The Irrawaddy Magazine

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• Plans for Burma’s Longest Teak Bridge Spark Debate
• Portraits of Old Burma
• Rights Group: Leaked Documents Outline Govt Abuse of Rohingyas
• Burma Army Attacks Displaced 3,000 Palaung Civilians: Rights Group
• Thailand’s PTTEP Plans $3.3B Investment in Burma as Gas Project Nears Production
• Lawmakers Again Demand Participation in Peace Process
• Burma Army, Shan Rebels Clash Over Temporary Camp
• Trees, Glorious Trees
• Kerry Ups Ante in Struggle to Crack South China Sea Rules
• Philippines Says China Used Water Cannon on Fishermen in Disputed Sea
• Explosion, Gunfire Ring Out Near Bangkok Protest Site

Plans for Burma’s Longest Teak Bridge Spark Debate Posted: 25 Feb 2014 07:52 AM PST A rotting teak wood plank at the U Bein Bridge in Mandalay Division. (Photo: Teza Hlaing / The Irrawaddy) MANDALAY — The Burma government is planning to repair the country's longest teak wood bridge—a heavily trafficked, century-old structure with rotting pillars—but archeologists and historians are voicing concerns. For safety reasons, repairs need to begin soon at U Bein Bridge in Mandalay Division, but a debate has arisen over the best material for the replacement pillars. While some have called for more teak wood, the government says concrete would be a longer lasting alternative. "We do maintenance every year. The pillars are in terrible condition and we are considering substituting them with concrete pillars for better strength and durability," Deputy Minister of Culture Than Swe told reporters at a press conference in Mandalay last week. "But there are some complaints and disagreements from people who do not want to see a cement bridge. They want a wooden bridge, as it is." The 4.5-meter-tall bridge stretches more than 1,200 meters across Taungthaman Lake in Amarapura township, and the deputy minister said 984 teak planks would be required for repairs. "It is really difficult for us to find these teak planks to replace the ruined ones," he said. "Donors seem unable to donate them because this kind of wood is scarce in our country. We are still in discussions because we do not want to harm the original structure or detract from its style." Archeologists and historians have criticized proposals for cement pillars. "This [bridge] is a major attraction in the region and a valuable part of our heritage because it is the oldest and longest teak wood bridge in the country," Aye Myint, a veteran traditional designer, told The Irrawaddy. "If we substitute with cement pillars, it will be no different from bridges that were built to cross the Irrawaddy River." He added that smaller repairs to the bridge about 15 years ago were also criticized when concrete was used for pillars spanning about 20 or 30 meters. During annual repairs, new wooden boards have been used to upgrade the floor of the bridge. Win Maung (Tampawadee), a traditional architect and archeologist, said he did not understand why the government was struggling to replace the wooden pillars. "If they really want to maintain the original structure, it would be very easy for them to find the required teak planks because our country is famous for teak wood," he said. "If it is really difficult to find new teak planks, that would be a pity. It would indicate that our country cannot use its own teak wood to preserve our heritage because we are selling it to foreign countries." Built over 160 years ago, U Bein Bridge is an important route for hundreds of commuters who travel daily from an islet in the center of the lake to Amarapura, but rotted wood has led to holes at the bottom of several of the bridge's teak planks. In addition to natural wear over time, experts have suggested that government decisions contributed to the decay. Islet located in the center of the lake, need to go to amarapura by crossing the bridge, schoolchildren and workers. Also some tourists, local and foreigner, they are working along the bridge. Historically, Taungthaman Lake naturally dried up during the late winter and summer seasons. At this time, people who fished during the rainy season turned their attention to farming, using the lake area to grow crops peanuts, beans and corn. Starting in the early 1990s, the former military regime ordered the construction of an embankment to maintain high water levels during every season. Since then, historians, archeologists and local residents have complained about possible damage to the bridge. According to the Ministry of Culture's department of archeology in Mandalay, which is responsible for the repairs, experts have called for an end to this control of the seasonal water drainage system. The bridge was built in 1849 by U Bein, a local resident who was known to have received favors from a Bagan king and was later appointed as mayor of Amarapura. Most of the teak planks were reportedly taken from old monasteries in the area, with permission from the king. The bridge was intended to allow for easier transportation for people who lived on the islet, especially during the rainy season when the lake filled with water. However, legends say U Bein built the bridge for more selfish reasons. These stories hold that the mayor mistreated the residents of Amarapura and was looking for a way to escape to the islet quickly if a rebellion ever seemed likely. The post Plans for Burma's Longest Teak Bridge Spark Debate appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine.

