Tuesday, December 24, 2013

The Irrawaddy Magazine

The Irrawaddy Magazine

With Suu Kyi and China, It’s Complicated

Posted: 24 Dec 2013 03:37 AM PST

In less than two years, Burma will have its first presidential election since the political reform. Whether opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi will be eligible for the presidency remains unknown. However, president or not, she will continue to be a key political force shaping the country's future. For China, after two years of policy adjustments to cope with the new reality in Burma, the question of how to clearly define and properly handle relations with the Nobel Peace Prize laureate has become increasingly urgent. In the most immediate term, whether and how to invite her for a formal official visit is a key issue that needs an answer.

China has not had the smoothest relationship with the democratic icon since 1990. That year, the Chinese Embassy in Burma initially accepted the results of the multi-party elections and allegedly sent a letter of congratulations to Suu Kyi and her National League for Democracy (NLD) party, which won by a landslide. This response was harshly criticized by Burma's military government, which rejected the election results. The incident affected bilateral ties, encouraging China to pull its ambassador out of Rangoon from mid-1990 until July 1991.

The lesson was so serious that in order to preempt a similar situation, China left the ambassador position open during the November 2010 elections. Ambassador Ye Dabo went back to Beijing in September 2010, while his successor Li Junhua did not arrive in Burma until late December. During this period, the embassy in Rangoon carefully minimized contact with Suu Kyi and the NLD out of considerations for the military government's sensitivity. As a result, Chinese diplomats, officials, scholars and businesses had almost no relationship with the diplomatic opposition.

The lack of contact was not a major problem before 2011, since the military government made all the calls and was the only actor that China needed to deal with. But with political reform, Suu Kyi has become such a critical political figure in Burma that no one can afford to overlook her. Her party won 43 of 46 parliamentary seats in the 2012 by-elections, while she became chairperson of the rule of law committee of the Lower House in 2012. She also chaired the investigation committee on the Chinese Letpadaung copper mine project.

In dealing with such an important politician, China needs to not only build ties almost from scratch, but also to overcome the harsh feelings that Suu Kyi herself might have, considering China's long support for the military government that put her under house arrest for 15 years.

The Chinese Embassy in Rangoon has taken some initiative to mend ties starting two years ago. On Dec. 15, 2011, then Chinese ambassador Li Junhua held the first official meeting with Suu Kyi in 20 years. Since then, Chinese diplomats, scholars, journalists and business representatives have frequented the NLD's headquarter in Rangoon to "normalize" relations with the opposition leader and her party. In April this year, the new Chinese ambassador to Burma, Yang Houlan, visited Suu Kyi within one month of his arrival. In an unprecedented move, he also reportedly attended her birthday reception in June.

In addition, several NLD delegations have been invited by Chinese authorities to visit China, including one delegation of NLD central executive committee members in May and another of NLD youth members in June. The most recent delegation visited Beijing earlier this month at the official invitation of China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs and met with an array of senior Chinese officials, including the vice foreign minister, chairman of the Chinese People's Institute of Foreign Affairs, and the vice chair of the International Relations Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference.

In reciprocity, or simply because she is a politician, Suu Kyi has made some strategic moves that have significantly improved Beijing's assessment of her and of her potential policy toward China. Under her leadership, the investigation committee of the Letpadaung project approved the continuation of the copper mine, a joint venture between the Burmese government, a Burmese military-backed company and China's Wanbao company. She spoke publicly about how Burma needs to honor its pre-existing contracts with China, leading to wild imaginations in China about her possible support of the controversial Myitsone dam. She has committed herself and the NLD to developing a good relationship with China, denying that different political systems would hinder such a prospect. These are all perceived to be very "reassuring" for Beijing.

With goodwill from both sides, the natural next step would seem to be a visit by Suu Kyi at the official invitation of the Chinese government in the near future. In fact, the question has been repeatedly debated in China since 2012, and a favorable decision is yet to be reached. China's concern is simple but grave: How will a visit by such a democratic icon affect China's political and social stability? As the new generation of Chinese leaders battles corruption, injustice and the people's rising discontent at home, Suu Kyi might inspire more ideas and actions among the grumbling Chinese public. In addition, her status as a Nobel Peace Prize laureate will remind everyone inside and outside of China that her fellow laureates, the Dalai Lama in exile and Liu Xiaobo in jail, are still China's "enemies of state." Beijing will not easily extend an invitation to her until it finds satisfactory answers to these difficult questions.

China also raises some major questions for Suu Kyi. As she tries to revise the Constitution and become eligible for the presidency in 2015, China is not a force she wants to antagonize, given the level of Chinese influence inside Burma. How and at what cost she can appease China without undermining her position at home remains to be seen. Her support of the continuation of the Letpadaung copper mine has upset many local residents and Burmese opinion leaders, testing the limits of her charm.

Therefore, it will be prudent for Suu Kyi to carefully calibrate her position on a variety of issues—not only on Sino-Burmese bilateral relations but also on China itself—before making any commitment to visit. After all, she is not just any Burmese politician, and it is only reasonable for people to expect more.

The post With Suu Kyi and China, It's Complicated appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine.

Burmese Maids Prepare for Work in Hong Kong

Posted: 24 Dec 2013 03:30 AM PST

Hong Kong, Singapore, Burma, Myanmar, domestic helpers, maids, labor, employment, migrant workers

A maid from the Philippines works at her employer's house in Singapore in this 2008 photo. (Photo: Reuters)

RANGOON — Burmese domestic helpers are preparing to move abroad to Hong Kong, the second place after Singapore where the Burma government has allowed them to apply for work abroad.

The Burma government is expanding options for local domestic helpers in a bid to reduce the unemployment rate at home and to discourage illegal labor in neighboring countries.

Myo Aung, deputy director of the Department of Labor at the Ministry of Labor, said 200 domestic helpers would be allowed to work in Hong Kong initially, with 60 of them starting their jobs next month through Burmese employment agency Gold Mine.

"We are respecting the demand," he told The Irrawaddy on Tuesday. "There's demand in Hong Kong for Myanmar [Burmese] domestic helpers because the Burmese have a family spirit, pure minds and a solid work ethic."

The Ministry of Labor gave preference to Hong Kong because the region is known for offering a relatively high salary for domestic helpers, with maids earning about US$500 per month as opposed to about $300 in Singapore.

The Burma consulate in Hong Kong has said the region enforces labor laws to protect domestic helpers, who have faced harsh conditions in some other countries in Asia.

The Department of Occupational Safety and Health at Burma's Ministry of Labor says it plans to station a labor ambassador in Singapore, Hong Kong and any country where Burmese domestic helpers are allowed to apply for work in the future.

"We contacted the [Burmese] consulate in Hong Kong and will find a solution if the domestic helpers face abuse. This is the most important for Myanmar workers," Win Kyaing, director of the department, told The Irrawaddy. "We are taking full responsibility, whether they are legal workers or not. But it's better if they are legal, so we can protect them."

Gold Mine, the employment agency, will receive the first 60 domestic helpers in January, offering a two-year contract.

"We will take care of the workers 24 hours a day—they can inform our office if they face any problem. We also have Myanmar translators," a spokesman for the agency said.

The agency will cover up-front relocation costs from Burma to Hong Kong, which will then be deducted from the first four months of salary, in line with standards of the Ministry of Labor. Workers can also send their earnings back to their families in Burma, free of charge. They will work six days a week, with double pay for overtime.

Aye Aye Than, who will provide training through the employment agency, said it would be important for domestic helpers to learn English and Chinese language skills.

"We accept applicants who have passed eighth or ninth standard, but one third of applicants have graduated and already passed tenth standard," she said. Tenth standard is the final year of school before university in Burma.

Burma has already sent more than 200 domestic helpers to Singapore since they were first allowed to apply for work there earlier this year.

Demand for domestic helpers is high in Hong Kong after Indonesia announced it would prohibit Indonesian maids from working abroad after 2017. Domestic helpers from the Philippines are also trying to secure work in the Macao industrial zones, where the salary is slightly higher than in Hong Kong.

The post Burmese Maids Prepare for Work in Hong Kong appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine.

Police Rescue 56 Burmese Women Trafficked to China Over 11 Months

Posted: 24 Dec 2013 03:15 AM PST

Human trafficking, Burma, China, marriage, broker,

Burmese women in a brothel in China. (Photo: Than Aung / The Irrawaddy)

RANGOON — Burma's national anti-human trafficking police rescued 56 women taken to China against their will in the first 11 months of this year, an official said.

Min Naing, chief of the Special Anti-Human Trafficking Police Unit in Naypyidaw, told The Irrawaddy on Tuesday that women taken to China were the largest single group among the 244 people the agency rescued in 2013 up to the end of November.

Another 20 cases were women trafficked across the border into Thailand, he said.

"There were 56 cases from China. They were from Shan State and were trafficked and forced to marry with Chinese men," said Min Naing. The unit rescued over 100 people trafficked to China last year.

He said that in these cases, Chinese men typically bought women from brokers in Burma and took them over the border to marry them. Many of the women were forced to work without pay, and were raped, he said.

"It is rare to see they were treated like a wife after they got married. We found that some people who married them sold them to other men for sex," Min Naing said, added that in some cases there was evidence the rescued women had been tortured while in China.

Min Naing said the root cause of the problem was the shortage of women in China, where decades of the one-child policy has meant there are millions more men than women in the country.

Poor Burmese women living in border areas are taken in by promises of a good life, and well paid work, on the other side of the border. The official figures only include cases where Burmese authorities have been able to rescue the victim, and may only represent a fraction of the true number of Burmese women trafficked into China.

In November, Burmese and Chinese police collaborated to close down a matchmaking agency that was allegedly luring Burmese women in northern Shan State border towns into marriages with Chinese men. The agency's Chinese manager was deported from Burma after authorities found that the company was recruiting Burmese brides with promises including earnings of $400 per month in China.

