The Irrawaddy Magazine

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• Suu Kyi Slams Reforms, Says Govt Introduced ‘No Tangible Changes’
• Japan ‘Making Up for Lost Time’ in Burma
• Govt Grants Car Licenses to KNU, Other Ethnic Rebels
• Burma’s 88 Generation Students Seeks Legal Status
• A bus traveling from Rangoon to Mandalay skidded off a bridge, killing 11 people and injuring 16 others.
• Formerly exiled news media Mizzima launches a daily Burmese-language newspaper.
• The Rakhine National Development Party is holding its annual meeting in a USDP stronghold in Arakan State.
• 11 Killed, 16 Injured in Burma Bus Accident
• Mizzima Launched Daily Newspaper in Burma
• RNDP Committee Meets in USDP Stronghold in Arakan
• 7 Injured in Bomb Explosion at Bangkok Market
• Japan Gives Burma $504 Million Loan, Forgives Debt
• Why China’s Film Makers Love to Hate Japan
• Singapore Forum Seeks Spratlys Options
• 14 Killed in New Anti-Terror Philippine Offensive
• Pathein Air Force Officer Charged After Attack on Couple

Suu Kyi Slams Reforms, Says Govt Introduced ‘No Tangible Changes’ Posted: 27 May 2013 06:00 AM PDT National League for Democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi addresses her party's Central Executive Committee on Monday. (Photo: Jpaing / The Irrawaddy) RANGOON—Burma's opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi on Monday criticized the government's reform agenda, saying that little progress had been made in establishing rule of law and peace. She urged President Thein Sein to push ahead with more reforms, adding that "only a desire for change is not enough." Suu Kyi also questioned the recent introduction of a two-child policy for Rohingya families in northern Arakan State, saying that the measure is "illegal" and "not in accordance with human rights." She made her remarks during the first meeting of the National League for Democracy's new Central Executive Committee in Rangoon on Monday. "The last three years saw no tangible changes, especially in [the area of] the rule of law and the peace process," she told her committee members. "The reform started in 2010, now we have to ask the question: 'Have we got any tangible results so far'?" "If we want success in reforms, everyone involved in the process must change. [Providing] only lip-service doesn't work," the NLD chairperson said during a 20-minute public speech. She said reforming the military-drafted 2008 Constitution, ending ethnic conflict and establishing rule of law remains key to Burma's development and democratic transition. Reforming the Constitution so that it guarantees more rights for Burma's ethnic minorities should be a priority, Suu Kyi said, adding, "My ethnic representatives said that as long as there is inequality among the races of Burma, there will not be peace." The NLD leader also called on the government to stem the growing drug trade. The issue has long plagued northeastern Burma but it has significantly worsened in recent years. "If you want international support, you can't neglect the drug problem," she warned. Since Thein Sein began leading a nominally civilian government in 2011, he has won international praise for introducing a range of political and socio-economic reform measures, and for releasing hundreds of political prisoners. Suu Kyi was released from house arrest in late 2010. His government brokered ceasefires with most ethnic militias, but negotiations to reach stable peace agreements have made little progress. A former general, Thein Sein was appointed civilian president following the flawed 2010 elections. His appointment was part of a roadmap to full democratic elections in 2015, which has been planned by Burma's powerful military. Asked by The Irrawaddy if she still believes that Thein Sein is a genuine reformer, Suu Kyi said, "For a reformist, just only having a desire to change is not enough. He or she has to prove it. At the same time, they need to know if they have the ability to do so. Their actions also need to be effective." The NLD leader also criticized the recent introduction of a two-child policy for Rohingya Muslims in northern Arakan State. "That kind of discrimination is illegal. It’s not in accordance with human rights," Suu Kyi told reporters after her speech. "Whether they’ve really issued that kind of order is beyond my knowledge,” she added. Last week, Arakan State officials told The Irrawaddy that a ban on polygamy and a two-child policy had been introduced in Maungdaw District on May 12, in order to curb the supposed "rapid population growth" among Rohingya Muslims, who form the majority in the district. The restriction does not apply to the local Arakanese Buddhist minority. Win Tin, a senior member and NLD founder, said that Suu Kyi was right to criticize the government's reform agenda, adding that such remarks were in fact overdue. "I agree with what Suu Kyi said; I have found no tangible results in Thein Sein's reforms," Win Tin said. "I think Suu Kyo is three years late in making criticisms like that." "In Burmese politics, nearly everyone … is following Thein Sein. [But] now, the NLD sees that following Thein Sein is no longer realistic. That's why Suu Kyi is speaking out now," he said.