Portraits of Old Burma Posted: 25 Feb 2014 07:30 AM PST Visitors to the 'Collections from Myanmar at the British Library' photo exhibition in Rangoon. (Photo: JPaing / The Irrawaddy) RANGOON — With many predicting that Burma is set to see rapid change in the name of development over the coming years, more than three dozen monochrome photographs now on display in Rangoon provide a glimpse into what the Southeast Asian country looked like three centuries ago. The photo exhibition highlights just a small selection from the extensive Burma-related holdings of the British Library, but "Collections from Myanmar at the British Library" nonetheless features some of the earliest images taken of Burma, dating from the 1850s through to the early 20th century. The mixture of black-and-white and sepia-toned images includes photographs from the historic diplomatic mission by authorities in British India to the court of King Mindon at Amarapura in upper Burma, as well as depictions of everyday life and officialdom of the time. Visitors also have a chance to see a rare picture of the former capital Rangoon in 1855, three years after the Second Anglo-Burmese War but before the city's development into a European trading center. All of the pictures were taken by professional photographers or by the notable amateur shutterbug Sir James George Scott, a Scottish journalist and colonial administrator who helped establish British colonial rule in Burma and, less controversially, also introduced football to the country. The showcase, hosted by Universities' Central Library on the Rangoon University campus, was first brought to Burma by a team from the British Library in mid-February, for the Irrawaddy Literary Festival in Mandalay. Following the festival, the library allowed for the images' display at the Universities' Central Library (UCL) "to let people see pictures they have rarely seen before," according to Su Su, a librarian at the UCL. "We will exhibit these pictures around the library to give a chance for people to see our old Burma photos," she said. San San May, the curator of Burmese Collections at the British Library, was not immediately available for comment. Another attraction of the exhibition is the display of photographed covers and pages of books published in Burma in the 19th and early 20th centuries, in the nascent days of printing technology in the country. These include images from the Burmese translation of "Aesop's Fables" (1873) and "A Dictionary of the Burman Language," the first-ever Burmese-English Burmese dictionary, compiled by an American Baptist missionary in 1826. The cover of the first book ever printed in the Burmese script, printed in Rome in 1776, is also on show. The British Library's Burmese Collections has approximately 2,000 Burmese manuscripts, 20,000 printed books and collections of newspapers, photographs, prints and drawings related to Burma, according to an information leaflet provided at the exhibition. The exhibition, "Collections from Myanmar at the British Library," is open to the public at the Universities' Central Library in Rangoon from Feb. 19-28. The post Portraits of Old Burma appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine.

Rights Group: Leaked Documents Outline Govt Abuse of Rohingyas Posted: 25 Feb 2014 06:51 AM PST A family of Rohingya Muslims at a camp for internally displaced persons in Arakan State. (Photo: The Irrawaddy) RANGOON—A human rights group says it has obtained leaked government documents that outline discriminatory policies and abusive methods to control the Rohingya population in Burma. Southeast Asia-based Fortify Rights on Tuesday published translations of eight alleged government documents—including three regional orders dated between 1993 and 2008, and five addenda dating from 2007 or earlier—as part of a 79-page reportthat accuses state and central officials of perpetuating crimes against humanity in Arakan State. The documents outline restrictions on marriage and family size for Muslims in Maungdaw Township, a predominately Rohingya area in northern Arakan State. They also outline restrictions on movement that have prevented access to vital services including health care. The existence of these restrictions has been reported in the past by UN agencies, activist groups and news media, which have noted the effects, including the mass migration of Rohingyas to neighboring countries in the region. However, Fortify Rights says the government orders themselves have never before been seen by the public. Ye Htut, the presidential spokesman, could not be reached to comment on the authenticity of the documents or to verify that the policies described remain in effect today. However, in an interview with The Myanmar Times newspaper on Tuesday he referred to Fortify Rights as a "Bengali lobby group" and declined to comment on "baseless accusations." The Burma government officially refers to Rohingyas as "Bengali," reflecting local beliefs that the ethnic Muslim minority is largely made up of illegal immigrants from neighboring Bangladesh. A majority of Rohingyas are denied citizenship in Burma, although many trace their family roots in the country back for generations. The Fortify Rights report includes a translation of a purported regional government order from 2005 which it says appears to have laid the foundation for a two-child policy in Maungdaw that was first made public last year. The 2005 order—by the Township Peace and Development Council in Maungdaw—said a growing population was leading to concerns of food insecurity. "The population is dense and the birth rate is extremely high, beyond international standards of population increase …Therefore, someday there is likely to be starvation," the order said. It outlined a policy that Muslim couples would not be allowed to marry without proving their legal residency and receiving permission from the Township Peace and Development Council. "Starting the date of this regional order, those who