Among the other cases dealt with by the anti-human trafficking unit this year, 33 involved people under 16 years old and another 25 involved people aged 16-18. The majority of all those trafficked and rescued, 164, were women.

There were 75 men and 176 women convicted of crimes in the cases, he said. Under Article 24 of Burma's Penal Code, a human trafficking conviction carries a sentence of between 10 and 20 years.

Additional reporting by Khaing Pyae Zone.

The post Police Rescue 56 Burmese Women Trafficked to China Over 11 Months appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine.

Photo of the Week (Dec 24, 2013)

Posted: 24 Dec 2013 02:05 AM PST

For Burma’s Future Business Leaders, an MBA Is Essential

Posted: 24 Dec 2013 01:58 AM PST

Students study at Rajamanagala University in Chiang Mai, Northern Thailand. Many Burmese still travel overseas for their education. (Photo: Steve Tickner / The Irrawaddy)

RANGOON — Those hoping to be the managers of Burma's brave new economy are signing up to a raft of new private courses offering an MBA, or Master of Business Administration, according to educators and students.

In the West, the MBA and similar post-graduate programs have long been the go-to qualifications for would-be high fliers. But as Burma's government undertakes economic and political reforms to open the country up to foreign investment, managers still lack formal qualification.

"In Burma, people mostly work using experience, but they lack the theory," said Aye Aye Mar, principal of the Business Institute Yangon. "When the country opens up, we can't work as we used to before, we have to follow the global trend."

The Business Institute Yangon is one of a handful of private institutions that have begun offering MBA courses in Burma in recent years, as people increasingly stay in country to get the qualification rather than study abroad.

"Both theory and experience is required in the workplace," added Aye Aye Mar. "People need to read and study sample [business] cases. [Managers] can make better decision where they have completed master's-level business studies."

These private institutions in Burma have tied up with universities in Thailand, France, UK and the United States, who provide valuable accreditation to the degrees.

Many study for their MBAs while working a job, so courses are structured so that teaching is at weekends and in the evenings.

Su Myat Mon, who is studying for an MBA and is also overseas director at SR Worldwide Education, said she preferred to stay in Burma, and stay in her job, to study.

"I have wanted a [recognized] management degree, an MBA, for a long time, either at a local or overseas [institution]. But I prefer to take a recognized degree in Myanmar rather than overseas," she said.

The Yangon Institute of Economics' Department of Management Studies, a public institution, has for years been offering an MBA program, but its intake is small and admission is highly competitive, with students required to take a graduate management admission test, or GMAT. The course is full-time and takes three years to complete, but course fees are negligibly cheap.

Although entry requirements are far lower, MBA programs at private institutions in Burma can cost from US$10,000 and last on average one-and-a-half years.

Khin Hnin Soe, the principal of another private institution, Myanmar Metropolitan College, said having an MBA is becoming a necessity for Burmese wanting to get ahead in business.

"A lot of people, including top businessmen, attend MBA programs nowadays. Young adults who have graduated are also starting to join MBA programs," she said. "The demand for master's degrees has increased in the [business] industry and upgrading is needed for those already in the workplace."

Aung Si Lin, the executive director of construction firm Maw Shan Thway Company Ltd, with already 20 years of experience in sales and marketing, is studying for an MBA at Myanmar Metropolitan College (MMC). He wants to eventually move into teaching to pass on his skills.

"What MMC offers is an online MBA and assignment-based tasks on weekends. We don't have much pressure," he said. "We have to give up a lot of time if we study overseas, where the costs is quite high."

Although local courses are now available, many still go to study abroad, as those who can afford it have increasingly done as the standard of teaching at Burma's educational institutions has been left behind other countries.

A student who attended a master's program in E-business Management at the International University of Japan said studying abroad offered the chance to gain life experience.

"I choose this program because it is one year program and I haven't taken GMAT exam," the student said, adding that she is now a deputy manager working in Burma's banking industry.

The program she attended in Japan would have cost more than $21,000, had she not had a scholarship, and many students are looking to local courses as a cheaper option.

"An MBA is not only a degree, it's important for your whole life," said Su Myat Mon. "Everybody who is interested should attend. Where you get your degree doesn't matter, it all depends on your hard work."

The post For Burma's Future Business Leaders, an MBA Is Essential appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine.

No Progress in Drug Eradication Program: Shan Rebels

Posted: 24 Dec 2013 01:32 AM PST

A drug addict in Shan State smokes opium with a bamboo pipe. (Photo: Tony Cliff / The Irrawaddy)

Ethnic Shan rebel leaders say the Burmese government has not demonstrated a serious commitment to fighting the drug trade in eastern Burma's Shan State, despite joining a drug eradication program with the rebels and the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC).

The Restoration Council of Shan State (RCSS)'s anti-narcotics committee said on Monday that the joint efforts to battle the drug trade started in October last year, but that little progress had been made on the ground.

"We reached the agreement more than a year ago, but we can't implement anything," Lt-Col Sai Harn, head of the RCSS anti-narcotics committee, told The Irrawaddy. He said collaboration was weak with Burmese authorities.

"Since meeting in Tachileik last year, we have not had any official meetings," he said. "They met us unofficially. When we asked them something, they did not give us a clear answer. They said they did not get an order from higher officials."

The RCSS is the political wing of the Shan State Army-South (SSA-S), one of the largest ethnic rebel groups in Burma.

In late October last year, it joined the UNODC and the Burmese government's Central Committee for Drug Abuse Control (CCDAC) in meetings in the border town of Tachileik to cooperate on creating alternative development projects to benefit farmers who currently have few other options besides growing opium poppy.

The RCSS, the UNODC and Burmese authorities agreed to conduct a pre-assessment in nine villages in Mong Pan Township and 11 villages in Mong Nai Township in February and March. In the pre-assessment, local residents told the RCSS that they would prefer growing other crops besides opium poppy if the alternatives provided a sufficient income.

"They used to grow substitute crops in the past, but there was no good market, so they grew opium to earn more," Sai Harn said.

Burma's is the world's second-largest opium producing nation after Afghanistan, and Shan State is believed to be the largest drug-producing region in the country.

Since reaching a ceasefire with the government in December 2011, the RSCC has opened several offices and appointed liaison officers for communications. It says it has struggled to get in touch with Burmese authorities working on the drug eradication project, and that it has been told that the UNODC cannot offer technical or financial support for alternative development projects without an official green light from Burmese authorities.

Sai Harn said he met in early April with UNODC country manager Jason Eligh in Taunggyi, the capital of Shan State, and that he received assurances that the UN organization would discuss the needs assessment in Mong Pan and Mong Nai with the government later that month.

The RCSS says it asked a Burmese official, Pol-Col Win Tun about the launch date of the needs assessment, and was told that he would need to ask the UNODC for further information. At the same time, he said the UNODC has claimed it cannot not offer financial or technical support for the assessment without approval from Burmese authorities.

The UNODC highlighted in a report last week how poor farmers without alternative ways of making a living often turn to opium production. The UN agency estimated in an annual survey that Burma would produce 870 metric tons of opium this year, a 26 percent increase over production last year.

The post No Progress in Drug Eradication Program: Shan Rebels appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine.

Economic Fears Expose Laos’ Unequal Boom

Posted: 23 Dec 2013 10:17 PM PST

Laos, dam, environment, hydropower, economy, black market, extractive industries

Locals enjoy the evening in one of the nearby restaurants around the Nam Phou fountain in Vientiane Oct. 26, 2013. (Photo: Reuters)

VIENTIANE — For the Communists running Laos, the fruits of capitalism have never been so bountiful.

The Nam Phou fountain at the heart of the torpid capital, Vientiane, has transformed from a relic into a neon-lit phantasmagoria, surrounded by expensive restaurants. On the increasingly congested roads, the elite car choice is a Range Rover or, failing that, a Lexus.

This is the result of years of more than 8 percent growth, driven by commodities exports and a flood of investment from neighboring China, Thailand and Vietnam. The Laos stock market, the world's smallest, made its coy debut in 2011.

The boom in Laos, one of Asia's poorest countries, is not over, but serious cracks are starting to show. Economists warn the country of 6.7 million is facing the downside of a development model based on easy credit, resource exploitation and infrastructure mega projects.

"The economy is overheating," Ashvin Ahuja, who led an International Monetary Fund (IMF) delegation to Laos in September, told Reuters.

The IMF has identified a range of problems.

A shortfall in government revenues coupled with ballooning expenditure—particularly rises in pay to public servants—has seen the fiscal deficit rise to about 6.5 percent of GDP. Inflation is projected to rise to about 7.5 percent by the end of the year, and up to 9.4 percent next year.

The country's foreign exchange reserves are enough to cover just 80 percent of one month's imports. Western banking and business sources, who insisted on anonymity, told Reuters that there had been a shortage of US dollars for several months.

On the streets of Vientiane, frustration is growing as prices rise and incomes become precarious.

In August, a kilo of pork sold by Chantara Phommavongsee at Vientiane's Thong Kan Kham market went for 68,000 kip, or about US$8.60, she said. Fast-forward four months and it was selling for 75,000 kip. Civil servants are coming less often—the government had not paid them in months.

The black economy, meanwhile, is thriving. On weekends, smart customers drive across the Mekong River to Thailand, where prices are cheaper, Chanthara said. Some come back with goods for sale. "Cars, food, medicine, building materials," Chantara reeled off the list. "All Thai."

The normally reticent and secretive government appears to be listening.

Prime Minister Thongsing Thammavong warned in September that "Laos is running a high level of debt and is at risk of a financial crisis" and ordered ministers to cut costs, according to the state-run Vientiane Times newspaper.

The government has delayed payments to some contractors, promised to curb salary rises and suspended a 760,000 kip monthly allowance for civil servants.

These measures have been welcomed by the IMF. But the fund has warned a major change of course is needed if the country wants to keep growing in the future.

Missing Out

Beneath the warnings of economists, there is a deeper critique from some quarters on the Lao development model: that the country is squandering its natural wealth and enriching its elite, while the majority is left behind.

