," said U Ye Tun, a political analyst and former Lower House lawmaker.

"The Rakhine parliamentarians know what the public is thinking, so their consent is important, and they should have been informed and consulted prior to the announcement," he said.

The fact that some of the appointees are refusing to serve only undermines the committee’s credibility further, he added.

To end the fighting in Rakhine and the country’s other ethnic states, Daw Htoot May said, the government should immediately start creating a federal system.

"The current problems need a political solutions. Therefore, we need to establish a federal state right away," she said.

"If we can build a federal system, it will help solve the majority of the problems in our country, because as long as there is no equality in politics and self-determination, the ethnic armed conflicts will continue, not only in Rakhine but also in other parts of Myanmar."

The post Govt Forms New Committee on Rakhine; Members Caught by Surprise appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

AA Accuses EU of Pro-Gov’t Bias in Statements on Rakhine Conflict

Posted: 15 Mar 2019 08:05 AM PDT

YANGON—The Arakan Army (AA) says it will stop targeting police task force members in Rakhine State when the European Union guarantees that police have ended what it says is their assistance to repressive operations by the Myanmar military against the Arakanese public in Rakhine.

The demand comes after the EU's Wednesday joint statement which said the AA's killing of nine police from Yoe Ta Yoke police station in restive northern Rakhine State's Ponnagyun Township the previous week "could not be justified."

The EU urged the AA and the Myanmar military to end their armed violence citing the grave deterioration in the humanitarian situation in northern Rakhine and neighboring Chin State's Paletwa region. It called on the civilian government led by the National League for Democracy (NLD) and the AA to resolve their historical grievances through dialogue and an inclusive political process.

It encouraged both sides to respect their obligations under international humanitarian law to protect civilians and allow the delivery of humanitarian aid. It mentioned that restrictions on humanitarian work by aid agencies in five townships—Rathedaung, Buthidaung, Maungdaw, Ponnagyun and Kyauktaw—were having "a serious impact on the already precarious humanitarian situation of at least 95,000 people."

The EU demanded that authorities reopen access to humanitarian aid workers and local seasonal agricultural workers before the coming monsoon season.

After the EU statement on Wednesday, the AA published a series of photos in which fire brigade officers and high-ranking police officers were seen pictured alongside dozens of army majors in a joint military operation elsewhere in Myanmar.

Regarding the EU's joint statement, AA spokesman U Khine Thukha questioned the impartiality of the EU's stance on Arakanese affairs, saying it had ignored recent alleged rights violations by Myanmar Army soldiers and policemen in northern Rakhine.

U Khine Thukha said, "Well, if they say our operation against police could not be 'justified', then how does the EU justify the violence of Army and police against the Arakanese public? If they could guarantee it will never happen [again] and urge the police to [reject] the Army's repressive mechanism in Rakhine, we will stop targeting police."

He recalled the brutal killing by police of seven protestors in Mrauk-U in January 2018 and criticized the EU for failing to express its sympathies upon the death of the Arakanese or condemn the police and government. He said police have been actively carrying out arbitrary arrests of villagers.

Photos reportedly obtained from prisoners of war detained by the Arakan Army. The AA says the images are proof of police and fire brigade officers' involvement in Myanmar military operations. / AA website

U Khine Thukha explained that they are fighting against the "oppressors". The Arakanese opted to take a rebel path to fight the military as the political problems of Rakhine had been sidelined for generations. He urged the EU not to just look at the attack on the police station, but to look at the overall issue of Rakhine including how Arakanese are being repressed by the police and Army.

"The EU should take into consideration all these facts rather than just focusing on the attack on the police station. I would like to say their conclusion [regarding] us is absolutely narrow-minded and biased."

U Khine Thukha said that villager Maung Hla Win, 23, from Mrauk-U died while under Army interrogation on Thursday. He explained that a local charity group was transporting Maung Hla Win from a village to Mrauk-U Hospital as the patient was seriously ill with malaria when he was unexpectedly held by the Army for hours. Later the police handed over his body to the hospital without any explanation. Plus, six charity workers had still not been set free by police as of Friday evening and their family members had no idea about where they were being detained.

"That patient died in the military compound, not in the hospital. This is an inhumane act. I haven't seen an EU statement on such cruelty. They are always silent about the wrongdoings of the government but [comment] without hesitation on the AA, so it is obvious that the EU itself is biased."

