The Irrawaddy Magazine |
- Tycoon’s Plans for Putao Come under Scrutiny
- School of Law a Small Step to Rule of Law
- Car Permit Accepted for Future Use, Says ABSDF
- After a ‘Family Coup,’ a Reporter in Burma Earns Her Own Greatness
- Birds of Many Feathers
- Thai Protesters Call for Nationwide Uprising
- China’s Navy Breaks out to the High Seas
- Pacquiao Says He is Borrowing to Give Typhoon Aid
| Tycoon’s Plans for Putao Come under Scrutiny Posted: 27 Nov 2013 01:38 AM PST  Tay Za, CEO of the Htoo Group of Companies, poses for a photo during a mountain expedition. (Photo: Nyi Min San Photography / U Tay Za's Facebook Page) MYITKYINA, Kachin State — Surrounded by Burma's highest, snow-capped mountains, the remote and rugged Putao Valley in northern Kachin State is a place of stunning beauty and pristine mountain landscapes. This wilderness amid the Himalayan foothills is home to unique wildlife and vast forests, endangered Himalayan Yew trees and rare orchids, and even a small ethnic pygmy tribe. The Putao Valley, located at an altitude of about 1,000 meters, was long off limits due to its remoteness and ethnic conflict, but, according to sources in the Kachin State capital Myitkyina, one of Burma's wealthiest men is taking a growing interest in the area. Htoo Group of Companies director Tay Za, who became rich by cutting deals with the former military regime, is believed to be actively expanding his business projects in Putao District. Residents of Myitkyina say his firms have been granted a concession to log 120,000 hectares of old-growth mountain forest and a 240,000-hectare gold mining exploration concession along the banks of the Malikha River in northern Putao. The US-sanctioned businessman is reportedly also building a luxury resort called Malikha Lodge in Mulashidi village, near the district capital Putao, located some 220 km north of Myitkyina. "We heard the Putao Valley is now owned by U Tay Za. He has many investments there," said Rev Lama Yaw, director of the Kachin Baptist Convention, who recently visited villagers in the area displaced by clashes between government forces and the Kachin Independence Army (KIA). "All the local people I met said he bought it from the government." "Tay Za’s resort, in Mulashidi village, is like an international-standard luxury resort. It costs US $500 per night to stay there," Lama Yaw said. "Putao region has beautiful natural scenery, but it is very remote. I doubt many tourists will visit this place." In the past, the Htoo Group CEO also expressed interest in developing a ski resort in the region and his airline, Air Bagan, operates a flight between Myitkyina and Putao. But the extravagant investment schemes of Tay Za in one of the country's remotest and poorest regions do not end there. During a recent interview in Myitkyina with an Irrawaddy reporter, Lama Yaw showed photos of a speedboat owned by the Htoo Group that was spotted on the Malikha River in Putao District. "Bringing this kind of boat to such an isolated region would be no easy matter, but he brought it here, anyway," the reverend said, pointing at the picture. "It seems he has big business plans in Putao." A Controversial Tycoon Who Loves the Kachin Mountains Tay Za, 48, has long taken an interest in Burma's northernmost region, which borders on the Tibetan Plateau to the west. In 2011, he led a five-man expedition to explore Fukan Razi Mountain, but the team became stranded in the mountains for three days and had to be rescued after their helicopter crash-landed. After returning from the trip, Tay Za visited Snr-Gen Than Shwe, then leader of Burma's ruling junta, to pay his respects and express his gratitude for sending a rescue mission to save him and his team. It was reported that the military strongman had ordered an entire battalion to look for the tycoon when he heard what had happened to him.  Tay Za (with flag) leads a mountaineering expedition at Mount Phon Yin in Putao District, Kachin State, in this undated photo. (Photo: U Tay Za's Facebook Page) Recently, an expedition involving several American professional climbers scaled Mount Gamlang with funding from Tay Za's Htoo Foundation. Following their return, the climbers claimed it was higher than Mount Hkakabo, which is believed to be Burma's highest peak. In an effort to promote the event, the foundation brought a member of the ethnic Tarong group from Putao to Rangoon. The 60-year-old man, named Dar Weik and measuring less than 4 feet, is one of several surviving Tarong and was put on show wearing Htoo Foundation promotional clothing at the upscale Traders Hotel. Tay Za made much of his fortune by cutting deals with Burma's former military regime, which had grown isolated and cash-strapped in the years following the 1988 military coup. Since the 1990s, he has expanded from agribusiness into large-scale logging of natural forests, before moving into mining, construction and hotels, and setting up AGD Bank and Air Bagan. The US Treasury placed him on a sanctions list in 2008 and dubbed him "an arms dealer and financial henchman of Burma's repressive junta" for helping the military secure arms deals, including the procurement of Russian-made helicopter gunships that were used during the ongoing Kachin conflict. Earlier this month, Tay Za visited the Russian Federal Republic of Tatarstan to represent Burma government interests, and met with its president, trade minister and the director of Kamaz, Russia's largest truck manufacturer. Tatarstan President Rustam Minnikhanov suggested he bring "helicopters, trucks, machine-building products and shipbuilding products" back to Burma, according to a press release. Tay Za's projects aimed at stripping forest and mineral resources in ethnic areas have allegedly involved militarization of project areas by the Burma Army, leading to complaints from activists, rebel groups and local communities. The projects are alleged to have negative environmental and social impacts, while military units have been accused of committing rights abuses against the local population during its ongoing conflict with the KIA. Many Myitkyina residents believe Tay Za, in addition to gaining government approval for his projects, has obtained security guarantees from the Burma Army's northern command for his plans in Kachin State. A Myitkyina-based researcher with an international development agency, who was speaking on condition of anonymity, said Tay Za's firms were securing rights to vast swathes of land in Putao Valley and planned to develop tourism in the region. "He [Tay Za] is trying to buy more land. He is trying to be friendly with local indigenous ethnics who live there," the researcher said. "We heard he even provided local, ethnic [government-backed] militias with arms to confront the Kachin rebels, the Kachin Independence Army, if needed." The Kachin News Group, a Thailand-based news agency, has claimed that the government-backed