The Irrawaddy Magazine

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• Sixth Unity Journal Staffer Detained for Questioning
• In Tenasserim Hills, Rise in Mining Threatens Communities
• Eight Detained as Opposition to Burma’s Letpadaung Copper Mine Continues
• 55 Political Prisoners Remain Behind Bars: Advocacy Groups
• Rents Hardly ‘Convenient’ for Rangoon’s Corner Stores
• All the President’s Foul-Mouthed Men
• Japan Unease Over US Alliance Adds Fuel to Abe’s Security Shift
• Thai Central Bank Warns of Substantial Risk From Prolonged Unrest
• Sri Lanka Refuses Visa for US State Dept Official After War Crimes Accusations

Sixth Unity Journal Staffer Detained for Questioning Posted: 05 Feb 2014 07:03 AM PST The Jan. 25, 2014 issued of the Unity journal is pictured in Rangoon. (Photo: The Irrawaddy) RANGOON — A Unity journal administrative officer, who is also the nephew of the publication's CEO, has been detained for questioning by police, the sixth Unity staff member to be held in connection with a report last week alleging the existence of a government chemical weapons factory in Burma. Aung Win Tun was apprehended at about 8:30 on Wednesday morning while sitting at a teashop with a colleague in Rangoon, a staffer at the Unity office told The Irrawaddy. "The SB [Special Branch police] said they would report back to the office at 12:00 [noon], but there has been no news of him until now," the Unity representative told The Irrawaddy at 4pm on Wednesday. Four other Unity journalists and the publication's CEO were detained over the weekend and charged with violating the 1923 Burma State Secrets Act after publishing a story headlined: "A secret chemical weapon factory of the former generals, Chinese technicians and the commander-in-chief at Pauk Township." The families of the detained had the opportunity to meet with them on Tuesday. The father of one of the journalists detained, Paing Thet Kyaw, said he met with his son in Rangoon's Insein Prison. "My son said they are being kept well and are being held because they [authorities] still want to ask questions," Aung Ko Lwin told The Irrawaddy. The CEO, Tint San, and three of the journalists are being held in Insein Prison, while one Pauk Township-based journalist is being held in Magwe Division's Pakokku Prison. On Monday, Lwin Lwin Myint, the wife of imprisoned journalist Lu Maw Naing, was detained along with her 3-year-old daughter after being told she would be allowed to visit her husband in prison. She was held for 24 hours and interrogated by police because she had accompanied Lu Maw Naing on his reporting trip. Her phone and laptop were searched at her home and seized by the police, she said. "They brought me to Pakokku's juvenile court and talked with the judge to issue a remand and send me to Pakokku's prison," Lwin Lwin Myint told The Irrawaddy after her release. She said she was required to sign a paper upon her release stating that she agreed to make herself available to stand trial in 14 days' time. Lwin Lwin Myint said she was unaware of the specific charges being brought against her, but noted Section 3(1)(a)(9) on the paper she signed. The CEO and the detained journalists are also charged with violating Section 3(1)(a)(9) of the State Secrets Act. Two friends who accompanied Lwin Lwin Myint on her visit to the prison were also held for a day and released after questioning with a pledge that they would not speak to the media. Lwin Lwin Myint, who did not have a chance to speak to her husband on Monday, said she was allowed to see him on Wednesday and said he did not complain of the treatment he was receiving from prison authorities. "They asked me for a timeline of my life—from birth until today—and about the trip that I went on together with my husband while he was reporting. They also asked how many e-mail accounts I have and I had to tell them their passwords," she said. Burma's Ministry of Information said on its website Wednesday that the Ministry of Home Affairs was "acting in accordance with the law." The detained Unity employees are accused of "approaching, observing and checking, trespassing, entering, photographing and abetting in the factory's restricted areas without permission," the ministry said. It made no mention of Aung Win Tun. The Ministry of Information on Tuesday rejected the Unity journal's report on the chemical weapons factory as "baseless." Ma Thida (San Kyaung), a well-known author who is also a member of the Pen Myanmar writers' association, questioned the relevance of the 80-year-old State Secrets Act. "The State Secrets Act is a law from British colonial times, in 1923. When they still hold to this law, we have to reconsider whether the law is still relevant today and update and assess the weaknesses of it. … The State Secrets Act is also a barrier to free investigative reporting." Myint Kyaw of the Myanmar Journalist Network said authorities had not been transparent in their handling of the case. He urged the Myanmar Press Council to serve as a liaison among the President's Office, Ministry of Home Affairs and Parliament to address the issue and take action in accordance with the law. "We also haven't found any damage to the government by revealing the story. There has been no big secret revealed," Myint Kyaw told The Irrawaddy. Ma Thida said a new press bill soon to be taken up by lawmakers lacked legal guarantees for reporters and was thus "restricting the right of the people to be informed, it's infringing on people's freedom of expression." The press bill is set to go before the Union Parliament for approval, with lawmakers still discussing stronger curbs on evidence-gathering and confiscation of media assets by authorities. Burma's four press associations released a joint statement comparing the detention of the journalists over the weekend to tactics carried out by the country's previous military regime. "We submit that holding the [Pauk] Township-based journalist first, then charging him later, and holding the CEO for more than 24 hours without pressing any charges, is behavior in the same vein of the former military regime," said the statement from the Myanmar Journalist Union, Myanmar Journalist Network, Myanmar Writers and Journalists Association and Pen Myanmar. The groups called on the Myanmar Press Council to negotiate between the relevant ministries, law enforcement and the Unity journal. They also used the incident to urge Burma's press corps to report with the highest standards of accuracy and ethics. In a statement released by the Myanmar Press Council on Tuesday, it said the "council is ready to negotiate with the authorities, as this is the part of the MPC's role since its formation." MPC has long said that any disputes arising between media organizations and individuals or organizations should come first to the MPC for mediation. The MPC has not taken a side in the Unity matter, saying it would only acknowledge that "such problems tend to occur while a country is in transition, rather than commenting on which side is right or wrong." The Irrawaddy reporter Nyein Nyein contributed reporting. The post Sixth Unity Journal Staffer Detained for Questioning appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine.

