The Irrawaddy Magazine

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• Senior NLD Member Denies Report of Party Support for Shwe Mann Presidency
• MPs Voice Doubts Over Burma’s Anti-Corruption Commission
• Mangrove Planting Now an ‘Illegal Protest,’ Court Rules
• Three Charged Under Protest Law for Pathein Peace Day March
• With Suu Kyi Blocked, NLD Could Support Shwe Mann for President
• Chin Tsong Palace to Get Heritage Status
• US National Security Advisor Highlights Growing Economic Ties With ASEAN
• Courting Vietnam, US Prepares to Ease Arms Embargo
• New Laos Web Decree Bans Criticism of Govt Policy: Media
• India Succeeds Putting Spacecraft in Martian Orbit

Senior NLD Member Denies Report of Party Support for Shwe Mann Presidency Posted: 24 Sep 2014 05:46 AM PDT NLD leader Aung San Suu Kyi and USDP chair and Union Parliament Speaker Shwe Mann hold a joint press conference in Naypyidaw in March. (Photo: JPaing / The Irrawaddy) RANGOON — Hantha Myint, a senior member of Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy (NLD), has denied that he told Reuters news agency that the party was considering supporting Union Parliament Speaker Shwe Mann for the presidency after next year's parliamentary elections. "I talked to Reuters on August 26, but I didn't utter a word about U Shwe Mann, or say we would support him," Hantha Myint, NLD Central Executive Committee member, told The Irrawaddy. In a statement released Wednesday afternoon, he confirmed most of the news report but again denied having talked about whether the NLD would support Shwe Mann, the chairman of the ruling Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP), for the presidency. The Reuters article caused somewhat of a stir among the Burmese public, many of whom loathe the ex-generals in the USDP, and the NLD leadership has been quick to dispel the report. Suu Kyi told local media outlets Eleven Media that the NLD member's comments had probably been misinterpreted. "This is not the [Central Executive Committee]'s decision, I don't think they would say something like that. You better ask them about it," she told Eleven Media. In the article, which appeared on Wednesday morning, Hantha Myint and party spokesman Nyan Win discuss the political implications of the Constitution's Article 59 (f), which bans Suu Kyi from becoming president because her sons are British citizens. The NLD has been campaigning for months for changes to the military-drafted 2008 charter, which grants the army political powers such as control over a quarter of Parliament, but it appears unlikely that it will be amended in Suu Kyi's favor before 2015. Article 59 (f) has created a dilemma for the NLD. The wildly popular Suu Kyi is the party's undisputed leader and no one in the party's aging leadership has been able to step out of her shadow and take on a number two position in order to potentially fill the presidency. Even after a large election victory, the NLD would also have to deal with the USDP, the military MPs and other parties in seeking a suitable presidential candidate as Parliament elects Burma's president. Reuters quotes Hantha Myint as saying, "We believe there is no number two position in our party." He then goes on to discuss who could be suited for the presidency after an NLD victory. "He doesn’t have to be NLD, but he must think like us," Hantha Myint said of a presidential candidate. Nyan Win reportedly told Reuters that Shwe Mann could be a candidate as he maintains good relations with Suu Kyi. "She is the most popular person in the party. She favors him," he is quoted as saying, before acknowledging that NLD support for the ex-general and No. 3 of Burma's former junta would be deeply unpopular among the NLD rank and file and the wider public. Suu Kyi and Shwe Mann have publicly spoken of having a good working relationship. The speaker has often appeared more pragmatic and flexible than his party and has said that he would like to become president Nyan Win was not available for comments but Kyi Toe, the party's central information deputy officer, told The Irrawaddy that he spoke to Nyan Win about his quoted comments. "I personally asked U Nyan Win for clarification right after the news broke. He recounted that [Reuters reporter] Paul Mooney asked him: 'Does the NLD support Shwe Mann?' And he replied: 'That's a totally unsuitable question to ask.'" Yan Myo Thein, a Rangoon-based political commentator, said that, despite the denials of the NLD members, the article raised an important question for the party, as it will have to inform the public about its plans for the presidency if it wins the 2015 elections. "If the NLD really wants to do it [support Shwe Mann for president] they need to publicly disclose it before the elections. If not, people will feel they have been betrayed," he said. The post Senior NLD Member Denies Report of Party Support for Shwe Mann Presidency appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine.