Japan ‘Making Up for Lost Time’ in Burma Posted: 27 May 2013 04:54 AM PDT Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, center, visits the Myanmar International Terminals Thilawa (MITT) port, outside Rangoon, on May 25, 2013. (Photo: Reuters / Soe Zeya Tun) RANGOON — Japan will lend Burma US$504 million and will cancel $1.74 billion of Burmese debt as part of a series of weekend deals that included a pledge to push development of a proposed port and commercial zone at Thilawa, a half-hour drive from downtown Rangoon, Burma's commercial capital. Making the first visit by a Japanese prime minister since 1977, Shinzo Abe arrived on Friday and spent three days in Burma. He led a 40-strong business delegation that included heads of some of Japan's biggest companies—another signal that Asia's second-biggest economy wants a lead role in Burma's fast-opening economy. Over the past year, Burma President Thein Sein and National League for Democracy (NLD) leader Aung San Suu Kyi visited Japan, while Abe's Finance Minister Taro Aso was in Burma in January. Key to Japan's growing engagement with Burma is the proposed Thilawa Special Economic Zone, a 2,400-hectare site likely to include manufacturing and textile operations, says Masaki Takahara, director of JETRO, Japan's overseas trade mission in Rangoon. "Construction should start in the fall this year at Thilawa," Takahara told The Irrawaddy. "We hope that it will be operational by early 2015." Building industrial zones is central to attracting large-scale Japanese investment, said Takahara, who cited Burma's on-again, off-again electricity supply as another deterrent to doing business. "For now, there is a lack of infrastructure in Myanmar. Power shortages make it difficult to establish large-scale manufacturing for now, but we are hoping these issues can be solved." During her recent trip to Japan, opposition leader Suu Kyi fretted that Japanese investment to Burma could stall unless Burma upgrades its antiquated road and telecommunications networks. Japan's new half-billion-dollar loan to Burma is aimed at addressing some of these infrastructure gaps, Takahara added. As well as boosting aid and loans to Burma, Japan is writing off $1.74 billion in debt arrears owed to it by Burma—the weekend announcement coming just over a year after Tokyo said it would cancel the bill if Burma continued to reform. "Since both governments acknowledged continuation of Myanmar's reform efforts, the Government of Japan has decided to clear said overdue charges," said a Japanese Foreign Ministry press release. In January, Japan and other creditors canceled or softened repayment terms for much of the total $15 billion debt that Burma owed to donor countries and institutions. Prior to Abe's visit, Japanese firms announced several deals in Burma in recent weeks, including one high-profile infrastructure deal—with Japan's Sumitomo and NEC saying they would work on improving Burma's telecommunications network. And although large-scale Japanese manufacturing operations have yet to come to Burma, Japanese businesses see an untapped consumer goods market in Burma and want to establish a foothold ahead of Western competitors. "More and more are thinking of entering the market in Myanmar and establishing a dominant position ahead of everyone else," Takahara said. Japan is moving fast to establish itself in Burma ahead of Western investors, now relatively free to set up shop in Burma after the US and EU governments removed most of the sanctions that had curtailed investment in recent years. Yuki Akimoto, director of BurmaInfo Japan, told The Irrawaddy that the scale and breakneck pace of Japan's re-engagement with Burma is an attempt "to make up for lost time," after Japanese investment stalled in the latter years of military rule in Burma. During that time, investment in Burma from other Asian economies, particularly China and Thailand, raced ahead of Japan, but now Tokyo sees an opportunity to boost foreign investment in a long-lost market and, perhaps, help jump-start Japan's own sluggish economy. Chinese investment has largely been in Burma's natural resources sectors that, no matter how profitable, do not typically provide large-scale employment. And overall, foreign investment into Burma jumped almost five-fold in 2012, compared with 2011, President Thein Sein said recently, with much of the increase said to be in the labor-intensive garment sector. With high youth unemployment in an estimated 50-60 million population, Burmese politicians such as Suu Kyi have said that the country needs to attract investment that provides jobs, and Japan's aid and investment could contribute to job generation, says a Rangoon-based business consultant, who asked that his name be withheld. "By developing light and light-heavy industries with Japanese assistance, Myanmar hopes to increase exports and jobs," he told The Irrawaddy. With Japan and China at odds over disputed islands in the East China Sea, Japan's blossoming business-based relations with Burma mean that Tokyo can push back against Beijing, in the Southeast Asian nation that until recently was increasingly looking like a Chinese satellite state. The United States seems to have similar unspoken ambitions in Burma, and the recent thaw in relations between the United States and Burma—with Thein Sein visiting Washington, D.C., last week—has given Japan the go-ahead to re-establish its own dormant ties with Burma, said Akimoto. "During military rule, however, the Japanese government felt it had to suppress that desire because it was under pressure from the US government and it wanted, to a certain degree, to go along with the sanctions regime. Now it is like a dam broken." Akimoto warned, however, that "local communities in Burma still lack concrete legal tools to prevent or mitigate negative impacts by development projects," something she says Japanese investors should be mindful of. Japan's drive to invest in Burma is being watched closely in neighboring Thailand, where Japanese auto manufacturers are a mainstay of an economy that also relies on Burma's gas for power generation, and depends on 2-3 million low-wage Burmese migrant workers. The Thilawa SEZ is one of three large-scale industrial zones planned for Burma in the coming years, with the others slated for Maday Island and Kyaukphyu in Arakan State—the starting point for oil and gas pipelines that will cut across Burma into China's Yunnan province, and in Dawei/Tavoy in Burma's south. The Dawei project, if it goes ahead, will link a huge SEZ on Burma's coast with Thailand's capital Bangkok. Speaking in Japan last week ahead of Abe's visit to Burma, Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra pitched for additional Japanese investment into Thailand, with Thai Foreign Minister Surapong Tovichakchaikul saying Japan would benefit from Dawei, due to the proposed "linkage of the Indian and Pacific Oceans through the East-West Economic Corridor, which would lower logistics costs and allow tighter supply chains," according to a Thai government press statement. Yingluck's brother, former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, recently visited Burma and met with Army chief Gen Min Aung Hlaing, prompting speculation that Dawei was one of the issues discussed. However Japan's and Burma's focus on the Thilawa project has likely increased concerns in Thailand about Dawei, an $8 billion project for which Thailand is seeking large-scale Japanese and other private foreign funders. "The Abe visit to Myanmar and Japan's intensifying interest in developing Thilawa as opposed to Dawei should prompt the Thai government to rethink its strategy," said Thitinan Pongsudhirak, a Thai political analyst from Bangkok's Chulalongkorn University.