In Tenasserim Hills, Rise in Mining Threatens Communities Posted: 05 Feb 2014 05:32 AM PST Waste water from the Heinda mine in Dawei District has turned a stream next to Lower Heinda village in the Tenasserim Hills into a layer of mud. Click on the box below for more pictures. (Photo: Jpaing / The Irrawaddy) TENASSERIM HILLS, Dawei District — Soe Aung used to be a farmer, growing rice, betel nut and coconut on a 5-acre plot of fertile land located along a stream flowing from the lush mountains around Myaung Pyo village. These days he is a day laborer, and his land, along with the stream that ran past it, has disappeared, covered under a layer of reddish-yellow mud. "Before I had land, but it's been ruined by flooding from the mine," said Soe Aung, 49, looking haggard. "Now I've become poor, my family is so troubled by this situation. I can only try to work as a laborer in the area to get some money." He recalled how wastewater from the Heinda tin mine, located on a mountaintop about 2 kilometers away, was released from a reservoir during the past few rainy seasons, flooding Myaung Pyo village without warning, contaminating local wells and gradually covering all farmland to the east of the village with mud. "Many farmers here lost their land, about 30 farmers in total," adds his brother, Soe Naing, 48, whose farmland was also destroyed. "I cannot afford to send my children to school anymore." Now, the expanding mud plain, about a kilometer wide, has reached the edge of this village, located in Dawei District in a valley in the Tenasserim Hills in the eponymous division in southern Burma. The Thai company that owns the mine, Myanmar Pongpipat Company Ltd, has erected a small earthen wall to protect local homes. The continuous runoff from the mine, however, seeps through the wall, and the ethnic Dawei villagers have dug a network of small trenches to channel putrid, black waste water around their bamboo and thatched-roof homes. The roughly 150 impoverished families have received some support from the Dawei Development Association (DDA), a local community rights NGO that has dug several wells in the village, but they are despondent about the future. "Before this village was prosperous, but now most youths have gone to Thailand to work," said Soe Aung. Myaung Pyo is the worst affected of about 10 villages that suffer from the environmental impacts of the tin-ore mining operations, located about 25 km east of Dawei town. The Tenasserim range, running north-south along the Burma-Thai border, is rich in mineral wealth, and tin and tungsten deposits have been mined at Heinda and other sites from British colonial times. Since Burma began opening up under a reformist government in 2011, dozens of mining firms have shown an interest in exploring the region and mining activities have increased, as have local fears over the projects' environmental impacts. Thailand's Myanmar Pongpipat Company took over the Heinda mine after signing a production-sharing contract with the state-owned Mining Enterprise 2 in 1999, when Burma was under military rule. The Thai firm reportedly holds rights to 65 percent of produced tin and tungsten, which is transported to nearby Thailand for processing. From Myaung Pyo village, a 30-minute drive across jungle-covered slopes leads to the Heinda mine, a vast wasteland that runs about a kilometer across, cut out of the side of a mountaintop. At the site, which offers sweeping views of the verdant Tenasserim Hills, excavators scoop up gravel and load it into a dozen trucks that drive up and down the red moonscape. The vehicles dump the alluvium down mountainsides, where workers operate high-pressure jets of water that turn it into slurry, which then passes through plants that separate the heavy tin and tungsten from lighter minerals and sand. Massive volumes of muddy wastewater are continuously pumped out of the plants and down mountain slopes into streams. These tributaries of the Tenasserim River are swollen with yellow wastewater and frequently flood villages below the mine, dumping a layer of mud on the farmland. The streams have become lifeless due to a lack of oxygen, and their waters are now unfit for human consumption or irrigation. A Thai manager of Myanmar Pongpipat Company at the mine's office refused to talk to Irrawaddy reporters and waved away questions about the mine's environmental and social impacts. About 500 laborers are said to be employed at the mine, and some reportedly suffer from respiratory and skin disease as a result of poor working conditions, but reporters were barred from talking to workers. On the other side of mountain, at the ethnic Karen village of Lower Heinda, residents also suffer from the mine's environmental impacts. Large tracts of farmland have been flooded by the mine's continuous runoff and a huge waste water reservoir that the company built next to the village. "We are worried the dam is not high enough and that in the rainy season it could flood, as our village lies much lower" than the reservoir, said Ngwe Soe, 39, adding that the runoff has also contaminated local water sources. "The water quality is very poor here," he said, adding that several villagers had developed illnesses due to water pollution. "I became sick. I went to Yangon to get medical treatment for kidney problems. The treatment and travel expense cost me 300,000 kyats [US$300]." The environmental impact has worsened in recent years after Myanmar Pongpipat Company drastically increased production, according to