One of the country's traditional wealth generators, resource extraction, faces entrenched corruption. Commodities such as rubber and timber often pass out of the country with little or no tax being paid, thanks to an opaque network of political connections. At the same time, black market imports are flowing.

"Although all traditional economic indicators say Laos is doing okay, Laos is getting screwed," a senior member of the Western business community in Vientiane told Reuters.

"Laos is missing out on an unquantified—by anyone, not the IMF, not the World Bank, anyone—amount of revenue."

Optimists point to headline figures, such as a one-third decrease in the poverty rate in the 15 years to 2008. Pessimists focus on other indicators: the tiny landlocked country has Southeast Asia's highest incidence of child mortality and one of its lowest school enrolment rates.

The government is staking much of its future on large-scale infrastructure projects, including multi-billion dollar road and high-speed rail links intended to turn Laos into a crossroads of China, Thailand and Vietnam.

Even more ambitiously, the country is seeking to become "the battery of Southeast Asia" through the construction of a series of massive dams on its pristine rivers, despite howls of protest from environmentalists. The government plans to export most of the electricity.

There are 13 dams operating in the country, and another 70, such as the giant Thai-funded Xayaburi dam on the Mekong, in the construction, planning or feasibility stages. The country aims to produce 12,500 megawatts of power by 2020.

Julian Newman, campaigns director at the London-based Environmental Investigation Agency, says many projects face the same problems that have plagued the export of commodities, with kickbacks and benefits flowing to business people and their allies in the Communist Party and government.

In some cases, contractors can earn a healthy sideline in illegally clearing forests near projects, Newman said.

Viraphonh Viravong, Laos' Vice Minister of Energy and Mines, said the government was serious about rooting out corruption and that banks and international donors helped ensure the transparency of large scale projects.

"Wherever you go in this world, there is corruption. It exists not only in the least developed countries but in the most developed countries as well," Viraphonh told Reuters by email.

Viraphonh said the government had last year imposed a moratorium on the granting of new large mining and plantation concessions, but would not rethink the pursuit of megaprojects.

"The Lao PDR is duty bound, morally and politically, to continue to harness the might of the rivers that flow through our country, to power cities, electrify rural areas and generate the necessary resources to overcome poverty, malnutrition, infant mortality, illiteracy and for the greater good of our people," he said.

No Richer

If any project shows that Laos can pull off its dream of dam-based development, it's Nam Theun 2, a massive 1,000 megawatt project in the country's south.

With the backing of the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank, the $1.45 billion dam went into operation in 2010 with a raft of measures to mitigate its environmental impact and contribute to local livelihoods.

For Nam Theun 2's backers, the project is already a success. The dam is on track to earn $2 billion for the Lao government over 25 years, with monitoring in place to make sure the money does not evaporate. For the roughly 6,000 people displaced by the dam, life has also improved, said Meriem Gray, a spokeswoman for the World Bank.

Surveys done by the Nam Theun 2 Power Company found 87 percent of resettled villagers see themselves as better off, she said. School enrolments have also jumped, along with access to electricity and clean water.

Environmentalists, however, say the dam has been a disaster for the displaced, as well as 110,000 people reliant on downstream agriculture and fisheries.

A two-day visit by Reuters to the dam site also suggested the project's achievements have been mixed at best.

Where villages once stood there is now a reservoir peppered with dead trees and stagnant water the color of weak coffee. A narrow artificial peninsula hosts settlements for relocated locals.

In interviews with Reuters, residents repeated the same complaints. Power cuts are frequent, in spite of the nearby power plant. The 0.6 hectares of land granted to each family as part of the relocation deal was not enough to live off, they said, while fishing in the reservoir was often not good enough to provide an alternative livelihood.

One economic benefit that has arrived has been Laos' traditional cash cow: black market resource extraction.

The project and the roads that have come with it have opened up the area to poaching and the near-eradication of valuable hardwoods from nearby forests, according to a recent independent report by a panel of experts commissioned by the World Bank.

Local people admitted to taking part in the illegal logging trade around Nam Theun 2 and claimed local government officials were complicit.

"We didn't have to do this before moving here because we made a good living from the land," said 43-year-old Wan, who told Reuters almost every family in his resettlement village was involved.

Mixay, the 45-year-old matriarch of a family of 10 in another village, echoed the sense of disappointment.

"I thought life would be much better, but it isn't at all," she said. "We're not any richer because of this dam. The only people who get anything, who get richer, are those in the government."

The post Economic Fears Expose Laos' Unequal Boom appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine.

In Aging China, Old Woman Sues Children for Care

Posted: 23 Dec 2013 10:12 PM PST

A man sitting on a wheelchair is seen in front of his house at a residential area for migrant workers in Beijing on Feb. 25, 2013. (Photo: Reuters)

A man sitting on a wheelchair is seen in front of his house at a residential area for migrant workers in Beijing on Feb. 25, 2013. (Photo: Reuters)

FUSHENG, China — The daughter-in-law smashes the cockroach under her foot and rolls open the rusted metal doors to the garage. Light spills onto a small figure huddled on a straw mattress in a dank room. A curious face peers out.

The face is the most infamous in this village tucked away in the lush green mountains of southwest China. It's the face of Kuang Shiying's 94-year-old mother-in-law—better known as the little old lady who sued her own children for not taking care of her.

The drama that is playing out inside this ramshackle house reflects a wider and increasingly urgent dilemma. The world's population is aging fast, due to longer life spans and lower birth rates, and there will soon be more old people than young for the first time in history. This demographic about-turn has left families and governments struggling to decide: Who is responsible for the care of the elderly?

A handful of countries, such as India, France and Ukraine, require adult children to financially support their parents, mandating what was once a cultural given. Similar laws are in place in 29 US states, Puerto Rico and most of Canada, though they are little known and rarely enforced because government funds help support the old. In Singapore, parents can sue their adult children for an allowance; those who fail to comply can face six months in jail.

In China, where aid is scarce and family loyalty is a cornerstone of society, more than 1,000 parents have already sued their children for financial support over the last 15 years. But in December, the government went further, and amended its elder care law to require that children also support their parents emotionally. Children who don't visit their parents can be taken to court—by mom and dad.

The law pits the expectations of society against the complexities of family and puts courts in the position of regulating the relationship between parent and child.

Which then begs the question: How do you legislate love?

___

Zhang Zefang hardly looks like the vindictive matriarch many assume she must be. A tiny woman with blotchy skin, she stares at visitors through half-blinded eyes.

Zhang is one of about 3,800 people who live in the village of Fusheng, where life seems frozen in a long-ago era. Mothers trudge up steep roads with babies in bamboo baskets strapped to their backs. Farmers balance poles across their shoulders to lug crops over hills and past orange groves. The pace is slow and the atmosphere placid.

But inside Kuang and Zhang's home, there is war.

Resentment hangs in the air, acrid and sharp like the stench from the urine-filled bucket next to Zhang's bed. The cluttered storage space she calls home is as loveless as it is lightless. This is the epicenter of a family feud that erupted amid accusations of lying, of ungratefulness, of abuse and neglect and broken promises.

Zhang wants you to know this: She never wanted to take her children to court. She never wanted any of this.

"I never thought about whether my kids would take care of me when I was old," she says. "I just focused on taking care of them."

Her eyes begin to water. Inside her room, there is no heat to ward off the damp chill, no window to the outside world. Zhang spends her days alone in the dark, accompanied only by the roaches, the mess and the memories of a life that started out tough and seems destined to end the same way.

She has all the time in the world to tell her side of the story. From the shadows, she begins to speak.

___

It used to be in China that growing old meant earning the respect of the young, and the idea of filial piety, or honoring your parents, was instilled from birth. Parents cared for their children, and their children later cared for them. Neither side had a choice.

A Chinese proverb calls filial piety "the first among 100 virtues," and the ancient philosopher Confucius credited it as the bedrock of social harmony. Examples of family loyalty abound: A popular song urges grown children to visit their parents often. Communities celebrate Seniors' Day and hold "best children" contests, complete with cash prizes. One county even made filial piety a condition for the promotion of local officials.

Generations of Chinese read the classic morality guide, "The Twenty-Four Filial Exemplars," where sons strangle tigers, let mosquitoes feast on their blood and proudly scrub bedpans for the sake of their parents. (A modern, somewhat more practical version of the guide advises children to call their parents regularly and spend holidays with them.)

As a 2008 bulletin from the US aging advocacy group AARP put it: "For thousands of years, filial piety was China's Medicare, Social Security and long-term care, all woven into a single family virtue."

This is the world Zhang was born into, on Aug. 15, 1919.

She was of little use to a family of poor farmers, so her parents married her off at 14. Her husband died of dysentery, and she found herself a widow with two little girls and her husband's mother to support.

But her mother-in-law set her free. You don't have to take care of me, she told Zhang.

Zhang quickly remarried. Her new husband, a furniture maker, was too poor to support her, so they moved in with his parents.

Her new in-laws expected her to look after them. And that's when her nightmare truly began.

___

"She's not making sense!" Kuang snaps.

Zhang, the target of Kuang's ire, is hunched on her bed, mouth set in a grim line. She barely acknowledges her daughter-in-law's insult. In fact, she barely acknowledges her at all.

Both women are fighting for their audience, though Kuang's ear-splitting staccato often drowns out Zhang's hushed monotone. Kuang hovers over her mother-in-law, interjecting constant critiques: Zhang is messing up the story, Zhang cannot remember a detail, even if she is in the midst of delivering it.

At the moment, they are arguing about Zhang's age when her first husband died. Zhang is struggling … Was she 24? Or was it 21?

"Don't make up nonsense!" a frustrated Kuang says, voice rising. "It was 22! IT WAS 22!"

___

Zhang is crying. It's hard to tell if the tears are linked to the miseries of her past or her present.

Her father-in-law, she says, was a gambling addict with a violent temper. Still, she never considered leaving—that would have made her a social outcast.

Kuang, in a rare moment of agreement, jumps in: "That's just the way it was at the time."