ethnic Rawang Militia has launched attacks on KIA Battalion 7 in order secure areas in Putao District for Tay Za's projects. But Tay Za doesn't only maintain good relations with the government and the military. The tycoon recently also met with KIA Deputy Chief of Staff Gen Gun Maw in Rangoon, according to a local news report. Gun Maw told Eleven Media that the "Meeting with U Tay Za is not a work-related matter. When we came down here, he gave some support, especially for travelling. And I met him at a previous conference and we became friends." A Htoo Group of Companies spokesman Nyi Nyi Aung on Tuesday denied reports that the firm was engaged in resource exploitation in Putao District and insisted that reports of teak logging in the area by the company were not true. "There are no teak trees in the Putao region. They just don't grow there. We even tried at one point to establish a teak plantation there, but it was not successful. So it is hard to do logging where there is no teak," he said "It's also strange that we're accused of logging in Putao and transferring the logs down to Yangon by boat. That would cost four or five times what the logs are worth," he said, while also denying that Htoo firms were exploring for gold in the area. According to government regulations, all timber exported from Burma must go through Rangoon port. However, international environmental groups have documented large-scale overland timber trade from Kachin State into China. Nyi Nyi Aung said he was unaware of Tay Za's potential plans to develop a ski resort in Putao, but insisted that the tycoon's activities in the valley were of a philanthropic nature. "We help inhabitants of Putao as much as we can to improve their livelihood. We want to develop the Putao region," he told The Irrawaddy. Khon Ja, a leading activist with the Rangoon-based Kachin Peace Network, questioned Tay Za's intentions in Putao, adding that both government and the public should take note of the projects' impacts on one of the country's most beautiful regions. "The snow-covered mountains in Putao are like the country's jewels. There are also wildlife sanctuaries there. What happens there concerns all people in Burma," she said. "We have to think about environmental impacts and climate change. If natural beauty is destroyed, it damages the whole country. Even if local people support U Tay Za's projects, it is a big loss that we can never regain." The post Tycoon's Plans for Putao Come under Scrutiny appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine. |
| School of Law a Small Step to Rule of Law Posted: 27 Nov 2013 03:27 AM PST  Naw Ohn Hla, one of the clients of lawyer Robert San Aung, was among 69 political prisoners released in an amnesty on Nov. 15, 2013. (Photo: The Irrawaddy) RANGOON – Burma’s need for "rule of law" is a long-standing mantra of opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi—a slogan the former political prisoner has held up as a contrast to the opaque and arbitrary nature of military rule. With a civilian-led but army-backed government in power since early 2011, a wide array of social and economic reforms have been passed or are in train, though many of these, such as rules requiring police permits for public protests, have been criticized as restrictive. Still other laws, such as new draft bill on forming NGOs, have been praised, though the latter has yet to be signed into law. "In our country law and order and better rule of law are needed," said Nyan Win, a confidante of Suu Kyi and a 1968 law graduate from the University of Yangon. Another small but significant step towards rule of law in Burma could come on Dec. 2, when the university will accept 50 new students as the country's first undergraduate law intake since 1996. "It is a significant development for the legal profession in Myanmar," said the university's rector, Dr. Tin Tun. "It will be a very good opportunity for our students to study law as Myanmar opens up." Since Burma’s abortive student-led uprising against military rule in 1988, which was led by students, many of them based at the University of Yangon, the country’s education system has been gutted. The university was shuttered from 1988 to 1993, and after more protests in 1996, undergraduate courses were put on ice by the ruling junta. But now there’s a renewed thirst for learning, it seems, at the institution where many of Burma’s independence fighters studied prior to WWII and a short-lived dalliance with the invading Japanese. Prominent on the University of Yangon website is a banner proclaiming a "mission to renovate and upgrade"—a much-needed undertaking after decades of military-imposed sclerosis. It might be some time, however, before Burma's oldest and best-known university can come close to world-class levels of education, with the university’s website outlining a goal "to transform the University of Yangon as the one of the excellent academic institution, where people can learn world class education." The clumsy English is matched by the iffy state of the legal profession in Burma, said Nyan Win, who told The Irrawaddy that "the standard of lawyers is not high in this country, and the same for a lot of other professions." "This is not just recently, but goes back decades, when lawyers and others were trained under the socialist government," he added, referring to the 1962-1988 socialist dictatorship under General Ne Win. But Nyan Win, who recently spoke out against UN calls for Burma to recognize the Rohingya, a Muslim minority in Arakan State, is not entirely averse to Ne Win's legal legacy. "The Rohingya do not exist under Myanmar’s law," he said, referring to the country's controversial 1982 Citizenship Law. Robert San Aung, a lawyer known for defending high-profile clients such as Naw Ohn La, a recently amnestied political prisoner, said that the dearth of lawyers in Burma raises the bar for people with cases to plead. "The clients are facing difficulties to have an excellent lawyer and we, the experienced lawyers, have very few qualified junior lawyers who can help us," San Aung told The Irrawaddy. Money, ever a concern in Burma, which remains one of Asia’s poorest countries, is another curtailing factor. "The junior lawyers can’t give the time to study because they get very low fees for a case. Some get $100 for a case and some get $150," San Aung explained. The University of Yangon’s intellectual decay was matched by its physical dilapidation, though changes are underway as the campus partners with the likes of Johns Hopkins University, Australian National University and Dulles University to update curricula and with countries such as Australia and Japan pledging to fund a revamp. "We are happy to have foreign professors and foreign donors," said Dr Khin Mar Yee, the head of the University of Yangon’s Law Department, herself a 1986 law graduate who later earned a doctorate from the university in 2003. And though the university’s case was pushed by Aung San Suu Kyi in Burma’s Parliament, leading to the establishment of the Committee on Renovation and Upgrading the University of Yangon in December 2012, shortly after US President Barack Obama spoke at the campus, foreign backing is needed. Although education spending has increased since the transition to civilian government, agencies such as UNICEF have called on the Burmese government to put more money into schooling at all levels. Naypyidaw has acknowledged that it has a problem, noting in its Framework for Economic and Social Reforms policy document, published in early 2013, that "the average length of schooling is low compared to those of Cambodia, Lao PDR and Vietnam; the quality of education at all levels of the system is generally poor, and the ratio of government expenditure on education to overall GDP is amongst the lowest in the world." The post School of Law a Small Step to Rule of Law appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine. |