Ngwe Soe. "This mine has been here a long time, but since four years the Thai company has created a lot of problems," he said. The firm, local authorities and the Karen National Union (KNU)—an ethnic rebel group that controls the mountain territory around the mine—have ignored the villagers' demands to end the pollution and offer compensation for loss of land, he said. "The company has power, they know the government, so we cannot complain," Ngwe Soe added. Zaw Thura, a local activist with DDA and a Dawei University scholar, said the communities repeatedly protested to local authorities and the KNU, but to no avail. Myanmar Pongpipat, he alleged, "pay off both sides; they are businessmen they know what to do." Some villagers, however, have managed to eke a living out of the waste water dumped in their backyard. About 20 people living directly below the mine have set up sluice boxes through which they channel waste water. From it they collect several kilograms of fine black sand containing tin ore. In a scene reminiscent of the famous 19th and 20th century US gold rushes, they stir the collected material in water in a funnel-shaped pan and wash sand and mud over the side, leaving the heavier tin particles behind. The repetitive, painstaking work has proven to be a boon for a few enterprising villagers. "Before I used to grow betel nut, but now I do this work for my daily income," said Myo Ko, 25, adding that he can earn up to $200 per month from collecting tin and tungsten. "We sell it to the Thai mining company." Mining Firms Eager to Explore Uncharted Hills Khin Maung Aye, president of the Tenasserim Division Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said Burmese, Thai, Chinese and other foreign mining firms are keen to explore the largely uncharted Tenasserim Hills for mineral wealth, adding that "many companies" have applied for government licenses in the past few years. "At least 55 companies are trying to get a permit… Mostly in Dawei District and mostly for tin production," he said. "They are waiting for a decision from [the government in] Naypyidaw." He added that 10 firms are currently licensed to mine or explore for ores in the region, up from six companies a few years ago. Indonesian state-owned mining giant PT Timah told media Wednesday that it expected to begin exploration of a 10,000-hectare mining concession in Tenasserim Division in June and mining operations in early 2015. The firm, which did not specify the location, said it expected to unearth 10,000 tons of tin and would build a $12 million smelter to process ores in Burma. President Thein Sein's government has said it is eager to attract foreign direct investment to Burma's mining industry, but a lack of progress on reforming the 1994 Mining Law and long processing times for mining license applications have reportedly dimmed investors' enthusiasm. An overhaul of the legislation is expected this year and is likely to bring many more mining firms to Burma, including to the Tenasserim Hills in Dawei and Mergui districts. Burma's southernmost region was long an isolated backwater, located far from Rangoon and cut off from nearby Thailand because of a KNU-insurgency in the densely forested hills. But a 2012 KNU-government ceasefire, planned construction of the Dawei Special Economic Zone and new transport links to the Thai border, located about 130 km east of Dawei town, are quickly improving access to the area. "Now, many many mining companies are trying to get permission to search for tin, tungsten, lead, coal and gold—especially for gold along the Tenasserim River," said Zaw Thura, the activist. "Nobody knows how much [mineral wealth] there is because the last 50 years this was an insurgency area." He warns that due to poor implementation of Burma's mining and environmental laws, local communities stand to lose rather than gain from these developments, as they are likely to experience only the negative social and environmental impacts. "We are really worried about the impacts, but we can't stop them because we have no money and power. We have only people," he said. Khin Maung Aye, of the Tenasserim Division Chamber of Commerce and Industry, shared these concerns, saying, "Most [mining] companies working in our region don't care about social responsibility, they only care about production. That's why there are many problems." Zaw Thura said KNU insurgents also welcomed mining projects into their areas of control, despite the impacts on the impoverished Karen communities who live in the Tenasserim Hills. In a remote, forested area in southern Dawei District, controlled by the KNU's Karen National Liberation Army Brigade 4, Thailand's East Star Company and local firm Mayflower have been allowed since 2011 to operate a coal mining concession. The operations have reportedly angered local Karen communities, who complain the firms are polluting their water sources and damaging farmland. "It's just the exploration phase, but they are already digging everywhere," said Zaw Thura, adding that a road was cut through the dense forest so that East Star could transport coal deposits to Thailand. "East Star Mining, they neglect everything. We [DDA] complained to the company and the KNU many times, but still they don't want to talk," he said. Officials from the Tenasserim Division government and the Ministry of Mines could not be reached for comment. The post In Tenasserim Hills, Rise in Mining Threatens Communities appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine.