Zhang's growing brood survived mainly on a thin broth of boiled corn stalks. Yet when her hated father-in-law died in 1959, she had to give her food to the guests at his funeral.

Three decades later, her husband died, leaving her to the mercy of her offspring.

But the world had changed, and the bickering and bartering soon began. Once again, her very existence seemed to inconvenience everyone.

Zhang murmurs that she wants to say something, but is afraid to talk in front of her daughter-in-law. A reluctant Kuang steps outside and Zhang pleads: "Don't let her know that I told you this…"

Her family locks her in this room all day. She dares not scream for help for fear she will be beaten.

She pinches her cheek hard, slaps a visitor's arm. That's what they do to me, she says.

Her bones ache. Her feet ache. She hasn't moved her bowels in at least 10 days. The stench from the toilet bucket sickens her. Her children force her to drag it outside to empty it, but she is too weak and it is too heavy.

When her lawsuit hit the local news, she says, a furious Kuang asked her: "Why don't you go hang yourself?"

All she wants is to go to a nursing home, she says. But the few nursing homes in China supply only 22 beds for every 1,000 seniors, and most are too expensive for the average family.

Zhang has no money. She says her children took it all.

She is weeping now, pressing a filthy rag to her eyes.

"I'm too old to go through this."

___

The village this family calls home lies within the district of Changshou, which means "long life." But living long has transformed from a dream achieved by few into a nightmare endured by many.

China is projected to have 636 million people over age 50—nearly 49 percent of the population—by 2050, up from 25 percent of the population in 2010, according to the US Census Bureau. So who will care for them?

Across the world, rapidly increasing life spans have left many adults scrambling to look after their parents, their children and themselves. And in China, one-child urban policies over three decades mean there are even fewer working youngsters to support their elders.

Meanwhile, social and economic changes have chipped away at traditional family values. A lack of jobs means rural youth must leave their parents to find work in distant cities. And even children who can afford nursing homes fear sending their parents away will mark them as "unfilial," says sociologist Jenny Zhan, who has studied the impact of China's changing demographics on family relations.

The result is an emotional and generational tug-of-war.

Kuang stands in the kitchen, frustration etched into every line of her face. She knows what Zhang has been saying about her. And it's all, she says, a lie.

Kuang has become the true matriarch of this clan. Ask to speak to her husband, and she'll insist he won't know what to say. She knows best, so just ask her. It's not an offer—it's an order.

But it is also Kuang who looks after her mother-in-law, because in China, as in many other places, women shoulder most of the responsibility of elder care.

Kuang lives upstairs: She says her frail mother-in-law lives on the grim ground floor because she can't climb the steep steps. Up here, the tiled floors shine, and the bathroom has a traditional squat toilet. While it's hardly a palace, at least it's not the garage.

Still, her mother-in-law is no victim, Kuang says. If anyone is suffering, it is everyone in the family who has thanklessly cared for Zhang decade after decade, even as they grow older and more desperate themselves.

"I'm doing all the laundry! I'm making the bed for her!" she says, exasperated.

When Zhang claims the lawsuit was her sons' idea, her daughter-in-law explodes.

"She doesn't know the whole story!" Kuang barks. "Let me tell you what really happened…"

___

China is going grey faster than it is growing rich, and state support for the elderly is not keeping pace.

Even in cities, where pensions are comparatively generous, elders say it's a game of dominoes; if one family member falls, they all do.

In rural areas, it's even worse. A new pension scheme for rural seniors does not cover everyone, and monthly payments are meager.

Health care is also inadequate, and a serious illness can bankrupt a family. Although a recent expansion of the medical system now covers most Chinese, reimbursement rates remain low and out-of-pocket costs high. Many rural families cannot afford the hospitals' huge up-front deposits.

Where the government falls short, the kids are left to solve the problems—except that they often can't, and sometimes won't.

Zhang's children have all come up with reasons why they cannot take care of her.

There's the oldest son, Zhou Mingde, who lives about a mile (1.5 kilometers) away from his mother. His pension is $13 a month, so he depends on the $30 each of his three daughters gives him on his birthday and during Chinese New Year. He sells one pig a year to buy medicine for his paraplegic wife. He is still farming corn and millet because he cannot afford to stop.

"I have to take care of my old mother. My wife. Myself," he says. "I am 71 years old already."

Then there's the middle son—the black sheep of the family—Zhou Yinxi. His daughter has schizophrenia, and his wife committed suicide. His current girlfriend once promised the family they would care for Zhang, but it never happened. Yinxi's argument: they're not married, so they're not obligated. Besides, at 68, he is broke and won't receive his pension for two years. "I'm also pretty helpless," he says.

Next up is the youngest, Zhou Gangming, 56, and his wife, Kuang, 58. Their only income will come from selling their two pigs and one cow, and their $16 monthly pension.

Gangming and his mother lived together until, in her eyes, Kuang came along and snatched away her beloved youngest son. Her oldest son confides that in the days when his mother was younger, stronger and meaner, she even beat Kuang.

Gangming says they are now too poor and exhausted to look after Zhang alone, but he knows they shouldn't abandon her.

"She's my mom," he says. "I have to care for her."

Finally, there is the distant daughter, 54-year-old Zhou Yunhua. By all accounts, she would like to care for her mother, but told her siblings she lives too far away.

In the end, the children asked their mother, "What should we do?"

She countered: "If none of you want to take care of me, what should I do?"

No one had an answer. So they went searching for one at the village court.

___

In December, after persistent reports of abuse, China amended its elder care law to require that adult children regularly visit and emotionally support their parents. The amendment, which took effect in July, also requires employers to give workers time off to visit their parents, though even proponents say that may be hard to enforce.

As the court officials explained the options to Zhang, she sat silently.

Finally, they offered a solution: Zhang could sue her children. Then the court could force them all to care for her equally.

She didn't even know what "sue" meant. But what other choice did she have?

Suddenly, everyone in the village knew her story and authorities began examining her claims of abuse. A village official, Zhang (no relation), says they aren't sure who to believe. In any event, she says, the children are "probably not beating her now."

The locals mostly consider the children neglectful and are shocked they aired their private battle in court, says Zhang, who only gave her last name, as is customary among Chinese government workers.

"Not being filial," she says, "is certainly not right."

___

The settlement was swift: The court ordered Mingde, Gangming and their sister to take care of their mother for four months of the year, and Yinxi to pay her $10 per month. The children must split Zhang's medical bills.

So far, Yinxi has paid nothing.

It is lunch time in Kuang's garage. She hands her mother-in-law a tin cup of noodles. Zhang silently shovels the food into her mouth, saying nothing as Kuang leaves.

"I won't get any appreciation for taking care of her," an exhausted Kuang says. "I also can't abandon her."

Kuang wants to move in with her own daughter in Hong Kong. But she can't.

"I've got to finish taking care of her," Kuang says. "Then I can think about moving to other places."

The meaning behind her words is clear: Her life will begin when her mother-in-law's ends.

She worries about her own future. But she believes her children will be there for her.

"I tell my children, 'If you can take care of me like I have taken care of your grandmother, then that is enough.'"

She is, she says, setting the example.

Associated Press researcher Flora Ji contributed to this report.

The post In Aging China, Old Woman Sues Children for Care appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine.

Bangladesh Factory Owner to Plead Innocent in Deadly Blaze Case

Posted: 23 Dec 2013 10:02 PM PST

Garment workers gather in front of the Standard Group garment factory which was on fire in Gazipur November 29, 2013. (Photo: Reuters)

DHAKA — The owner of a Bangladesh garment factory that was destroyed in a deadly fire last year said on Monday he was "saddened and astonished" that he had been charged with culpable homicide for the death of 112 workers and would plead innocent in court.

The police on Sunday laid charges against Delwar Hossain, his wife and 11 employees of Tazreen Fashions, a rare step in a country where critics complain that powerful garment industry bosses too often avoid blame for the many factory accidents.

Many of those who died in the blaze at the multi-storey building on the outskirts of Dhaka in November 2012 perished because supervisors ordered workers back to their stations even as an alarm rang and smoke rose through an internal staircase.

Hossain was absolved of blame earlier this year in a report by the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) on the incident.

"It saddened and astonished me to see that both my wife and I are the main accused," Hossain told Reuters by telephone, adding that supervisors who had allegedly blocked workers trying to escape from the burning factory were still on the run.

"I have the full respect for the law, and because of that I did not try to flee the country though I had a U.S visa. I am not guilty and will try to prove it when the trial begins."

The charges against the 13 included breaching construction rules and building design faults such as the failure to provide two emergency exits, an investigating officer said. If convicted the accused face a maximum sentence of life imprisonment.

Economic Life

Bangladesh has emerged as the world’s second-biggest exporter of clothing after China thanks to its low wages and duty-free access to Western markets. Its sales of apparel to big brands around the world is the poverty-plagued country’s economic lifeline, accounting for 80 percent of its exports.

But a series of deadly incidents, including a building collapse that killed more than 1,100 people several months after the Tazreen fire, has triggered global concern over weak safety standards in the country’s $22-billion garment industry.

Nine people were arrested, including the owner of the building for that accident, the world’s deadliest industrial disaster after the Bhopal gas leak accident in India in 1984.

The Tazreen fire tragedy put a spotlight on global retailers that source clothes from Bangladesh, where labor costs were then as little as $37 a month for some workers.

Hossain was held captive in his office by angry workers at another of his factories for more than 18 hours in October until he paid a promised bonus, just one incident in a long-running confrontation this year between management and workers over pay.

Last month factory owners agreed to a proposed 77 percent rise in the minimum wage to $68 a month.

After the Tazreen blaze, both Wal-Mart Stores inc and Sears Holdings Inc said that their goods were being manufactured at the workshop even though both had specifically denied it authorization as a supplier.

Human Rights Watch said in a statement that despite the negligence charges, many of the retailers whose clothes were being produced at the factory have not paid any compensation.