| Car Permit Accepted for Future Use, Says ABSDF Posted: 27 Nov 2013 02:53 AM PST  ABSDF troops on parade at a ceremony marking the group's 25th Silver Jubilee Anniversary in Laiza, Kachin State. (Photo: J Paing/The Irrawaddy) CHIANG MAI — The All Burma Students' Democratic Front (ABSDF), an armed group that signed a national-level ceasefire agreement with the Burmese government a few months ago, says that it has taken a vehicle-import permit from the government for its future works. "Funding is needed to implement our political programs in the future. That's why we accepted the government's offer," Myo Win, the ABSDF's vice-chairman, told The Irrawaddy on Saturday. "We didn't take it for the welfare of individual members or the organization as a whole," he stressed. "With this funding, we will only implement political programs that support the current reform process." On Nov. 23, an ABSDF delegation led by Myo Win visited the northern Thai city of Chiang Mai to meet and discuss political issues with representatives from 11 political parties based inside Burma. Last month, an official letter sent to Than Khe, the ABSDF's chairman, by President's Office Minister Aung Min, the government's chief negotiator, spread on Facebook and other social media stating that the administration would provide the ABSDF with 60 vehicles to be used for the organization. In fact, however, the government only provided the group with tax-free import licenses for 20 vehicles for its leaders, while allowing rank-and-file members to import another 40 at a tax rate of 60 percent. Another letter signed by Than Khe authorizing Sonny, the ABSDF's general secretary, to take care of the matter also appeared online the same month. Previously, former ABSDF members living abroad donated money from their earnings to support fellow members of the group living along Burma's border areas. Lately, however, such assistance has reportedly been cut. Many ethnic armed groups have been offered vehicle import permits following their peace talks with government delegations since the administration led by President Thein Sein took office in March 2011. Dr Sui Khar, the general secretary of the Chin National Front (CNF), told The Irrawaddy that the permits were a "gift of peace" given to ethnic armed groups after a preliminary ceasefire agreement was reached at the 66th Union Day ceremony held in the capital Naypyidaw in February of this year. Like many others, the CNF was provided with a permit to import 60 cars, he said. The Karen National Union (KNU), one of the largest ethnic armed groups, was reportedly offered 120 vehicles, while the Kachin Independence Organization, another large group that has been fighting the government army since a ceasefire broke down in June 2011, refused to accept any. According to a businessman involved in the car trade in Rangoon and some other cities, some armed organizations have raised funds by selling the import permits. "Depending on the types of vehicle they [armed groups] import, they can earn tens of millions of kyat for one car," said the businessman, who asked not to be named. The post Car Permit Accepted for Future Use, Says ABSDF appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine. |
| After a ‘Family Coup,’ a Reporter in Burma Earns Her Own Greatness Posted: 26 Nov 2013 08:15 PM PST  Associated Press correspondent Aye Aye Win speaks to The Irrawaddy at her Rangoon home last week. (Photo: JPaing / The Irrawaddy) RANGOON— On the night of July 28, 1988, when the Burmese had taken to the streets in an attempt to topple a one-party dictatorship, the Associated Press (AP) bureau in Bangkok received a telex. It read: "Daddy has been taken away. He won't be available to answer your queries." It was a message from the daughter-cum-apprentice of local reporter Sein Win, who had been working inside Burma for the American wire service. It informed her father's employers of his arrest by authorities for his coverage of the mounting protests that year. She had already been helping her father to cover the frenetic events of the uprising, but the writer of the telex would soon file stories for the newswire herself. "It was all I could do as I was not, at that time, their official reporter," said Aye Aye Win as she recounted about the message she sent 25 years ago. One year later, in 1989, she joined AP herself. Then aged 36, she was the only female journalist in Burma at that time, letting the world know what was happening inside the country. After the protests were violently put down, the repressive military held on to power and retained strict control over information in Burma. Eleven Burmese journalists were still in jail until 2011. "I'm a journalist by choice, not by accident," said the slender woman. Even though she will turn 60 next month, Aye Aye Win still shoots questions at press conferences competitively; most of her fellow reporters are old enough to be her grandchildren. So far, she is the only living woman journalist in Burma who has won four international journalism awards. She received honors in 2004, 2008 and 2013. The most recent prize was the Honor Medal for Distinguished Service in Journalism from the Missouri School of Journalism, awarded for her "life-long dedication to honest and courageous journalism, often at the risk of personal safety," according to the school's website. During the 24 years of her AP career, Aye Aye Win has covered every one of Burma's ups and downs—from the monk-led revolt in 2007, to Cyclone Nargis, which killed more than 130,000 people in 2008—the worst natural disaster in the recorded history of Burma—to the advent of a quasi-civilian government in 2011. "She has always covered with distinction and sometimes with physical courage," said Denis D. Gray, who oversaw Burma coverage as the AP bureau chief in neighboring Thailand from 1976 to 2011. The former bureau chief told The