MPs Voice Doubts Over Burma’s Anti-Corruption Commission Posted: 24 Sep 2014 04:26 AM PDT A view of Burma’s Parliament in Naypyidaw. (Photo: JPaing / The Irrawaddy) Burmese lawmakers have questioned the capability of the country's anti-corruption commission, which on Tuesday said it had dealt with only three cases out of more than 530 complaints received since it was formed in February this year. MPs in Burma's Lower House of Parliament quizzed anti-corruption commission chairman Mya Win and Deputy Minister of Home Affairs Brig-Gen Kyaw Kyaw Tun on the commission's work and how it was tackling graft complaints. The deputy minister said that since its formation, the commission was working through all complaints and drafting bylaws, which were being reviewed by the Attorney General's Office, according to Nang Wah Nu, an ethnic Shan lawmaker representing the Shan Nationalities Development Party (SNDP). Mya Win told MPs that 533 complaints were received in more than five months from March 10 to August 21, but that the commission had taken legal action on only three cases. Nang Wah Nu said it was clear that the commission had not come to grips with the scope of its purview. "The commission could not work on their own, they just accept the complaints and then refer them to the respective ministries, departments and state/regional governments," she said. The complaints mostly involved the government's maladministration (238 cases), followed by land issues (170), legal and judicial issues (95) and general issues (30). The three complaints on which action was taken involved two judicial cases, one in Rangoon and another in Homlin Township, Sagaing Division, and one case in Thaton Township, Mon State. The commission maintained that 160 complaints lacked evidence, but Nang Wah Nu stressed that these complaints also warranted attention. "Not all corruption cases will be based on money. There could be many forms [of corrupt practices], including prejudice or misusing power." The commission should also ease the stipulation that complainants provide identification, said the Shan MP. Despite the commission insisting that identity information would be kept confidential, the necessity to show an identity card may dissuade complainants from revealing significant corruption cases to the commission, she added. Myo Yan Naung Thein, the National League for Democracy's lead researcher, said that as long as the commission operated under the influence of the government, its progress would be slow or ineffective. He said that the government-affiliated commission should be restructured to tackle deeply-rooted corruption at both the departmental level and in the higher administration. Nang Wah Nu also doubted the commission's independence. "How much would they [the commission] freely work on issues without interference of the executive branch?" she asked. The post MPs Voice Doubts Over Burma's Anti-Corruption Commission appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine.

Mangrove Planting Now an ‘Illegal Protest,’ Court Rules Posted: 24 Sep 2014 03:00 AM PDT A handcuffed Htun Htun Oo, center, raises his arms outside the Dedaye Township Courthouse after his sentencing on Tuesday. (Photo: Sein Than) PATHEIN, Irrawaddy Division — Human rights activist Htun Htun Oo and three locals were handed prison sentences by a court in Irrawaddy Division on Tuesday, convicted of violating Burma's controversial protest law after a group of environmentally concerned residents planted mangroves in Dedaye Township, which has suffered large-scale coastal erosion in recent years. Htun Htun Oo from the Human Rights Watch and Defense Network (HRWDN) was sentenced to six months in prison by Judge Ye Htut Kaung on three separate charges of violating Burma's Peaceful Assembly and Procession Law, in connection with his environmental activities in the delta region. He was charged with two months in prison for each of the trio of offenses, which consisted of rallying support for growing mangroves, the unpermitted planting of mangroves, and staging a solo demonstration against Article 18 of the Peaceful Assembly Law. Of the other defendants, Cho Lwin and Khin Shwe were handed four months' imprisonment and Myint Lwin received a two-month sentence. "The judge didn't ask the defendants if they pled guilty or not. The judge read out the defense submitted by U Htun Htun Oo at the previous trial and gave him two months' imprisonment for each Article 18 charge," Dedaye local Aung Kyaw San told The Irrawaddy. Article 18 of the Peaceful Assembly Law requires that would-be demonstrators receive permission from local authorities prior to staging the activity. "U Htun Htun Oo shouted 'Is this democracy?' as he was brought by the police [to prison]," Aung Kyaw San added. Htun Htun Oo gave talks in March in Dedaye calling for a mangrove growing campaign to mitigate environmental degradation, for which he was later charged with