"During the big sales over Christmas, Human Rights Watch calls on brands that were sourcing from Tazreen Fashions to direct some of their profits to join an International Labor Organization effort to fund full and fair compensation to all injured and the families of those killed," Meenakshi Ganguly, South Asia director of the group, said in a statement.

The post Bangladesh Factory Owner to Plead Innocent in Deadly Blaze Case appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine.

Prison Term for Reporter Leads to Outcry Over Media Freedom

Posted: 23 Dec 2013 04:05 AM PST

Myanmar, press freedom, censorship, freedom of expression

Eleven Media reporter Naw Khine Khine Aye Cho, also known as Ma Khine, was sentenced to three months in Loikaw Prison on charges of trespassing, defamation and abusive language. (Photo: Eleven Media)

RANGOON — A three-month prison term imposed last week on a Burmese reporter has been criticized by local and international press freedom groups, who say the punishment given to Naw Khine Khine Aye Cho, a journalist with Rangoon-based Eleven Media, is too harsh.

The case is believed to be the first imprisonment of a reporter since President Thein Sein's reformist government in 2012 released jailed journalists and lifted long-standing media restrictions.

Naw Khine Khine Aye Cho, who is also known as Ma Khine, was sued by Loikaw-based lawyer Aye Aye Phyo after an argument allegedly took place while the reporter was seeking comments on an alleged video piracy case in late October.

On Dec. 17, the Loikaw Township Court in Karenni State sentenced the reporter to three months imprisonment on charges of trespassing in Aye Aye Phyo's home as well as defaming and using abusive language against her.

Eleven Media and the detained reporter deny any wrongdoing in the case and the media organization condemned the sentencing as "a miscarriage of justice, a direct threat to journalists and an attack on press freedom."

Eleven Media says it sent letters about the case to various local and international press freedom groups, as well as to Burma’s President Thein Sein and to Aung San Suu Kyi, the leader of the opposition National League for Democracy (NLD) and the head of the parliamentary committee covering rule of law.

Meanwhile, Eleven Media chief editor Wai Phyo visited Loikaw Prison on Friday and had a 30-minute conversation with Ma Khine, who was said to have been surprised by the prison term as she had expected to be fined.

"She said she is not guilty of all these charges as they alleged at the court," Wai Phyo told The Irrawaddy on Monday. "We are going to appeal in this case."

"The charges and punishment are not justified," he said, adding that the risk of getting sued over defamation and trespassing could deter Burmese reporters from carrying out their work.

"This case threatens freedom of the press," he warned, adding that defamation charges should not carry heavy criminal punishment. "A person should never be sent to jail under article 500 [defamation]… If you sentence someone under article 500, then how can anyone work as a journalist?" he said.

Eleven Media CEO Than Htut Aung was awarded the Golden Pen of Freedom for 2013, by the World Association of Newspapers and News Publishers WAN-IFRA 2013.

Eleven has, however, been criticized for its coverage of violence in Burma’s western Arakan state, usually referring to the Rohingya, a Muslim group regarded by the Burmese Government as illegal immigrants from Bangladesh, as ‘Bengalis.’

In recent days, Eleven Media’s criticism of the Ma Khine jailing was backed-up by local and international media organizations.

Myint Kyaw, a member of Burma’s Interim Press Council, a journalist organization set up with government backing in Sept. 2012, said the punishment was too harsh.

"I don’t know the details," he told The Irrawaddy, referring to the specifics of the case against Ma Khine. "But as far as I know the punishment is too much for a journalist."

Gayathry Venkiteswaran, executive director of the Southeast Asian Press Alliance (SEAPA), told The Irrawaddy in an emailed note that, "The conviction under three sections of the Penal Code, including defamation, is unnecessary and disproportionate to the alleged incident."

The incident could prompt others to use the courts to curb the press, argues SEAPA, a regional press freedom body.

"We anticipate that legal instruments such as these will be used by individuals and organizations to prevent the media from doing its work," said Gayathry Venkiteswaran, who cautioned that "the incident serves as a reminder to journalists who should conduct themselves with utmost transparency and integrity to avoid any risks of legal threats."

The World Association of Newspapers and News Publishers and the World Editors Forum, in a statement on Dec. 19, urged "an immediate investigation into the sentence and to ensure there has been no political interference or mishandling of the case.

"We are concerned that this type of punishment sends a chilling effect amongst the Myanmar media, a particularly worrying development ahead of elections in 2015," the group said.

Eleven Media reported last week that local NLD personnel were linked to the case. Asked by The Irrawaddy about the sentencing, NLD spokesman Nyan Win said that "this is a private matter and nothing to do with NLD, so we have no comment to make."

The punishment has prompted suspicions among Burma media watchers that there could have been some political interference with the courts. "We suspect some influence on the local authority or judiciary," Myint Kyaw surmised.

Earlier Eleven Media claimed that the verdict could have been down to editorials it had run recently alleging corruption in Burma’s judiciary. A recent report on lawyers in Burma by the International Commission of Jurist (ICJ) described graft in the sector as widespread.

"The legal profession in Myanmar has low public and professional standing, due to a history of eroded respect for the rule of law, political oppression, and endemic corruption," the ICJ wrote.

The sentencing comes after loosening of Burma’s long-standing press restrictions by Thein Sein's government, with the abolition of censorship and the reintroduction of private-run daily print newspapers in April.

And after months of acrimonious wrangling, several new media bills could become law in the coming months, including the press council’s News Media Bill as well as the government’s Printing and Publishing Enterprise Bill.

However, a new public service media law is unlikely to be passed anytime soon, according to Burma’s Information Minister Aung Kyi. The minister told The Irrawaddy in a late November interview that it could be late 2015 before Burma has a public service media to replace the current state mouthpieces such as MRTV and The New Light of Myanmar.

The post Prison Term for Reporter Leads to Outcry Over Media Freedom appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine.

Two Burmese Coffee Creamers Get Green Light From Consumer Protection Group

Posted: 23 Dec 2013 03:59 AM PST

coffee, creamer, food safety, food and drug administration, Burma, Myanmar

Burma's Consumer Protection Association says two local brands of coffee creamer are safe. (Photo: JPaing / The Irrawaddy)

RANGOON — After raising concerns about the possibility of harmful ingredients being added to instant creamers and coffee mixes widely available in Burma, a consumer advocacy group says test results for two popular brands have come back clean.

The Consumer Protection Association (CPA) announced last month that it suspected some brands contained an inedible by-product of palm oil production. The ingredient, which it believed was being imported from China, would save costs on production but could be harmful to health if ingested over time, the advocacy group warned, adding that it planned to conduct tests to determine which products, if any, were unsafe.

The group, which is Burma's only consumer rights group, originally planned to send samples to a laboratory in Thailand for testing. So far it has sent two brands—both locally produced, with ingredients sourced from China—to a laboratory in Malaysia.

"We sent two local brands, Premier and Pep creamers, to the lab. Now we have the results. We did not find any dangerous ingredients in the creamers," said Soe Kalayar Htike, general secretary of the CPA, told The Irrawaddy on Monday.

She said that although a number of Chinese creamer brands are also available in Burma, and could potentially contain the harmful ingredient, the group has not yet sent any of these for testing because it has been busy applying for official registration from the government.

Many civil society organizations in the country are currently attempting to register as the government transitions from military rule to a more democratic system.

The CPA also has not yet tested any three-in-one coffee mixes of coffee, sugar and creamer. It plans to test Chinese creamers early next year, Soe Kalayar Htike said.

Earlier this year, the CPA claimed that urea-based fertilizer was being widely used in the production of fish paste, a staple of the Burmese diet. It sent three samples of locally sold fish paste to Burma's Food and Drug Administration (FDA), part of the Health Ministry.

The FDA found that one of the samples continued too much urea as well as ammonia. Both are unstable compounds that usually dissolve and should not pose serious health risks, according to FDA director general Dr. Myint Han. But he added that it was difficult to rule out health problems from ingesting the chemicals in the long term.

The CPA is also currently testing a local chicken powder used for curry and a local brand of peanut oil. "We will announce these results later, as we are busy registering our association," Soe Kalayar Htike said.

The post Two Burmese Coffee Creamers Get Green Light From Consumer Protection Group appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine.

Challenges Seen Ahead for Burma’s Public Companies

Posted: 23 Dec 2013 03:20 AM PST

Myanmar, Investment, business, stock market, bourse, stock exchange

A staff member writes on a white board at the Myanmar Securities Exchange Center, the country's previous attempt to set up a bourse. (Photo: Reuters)

RANGOON — With about 100 public companies already formed in Burma on the advice of the government, industry insiders say most are a long way off being ready for the scrutiny of public trading that will come with the arrival of a new stock exchange.

With a previous effort to set up a stock exchange in the commercial capital of Rangoon a flop, a Japanese-backed project is hoping to have new bourse up and running in 2015.

The government has told members of local industries to come together to form public companies—which can sell shares to raise funds—as a bulwark against competition from large local conglomerates and incoming foreign firms.

Parliament in June approved the new Securities Exchange Certificate Transaction Law. However, a public companies expert, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the all-important by-laws setting out the regulations and timetable for companies hoping to go public had not yet been published

"After the law appeared, there are no by-laws for the stock exchange or to organize the Stock Exchange Commission," the expert said.

About 100 public companies have announced they are establishing, and so far more than 40 are registered with the government. They represent whole sectors, like Burma's rice industry, or the range of businesses involved in gold.

"Most public companies are losing their way. They are also lacking the transparency of data to share," the expert said, referring to the increased requirements on public companies to disclose details of their financial affairs.

Some public companies were set up without proper knowledge of what it means to be a public company, he added.

"Training to understand the international principles of public companies and the stock exchange is still needed," he said.

Japan's Tokyo Stock Exchange and Daiwa Securities Group said in 2012 that they would help Burma to establish a new bourse by 2015. The move is seen as a key pillar to the so-called opening up of Burma's economy to foreign investment.