Govt Grants Car Licenses to KNU, Other Ethnic Rebels Posted: 27 May 2013 04:24 AM PDT President Thein Sein meets the new Karen National Union Chairman Mutu Say Poe in Naypyidaw on Jan. 4, 2013. (Photo: The President's Office website) The government's granting of car licenses to ethnic rebels comes amid ongoing peace talks, a gesture seen by some observers as bribery while the groups and Naypyidaw attempt to reach terms to end decades-long conflicts on the country's peripheries. The general secretary of the Karen National Union (KNU), Saw Kwe Htoo Win, confirmed that some 120 vehicle licenses were granted to the KNU, which he said would be assigned to vehicles used for organizational needs, but not for its leaders' personal use. He said the cars would be used by KNU leaders, but only for KNU-related tasks such as transportation to meetings and traveling to the KNU liaison offices located across Burma. "We don't know why they [the government] gave them to us. It might be a privilege opportunity or they might want to support our organization's needs. But we won't use it for personal purposes. … It will be easier to get around since we have organization cars," Kwe Htoo Win told The Irrawaddy. He said the government granted about 60 tax-exempt car licenses to KNU leaders, but the remainder were given at a tax rate of 60 percent. Some observers, however, warned that the government's generosity amounted to nothing more than bribery. They urged KNU leaders not to accept the licenses at this early stage of the peace process. They pointed out that while the KNU leaders enjoy the relative luxury of automotive transportation, many Karen civilians, mostly in war-torn areas, are living in deep poverty. "A group of current KNU [leaders] eye only business interests," said an observer on the border who asked for anonymity. "Mutu Say Poe [KNU chairman] is being used. He is not a real player. There is a particular group that masterminds the current KNU leadership. And these leaders are interested only in money." Despite the KNU general secretary's insistence that the cars would be used solely to fulfill the organization's needs, a reliable source within the KNU said some of the licenses were given to individuals, while other KNU leaders were completely unaware of any arrangement. Other licenses were delivered under the names of specific KNU brigades. "The government didn't give cars. They gave licenses for the vehicles," the source said. "Some 60 licenses were sold off by the KNU leaders with the help of a Burmese business in Burma. Then, they bought some 20 cars with the money they got from the sale of the 60 licenses." He said that two cars were given to central committee members based in Thailand and one was given to the chief of the KNU's army wing, Gen Johnny. Two cars were also given to separate KNU brigades. Because the government does not recognize the KNU as a legal entity, Kwe Htoo Win said KNU leaders were unable to purchase the cars on their own and instead had to use the names of people who hold Burmese ID cards. Hla Maung Shwe of the Rangoon-based Myanmar Peace Center confirmed the registration of some licenses to the KNU, but could not provide specifics. "I know the government started to register some vehicles that belong to the KNU, but I don't know how many of them received the cars," he said. "I heard that the KNU leaders also requested that the government legalize cars that they use in accordance with the law. So, they want the government to register for them," Hla Maung Shwe added. Cars used by KNU leaders in Thailand had previously been unlicensed and thus illegal on Burma's roads. Informed ethnic sources also said that all of Burma's major ethnic groups, including the Karen, Shan, Chin and Mon, also received car licenses at tax-free or reduced tax rates, though the government's tax policies varied among the groups. Kwe Htoo Win also said that all ethnic rebels who had signed ceasefire agreements with the government since last year were also granted car licenses. Notification of the car licenses was provided via letters handed to ethnic representatives attending a Union Day ceremony on Feb. 12 in Naypyidaw, which was attended by Aung Min, a minister of the President's Office and the government's key peace negotiator. A leader of the Chin National Front said his organization had received 40 car licenses, including ones for mini buses, trucks and luxury cars. "It was very hard to use illegally imported cars from neighboring countries in the past. Now, the government provides the car licenses. So, it is very helpful as we can use the cars legally in Burma," he said.

Burma’s 88 Generation Students Seeks Legal Status Posted: 27 May 2013 04:17 AM PDT Burma's Lower House speaker Shwe Mann (fifth from left) poses with Min Ko Naing (fourth from left) and other 88 Generation Students activists in Rangoon last year.(Photo: 88 Generation Students Group) RANGOON—One of Burma's most prominent activist networks, the 88 Generation Students Group, will apply to register with the government as a legal civil society organization after decades of operating illegally under the former military junta. The group, which takes its name from the 1988 student-led pro-democracy protests, has long sought legal status in the country, but its leaders, many of whom were imprisoned under the former regime, have never before tried to register because they believed the government would deny their application. Now, two years after President Thein Sein took office and initiated a series of political reforms, the group plans to apply for registration next month as an organization to promote national reconciliation and stronger civil society groups in the transition from military rule. "We believe the power of the country needs to come from the people, and that's why we decided to become a Peace and Open Civil Society organization," Ant Bwe Kyaw, a spokesman for the group, told The Irrawaddy on Monday, adding that the group hoped to work on a broad range of social issues with government permission but would also continue its political activism. "They [the government] will decide whether to register us or not," he added. "On our end, we'll keep doing politics, because we believe there should be a political force outside of Parliament. Under Burmese law, organizations working on social issues cannot get involved in politics. The 88 Generation Students Group is a loose network of activists who rose to prominence after the 1988 pro-democracy uprising, which was brutally crushed by the military regime. Since then the group has advocated for political reform, democracy and national reconciliation in Burma. Many of the group's members spent years in detention as political prisoners and were only released early last year. With legal status, the group hopes to participate in the peace process in Burma's ethnic areas, where rebel militias and the government's army fought for decades, and to strengthen the country's civil society organizations, which were stifled under the junta. Its leaders say the group may also form a political party to participate in future elections, a move that some other opposition parties have welcomed as a way to create a more pluralistic political landscape.