Article 18 along with Cho Lwin, Khin Shwe and Myint Lwin by police chief Naing Mon Tun from the township's Kyonedat village. In May, Htun Htun Oo led locals to plant more than 90,000 mangroves in a pasture in Dedaye. For this, he was charged under Article 18 for a second time, again along with Cho Lwin and Khin Shwe. "U Htun Htun Oo gave talks on the need for growing of mangroves in our region and led locals to grow mangrove trees," said Soe Soe from the village of Tawkani-Nyaungleingon in the township. "We joined hands to grow mangroves as we began to realize their value. We reported to the Irrawaddy Division chief minister that we would grow mangroves. He allowed us to do so and said that his government would also do so. It is totally unfair that [the defendants] were given prison sentences on charges of Article 18," she said. Dedaye Township police handed the four activists over to the Pyapon jail, where they are to serve out their sentences. Htun Htun Oo was also charged by Dedaye Township's forestry department with damaging public property for the alleged pasturing of water buffaloes in mangrove forests collaboratively grown by government departments. He is due to face a separate trial on that charge at the Dedaye Township Court on Friday. Article 18 of the Peaceful Assembly Law was enacted by the government of President Thein Sein in December 2011. Since then, dozens of people have been handed prison sentences under Article 18 and many more are awaiting trial. Amendments this year intended to soften the law and ease restrictive provisions have failed to curb the arrest of demonstrators across the country. Dedaye Township, which suffers from severe erosion, is made up of 46 villages along a coastal area with a population of more than 40,000 people. The post Mangrove Planting Now an 'Illegal Protest,' Court Rules appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine.

Three Charged Under Protest Law for Pathein Peace Day March Posted: 24 Sep 2014 01:02 AM PDT Hundreds of women attend the Women's Peace March in Kandawgyi Lake Park on Sunday to celebrate World Peace Day. (Photo: Steve Tickner / The Irrawaddy) RANGOON — Three activists in Irrawaddy Division's Pathein Township have been charged under Article 18 of Burma's controversial protest law after organizing an International Peace Day event in the delta town. Around 150 people joined the demonstration, which was organized by the Ayeyarwady Youth Network on Sunday in Pathein, with participants marching through streets, singing songs and distributing pamphlets to mark International Peace Day. On Monday, however, police in Pathein opened a case against the three activists, alleging a violation of the Peaceful Assembly Law's Article 18. Bo Bo from Myaungmya Township, Tin Htun Khaing from Pathein Township and Nan Aye Aye Khaing from Labutta Township have been charged under the controversial law, which requires anyone seeking to hold a public protest or demonstration to receive permission from local authorities in advance of the event. "We held it for peace and to express that we, the public, don't want war and we want peace," Bo Bo told The Irrawaddy, of the activists' motivations. Nan Aye Aye Khaing said the organizers did not expect that they would be charged for holding the International Peace Day event, which is marked every year globally on Sept. 21. "We are not protesting. We just want peace," she said. "If we were to try to point out a place where there is peace, in the whole country, we wouldn't be able to point to anywhere. Not only in places where civil wars are ongoing but also in other places with other problems like land-grabbing." The organizers informed officials that they would hold the event on Sunday in compliance with the protest law's prior notification provision, Nan Aye Aye Khaing said, adding that the authorities had indicated that the activists were free to proceed with the planned demonstration. "We submitted notification to the Ministry of Social Welfare, Pathein City Development Committee and the police station in Pathein. We didn't ask for permission because we heard that the government was officially allowing International Peace Day events," she said. Asked by The Irrawaddy, the police station in Pathein refused to explain why authorities there had charged the three peace marchers. Peace rallies were also held at several sites in Rangoon on Sunday, with hundreds of people joining in calls for an end to conflict in Burma. The demonstration in Pathein is the latest case of activists running afoul of a law that was amended this year, ostensibly to encourage greater freedom of expression, but which continues to be used to jail protesters across Burma. If found guilty, the defendants could face up to six months in prison and 30,000 kyats (US$30) in fines. The post Three Charged Under Protest Law for Pathein Peace Day March appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine.