An AA spokesman said the group will keep looking at the response of the EU on wrongdoings of the military in Rakhine. He had heard that the EU urged the government to seek peace but argued the military acts inconsistently. Although the military expresses a desire for peace talks, it launches serious offensives with excessive force in northern Rakhine.

He pointed out that the EU should have urged the Army and government to halt offensives in northern Rakhine instead of urging the AA to seek a truce. Even on Wednesday and Thursday, the Army used airstrikes and bombed the mountain the whole night where the AA rebels are believed to be based.

U Khine Thukha said "That operation I would say was the heaviest attack in this region since the Second World War. They should urge the Army to ease attacks in Rakhine instead of saying it to us. Otherwise, their stance could be defined as complicity with the Army."

The post AA Accuses EU of Pro-Gov't Bias in Statements on Rakhine Conflict appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Infographic: Making Myanmar’s Constitution Democratic

Posted: 15 Mar 2019 07:05 AM PDT

Last month, we published a breakdown of the NLD's proposed list of amendments to 168 of the Constitution's 457 articles. When it made the list public, the party described it as incomplete, saying it comprised only significant items that could be amended without endangering the process of national harmony and reconciliation. The following infographic was designed to enhance our readers' understanding of the issue.

Visualization by Nan Lwin

The post Infographic: Making Myanmar's Constitution Democratic appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Gov’t Invites 8 Armed Groups to Peace Talks Next Week

Posted: 15 Mar 2019 06:40 AM PDT

YANGON—The government has invited eight ethnic armed groups who are non-signatories to the Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement (NCA) to peace talks in Naypyitaw on March 21.

In letters dated March 13, the National Reconciliation and Peace Center (NRPC) invited each of the following organizations, which are all political wings of ethnic armed organizations (EAOs), to send two representatives each: the United Wa State Party (UWSP), Kachin Independence Organization (KIO), Mongla's Eastern Shan State Peace and Solidarity Committee (PSC), Shan State Progressive Party (SSPP), Kokang's Myanmar National Truth and Justice Party (MNTJP), Palaung State Liberation Front (PSLF), United League of Arakan (ULA) and Karenni National Progressive Party (KNPP).

The NRPC, which is led by State Counselor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, plans to hold talks with them on March 21. On the following day, according to a copy of the invitation letter seen by The Irrawaddy, "the Tatmadaw's negotiation team will meet the individual group[s] who agree to meet them."

During the Tatmadaw's ongoing four-month truce, which started Dec. 21, the Tatmadaw has held separate talks with the SSPP and RCSS in Naypyitaw in late February and this week, respectively. Despite having engaged in a few clashes with the latter group, the talks in Napyitaw were so far positive, according to the stakeholders.

The planned Naypyitaw talks are the result of a series of informal talks that the government's Peace Commission held with the KIO, PSLF, MNTJP and ULA in China's Yunnan province on Feb. 25 and with the KNPP in Chiang Mai, Thailand on March 10.

"The NRPC will collectively meet the eight groups and we hope that [next week's] meetings will help further the peace negotiations," said U Hla Maung Shwe, an adviser to the Peace Commission.

U Shwe Myo Thant, the general secretary of the KNPP, said his group welcomed the invitation because "it is [aimed at] trying to overcome a deadlocked peace process. But we still have to work harder to get the process back on track." The KNPP has been holding bilateral talks with the Kayah State government while also negotiating with the Union government's Peace Commission on finding ways to take part in the NCA process.

According to sources close to the peace process, the KNPP will hold bilateral talks with the government on March 18.

The Arakan Army, the armed wing of the ULA, which is currently engaged in heavy fighting with the Myanmar military (or Tatmadaw) in Rakhine State, said it is still considering whether to join next week's talks and, if it decides to attend, what proposals it would bring to the table.

AA spokesman U Khaing Thuka told The Irrawaddy on Friday, "We are still in discussions and we will let you know tomorrow evening." The Irrawaddy has learned that other invited groups are holding similar internal discussions on the issue.

Except for the KNPP, the northeast-based invitees are all members of the UWSP-led Federal Political Negotiation and Consultative Committee, which has pushed for an alternative to the NCA approach.

Political and ethnic affairs analyst U Maung Maung Soe believed the NRPC's move would help open up the stalled peace process, but cautioned that the government needed to keep holding talks in order to end the current fighting with the AA.

"The decision has been taken to reopen talks, which had been stalled since after the third session of the Union Peace Conference [in July last year]," he said.

He added that while the eight groups had consented to join next week's talks, senior leaders of the EAOs were unlikely to attend, as the UWSP/United Wa State Army is preparing to celebrate the 30th anniversary of its founding in mid-April.

