Thursday, September 5, 2013

The Irrawaddy Magazine

The Irrawaddy Magazine

Doctor in Iconic Picture Recalls 88 Uprising in New Book

Posted: 05 Sep 2013 06:26 AM PDT

From left to right, Win Kyu, the father of killed student Win Maw Oo, Dr Win Zaw and his wife, and Win Maw Oo's mother Khin Htay Win. In front, the killed student's grandmother Daw Ni. (Photo: Jpaing / The Irrawaddy)

RANGOON — With the completion of Dr Win Zaw's new book, containing a personal account of what happened during Burma's pro-democracy uprising 25 years ago, the last jigsaw about the fates of the two doctors captured in one of the most of iconic pictures of the 1988 crackdown has fallen in place.

Win Zaw, who was famously photographed while carrying a blood-soaked young woman shot by soldiers in September 1988, said during a book launch on Wednesday that he had long wished to write a first-hand account of the tragic events.

"But only these days, with more freedom of expression, I could make it happen," said the now 48-year old medical doctor. In his Burmese-language book, titled "Still Alive," he shares experiences during the 88 Uprising, and scenes of the events are illustrated with more than 200 pictures.

Win Zaw was a 23-year old medical student during the weeks of bloody repression that followed a government takeover by the military on Sept. 18, 1988. He had volunteered at Rangoon General Hospital where hundreds of injured demonstrators were brought in. Many of them were seriously wounded after trigger-happy soldiers opened fire on the pro-democracy protesters as they took the streets to challenge military rule.

The highlight of the book is his description of the events of Sept. 19 1988, the day after the military coup, when he and other medical personnel ventured out into Rangoon's streets in an ambulance to collect scores of wounded protestors and bring them to the hospital for medical treatment.

During their rescue mission that day, he and another house surgeon named Saw Lwin carried a heavily wounded girl to the ambulance — the dramatic scene was captured on camera by 24-year-old American photographer Steve Lehman, who had joined them in the ambulance.

The picture appeared on the cover of the October 1988 issue of Newsweek's Asian edition and soon became an icon photo that showed the brutality of the Burma Army's crackdown.

In news reports, the wounded girl was identified as Win Maw Oo, a school girl who succumbed to her injuries later that day, but not before she told her parents to withhold the Buddhist rites for her soul "until there is democracy in Burma." Her sacrifice received great praise in Burma and abroad.

The two men who tried to rescue her remained largely unknown as they continued to live in Burma, which remained isolated and under ironfisted military rule until political reforms began only two years ago.

"I just want to clarify about [the events in] the historic picture, and tell people that I did something what I should do as a human as well as a medical student at that time," Win Zaw explained his reasons for writing the book.

"My book is just a reminder that among the people who sacrificed their lives during the uprising, there is a school girl whose name is now well-known, while there are also numerous unsung heroes," he added.

In the years following the crackdown, speculation arose about the identities of the young house surgeons in the photo. Some reports misidentified Win Zaw, while other accounts even claimed that all three people in the picture had since died.

Burma's military government had taken note of Win Zaw and Saw Lwin after the photo of their rescue of the young girl Win Maw Oo became famous the world over.

Four years later, the notorious Military Intelligence's unit-6, better known as MI-6, detained Win Zaw for five days and interrogated him about the details of the events of that day. Until recently, his attempts to obtain a passport were repeatedly denied, perhaps because officials feared that he would travel abroad to tell his story.

In a separate chapter of the book, Win Zaw writes about the fate of his fellow house surgeon Saw Lwin, who would suffer greatly for his efforts to rescue Win Maw Oo.

The military authorities forced Saw Lwin's father to retire from his position as the director of a government department. This mounting pressure on his family caused Saw Lwin to sink into a deep depression. Unable to cope, he committed suicide several years later.

During Thursday's book launch, Win Maw Oo's family members were among attendants. Win Kyu, the father of the school girl, said his family was very grateful to both doctors because he had a chance to see his daughter on her deathbed.

"We thank them very much for we had a proper burial for our daughter," the father said. "Were it not for them, my daughters would have been thrown into a crematorium while alive by the military, as they did with many other wounded people."

60% of Investment Already Paid for Suspended Myitsone Dam: Chinese Developer

Posted: 05 Sep 2013 05:50 AM PDT

Construction going ahead at the Myitsone Dam in 2010 before President Thein Sein ordered a suspension on the project. (Photo: The Irrawaddy)

RANGOON — The Chinese backer of the Myitsone dam project says more than half the funds to construct the multi-billion-dollar project have already been paid to Burma, although the project was suspended last year.

Sixty percent of a total $3.6 billion in investment to build the controversial hydropower dam project in Kachin State has been paid, according to Wang Qiyue, director of China Power Investment Corporation (CPI), who was speaking during an energy investment summit in Rangoon earlier this week. It was the company's first transparent report about its investment in the project.

The Myitsone hydropower dam is expected to supply up to 4,600 megawatts of electricity when it is completed. CPI plans to build the dam in collaboration with Burma's Ministry of Electric Power as well as Asia World Co., which is owned by a Burmese business tycoon, Steven Law, who is the son of recently deceased drug kingpin Lo Hsing Han.

The project was suspended last year by Burma's President Thein Sein, who faced mounting public criticism over its potential environmental and social impact. The president has confirmed that the project will not be resumed during his term, which ends in 2015. However, in recent months renewed activity has been reported, including trucks driving around the proposed dam site, and China has expressed interest in restarting the project in the future.

With more than half the $3.6 billion investment paid, questions have arisen over how the funds were spent. When asked to explain who had received the funds, the CPI director told The Irrawaddy that the Burma government and the Burmese people were indivisible, that the government had initiated the project for the public interest, and that he believed the government had spent the money to build roads and bridges.