Irrawaddy that even though his reporter seems "reckless in her opinions and sometimes in actions," she is made of the same toughness, stubbornness, pride in the profession and intelligence as her dad, Sein Win, who worked for AP for 20 years. The late veteran journalist, who passed away last month, was famous for his efforts for press freedom in Burma, enduring three stints in prison as he chronicled several decades of his country's turbulent history. "So it became clear very early on that she would be able to work as a woman under a repressive regime. She proved it again and again," Gray said. Aye Aye Win has been harassed numerous times by authorities. Her phone line was tapped and she was on the government's watch list as she worked for a foreign news agency. She was once branded as "the ax handle" of foreign media by the state-run newspaper. In response to misconceptions that the former military government had of her, she said she is neither "anti-government" nor "anti-military" as they called her. "I'm just against persecution. It's my instinct to hate anyone who bullies," she said. Gray said no matter what she thought about the military regime, or for that matter about the opposition, she always strove, and still strives, for balance, "showing favor to no side." Ye Htut, the spokesperson of the Burmese President Office and the vice minister at the Ministry of Information, first met Aye Aye Win at press conferences from 2005 onward, and said according to those experiences he sees her "a smart woman who really wants to work as a professional journalist." "Of course, we sometimes have different points of view," he told The Irrawaddy. "But I have rarely seen inaccuracies in her reporting and noticed that she has never failed to raise questions bravely whenever she needed to ask, not only to government officials, but to some prominent politicians whom some local journalists are reluctant to shoot." Though she was fortunate not to be jailed like some other journalists, Aye Aye Win was interrogated in 1997 and 1998 at military intelligence offices because, she was told, "the persons upstairs were not pleased with her omnipresence at some occasions," referring to her attendance of anti-government protests as a reporter. Once she was asked to explain why she missed a Revolutionary Day state dinner, instead attending an opposition National League for Democracy (NLD) event. "At first, my heart was racing, but a sense of righteousness overwhelmed me. So I replied to them that 'the NLD makes news but the dinner doesn't,'" she said, recounting the interrogation session. "They mistakenly thought that they could intimidate journalists. It's not the case for me." Maybe she inherits that indomitable spirit from her father. "Daddy told me we never have to give up against anyone who persecutes us," she said. "He said: 'they can't put our spirit in prison. As long as we refuse to bow to our persecutors, we win.' That's one of the things I learnt from my dad, my hero." Since her formative years, Aye Aye Win has been familiar with the life of a journalist. She remembers her father returning home late at night and heading out early in the morning when he was the editor and publisher of Burmese newspaper The Guardian in the late 1950s. She witnessed how he gathered news, grabbed scoops and faced his arrests. Her dad told her she mustn't smile at her captors. But when she declared she wanted to be a journalist, it was Sein Win who bitterly rejected her choice of career. "Maybe he feared that I would be jailed like him," Aye Aye Win explained. "Finally, he promised to teach me journalism, but there was no job offer." As a high school student, she was interested in international news. She kept newspaper cuttings that featured stories she liked. "After following the Watergate story, I realized that journalists could shake an administration. I love that idea," she said, explaining that a teenage interest would stay with her for the rest of her life. In 1989, after grooming her for 10 years, Sein Win surrendered his job to Aye Aye Win—she called it "a family coup." He moved to a Japanese news agency. "Probably, he thought I was getting mature," she said with a laugh. For all the difficulties she faced throughout her career, the AP correspondent said she is lucky as she gets "full support" from her family. Apart from her father's guidance, she thanks her husband, who is also a correspondent for foreign media, for his understanding and cooperation; her mum for feeding her information to write stories and her daughter for saying "keep going." "They have never said 'Ok, that's enough,'" she said. Nowadays, although Burma's quasi-civilian government is praised for its openness and for officially ending censorship, Aye Aye Win complained that "98 percent" of government spokespeople are still unavailable for official comments. "They are not doing their jobs and I'm disappointed to see there's very little action from the government on what local papers have revealed, like corruption," she said. Though she has won international awards for her work, Aye Aye Win thinks she is still far behind the footsteps of prominent Burmese woman journalists of the past—like Ludu Daw Amar—who fought colonialism and injustice with their pens. Despite her modesty, she has rarely enjoyed favoritism as a woman. Instead, said Aye Aye Win, she earned scorn. "Our Asian society doesn't think highly of women's role. People thought I got the job thanks to my Dad and they underestimated me, saying I wouldn't make it," she recalled. "So I've vowed to myself to prove to them I could be a journalist, and I found out it's not a big deal as long as you have interest, responsibility and perseverance." Asked her reaction to winning prizes, Aye Aye Win said it's nice to be recognized, but really, awards are for movie stars. "Journalists don't need such a high profile," she added. The post After a 'Family Coup,' a Reporter in Burma Earns Her Own Greatness appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine. |