In 1989, the year it was established, the UWSA signed a ceasefire with the government, so it is billing its anniversary celebration as "30 Years of Peace".

The post Gov't Invites 8 Armed Groups to Peace Talks Next Week appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

NLD Must Address Local Governments’ Woeful Performances

Posted: 15 Mar 2019 05:14 AM PDT

In its latest move against those who disgrace the nation and fail to meet voters' expectations of clean, effective government, Myanmar's anti-graft agency recently charged the Tenasserim (Tanin Tharyi) Region chief minister with corruption.

The move was widely welcomed by the public because it demonstrated a willingness to take action against a ruling National League for Democracy-appointed chief minister by the Anti-Corruption Commission, a body set up by the NLD government. In other words, it reflects favorably on the NLD's "without fear or favor" commitment to fighting corruption.

In addition to keeping corruption in check, however, the Union government should now consider reviewing the performance of regional governments led by chief ministers across the country, as pubic complaints of incompetence against some state and regional governments have emerged from Kachin State in the north to Tenasserim in the south.

The NLD has now been in power for nearly three years. But some regional governments have not only failed to live up to people's expectations—their performances have been downright questionable. When she tours the country to hold discussions with local people, State Counselor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi is frequently bombarded with questions about how and when citizens will have access to safe drinking water, electricity, transportation and healthcare. Answering such questions on basic necessities is supposed to be the responsibility of the respective state and regional governments. Indeed, the State Counselor has at times seemed annoyed, responding that, "These are questions for state and regional governments." But the questions were raised precisely because local officials have failed to address the problems. It shows what a poor job the local governments have been doing in terms of connecting with the public, and also demonstrates their failure to improve people's daily lives. This is a source of shame for the NLD government, which likes to think of itself as the people's government.

The NLD government needs to be more proactive in resolving the controversies surrounding so many state and regional administrations. Here are some examples:

In Kachin State, local people rarely glimpse their chief minister, U H Khet Aung. Some say he only appears when Daw Aung San Suu Kyi is in town. Among other complaints, he is accused of failing to address the spread of Chinese-backed banana plantations that have become a source of concern among local people for abusing labor rights, land ownership and the environment. The chief minister has put the total area of such plantations at 60,000 acres, but CSOs on the ground say the actual number is nearly three times that.

Farther south in Kayah State, the current chief minister has become a disgrace to the Union government and the NLD for his unreasonable persistence in planting a statue of General Aung San in the state capital, Loikaw. When local ethnic Karenni people strongly resisted his plan, he cracked down on them, sending in the riot police. This has only made the task of national reconciliation between the Union government and the country's ethnic groups, including the Karenni, more difficult.

In Yangon, people wonder aloud about when the regional government will take responsibility for its mismanagement of public funds after the local Auditor General's Office found that billions of kyats in revenue had been lost. The public only became aware of the issue when lawmakers questioned the local government about the losses incurred by land leases, investment in public transport services and other projects. So far, the public is still in the dark as to where that revenue went.

The Union government should consider embarking on a serious review of local governments' performances—the complaints from the public should be seen as indicators that there is something wrong with local administrations.

After their recent tours of the country, during which they met with local people and administrations at every stop, both President U Win Myint and State Counselor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi can be in no doubt that some local governments have failed to do their jobs properly; everywhere they have gone, they have been met by crowds of people jostling to submit complaints either verbally or in writing.

A government that fails to serve the people neglects its primary duty and insults voters. With the 2020 election looming, the NLD government should be aware that poor performances by the current state and regional governments could hurt the party's electoral chances at the Union level. Reforms should be implemented where needed. This would be in the best interests of not only the party but also the many voters currently enduring incompetent local leadership.

Three years of suffering is enough.

The post NLD Must Address Local Governments' Woeful Performances appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Entire Villages Flee as Military Launches Air Strikes on AA

Posted: 15 Mar 2019 05:08 AM PDT

SITTWE—Entire populations of villages in some parts of Rakhine State's Ponnagyun Township fled from their homes as the Myanmar military, or Tatmadaw, carried out aerial bombings and artillery attacks while in combat with the Arakan Army (AA), according to local residents.

Clashes broke out in the area between the military and the AA on March 7 and have continued through Friday, locals said.

U Aung Kyaw Phyu, a local of Chaungtu Village which lies between Ponnagyun and Kyauktaw townships told The Irrawaddy of the helicopter attacks on Friday.