He said if the project was restarted, CPI would invest at least $1 billion more.

CPI signed a deal for the Myitsone dam project on the Irrawaddy River in 2006. The deal also called for five dams to be constructed on the May Kha River, and another two dams on the May Li Kha River, according to the state-run New Light of Myanmar newspaper.

Wang Qiyue denied reports of activity at the Myitsone site, saying that although CPI hoped to resume the project, it had not yet begun negotiations with the Burma government to do so.

He said CPI did not plan to redraft its contract for the project, as the Chinese backers of another project, the controversial Letpadaung copper mine in Sagaing Division, did recently. That renegotiation gave a greater percentage of profits to the Burma government.

"Any country can inspect the division of profits for a project," Wang Qiyue told The Irrawaddy. "No country can invest in a project like Myitsone that just has a small profit. [CPI] will not continue the project if there are amendments to the previous pact or a change in the division of profits.

"We will just have to wait and see how the next government manages the issue. They [the Burma government] may try their best. Whatever we do, we will discuss with them."

He said CPI planned to share more information about the project with the Burmese public.

"The people object to the project just because they don't understand hydropower well," he said. "We'll explain it to them. We must show the public the pros and cons of the project so they can decide. Previously, we couldn't do that. Now we can. So we will do our best."

Muslim Man From Htan Gone Village Sentenced to 7 Years in Prison

Posted: 05 Sep 2013 05:10 AM PDT

People stand near burnt houses at Htan Kone village, in Burma's Sagaing Division, on Aug. 26, 2013. (Photo: Reuters / Soe Zeya Tun)

RANGOON — A court has sentenced a Muslim man to seven years in prison for an attempted rape that sparked Buddhist-led riots in a northwestern Burma town late last month.

Myint Aung, a legal official at the Kantbalu Township court, said Hsan Min Oo was found guilty and sentenced Wednesday after a speedy trial. Myint Aung said the defendant confessed to the crime and did not ask for a defense lawyer.

The Aug. 24 violence started after a crowd surrounded a police station in the village of Htan Gone, demanding that Hsan Min Oo be handed over. When officers refused, the crowd rampaged, destroying 40 Muslim-owned shops and businesses and leaving hundreds of people homeless.

Eleven Buddhists also were detained, but opposition lawmaker Myint Naing said one allegedly died in prison from diarrhea.

Govt Measures Fail to Cool Rangoon’s Overheated Property Market: Experts

Posted: 05 Sep 2013 04:59 AM PDT

A view of the traffic on Sule Pagoda Road in downtown Rangoon, where property prices are among the highest in the city. (Photo: Reuters)

RANGOON — Property prices in Rangoon continue to soar and government measures to cool down the real estate market in Burma's biggest city are failing to make an impact, according to property agents and economists.

They said the government should revise its property tax policies in order to stop further price rises.

Currently, real estate buyers can easily avoid paying the full 37-percent tax rate due to government inefficiencies, said Than Oo, managing director of the Mandine real estate agency. He added that buyers are neither required to inform the Internal Revenue Department about the source of the funds they are using to purchase property.

For these reasons, the government can exert little control over the large amounts of money flowing into Rangoon's property market, according to Than Oo.

"Since 2007, the local property market has been rising because of this tax system," he said, "They can buy properties even if they can't show where the money comes from when they are registered" with the Internal Revenue Department.

Thet Tun Oo, an economic analyst with the Myanmar Securities Exchange Center, said the property boom was in party fueled by illicit funds that are being laundered through the lax property sales requirements. Tightening government property tax registration, he said, would help rein in prices.

"If they collect the commercial [property] tax systematically and would seriously check for money laundering, the market prices would become stable," Thet Tun Oo said.

Real estate prices began rising 2007 after the government cut property tax from 50 percent to 15 percent. After assuming office in 2011, President Thein Sein's government began introducing a raft of economic reforms aimed at attracting foreign investment, spurring a further rise in Rangoon's property prices.

In the past five years, real estate prices in the city have increased up to ten-fold in some areas. Land prices have soared in parts of downtown Rangoon and market rates along Sule Pagoda Road in Kyauktada Township are the highest in the city at about US$1,500 per square foot. Residential areas along Inya Lake have also experienced a strong increase in property values.

In August 2012, in an attempt to cool down the property market, the government raised property taxes to 37 percent, but the measure has had little effect.

Strong economic growth forecasts for Burma, at 6.3 percent annually, and government plans to develop the city's infrastructure and nearby industrial zones also contribute to rising land prices.

Last year, after reports spread that the government was planning to develop a Korean-backed special economic zone in Dala Township, land prices in the area, located opposite of downtown Rangoon on the other side of the Irrawaddy River, began to skyrocket. When the government denied the reports in December 2012, land prices in Dala plummeted.

The President Office's Minister Soe Thein said in a speech on Aug. 26 that the government should try to prevent such sudden swings in property values by developing property tax policies that could influence property markets.

"Land taxes need to be reviewed. Some taxes need to be applied. Now, people are dealing in land and houses. If a tax is levied on each sale of land, the tax will control [rising land prices]," he was quoted as saying by Eleven Media.

The government is currently developing a property tax system that will levy different tax rates for different parts of the city, in order to adjust for the variation in land prices, according to some property agents, who said that Internal Revenue Department officials consulted them last month on land prices across Rangoon.

Sam Deed, an Australian real estate consultant based in Burma, said such surveys should be conducted by the Land Records Department and other government departments, so that officials can build up an accurate overview of land prices across Rangoon and set appropriate local property tax rates.

"The department should have more powers to make survey to establish what it thinks are real prices," Deed said.

Some analysts, however, said they had little faith in the government's capacity to revise property tax policies and deal with spiraling prices.