| Posted: 26 Nov 2013 08:10 PM PST  The spot-billed pelican is one of several bird species in Myanmar listed as near-endangered. Much is made of the fact that Myanmar is a multi-ethnic nation of 135 "national races." But this cultural diversity barely begins to compare with the rich variety of plant and animal species that also call this country home. "Dancing with Wings," a book that describes itself as a "portfolio of birds in Myanmar," introduces just a small handful of the avian species that live here. According to Avibase, an authoritative online database of birds from around the world, Myanmar has a total of 1,081 bird species, or roughly 10 percent of all known species. But what it lacks in exhaustiveness, "Dancing with Wings" more than makes up for in the obvious delight that its author, Kyaw Myo Naing, takes in documenting some of Myanmar's feathered treasures. This is the work of someone who knows the country well, and who wants others to appreciate its often unseen riches. Most of the birds included here still have healthy populations in Myanmar, although several—the spot-billed pelican, the black-headed ibis, the painted stork and the oriental darter—are listed as near-endangered. Only one, the green peafowl (spotted at the Hlawga National Park, in Yangon's Mingaladon Township), is considered endangered. This is comforting, because it means that despite all its other problems, Myanmar is still a place where our fellow creatures can cohabit with us in relative peace. But as Daw Aung San SuuKyi writes in her foreword, this is not something that can be taken for granted: "We must preserve the health and beauty of our environment … to ensure that our Earth is a safe haven for our children and grandchildren and our skies a pure firmament for our birds." Kyaw Myo Naing is himself almost as intriguing as his subjects. Well-known among nature photographers in Myanmar for the quality of his work, he is a dedicated amateur rather than a professional. Prior to his retirement in 2005, he had a very different occupation, as a general in the country's armed forces. This past is referred to in a brief biographical note, where it is stated that he joined the military in 1967, at the age of 22. "While serving in the army, he liked hunting and aimed mostly for moving targets," it adds, rather darkly. This isn't what you expect to read in a book about birds, but it is a useful reminder that conflict has been a large part of this country's experience for far too long. Perhaps as Myanmar moves toward a more peaceful future, the true value of its diversity—human and natural—will become much easier for all to appreciate. This story was first published in the November 2013 print edition of The Irrawaddy magazine. The post Birds of Many Feathers appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine. |
| Thai Protesters Call for Nationwide Uprising Posted: 26 Nov 2013 09:48 PM PST  Protest leader and former deputy Prime Minister Suthep Thaugsuban, center left, walks through the Finance Ministry compound occupied by anti-government protesters on Nov. 26, 2013. (Photo: Reuters) BANGKOK — Protesters in Thailand vowed on Tuesday to force the closure of more government offices throughout the country in a bid to oust Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra. Their leader announced for the first time that their goal is to topple the government and replace it with a non-elected council. Suthep Thaugsuban, who resigned as an opposition lawmaker to lead the protests, said the change is necessary to eradicate the political machine of former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra. Thaksin, Yingluck’s older brother, was ousted by a 2006 military coup and fled the country to avoid a two-year prison term on a corruption conviction. He continues to sharply divide the nation, with his supporters and opponents battling for power. Pro-Thaksin parties have won every election since 2001. The protesters began occupying and besieging several government ministries on Monday, and made the Finance Ministry their headquarters. Police issued an arrest warrant on Tuesday for Suthep, who served as deputy prime minister under a previous Democrat Party administration, for leading the storming of the ministry. But police said he would not be arrested at the rally as part of a pledge to avoid clashes with protesters. However, protesters late Tuesday blocked roads near the Finance Ministry and surrounded more than 10 police vans that had stopped at a nearby gas station. The standoff extended past midnight. Protesters accuse Yingluck, who took office in 2011, of being a puppet controlled by her brother. She fought a two-front political war on Tuesday, fending off sharp criticism during a parliamentary no-confidence debate, while protesters besieged several more ministries. She called for calm and offered to negotiate with the protest leaders. "If we can talk, I believe the country will return to normal," she said. She has vowed not to use violence to stop the protests. Demonstrators surrounded the Interior Ministry and then cut electricity and water to pressure people inside to leave. Security personnel locked themselves behind the ministry’s gates, with employees still inside. The transport, agriculture and tourism ministries were also closed Tuesday because of the presence of protesters. The anti-government campaign started last month after Yingluck’s ruling Pheu Thai party tried to pass an amnesty bill that critics said was designed to absolve Thaksin and others of politically related offenses and allow him to return home. The Senate rejected the bill in a bid to end the protests, but the rallies have gained momentum. On Sunday, more than 100,000 anti-government demonstrators staged the country’s biggest protest in years. In 2010, about 90 people were killed when a Democrat Party-led government ordered a military crackdown on Thaksin’s "Red Shirt" supporters who were occupying parts of central Bangkok. This week’s occupation of ministry offices has raised fears of violence and worries that Thailand is entering a new period of political instability. Suthep has rejected new elections, which the now-opposition Democrats are certain to lose. In a speech on Tuesday to followers at the Finance Ministry, he called for a change of the country’s parliamentary system. "If we take down the Thaksin regime tomorrow, we will set up a people’s council the day after tomorrow," he told the cheering crowd. "Let the people’s council pick a good man to be the prime minister, good men to be ministers. Make it a dream team, make a Cabinet of your dream and the people’s government." Akanat Promphan, a protest spokesman, earlier said the offensive to seize government offices would be extended nationwide on Wednesday. The anti-Thaksin movement is strongest in Bangkok and the south, while Thaksin’s many supporters in other areas might challenge the protesters, raising another prospect for violence. Separately on Tuesday, the Democrat Party launched a parliamentary no-confidence debate against Yingluck. They accused her administration of corruption and called her an incompetent puppet. The vote has no chance of unseating Yingluck as her party controls the House of Representatives. The protesters’ takeover of government offices has drawn criticism from the United States and the European Union, which issued a statement on Tuesday calling upon "all concerned to avoid escalation and to resolve differences through peaceful means." Associated Press writers Jocelyn Gecker and Grant Peck contributed to this report. The post Thai Protesters Call for Nationwide Uprising appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine. |