"We can't live in our village anymore. [The Tatmadaw] came and attacked with helicopters near the village. And artillery shells fell around the village. There are unexploded shells. Now everyone has left the village," he told The Irrawaddy as he fled to a nearby village called Ywet Nyo Tang.

"We have had sleepless nights since clashes [started] here," said U Kyaw Thaung, the village administrator of Chaungtu.

"The clash was quite fierce on March 13. [The Tatmadaw] attacked with helicopters, and we saw jet bombing the whole night and they fired mortars and shells passed over our villages. Some shells fell near our village and the entire village has had to flee," he said.

There are over 260 households, a population of over 1,000 people, in Chaungtu.

Villagers from Kan Sauk and Pan Pe Chang villages have also fled their homes after military Battalion 539, based in the village of Kan Sauk, supported the attacks in Ponnagyun Township.

According to Ko Zaw Zaw Htun, secretary of the Rakhine Ethnic Congress (REC), there are over 13,000 displaced persons in Rakhine State as of Thursday.

"There are many difficulties. Some are taking shelter with their relatives. There are not yet donors for the newly-opened camps. There are still no shelters in those camps," he told The Irrawaddy.

There are now two new IDP (internally displaced persons) camps each in Mrauk-U and Kyauktaw townships and one in Ponnagyun Township.

The AA said in a statement on Thursday that the military used two helicopters in battles against them along the mountain range to the west of Buddhaw Village in Ponnagyun Township, and that they carried out air strikes during the night. The AA seized some arms and ammunition from the military during the fighting, according to the statement.

On Thursday, AA information officer Khaing Thukha confirmed to The Irrawaddy that the AA has been clashing with the military in the area since March 7.

"The clash was the fiercest on March 13. The military suffered casualties including officers and other ranks. We also suffered some casualties," he said.

"[The military] only bomb once or twice [per day] in the daytime in other regions. Bombing for the entire night is unprecedented," he told The Irrawaddy.

According to the AA's statement, in attacks which continued throughout Wednesday night until 10 a.m. the following day, a barrage of over 2,000 artillery shots and ten bombs were dropped throughout the night.

Neither Brig-Gen Zaw Min Tun of the Tatmadaw True News Information Team nor the Rakhine State Minister for Security and Border Affairs Col. Phone Tint responded to The Irrawaddy's phone calls on Friday.

In Mrauk-U Township on Thursday, a military convoy was attacked with mines on the major road linking Yangon to Sittwe, between Bu Ywet Ma Nyo and Lettka villages. The convoy returned fire and two civilians were injured, according to locals.

Khaing Thukha said the AA is properly taking care of the 11 prisoners of war taken from the military side during the fighting on March 9. Seven of them are Mro ethnic civilians, who were forced to act as porters for military soldiers, he said.

The four others are from the Directorate of Signals under the command of Brig-Gen Maung Maung Myint in Naypyitaw and the Land Records Department, according to the AA statement.

The post Entire Villages Flee as Military Launches Air Strikes on AA appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

NLD Proposes Lifting Ban Barring Daw Aung San Suu Kyi From Presidency

Posted: 15 Mar 2019 04:44 AM PDT

NAYPYITAW — The ruling National League for Democracy (NLD) on Thursday proposed scrapping an article in the Constitution that bars Daw Aung San Suu Kyi from the presidency during a meeting of a joint committee drafting amendments to the charter.

Article 59 (f) says the president "shall himself, one of the parents, the spouse, one of the legitimate children or their spouses not owe allegiance to a foreign power, not be the subject of a foreign power or citizen of a foreign country. They shall not be persons entitled to enjoy the rights and privileges of a subject of a foreign government or citizen of a foreign country."

"The NLD proposed scrapping Article 59 (f)," a member of the committee who asked for anonymity told The Irrawaddy.

Other committee members confirmed the proposal.

Daw Yin Min Myint Swe, spokesperson for the military-backed Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP), said changes to the article had national implications and as such could not be made easily.

"Speaking for our party’s policy, we have no plans to touch Article 59 (f)," she told The Irrawaddy.

The joint committee was formed in mid-February with 45 lawmakers from all parties in Parliament as well as military appointees in rough proportion to their number of seats. It is reviewing the military-drafted Constitution chapter by chapter and is to draft a bill with proposed amendments.

To date the committee has reviewed three out of 15 chapters in the charter.

According to some members of the committee, representatives of the ethnic parties are proposing more changes than even the NLD — whose idea it was to form the committee — while the USDP and military have suggested none.

