The Irrawaddy Magazine

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• Thai PM Likely to Choose Burma for First Trip Abroad 
• Burma Official Asks US Congress Not to Block Military Engagement
• Rewriting the History of Late Prime Minister Soe Win
• Taiwanese Firms Look to Cash In on China’s Strained Relations with Burma
• Arrests Go On Unabated After ‘Unclear’ Amendment to Burma Protest Law
• No Trace of Missing Burmese Climbers as Search Continues
• Singapore Bans Documentary on Political Exiles
• Asia Arms Up to Counter Growing Chinese Might
• Thai Junta Tells Rights Group to ‘Get Its Facts Straight’

Thai PM Likely to Choose Burma for First Trip Abroad  Posted: 12 Sep 2014 05:09 AM PDT Thai junta leader Prime Minister Prayut Chan-ocha speaks during a meeting with Thai ambassadors in June. (Photo: Reuters) CHIANG MAI — Thai Prime Minister Prayut Chan-ocha, who leads the military regime that seized power from a democratically elected government in May, is likely to choose Burma as his destination for a first official visit abroad, a Thai official said on Friday. The general, who took the office of prime minister last week, is planning to visit Burma soon in order to strengthen ties with the neighboring government, according to an official at the Information Department of Thailand's Foreign Affairs Ministry. "The trip to Myanmar is under consideration. So, we could not give any details, it is not confirmed yet. If it is confirmed, that news will be [published] in the Thai newspapers," said the official, who declined to be named. A report by Agence France-Presse on Friday quoted Thai Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Don Pramudwinai as saying that Prayuth would visit Naypyidaw in late September or early October. "The prime minister is scheduled to visit Myanmar as his first foreign country [to visit] because Myanmar currently chairs ASEAN [Association of Southeast Asian Nations," he reportedly said, referring to the 10-nation regional bloc. The Thai commander-in-chief led the army's coup d'état on May 22 that ousted the government of Premier Yingluck Shinawatra. The coup marked a new phase in the political battle in Thailand between the Democratic Party and the Royalist establishment, which is supported by the army, against the exiled billionaire Thaksin Shinawatra's Pheu Thai Party. The Thai junta has come in for strong criticism from the US and other Western government, with which Thailand has good relations, and the Bangkok regime appears to be now seeking support in the region. The Thein Sein government, largely filled with members of Burma's former military regime, has refrained from criticizing its neighbor. In recent months, the countries have organized a number of meetings to bolster ties, largely in the field of military cooperation. Min Aung Hlaing, commander-in-chief of the powerful Burma Army, made a visit to Bangkok in July to personally meet the junta leader Prayuth.. They discussed bilateral military cooperation and issues such as the repatriation of the roughly 140,000 Burmese refugees living in camps on the Thai-Burma border. Shortly after taking power, the Thai junta announced that it wants cooperate with Naypyidaw to arrange for the speedy return of the refugees because of peace process, which in recent years has led to ceasefires and a drop in fighting but no permanent, nationwide peace accord to end Burma's ethnic conflict. The Thai regime also began a massive crackdown on the millions migrant laborers, an effort that resulted in an exodus of hundreds of thousands of Cambodians but mostly spared Burmese migrants. Recently, on Aug. 21, a delegation of top Thai military officials visited Burma at the invitation of Min Aung Hlaing for another meeting to boost ties between the countries' militaries, according to the Thai Foreign Affairs Ministry. Gen. Tanasak Patimapragorn, chief of defense forces of Royal Thai Armed Forces, attended the event in Bagan during which further joint activities such as the exchange of military intelligence, military-to-military talks, and cooperation on counter-terrorism. The post Thai PM Likely to Choose Burma for First Trip Abroad  appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine.