have permission to marry must limit the number of children, in order to control the birth rate so there is enough food and shelter," it said. The order was distributed to administrative councils in all village tracts in the township, according to Fortify Rights, and copies were sent to township and district officials, immigration authorities, a chief military strategist in the state, the township judge and a legal officer. Over a decade earlier, in 1993, a temporary order from the Border Region Immigration Control Headquarters in Maungdaw also required Muslims to register their marriages with immigration officials and other local authorities, the rights group said. This temporary order, also translated and published in the Fortify Rights report, placed marriage restrictions more broadly. "People from other religions will be allowed to marry only after being registered at the office of the chief of the region and the office of the chief of the station, and only after that will a household registration be issued," the order said, according to the translation. The Fortify Rights report also included five addenda to regional orders, with guidelines for enforcing population control measures. One undated addendum instructed officials to ensure "the number of people in families is correct" by visiting households and comparing the residents to family photos. To ensure maternity, it added that women could be ordered to breastfeed their infants in front of the authorities. "If there is suspicion someone is being substituted, children in the house will be compared in age and appearance," the addendum said. "If the child is an infant, the mother will be made to breastfeed the child. Young children will be questioned separately." In addition, Fortify Rights said it analyzed four government documents dated to 2013, but did not publish translations in the report for security reasons. The rights group said policies limiting family sizes had encouraged Rohingya women to undergo unsafe illegal abortions. More broadly, it said restrictions on marriage, family size and movement had led to the mass exodus of hundreds of thousands of Rohingya men, women and children from Burma, seeking refuge elsewhere in Southeast Asia. The report said policies targeting Rohingya on the basis of ethnicity and religion had led to "widespread displacement, endemic maternal mortality, and statelessness, among other serious consequences." "Protracted human rights violations against Rohingya result from official state policies and could amount to crimes against humanity of prosecution," it said, adding that the policies appeared to remain in effect today. However, citing NGOs and aid agencies in Arakan State, it said marriage restrictions appeared to have been eased slightly recent months, with applicants asked to meet fewer administrative requirements. "This is a positive development, but even if the restrictions are eased, they remain in place," the rights group said. Fortify Rights is an NGO based in Southeast Asia and registered in the United States and Switzerland. The group provides technical support to human rights defenders, and its international advisory board include the UN special rapporteur on human rights to Burma, Tomás Ojea Quintana, as well as Phil Robertson, the Asia director for Human Rights Watch. The post Rights Group: Leaked Documents Outline Govt Abuse of Rohingyas appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine.

Burma Army Attacks Displaced 3,000 Palaung Civilians: Rights Group Posted: 25 Feb 2014 05:57 AM PST Ethnic Palaung villagers who fled Burma Army operations struggle to survive at camps in northern Shan State. (Photo: TWO) RANGOON — An ethnic Palaung women's group has urged the Burma Army to cease its attacks on a Palaung rebel group in northern Shan State, saying that the local population suffered a range of human rights abuses at the hands of soldiers, while army operations have displaced more than 3,000 villagers last year alone. During a press conference on Tuesday, the Ta’ang Women’s Organization (TWO) launched a report called "An Unseen Crisis" in order to highlight the plight of the Palaung civilian population affected by an increased military presence in their region. "During late 2012 and 2013, the Burma Army launched fresh attacks against Shan, Kachin and Ta'ang [Palaung] forces in the townships of Namtu, Kutkhai and Tangyan," the report said. "Shelling of villages, destruction of houses and property, forced portering, torture and sexual violence [by the army] have caused over 3,000 mainly Palaung villagers in these areas to flee and set up four new camps," according to the report, which said that the total number of internally displaced Palaung now stood at 4,000 people, a four-fold increase since 2012. Lway Poe Ngeal, the joint general secretary 2 of TWO, called on the international community and the Burmese public to pay attention to the situation of the Palaung and the conflict between the Burma Army and the Ta'ang National Liberation Army (TNLA). "Our report intends to let the people in Burma and the international community know, and increase pressure on the Burmese government to stop launching military operations in the Palaung region," she said. "It is very important to stop the fighting in our region because our displaced people have suffered a lot and have great difficulty to survive." The Palaung are a Buddhist ethnic minority of around 1 million people living in the mountainous northern parts of Shan State. They are traditionally known for tea production, but the region has been affected by a rise in opium and methamphetamine production in the past decade. The TNLA, which is believed to number about 1,500 soldiers, have been engaged in regular clashes with the Burma Army in the area in since 2011. The TNLA was formed that year with the help of the Kachin Independence Army (KIA), reportedly because the Palaung felt a need to protect their population from increasing Burma Army abuses