Proposals by the NLD and ethnic parties include gradually reducing the 25-percent quota of legislative seats reserved for military appointees, and having only one vice president instead of two by doing away with the one chosen by the military.

During the previous quasi-military administration, the NLD attempted to amend Article 59 (f) and Article 436 in Parliament. Although it collected some 5 million signatures in support of the changes with the help of the 88 Generation Peace and Open Society, the attempt failed.

"Everyone knows whether or not Article 59 (f) is reasonable," Upper House NLD lawmaker U Aung Kyi Nyunt, a member of the joint committee, told reporters.

Mandalay-based lawyer U Thein Than Oo said Article 59 (f) should not exist at all as it was written specifically to keep Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, whose children are foreign nationals, from the presidency.

The original draft article on presidential eligibility barred only those with foreign spouses. But after Daw Aung San Suu Kyi's husband, Michael Aris, died in 1999, it was updated to include children.

Ultra-nationalists have meanwhile staged protests in Yangon and elsewhere against amending Article 59 (f).

The joint committee is to submit a report on its review of the entire Constitution by July 17.

Translated from Burmese by Thet Ko Ko.

The post NLD Proposes Lifting Ban Barring Daw Aung San Suu Kyi From Presidency appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Five Dead, 36 Injured in Foot Bridge Collapse in Mumbai

Posted: 14 Mar 2019 10:03 PM PDT

MUMBAI—Five people were killed and 36 injured when part of a pedestrian bridge collapsed during evening rush hour on Thursday in India’s financial capital Mumbai, police said.

At least three of the dead were women, Mumbai police spokesman Manjunath Singe said. The injured have been taken to hospital.

An excavator was brought in to clear the debris that had blocked the movement of traffic on a busy road in south Mumbai. Fire engines and an ambulance were also at the site.

The bridge connects to one of Mumbai’s biggest local stations, Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus, which was the site of a militant attack in 2008, and is used by tens of thousands of commuters each day.

Maharashtra State Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said on Twitter he was pained to hear about the accident and had asked municipal and police officials to ensure speedy relief efforts.

The incident brought back memories of a rush hour stampede that killed at least 22 people and injured 36 in 2017 at a busy railway station in Mumbai.

The post Five Dead, 36 Injured in Foot Bridge Collapse in Mumbai appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Indian Groups Urge Boycott of Chinese Goods Over Stance on Pakistani Militant

Posted: 14 Mar 2019 09:25 PM PDT

NEW DELHI—An influential Hindu nationalist group and an Indian traders body called on Thursday for a boycott of Chinese goods, to slap Beijing for blocking a move to put a Pakistani militant leader on a U.N. terrorist list following a suicide attack last month.

Regarded by Pakistan as its most reliable friend, China has repeatedly thwarted efforts to implement U.N. sanctions against Masood Azhar, the founder of Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM), the group that claimed responsibility for the attack that killed 40 paramilitary police in Indian-controlled Kashmir.

The Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT), which represents 70 million traders, said it would burn Chinese goods on March 19 to "teach a lesson" to China.

"The time has come when China should suffer due to its proximity with Pakistan," CAIT said in a statement. "The CAIT has launched a national campaign to boycott Chinese goods among the trading community of the country, calling the traders not to sell or buy Chinese goods."

The United States, Britain and France asked the Security Council’s Islamic State and al Qaeda sanctions committee to subject the Jaish leader to an arms embargo, travel ban and asset freeze.

But China a placed a "technical hold" on the proposal, saying it needed more time to consider, using the same stalling tactic it has used in the past.

Mounting impatience with Beijing’s stance was evident on social media on Thursday as #BoycottChineseProducts was the second-highest trending hashtag on Twitter in India.

Similar campaigns in the past have proved ineffectual.

China is India’s second biggest trading partner. Chinese products—from mobile phones made by companies such as Xiaomi Inc. to toys—are ubiquitous in India and trade between the countries grew to nearly $90 billion in the year ending March 2018.

The leader of the Swadeshi Jagran Manch, the economic wing of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, a Hindu nationalist group with close ties to the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), also called for a boycott of Chinese goods.

He also wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi recommending that India hit Beijing with higher tariffs.

"[The] government of India needs to take immediate action to raise tariff duties on all Chinese imports," Ashwani Mahajan said in the letter, seen by Reuters.

"China, which is already under economic stress, thanks to trade war initiated by U.S. and other trade partners of China, will definitely realize the implications of the unjust action of protecting terrorists."