But the government has provided little assistance to those public companies that have formed, leaving them with a lack of ideas on how to become suitable for listing on a stock exchange.

"Some companies just formed to be in line with the government's demand that they form public companies in 2014," said Soe Tun, a member of Myanmar Agribusiness Public Corporation (MAPCO) Ltd.

He said the MAPCO was still waiting for the relevant regulations to being trading its shares, but was already forming joint ventures with overseas firms setting up around the Thilawa Special Economic Zone to import machinery. The public company has also has already begun trading in fertilizer, he said.

Kyaw Win Tun, senior vice president of Myanmar Gold Development Public Company, said he hoped the government would come forward with the regulations in 2014.

"The target is to appear on the stock exchange market in 2015, so we have to be ready in 2014," he said.

"We have many challenges, many things to do after the by-laws appear. Currently, we can do nothing. We're just waiting for the law."

The post Challenges Seen Ahead for Burma's Public Companies appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine.

At U Thant’s Rangoon Home, an Exhibit to Inspirea

Posted: 23 Dec 2013 03:13 AM PST

History, Myanmar, U Thant, Yangon, Thant Myint-U, Rangoon, museum, exhibition

The former Rangoon home of the late UN Secretary-General U Thant, which is now being renovated as a museum. (Photo: Steve Tickner / The Irrawaddy)

RANGOON — Nestled in a leafy neighborhood in Burma's former capital, the house in which one of the country's most famous sons once lived is not easy to spot.

But take a short walk down a lane off the main road, into the Windermere compound that once housed Burma's ruling elites, and you will see a blue signpost with white lettering that reads "The U Thant House."

A shady garden path leads to a newly renovated yellow-brick structure where U Thant, the first Asian secretary-general to the United Nations once resided.

U Thant served as UN secretary-general from 1961 to 1971. During his tenure, he helped defuse the Cuban missile crisis which brought the United States and the Soviet Union to the brink of nuclear war. He also helped end a civil war in Congo.

He and his family lived in the two-story colonial-style house from 1951-57 when he was Secretary to then Burmese Prime Minster U Nu, before leaving the country to serve as Burma's Permanent Representative to the UN in New York in 1957.

For many years, the house was in a sorry state. Termites formed a colony under the staircase. The roof was blown off by Cyclone Nargis in 2008 and foliage rampaged in the compound until renovation was by his family started in 2012.

"It was in a state of dilapidation when we found it in 2011," said Aye Aye Thant, the late diplomat's daughter, who is renovating the house to turn it into a museum.

Initiated by Thant Myint-U, a historian and the chairman of Yangon Heritage Trust (YHT), as well as the grandson of U Thant, the project will convert the house into a museum. The YHT is helping provide expert advice and technical support to the museum.

The house will also be a center for public events on issues related to the former secretary-general and his work, a plan that was signed off by Burmese President Thein Sein in early 2012.

But the late diplomat's legacy has not always enjoyed official approval.

Envious and suspicious of U Thant's global and local popularity, Burma's former dictator General Ne Win, who ousted U Nu in a coup in 1962, sought to erase the diplomat from history.

When U Thant died of cancer in 1974, he was denied a state funeral. In his book "A Journalist, a General and an Army in Burma," the veteran journalist Kyaymone U Thaung wrote that Ne Win personally refused to honor the late secretary-general, saying: "Even my wife was buried in Kyandaw cemetery [the graveyard is now converted into a glitzy shopping mall near Hanthawaddy junction in Rangoon] like other people. Let that codger lie there, too."

Ne Win's decision was met with popular outcry. A group of university students snatched U Thant's coffin and entombed it in the grounds of Rangoon University. The Burmese military stepped in brutally to grab back the remains and buried them near the southern stairway of the Shwedagon pagoda, where his mausoleum stands today.

During the crackdown, several hundred students were arrested, an uprising against Burma's military rulers that went down in modern Burmese history as the "U Thant Affair."

In the years that followed, U Thant was absent from the reams of Burmese historical figures whose stories were taught in Burma's schools.

But nearly four decades later, with the soft opening of the museum in April this year, visitors to the U Thant House will have a rare glimpse of one of the most prominent Burmese.

"I hope that this is both about celebrating his life and his work, but

also about reclaiming our past so that we can think a different way about future," Thant Myint-U said during the soft opening, after preliminary renovations had been completed.

Although the family planned to open the museum officially on Jan. 22, 2014, to commemorate the 105th birthday of the late UN chief, that date is impossible now, said Aye Aye Thant.

"The ceiling and wiring works are not finished yet so we have to postpone the official opening ceremony," she explained

Now open to the public, the U Thant House is mostly decorated with photos of the life and work of the former secretary-general, while his personal belongings are rarely seen. His daughter said letters to and from world leaders, books and other mementoes are scheduled for permanent exhibition as "the family is collecting some of his stuff he used in the US and UN."

Upon entry to the house, visitors are greeted by an enlarged Newsweek magazine cover of U Thant in 1966, when he was the head of the United Nations. In the living room downstairs, a large oil portrait of the secretary-general by the Burmese artist Nay Myo Say and a black-and-white portrait photo of the 18-year-old U Thant share the walls with other pictures, including the one taken with the late American president John F. Kennedy during the Cuban missile crisis.

The house, which sits on a 1.5-acre plot of land, was leased to the newly formed U Thant House Trust. When the renovation was publicized, dozens of people came forward to donate money, including US sanctioned tycoon Tay Za.

Thant Myint-U, who is also the member of the government advisory body the National Economic and Social Advisory Council (NESAC) that assess whether international loans, grants and aid are being used effectively, told The Irrawaddy that contributions (mainly from Burmese banks, businesses, and individuals) totaling about $80,000 had come in for repairs of the house.

"Htoo Foundation [run by Tay Za] was one of 20-30 businesses/organizations that contributed to the initial renovation of the house one year ago," Thant Myint-U said via an email. "The U Thant House Trust should soon publish a list of all contributors."

Aye Aye Thant said she wants the museum to be more than a dedication to her father.

Instead, she would like young visitors to assess what kind of person U Thant was and what he achieved, and to examine how he did it after their tours to the museum.

"I just want it to inspire young people to become someone like him some day," she said.

The U Thant House is located at 31 Pan Wah Lane, Kamayut Township, Rangoon.

The post At U Thant's Rangoon Home, an Exhibit to Inspirea appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine.

Burma to Review Booze Import Policy: Ministry

Posted: 23 Dec 2013 03:00 AM PST

business, investment, import, alcohol, Rangoon, Burma, Myanmar, Ministry of Commerce

A government crackdown on illegal import of alcohol has affected sales of foreign alcohol brands such as Heineken. (Photo: Reuters)

RANGOON — Burma has started an official review of its alcohol import law, considering whether to maintain heavy restrictions on the sale of foreign booze following a controversial crackdown on retail shops found to be selling it illegally.

The Ministry of Commerce has met with legal experts and industry professionals—including local alcohol manufacturers, duty free shop owners, hotel managers and tax collectors—to discuss possible changes to the law, and to assess how the crackdown has affected business.

"We will have to look forward and consider all the consequences of this," Than Aung Kyaw, director of the ministry's Directorate of Trade, told The Irrawaddy on Monday. "We will study how neighboring countries use import laws for alcohol products, as well as how they collect taxes, and the impact.

"If we allow imports of wine, who do we allow­, how do we check, and what tax do we collect? These factors are quite related and should be considered."

He cautioned that changes would likely not occur quickly.

"Some say we are going to allow wine imports—it is still not true," he said. "We are still considering these factors, and we will have to monitor over a long period of time to determine whether we will allow these products."

He said the ministry also needed to consider how the law affected local manufacturers and distributors. "All we can say is, we are reviewing everything related to the import law," he said.

Since the mid-1990s, the government has implemented a ban on the import of alcohol, tobacco and other luxury goods, only allowing certain hotels and duty-free shops to carry out such imports. The ban was part of the former military government's policies under which military- or crony-owned companies controlled large parts of the economy, including alcohol manufacturing.

But over the past few months, enforcement has tightened. Starting in October, two mobile taskforces—comprising ministry, customs and police officials—have raided retail warehouses in Rangoon and Mandalay to investigate the legal status of imported alcohol, tobacco and preserved frozen foods.

Following these raids, two retail executives have been arrested, including the director of Premium Food Service Products, a supply company owned by Burma's biggest retailer, City Mart Holding. The managing director of Quarto Products, a large beverage distributor in Rangoon, is also facing charges.

Most retailers in Burma's biggest city have stopped selling foreign booze out of fear of being raided, leading to a shortfall of liquor supplies and complaints from customers.

Retailers say the crackdown has been unfair, with the ministry failing to take action against importers who they say share blame for the situation.

Premium Food Service Products stocks its alcohol through firms belonging to Htoo Group of Companies and ACE Group of Companies, two large conglomerates owned, respectively, by well-known tycoon Tay Za and Phyo Ko Ko Tint San, whose father is Sports Minister Tint San. Neither conglomerate has faced charges since the raids began.

The Myanmar Retailers Association has urged the ministry in a letter to review the import law but was not invited to the most recent meeting to discuss possible changes.

"This week we heard the Ministry of Commerce would probably allow [imports] of foreign-made wines first, and then some other alcohol would follow, step by step," a spokeswoman for the association told The Irrawaddy on condition of anonymity, citing the sensitivity of the situation. "Currently we are facing a lot of problems, consumers are complaining every day, demand is high."

Than Aung Kyaw from the Commerce Ministry said he expected that retailers and importers would both benefit in the future from changes to the law.

"We will have to listen to public voices, too," he said.

He added that he was not concerned with a shortage of alcohol supply during the tourism high period.

The post Burma to Review Booze Import Policy: Ministry appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine.