and rising drug production. Previously, the Palaung fought an armed insurgency against the central government but laid down their weapons in the 1990s. Like other ethnic groups in Burma, the Palaung aspire to greater political autonomy and feel oppressed by the Bamar majority-dominated central government. Like the KIA, the TNLA has met for ceasefire talks with the government, but no agreement was reached. The Burma Army has also continued operations against the KIA that have affected Kachin civilians in Mansi Township, where thousands of villagers were displaced in recent months. President Thein Sein's reformist government has held talks with many rebel groups since 2012 and signed 15 ceasefire agreements. Naypyidaw is currently seeking a joint nationwide ceasefire agreement with all rebel groups but this is proving elusive. The new TWO report said the Burma Army had increased the number of battalions in the region had sharply risen last year from 16 to 30, adding that the expanding military operations "call into to question the Burmese government's claims to be seeking a peaceful settlement to the ethnic conflict." TWO alleges that the Burma Army is increasing its presence in the areas in order to secure the pathway along the Shwe oil and gas pipeline. This Chinese mega-project runs from the Arakan State coast through central Burma to Kunming, connecting southern China to Burmese offshore gas fields in the Bay of Bengal. Planned hydropower dam projects on the Salween River are reportedly also causing further militarization in parts of Shan State. "There has been fighting in our region since 2011 and there is still ongoing fighting, even though the government said that they are making peace with the armed ethnic groups," said Lway Poe Ngeal. Sexual harassment by soldiers, forced labor and shelling near Palaung villages has caused thousands of villagers to flee to makeshift camps, she said. These camps remained isolated and received little to no international aid support during the past two years, Lway Peo Ngeal said, adding that the displaced struggle to survive due to a lack of livelihoods. Children in many of the camps had gone for many months without education. "There is a political transition in our country and we found that [international] humanitarian aid groups offered aid in the country. But, those aid offers did not reach our displace people," she said, referring to UN aid support for many of the roughly 100,000 displaced Kachin and approximately 140,000 displaced Rohingya Muslims. At Thoe Hone camp, north of Manton Township, 500 displaced Palaung villagers struggled to survive without aid support since 2012, and so eventually the villagers decided to return to Pan Khar village last year, only to find their homes "entirely destroyed, burned down or dismantled by the Burma Army," TWO said, adding that the area was not yet safe and an 18-year-old boy had died after stepping on a land mine. The post Burma Army Attacks Displaced 3,000 Palaung Civilians: Rights Group appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine.

Thailand’s PTTEP Plans $3.3B Investment in Burma as Gas Project Nears Production Posted: 25 Feb 2014 05:12 AM PST Tevin Vongvanich, Chief Executive Officer of PTT Exploration and Production. (Photo: Reuters) RANGOON — Thailand's biggest oil and gas company PTT Exploration and Production (PTTEP) announced on Tuesday that it will invest US$3.3 billion in Burma over five years. The Thai national oil and gas company has been working in Burma since 1989, and has been granted seven offshore and onshore oil and gas exploration or production contracts by the Burmese government. In a press conference in Rangoon on Tuesday, PTTEP Chief Executive Officer Tevin Vongvanich said that the company will make the significant investment in Burma in the five years from 2015. He said that by 2020, PTTEP would produce energy equivalent to 600,000 barrels of oil per day in the country. PTTEP is working in four offshore areas, or blocks, in the Gulf of Martaban—M9 (Zawtika), M3, M11, MD7 and MD8—as well as three onshore oil and gas projects in central Burma. PTTEP also holds a 25 percent stake in the Yadana gas field and 19 percent of the Yetagun field. The two offshore natural gas projects being developed by Total of France and Petronas of Malaysia, respectively, in partnership with the Burma government's Myanmar Oil and Gas Enterprise. "The M9 block, known as the Zawtika offshore block, will be supplying natural gas for local areas within a few weeks, it will [initially] provide 100 million cubic meter per day [for Burma]," Tevin told reporters. In its first phase, the Zawtika offshore block will produce 300 million cubic meters per day in total, he said. But the majority of the gas produced will be exported to Thailand, since oil and gas contracts signed by Burma's former military government allow most of the hydrocarbons extracted here to be sold overseas. Since a nominally civilian government took power in 2011, officials have promised that in future oil and gas deals, Burma's energy needs will be met before energy is exported. "We consider Myanmar as our second home," said Tevin. "Recently PTTEP has been drilling and exploring more in the M3 and Zawtika blocks to provide natural gas for the local market, and we will keep continue exploration activities for the possible development of some blocks in Myanmar." When the Zawtika project starts to supply gas to Thailand via a new pipeline, Burma will become the biggest gas supplier to Thailand. A Burmese government tender to award new exploration contracts for 11 shallow-water and 19 deepwater offshore blocks closed in November, and the winners are expected to be announced at the end of March. Tevin said PTTEP was bidding for one new block, but said that he could not go into details about the bid. The post Thailand's PTTEP Plans $3.3B Investment in Burma as Gas Project Nears Production appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine.