"I doubt that the government could impose effective regulations and measures that could really influence the price of land," said Khin Maung Nyo, an economist who writes for local media. "According to the government's record over the past 30 months, there will be no major changes."

Anti-Rohingya Demonstrators in Arakan Are Assembly Law’s Latest Victims

Posted: 05 Sep 2013 04:40 AM PDT

Arakanese women protest in the streets of Sittwe, the Arakan State capital, on Oct. 10, 2012. (Photo: Rakhine Straight Views)

Four Arakanese demonstrators were sentenced this week by a court in Arakan State's Kyauktaw Township, found guilty of organizing an unauthorized protest against a plan to resettle Rohingya people in the town.

Thein Hlaing, Maung Win, Tin Tin Aye and Hla May were sentenced to three months in prison by the court on Wednesday.

"The court punished them for violating Article 18 of the Peaceful Assembly Act," Than Saw, a lawyer for the defendants, told The Irrawaddy on Thursday.

The four—two men and two women—were among nine activists arrested in March for organizing the peaceful but illegal demonstration in Kyauktaw. The other five detainees were later released after authorities could not present sufficient evidence against them.

More than 500 local Arakanese in Kyauktaw turned out on March 10 to protest the resettlement plan in a march through the town. The activists said they had asked permission from the police to stage the public protest, but were denied by the authorities.

"I found that the police could not bring any evidence in court against the accused of leading the protest march. The police could only show photos of the four activists who participated at the protest," Than Saw said.

"In my view, the police should arrest all the people who participated in the protest and they should not just arrest these four people, who they only suspect of leading the group," he said.

The unauthorized demonstration in Kyauktaw was prompted by a decision from the local authorities to resettle Rohingya Muslims in the township. Protesters argued that the Rohingyas—who are not granted Burmese citizenship under the 1982 Citizenship Law—had no right to a land claim in Kyauktaw.

Arrests of peaceful activists accused of violating Article 18 have taken place widely in Burma, with many still facing trial and others sentenced to up to two years' imprisonment. Authorities' heavy-handed enforcement of Article 18 has faced criticism from human rights advocates who say that despite the country's political reforms over the last two years, oppression via the Peaceful Assembly Act persists.

Since President Thein Sein took office in 2011, Burmese authorities have used Article 18 to arrest and prosecute land rights activists and environmental campaigners in jurisdictions across the country.

New York-based Human Rights Watch says Burma's law on the right to peaceful assembly falls far short of international standards. Thein Sein signed the assembly law on Dec. 2, 2011.

Human Rights Watch has urged Parliament to repeal the law's provisions that fail to meet international human rights standards, such as imprisonment as a penalty for Article 18 permit violations. In the meantime, the Home Affairs Ministry should consult with international organizations as it drafts regulations to mitigate some of the law's harsh effects, the rights group argues.

"Burma's new law on assembly rejects the previous ban on demonstrations, but still allows the government to trump the Burmese people's basic rights," Brad Adams, Asia director at Human Rights Watch, said last year. "There is a lot of excitement about changes in Burma these days, but the government shouldn't be given credit for allowing some freedom just because none existed before. Instead, it should be pressed to make sure its laws meet international standards."

As Burma Tourism Rises, So Do Hopes in Inwa

Posted: 05 Sep 2013 03:42 AM PDT

Maha Aung Myay Bon Zan monastery, popularly known as Mae Nu Oak Kyaung, is a main attraction in the ancient city of Inwa, with fascinating stone sculptures from the 19th century. (Photo: Zarni Mann / The Irrawaddy)

MANDALAY — As Burma prepares to welcome more than 1 million tourists this year, business hopes are rising among souvenir sellers and tour operators in Inwa, an ancient royal capital in Mandalay Division.

"Year by year, more tourists come to Inwa, but our business remains stable," said Ma Win, a souvenir seller with a small shop near a 27-meter-tall watchtower, a tourist attraction and the sole remains of a 19th century palace in the city. "We can't say we earn a lot, but we are hoping to earn more this year because we heard there will be more tourists coming to our country."

Inwa, known to Westerners as Ava, was a powerful ancient capital of Burmese kings from the 14th century to the early 19th century, located just 21 km south of Mandalay and across the Myitnge River. Like other tourist destinations in Burma, the city is filled with souvenir shops, while souvenir hawkers and children also sell postcards and small mementos on the streets.

"I believe I can earn more this year because I was told more tourists would come this season," said 13-year-old Ko Thu (not his real name), who stopped attending school after fourth grade.

Like him, many children in Inwa are eager to make pocket money not only by selling sets of postcards, but by explaining the history of the city and its ancient monuments.

"We used to explain only to Burmese pilgrims. Usually we get 1,000 to 1,500 kyats [US$1 to $1.50] a day," Ko Thu said. "Selling only postcards to visitors is not good business because nobody wants to buy them—only some foreigners are interested. On a lucky day, a set or two will be sold, and a set of 10 cards is only 1,500 [kyats]. That's why we are hoping this year will give us better business."

But the job has risks, he added.

"We have to be afraid of the police as well," he said. "If they know us or see our photo on the Internet, they can come and scold us and force us not to come here or work."

Although Inwa can be reached by car via an hour's drive on the road from Mandalay International Airport, most tourists prefer to take a three- to five-minute boat ride across the river. Once there, they can admire the remains of the ancient city walls, the palace site and the watchtower, as well as areas of unspoiled nature.

At a small jetty designated as an "archeology survey zone," horse carts line up to welcome visitors and show off the city with a ride on its dusty, bumpy roads.

"Our earnings were pretty good last year, and we hope we will earn more," said Than Tun, a horse cart driver. "We've redecorated our carts and given special care to the horses as well, because they are our only and best business partners."

For a daylong horse cart ride, drivers earn 5,000 kyats to 6,000 kyats with an occasional tip.