A bus traveling from Rangoon to Mandalay skidded off a bridge, killing 11 people and injuring 16 others. Posted: 26 May 2013 10:49 PM PDT

Formerly exiled news media Mizzima launches a daily Burmese-language newspaper. Posted: 26 May 2013 10:49 PM PDT

The Rakhine National Development Party is holding its annual meeting in a USDP stronghold in Arakan State. Posted: 26 May 2013 10:49 PM PDT

11 Killed, 16 Injured in Burma Bus Accident Posted: 26 May 2013 10:48 PM PDT Burma state media say a bus traveling from Rangoon to Mandalay skidded off a bridge, killing 11 people and injuring 16 others, including an American citizen. State newspapers reported on Sunday that the accident occurred Saturday when a tire on the bus blew, causing the vehicle to skid and plunge off the bridge into a stream below. They said the bus was carrying 27 people. The US Embassy in Rangoon confirmed an American was among the injured but gave no other details. The highway is notorious for accidents, mainly due to speeding and careless driving around its many sharp curves.—AP

Mizzima Launched Daily Newspaper in Burma Posted: 26 May 2013 10:48 PM PDT Formerly exiled news media Mizzima launched a daily Burmese-language newspaper on Friday. "We launch our new daily newspaper on an auspicious day: under the full moon of Kasone, May 24," the publication said in an announcement. "Mizzima was born out of a democratic struggle, and has been fighting for press freedom for over 15 years. It takes an historic step forward by publishing the Mizzima Daily newspaper." During the years of military rule in Burma, Mizzima was published online from New Delhi, India. In 2011, President Thein Sein's reformist government began lifting restrictions on the Burmese media. Early last year, Mizzima moved its head office to Rangoon.

RNDP Committee Meets in USDP Stronghold in Arakan Posted: 26 May 2013 10:47 PM PDT The Rakhine National Development Party (RNDP) is holding its annual central committee meeting in Arakan State's Ann Township on Monday and Tuesday, Arakan news agency Narinjara reported. The RNDP's decision to hold its conference in Ann is unusual as the military garrison town is considered a political stronghold of the ruling Union Solidarity and Development Party. "[W]e have shifted our central committee meeting to Ann with an aim to mobilize more people there in favor of RNDP," a party leader was quoted as saying. The RNDP is the biggest party in Arakan State, holding 18 seats in the state legislature, nine seats in the Lower House and seven in the Upper House.

7 Injured in Bomb Explosion at Bangkok Market Posted: 26 May 2013 10:47 PM PDT Police say a bomb put inside a garbage bag exploded at a street market in Thailand's capital and injured seven people. Police Col Narongrit Promsawat said the explosion slightly injured seven people and damaged merchandise stalls at the market on Sunday night. It happened in a residential area in front of a barber shop and across from Ramkhamhaeng University. Forensic scientists say the bomb was made of nails and other materials but they have not verified what set off the explosion. Narongrit said the area was prone to violence from school gang rivalry.—AP

Japan Gives Burma $504 Million Loan, Forgives Debt Posted: 26 May 2013 10:44 PM PDT Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, left, and Burma's President Thein Sein toast during lunch at the Myanmar International Convention Center in Naypyidaw on May 26, 2013. (Photo: Reuters / Soe Zeya Tun) RANGOON — Japan's government on Sunday extended its first loan to Burma in 26 years and canceled the remainder of the Southeast Asian country's debt, as Tokyo looks to re-establish strong economic ties with the former pariah nation. The 51 billion yen ($504 million) loan agreement was signed in Burma's capital, Naypyidaw, after Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe met with Burma President Thein Sein. Abe arrived in Burma on Friday on the first visit to the country by a Japanese leader in 36 years, a major part of Tokyo's effort to reassert its position as a top economic partner after decades of frosty relations with the previous military regime. Abe had met with Burma democracy icon and lawmaker Aung San Suu Kyi in the main city of Rangoon on Saturday. The low-interest loan was signed between Japan's ambassador to Burma, Mikio Numata, and Burma's deputy minister for finance and revenue, Dr. Lin Aung, Japan's Foreign Ministry said in a statement. Japan also canceled the remaining 176.1 billion yen ($1.74 billion) owed by Burma, after forgiving 326.3 billion yen ($3.58 billion) in debt in January. The loan is Japan's first to Burma since 1987. "The government of Japan considers it important to continue to back up the progress of Myanmar's reforms and will continue its support to Myanmar," the Foreign Ministry's statement said. According to the notes exchanged Sunday, 17 billion yen ($168 million) is to be used for infrastructure improvement in Burma, 14 billion yen ($138 million) for electricity generation, and 20 billion yen ($198 million) for power generation and transmission and distribution of energy at a special economic zone. The development of the 2,400-hectare Thilawa Special Economic Zone, located near Rangoon, is Japan's biggest investment project in Burma, led by trading companies Mitsubishi Corp., Marubeni Corp. and Sumitomo Corp. Japan, Burma's largest aid donor, helped clear part of its unpaid debt in an effort to boost Burma's democratic reforms and open ways to resume fresh loans for infrastructure building and major development assistance that will support Japanese business interests in the Southeast Asian nation. Japan had close ties with Burma before the junta took power in 1988, prompting Tokyo to suspend grants for major projects. Although it scaled back most business activity and cut government aid when the United States and other Western nations imposed sanctions in 2003 after the military regime put Suu Kyi under house arrest, Japan did not impose sanctions on Burma. But with no major development grants or Japanese loans, major Japanese corporations maintained branch offices in Burma with minimal business operations during the previous regime, while neighboring China gradually became Burma's major trade partner and investor after Thailand and Singapore. Japan's investments and involvement lag far behind those of China and India, but that is fast changing. A high-powered delegation of business leaders, including top executives from Toyota Motor Corp., Hitachi Ltd. and Sumitomo Chemical, toured Burma in February and pledged to cooperate in encouraging more investment. As of late February, Japan was the 11th-largest investor in Burma, with $270 million in overall investments, way behind the $14.2 billion committed by China and $9.6 billion by Thailand, the top two sources, with 33 percent and 23 percent, respectively, of total foreign direct investment.