Lawmakers Again Demand Participation in Peace Process Posted: 25 Feb 2014 05:06 AM PST Peack talks between the Government and the Kachin Independence Organization in Myitkyina, Kachin State, in 2013. (Photo: May Kha/ The Irrawaddy) RANGOON — Members of the Parliament Committee on National Race Affairs and Internal Peacemaking (CNRAIP) have called on President Thein Sein's government to let lawmakers participate in Burma's ongoing peace process. The CNRAIP members met with Vice President Sai Mauk Kham, who heads the Union Peacemaking Work Committee (UPWC), on Monday and urged him to increase the participation of MPs, said Thein Aung, a committee member and representative of the Phalon Sawaw Democratic Party, a Karen opposition party. He said that so far the CNRAIP, which was formed in 2011, has had little to do with the ongoing peace process. Thein Aung said the committee had met only twice in recent years with the UPWC and had only been briefed on the peace process on these occasions. Chaired by Dr Sai Mauk Kham, the UPWC comprises officials from the Ministry of Defense, union and regional level ministers, parliamentarians and scholars. The President's Office Minister Aung Min, who is a vice chairman of the UPWC, has led all negotiations with ethnic rebel groups and has signed ceasefires with 15 main rebel groups since 2012. Despite these agreements, a joint nationwide ceasefire between all groups and Naypyidaw remains elusive, while the Burma Army continues to clash with Kachin and Palaung rebels groups in northern Burma. Dwe Bu, an ethnic Kachin Lower House MP and CNRAIP secretary, said MPs should be regularly informed about the peace process, adding that lawmakers and chief ministers of Burma's states and divisions should also be directly included in ongoing nationwide ceasefire talks. "We don't know the current stage of peace talks with ethnic armed groups because both chief ministers from different states and divisions, and the Parliament have been unable to participate in those discussions," she said. "Some chief ministers have asked for timely information about individual talks with different groups… [And] it is still not easy for Parliament to become deeply involved in the peace process." "We also asked the vice president to invite us, ethnic people in the Parliament, whenever the government meets with ethnic armed groups," Dwe Bu added. "If we all can join such meetings now we will be able to build understanding and friendship among each other, which will make things easier during the coming political discussions." The vice president reportedly told meeting participants that he would find ways for the CNRAIP members to participate in peacemaking activities. It is not the first time that lawmakers have complained over a lack involvement in the peace process. Both Parliament Speaker Shwe Mann and opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi have indicated that they would like to be involved in the country's peace talks, which could end decades of ethnic conflict. However, government peace negotiators say they would prefer to sign a nationwide ceasefire with ethnic groups first and then let Parliament handle the thorny issue of finding a political solution for the ethnic group's long-standing demands for greater political autonomy for their regions. Ethnic armed groups have said there can be no nationwide ceasefire until the government guarantees that genuine political dialogue will follow after an agreement is signed. The Myanmar Peace Center (MPC), an influential group of government advisors, again repeated the government's line that MPs could become involve in the peace process in the near future. "As the President has said, a nationwide ceasefire with ethnic groups is needed first and then a political dialogue will follow, which will be an all-inclusive one joined by Parliament, political parties, civil society organizations, the government and the army," Hla Maung Shwe, a leading member of the MPC, told the Irrawaddy. The post Lawmakers Again Demand Participation in Peace Process appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine.

Burma Army, Shan Rebels Clash Over Temporary Camp Posted: 25 Feb 2014 04:32 AM PST Shan commandos on parade at Shan State National Day on Feb. 7, 2014, in Loi Tai Leng, the headquarters of the Restoration Council of Shan State/Shan State Army. (Photo: Kyaw Kha /The Irrawaddy) Burma Army and government-backed militia troops exchanged fire with Shan State Army (SSA) soldiers Sunday in southern Shan State's Mong Ton Township, according to a rebel spokesman. The clash happened at Loi Pang Tong, near the Burmese-Thai border, after government-aligned troops based in nearby Mong Hta surrounded a temporary camp set up by SSA soldiers traveling through the area, according to SSA spokesman Col. Sai La. "They [army troops and militiamen] surrounded us and told us that we are not allowed to build camps in the area," Sai La said. "We have been using this route. Maybe the army thinks we are building a [permanent] camp, but we aren't." It is the first reported skirmish between the SSA and government troops this year, although incidents have been common in the area even after a ceasefire agreement was signed in May 2012. The frequency of clashes reduced after SSA Commander in Chief Lt-Gen. Yawd Serk—who also chairs the Shan rebels' political wing, the Restoration Council of Shan State (RCSS)—met with Burmese President Thein Sein in June 2013. Sai La told The Irrawaddy on Tuesday that the area in which SSA troops were surrounded is territory the ethnic armed group has controlled since the 1990s, when the army was formed as a breakaway group when the Mong Tai Army—run by drug trafficker Khun Sa—surrendered to the government. Sai La, who is secretary No. 2 of the RCSS, said SSA troops were on Monday still "surrounded and both sides and ready to fight," but the situation had been defused by Tuesday. Captain Lun Seng, the coordinator of the RCSS's liaison office in Mong Ton said he met a local Burmese military commander on Monday, who ordered the rebels to "retreat" from Loi Pang Tong. He said the army explained their actions by saying they were surprised by the SSA troops' presence in the area. "But we were not deploying in the area and we just stopped over there. We did not build an army camp," Lun Seng said, adding that between 200 and 300 government-aligned troops had surrounded the temporary camp. The SSA troops have since left Loi Pang Tong, Lun Seng added. Shan leader Yawd Serk has repeatedly said he is on board with the government-led peace process. Burma's ethnic armed groups are currently in talks with the government over a nationwide ceasefire agreement, although the next round of talks, slated to take place at the Karen State capital, Hpa-an, have been repeatedly delayed. "Fighting does not take us anywhere, we prefer to continue holding dialogue as we have a ceasefire," said Sai La. "The RCSS has to fight back only when the army attacks. It is our right to do so." Hla Maung Shwe, a special adviser to the government-linked Myanmar Peace Center, had not heard about the clash, but said he recognized the RCSS chairman's willingness to progress with peace talks. "An armed leader [Yawd Serk] thinking about leaving his gun behind and coming forward into the peace process is great, but the Tatmadaw might think differently. Therefore, difficulties still exist," Hla Maung Shwe told The Irrawaddy. The post Burma Army, Shan Rebels Clash Over Temporary Camp appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine.