Burma's peak tourist season is approaching, but Inwa is still waiting for its bumpy roads to be repaired.

"The roads on the way to watchtower and some parts of the road to Bargayar monastery are too bouncy, so we must drive carefully to ensure our horses don't suffer and the cart isn't damaged," Than Tun said.

Tour guides in Mandalay also say Inwa needs smoother roads for the convenience of visitors.

"Some parts of the road in Inwa are in terrible condition, so sometimes the horses trip and give minor injuries to travelers," a local tour guide said. "Since the city is just miles away from Mandalay, I think it deserves to have good roads. I hope the roads will be repaired this season."

Still, adventure-loving travelers are not making a major fuss about conditions.

"We have not heard serious complaints from tourists so far. But some of our guides suggest that the roads are so bumpy that it is not suitable for the elderly to visit Inwa with the horse carts," said a tour operator in Rangoon.

On request, tour operators prepare cars rather than horse carts for tourists who are allergic to the animals. In such cases, traveling on the bumpy roads becomes a major safety concern.

"Since we believe tourist visits to our country this year will be their highest yet, we think the roads in Inwa should be repaired in time," the Rangoon-based tour operator said.

After a serious earthquake in 1839, King Tharyarwaddy, then the ruling king of Inwa, moved the capital to Amarapura, and Inwa become an abandoned city.

According to data compiled by Burma's Ministry of Hotels and Tourism, the number of tourists entering Burma rose from more than 800,000 in 2011 to more than 1 million last year. The ministry hopes to draw even more travelers to Burma this year, as the country prepares to host the Southeast Asian Games, a major regional sporting event, in December.

In 2015, the ministry aims to attract more than 3 million tourists to a country, according to a recently published master plan for tourism development.

China Environmental NGO Aims to Boost Burma’s Renewable Energy Technologies

Posted: 05 Sep 2013 02:54 AM PDT

Demonstrators hold a candle-lit protest against power shortages by Rangoon's Sule Pagoda in 2012. (Photo: Reuters)

RANGOON — The Global Environmental Institute of China (GEI-China) wants to assist Burma with the development of rural renewable energy technologies, offering advice through a two-day workshop ending Thursday in Rangoon.

The Beijing-based NGO, which encourages best practices in environmental protection and energy conservation internationally, aims to introduce a variety of renewable energy technologies to Burma, and to propose financial mechanisms that will allow these technologies to be deployed.

It worked with the Renewable Energy Association Myanmar (Ream) to organize the workshop.

"We want rural areas to be developed and to maintain the environment, so we can work together," said Ream spokesman Saw Win of the collaboration.

The Global Environmental Institute was originally founded in the United States in 2003, and GEI-China is a sister organization.

Due to decades of underinvestment in electricity infrastructure, 80 percent of Burma's rural population lacks access to electricity, while 77 percent of the total population—including in urban areas—lacks access, according to statistics from the Mekong Energy and Ecology Network.

Many families in rural areas collect firewood for cooking, with the average five-person family gathering 2.5 tons of wood annually, according to GEI-China, which said the time and cost of collecting the wood was significant for families and that the practice was detrimental to the environment.

GEI-China said renewable energy technologies would have a direct impact on 90 percent of Burma's rural population who depend heavily on biomass fuel.

But more funding will be required, said Saw Win of Burma's Ream.

"We need funding to implement the projects," he told The Irrawaddy. "We have no funding as an NGO, so they need to find donors so we can work together."

He added that Burma lacked the legal framework to tackle certain environmental issues.

"Today they were talking about renewable energy policies, but our renewable energy law has not yet been enacted, so we need more requirements here, but we do want to spread these renewable energy projects nationwide," he said.

The country is resource-rich, but the former military regime, which was replaced by a quasi-civilian government in 2011, signed deals to export most of its oil, gas and hydropower output to China and Thailand.

Burma has in recent years boosted its electricity capacity, but most villages still remain off the grid. The topography of Burma has proven a hindrance to the expansion of transmission lines.

China has sought to construct a major hydropower dam project, the Myitsone Dam in Kachin State, with about 3,600 megawatts of new generating capacity. Burma suspended the project in 2012 due to protests from local communities about its environmental and social impact.

Lawmakers Uneasy Over US-Burma Military Ties

Posted: 04 Sep 2013 11:56 PM PDT

US President Barack Obama, second right, sits with Burma's President Thein Sein, second left, in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington on May 20, 2013. (Photo: Reuters / Larry Downing)

WASHINGTON — The Obama administration wants to restart US defense training for Burma that was cut 25 years ago after a bloody crackdown on protesters. While assistance would be nonlethal, some American lawmakers are resisting, concerned Washington is moving too fast in forging ties with a military still accused of attacking ethnic minorities and blocking humanitarian aid.

The administration has rolled back tough sanctions and hosted President Thein Sein, a former junta member, at the White House to reward his heady rush toward democratic reform, but restoring military ties is particularly sensitive and viewed as one of Washington's few remaining points of leverage.

The administration, which is looking to boost US influence in Asia, is moving carefully but swiftly. With the backing of opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, US defense legal experts last week made their second trip to Burma in two months, scoping out what help they can provide on teaching about human rights and rule of law. And last Thursday, Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel met on the sidelines of a regional conference in Brunei with another former junta member, Lt-Gen Wai Lwin—the first bilateral meeting between the US and Burmese defense chiefs in two decades.

Military cooperation was severed after thousands of democracy protesters were gunned down during a 1988 popular uprising in the country, and an arms embargo is still in force. Burma has turned to China, Russia and North Korea for defense supplies and training.

But with a quasi-civilian government in place and national elections due in 2015, the Obama administration argues that talking "soldier-to-soldier" with Burma on issues like military justice and military-civilian relations can encourage reform and help the United States build ties with a military it knows little about.