Burma Official Asks US Congress Not to Block Military Engagement Posted: 12 Sep 2014 04:57 AM PDT US President Barack Obama sits with Burmese President Thein Sein in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington May 20, 2013. (Photo: Reuters) A top official in Burma's President's Office has urged the United States Congress not to block military cooperation between the two countries, warning that a bill under consideration would only increase the isolation of the Burmese army at a crucial time. American lawmakers have proposed legislation to restrict funding for US security assistance to Burma—including education and training and peacekeeping operations involving Burmese soldiers—until the country improves its human rights situation, cuts military ties to North Korea, amends the Constitution and makes progress on ending the ongoing wars with ethnic armed groups. The Burma Human Rights and Democracy Act of 2014 was first introduced in Washington, D.C., in April. It has been approved by the congressional Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Asia and the Pacific but has not been voted on by Congress. It comes after the administration of President Barack Obama encouraged Burma's reformist quasi-civilian government with the promise of military re-engagement. Zaw Htay, a director in the Burmese President's Office, told The Irrawaddy on Thursday that US lawmakers should vote against the bill. "If the Congress decided to agree, it would be a wrong move as it would further isolate our military, which has been playing an important role in reforms and the democratic transition," he said. Zaw Htay also suggested that the United States should in fact be increasing its cooperation with Burma as the country faces a new threat from Al-Qaeda. The militant Islamist group has announced plans to expand its operations in South Asia, with Pakistan-born leader Ayman al-Zawahri announcing that the formation of "al-Qaeda in the India Subcontinent" would be good news for oppressed Muslims "in Burma, Bangladesh, Assam, Gujarat, Ahmedabad and Kashmir." "They [US lawmakers] should be aware of our situation. Burma is facing the terror threat, along with India," Zaw Htay said. "We should be collaborating for [global] security, for the anti-terror activities during our transition period." The President's Office director said that "proactive engagement" by the United States would encourage the Burmese military, known as the Tatmadaw, to reform. He highlighted the Tatmadaw's collaboration with United Nations agencies on the issues of child soldiers, and top commanders' condemnation of forced labor in conflict areas as signs the army is willing to embrace reform. Since the US revived ties with Burma, the Burmese military has been allowed to observe the Cobra Gold regional military exercise, and the possibility of Burmese troops serving in UN peacekeeping forces has been touted. Zaw Htay said that during a visit to Burma last month, US Secretary of State John Kerry invited Burmese parliamentarians to take part in an exchange program with Congress. "We will use this channel to sort out challenges and to exchange information they have about us and our challenges. Our parliaments need to work together to have enough information on the issues," he said. "The decision is totally upon them [the US lawmakers], but I just want to raise whether now is good timing." The post Burma Official Asks US Congress Not to Block Military Engagement appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine.

Rewriting the History of Late Prime Minister Soe Win Posted: 12 Sep 2014 04:03 AM PDT The cover of "An Unexpected Long Journey" by Myint Thu shows the late Prime Minister Soe Win. When former dictator Snr-Gen. Than Shwe removed Gen. Khin Nyunt as prime minister of Burma in 2004 on corruption charges, he asked one of the few men he trusted to take over: Gen. Soe Win. After removing Khin Nyunt because he had become too powerful in his other job as spy chief, Than Shwe needed a loyal commander as prime minister. Not least because a major political transition was being planned and he wanted a trusted man at the top of a new, nominally civilian government staffed with former junta members. If Soe Win had not died from leukemia in October 2007, Than Shwe would have probably asked him—and not Thein Sein—to become president, a post that was created when the civilian government came into office in 2010. We will never know how Soe Win would have filled in the position in this critical time in Burma's political history, but a recently released book attempts to inform the public about the personal history of the late prime minister. Titled "An Unexpected Long Journey," the Burmese-language book, sheds some light on Soe Win's rise through the ranks of consecutive military regimes in Burma, but the author, Myint Thu, does much to conceal the general's transgressions during his long military and political career. Published by Myanmar Heritage, the 666-page book comes in a high-quality print edition and includes numerous photos. Myint Thu writes that he interviewed more than 100 people for the book and seems intent on painting a picture of a man who was eager to reform Burma but died before he had a chance to do so. However, those with knowledge of Soe Win's career know that he was a ruthless commander who gained the trust of junta leaders Than Shwe and Vice Snr-Gen. Maung Aye because he had been a useful and effective commander during episodes of brutal repression in Burma. During the crushing of the 1988 democratic uprising, Soe Win commanded troops in Rangoon for several months and is likely to have been directly involved in the bloody crackdown, such as the massacre at Sule Pagoda on Aug. 8. There, soldiers fired directly into a large crowd of unarmed protestors, leaving scored dead and injured. The book's account of Soe Win involvement in repressing the uprising claims that he disobeyed orders for his troops to bayonet the demonstrators, as was happening elsewhere during the crackdown. Instead, he ordered some rubber bullets to be fired into the crowd and "no one was killed," author Myint Thu writes, in what seems a clear attempt to repair the reputation of the late prime minister. After the 1988 uprising and the military coup that followed, Soe Win was tasked by the regime with handling sensitive situations such as the religious riots between Buddhists and Muslims in central Burma in the 1990s. But he is probably best known for