Eight Detained as Opposition to Burma’s Letpadaung Copper Mine Continues Posted: 05 Feb 2014 05:11 AM PST Protesters stop trucks during a previous protest at the site of the Letpadaung copper mining project in Sagaing Division. (Photo: Han Win Aung) Eight people were detained temporarily Wednesday while protesting against the controversial Letpadaung copper mining project in central Burma's Sagaing Division, according to locals. Some 7,800 acres of land in Sarlingyi Township has been confiscated for the project, which has been dogged by protests over poor compensation and environmental safeguards. Work only restarted late last year after the government suspended work in November 2012 amid widespread opposition. The government has renegotiated the terms of the project and tried to address locals' complaints about the joint venture between the Burmese military owned Union of Myanmar Economic Holdings Limited (UMEHL) and Chinese firm Wanbao. But demonstrations have continued this week, with locals saying that a fence being built near the copper mine is encroaching on land that had so far not been seized for use by the project, and for which no compensation has been paid. According to family members, well known protester Thwae Thwae Win, from Wat Hmae village, and seven other people were detained Wednesday morning when they laid in front of bulldozers to prevent them from working on the fence. "They were dragged away by policewomen, and currently are detained in police vehicles that are parked by the fencing area," Zaw Win, a resident of Wat Hmae village, told The Irrawaddy on Wednesday afternoon. Thwae Thwae Win said she was released at 6:30 pm Wednesday without charge. The police held the three men and five women all day to break the protest up, she said, adding that she would not stop demonstrating against the project. People from more than 26 villages surrounding the massive mine are still protesting against the project, and new concerns continue to arise about its environmental impact. Kan Gone village is just a few kilometers from a factory used to purify copper for the mining project. Locals and environmentalists say that since the factory was built in 2007, sulphuric acid coming from the plant has affected crops, soil, water and the air, and even led to high death rates in the village. Since mid-January, a strong smell has permeated the area, said Aung Soe, a resident of Kan Gone village. "Most of our crops are being destroyed. The air smells like rotten egg or burning feathers, especially during night time. Children and elders can't sleep well because of those terrible smells," Aung Soe said. Locals say the factory is still working, despite a parliamentary committee—led by opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi—recommending that the factory stop operating until environmental concerns were addressed. Locals have complained to local authorities, including Col Kyi Naing, the Sagaing minister for borders and security, but say they have received no firm guarantees. "Col Kyi Naing just said he and the responsible authorities will send our complaints to their superiors to handle this problem. We don't know how long it will take. We just don't want the responsible people to take too much time on this matter which is threatening many lives," said Aung Soe. In November 2013, a soil test was conducted by Rangoon-based NGO Advancing Life and Regenerating Motherland (ALARM). According to the group's environmentalists, the amount of sulphate dissolved in soil samples was five times the acceptable level. Win Myo Thu, an environmentalist with ALARM, said the air pollution was worsening due to the changing of temperature in the region and needs urgent attention from those responsible. "If this problem is being neglected, the health problems such as respiratory problems, trachoma, eyes and skin disease will increase as pollution will worsened as the summer is drawing in with high temperatures and less humidity," he said. State-owned newspaper the New Light of Myanmar reported Wednesday that a meeting of experts and government officials in Naypyidaw is still reviewing the report of an investigation commission concerning the environmental impacts of the Latpadaung copper mine. According to the newspaper, which did not give details about the report's contents, the Environmental and Social Impact Assessment (ESIA) report on the project is almost finalized. The post Eight Detained as Opposition to Burma's Letpadaung Copper Mine Continues appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine.

55 Political Prisoners Remain Behind Bars: Advocacy Groups Posted: 05 Feb 2014 04:38 AM PST Aung Min Naing, an activist jailed for violating the Peaceful Assembly Law, was released on Tuesday from Insein Prison. (Photo: JPaing / The Irrawaddy) RANGOON — Despite President Thein Sein's pledge to free all political prisoners in Burma by the end of 2013, at least 55 prisoners of conscience remain behind bars, advocacy groups have told The Irrawaddy. The Former Political Prisoners Society (FPPS) and the Thailand-based Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP) said that 33 inmates are still on a list of the Political Prisoners Assessment Committee. This government-appointed committee, comprising cabinet members and human rights activists, has been tasked with identifying prisoners eligible for a presidential pardon. "We are still working for the release of the people on this list," said AAPP member Talky. He said ethnic armed groups are seeking the release of another 22 political prisoners who had belonged to their groups, adding that the release of these prisoners would be handled through negotiations between ethnic groups, the Myanmar Peace Center and the Presidents' Office. Since coming to office in 2011, President Thein Sein's reformist government has released several thousand political prisoners, who were detained by the previous military government. Last year, during six rounds of presidential amnesties, 330 political prisoners were released, while in early January this year four political prisoners were set free along with about 13,000 ordinary prisoners, who saw their sentences cut short, according to Ye Aung, a FPPS representative and member of the Political Prisoners Assessment Committee. "All political prisoners who were jailed under political charges were abolished under a Dec. 31 presidential amnesty order," said Talky, adding that many of the released had been charged with the Peaceful Assembly Law's Article 18, the Penal Code's 505 (b) and Emergency Provisions Act 5(j)—provisions that openly suppress political activity. Talky said the remaining prisoners of conscience had not been released because they were also convicted of other criminal charges, such as murder and bombings, in relation to their political activities. "Those who are not still released are facing other remaining charges," he said. "The situation of the remaining political prisoners is complicated." Talky said, however, that their release was critical to Burma's political reforms, adding, "The fact that political prisoners remain in Myanmar's prisons is interfering with the national reconciliation process." Ye Aung, of the FPP, said there were some members of civil society organizations, as well five former members of the Burma Army on the list of 33 political prisoners, adding that the soldiers had been jailed for making political statements while serving in the military. Although Thein Sein's government has received much praise for the release of thousands of political prisoners and the political reforms it introduced, civil society and human rights organizations remain concerned about further arrest of political activist. Burma's civil society has begun a campaign calling for the abolition of Article 18 of the Peaceful Assembly Law, which bans protests without government permission. The arrest of activists under this charge increased last year and have continued in 2014, according to Aung Myo Kyaw, a staff member at AAPP. "During the last month, 10 people were charged under Article 18," he said. The post 55 Political Prisoners Remain Behind Bars: Advocacy Groups appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine.