The administration has backing from Republican Senate leader Mitch McConnell. He's the most influential voice in Congress on Burma policy, and in August declared support for "a modest, targeted military-to-military relationship."

But other lawmakers are against it, sharing the concerns of activists who argue it would give international legitimacy to a military that has waged a brutal campaign displacing 100,000 civilians in northern Kachin State during the past two years of political opening.

"It is far too soon to initiate military engagement between the US and Burma," Republican Rep. Steve Chabot, chair of a House panel that oversees policy toward East Asia, told Associated Press.

"The Burmese military not only maintains control over the civilian structures of Burma's government, but has extended its hand as a perpetrator of human rights violations against the ethnic minorities that are sweeping the country."

A number of Western nations are already moving ahead. Britain has invited 30 Burma officers to a prestigious defense conference. Australia is also pledging basic military engagement to support security sector reform.

Priscilla Clapp, a former US charge d'affaires in Rangoon, says standing on the sidelines doesn't serve US interests. "We need to reach into the organization of the military and help educate people and expose them to new ideas," she said.

Before sanctions were applied, the United States financed $4.7 million in military sales delivered to Burma between 1980 and 1988, and trained 167 officers at American military schools under the International Military Education and Training, or IMET—a program jointly managed by the State Department and Defense Department that helps more than 120 countries.

While the IMET alumni have rarely been movers and shakers in Burma's xenophobic military hierarchy, they include a current vice president and several senior government officials. The State Department contends that has helped create a constituency for reform and closer ties with the United States.

But the Government Accountability Office concluded in an October 2011 report that human rights were generally not a priority in IMET training plans. Because of weak monitoring of the careers of IMET graduates, the report said it was not possible to demonstrate the program's effectiveness "in building professionalism and respect for human rights within foreign military forces."

When the Obama administration informed Congress in spring about plans for gradually resuming military ties with Burma, both Republicans and Democrats pushed back and urged the administration to move slowly, congressional aides said.

Various budget bills working their way through Congress reflect that unease. A draft House defense authorization bill for the fiscal year starting in October says the Burma military's efforts "to end impunity for human rights abuses" should be assessed before going beyond initial dialogue and engagements.

While the State Department says it's too soon for a full resumption of IMET, it does advocate moving beyond dialogue and starting a formal training program. A so-called Extended IMET program would contribute to military reforms by teaching about human rights, military justice and humanitarian assistance, it says.

Legislative obstacles remain, and endorsement of Suu Kyi, who is revered in Washington, would also be crucial for it to become a reality. She has supported the recent visits by the US Defense Institute of International Legal Studies to Burma.

Despite their common loathing for the government's armed forces, Burma's myriad ethnic minorities groups have varying opinions about the merits of US military engagement. That's reflected even within the United Nationalities Federal Council (UNFC)—an umbrella group that represents various ethnic rebel groups seeking more autonomy within Burma.

Khin Maung, the council's deputy head of foreign affairs from western Arakan State, was skeptical the United States would be able to change what he calls the entrenched chauvinism of Burma's military against minorities. But David Tharckabaw, a council vice president from Karen State, was hopeful US training could turn the military from "bandits" to a disciplined army that is responsible for national defense while respecting human rights.

Associated Press writer Grant Peck in Bangkok, Thailand, contributed to this report.

Burma Gets Chinese Help to Enter UN Carbon Market

Posted: 04 Sep 2013 10:06 PM PDT

Burma will try to develop projects that cut greenhouse gas emissions to generate carbon credits. (PHOTO: Public domain)

BEIJING – Burma this week signed a deal to develop carbon-cutting projects under the UN Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) with China's Sunshine Kaidi New Energy Group, a technology investment firm, Chinese media reported.

Under the agreement, Sunshine Kaidi will assist Burma in determining the potential of developing CDM projects in the country and fund project development, news agency Xinhua reported.

The CDM, one of the so-called flexible mechanisms of the Kyoto Protocol, allows projects in developing countries that cut greenhouse gas emissions to generate carbon credits, which can be sold to developed-nation governments and companies seeking to meet emission targets.

Once a multi-billion dollar market, the CDM has suffered a 90-percent price drop over the last two-and-a-half years as the economic crisis and weak climate ambitions in rich countries have left the market over-supplied by billions of permits this decade.

Europe, the biggest buyer of CDM credits, introduced a new rule this year that limits eligibility for new projects to those located in least developed countries (LDCs), driving project development in major CDM countries such as China and India to a near stand-still.

As one of 10 Asian LDCs, Burma would qualify to sell credits to the European carbon market, as part of the country's rapidly growing economic interaction with western nations, many of whom boycotted Burma until recently.

CDM credits currently trade at just below 60 euro cents per ton of carbon dioxide equivalent in the EU market, an unprofitable level of return for many project types, analysts say.

One Burma-based CDM project has so far been approved by the United Nations, while six more are in early stages of development, according to a Thomson Reuters Point Carbon project database.

Additional reporting by Thomson Reuters Foundation reporter Kathy Chen.

In Singapore, the ‘Economics’ of Defamation

Posted: 04 Sep 2013 11:05 PM PDT

Singapore’s Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong attends the International Conference on the Future of Asia, in Tokyo in May. In 2010, the International Herald Tribune apologized to former Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew and Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, in addition to paying US$114,000 in damages, rather than trying to contest a defamation charge. (Photo: Reuters)

In 2002, global business news agency Bloomberg made headlines when it issued a public apology and paid substantial damages for a contributor's article which suggested nepotism in the appointment of then Singapore Senior Minister Lee Kuan Yew's daughter-in-law Ho Ching as executive director of state-owned investment company Temasek Holdings, Inc.