his involvement in the Depayin massacre in 2003—earning him the nickname among the opposition and dissidents as "the butcher of Depayin." By the early 2000s, Soe Win, the then Secretary Two of the regime, had become a favorite of Than Shwe and was assigned to take care of Aung San Suu Kyi's upcountry campaign trips. In May 2003, thousands of armed thugs ambushed the opposition leader's motorcade as she was campaigning in Depayin Township, Sagaing Division. The attack left about 70 National League for Democracy supporters dead and many more injured. Suu Kyi barely escaped with her life thanks to skilled driving by her chauffeur. The book provides an unclear account of the bloody events and cites Soe Win offering a vague explanation about "clashes" between Union Solidarity and Development Association—the junta's public mass movement—and NLD supporters. According to the book, Soe Win found that only four people had died and about 70 were injured. This undated photo shows high-ranking members of the SPDC regime during a visit to the Great Wall of China. From left to right: Gen. Soe Thane (now President's Office minister), Gen. Thein Sein (current president), Gen. Soe Win (deceased), Vice Snr-Gen. Maung Aye (now retired), Gen. Shwe Mann (current Union Parliament Spear), Gen. Tin Aye (current election commission chairman), Gen. Myat Hein (now communications minister). (Photo: "An Unexpected Long Journey," Myint Thu) Curiously, it then quotes him as saying he is fond of the NLD leader. "We like Suu Kyi, but we have to protect her from danger, assassination attempts and those who wanted to harm her because she is Gen. Aung San's daughter," Soe Win reportedly said. It adds that he thought she was only unfit to enter Burmese politics because she had married a foreigner and could have been a woman leader like the late Benazir Bhutto in Pakistan if she had "married someone of her own race." Born in Taunggyi, Shan State, in 1949, Soe Win was the son of an Intha minority father and a Karenni mother. He joined the army in 1966 and was a graduate of the Defense Services Academy's 12th intake. His classmates included ex-generals Tin Aung Myint Oo (a former vice president) and Tin Aye, the current chairman of the Union Election Commission. Despite his ethnic background, there is little evidence to suggest that his attitude to Burma's numerous marginalized minorities was any different from the rest of the predominantly Burman regime. Myint Thu writes that Soe Win "achieved" certain things for the population of Nagaland, located in the remote mountains of western Burma, when he was a regional commander in Sagaing Division. Apparently, the book says, he ordered the Naga tribes in some villages to start wearing short pants and he distributed t-shirts in order to discourage the traditional practice among women of going topless. It adds that Soe Win thought this was necessary to ensure that the practices of the tribes would not offend visiting foreign tourists, who the regime hoped to attract to Burma and its more remote, exotic regions such as Nagaland in the late 1990s. Like Thein Sein, Soe Win was viewed as one of the least corrupt generals of the kleptocratic regime, and was known to live a simple life style. When he tried to tackle corruption after becoming prime minister, his civil officials advised him to "fix the roof," a reference to high-level complicity, according to the book. However, he was quickly stonewalled by fellow junta members who closed ranks to protect their interests when he tried to address top-level graft allegations, according to Myint Thu. Than Shwe liked the plain-talking Soe Win who, like the supremo himself, wanted to develop the country through mega projects, such as hydropower dams. The two also agreed on the need to build a new Burmese capital and Soe Win's tenure as prime minister saw the impoverished county embark on the massive, Potemkin project of cutting Naypyidaw out of the jungles of central Burma. An interesting passage in Myint Thu's book appears to shed some new light on the origin of the idea behind the construction of Naypyidaw. It says that the theory that Burma needed a more defensible capital located further inland was first put forward by Daw Yin Yin, a Geography professor who taught at the Defense Services Academy and introduced the idea to Soe Win and other generals. Daw Yin Yin was the mother of the late Nay Win Maung, a Burmese academic who co-founded the government-affiliated Myanmar Peace Center and Myanmar Egress. The latter think tank advocated the controversial position that Suu Kyi and the dissidents should accept the regime's undemocratic 2008 Constitution in order to facilitate political cooperation between the army and opposition. As prime minister, Soe Win mentioned good and clean governance in his speeches and made an attempted to introduce e-governance, according to the book. But as we have seen he did little to initiate genuine government reforms and continued the regime's disastrous economic policies. Like the other generals, such as Thein Sein, Soe Win was a military man with little policy and management experience, rendering him completely incompetent in bringing the country's collapsed economy, public finances and social services in order. In 2006, at the age of 57, Soe Win began to experience health problems and was flown to Singapore for treatment for leukemia. In October next year he died in Rangoon. As he lay on his death bed, growing public discontent over the poor state he had left Burma's economy in boiled over when fuel subsidies were suddenly cut and prices of everyday goods and services spiked. The protests turned political and from August to October the Saffron Revolution saw hundreds of thousands of people take to the streets to demand political reform. As protests wound down after a violent crackdown by authorities, Soe Win was given a quiet state funeral by Than Shwe. Meanwhile, news of the dozens of Buddhist monks and protestors who were killed, injured or arrested was suppressed by the government. After the massive protests, Than Shwe realized it was high time to implement the long-planned political transition. With Soe Win gone, the old strongman decided to make the smoother, less corrupt Gen. Thein Sein prime minister and later president, in order to have another loyalist lead Burma's new, quasi-civilian government. The post Rewriting the History of Late Prime Minister Soe Win appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine.