Rents Hardly ‘Convenient’ for Rangoon’s Corner Stores Posted: 05 Feb 2014 04:28 AM PST Two men walk past a City Express store in Rangoon's Pazundaung Township. (Photo: JPaing / The Irrawaddy) RANGOON — Rangoon's skyrocketing property prices are putting the squeeze on a young convenience store sector that depends on already-thin profit margins as domestic operators try to establish a footing before the expected entrance of more foreign competition. In Rangoon, domestic convenience stores began popping up just two years ago, with City Mart Holdings, Myanmar Indo Best and Capital Hypermart serving as the biggest players. The stores are concentrated in the city's commercial areas, mostly in the downtown townships of Kyauktada, Latha, Pabedan, Lanmadaw, Pazundaung and Botataung. Currently, Myanmar Indo Best's ABC Convenience Stores have the furthest reach, with about 50 shops across Rangoon. City Mart's City Express has opened 30 outlets, and Capital Hypermart's Grab & Go has nearly 10 stores. Densely populated and well-trafficked areas are a market requirement for convenience stores, which rely on foot traffic and a steady stream of customers making often small purchases. Unfortunately for convenience store operators, these same areas in Rangoon have seen some of the steepest climbs in real estate prices and rental rates, presenting an overhead expense that is dragging down their bottom line. Win Win Tint, the director of City Mart Holdings, said that although the company's City Express convenience stores have been open in Rangoon's commercial heart since 2012, the venture has yet to turn a profit. With an initial investment of at least 100 million kyats (US$102,000) per store, not including rent, the cost pressures are formidable, she said. "It's still hard to look for better locations in crowded areas, because we need to open on ground floors, so rent prices are too expensive downtown. That's why it has become major issue for us to open more," she said. Conveniences stores, which sell hundreds of snacks, beverages, cigarettes and small household goods, have altered the shopping patterns of many Burmese who previously could only get many of the products on offer at supermarkets and shopping malls. The fact that many convenience stores remain open 24 hours a day is an added attraction. However, a major component of the stores' "convenience factor" is a ground-level location, limiting the viable options to some of the most expensive property in an already pricey part of town. Rents for a 1,200-square-foot ground floor property in Kyauktada Township, in the heart of Rangoon's downtown, have reached 3 to 5 million kyats per month, according to one local real estate agent, and tenants are required to agree to a lease of at least one year. "On small streets, rent prices are half that of main roads. Kyauktada Township has the highest rent prices in Rangoon," said the Rangoon-based manager of Unity real estate agency, Zaw Zaw. With annual rent costs of up to $60,000, profitability is far from assured. In 2012, news reports indicated that 7-Eleven, a convenience store giant with US origins that has made significant inroads into several Southeast Asian countries, would enter the market in Burma. The development has yet to materialize, and local brands have since taken the opportunity to attempt to establish their brands in the long-isolated market. "I can say that convenience stores will be a successful retail format in future, so we need to prepare for foreign investment in this business now," Win Win Tint said. Lin Htike, the business development manager of ABC Convenience Stores, said the company aims to expand despite the real estate situation. "As a market strategy, we will open as many branches as we can, tracking the market's competition, because foreign investors might enter the local market soon," he said, adding that convenience stores would bring job opportunities for young people. In 2015, plans to implement the Asean Economic Community (AEC) are expected to open up the Burmese market to businesses from the regional grouping's nine other member states. The AEC envisions regional integration by, among other things, reducing tariffs among the countries to zero. It is expected to bring increased foreign competition from entrepreneurs who, ironically, have been held back from investing in Burma due in part to Rangoon's soaring real estate prices. The post Rents Hardly 'Convenient' for Rangoon's Corner Stores appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine.