With Suu Kyi Blocked, NLD Could Support Shwe Mann for President Posted: 23 Sep 2014 11:18 PM PDT Aung San Suu Kyi addresses a crowd of supporters in Mandalay in May. (Photo: Teza Hlaing / The Irrawaddy) RANGOON — Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy (NLD) will go into next year’s parliamentary election in Burma with no candidate for president and might even support a former general from the pro-military ruling party, NLD officials said. Nobel Peace Prize winner Suu Kyi, 69, is barred by the Constitution from becoming president and is apparently unwilling to give her blessing to an alternative candidate from within her own party. One senior member of Suu Kyi’s party said it might give its backing for Shwe Mann, speaker of parliament and chairman of the ruling Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP), to be put forward for the presidency. The USDP is made up of former military officers. But that would risk angering many rank-and-file NLD members, including many who were imprisoned by the military. It could risk undermining support for the country’s most popular party and its leader. "We believe there is no number two position in our party," Han Tha Myint, a member of the NLD’s executive committee, told Reuters when asked why the party would not put up its own candidate. "No one is second to Aung San Suu Kyi." Suu Kyi, who spent nearly two decades under house arrest for her efforts to promote democracy, is ineligible for the presidency under the Constitution, drafted during military rule, which bars candidates with a foreign child or spouse. Her late husband was British, as are her two sons. Next year’s parliamentary elections will be the first since President Thein Sein embarked on landmark reforms in 2011, dismantling the control of the military which had ruled since seizing power in a 1962 coup. It will also be the first general election the NLD has contested since it swept a 1990 vote that the military ignored. The party boycotted a 2010 election held under military rule when Suu Kyi was under house arrest. Under Burma’s political system, Parliament chooses the president. With a quarter of lower house seats filled by military men, the military-backed USDP is bound to be a force to reckon with no matter how well Suu Kyi’s party does. The NLD, if it does not put up its own candidate, could decide to use its votes in bargaining with the USDP, rather than risk putting up a candidate of its own who could well be defeated by the combined votes of USDP and the military bloc. Shwe Mann and Suu Kyi have cooperated in Parliament and seem to have established good relations. The former general is seen as more pragmatic than some of his senior party colleagues and even hinted he might support amending the Constitution to allow Suu Kyi to be a candidate for president. "She’s the most popular person in the party. She favors him," said Nyan Win, an NLD executive committee member. 'Think Like Us' The NLD collected 5 million signatures around the country to press the ruling party to revise the Constitution to remove the military’s veto over changes to the Constitution, including the clause that prevents Suu Kyi, the daughter of the country’s independence hero, Gen. Aung San, from becoming president. But there appears to be little hope that the ruling party, which is supported by the military, will allow an amendment to a Constitution that gives the military veto powers. That means Suu Kyi would appear to have no chance of being a candidate for president in 2015. She won a seat in parliament in a 2012 by-election. Han Tha Myint said instead of putting its own candidate up for president, the NLD would support a non-NLD candidate who shared the party’s views. "He doesn’t have to be NLD, but he must think like us," Han Tha Myint said. "The important thing is that there is someone we can accept as president. For us, that’s enough." The decision not to field its own candidate is an indication that the party lacks any other suitable figure apart from its leader, who has always maintained a strong hold over the party. NLD executive committee member Nyan Win conceded that backing Shwe Mann would be controversial for the NLD, which was formed to oppose military rule. Many party members were imprisoned by the military and Nyan Win said there was still widespread opposition in the NLD to rule by former army officers. "If we choose Shwe Mann as president, many problems could arise for the party," he said. "Many of our party members and citizens don’t like a situation where army men are governing the country." But he said Shwe Mann may be the most viable candidate for the NLD to support. The post With Suu Kyi Blocked, NLD Could Support Shwe Mann for President appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine.