Taiwanese Firms Look to Cash In on China’s Strained Relations with Burma Posted: 12 Sep 2014 03:34 AM PDT Workers assemble motherboards in an electronics factory in Taiwan. (Photo: Reuters) Tiny Taiwan is bidding to upstage its giant neighbor by investing heavily in Burma while the Southeast Asian nation's relations with China remain cool. After a series of recent small-scale Taiwanese investments, the Taiwan Electrical and Electronic Manufacturers' Association (TEEMA) has announced plans to spend nearly half a billion dollars developing an industrial park in the Irrawaddy Delta. TEEMA said it wants to invest US$468 million to provide a base for possibly dozens of Taiwanese electrical-component makers. If it goes ahead the project would create hundreds of semi-skilled jobs. "According to industry insiders, TEEMA has already signed a letter of intent with its Myanmar counterpart to solicit 1,400 hectares (3,458 acres) of land from the government there," said the China Economic News Service (CENS). "The association has also commissioned the Taiwan-based Sinotech Engineering Consultants, a corporate consultant, to assess the feasibility of the project." The industrial park plan comes as Taiwan, the breakaway Chinese island, seeks to diversify its investments away from both mainland China and Vietnam where it has previously established numerous factories. "Myanmar can be a good alternative to investment in China and Vietnam, given that labor shortages and the recent anti-China rioting [in Vietnam] have aroused concerns among overseas Taiwanese firms operating in those countries," the chairman of TEEMA, Guo Tai-chiang, was quoted by CENS as saying. Taiwan has stepped up its interest and investment in Burma over the past year. The Taiwan External Trade Development Council opened an office in Rangoon last November to "help Taiwanese companies explore business opportunities." In June, Taiwan’s Financial Supervisory Commission gave the green light for three Taiwanese banks to pursue the establishment of representative offices with a view to opening branches in Rangoon, said the state-run Central News Agency (CNA) in Taipei. "Worrying about a recurrence of Vietnam’s recent anti-Chinese riots, which caused serious damage to hundreds of Taiwanese enterprises, the island's banks are planning to switch their development focus to other areas of Southeast Asia. Underdeveloped Myanmar and Laos are the favored countries," said CENS. The Taiwan External Trade Development Council hosted a four-day auto parts trade fair in Rangoon during July. Taiwan's level of investment in Burma to date remains modest compared with mainland China and other countries such as Thailand, Singapore and even Vietnam. However, input is growing. Bilateral trade in 2013 grew by more than 15 percent over the previous year. "Myanmar has abundant natural resources and cheap labor but many structural problems remain," CNA quoted an unnamed Taiwan council official saying. Taiwan's Pou Chen Group, one of the world's largest contract manufacturers of footwear, announced in June it would invest $100 million in a production factory in Rangoon. The factory is scheduled to be ready to begin operating by the end of 2015 and is initially targeting production of 300,000 pairs of shoes per month, rising to 800,000 pairs per month by 2019, said CENS quoting company chief executive Patty Tsai. "With gradually higher wages in China, and the recent violent anti-China protests in Vietnam, Tsai pointed out that Pou Chen is eagerly trying to set up production in other countries, besides China, Vietnam and Indonesia, as part of its strategy to expand overseas output and hedge risks of concentrating production in a single place," CENS reported. TEEMA's Guo said Taiwan is keen to focus more on Burma to help give it more access to Asean, which is set to launch a tariff-free trading bloc among its 10 member countries from the end of 2015. "Once the planned industrial park is in operation, a thorough supply chain will likely be built up making it easier for Taiwanese firms it to explore the Myanmar market," CENS said. "This is especially significant given Taiwan's lack of membership in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and the stalemate over the signing of a cross-strait agreement on trade in goods and services with China." The location of the proposed industrial park in Irrawaddy Division has still to be finalized, but it would include its own power plant to provide the necessary electricity, said Guo. Taiwan's Ministry of Economic Affairs is assisting TEEMA by liaising with the Naypyidaw government, said CNA. The post Taiwanese Firms Look to Cash In on China's Strained Relations with Burma appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine.