All the President’s Foul-Mouthed Men Posted: 05 Feb 2014 02:05 AM PST Not for the first time in recent years, a Burmese minister finds himself in the hot seat after comments made last month while meeting with local villagers in central Burma. The offending remarks by Ohn Myint, minister of livestock, fisheries and rural development, were made to residents of a village in Magwe Division, with the Union cabinet member saying he would not hesitate to "slap" those who oppose government policies. "I can go around and slap everyone's face … if anyone insults or opposes the government, [I will] hit and lock [people] up … This is what the world has been exercising," the minister claimed. The statement—and accompanying comments about the military's enduring, benevolent legacy—no doubt angered those within earshot, and the minister's rant later careened about cyberspace as villagers quick on the draw managed to record audio and video of the remarks. Soon social media was abuzz, and an ill-conceived scolding to local residents of a remote Magwe village made its way into the national spotlight—and onto President Thein Sein's desk. The incident has also been raised in Parliament amid calls for action to be taken against the minister. On Monday, a small protest took place in downtown Rangoon, with demonstrators urging the government to dismiss the minister. Clearly in damage-control mode, Thein Sein met with Ohn Myint shortly after news of his comments began to spread. It is now believed that the minister, a former general who is also close to former dictator Snr-Gen Than Shwe, has been asked to go back to village and apologize to the villagers. The image of a contrite Ohn Myint asking the people for forgiveness would certainly seem in keeping with the practice of an increasingly image-conscious Thein Sein administration. Aung Zaw is founder and editor of the Irrawaddy magazine. He can be reached at aungzaw@irrawaddy.org. Unfortunately for the president, this latest outburst adds to a growing case file of former army generals whose foul-mouthed antics—perhaps permissible back in the barracks—have landed them in trouble as ministers in Burma's now nominally civilian government. Former Vice President Tin Aung Myint Oo, who abruptly resigned in mid-2012, is also an ex-general who was notoriously fond of foul language. As anyone who has ever seen the American film "Patton" or any of dozens of other war movies knows, this seems to be a popular style of interaction between senior military officers and their rank-and-file subordinates. But the public's tolerance of this abusive and belittling "standard practice" is running thin. Since Burma's opening up, social media and some local publications have played an active role in exposing the true color of the generals who once ran the country with an iron fist, and through their despotic rule remained accountable to no one. In 2012, Myint Hlaing, the agriculture and irrigation minister, also found himself in hot water when he told impoverished villagers that they should make do with just one meal a day. The formerly influential general's comment angered many villagers and, as in this latest incident, quickly spread via social media and local news outlets. That same year, the minister had to issue an apology to the country's parliamentarians after coming under fire for calling them uneducated and thoughtless. In May 2012, with Burma facing a severe electricity shortage, presidential advisor Ko Ko Hlaing blamed the problem on the people's inability to properly conserve energy. At a press conference, Ko Ko Hlaing suggested that if people lit candles at home to conserve electricity, "everything will be alright." Again, a recording of the remarks quickly made the rounds via social media and he too came under fire, with the former colonel and protégé of Thein Sein soon after disappearing from the public eye for a time. Thein Sein's government has been framed by skeptics as a mere offshoot of the previous, repressive regime, and Ohn Myint's high-handed diatribe fuels a rising public sentiment that many of the former generals are, at heart, the same men who had kept the nation under the military boot for decades. Knowing that their popular standing these days is on shaky ground at best, and with a national election set to take place next year, the government is showing occasional flashes of sensitivity to public criticism. But for the brash former generals that now populate the cabinet, old habits, it seems, die hard. The post All the President's Foul-Mouthed Men appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine.

Japan Unease Over US Alliance Adds Fuel to Abe’s Security Shift Posted: 04 Feb 2014 11:51 PM PST Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, right, reviews Japan Self-Defense Forces' (SDF) troops during the annual SDF ceremony at Asaka Base in Asaka, near Tokyo, on Oct. 27, 2013. (Photo: Reuters / Issei Kato) TOKYO — In public, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's government lists a more assertive China and a volatile North Korea as its top security concerns. Behind the scenes, though, another concern is growing: that the United States may one day be unable or unwilling to defend Japan, interviews with Abe advisers, politicians and security experts show. The worries are adding momentum to Abe's drive to beef up Japan's air and naval forces while loosening constitutional limits on action its military can take abroad. Japanese angst over the country's security alliance with Washington follows years of double-digit defense spending increases by Tokyo's arch rival in Asia, China. Unpredictable North Korea, whose missiles can hit Japan, has meanwhile pushed ahead with nuclear and missile programs despite international sanctions. "If you are a strategic thinker or alliance planner you have to be ready for the worst case scenario," a former Japanese diplomat close to Abe told Reuters, citing concerns about a decline in US military capability and readiness. "We should discuss roles and missions, including the kinds of weapons we have or don't have," added the ex-diplomat, who requested anonymity because he doesn't hold an official position. Conservatives like Abe also long for greater autonomy from Washington—although no one suggests that Japan, host to nearly 50,000 US troops, will go it alone. "The US-Japan alliance is the most important alliance, and that will not change," said Yosuke Isozaki, a national security adviser to Abe. "But Japan will become more of an adult, a normal country." Japan has even begun studying whether to