Why China’s Film Makers Love to Hate Japan Posted: 26 May 2013 10:39 PM PDT Chinese film 'Tunnel Warfare,' top right, featuring a small town that defends itself from the Japanese during the Second Sino-Japanese War, and other anti-Japan films are seen on display at a DVD shop in Beijing. (Photo: Reuters / Kim Kyung-Hoon) HENGDIAN, China — Shi Zhongpeng dies for a living. For 3,000 yuan ($488) a month, the sturdily built stuntman is killed over and over playing Japanese soldiers in war movies and TV series churned out by Chinese film studios. Despite his lack of dramatic range, the 23-year-old's roles have made him a minor celebrity in China. Once, Shi says, he perished 31 times in a single day of battle. On the set of the television drama "Warning Smoke Everywhere," which has just finished shooting here at the sprawling Hengdian World Studios in Zhejiang province, he suffers a typically grisly fate. "I play a shameful Japanese soldier in a way that when people watch, they feel he deserves to die," Shi says. "I get bombed in the end." For Chinese audiences, the extras mown down in a screen war that never ends are a powerful reminder of Japan's brutal 14-year occupation, the climax of more than a century of humiliation at the hands of foreign powers. Japanese foreign-policy scholars say more than 200 anti-Japanese films were made last year. This well-nursed grudge is now a combustible ingredient in the dangerous territorial dispute over a group of rocky islands in the East China Sea, the most serious row between the two Asian powers since Japan's 1945 defeat. It is debatable which side has the better case for ownership of the islands, known as Senkaku in Japan and Diaoyu in China. The United States, Japan's security-treaty partner, refuses to endorse either claim, only insisting the dispute be settled peacefully. But decades of officially sanctioned hatred for Japan in China means Beijing is now caught in a propaganda trap of its own making. It has little room to negotiate or step back now that forces from both sides are circling in a potentially deadly standoff. Nationalism in Japan also makes concessions difficult for Tokyo. But the stakes are potentially higher for China's ruling Communist Party under its new, strongly nationalistic leader Xi Jinping. "It is going to be very hard for the current Chinese leadership if they want to compromise," said He Yinan, a professor at New Jersey's Seton Hall University who studies the impact of wartime memory on Sino-Japanese relations. "t will be rejected by the public, and the leaders know it." The tensions and the propaganda go far beyond the current spat. Underneath it all lies a struggle for power and influence in Asia between China and Japan—and political struggles within China itself. Many China watchers believe Beijing's leaders nurture anti-Japanese hatred to bolster their own legitimacy, which is coming under question among citizens livid over problems ranging from official corruption to rampant environmental pollution. Politics Drives Output As sparring continues in the East China Sea, open hostilities rage on Chinese screens. On the hilly, forested set of "Warning Smoke Everywhere" at Hengdian, the world's biggest film lot, lead actor Jing Dong plays a young Chinese sniper taking on the invading Japanese in a second television version of a 2011 action film of the same name. In one scene, Jing and his comrades scramble through a village to reach a new firing position. In an interview between takes, the actor rejected suggestions that politics drives the output of these TV dramas and films. "It's a theme people have liked for a long time," he said, wearing his Chinese Nationalist uniform with its distinctive German-style, coal-scuttle helmet. "That's a fact." The film original, starring veteran Hong Kong actor Tony Leung Ka-fai, was also released for foreign audiences with the English title, "Cold Steel." Adapted from a popular Internet novel, it tells the story of Mu Liangfeng, a young hunter who is drafted into the Nationalist army for his marksmanship. He duels with a ruthless Japanese sniper, Captain Masaya, in a series of bloody encounters. Both marksmen are in love, Mu with a war widow and Masaya with a Japanese military nurse. But the film draws a clear distinction between the moral qualities of the two combatants. "I want to marry a samurai, not a murderer," Nurse Ryoko tells Masaya after accusing him of massacring civilians. In the remake, director Li Yunliang says he isn't trying to demonize the wartime enemy. "The Japanese soldiers in our drama also have emotions," he says. "It's the war bringing suffering to both China and Japan." The Communist rulers in Beijing will still find much to like. Pre-publicity material suggests the new storyline will have a harder political edge, concentrating more on the martial qualities of Communist forces who formed a united front with the Nationalists. War Stories Some film reviewers in China say that with the censors declaring so many other subjects off limits, it is only natural that the war dominates story-telling in a competitive market for viewers and advertising. "Only anti-Japanese themes aren't limited," says Zhu Dake, an outspoken culture critic and professor at Shanghai's Tongji University. "The people who make TV think that only through anti-Japanese themes will they be applauded by the narrow-minded patriots who like it." Zhu estimates war stories make up about 70 percent of drama on Chinese television. The state administrator approved 69 anti-Japanese television series for production last year and about 100 films. Reports in the state-controlled media said up to 40 of these were shot at Hengdian alone. State television reported in April that more than 30 series about the war were filming or in planning by the end of March. On any given night, state-owned television channels bombard Chinese viewers with the heroics of the two major Communist armies in combat with the Japanese, the Eighth Route Army and New Fourth Army. Elaborate plots tap the period's rich history of deception, betrayal and collaboration. In January, a tense seminar in Hong Kong brought together opinion makers from both sides, including senior retired military officers. There, the role of wartime drama was singled out as a major factor in plunging ties between the two nations. "Yes, the Nanjing massacre did happen," Yasuhiro Matsuda, a professor at Tokyo University and a former Japanese defense ministry researcher, told the seminar. "Yes, Japan did invade China. These are facts. But, when there are more than 200 movies coming out, you can imagine the negative effect." When Tokyo nationalized the disputed islands last September, buying them from a private Japanese owner, it provoked sometimes violent anti-Japanese protests in cities across China. In a telling indicator of the hostile mood in China, demand for Japanese products is falling across the board. Japanese exports to China for the year through March dropped 9.1 percent to 11.3 trillion yen, according to Japanese customs figures. Out in the East China Sea, both sides are so far exercising restraint. The risk of conflict through accident or miscalculation, however, remains high. Under Xi, China has intensified an air and sea campaign that military experts believe is aimed at wearing down Japanese forces around the potentially resource rich islands. Fashioning Party Lore Anti-Japanese films were instrumental in fashioning some of the Communist Party's foundation myths. In the early years of the People's Republic, these films showed Mao Zedong's patriotic Communist guerrillas leading a heroic resistance. In contrast, Chiang Kai-shek's Nationalists were portrayed as corrupt, ineffective and aligned with treacherous foreign powers, principally the United States. A vast majority of Chinese born before the 1970s remember the black-and-white classics from this period. One of them, "Tunnel Warfare," is the world's most-watched film, with an estimated 1.8 billion viewers by 2006, according the August First Film Studio in Beijing, the Chinese military production house that turned out the 1964 landmark and many others like it. In "Tunnel Warfare," Maoist guerrilla strategies inspire resourceful peasants to dig extensive tunnel networks beneath their village homes, from which they emerge to harass the occupying Japanese. Regular screenings during an era of tight political control and virtually no alternative entertainment meant generations of viewers saw these movies many times. They are often crude, with voiceovers making sure viewers get the point. The brutality of Japanese troops toward Chinese combatants and civilians is a staple, but the films paradoxically avoided over-vilifying the invaders. Japanese characters are rarely developed. Plot lines concentrate on Mao's triumph in leading the resistance, rather than the clear battlefield superiority of the invaders, which had Chinese forces in retreat right up to the end of the war. In this period, Chinese film makers conformed to a wider geopolitical strategy, where Beijing was anxious to avoid alienating Tokyo, historians say. The Communist Party wanted diplomatic recognition from Japan and also sought to drive a wedge between Washington and its most important regional ally. Strict censorship ruled out researching or publishing material about Japanese atrocities. In a move that would be unthinkable today, Beijing treated convicted Japanese war criminals leniently at the 1956 war crimes trials it held in Shenyang and Taiyuan. None of the 51 prisoners who stood trial were executed or sentenced to long terms. Textbooks from this time mentioned key events and battles but played down the scope and impact of Japan's occupation. Film makers avoided the dramatic potential of atrocities such as the 1937 Nanjing Massacre. Some historians suggest the Communists were also determined to suppress movies or detailed historical accounts of major campaigns: Otherwise, attention would have been drawn to the role of the Nationalist armies, which bore the overwhelming brunt of fighting the Japanese. In the sacking of Nanjing, the Nationalists' capital, Communist forces played little or no role in defending the doomed city. Japanese Atrocities Revisited This changed in the early 1980s when Chinese film makers began to turn their cameras unsparingly on Japan's wartime behavior. Beijing had already won diplomatic recognition from Japan in 1972, and when the disastrous Cultural Revolution ended in 1976, the Communist Party under Deng Xiaoping abandoned its ruinous economic policies and began experimenting with market reforms. For a ruling party desperate to recover its prestige and stamp out demands for political change, revisiting Japanese atrocities provided a useful distraction, historians say. In contrast, the party still vigorously suppresses any effort to document or publicize the calamities of its own making, including the starvation of tens of millions following Mao's disastrous Great Leap Forward. The official desire to foster nationalism intensified after the 1989 Tiananmen protests shook the party to its foundations. "Maybe the leadership realized that a memory of collective suffering at the hands of an external enemy is more effective in bringing people together," said Kristof Van Den Troost, a film and history researcher at Hong Kong's Chinese University. One of the best known films of the era, "Red Sorghum" from 1987, based on a novel by 2012 Nobel prize winner Mo Yan, launched the careers of actress Gong Li and director Zhang Yimou. It pulled no punches, switching from a rich love story set in rural China to a blood-drenched climax in which the Japanese order a local butcher to skin alive a prisoner. "Skin him," the Japanese interpreter screams at the butcher, who in an act of mercy stabs the prisoner to death and is immediately machine-gunned. The butcher's assistant is then forced to skin another live prisoner, later revealed to be a communist guerrilla. As war museums and memorials opened all over China, film makers were free to explore the orgy of killing and rape at Nanjing. Chinese estimates put the Nanjing death toll at 300,000. Japanese and some other foreign estimates are lower. Today, while hewing to the official anti-Japanese line, some of these films are more subtle than their forerunners. In the 2009 box office hit, "The City of Life and Death," director Lu Chuan controversially included a relatively sympathetic Japanese character. Sergeant Kadokawa, played by Hideo Nakaizumi, stands apart from his comrades amid the orgy of violence in Nanjing. But film makers can go too far. Jiang Wen, the male lead in "Red Sorghum," ran afoul of the state film administrator with "Devils on the Doorstep," his second film in the director's chair. The film won the Cannes Grand Jury Prize in 2000 but was subsequently banned in China. It mocks the confusion of peasants in a village in northern China entrusted with holding a captured Japanese soldier and his translator. Though the movie ends in a bloodbath for the villagers, censors attacked it for its sympathetic treatment of the Japanese prisoner and failure to depict the Chinese as selfless patriots. Ludicrous Plots While studios continue to pump out drama, there are now signs scriptwriters are scratching for material. Critics inside and outside the government have been scathing about the ludicrous and violent plots of some of the more recent productions. Some directors have merged war dramas with semi-mystical, martial arts action where virtually unarmed Chinese slaughter platoons of hapless Japanese. In the television series "Anti-Japanese Knight," an unarmed Chinese martial arts expert tears a Japanese soldier in half from head to crotch, the divided corpse suspended in the air with a skein of blood connecting the pieces. In another scene from the same series, a Japanese soldier's intestines are wrenched out of his abdomen in a fight sequence. Under the weight of ridicule and disgust, officials from the State Administration of Radio Film and Television this month ordered a crackdown, insisting studios make "more serious" dramas. Even Shi, the busy stuntman, is tiring of his role as a Japanese victim. "I'm not good-looking so I play a Japanese soldier," he said. "I would really prefer playing a soldier in the Eighth Route Army."