The Bloomberg apology acknowledged that the article implied that then-Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong put the Lee family's interests above those of the country in Ho's appointment, and that her husband Lee Hsien Loong and father-in-law were guilty of nepotism. The apology added that the writer could have implied that Ho's appointment was made not on merit, "but in order to indulge the interests of the Lee family or for some other corrupt motive."

”We admit and acknowledge that these allegations are false and completely without foundation,” said the Bloomberg apology, published on its website and subscription service. The offending story was also removed.

With the Lee family having won several defamation cases against opposition politicians and media organizations, involving large monetary compensation, Bloomberg's apology and the S$595,000 (US$ 466,000) it paid in damages to the Lee family without the case even reaching the courts, came as no surprise to media observers who said it actually was good economic sense.

Bloomberg joined a long list of international media giants—Financial Times, Far Eastern Economic Review, The Economist, Asian Wall Street Journal, Time and Asia Week—which have been at the losing end of expensive legal defamation actions by Singapore's rulers. In 2010, the International Herald Tribune apologized to former Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew and Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, in addition to paying US$114,000 in damages, rather than trying to contest a defamation charge. In 1994, the Tribune paid a record US$678,000 in damages to the Lee family in another out-of-court settlement over an allegedly defamatory article.

Leading Singapore media freedom advocate Professor Cherian George says Singapore's courts tend to disregard the standard defense against defamation that it is justified in the public interest. Based on previous judgments, he says, the courts in Singapore tend to side with the public official's right to protect his or her reputation rather than the need for open and vigorous public debate. "It's very hard to find an argument to defend your client. In Singapore, the public interest argument has not been taken seriously by the courts," he says.

In most cases, lawyers simply advise defendants to apologize and reach an out-of-court settlement. Nowadays, foreign publications find it makes economic sense to apologize and pay damages rather than contest the charges in court, says Prof. George. A prolonged legal battle, which they know they will almost certainly lose, will be far more expensive.

In a September 2002 report in The Australian, Sydney lawyer and journalist Stuart Littlemore, who has studied several defamation cases in Singapore, said that no foreign publisher has successfully defended a libel action against a Singapore politician, and that when these leaders win their case, the average monetary compensation awarded is usually S$450,000, which is 12 times the compensation when the defendant is a Singapore citizen.

In 1988, Far Eastern Economic Review paid US$175,000 after the court ruled the magazine had defamed the Lee family. Eleven years later, the Review paid US$290,000 again to the family in an out-of-court settlement for an allegedly defamatory 2006 article. The Economist has paid a total of US$352,000 in damages in two separate defamation cases brought by the Singapore government.

International news organizations also do not want to risk expulsion from Singapore, a key global business and financial news hub, says Prof. George.  "For most foreign journalists and most foreign media operating in this region, we are one of the easiest countries to work from. I don't think they feel that's a problem."

"Also, what's happening is that the foreign media has become more commercial. The nature of foreign media has also changed. In the past, before the 1990s, these decisions of whether to challenge authoritarian practices in Southeast Asia were more of a professional and principled decision. So you fight on principle," he added.

"Now, it's more of a business decision. They ask themselves, 'Does it make economic sense?' Does it fit in with our future plan for expansion in Asia," Prof. George said.

A memo from Bloomberg's New York-based chief editor Matthew Winkler to its news staff in Singapore after the agency's apology, expressed concern that the welfare of the company's 180 employees in Singapore was "at risk" and that the agency's 3,000 subscribers in Singapore 'might lose the Bloomberg service.'"

A 2009 Court of Appeals decision upholding a High Court ruling, which had stated that "only Singapore citizens are entitled to enjoy constitutional free speech," seems to have made it even more difficult for foreign media outfits to defend themselves in defamation cases.

Defamation is punishable with up to two years of imprisonment or a fine or both under Singapore's Defamation Act and Penal Code.

This article was produced for the 2013 Southeast Asian Press Alliance (Seapa) fellowship program. Marlon Alexander, an editorial director for the Filipino Connection, is one of the 2013 fellows. This year's theme is Freedom of Expression Challenges to Internet Government in Southeast Asia.

China Moving to Occupy Disputed Reef: Philippine Diplomat

Posted: 04 Sep 2013 09:57 PM PDT

US and Philippine Marines simulate an amphibious landing as part of RP-US Amphibious Landing Exercise (PHIBLEX) at the beach in San Antonio, Zambales province, north of Manila on Oct. 23, 2011. (Photo: Getty Images)

MANILA — China plans to occupy a disputed chain of reefs and rocks in the South China Sea to expand its territory before regional rules on maritime behavior come into effect, the Philippines’ top diplomat said on Wednesday.

The Philippines believes China’s incursion into the Scarborough Shoal is a threat to peace in Southeast Asia, said Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert del Rosario.

In Beijing, a foreign ministry spokesman described the shoal – which lies about 125 nautical miles off the Philippines’ main island of Luzon – as China’s "inherent territory".

In an interview with Reuters in his Manila office, del Rosario said the Philippines would file a diplomatic protest against China after it discovered concrete blocks on the shoal, which Chinese ships have occupied since April last year.

He urged regional governments to speed up talks on a binding code of conduct (CoC) governing behavior at sea.

"We think that China is trying to stay ahead of the CoC," he said. "We think that they have an assertion agenda that they are trying to complete before they are able to sit down and negotiate a CoC."

Tension over the South China Sea, one of the world’s most strategically important waterways, has risen as China uses its growing naval might to assert extensive claims over the oil- and gas-rich waters more forcefully, fuelling fears of a military clash.

Four of the 10 members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), including Vietnam and the Philippines, have overlapping claims with China. Taiwan also has claims over the entire sea.

"This kind of activity places the region in jeopardy in terms of peace and stability," del Rosario said.

"If the Philippines is the target of China today, another country could be the target tomorrow. So this should be considered as a regional issue."