| China’s Navy Breaks out to the High Seas Posted: 26 Nov 2013 10:20 PM PST  A navy officer waves as China’s hospital ship “Peace Ark” leaves a military port for the Philippines to assist to the victims of Typhoon Haiyan, on Nov. 21, 2013. (Photo: Reuters) HONG KONG — In late October, flotillas of Chinese warships and submarines sliced through passages in the Japanese archipelago and out into the western Pacific for 15 days of war games. The drills, pitting a "red force" against a "blue force," were the first in this area, combining ships from China’s main south, east and north fleets, according to the Chinese military. Land-based bombers and surveillance aircraft also flew missions past Japan to support the navy units. In official commentaries, senior People’s Liberation Army (PLA) officers boasted their navy had "dismembered" the so-called first island chain—the arc of islands enclosing China’s coastal waters, stretching from the Kuril Islands southward through the Japanese archipelago, Taiwan, the Northern Philippines and down to Borneo. Named Manoeuvre 5, these were no ordinary exercises. They were the latest in a series of increasingly complex and powerful thrusts through the first island chain into the Pacific. For the first time in centuries, China is building a navy that can break out of its confined coastal waters to protect distant sea lanes and counter regional rivals. Beijing’s military strategists argue this naval punch is vital if China is to avoid being bottled up behind a barrier of US allies, vulnerable to a repeat of the humiliation suffered at the hands of seafaring Europeans and Japanese through the colonial period. "It tells Japan and the United States that they are not able to contain China within the first island chain," says Shen Dingli, a security expert and professor at Shanghai’s Fudan University. "So don’t bet on their chances to do so at a time of crisis." In the process, the rapidly expanding PLA navy (PLAN) is driving a seismic shift in Asia’s military balance. China, traditionally an inwardly focused continental power, is becoming a seagoing giant with a powerful navy to complement its huge ship-borne trade. "As China grows, China’s maritime power also grows," says Ren Xiao, director of the Centre for the Study of Chinese Foreign Policy at Fudan University and a former Chinese diplomat posted to Japan. "China’s neighboring countries should be prepared and become accustomed to this." China’s strongly nationalistic Communist Party leader, Xi Jinping, has thrown his personal weight behind the maritime strategy. In a speech to the Politburo in the summer, Xi said the oceans would play an increasingly important role this century in China’s economic development, according to accounts of his remarks published in the state-controlled media. "We love peace and will remain on a path of peaceful development but that doesn’t mean giving up our rights, especially involving the nation’s core interests," he was quoted as saying by the official Xinhua News Agency. Blue Water Ambitions China is also making waves in the South China Sea, where it has territorial disputes with a number of littoral states. But it is the pace and tempo of its deployments and exercises around Japan that provide the clearest evidence of Beijing’s "blue water" ambitions. Fleets of pale grey, PLA warships are a now a permanent presence near or passing through the Japanese islands. An acrimonious standoff over a rocky jumble of disputed islands in the East China Sea, known as the Senkakus in Japan and Diaoyu in China, has given China an opportunity to flex its new maritime muscle. Beijing has deployed paramilitary flotillas and surveillance aircraft to this zone for more than a year, where they jostle with Japanese counterparts. Tension flared dangerously last week when China imposed a new air defense zone over the islands, demanding that foreign aircraft lodge flight plans with Beijing before entering this area. In defiance of the zone on Tuesday, two unarmed US B-52 bombers on a training mission flew over the islands without informing Beijing. The flight did not prompt a response from China. "The policy announced by the Chinese over the weekend is unnecessarily inflammatory," White House spokesman Josh Earnest told reporters in California, where President Barack Obama is traveling. Washington and Tokyo immediately signaled they would ignore the restriction. The Obama administration also reminded China that the treaty obliging the United States to defend Japan if it came under attack also covered the disputed islands. Particularly unnerving for Tokyo are the increasingly common transits of powerful Chinese naval squadrons through the narrowest straits of the Japanese archipelago, sometimes within sight of land. This puts East Asia’s two economic giants, both with potent navies, in direct military competition for the first time since the 1945 surrender of Japan’s two million-strong invasion force in China. Drawing on a reservoir of bitterness over that earlier conflict, the demeanor of both sides signals this is a dangerous moment as US naval dominance in Asia wanes. Even if both sides exercise restraint, the risk of an accidental clash or conflict is ever present. "China and Japan have to come to terms with the fact that their militaries will operate in close proximity to each other," says James Holmes, a maritime strategist at the US Naval War College in Newport, Rhode Island, and a former US Navy surface warfare officer. "Geography compels them to do so." Coordinated Crossing As the Manoeuvre 5 drills got under way, PLA Senior Colonel Du Wenlong said he was looking forward to units from the three regional Chinese fleets simultaneously crossing three key chokepoints—two through the Japanese islands, and one between Taiwan and the Philippines, according to reports in the official Chinese military media. It is unclear if the warships performed a coordinated transit. But the exercises and the response of the Japanese military contributed to a spike in tension. "The PLAN has cut up the whole island chain into multiple sections so that the so-called island chains are no longer existent," Colonel Du was quoted as saying. In this and earlier exercises, the PLA provided daily commentaries and details of the ships, courses and drills, with pointed mention of transit points past Japan. PLA officers or military commentators, in typical communiqués, say China has "demolished" or "fragmented" the island chain in a "breakthrough" into the Pacific—language that suggests the crossings are somehow opposed rather than legal transits through international waters. Tokyo dispatched warships and aircraft to track and monitor the Chinese fleet in response to the latest drills. Japanese fighters also scrambled to meet Chinese bombers and patrol aircraft as they flew out to the exercises and back. Japan’s Defense Ministry later released surveillance photographs of a Chinese H6 bomber flying between Okinawa and Miyako Island on Oct. 26. All this attention clearly irritated the