Trees, Glorious Trees Posted: 25 Feb 2014 01:40 AM PST Trees help to fill a gap between buildings in downtown Yangon. (Photo: Steve Tickner / The Irrawaddy) YANGON — What a relief it is to find shelter from a drenching monsoon downpour or the beating midday sun under the protective boughs of one of Yangon's huge trees. Trees give much to our quality of life, and this city seems especially blessed by its arboreal abundance. The glorious, sudden and short-lived blooming of the padauk, or Burmese rosewood, adds excitement to a hot April day. There's something magical about that brief explosion of yellow pendulous racemes, gathered eagerly to adorn women's hair. It's a metaphor for beauty in the moment and a splendid choice for a national tree. The evocative scents of lemon, frangipani and lilac flowers awaken our senses; and after they've flowered, fruiting trees produce some of our favorite flavors. The taste of tamarind, lemon, mango and mandarin makes getting vitamins and minerals a delightfully refreshing task. Bananas and papayas are also wholesome and delicious additions to our diets. Trees can also provide a canopy for food forests, which increase food security and generate incomes in many parts of the world, from India and Indonesia to Africa and Mexico. Created using an ancient technique of planting in layers, with shrubs, herbs, vines, berries and root vegetables growing below fruit and nut trees, these nutrient-dense gardens could be tried in Yangon, Mandalay and other urban areas where space is at a premium. The wood we use to build our homes and furniture comes from trees, which also provide habitats for countless other species. Trees enhance landscapes and increase the value of our property. They also clean our air, moderate our climate and protect us from the effects of flooding. Symbols of peace, trees connect the earth and sky, and also remind us of the cycle of life and death. In Africa, trees are planted when a child is born; and in modern natural burials featuring biodegradable coffins, they are put into the ground to grow over gravesites. In many cultures, they are—and deserve to be—venerated as sacred. Agents of calm, trees can relieve stress and promote learning and healing. They have been on this planet for 370 million years, and some, such as the bristlecone pine, giant sequoia and yew, can live for millennia, through periods of smooth sailing and major upheavals. No wonder, then, that we take such comfort in their presence. But trees are not immortal. When Cyclone Nargis killed more than 140,000 people in this country, it also felled a third of the 100-year-old trees in Yangon. And as the city undergoes rapid change, still more are in danger of falling victim to chainsaws. To accommodate the growing flood of vehicles, streets are being widened, often at the expense of pedestrians' wellbeing, street vendors' livelihoods, and the mighty old trees that have seen and done so much. The once elegant and spacious Strand, Merchant and Bo Aung Kyaw roads are now crowded, and the trees that line them are trussed into concrete straitjackets, awaiting execution. This is not to say that no thought has been given to the trees that grace Yangon's streets and parks. The Yangon City Development Committee (YCDC), working together with the Japan International Cooperation Agency, has proposed an urban plan that aims to offset the pressures of development. Among other things, it envisions public transport alternatives that would ease traffic in the city's downtown core and in the process leave greater room for trees (and people) to breath. In the meantime, YCDC's Department of Gardens continues to plant thousands of saplings, including kyun (teak), magyee (tamarind), ngu (laburnum) and pan ei (crepe myrtle). Permission is required to remove trees in YCDC areas and the punishment for damage to trees is up to seven years in prison. But will this be enough to save Yangon's natural heritage and green spaces? Unless the city's denizens start to speak up for their silent friends, they could lose a good deal more than a bit of shade or a place to wait out the rain. This story first appeared in the February 2014 issue of The Irrawaddy print magazine. The post Trees, Glorious Trees appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine.