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei, asked about the Philippine’s latest accusations, said they were not true, though he did not provide details.

"What the Philippines said of the situation is not true. The Scarborough Shoal is China’s inherent territory," he told reporters in Beijing.

"Based on the present circumstances the Chinese government’s official ships have been conducting normal patrols in the waters around the Scarborough Shoal in order to safeguard its sovereignty … This is China’s legitimate right and cannot be questioned."

'Larger Challenge'

China and the Philippines accuse each other of violating a 2002 declaration of conduct, a non-binding confidence-building agreement on maritime behavior signed by China and ASEAN.

Del Rosario said the latest Chinese activity in Scarborough Shoal was discussed at a cabinet meeting on Wednesday, where fresh surveillances pictures were shown.

"If we looked back to what they did in Mischief Reef, this could very well be a repetition of what happened there," he said, adding the latest incursion was "a significant and larger challenge" for the country.

In February 1995, the Philippines discovered a cluster of huts in half-submerged Mischief Reef in the Spratly Islands, 130 miles (210 km) off its coast. Several years later, the shelters which China had said were meant as shelter for fishermen, had been turned into a multi-level concrete fortress.

Philippine officials said the concrete pillars and blocks in Scarborough Shoal appeared to have been dropped from an aircraft, describing them as possible material for permanent structures.

It could be the first case of occupation of an uninhabited feature in the South China Sea since the 2002 code was signed.

‘Crazy Rich Asians’ Tackles Stereotypes via Satire

Posted: 04 Sep 2013 09:52 PM PDT

An employee of jewelry maker Ginza Tanaka poses with a 100-kg (3,527-oz) Maple Leaf gold coin and a 28-gram (1-oz) Maple Leaf gold coin at a promotional event for the coins in Tokyo.

The wealthy people who fill the pages of "Crazy Rich Asians" think nothing of draping themselves in jewelry, keeping live sharks in their living room or hiring a helicopter to fly off to a private island.

But author Kevin Kwan said some of the depictions of life among the very, very rich in his debut novel—aspects of which were taken from his own experience as a member of an established Singaporean family—had to be toned down or cut.

Now a New York resident, Kwan spoke to Reuters about his book, the story of how the heir to one of the richest Singapore dynasties takes his Chinese-American girlfriend Rachel home to meet the family, as well as portrayals of Asians in the media.

Question: What got this book going?

Answer: It just really felt to me that there was a gap in terms of the sort of book we were seeing about Asia in America. There really seemed to be only two genres within fiction: historical fiction set in Asia, of the Amy Tan variety for instance, and then the contemporary stories about Asian-American assimilation. It seemed like nobody was really writing about Asia now.

There's so much emphasis on the economic might of China, of Southeast Asia, Asian "Super Tigers" and things like that. But nobody was really looking from the perspective of a family story, of these individuals. Having a little bit of experience with that, I just thought it would be fun to set a story like that in Asia today.

Q: Are you part of a family like this?

A: I would say the book is very satirical and it's high parody. There's a lot of exaggeration and outrageousness. I came from an old and established Singapore family, not unlike the sort Nicholas would have come from, but this is not a book about my family by any means.

Q: I heard you actually had to take some things out?

A: There were storylines and descriptions of houses or places or the way people would travel that I had to tone down because my editor said I was really going to lose people.

Q: Why did you decide to take this particular over-the-top approach or did it choose itself?

A: I think it really chose itself, in a way. This is just the story that came out. It surprised me too because I'm naturally a much more serious person. Writers often say that characters begin to write themselves and I never used to believe that. I always thought that was complete hogwash. But I witnessed it as I fell into writing the book.

I had a set ideas of where I wanted to take a character but it evolved. The characters began to take over at a certain point … With comedy, it allows people to see things but perhaps reflect on things in a different way. You need that comedy to balance out what I think are some dark issues—the vast income disparity between rich and poor, for example, in Asia, in China.

Q: Some readers have said they feel the book may perpetuate stereotypes of Asians. What would you say?

A: I really disagree. I think what I'm showing or hoping to show is that, beyond the stereotypes, there are people that care about things beyond money—those are the main characters. You can see in some cases, even though characters come from a great deal of money, money doesn't buy happiness.

The feedback I've been getting from so many people, especially Asians, is they love the way Asians are portrayed against the stereotype that you see in the West. They're portrayed as modern, sophisticated cultured people of taste. They're portrayed as people that actually have some sex appeal. In the West, I think there's been a tradition of neutering Asian men in a way and all the women have to be bombshells.

There are certain stereotypes that still persist. An Asian writer in Canada told me that he was in tears when the book was over—not because of the story but because he realized this was the first time he was reading a book that portrayed Asian characters like him versus the struggling immigrant or the boy that's embarrassed that his parents own a Laundromat or the woman that's having to choose between two babies in Shanghai.

The difference also is these characters happen to be Asians living in Asia, so they don't have the same baggage that I think Asian-Americans would have, growing up minorities in a majority culture.

Q: Have you felt there haven't been real Asians in books?

A: Certainly living in the US, as I have for over two decades, you see how Asians are portrayed in the media. … I didn't see myself represented, you know, when I used to look at ads on TV. I was never the science geek. It used to be on TV you'd see only two types of Asians. You'd see the science geek who's using his mobile phone or something like that or you'd see a very token Asian family—yuppie mother and father and two little Asian kids. It's the last barrier for Hollywood.

There was a producer who was very interested in my book as a possibility for a movie but this producer wanted to change the character of Rachel to a white girl. I was, like, you completely, completely missed the point … But from their perspective—which is a very pragmatic, Hollywood perspective—it's a hard sell to have an all-Asian cast for a major Hollywood movie. You would need a Reese Witherspoon or an Anne Hathaway as the interloper discovering the East to make it marketable.