Arrests Go On Unabated After ‘Unclear’ Amendment to Burma Protest Law Posted: 12 Sep 2014 03:02 AM PDT Nearly 100 people took part in a demonstration against the proportional representation (PR) electoral system in Prome, Pegu Division, in August. Five people have been charged for the protest under Article 18 the Law on Peaceful Assembly. (Photo: Kaung Myat Min / The Irrawaddy) RANGOON — A lack of clarity in Burma's recently amended Law on Peaceful Assembly is sowing confusion among activists and advocates, as the country's courts continue to charge people for demonstrating without permission. The controversial Article 18 of the 2011 Peaceful Assembly and Peaceful Procession Law originally stated that persons or groups who want to stage a demonstration must seek prior permission from local police, with those breaking the law facing punishments of up to a year in prison and fines of up to 30,000 kyat (about US$30). However, in February, Parliament's Public Complaints and Appeal Committee attempted to soften the law, submitted the "Bill Amending the Peaceful Assembly and Peaceful Procession Law" to the Lower House. The amendment was meant to remove authorities' option to deny permission to demonstrate, as well as reducing the law's penalties. The amendment—passed by the Union Parliament in June and signed into force by Burmese President Thein Sein on July 24—was seen at the time as a milestone for human rights in Burma. "The amended law reduced the prison sentences, but it's now more complicated because of amendments," said Robert San Aung, a prominent lawyer who has defended activists charged with Article 18 both before and after its amendment. "There is complex language, unclear explanations and descriptions in the Law." Article 5 of the amended law states that township police chiefs must approve applications to demonstration "in accordance with the criteria for approval," but the law itself does not specify clearly what these criteria are. UK-based freedom of expression advocacy group ARTICLE 19 has said it is concerned that the reform has only introduced greater ambiguity to the legislation, and has not brought the law into compliance with international human rights standards. "Following the amendments, it is unclear whether police authorities may still consider the content of proposed assemblies when determining whether the 'criteria to get permission' have been met," ARTICLE 19 said in a statement. "Given the broad range of content restrictions retained in the law, the police authorities are likely to continue to interpret their prior authorization powers expansively." Burmese activists are also confused about how the law now deals with permission to protest. Kyaw San, from the Prome District branch of the Former Political Prisoners Society, was one of five people charged by police in Pegu Division on Aug. 6 under Article 18 after they demonstrated against a plan to change Burma's electoral system. They applied for permission ahead of the protest, he said, expecting that permission could not be denied under the amended law. "We requested permission four days before the date of the protest. But the authorities refused, saying we need to ask for permission at least five days ahead of the protest," he said, adding that the criteria applied by police appeared to be arbitrary. "In a different case, they granted approval for a protest against the jailing of journalists at the Unity journal, even though permission was sought only two days ahead of the protest." Kyaw San said that if the court sentences the five to fines or imprisonment for organizing the protest without permission, they will choose prison sentences since they believe they did not violate the law. Myo Myint, police station officer from No. (2) Police Station in Prome Township, insisted that the charges were in line with an existing by-law to the Peaceful Assembly Law. Since no new by-law has been passed, he said, police were right to continue applying the old rules. "Section 3 of the by-law of Article 18 states that protesters must apply for permission five days ahead, but they applied only four days ahead. So, we couldn't accept it, and told them to reapply," Myo Myint said. "But they didn't reapply and protested without permission. So we charged them with Article 18." Elsewhere, however, authorities have given no reason for continuing to refuse permission to protest. Mass Movement Acceleration Network organized a protest outside Rangoon's City Hall on Aug. 5, also against electoral change. They were opposing the Union Solidarity and Development Party-supported plan to change from the first-past-the-post electoral system to proportional representation (PR) ahead of all-important elections in late 2015. "We submitted the permission request five days ahead. But the authorities refused to give permission. They asked us to protest in Tamwe Township, but we asked for permission to protest in Kyauktada Township. They were avoiding giving us permission," said Myat Kyaw, spokesman for the activist group. "We followed all procedures according to the law. But they still refused to grant permission, and [after we demonstrated] charged two activists from our network under Article 18 for demonstrating without permission." An update from the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP) this week said that in August alone, 13 activists were sentenced to prison under Article 18. "The number of political prisoners has continued to rise since the beginning of this year, with the use of Section 18 of the Peaceful Assembly and Peaceful Procession Act accounting for many of the newly incarcerated individuals," AAPP stated. Advocate Robert San Aung—who is currently defending the five anti-PR protesters in Prome, as well as two people in Rangoon who demonstrated asking for justice in a rape case—said the law's amendment had simply introduced more confusion. "They should make the law together with experts. Now, the law is applied differently in each division because of unclear expressions," he said. Aung Thein, from the Myanmar Lawyers' Network, said that it was important that a new by-law to clarify the amendment is completed swiftly. "The authorities are using the by-law for the original law in some cases because they are saying the prior notification is not enough and protesters need to ask permission. While the protesters say they are asking for permission, they still refuse," he said. Jimmy, a leader of the 88 Generation Peace and Open Society, agreed that the new by-law must be accelerated to eliminate the ambiguity in the law. "It should be established soon. It shouldn't be delayed," he said. The post Arrests Go On Unabated After 'Unclear' Amendment to Burma Protest Law appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine.