PLA leadership. Beijing accused Japan of a "dangerous provocation" and lodged a formal diplomatic protest, complaining that a Japanese warship and aircraft disrupted a live fire exercise. While the drills were under way, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe warned that his country would not be bullied. "We will express our intention as a state not to tolerate a change in the status quo by force," he told a military audience on Oct. 27. "We must conduct all sorts of activities such as surveillance and intelligence for that purpose." Naval commentators suggest the bellicose rhetoric shows that both sides are struggling to adjust to their new rivalry. "Chinese hardliners do regional tranquility no service by talking about splitting Japan and so forth," says American naval strategist Holmes, co-author of an influential book on China’s maritime rise, "Red Star Over the Pacific," with colleague Toshi Yoshihara. "And, the Japanese do regional tranquility no service by being alarmed when China’s navy transits international straits in a perfectly lawful manner." Part of the problem for Japan is that it has been slow to adjust to China’s rise, according to some Chinese foreign policy analysts, and is now excessively anxious. "For so many years they looked down upon China which was big but weak," says Ren, the former Chinese diplomat. "Now the situation is different and they have to face up to the new reality." Some senior Japanese officers accept that China is within its rights to traverse international waters between the Japanese islands. Likewise, they say, the Japanese are entitled to track and monitor these movements and exercises. "The Japanese Self Defense Force’s reaction is also in full compliance with international laws, regulations and customs," says retired Vice Admiral Yoji Koda, a former top Japanese naval commander. Koda adds that the Japanese military routinely monitors Russian naval operations around Japan without friction or protest. Rise of Seafaring Powers The ideological keel of Beijing’s modern bid to become a maritime power was laid down as China’s economic revival in the early 1980s flowed through into sharply increased military budgets. The starting point for China’s leading maritime thinkers is the trauma of European and Japanese colonization. "The Qing Dynasty was badly defeated in naval warfare by overseas imperialist powers, leading to the decline and fall of the dynasty," wrote Zhang Wenmu, a professor at Beijing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics, in a 2010 article published in China’s official state media. Another premier Chinese maritime strategist is Ni Lexiong, a professor at Shanghai’s University of Political Science and Law. He has documented how China’s failure to properly fund its navy was a factor in its 1895 defeat in the first Sino-Japanese war and the subsequent loss of Taiwan. Zhang and Ni are regarded as China’s leading advocates of the theories of the American naval officer, strategist and historian Alfred Thayer Mahan. Both subscribe to one of Mahan’s principal ideas: A truly powerful nation must have thriving international trade, a merchant fleet to carry these goods and a strong navy to protect its sea lanes. Mahan’s works, considered visionary in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, are still avidly read and absorbed in Chinese naval schools, Chinese military analysts say. The rise of earlier seafaring and trading powers—Portugal, Spain, Holland, Great Britain, the United States and Japan—have also provided important lessons for strategic thinkers. The vision and influence of the late Admiral Liu Huaqing, known as the father of the modern Chinese navy, also remains strong. Liu, who died in 2011, rose to become overall commander of the PLA and a member of the Communist Party’s Politburo standing committee, the country’s supreme ruling body. While Liu was head of the navy in the 1980s, it was an obsolete, coastal fleet. But Liu was determined that China needed a blue-water fleet and aircraft carriers if it was to match the power of the United States and its allies. Fundamental to the thinking of many Chinese strategists and military and political leaders is the conviction that China would be foolish to rely on the United States to protect its shipping. They acknowledge that the US Navy has guaranteed freedom of navigation since the end of World War Two, underwriting an explosion in global trade to the benefit of most other countries, including China. The figures bear this out. China last year overtook the United States as the world’s biggest trader, according to official data from both countries. Up to 90 percent of Chinese trade is carried by sea, including most of its vital imports of energy and raw materials, shipping experts estimate. But Beijing’s strategists fear the US could interrupt this trade at a time of crisis or conflict. Almost all of China’s naval thinkers also agree that recovering Taiwan is crucial to realizing the dream of maritime power. Restoring "national unity" is a longstanding goal of the ruling Communist Party. But the self-governing island itself has immense strategic value, sitting astride sea lanes that are also vital for Japan and South Korea. Control of Taiwan would open a huge breach in the first island chain around China. PLA warships and aircraft based on the island could extend China’s military reach far into the Pacific and much closer to Japan, without the need to first pass through potential choke points or channels in the chain. "Taiwan is a part of the first island chain," says Fudan University’s Shen. "Instead of being integrated into mainland China, it has been used as a part of the US first island chain strategy." Abandoning the Maoist Strategy China’s turn to the sea has boosted the status of the navy, long the poor relation of the armed forces. The PLA, traditionally a massive ground force, was built around the Maoist strategy of drawing an invading enemy deep into the hinterland, where it could be destroyed through attrition. Military strategists say this was thinkable before the country industrialized. Now that the eastern seaboard is the throbbing engine of the world’s second-ranked economy, fighting a war here would be catastrophic for China, win or lose, they say. Far better to meet challenges at sea or on the territory of a hostile nation. The late Admiral Liu is credited with sharply increasing the navy’s share of the defense budget, outlays that have paid for a rapidly expanding fleet. In its annual assessment of the Chinese military published earlier this year, the Pentagon said the Chinese navy, now the biggest in Asia, deployed 79 major surface warships and more than 55 submarines, among other vessels. And the PLAN last year commissioned its first aircraft carrier. Wu Shengli, the powerful admiral who now leads this force, is widely regarded as the most influential naval officer