Kerry Ups Ante in Struggle to Crack South China Sea Rules Posted: 24 Feb 2014 10:22 PM PST US Secretary of State John Kerry, center, introduces his staff to Chinese President Xi Jinping during their meeting at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on February 14, 2014. (Photo: Reuters) HONG KONG/MANILA — Pressure is mounting on China and Southeast Asia to agree a code of conduct to keep the peace in the disputed South China Sea, but Beijing is warning of a long road ahead. Only last week, US Secretary of State John Kerry urged China and the Association of South East Asian Nations (Asean) to work out rules to ease tensions after a fresh Chinese campaign of assertiveness in the region. "The longer the process takes, the longer tensions will simmer and the greater the chance of a miscalculation by somebody that could trigger a conflict," Kerry said in Indonesia during a visit to Asia. Asean officials told Reuters that a working group of officials from China and the 10-member association would resume negotiations in Singapore on March 18 after agreeing to accelerate talks last year that have made little headway so far. The code of conduct is intended to bind China and Asean to detailed rules of behavior at sea—all geared to managing tensions long-term while broader territorial disputes are resolved. It stems from a landmark 2002 declaration between Asean and China, then hailed as the first significant agreement between the grouping and an outside power. Much is at stake. China claims about 90 percent of the South China Sea, displaying its reach on official maps with a so-called nine-dash line that stretches deep into the maritime heart of Southeast Asia. Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan also have claims to the sea, which sits above potentially rich but largely unexplored oil and gas deposits. The South China Sea carries an estimated US$5 trillion in ship-borne trade annually—including oil imports by China, Japan and South Korea. Kerry also raised the issue in Beijing, where Chinese officials generally bristle at Washington's growing involvement in China's territorial disputes. China wanted to try to reach a deal, Kerry said. In the meantime, Kerry said it was vital for countries to refrain from "coercive or unilateral measures" to assert their claims—an apparent reference to a string of recent moves by China, from expanded naval patrols to new fishing restrictions, that continue to rattle a nervous region. The Chinese Foreign Ministry said Beijing was sincere about pushing for a code of conduct. "The burden is heavy and the road is long for talks on the code of conduct," it said in a statement sent to Reuters. Philippines Foreign Secretary Albert del Rosario last week said Asean was seeking "an expeditious conclusion" to talks. Many regional officials and military officers have long feared Beijing wanted to "play for time"—wary of being tied down and preferring instead to buttress its controversial claims while pressuring weaker neighbors into separate talks over specific disputes. An earlier unofficial draft code of conduct drawn up by Indonesia outlines an agreement that ties the region to refraining from even routine military exercises in disputed waters and settling disputes according to the UN Law of the Sea or little-used Asean procedures. China has objected to efforts by Manila to challenge its claims under the Law of the Sea at the Permanent Court of Arbitration at The Hague. The Indonesian draft, seen by Reuters, also provides for full freedom of navigation and overflight while setting detailed rules for preventing accidents at sea. The occupation of previously unoccupied features at sea is outlawed. The document has yet to be formally tabled but has circulated within Asean for more than a year as a possible basis for discussions, Asean diplomats said. China was reluctant to be presented with a "pre-cooked" draft, said Termsak Chalermpalanupap, a political analyst at Singapore's Institute of South East Asian Studies and a former staffer at the Asean secretariat in Jakarta. Many ambiguities remained about China's position, Termsak added. "We still have to find out if they really want a legally binding code," he said. Asean leaders want a code with teeth given the inadequacies of the 2002 declaration in preventing rising tensions, he said. Beijing is expected to seek to thwart any push to include the Paracel islands—a strategic archipelago south of Hainan Island that is occupied by China but also claimed by Vietnam, in any final deal. Any Chinese attempt to create an air defense identification zone in the South China Sea—something Washington has warned against—is widely expected by regional analysts and diplomats to include the Paracels. Beijing has denied reports it has plans for a zone in the South China Sea. Its announcement in November of such a boundary in the East China Sea, where aircraft have to identify themselves to Chinese authorities, drew condemnation from Washington. Carl Thayer, a South China Sea expert at the Australian Defence Force Academy in Canberra, said he had noticed a cautious optimism surrounding the prospect of fresh talks. "The atmospherics have definitely improved but I do fear we are still talking about an effort that is going to be protracted if not interminable," he said. Additional reporting by Ben Blanchard in Beijing. The post Kerry Ups Ante in Struggle to Crack South China Sea Rules appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine.