Chin Tsong Palace to Get Heritage Status Posted: 23 Sep 2014 09:46 PM PDT The five-storey Chin Tsong Palace on a recent sunny Rangoon day. (Photo: Steve Tickner / The Irrawaddy) Burma's Ministry of Culture will grant Chin Tsong Palace heritage status and renovate the building as it approaches its 100th anniversary, Kyaw Nyunt, director of Rangoon Division's Archaeology, National Museum and Library Department, told The Irrawaddy. Located on Kaba Aye Pagoda Road in Rangoon, the palace, widely known as 'Kanbawza Yeiktha,' was built during the colonial period and is a blend of Eastern and Western architectural designs. "The building is architecturally fascinating and built strong," said Kyaw Nyunt. "As it has started to show signs of decay, we have decided to maintain it for its durability." The magnificent five-storey building was constructed by Chinese businessman Lim Chin Tsong between 1915 and 1919 at a cost of around 2 million rupees. Lim Chin Tsong’s father migrated to Burma from China in 1861 and began trading in rice. After graduating from Rangoon College, Lim inherited his father's business after he died in 1888. He greatly expanded the business, branching into rubber cultivation, textiles and the oil, mineral mining and banking sectors. He became a regional agent for Burmah Oil Company in 1891 and later a member of parliament and the owner of Rangoon Turf Club. In 1919, he was awarded the Order of the British Empire for his work fund raising during World War I. Chin Tsong Palace in 1945 Lim Chin Tsong's business was adversely affected when the British government banned rice exports following a rise in rice prices in 1921. Lim died suddenly of a heart attack two years later and his family was forced to leave the palace the following year due to outstanding debts. Under Japanese rule in 1941-45, Chin Tsong Palace housed the All Burma Broadcasting Station. The palace was transformed into a hotel after World War II and its name was changed to Kanbawza Yeiktha in 1951. Currently, the Fine Arts Department under the Ministry of Culture maintains an office and an arts school within the building. "It is good that the Archeology, National Museum and Library Department will take responsibility to maintain the building," said Yan Naing Oo, director-general of the Fine Arts Department. "It is difficult for us to maintain the building as it has many floors. Besides, we have to get it repaired annually as Rangoon usually receives high rainfall," he said. The post Chin Tsong Palace to Get Heritage Status appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine.

US National Security Advisor Highlights Growing Economic Ties With ASEAN Posted: 24 Sep 2014 01:46 AM PDT US National Security Advisor Susan Rice listens during a meeting in Beijing, China, on Sept. 9. (Credit: REUTERS/Ng Han Guan/Pool) The United States' top security advisor said on Monday that Southeast Asian markets were critical to US prosperity and affirmed her country's commitment to boosting trade and investment ties with the region. In a speech at the Brookings Institution in Washington DC, the United States' National Security Advisor Susan Rice emphasized growing economic and security cooperation in the region. She noted that countries such as Burma represented important new commercial opportunities and stressed that the US would seek to promote broad-based, sustainable growth in the region, so that prosperity was "shared among citizens at every level of society." The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) is the fourth largest trading partner for the US and attracts more US investment than any other single country in Asia, Rice said. Rice's remarks came shortly before a high-profile business and investment forum on Burma was due to begin in New York on Sept. 24. Government representatives from Burma and the United States, as well as some 200 high-ranking executives from national and multinational firms, will attend the forum to discuss Burma's economic reforms and investment opportunities. Rice also spoke of the United States' commitment to work with governments and institutions in the region to strengthen democracy and human rights. In this context, she said that despite "hopeful steps" in Burma, significant challenges remained. The US would, "continue to work with the [Burmese] government and people as they pursue their democratic transition," Rice said. Despite the prospect of burgeoning US-Burma economic ties, according to Burma's Directorate of Investment and Company Administration, US investment in the country has remained relatively minimal, at US$243 million since sanctions were eased in 2012. In November, US President Barack Obama will travel to Burma to attend the East Asia Summit in Naypyidaw. Burma is hosting the summit in its capacity as chair of ASEAN in 2014. The post US National Security Advisor Highlights Growing Economic Ties With ASEAN appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine.