Singapore Forum Seeks Spratlys Options Posted: 26 May 2013 10:25 PM PDT Motorboats anchor at a partially submerged island in the Truong Sa islands, part of the Spratly islands, in this April 18, 2010 photo. (Photo: Reuters) On May 31, delegates primarily from the Asia-Pacific states will gather again in Singapore for the Shangri-La Dialogue. The three-day security forum, held annually by the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) since 2002, addresses a wide array of regional and non-regional security issues. It should then surprise no one that on the agenda will be a discussion on avoiding conflict at sea. Suffice it to say, maritime and territorial disputes present a threat to the peace and security of the Asia-Pacific region. Front and center of these disputes is the fluid and volatile situation in the South China Sea, particularly in the area of the Spratly Islands, which are being contested by several nations. Far from a recent development, these disputes have been long-running. However, as the Asia Pacific increases in prominence on the world stage in economic development, the need to resolve these disputes is becoming urgent. Having pursued diplomatic and political alternatives to no avail, the Philippines has ultimately taken its case against China to the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (ITLOS), seeking arbitration to settle the South China Sea disputes. In response, China has refused to participate in or even acknowledge the legal proceedings, surrendering its chance to appoint one of the five arbitrators who will hear the case. Despite China's absence, however, a legal victory for the Philippines is far from certain; and as this case will likely highlight, to be observed by other claimant states with similar stakes in the South China Sea, international law is far from perfect. International Law Shortcomings To resolve the disputes via international law will require overcoming seemingly insurmountable obstacles. The first hurdle facing the Philippines is ITLOS's authority to settle those matters brought before it. The next hurdle then becomes enforcing the tribunal's ruling. Even if the Philippines achieves a successful legal outcome, who and what will prevent China or any other country from violating ITLOS's decision? Whereas within countries the police the enforce laws of the land, no such police exist at the international level. Regardless of the legal outcome of the Philippine appeal for arbitration, assuming China ignores ITLOS's ruling, other claimant states are unlikely to seek settlement via international law given the lack of enforcement mechanisms. Should international law fail to resolve these disputes, their peaceful settlement will fall upon the shoulders of claimant states and the international community. Given how little progress has been made in resolving these disputes, however, it is difficult to imagine how much will be accomplished. Nevertheless, it is worth hypothesizing and examining what choices face claimant states and the international community. Searching for Alternative Solutions The international community could, as a matter of emergency, establish a maritime police force to monitor naval activities in the South China Sea. Such a force should omit those claimant states involved in the disputes, relying instead on third parties. However, the difficulty then becomes finding states not only capable of fielding such a force but also willing to volunteer resources. In addition, claimant states must have confidence in the impartiality and reliability of this force so as to provide it (the maritime police force) with the required credibility to carry out its mission. Given the indefinite nature of the South China Sea disputes, it is questionable if an international maritime police force could remain active until the disputes are resolved. Another option for claimant states, if the option of a maritime police force is unpalatable, is to set aside all questions of sovereignty and resolve to partake in a joint exploration of resources in the disputed region (specifically with regard to the Spratlys). The challenge then becomes one of power sharing—that is, not all claimant states stand equal with China, holding the most influence in terms of economic and military might, and therefore the country most likely to benefit from such an arrangement. As a result, the power to negotiate and leverage goes to the strongest state, leaving a country like Brunei at a disadvantage. If the question of sovereignty remains insurmountable, claimant states should at least seek a temporary modus vivendi (an agreement between the parties that they agree to disagree), to set aside differences and focus on resolving those matters that can be agreed upon. In dealing with the lowest common denominator, it is hoped that at least some progress can be made. Failure to achieve even this, however, and it is unlikely that the South China Sea disputes can be resolved peacefully. No Silver Bullet Although it is unlikely that a solution to these disputes will be found at the Shangri-La Dialogue, the forum does provide an opportunity for those contesting states to discuss the matter at length behind closed doors, free from political grandstanding and rhetoric. Delivering the keynote address at the forum will be Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung of Vietnam, whose country is also in conflict with China over the Paracel Islands, in addition to the Spratlys. It is likely that he will share his thoughts on the regional disputes and urge fellow contesting states and the international community to assist in bringing these matters to a peaceful resolution. While there is no single, easy solution to the South China Sea disputes, to do nothing is most certainly not the answer. The Shangri-La Dialogue might not provide an answer to the maritime and territorial disputes, but it will allow countries to share their concerns, talk, and perhaps pave a path toward a peaceful settlement. Khanh Vu Duc is a lawyer and part-time law professor at the University of Ottawa who researches on Vietnamese politics, international relations and international law.