boost its limited ability to make a pre-emptive strike on enemy bases, although such a costly and controversial step seems unlikely soon. Besides strengthening its own capabilities, Japan is seeking closer security ties with Southeast Asia, India, Australia and even Russia as a hedge against any US decline. Washington routinely seeks to reassure Tokyo that the six-decade-old alliance is firm. "The US-Japan alliance is the cornerstone of regional security and prosperity," said a senior US Defense Department official in Washington. "The US government remains committed to enhancing the US-Japan alliance and upholding our obligations of the security treaty." Despite such assurances and President Barack Obama's decision to strategically rebalance US forces to the Asia-Pacific, Tokyo still worries whether Washington can maintain the will and wherewithal to defend Japan. That is partly due to the perception in Japan that US power is declining longer term as China's clout grows and the growing importance of Sino-US economic ties. Japanese diplomats hope an expected Obama visit in April will ease such concerns and give the president a chance to show China, embroiled in a bitter territorial row with Japan over islands in the East China Sea, whose side Washington is on. The Obama visit "is a vital opportunity for the United States to express its vision of what role the United States is going to play," Japanese ambassador to Washington Kenichiro Sasae told a seminar recently. "We also want to see the United States make clear who are the friends and allies and troublemakers and potential problem-makers." Conservative Dream The United States takes no position on the sovereignty of the islands in the East China Sea but recognizes they are administered by Japan and are covered by the security treaty, which obligates Washington to defend its ally. Worries about the alliance also provide a justification for a conservative agenda that Abe inherited from his grandfather Nobusuke Kishi, which seeks a more equal US partnership. Kishi, a prewar cabinet minister who was jailed but never tried as a war-crimes suspect, became premier in 1957 but was forced to resign three years later after ramming the US-Japan security treaty through parliament. Abe wants to fulfill his grandfather's goal of revising the US-drafted constitution, which conservatives say restricts Japan's ability to defend itself. Shorter-term, he hopes to loosen the constitution's constraints by re-interpreting it. "The fact that Obama is cutting defense, is having trouble governing at home and seems distracted by the Middle East is validating Abe's agenda," said Michael Green, Japan chair at Washington's Center for Strategic and International Studies. "Abe is pro-American but he also advocates Japan having more autonomy." Japan-US relations hit a bump when Abe visited Tokyo's Yasukuni Shrine in December, further straining ties with China and South Korea, which see Yasukuni as a symbol of Tokyo's past militarism because it honors wartime leaders along with millions of war dead. The visit prompted a rare statement of "disappointment" from the United States, which worries the feud over the islands could drag it into a military clash between Beijing and Tokyo. Some Japanese politicians were clearly displeased. "America said it was 'disappointed' but rather than being so sensitive about China's feelings, they should be sensitive about the feelings of their ally, Japan," said Abe aide and ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) lawmaker Seiichi Eto. "We were the ones who were 'disappointed.'" The two allies have begun revising guidelines on defense cooperation last updated in 1997, aiming to complete the revamp by the end of this year. Washington has long encouraged Tokyo to assume a greater share of the bilateral security burden, and Japanese policymakers now hope that by doing so, they can help anchor the United States to their side. How far Japan can boost its role, however, depends partly on whether Abe can end Japan's self-imposed ban on collective self-defense, or militarily aiding an ally under attack. Changing a decades-old interpretation of the constitution to allow Japan to exercise its right of collective self-defense "would deepen the US-Japan alliance, which until now, has been too one-sided," said security adviser Isozaki. Abe favors the change, which a panel of advisers is expected to propose as soon as April. Some advisers say Japan's military should not only be able to aid Washington but also countries sharing strategic interests with Tokyo. Abe's more dovish coalition partner, the New Komeito party, is wary of any change. Alliance anxiety has also stoked calls for Japan to strengthen its limited ability to make pre-emptive strikes. Japan has relied entirely on the United States for deterrence even as threats from China and North Korea have grown, said former defense minister Gen Nakatani, who now serves as an LDP deputy secretary-general. "If you think about what would happen if the United States withdrew, we must consider [acquiring] the capability to respond, because we cannot just sit idly and await death." But with collective self-defense already on his agenda, Abe appears unlikely to devote political capital now to a cause that would be viewed as provocative by China and might not be fully welcomed by Washington. US officials have not made clear if they want Japan to acquire greater offensive capability. Former defense official Kyouji Yanagisawa, who worked for Abe during his 2006-07 first term as prime minister, said doing so would "fundamentally change the nature of the US-Japan alliance," often described as Japan holding the defensive "shield" while America supplies the offensive "sword." Acquiring such capabilities—including cruise missiles, attack drones, geostationary satellites and even special operation forces able to penetrate enemy territory—would also be costly. Abe plans to increase defense spending by 2.6 percent over the next five years, but the spending is constrained by Japan's massive public debt. "I think the government is thinking about this," said former foreign minister Seiji Maehara, a hawkish opposition lawmaker who backs much of Abe's security agenda. "But quite a substantial package would be needed and I don't think there is the money for that." Additional reporting by David Brunnstrom, Phillip Stewart and David Alexander in Washington and Nobuhiro Kubo in Tokyo. The post Japan Unease Over US Alliance Adds Fuel to Abe's Security Shift appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine.