Courting Vietnam, US Prepares to Ease Arms Embargo Posted: 23 Sep 2014 11:13 PM PDT Local residents ride a fishing boat past navy search and rescue ships before the ships depart for the search area for a missing Malaysia Airlines plane, at a port on Vietnam's Phu Quoc Island on March 9, 2014. (Photo: Reuters / Nguyen Phuong Linh) WASHINGTON — Nearly 40 years after the United States helicoptered its last soldiers out of Vietnam in an ignominious retreat, Washington is moving closer to lifting an arms embargo on its former enemy, with initial sales likely to help Hanoi deal with growing naval challenges from China. Senior U.S. officials with knowledge of the initiative said Washington wants to support Vietnam by strengthening its ability to monitor and defend its coastline, and said unarmed P-3 surveillance planes could be one of the first sales. Such aircraft would also allow Vietnam to keep track of China’s increasingly assertive activities in the South China Sea, a potential flash point because of interlocking claims from many countries to its islands and reefs. Two senior Obama administration officials said discussions on easing the embargo are taking place in Washington and could result in a decision later this year. "The mood is changing, and it is something we’re looking at seriously," said one of the officials, speaking on condition of anonymity. "What we have found is a partner in which our interests are converging." Interest in warmer ties with Vietnam, despite U.S. concerns about its human rights record, aligns with President Barack Obama’s strategy to refocus economic, political and military attention toward Asia. The move to lift the embargo follows a gradual resumption of links between the United States and Vietnam over two decades, which accelerated with a series of high-level diplomatic and military meetings in recent months. Two senior executives in the U.S. weapons industry told Reuters they expected the U.S. government to lift the arms ban soon. "There is a lot of discussion about allowing weapons sales to Vietnam. It is a promising area for us," said one of the executives, who was not authorized to speak publicly. Vietnam’s Foreign Ministry had no immediate comment. Caught Off Guard Vietnam’s vulnerability to China was exposed in early May when Beijing positioned a massive oil rig in waters that Hanoi claims as part of its 200-nautical-mile exclusive economic zone. While Vietnam has embarked on a multi-billion-dollar military modernization program, its surveillance capabilities are limited, and the unannounced deployment of the drilling platform caught Hanoi by surprise. China moved the rig back toward its coast in mid-July. The two sides clashed at sea in 1988 when China occupied its first holdings in the Spratly Islands in the South China Sea. China took full control of another South China Sea archipelago, the Paracels, after a naval showdown with what was South Vietnam in 1974. The Philippines, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan also have claims in the South China Sea. China has a separate maritime dispute with Japan over islands in the East China Sea. U.S. Senator John McCain, a former prisoner of war in Vietnam who led the charge to normalize ties with Vietnam in the early 1990s, said he would shortly present a bipartisan proposal to lift some of the restrictions on arms sales. McCain was one of four U.S. senators to meet the Hanoi leadership and discuss the arms embargo this summer at a time when Sino-Vietnamese ties were at their lowest ebb in decades. In August, six days after the senators’ visit, General Martin Dempsey, chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, made the first trip to Vietnam by America’s top soldier since 1971. Vietnam People’s Navy Commander-in-Chief Admiral Nguyen Van Hien traveled to the United States last week and discussed joint naval exercises with Navy Secretary Ray Mabus. Vietnam’s foreign minister, Pham Binh Minh, will visit Washington in early October for talks with Secretary of State John Kerry, and U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel is expected to go to Vietnam before the end of the year. Vietnam is unlikely to stray too far into the U.S. orbit. Soon after the meetings with U.S. civilian and military officials, Hanoi sent a Politburo heavyweight to Beijing to try to repair damaged ties between the communist neighbors. "Vietnam understands China is forever at its doorstep and wants to have an independent foreign policy," said Phuong Nguyen, a research associate at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington. Daniel Russel, the U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for East Asia and the Pacific, warned