Philippines Says China Used Water Cannon on Fishermen in Disputed Sea Posted: 24 Feb 2014 09:50 PM PST Filipino fishermen in colorful fishing boats and a navy patrol gun boat welcome the arrival of the US Navy's BRP Ramon Alcaraz in the northeastern Philippines in August 2013. (Photo: Reuters) MANILA — A Chinese coastguard ship used a water cannon last month to drive Filipino fishermen out of disputed waters in the South China Sea, illustrating aggressive enforcement of new Chinese rules, the head of the Philippine military said on Monday. China has since the beginning of the year required foreign fishing boats to get approval before entering waters that China claims as its own. "The Chinese coastguard tried to drive away fishermen to the extent of using water cannon," Armed Forces Chief of Staff General Emmanuel Bautista told foreign correspondents, referring to a Jan. 27 incident near the Scarborough Shoal. China claims about 90 percent of the South China Sea’s 3.5 million sq km (1.35 million sq mile) waters. The sea provides 10 percent of the global fish catch, carries $5 trillion in ship-borne trade a year and is believed to be rich in energy. Taiwan, Malaysia, the Philippines, Brunei and Vietnam also claim parts of the sea. Bautista declined to give more details about the confrontation in the area, about 130 nautical miles west of the main Philippine island of Luzon, saying the military still had to talk to the fishermen. He said the Philippine military would try to avoid confrontation with China but would react if China used violence against Philippine fishermen. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said she was not aware of details of the situation, and repeated that China had sovereignty over the South China Sea and its islands. "The relevant Chinese maritime forces carry out normal official patrols in that area," she told a daily news briefing. A senior Philippine navy official said it was the first time China used water cannon in the area. "Our fishermen are used to playing a dangerous cat-and-mouse game but China has become very aggressive," said the navy official who declined to be identified because he is not authorized to speak to the media. The Philippines has taken its dispute with China to arbitration under the U.N. Convention on the Law of the Sea but China is refusing to participate in the case. China has rejected challenges to its sovereignty claims and accused the Philippines of illegally occupying Chinese islands in the seas and of provoking tension. This month, the commander of the U.S. Navy said the United States would come to the aid of the Philippines in the event of conflict with China over disputed waters. The U.S. ambassador to the Philippines, Philip Goldberg, who was attending the same forum as Bautista, urged the Association of South East Asian Nations and China to accelerate negotiations on a code of conduct for the sea to avoid accidents and miscalculations. "We believe that the agreement on the code of conduct is long overdue," Goldberg said, adding that the United States supported Philippine efforts to bring the dispute to international arbitration. The post Philippines Says China Used Water Cannon on Fishermen in Disputed Sea appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine.

Explosion, Gunfire Ring Out Near Bangkok Protest Site Posted: 24 Feb 2014 09:41 PM PST Thayakorn Yosubon, the father of a pair of siblings killed a bomb blast Sunday near an anti-government protest site, mourns during their funeral at Buddhist temple in Bangkok Feb. 24, 2014. (Photo: Reuters) BANGKOK — An explosion and gunfire rang out near a sprawling anti-government protest site in the Thai capital early on Tuesday after the protesters' leader warned that government supporters were planning to bring armed militants to Bangkok. Weeks of unrest, in which protesters have barricaded key intersections of the city, have been interrupted by occasional bombs and gunfire, with one blast killing a woman and a young brother and sister in a central shopping district on Sunday. There was another explosion and gunfire near one protest site on the edge of Bangkok's Lumpini Park in the early hours, national security chief Paradorn Pattanathabutr told Reuters. Two men were wounded, medical sources said. "Last night, we don't know where and who it came from, but there was an explosion and gunfire sound from 1 am," Paradorn said. "Officials will investigate the area this morning and there should be more information soon." He also said there was an explosion near the office of the opposition Democrat Party. No one was hurt. The protesters, who disrupted a general election this month leaving the country in political limbo, aim to unseat caretaker Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra and erase the influence of her brother, former premier Thaksin Shinawatra, seen by many as the power behind the government. Protest leader Suthep Thaugsuban accused Jatuporn Promphan, a leader of the "red shirt" supporters of Thaksin, of wanting to bring armed militants to Bangkok from their power base in the mainly rural north and northeast, setting the stage for potential conflict. He also accused police of doing nothing about it. "It is clear that Jatuporn wants to divide the country in two," he told supporters late on Monday. Yingluck called for dialogue to resolve the crisis. "It's time all sides turned to talk to each other," she told reporters on Monday. "Many people have asked me to resign but I ask: Is resignation the answer? What if it creates a power vacuum?" In a measure of the economic impact of the crisis, flag carrier Thai Airways International releases its 2013 earnings on Tuesday. It is expected to report a huge loss and may cite a slump in tourism since late last year as a factor. Trade figures for January could also show the biggest fall in imports since the global financial crisis as consumption, construction and other activities weaken. At least 20 people have been killed and more than 700 wounded since the protests began in November. They are the biggest since deadly political unrest in 2010, when Thaksin's red shirts paralyzed Bangkok. More than 90 people were killed and 2,000 wounded during that unrest, which ended when Suthep, then a deputy premier, sent in troops. Demonstrators accuse Thaksin of nepotism and corruption and say that, prior to being ousted by the army in 2006, he used taxpayers' money for populist subsidies and easy loans that bought him the loyalty of millions. The post Explosion, Gunfire Ring Out Near Bangkok Protest Site appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine.

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