since Admiral Liu. Wu is also a member of the Central Military Commission, China’s top military council. PLAN warships are now highly visible in all major oceans, with an active schedule of ship visits to foreign ports. The Chinese navy is part of the international anti-piracy force in the Gulf of Aden. These deployments are heavily publicized in the state-controlled media as the navy becomes a symbol of China’s growing international prestige. This openness also applies to combat exercises. The US and other major powers routinely chastise China for a lack of transparency surrounding its three-decade military build-up. But it is difficult to accuse Beijing of secrecy when it comes to recent naval operations near Japan. The state-run media and a stable of specialist military newspapers, journals, web-sites and television channels devote blanket coverage to the deployment of warships, submarines, aircraft and patrol vessels on missions near China’s neighbor. Some military commentators say Japan shouldn’t overreact to these messages, as they are primarily aimed at a domestic Chinese audience. "The PLAN is a relatively young organization building up their capabilities and certainly not the 'senior service' in China," says Alessio Patalano, a specialist on the Japanese military at King’s College in London. "It’s important for its leadership and its members to establish their credentials and increase their profile." For exercise Manoeuvre 5, the Chinese navy followed the US practice of embedding journalists. Regular television reports from the Type-052 guided missile destroyer Guangzhou showed the 6,500-tonne warship ploughing through heavy seas on route to the exercises. Officers and sailors were interviewed at battle stations while they tracked targets and prepared missile launches. Tokyo is keeping careful score. In its latest Defense White Paper, published in July, the Japanese military charted steadily expanding PLA deployments near Japan since 2008, documenting bigger visiting fleets, more powerful warships and increasingly complex exercises involving helicopters, support vessels and land-based aircraft. Encirclement After decades confined to its coastal seas, the PLAN began regular voyages from the East China Sea into the Pacific early last decade. At first, Chinese warships mostly used the wide Miyako Strait between Okinawa and Miyako Island, according to statements from the Chinese and Japanese militaries. Since then, in a series of firsts, they have transited all the other important channels between the Japanese islands, according to Japan’s White Paper. Then came encirclement. In July, five PLA warships steamed out of the Sea of Japan through the Soya Strait, known as the La Perouse Strait in Russia, which divides the Russian island of Sakhalin and Hokkaido. The Chinese fleet continued on around the Japanese islands and back to China. "The move marks the first trip by the Chinese navy circumnavigating the Japanese archipelago," said a report on China’s official military website. Some Chinese strategists reject fears that deploying a powerful navy increases the odds of conflict. "I am more confident than many outside observers that China will behave out of the nation’s fundamental interests, namely, to take a path of peaceful development," says Ren. "There is no reason to change this option." For Japan, there might even be an upside. Chinese warships used to be mostly confined to home waters, and thus hidden. Now, they can now be monitored. "The more exercises the PLAN conducts on the high seas around Japan, the better for the [Japanese Maritime Self Defense Force] to judge and collect the PLAN’s warfare capabilities and intents," says Koda, the retired Japanese admiral. "The PLAN cannot intimidate Japan by these types of exercises." The post China’s Navy Breaks out to the High Seas appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine. |
| Pacquiao Says He is Borrowing to Give Typhoon Aid Posted: 26 Nov 2013 09:30 PM PST
MANILA, Philippines — Despite returning like a hero from beating Brandon Rios over the weekend, Manny Pacquiao said on Tuesday he has no money to keep his promise to help typhoon victims because Philippine revenue authorities have frozen his bank accounts. The Bureau of Internal Revenue says Pacquiao hasn’t proved he paid taxes in 2008-2009. It has assessed that Pacquiao, once one of the world’s highest paid athletes, owed 2.2 billion pesos (US $50 million) in back taxes as of July. Pacquiao, the wealthiest member of the Philippine Congress, said on Tuesday he borrowed over 1 million pesos ($22,700) to purchase relief supplies before his fight on Sunday with Rios in Macau and will borrow more to keep his word to typhoon victims. Pacquiao said he plans to provide aid to more than 10,000 families. Fierce winds and tsunami-like storm surges from Typhoon Haiyan, one of the strongest typhoons on record, demolished entire communities and killed over 5,200 people when it ploughed through the central Philippines. More than 1,600 are missing. Pacquiao said he paid taxes in the United States following his victories against Ricky Hatton and Oscar de la Hoya and that a treaty prevents double taxation. A criminal case was dropped by prosecutors for alleged unpaid taxes in 2010, but the revenue authorities’ tax claims for the 2008-2009 are still pending. "I appeal to them to remove the garnishment so that I can move and pay for my staff’s salaries," Pacquiao told reporters in his southern hometown of General Santos city. "I am not a criminal or a thief." He said his wife’s accounts have also been frozen. Pacquiao said if he had not paid the right taxes in the United States, he would have been arrested during one of his visits there. "The money that was garnished by [the Bureau of Internal Revenue] is not stolen," he said. "This came from all of the punches, beatings, blood and sweat that I endured in the ring." He said the revenue agency’s claims that he earned more than what he actually did were baseless. Revenue Commissioner Kim Henares, however, said that the only proof Pacquiao has given of his tax payments was a letter from promoter Top Rank and HBO of the taxes he has paid to the United States, but nothing from the US Internal Revenue Service. "That is self-serving and a mere scrap of paper," she said. "What he can do is go to the IRS, ask IRS to certify this copy [of his tax payments] as a true copy. We have been waiting for that for two years." She said of 22 banks her agency has ordered to report on Pacquiao’s accounts, only two said they held deposits for Pacquiao and that the total was only 1.1 million pesos ($25,200), which is now covered by the garnish. "It is unbelievable to me that he has only 1.1 million pesos," Henares said. The post Pacquiao Says He is Borrowing to Give Typhoon Aid appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine. |
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