No Trace of Missing Burmese Climbers as Search Continues Posted: 12 Sep 2014 02:52 AM PDT A member of a Burmese team climbs Hkakabo Razi in Kachin State. (Photo: Invitation of Nature Foundation / Facebook) RANGOON — A rescue team is continuing its search for two Burmese climbers who have been missing for 12 days on what is considered to be Burma's tallest mountain. Local authorities say police officers, mountaineers and residents with knowledge of the roads have joined a rescue team but have thus far been unable to locate the climbers on Hkakabo Razi mountain in Kachin State. "They are searching the surrounding areas with helicopters for the two people who went missing on the ice mountain," Tun Ngwe, a district commissioner in Putao District, told The Irrawaddy on Friday. The Htoo Foundation, run by Burmese tycoon Tay Za, has also pledged to aid the search but reported that snowy weather conditions on Thursday obstructed the view of aerial rescue teams. Eight climbers set out on Hkakabo Razi on July 31, with a goal to reach the ice-capped peak in about two months. However, only two climbers—Aung Myint Myat and Wai Yan Min Thu—were able to continue to the top because the final stretch of the summit was too narrow. The two men sent a message to the others when they reached the peak, becoming the first Burmese climbers to do so. Giving their GPS location, they said they had put a flag in the ground and sang a national song, according to Kyaw Naing, a member of the Thabawa Khawthan Association (Natural Call), which organized the expedition. They were supposed to meet the others at base camp on Monday but lost contact on their way back down the mountain and did not turn up. "They knew that two people were missing when only six reached the point," Kyaw Naing told The Irrawaddy. He added that a rescue team from China with expert climbers would assist with the search. "The Chinese team arrived in Rangoon today. We will send them to Putao," he said. The Burma Army has also sent a helicopter over the mountain to drop food packages, according to Tun Ngwe. Hkakabo Razi was long considered to be the tallest mountain not only in Burma, but in Southeast Asia. Recently, however, there has been some debate after satellite and digital data revealed that Gamlang Razi mountain, also in Kachin State, may be taller. The post No Trace of Missing Burmese Climbers as Search Continues appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine.

Singapore Bans Documentary on Political Exiles Posted: 11 Sep 2014 09:50 PM PDT Youth carrying fishing rods pass the Marina Bay overlooking the central business district skyline in Singapore August 21, 2014. (Photo: Reuters) SINGAPORE — Singapore has banned a documentary on political exiles who have lived abroad for decades, saying the film undermines national security, highlighting the wealthy city-state’s uneasiness over public debate on politics. Singapore has poured money into nurturing its arts and creative industries in recent years, but it discourages dissent while steering public opinion, mostly through state-linked media, as furious debates on topics from immigration to gay rights play out on social media. Filmmaker Tan Pin Pin, director and producer of "To Singapore, With Love", said she was very disappointed with the decision by the regulator, the Media Development Authority (MDA). "By doing this, MDA is taking away an opportunity for us Singaporeans (to) see it and to have a conversation about it, and our past, that this film could have started or contributed to," Tan said in a posting on the film’s Facebook page. The 70-minute film features interviews with nine Singaporeans who left the city-state between the 1960s and 1980s to escape possible prosecution by British colonial authorities and later, by the Singapore government, the film’s website says. The film has been screened in several countries and has won awards at a few film festivals. The MDA described as "distorted and untruthful" the exiles’ accounts of how they left Singapore and have since stayed away. It said some of those interviewed whitewashed their histories by omitting criminal offences for which they are still liable to face prosecution. "The contents of the film undermine national security because legitimate actions of the security agencies to protect the national security and stability of Singapore are presented in a distorted way as acts that victimized innocent individuals," the agency said in a statement. Some Singaporeans have grown irritated by the government’s approach to policing the media. "It’s time MDA stops babysitting us," wrote Facebook user Julie Jam. "Singapore may be 50 years old, but MDA still thinks we are toddlers. Let us grow up and make our own choices." Last month, Singapore scrapped a proposal for a self-regulation scheme for arts groups after objections from the groups, which feared the plan would lead to self-censorship. A plan to screen the film at the National University of Singapore in late September has been cancelled. A screening will take place next week in Johor Bahru, a Malaysian city that borders Singapore. The post Singapore Bans Documentary on Political Exiles appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine.