against overstating the rapprochement between the United States and Vietnam. "I don’t believe that Vietnam is looking to swap out the long-term party-to-party relationship that it has enjoyed with Beijing, albeit punctuated with some pretty violent wars, for an exclusive relationship or an alliance with the United States," Russel told Reuters. Strategic Location Russel said Vietnam’s strategic location was a good reason to work more closely with Hanoi, adding that easing the embargo would be "not a bad thing." "We are open to – and consider it in our interests to – help countries like Vietnam develop their maritime domain awareness as well as their maritime capacities, and hopefully there will be more to come," he said. Vietnam is already a big buyer of weapons from Russia, its Cold War-era patron. It has two state-of-the-art Kilo-class submarines and will get a third in November under a $2.6 billion deal agreed with Moscow in 2009. Three more submarines are to be delivered in the next two years. Vietnam has also bought modern naval frigates and corvettes, mostly from Russia. But the P-3 surveillance planes would fill a gap for Vietnam. There are 435 of the Lockheed Martin-made P-3s in service worldwide, operated by 21 governments, according to Lockheed’s website. The U.S. Navy is replacing its P-3 aircraft with more advanced P-8 surveillance planes built by Boeing Co. One Lockheed executive was quoted in April 2013 by IHS Janes, a trade publication, as saying Vietnam could request six P-3s, and that there appeared to be growing support in the U.S. government for approving the request. Lockheed officials declined comment on the issue to Reuters, since such weapons sales are handled by the governments involved. The State Department declined to say whether Vietnam had submitted a formal "letter of request" for the aircraft. One source familiar with the issue said officials were still working through the decisions before such a request would be submitted. U.S. government officials view sales of maritime surveillance equipment as a good start for the new chapter in U.S.-Vietnamese relations and see P-3 aircraft as a "logical choice," one source said. The post Courting Vietnam, US Prepares to Ease Arms Embargo appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine.

New Laos Web Decree Bans Criticism of Govt Policy: Media Posted: 23 Sep 2014 11:07 PM PDT Laos' President Choummaly Sayasone is seen during a meeting with Vietnam's Communist Party at the Party's head office in Hanoi in 2012. (Photo: Reuters) Communist Laos has issued a decree outlawing online criticism of policies of the ruling party or government, state media reported, the latest Southeast Asian country to enact strict Internet controls. According to legislation approved by Prime Minister Thongsing Thammavong last week, web users will face criminal action for spreading "false" information aimed at discrediting the government, the official KPL news agency said. It added users must also use their real names when setting up social media accounts. Internet service providers could face action for making "available conditions" for any individual or group that had intentions of "tarnishing the party and government's guidelines and policy," KPL said. The decree comes as cellphone and Internet usage climbs in tandem with economic growth, a reduced poverty rate and greater electricity access in the country of 6.4 million people. The new laws bear similarities to those of its Communist neighbor Vietnam, which commands strong influence over Laos and has a near identical political system. Vietnam announced a cyber-decree last year that drew condemnation from a coalition of Internet firms, among them eBay, Facebook, Google and Yahoo. Vietnam has taken a tough stand on government critics, jailing dozens of bloggers and activists for spreading "anti-state propaganda" on the Internet in what rights groups say are fear tactics aimed at discouraging dissent. Thailand has closed hundreds of thousands of websites and jailed people who have used the Internet to post critical comments about its monarchy under its 2007 Computer Crimes Act. The Lao decree bans "disseminating or circulating untrue information for negative purposes against the Lao People's Revolutionary Party and the Lao government, undermining peace, independence, sovereignty, unity and prosperity of the country," according to KPL. It also banned uploading of pornography or "inappropriate" photographs and said pseudonyms must not be used. Punishments range from warnings to fines and unspecified criminal action. The post New Laos Web Decree Bans Criticism of Govt Policy: Media appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine.