14 Killed in New Anti-Terror Philippine Offensive Posted: 26 May 2013 10:20 PM PDT   A flag of the Philippine Marines flutters as members take their oath of allegiance during the Philippine Navy's 115th anniversary celebrations in Fort San Felipe, southwest of Manila, on May 21, 2013. (Photo: Reuters / Erik De Castro) MANILA — At least 14 Philippine marines and Abu Sayyaf militants were killed in a clash in a new US-backed offensive aimed at rescuing six foreign and Filipino hostages and stopping the al-Qaida-linked gunmen from staging more kidnappings in the country's south, a military commander said Sunday. Seven marines and seven Abu Sayyaf fighters were killed in the gun battle, which raged for an hour Saturday in a sparsely populated village near coastal Patikul town in Sulu province. Six marines and about 10 gunmen were wounded, marine Col. Jose Cenabre said. Government troops backed by assault helicopters were hunting down the fleeing militants, who were believed to be led by Jul-Aswan Sawadjaan, an Abu Sayyaf commander accused in the kidnappings of a Jordanian journalist and two European bird watchers who are still being held by the militants. One of Sawadjaan's sons and a minor Abu Sayyaf commander are believed to have been killed in the firefight, said Cenabre, who heads security forces in Sulu. He said the marines initially had difficulty returning fire because the dozens of militants took cover near a row of houses. The flag-draped caskets of the slain marines were flown to Manila on Sunday and given military honors at an air force base amid a downpour, the latest military casualties in a battle against Muslim extremists that has dragged on for about two decades. Marine commandant Brig. Gen. Romeo Tanalgo said the battle would continue despite the setback. The firefight was part of a new military offensive that started last week and is aimed at rescuing the three foreign captives, who were abducted last year, along with three Filipinos kidnapped separately by the militants in recent weeks, he said. Among the Filipino captives was a marine's wife who worked in a Sulu provincial hospital and was kidnapped two weeks ago. Although a large number of marines and policemen are involved in the offensive, only small units have been deployed to hunt down the Abu Sayyaf in two jungle encampments in Sulu, Cenabre said without providing details of the operation. US forces were providing intelligence but were not involved in actual combat, he said. While Abu Sayyaf abductions still occur, they are far fewer today than the massive kidnappings that terrorized Sulu and outlying provinces in the early 2000s, when the group had many commanders and strong ties with terrorist organizations, including Indonesian-based Jemaah Islamiyah. US-backed military offensives have crippled the Abu Sayyaf in recent years, but it remains a key security threat. Washington lists the group, which still has about 300 armed fighters, as a terrorist organization. Philippine troops and police special forces, meanwhile, killed one of two gunmen who were trying to extort money Saturday from a restaurant in Sulu’s capital town of Jolo, Cenabre said. Armed with pistols, the two men shot it out with government forces. One was shot in the head and died and the other was captured, Cenabre said. He said investigators were trying to determine whether the two had ties with the Abu Sayyaf, which is also notorious for extortion.