Asia Arms Up to Counter Growing Chinese Might Posted: 11 Sep 2014 09:46 PM PDT Members of People’s Liberation Army (PLA) coastal defense force shout as they practice during a drill to mark the upcoming 87th Army Day at a military base in Qingdao, Shandong province, on July 29, 2014. (Photo: Reuters) BEIJING — Vietnam has nearly doubled its military spending, Japan is requesting its biggest-ever defense budget and the Philippines is rushing to piece together a viable navy. Several Asian nations are arming up, their wary eyes fixed squarely on one country: a resurgent China that's boldly asserting its territorial claims all along the East Asian coast. The scramble to spend more defense dollars comes amid spats with China over contested reefs and waters. Other Asian countries such as India and South Korea are quickly modernizing their forces, although their disputes with China have stayed largely at the diplomatic level. Asian countries now account for about half of the world's arms imports, with China leading the way by quadrupling its annual military budget over the past decade. The growth in military spending has largely kept pace with economic expansion, although it's been pulling ahead in China, Vietnam and several other countries this year. China's goal is to dislodge the United States as the dominant power in the Pacific, said Robert D. Kaplan, chief geopolitical analyst for the US-based intelligence research firm Stratfor. Among the stakes are vital shipping lanes in the South China Sea and potentially lucrative pockets of oil and natural gas under East Asian waters. "The Chinese bet is that it can increase its military capacity in the South and East China seas faster than Vietnam and the Philippines can do so," Kaplan said. "If China is able to move freely and exercise more control of its adjacent seas, it will become a full-fledged naval power." Beijing hasn't yet caught up to the United States, which, at $665 billion a year, spends more on its military than the next eight countries combined and triple that of China, according to the Stockholm International Peace Institute, a think tank. Still, China's spending nearly equals the total defense budgets of all 24 other countries in East and South Asia. Drawing the most attention is China's submarine fleet, which is projected to match US numbers by 2020, at 78 vessels each. Many of the Chinese submarines will be stationed at a giant underwater base on Hainan island, which juts into the South China Sea. China's moves have spurred a submarine shopping spree across Asia. This year, Vietnam received the third of six submarines it ordered from Russia plus maritime patrol aircraft capable of hunting down Chinese subs. Russia is the top military exporter to Asia, followed by the United States and then European countries such as the Netherlands. Over the summer, Vietnamese and Chinese ships rammed each other repeatedly after China moved an oil rig into waters claimed by both countries. Vietnam's military spending expanded by 83 percent over the past five years, making up 8 percent of government spending. Similarly, Japan is replacing its entire fleet with more modern submarines, South Korea is adding bigger attack submarines and India plans to build six new subs. "Submarines are seen as a potential for an underdog to cope with a large adversary," said Siemon Wezeman, a senior researcher at the Stockholm institute. "They can move silently and deny aerial or maritime control." Compared to Vietnam and Japan, the Philippines is lagging behind. After helplessly watching China build atop reefs in the Spratly Islands, which both countries claim, the Philippines welcomed US troops back to its bases after 20 years away. And it plans to boost spending on maritime patrol aircraft, bombers and other hardware. "The Philippines is doing a lot of work to invest in military modernization," said Jon Grevatt, Asia Pacific defense analyst at the research group IHS Jane's. "For many years its economy has been growing and for many years it hasn't been able to respond to these requirements." India, which has territorial disputes with both China and Pakistan, has bought so many tanks and jet fighters that it's become the biggest arms importer in the world. India has opened a 100,000-person-strong mountain corps near disputed stretches of its border with China. Asked by The Associated Press about the regional arms buildup, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said Thursday that China's growing military budget was "transparent and serves national defense exclusively." "If you look closely at the details of the events that happened in the East China Sea and South China Sea over the past two years, you will find that it was not China but the countries you mentioned that created tensions and took provocative actions," Hua said. "We have had to take measures necessary to defend our national sovereignty." She added, "We hope the relevant countries can look at China's growth with a normal mindset, work with China to develop bilateral relations and preserve peace and stability in Asia." Despite the focus on marquee hardware, much of the action so far has involved Coast Guard ships that can easily jockey for control of disputed islands and fishing waters. In June, Japan agreed to donate six Coast Guard vessels to Vietnam, after pledging 10 to the Philippines last year. On its