Thai Central Bank Warns of Substantial Risk From Prolonged Unrest Posted: 04 Feb 2014 10:39 PM PST Thai protesters demonstrate outside a government building in Bangkok in early December. (Photo Steve Tickner / The Irrawaddy) BANGKOK — Thailand’s central bank warned on Wednesday of "substantially increased" risk to economic growth after the weekend’s disrupted general election did nothing to restore stability in the politically polarized country. Protesters have been trying to topple Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra since November, prompting the government to announce a state of emergency ahead of Sunday’s vote that was boycotted by the main opposition party. The ballot and the emergency order are being challenged in the courts and there is no indication of how, or even if, an election winner can be announced. The Bank of Thailand’s monetary policy committee (MPC) warned of the effect of a prolonged crisis on Southeast Asia’s second-largest economy, which is heavily reliant on tourism. The stock market has fallen more than 10 percent since the start of November. "The committee agreed that the downside risks to growth have increased substantially," the panel said, according to the minutes of a Jan. 22 meeting published on Wednesday. "Growth impact could be more pronounced if a prolonged unrest were to cause a switch of export orders to other countries, with a potential knock-on effects on domestic spending," it said. The standoff, with bursts of violence in which 10 people have been killed, is the latest round of an eight-year dispute between Bangkok’s middle class, southern Thais and the royalist establishment against the mostly poor, rural supporters of Yingluck and her brother, former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra. Thaksin was ousted by the military in 2006. Tourism is taking a hit, infrastructure spending has stalled and investors and consumers are uneasy. At the Jan. 22 meeting, the committee slashed its economic growth forecast for this year to around 3 percent from about 4 percent. A week later, central bank Governor Prasarn Trairatvorakul said growth could be even lower than 3 percent because the unrest had affected consumption and investment. Economic data released since the MPC meeting show continuing weakness. Factory output in December fell 6.1 percent from a year earlier, and while exports that month were up 1.9 percent on an annual basis, central bank indexes for consumption and investment kept falling. Allegations of Corruption Pressure on the government mounted on Tuesday, when a flagship rice-buying scheme vital to its support stumbled closer to collapse and the opposition filed legal challenges that could void the weekend election. The rice scheme helped sweep Yingluck to power in 2011 but is now steeped in allegations of corruption, while growing losses are making it increasingly hard to fund. Political crises have not always been a drag on Thailand’s economy despite governments being toppled, protesters shot, buildings set ablaze, and airports and shopping malls seized by demonstrators over the past eight years. Each time, Thailand’s financial markets bounced back. "The Thai economy has withstood the political rupture since 2006, and other shocks including large-scale flooding in late 2011," Fitch Ratings said. GDP growth had averaged 2.9 percent between 2008 and 2013, slightly higher than the average of 2.6 percent in comparable countries, it said. "Nonetheless, Fitch thinks political tensions are already weighing on economic activity – evident from a contraction in manufacturing output of around 7 percent year-on-year in the fourth quarter of 2013." The anti-government demonstrators, mostly from Bangkok and the south, say Yingluck is Thaksin’s puppet and the costly giveaways that won his parties every election since 2001 are tantamount to vote-buying using taxpayers’ money. They say Thaksin’s new political order is tainted by graft and cronyism and want an appointed "people’s council" to replace Yingluck and overhaul a political system hijacked by her brother, who lives in exile to avoid a jail term for graft. It was not all bad news for Yingluck. The election, if not annulled by the courts, is almost certain to renew her mandate, although it is unclear when re-runs of disrupted votes will be held. And the number of protesters on the streets has dwindled since the election, allowing at least three government ministries to resume work at their usual offices this week. "We will slowly start to open government offices but some state employees will have to keep working from back-up locations," police spokesman Piya Utayo said. "Not a single government office has had to stop working but since these protests began they have had to change location." The post Thai Central Bank Warns of Substantial Risk From Prolonged Unrest appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine.

Sri Lanka Refuses Visa for US State Dept Official After War Crimes Accusations Posted: 04 Feb 2014 10:31 PM PST A Tamil woman cries as she holds up an image of her family member who disappeared during the civil war with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) at a vigil to commemorate the international day of the disappeared in Colombo on Aug. 30, 2013. (Photo: Reuters) COLOMBO — Sri Lanka has refused a visa request for a US State Department official, the US Embassy said on Tuesday after Washington signaled it would propose a UN resolution against the South Asian state over alleged war crimes. Tensions rose after US Assistant Secretary of State Nisha Biswal voiced frustration on Saturday over Sri Lanka's failure to punish military personnel responsible linked to reported atrocities in a civil war that the Colombo government won in 2009 against separatist Tamil rebels. Biswal, speaking after a two-day visit to Colombo, said Washington would table a third UN human rights resolution against Sri Lanka in March to address the allegations because its human rights climate has been worsening. The US Embassy in Colombo said the Sri Lankan government had turned down a visa application for Catherine Russell, the US ambassador-at-large for global women's issues, and it called the decision "regrettable." Russell had been scheduled to visit Sri Lanka in line with her mandate to promote stability, peace, and development by empowering women politically, socially and economically. "The United States will continue to raise important issues related to gender-based violence, the impact that the conflict had on families (particularly female-headed households), the need for greater economic empowerment by women, and for greater political participation by women across Sri Lanka," the embassy said in an emailed statement. Biswal said that during her visit people in Sri Lanka's former northern war zone referred to a range of human rights abuses including the disappearance of civilians. President Mahinda Rajapaksa's government, which finally crushed the rebellion of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) 26 years after it erupted, has rejected calls for an international inquiry, saying this would be aimed only at pleasing a large Tamil diaspora living in Western countries. Senior US officials declined to say what would be in the planned resolution, but embassy officials said it might repeat the call for an international investigation in Sri Lanka. Sri Lankan officials were not immediately available for comment on the reported visa refusal. But Rajapaksa, speaking at Independence Day celebrations on Tuesday, said unidentified foreigners were trying to use "northern people," a reference to ethnic Tamils, as "human shields." "The invaders always came to our country shedding oceans of crocodile tears. They interfered…, putting forward claims to protect human rights, establish democracy and the rule of law. "I see the attempts to level charges of war crimes against us in Geneva today as the triumph of those who are not in favor of peace … These are not founded on peace, fair play or justice," Rajapaksa said. Sri Lanka has rejected US criticism of its human rights record as "grossly disproportionate." A United Nations panel has assessed that around 40,000 mainly Tamil civilians died in the final few months of the war. Both sides committed atrocities, but army shelling killed most victims, it concluded. The post Sri Lanka Refuses Visa for US State Dept Official After War Crimes Accusations appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine.

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