Pathein Air Force Officer Charged After Attack on Couple Posted: 26 May 2013 05:00 PM PDT A crowd gathered near the Pathein home of Maj Phyo Pyit Aung on Friday after he attacked a couple parking their car near his gate. (Photo: The Irrawaddy) A Burmese air force officer and his father have reportedly been charged with assaulting a couple in Pathein Township, Irrawaddy Division, after an argument broke out when they parked a car in front of the officer's house on Thursday. Myo Wai, one of the victims, said he and his wife parked their vehicle nearby the gate of a house for about 10 minutes when Phyo Pyit Aung, a 27-year-old major in a Pathein Township Air Defense Force unit, entered into an argument with them. "I came to do some shopping. I did not stop in front of their gate. I was about 20 feet [7 meter] away from his gate," he said, adding that he and his wife had come to visit nearby Phu Thar market "He told me to move my car. I told him that when your car comes out I will move my car, and there is enough space for you to drive out," Myo Wai said. The major then became aggressive and allegedly began slapping Myo Wai and throwing bricks at him. "I avoided the first throw, but it hit me the second time on my head and I fell down unconscious. Then, he stepped on my chest and kicked me," Myo Wai claimed, adding that his wife was also beaten when she tried to stop the violence. Moments later, the officer's father, Aung Nyein, came out of the house and hit the car owner with an iron bar, according to the victims. Several hundred local residents gathered to see the incident, but none intervened as the officer has a reputation for abusing his power against people in the neighborhood. "We do not dare to stop it. We already found out that one person who attempted to stop it got into the trouble because of the major," said an old man who witnessed the incident. He added that Maj Phyo Pyit Aung had become embroiled in arguments with those parking near his home for at least four times before. "For a long time, we wanted some action to be taken against this major in accordance with the rule of law," said a local shopkeeper, who preferred not to be named. The victims were taken to Pathein Public Hospital for treatment of their injuries. Myo Wai said police had charged the perpetrators with voluntarily causing grievous hurt, which carries a prison sentence of up to seven years, and assaulting a woman with intent to outrage her modesty, a charge that carries a maximum sentence of two years imprisonment. "I want the police to take effective action within the law against these two persons," said Myo Wai. He added however, that officer and his father had already been released on bail over the weekend. The officer could not be reached for comment.

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