own, Vietnam has nearly doubled its Coast Guard fleet to 68 vessels over the past five years, according to the UK-based International Institute for Strategic Studies. And Japan has expanded its main Coast Guard fleet by 41 vessels, for a total of 389 ships. Japan has used such vessels over the past two years to defend its claims to several uninhabited islands it calls the Senkakus, which the Chinese claim as the Diaoyus. "Given that all the countries are trying to avoid outright military conflagration, they've been keeping things at the level of paramilitary forces," said Sam Perlo-Freeman, head of the military expenditure program at the Stockholm institute. "They're trying to establish some sort of armed presence without ramping things up to a much more dangerous level." Japan, however, appears to be preparing itself for possible escalation. Last month, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's government requested his country's biggest-ever military budget—$48 billion—with outlays for P-1 surveillance aircraft, stealth fighters and other U.S.-built hardware. In July, Abe's Cabinet approved a reinterpretation of the country's constitution allowing it to defend American and other foreign troops under attack. Earlier this month, Japan and India pledged to share defense technologies and hold joint military exercises. "If China is being more bellicose, it's because they see winds of opportunity," said Bernard Loo Fook Weng, a military studies expert at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies in Singapore. "This may all step toward a more violent situation." The post Asia Arms Up to Counter Growing Chinese Might appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine.

Thai Junta Tells Rights Group to ‘Get Its Facts Straight’ Posted: 11 Sep 2014 09:36 PM PDT Police officers escort a man who is suspected of being involved in bloody clashes in 2010 between the army and red-shirted protesters, at the headquarters of the Royal Thai Police in Bangkok September 11, 2014. (Photo: Reuters) BANGKOK — Thailand's ruling junta urged Amnesty International to "get its facts straight" after the human rights group issued a scathing appraisal of 100 days under military rule. The military had created a "climate of fear" since seizing power on May 22, with hundreds of arbitrary detentions, alleged abuse in military custody and sweeping restrictions on freedom of expression and assembly, Amnesty said in a report released on Thursday. "Thai authorities should end this disturbing pattern of repression, end human rights violations, respect its international human rights obligations and allow open debate and discussion—all of which are vital to the country's future," said Richard Bennett, Amnesty's Asia-Pacific director. A spokesman for the junta, formally called the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO), defended its detention policy and denied harming anybody. "These people have been involved with many cases that have caused unrest in the country," Colonel Winthai Suvaree told Reuters. "We have never violated people with opposing political views. There has been no physical violence or threats." A ban on gatherings would remain in force "until the political climate improves," Winthai said. In its report, called "Attitude Adjustment: 100 days under Martial Law," Amnesty said the NCPO had cracked down on even mild dissent since toppling the government of Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra after more than six months of street protests. After the coup, hundreds of politicians, academics, journalists and activists were held at military facilities. Most were released within seven days—the maximum allowed under martial law, which is still in place nationwide—but others were detained for longer. One of those detained was activist Kritsuda Khunasen, who said she was beaten by soldiers and hooded with a plastic bag until she blacked out. The NCPO called her assertions "100 percent fabricated." Kritsuda was released without charge and later left the country. On Thursday, police said they had arrested five suspected gunmen, dubbed "men in black," who clashed with soldiers on April 10, 2010, during protests by supporters of Yingluck's brother, Thaksin Shinawatra, a former premier who was himself toppled by the military in 2006. Dozens of people were killed and hundreds injured during protests in 2010, most of them supporters of Thaksin who were trying to bring down a government led by a pro-establishment party opposed to the populist Thaksin. The mysterious "men in black" were believed to have been militant supporters of Thaksin. Documents found at Kritsuda's home linked her to all five suspects, said Police-General Somyot Poompanmoung, the deputy national police chief. "We found clear evidence that Kritsuda was the one who transferred money to these people," he said. Amnesty International also expressed concern about 60 people who faced trials in military courts, with no right of appeal, "for peacefully exercising their human rights." Martial law would be lifted "soon" in parts of Thailand, starting with tourist destinations and other areas of economic importance, NCPO spokesman Winthai said. The post Thai Junta Tells Rights Group to 'Get Its Facts Straight' appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine.

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