India’s trade ministry said in an email the country can’t take any unilateral punitive action against a fellow member of the World Trade Organization.

A senior government official, who refused to be named as he was not authorized to speak to media, said there has been a move to "restrict" Chinese imports but that India was not in a position to replace products such as electronics.

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley warned against any hasty reaction.

"It’s a diplomatic issue, and India will make a decision after a careful thought," Jaitley told CNN-News18. "We’re not a small player on the global stage, but foreign policy issues are tackled in a measured way, not in a knee-jerk manner."

With just weeks to go before a general election, India’s main opposition Congress party said Modi’s attempts to improve ties with China were not yielding results.

"Weak Modi is scared of Xi. Not a word comes out of his mouth when China acts against India," Congress President Rahul Gandhi said on Twitter, referring to Chinese President Xi Jinping.

China’s foreign ministry did not immediately respond to a faxed message seeking comment on the boycott calls.

Renu Kohli, an independent economist in New Delhi, doubted whether any boycott would hit critical mass.

"It’s going to fizzle out sooner or later when the consumer realizes that their pocket is being hit by costlier domestic products," said Kohli.

The post Indian Groups Urge Boycott of Chinese Goods Over Stance on Pakistani Militant appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Huawei CFO Wanted to Quit Job Just Before Arrest, Says Founder

Posted: 14 Mar 2019 09:24 PM PDT

OTTAWA — Huawei Technologies Co Ltd Chief Financial Officer Meng Wanzhou had been looking for another job when she was arrested in Canada last December on a U.S. warrant, the firm’s founder said in an interview aired on Thursday.

Ren Zhengfei, who is Meng’s father, also told Canada’s CTV that the two had become closer since she was detained in Vancouver on Dec. 1 last year.

The United States wants Meng to be extradited to face charges that she engaged in bank and wire fraud in violation of American sanctions against Iran. She denies wrongdoing.

“One month before that arrest, she wanted to resign and find a job elsewhere. She was not happy working here but after being arrested this matter improved our relationship and now she understands how difficult life can be,” Ren told CTV.

“In the past she had a smooth path. She couldn’t take the setbacks very well … you have to suffer a lot before becoming a hero and if you don’t have scars, you won’t have tough skin,” he added in comments that were translated into English.

Relations between Canada and China deteriorated sharply after Meng’s arrest. China has arrested two Canadians on national security grounds and retried another citizen who had already been convicted on drugs charges, this time sentencing him to death.

“Meng Wanzhou has committed no crime. She didn’t violate any Canadian rules and I think both Canada and Huawei are victims because this case hurts people in both countries and bilateral relations also suffered setbacks,” said Ren.

He also said he had previously only communicated infrequently with Meng, given how busy the two were.

“Now, every other day we have phone calls, we shoot the breeze, tell jokes, I tell her some anecdote I read on the internet. The case in Canada made my bonds deeper with my daughter,” he said.

Huawei is a major manufacturer of equipment for 5G, the latest generation of cellular mobile communications. Canada is studying whether the firm will be able to bid for 5G contracts, given concerns about how secure the technology is.

Washington said last month that it would not be able to partner with or share information with countries that adopt Huawei systems.

“Meng Wanzhou is an individual case and I don’t think it should influence in any way the relationship Canada has with Huawei,” said Ren.

The post Huawei CFO Wanted to Quit Job Just Before Arrest, Says Founder appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Ethnic Shan Awarded Red Cross Medal for Icy River Rescue

Posted: 14 Mar 2019 07:52 PM PDT

On this day in 1959, Sai Aung Hlaing Myint, the first person to win the Henry Dunant Medal in Southeast Asia, was born in a small village in Kachin State.

He was only 21 years old when he received the medal at the 23rd International Committee of the Red Cross conference in Bucharest, Romania, in 1977. Eighteen people had won the award before him, but he was the youngest.

He was only the third Henry Dunant Medal recipient in all of Asia.

The Red Cross member and ethnic Shan rescued a solider from a sunken truck after diving for about 20 minutes in the icy Irrawaddy River in Kachin State in January 1976.

Sai Aung Hlaing Myint served as an assistant information officer with the Myanmar Red Cross Society after receiving the award.

He died of a cerebral hemorrhage on Mar. 25, 1985. His body was donated to the Institute of Medicine (1).

The post Ethnic Shan Awarded Red Cross Medal for Icy River Rescue appeared first on The Irrawaddy.
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