Plans for New Indian State Spark Demands for More

Posted: 04 Sep 2013 09:45 PM PDT

Telangana supporters cheer as they celebrate after the announcement of the separate state of Telangana at their party headquarters in the southern Indian city of Hyderabad July 30, 2013. (Photo: Reuters)

NEW DELHI — India, a nation of 1.2 billion people, has 28 states. Some would rank among the world's most populous countries.

So when India's ruling coalition endorsed a 29th state last month, millions of people who have felt ignored and marginalized living far from their state capitals had the same reaction: Why not us?

In West Bengal state, for example, tens of thousands of indigenous Gorkhas demanding their own state—Gorkhaland—have barricaded streets in Darjeeling, the town best known for its prized tea gardens. Strikes have shut down businesses. Police arrested dozens of activists and clamped a curfew in the worst-hit districts last week.

Demands for more than two dozen new states have burst into mutinous life, and the strikes and protests could redraw India's political map.

There are no immediate signs of widespread instability, but the localized rumblings could deflect government attention from its most pressing task: improving the struggling Indian economy.

It's unclear whether the ruling coalition will accept more states. Even the proposal it endorsed, for carving the state of Telangana out of Andhra Pradesh state, is a long way from implementation.

India has always been a political patchwork of astonishingly diverse humanity. Since independence from Britain in 1947, the sprawling country of different religions, distinct cultures and hundreds of languages has been bound together into a cohesive if chaotic democracy.

The Indian system gives broad power to states, which were drawn broadly along linguistic lines, most of them by a state reorganization commission in the mid-1950s. But many states are so large they have become difficult to govern, leaving politically marginalized regions out of India's economic boom.

Some larger states have already been split apart, most recently with the creation of three new states in 2000. If Telangana clears numerous legislative hurdles, it will become the country's 29th state.

Telangana would be composed of the mostly poor, inland districts of Andhra Pradesh state. While its people are ethnically the same as most in Andhra Pradesh, they have long felt ignored by a state government that appeared to divert most resources to the more prosperous southern and coastal districts. For years, the region has been churned by violent protests and hunger strikes.

People in Telangana celebrated when New Delhi backed the creation of the new state, but the decision also triggered counterprotests from supporters of a united Andhra Pradesh. A key point of contention is that the proposed Telangana would include Hyderabad, a wealthy IT and industrial hub.

In New Delhi, angry lawmakers on both sides of the Telangana debate repeatedly disrupted the lower house of parliament this week, and nine parliamentarians were suspended.

The decision on a new state faces several hurdles. The home ministry must decide how to divide Andhra Pradesh's resources, waterways and employees. The federal Cabinet, India's president, the state assembly and parliament would have to approve the plan. Parsa V. Rao, a political analyst in New Delhi, said the process will take several months at least.

The abrupt decision on Telangana by the Congress party, the most powerful member of the ruling coalition, was made with next year's general elections in mind, but it has given new life to other longstanding demands for new states based on ethnic or linguistic lines.

Claimants to more than two dozen potential states feel their demands now stand a greater chance of success. Aside from Telangana, however, the government has answered most demands for new states by suggesting exploratory talks but making no commitments.

Activists in the Vidarbha region in Maharashtra state are demanding statehood, arguing that the impoverished, water-scarce region has been ignored in favor of the coastal areas around Mumbai. In central India, economically deprived Bundelkhand, currently split between Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh states, has convulsed with demands to separate. The western part of Uttar Pradesh wants to break away to form Harit Pradesh, a prosperous enclave close to the national capital.

In India's northeast, a cauldron of ethnic, linguistic and religious diversity, calls for a multitude of separate states have been simmering for decades. Apart from the Gorkhas, there are demands from the Bodo, Karbi, Dimasa, Kuki and Naga ethnic groups, all seeking new states.

The Gorkhaland and Bodo movements, two of the most prominent splinter groups, are much older than the efforts to create a Telangana state, and the leaders of those groups see the Telangana decision as nothing short of a betrayal of their own dreams.

"If they can give Telangana, then why can't we have Bodoland? We want a similar kind of justice," said S.K. Bwismuthiary, a member of parliament from the remote northeastern state of Assam.

"Our struggle for a separate Bodoland will be relentless," said Pramod Boro of the All Bodo Students Union.

The demand for smaller states is spurred by hopes that they would bring more government funds and better governance. Behind the scenes are the corrupt politicians and hangers-on anticipating the money that flows when entire state governments are created.

But the status quo carries its own consequences in large states such as Uttar Pradesh, which has 200 million people and some of India's worst literacy, health and poverty statistics.

Uttar Pradesh's main opposition party has demanded that the state be carved into four smaller units. It was a demand that Mayawati, a former chief minister of Uttar Pradesh and now the opposition leader, made during her tenure as head of the state.

Mayawati's critics, though, say she's not seeking better governance, but a way to extend her party's influence to four states rather than just one. Her five-year term as chief minister was marred with charges of corruption and graft.

Political analysts, though, say past attempts to create smaller states have paid off.

Ajit Kumar Singh of the Giri Institute of Development Studies, a think tank in Lucknow, the capital of Uttar Pradesh, says newer, smaller states have all performed well and their economic growth has been relatively fast.

"The general evidence is that all the newly created smaller states show average growth rates that have been much above the national average," Singh said.

But, he added, the government cannot give in to every demand for a new state, and should not be steered by electoral agendas.

"A rational approach should be followed," Singh said. "It is time for a second state reorganization commission to look at the claims of all stake holders and provide equitable outcomes."

Fighters for statehood are willing to talk but say their patience will eventually run out. The Bodoland protests have stopped but could be restarted at a moment's notice, Boro said.

"For now, we have agreed to put our agitation on hold after the government said it is willing to talk about a separate Bodoland state," he said. "We have waited for so long."
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