‘We Rose up Because We Want to Fight Against Feudal Attitudes’

Posted: 22 Dec 2013 11:13 PM PST

Burma, Myanmar, ethnic conflict, Pa-O, Shan State

Khun Sein Shwe, 84, has spent a lifetime being a revolutionary in the struggle for the rights of the Pa-O, a small, Buddhist minority in Shan State. (Photo: Lawi Weng / The Irrawaddy)

HSI HSENG TOWNSHIP, Shan State — Ethnic Pa-O leader Khun Sein Shwe lives a quiet life these days in his village of Noung Htao, set on a plateau amid the green hills of southern Shan State.

But the 84-year-old has spent a lifetime being a revolutionary in the struggle for the rights of the Pa-O, a small, Buddhist minority in Shan State.

Wearing black, wide-fitting traditional Pa-O pants and a bomber jacket and hat to ward off the mountain cold, Khun Sein Shwe recalls the days that he took up arms against Burma's central government a few years after the country's independence in 1948.

"The reason we rose up is because we want to fight against feudal attitudes towards the small minorities," said Khun Sein Shwe, who is a founding member of Shan State Nationalities Peoples' Liberation Organization (SSNPLO) and its current chairman.

His group, which includes several other smaller Shan State minorities such as the Lishu and Karenni tribes, fought against successive military governments for decades, until it reached a ceasefire deal with the State Peace and Development Council in 1994.

Khun Sein Shwe recalled how the military junta later invited him to join the controversial National Convention in the 1990s when it began a long process of drawing up a new Constitution for Burma.

"I still remember that the head of the Supreme Court, Aung Toe, and other officers met me during the convention and asked my opinion about their written draft of the Constitution. I told them it could not be successful unless it had support from the people," he said.

The army eventually completed its drafting of the undemocratic Constitution in 2008. Many ethnic groups reject it as giving power to the Burma Army and the central government over Burma's border regions and its resources.

"This Constitution is like a broken house. It is better to destroy the old house and build a new one. I want to have a new Constitution," said Khun Sein Shwe, echoing the demands of many ethnic rebel leaders.

He said Burma's reformist government and its peace process with the ethnic groups needs to address the root causes of the country's long-running internal conflicts.

"If we do not know the type of medicine to treat our patients, the result is that our patients are going to die," he said, adding that Burma's medicine is a new Constitution that creates a federal union. "General Aung San intended to have a federal union, in which all ethnic people could have their own state," Khun Sein Shwe said.

Asked about the country's peace prospects, the long-time Pa-O leader said, "They think Burma will have no more fighting if they can form militia forces or Border Guard Forces [to merge with the Burma Army]. But, it is not true. There can't be peace unless they stop their process of Burmanization of ethnic regions."

Since 2008, the SSNPLO has been granted some power to administer its own region in southern Shan State, an area comprising three townships located about 100 km south of Taunggyi. They received these powers only after the junta suddenly forced the SNNPLO to disarm 14 years after a ceasefire was signed.

Khun Sein Shwe said the Burma Army swooped into the area in 2008 and demanded the group give up their arms. "They came to my house three times telling me to disarm. I could remember the last time they told me that if I did not disarm, there would be bloodshed," he said.

When the Pa-O leader refused he was locked up for 20 days in Taunggyi Prison. "I told them… 'You do not have to come to me again. I will give you my arms when the country has democracy,'" he recalled, adding that ultimately hundreds of SSNPLO weapons were taken away.

SSNPLO now maintains a headquarters with an unarmed security unit of several hundred men, but Khun Sein Shwe said the group's administrative powers were a fig leaf for the Burma Army's domination of his people's territory.

"Just to make me happy they formed this administrative region. But, I am not happy because their troops did not respect our people any more, they did not even inform us when enter or exit our region," he said.

The post 'We Rose up Because We Want to Fight Against Feudal Attitudes' appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine.

Suarez Puts Liverpool Top as Man City Hit Four

Posted: 22 Dec 2013 10:14 PM PST

Premier League, Suarez, Liverpool, English football

Liverpool’s Luis Suarez reacts after scoring against Cardiff City at Anfield in Liverpool on Saturday. (Photo: Reuters)

LONDON — Luis Suarez celebrated his new contract by sending Liverpool to the top of the Premier League thanks to two goals and another virtuoso display in a 3-1 home win over crisis club Cardiff City on Saturday.

Manchester City moved up to second despite a bizarre Vincent Kompany own goal in a 4-2 victory at lowly Fulham while champions Manchester United, in seventh, overcame West Ham United 3-1 through Danny Welbeck, Adnan Januzaj and Ashley Young.

The irrepressible Suarez, who looked to be heading out of Anfield in the close season following a ban for biting an opponent, expertly volleyed in the opener before setting up Raheem Sterling for the second after a superb ball from the resurgent Jordan Henderson.

It was soon 3-0 as the 26-year-old Suarez netted his 19th league goal of the season on the stroke of halftime with a superb curling shot from the edge of the box following more Henderson magic with a back-heel.

Liverpool hammered Tottenham Hotspur 5-0 away last weekend and could have had more against Cardiff with Suarez almost completing a hat-trick when he clipped the post.

I am happy with the new contract but I was focused on the game. We played very well in the first half, the Uruguay striker told BT Sport television.

It’s too early to say (we can win the title). It is important we work for the next game. When we play at home we are strong.

The easy win over sixth from bottom Cardiff, and their beleaguered manager Malky Mackay, sent Liverpool a point clear at the top with 36 from 17 games.

Arsenal (35 points), who are third, can take back first position by winning at home to fourth-placed Chelsea (33) on Monday (2000 GMT).

Suarez, again captain in the continued absence of the injured Steven Gerrard, penned a long-term deal on Friday as Liverpool try to build on a strong start and finally challenge for the title again after years of woe.

Facing one of the in-form players in world football was not what Mackay wanted at the end of a week when media reports said he had been asked to resign or be sacked by Malaysian owner Vincent Tan despite gaining promotion last season.

Cardiff fans should have been enjoying the trip to famous Anfield in their debut Premier League season but instead held up ‘Tan Out’ banners and booed the controversial sunglasses-wearing tycoon who has also recently switched the club kit from the traditional blue to red.

The clubs had only previously met in the league in 1959, when Liverpool great Bill Shankly took charge for the first time as Cardiff won 4-0 away.

That was never going to happen on Saturday but Jordan Mutch did pull a goal back for the visitors in an improved second- half show.

Attempted Clearance

Manchester City (35 points) moved above Arsenal on goal difference after a patchy performance that underlined their problems away from home this season.

Another Yaya Toure free kick on 23 minutes and Kompany’s goal at the right end of the field put City 2-0 up at second from bottom Fulham.

The home team equalized after the interval with a goal from Kieran Richardson and when Kompany sent an attempted clearance spiraling into his own net.

Jesus Navas restored City’s lead in the 78th minute and poor defending allowed James Milner to make it 4-2.

City and England goalkeeper Joe Hart made his first league start since Oct. 27 having been dropped in favor of Romania’s Costel Pantilimon who was on the bench this time following last weekend’s 6-3 win over Arsenal.

Manchester United were never in any danger against fast-dropping West Ham, Welbeck adding to his two goals from last weekend’s 3-0 victory at Aston Villa with a neat finish although debut Spanish keeper Adrian could have done better.

Young winger Januzaj, a rare bright spot in a difficult season for United after David Moyes took over as manager from Alex Ferguson, then grabbed his first Old Trafford goal.

After the break Young defied his critics by blasting home another cracker and Carlton Cole netted for West Ham.

Sixth-placed Newcastle United sealed a sixth victory in eight games with a 3-0 win at third from bottom Crystal Palace.

Stoke City rose to 10th after a 2-1 triumph at home to Aston Villa, Peter Crouch hitting the winner against his former club.

Managerless West Bromwich Albion began life without Steve Clarke, after his surprise sacking last weekend, with a 1-1 draw at home to Hull City thanks to Matej Vydra’s late equalizer.

Wes Brown hit the post and was also sent off for a rash challenge late on as Sunderland drew 0-0 at home to Norwich City to leave Gus Poyet’s side bottom at Christmas – something that normally implies doom come the end of the season.

The post Suarez Puts Liverpool Top as Man City Hit Four appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine.

Kachin dreaming of a brighter Christmas

Posted: 22 Dec 2013 10:05 PM PST

Dennis Rodman Holds Tryouts for Pyongyang Exhibition Game

Posted: 22 Dec 2013 09:22 PM PST

North Korea, US, Dennis Rodman, basketbal

Retired NBA basketball player Dennis Rodman is welcomed by Son Kwang-ho, vice chairman of North Korea's Olympic Committee, in Pyongyang on Feb. 26, 2013. (Photo: Reuters)

PYONGYANG — Former NBA star Dennis Rodman held tryouts Friday for a North Korean team to face a dozen NBA veterans in an exhibition game on leader Kim Jong Un’s birthday next month — though he hasn’t convinced all the players on the American team that it’s safe to come to Pyongyang.

The flamboyant Hall of Famer said plans for the Jan. 8 game are moving ahead but some of the 12 Americans he wants are afraid to come.

Some foreign analysts say the dramatic purge and execution of Kim’s once-powerful uncle less than a week ago has cast doubt on Kim’s future. But officials here say there is no instability and Kim remains firmly in control.

"You know, they’re still afraid to come here, but I’m just telling them, you know, don’t be afraid man, it’s all love, it’s all love here," Rodman told The Associated Press after the tryouts at the Pyongyang Indoor Gymnasium. "I understand what’s going on with the political stuff, and I say, I don’t go into that venture, I’m just doing one thing for these kids here, and for this country, and for my country, and for the world pretty much."

Rodman, who arrived in Pyongyang on Thursday, said he expects to announce the roster soon. He also said he is planning another game in June.

Rodman, wearing a pink button-down shirt and puffing on a cigar, watched as a couple of dozen local players took to the basketball court for the tryouts. After the session, he told the players that each of the 12 he chooses will get two new pairs of tennis shoes.

When asked why he liked basketball, North Korean player Kim Un Chol told Rodman he started playing the game because he was impressed by it on TV, and said he also wants to be good at the sport because it is a favorite of leader Kim and his late father, Kim Jong Il.