India Succeeds Putting Spacecraft in Martian Orbit Posted: 23 Sep 2014 11:02 PM PDT Indian Space Research Organization scientists and engineers monitor the movements of India's Mars orbiter at their Spacecraft Control Center in the southern Indian city of Bangalore on Nov. 27, 2013. (Photo: Reuters) NEW DELHI — India triumphed in its first interplanetary mission, placing a satellite into orbit around Mars on Wednesday morning and catapulting the country into an elite club of deep-space explorers. Scientists broke into wild cheers as the orbiter's engines completed 24 minutes of burn time to maneuver the spacecraft into its designated place around the red planet. "We have gone beyond the boundaries of human enterprise and innovation," Prime Minister Narendra Modi said, standing alongside scientists with the Indian Space and Research Organization at the command center in the southern tech hub of Bangalore. "We have navigated our craft through a route known to very few," Modi said, congratulating the scientists and "all my fellow Indians on this historic occasion." Scientists described the final stages of the Mars Orbiter Mission, affectionately nicknamed MOM, as flawless. The success marks a milestone for the space program in demonstrating that it can conduct complex missions and act as a global launch pad for commercial, navigational and research satellites. It's also a major feat for the developing country of 1.2 billion people, most of whom are poor. At the same time, India has a robust scientific and technical educational system that has produced millions of software programmers, engineers and doctors, propelling many into the middle class. Getting a spaceship successfully into orbit around Mars is no easy task. More than half the world's previous attempts—23 out of 41 missions—have failed, including one by Japan in 1999. The United States had its first success with a 1964 flyby by a spacecraft called Mariner 4, returning 21 images of the surface of the planet. The former Soviet Union reached the planet in 1971, and the European Space Agency in 2003. The US space agency NASA congratulated India in a Twitter message welcoming MOM to studying the red planet. On Sunday, NASA achieved its own success in placing its Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution mission, or Maven, in position. The United States has two more satellites circling the planet at the moment, as well as two rovers rolling across the rocky Martian surface. The European Space Agency's Mars Express, launched over a decade ago, is still operating as well. India was particularly proud that MOM was developed with homegrown technology and for a bargain price of about US$75 million—a cost that Modi quipped was lower than many Hollywood film budgets. By comparison, NASA's much larger Maven mission cost nearly 10 times as much at $671 million. India's 1,350-kilogram (nearly 3,000-pound) orbiter will now circle the planet for at least six months, with five solar-powered instruments gathering scientific data that may shed light on Martian weather systems as well as what happened to the water that is believed to have existed once on Mars in large quantities. It also will search Mars for methane, a key chemical in life processes on Earth that could also come from geological processes. None of the instruments will send back enough data to answer these questions definitively, but experts say the data will help them better understand how planets form, what conditions might make life possible and where else in the universe it might exist. India wanted the spacecraft—also called Mangalyaan, meaning "Mars craft" in Hindi—to show the world its ability to design, plan, manage and operate a difficult, deep-space mission. India has already conducted dozens of successful satellite launches, including sending up the Chandrayaan-1 lunar orbiter, which discovered key evidence of water on the Moon in 2008. The country's space scientists are already planning new missions, including putting a rover on the Moon. But space agency chief K. Radhakrishnan said their main focus would be to continue developing technologies for commercial and navigational satellite applications. The post India Succeeds Putting Spacecraft in Martian Orbit appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine.

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