Rodman asked all the players if they felt the same way. They nodded in unison.

"I want you guys to do one thing for your leader," Rodman then told them. "It’s his birthday. It’s a very special, special day for the country."

Rodman and Kim have struck up an unlikely friendship since he traveled to the secretive state for the first time in February with the Harlem Globetrotters for an HBO series produced by New York-based VICE television.

He remains the highest-profile American to meet Kim since the leader inherited power from his father in 2011.

Known as much for his piercings, tattoos and bad behavior as he was for basketball, Rodman has mostly avoided politics in his dealings with the North and has avoided commenting on the North’s human rights record or its continued detainment of American Kenneth Bae for allegedly committing anti-state crimes.

On Friday, he stressed that he hopes the game will be friendly, without political or nationalistic overtones.

He said the former NBA players will take on the North Koreans in the first half, but the teams will be mixed for the second half.

"It’s not about win or loss. It’s about one thing — unite two countries," Rodman said.

The post Dennis Rodman Holds Tryouts for Pyongyang Exhibition Game appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine.

Thai Protesters Push Again to Stop Elections

Posted: 22 Dec 2013 11:20 PM PST

Thailand, Yingluck Shinawatra, Thaksin, Suthep, protest

Anti-government protesters gather during a rally at Victory Monument in Bangkok Dec. 22, 2013. (Photo: Reuters)

BANGKOK — Buoyed by an election boycott called by Thailand's main opposition party, the head of the country's anti-government protest movement vowed Sunday to hound caretaker Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra "until she is dead or until she leaves" office.

Addressing supporters after a day of rallies and marches all over Bangkok involving more than 100,000 people, Suthep Thaugsuban issued a series of threats to try to achieve his group's goal of forcing Yingluck to step down and make way for a non-elected interim government before a snap election she has called for Feb. 2. The main opposition Democrat Party announced Saturday that it would boycott the polls.

Suthep's so-called People's Democratic Reform Committee says forcing Yingluck from office is necessary to purge corruption and money politics.

The protest movement, launched in late October, has effectively returned Thailand to a state of political instability, a condition from which it has fitfully suffered since 2006, when Yingluck's brother, Thaksin Shinawatra, was deposed as prime minister by a military coup after large street demonstrations accusing him of corruption and abuse of power.

"Because Yingluck clings to her prime minister's seat, we must come out to chase her," Suthep told supporters Sunday night. "We will keep chasing her until she is dead or until she leaves."

A group of protesters demonstrated briefly outside Yingluck's Bangkok home earlier Sunday, but she was not home. She has spent recent days in Thailand's north and northeast, her political strongholds.

Suthep called for his followers to gather outside the stadium where election candidates are supposed to register starting Monday. He hinted strongly that the group would try to disrupt the process.

"After we finish eating, we will prepare ourselves to sleep in front of the election registration areas starting tonight," he said. "Wherever they relocate the registration site to, we will follow to express our opposition."

While he said the protesters would stay outside the actual registration venues and not attack anything, he declared to would-be candidates, "If you want to apply for candidacy, you must walk past our feet first."

The group applied a similar approach several weeks ago when its mobs forced their way into government office compounds. In several cases, they waged pitched street battles with police, with bloodshed avoided only when the government decided to give ground and allow the premises to be temporarily occupied.

Suthep vowed that if the election still goes ahead on Feb. 2, "We will shut down the entire country and no one will vote."

If the state Election Commission fails to act according to his group's demands, he said, "They are the same as the Thaksin regime." The protesters say Yingluck is a proxy for Thaksin and that Thai politics are hopelessly corrupt under Thaksin's continuing influence.

Thaksin's supporters say he is disliked by Bangkok's elite because he has shifted power away from the traditional ruling class.

Suthep called Yingluck "shameless," accusing her of having "no legal or political legitimacy."

Dismissing her claims to legally running the government, Suthep declared, "If you continue to say this, I will condemn you every day until you are forced to hide in a toilet."

Yingluck on Saturday formally proposed a plan for making political reforms following the election. It included having election candidates take an oath to support the creation of a reform council immediately after taking office; having the council's representatives come from all walks of life at local and national levels; and mandating that the council finish its work within two years.

The Democrats, who are closely allied with the protest movement, also led an election boycott in 2006 that helped pave the way for the coup against Thaksin.

Thaksin's opponents and followers have vied for power since the coup, sometimes violently. But Thaksin and his allies have won every national election since 2001, thanks to his support from the urban and rural poor who benefited from his populist programs.

The post Thai Protesters Push Again to Stop Elections appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine.

When China Seeks Investments, Diplomatic Rows Are No Barrier

Posted: 22 Dec 2013 11:16 PM PST

China, investment, Spain, Norway, business

The Jianwai SOHO residential and commercial complex in Beijing. China is showing that it won't let diplomatic disputes get in the way of its economic growth. (Photo: Reuters)

BEIJING — Two foreign investments in Chinese financial institutions this month suggest China will not turn away cash from countries it has taken diplomatic or trade measures against after blaming them for interference in its domestic affairs.

Santander, Spain's largest bank, announced on Dec. 10 that it was buying an 8 percent stake in Chinese state-controlled Bank of Shanghai .

Two days later, Norges Bank Investment Management, Norway's sovereign wealth fund, was part of a consortium of cornerstone investors that pumped US$1.1 billion into asset manager Cinda's initial public offering.

Both Spain and Norway have drawn Beijing's ire for actions unrelated to trade and investment.

China, the world's second largest economy, often uses undeclared trade sanctions to punish countries with which it has diplomatic differences. But Beijing is careful not to hurt its own economy in the process, and inbound foreign investment is not usually affected.

"China obviously has more political sensitivities and more political taboos than other countries" said Joseph Cheng, a political scientist at City University of Hong Kong. "So you see the use of economic sanctions for an unannounced objective more often."

In 2012, amid tensions with the Philippines over a disputed shoal in the South China Sea, China temporarily disrupted Filipino banana imports by imposing a strict quarantine.

During a spat in 2010 over a Chinese fishing vessel that rammed a Japanese coast guard cruiser, Japanese companies complained that China had halted exports of rare earth minerals, used in a range of industries including defense, telecommunications and renewable energy. Beijing denied the charge.

"Companies within the affected sectors in the target country often complain to their own government," said James Reilly, a senior lecturer at the University of Sydney who writes about Chinese sanctions. "Chinese leaders seem to rely upon such processes to deliver the message."

During both incidents, China publicly cited legitimate concerns: pests, and environmental damage from illegal mining.

"It's actually relatively easy to impose short-term restrictions on trade through a variety of excuses," said Duncan Innes-Ker, senior China analyst at the Economist Intelligence Unit.

Trade with Japan, China's second-largest trading partner after the United States, has declined since 2011 as tensions have spiraled over a groups of islands claimed by both nations, but direct foreign investment from Japan continues to grow.

"Certainly we tend to see a lot more action on the trade side than we do on the investment side," said Innes-Ker.

"It's a lot more painful if you do it on the investment side."

The Dalai Lama Effect

Some analysts call the undeclared sanctions "economic bullying."

In what is called the "Dalai Lama effect," countries whose head of state or government meet the exiled Tibetan leader see exports to China drop 8 to 17 percent in the two years following, according to a 2010 study by two researchers at Germany's University of Goettingen.

In 2008, an Airbus deal was delayed when the then French President, Nicolas Sarkozy, decided to meet the Dalai Lama. Ties between the two nations improved only in 2010.

China has also threatened economic measures against Italy and Germany before their top leaders met with the Tibetan spiritual leader.

But it does not always follow through. In 2010, China threatened but never implemented sanctions against US weapons and aerospace firms involved in a proposed $6.4 billion arms sale to self-ruled Taiwan, including Boeing Co.

In the most recent tiff, Spain incurred Beijing's wrath earlier this year when a court indicted China's ex-president Hu Jintao and issued an arrest warrant for ex-president Jiang Zemin, over accusations of genocide in Tibet. China dismissed the charges as absurd and summoned the Spanish ambassador to protest.

Spanish authorities have not publicly reported any soft economic sanctions despite angry rumblings in Beijing.

The Santander deal requires formal approval from the China Banking Regulatory Commission, but since the deal has been publicly announced, it is likely some form of tacit approval has been obtained, analysts say.

Santander agreed to buy out HSBC's minority stake in the Bank of Shanghai, which it said had 98 billion euros ($133.95 billion) of assets and was the second-biggest city-focused commercial and retail bank in the country.

Given the current state of its banking sector, China may not be in a position to turn away investors. Domestic banks are looking for additional private capital to help absorb an expected surge in bad loans as economic growth slows and some stimulus-era loans turn sour, analysts say.

Norwegian Relations

In 2010, Norway's diplomatic relations with China were frozen after the Nobel Committee awarded the Nobel Peace prize to jailed Chinese dissident Liu Xiaobo.

China canceled meetings with Norwegian officials and denied visas to visiting dignitaries, even though Norway's government says it has no influence over the Nobel committee.

Norwegian salmon imports dropped 52 percent, year on year, in the first quarter of 2011. This year, salmon imports are still down 20 percent from 2010, although overall trade has risen.

Norway's diplomatic relations with Beijing show small signs of improvement. Boerge Brende, Oslo's new foreign minister, met Premier Li Keqiang in August, while still a member of the opposition.

"It is extremely important that the relationship between China and Norway is normalized," Brende told a Norwegian paper, Dagens Naeringsliv, after taking office this October.

One hurdle may be the Dalai Lama's planned unofficial visit to Norway next May.

Either way, China can expect more Norwegian cash in the future.

Aside from the investment in Cinda, Norway's wealth fund also received approval in October from China's foreign currency regulator to raise the limit of its investment in Chinese stocks, to $1.5 billion from $1 billion

"It is high on my agenda to have a good dialogue with China," Brende said.

The post When China Seeks Investments, Diplomatic Rows Are No Barrier appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine.
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