| Burma Tax Department Says 2,500 Tax-Evading Firms Named in Error Posted: 14 Mar 2014 05:05 AM PDT  Tin Htun Naing, director of Companies Circle Tax Office, speaks to reporters at a press conference in Rangoon on Tuesday. (Photo: JPaing / The Irrawaddy) RANGOON — The Burma government's tax department has admitted that it mistakenly named nearly 2,500 companies as tax evaders. The Internal Revenue Department (IRD) on March 6 published a list of 10,670 companies that it said had failed to pay taxes for the 2012-13 fiscal year, which ended in March 2013. The list included well known companies like Tay Za's Asia Green Development (AGD) Bank and Serge Pun's Yoma Bank. But the effort to boost the government's poor tax collection led to embarrassment after an apparent clerical error. IRD quickly received complaints from companies wrongly included in the list, and removed the list from its website. On Thursday, it posted a new list including only 8,220 companies. "Over 2,000 companies listed in original list were included because of computer error," Thin Htut Han, IRD's vice director told The Irrawaddy, explaining that the list that was first published had not been properly updated. "The remaining companies will only be removed from the list if they contact to the department and pay their overdue taxes before the end of this month." Among the wrongly identified tax evaders were AGD Bank, Yoma Bank, the Small & Medium Industrial Development Bank, A-1 Garment Company, Korea Development Bank, the Dagon Group of Companies, Ayeyar Hinthar Trading Company and Mahar Shwe Yadanar Myay Company. "It bothered me," said Myint Zaw, managing director of Mahar Shwe Yadanar Myay Company, which imports palm oil to Burma. Myint Zaw said the IRD had quickly responded to the company's complaint about being wrongly named, but said the department's mistake could cause misunderstandings among the company's shareholders and management. "Companies have to pay commercial tax and income tax to IRD. We have never failed to pay taxes every year. IRD should be more careful in future," he said. AGD bank and IRD held a joint press conference in Rangoon on Tuesday to clarify the mistake. Ye Min Oo, AGD Bank's managing director insisted that the bank was a regular taxpayer. "I assume that the media reported about [AGD Bank's inclusion in the list] because they had misunderstood the procedures of banks. Bank procedures are not the same as other companies. All banks are working under the strict discipline of the Central Bank of Myanmar because banks are working with money," Ye Min Oo said, referring to banks' regular reporting requirements. Tin Htun Naing, director of Companies Circle Tax Office, part of the IRD, told reporters that some companies contacted the department and alerted them to their names being on the list incorrectly. "We released the list with the good intention of collecting overdue taxes, but that the list was incorrect was a shock to us all," he said. "We admit our error and apologize for that." The post Burma Tax Department Says 2,500 Tax-Evading Firms Named in Error appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine. |
| Excavation Work at Thai King’s Tomb in Mandalay Hits Snag Posted: 14 Mar 2014 04:44 AM PDT  The excavation site of the historic tomb of former Siamese King Uthumphon at the edge of Taungthaman Lake in Mandalay's Amarapura Township. (Photo: Teza Hlaing / The Irrawaddy) The Mandalay Division Development Committee (MDDC) has directed a team to halt its operations at the ongoing excavation site of a Siamese king's tomb near the city of Mandalay, according to people involved in the project. Mickey Heart, a Thai historian who is leading the excavation team, told The Irrawaddy that he and his colleagues received a notice from the MDDC on Monday, asking that structures around the excavation site of the entombed monarch, King Uthumphon, be dismantled. "The letter only asked for the abolishment of buildings, but the general administrator of Amarapura Township told us to stop our works as well, so it seems that we can't continue this project," he said. The site, on Linzin Hill, is situated on the edge of the famous Taungthaman Lake in Mandalay's Amarapura Township. With permission from the Mandalay regional government, a team comprised of freelance Thai and Burmese history and archaeology enthusiasts, including Heart, began excavation work on the former Thai king's tomb in February 2013. On Feb. 27 of this year, a delegation from the Thai Ministry of Culture traveled to the worksite at Linzin Hill to inspect the excavation efforts. Following the visit, the Thai Ministry of Culture held a press conference in Bangkok, where officials told reporters that the ministry could not support the ongoing research works of the excavation team, saying its approval was pending a crosscheck of the site's historical records with its Burmese counterpart. The MDDC's directive appears to be connected to the Thai ministry's statement. "They [the excavation team] either did not submit specific evidence or consult with responsible bodies, so we took such action to take over the project," an official from the MDDC, who asked to remain anonymous, told The Irrawaddy. He said the Mandalay regional government and the Department of Archaeology, which is under Burma's Ministry of Culture, would jointly take over the excavation work for the time being. Heart, however, told The Irrawaddy that his team would try to find a way to maintain its role in the project. King Uthumphon, who is better known as King Dok Madua or "fig flower" in Siamese history, was the youngest son of King Borommakot (1733-1758) and a minor queen called Phiphit Montri. According to Burmese historical records, King Hsinbyushin (1736-1776), the third king of Burma's Konbaung Dynasty, invaded the ancient Thai capital of Ayutthaya in 1767 and brought as many subjects as he could back to his capital Ava, including Uthumphon. The post Excavation Work at Thai King's Tomb in Mandalay Hits Snag appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine. |
| Burma Needs Policy for Squatters: Ye Htut Posted: 14 Mar 2014 03:45 AM PDT  Police stand guard on Tuesday as squatters' homes in Rangoon's Hlaing Thaya Township are dismantled by municipal authorities. (Photo: Sai Zaw / The Irrawaddy) RANGOON — Amid ongoing mass evictions in Rangoon and surrounding areas, the presidential spokesman has called for a land policy to handle the issue of squatters. An estimated 10 percent of Rangoon's population are illegal tenants, according to the divisional government, but squatting is widespread across Burma. Ye Htut, the presidential spokesman and deputy minister for information, says the country lacks a clear policy to handle the issue. "For eviction cases, the government system seems to be broken down. There is no law enforcement in some areas, even in Naypyidaw," he told The Irrawaddy last week. "I heard that in Thaton, Mon State, a group has settled on a rubber plantation without the owner's permission. Some activists are encouraging them, and soon people may start settling in other people's homes. We will have to handle these cases seriously," he said. Most squatters in Naypyidaw came to the city from other areas for construction projects, he said. After finishing their work, many continue to live illegally in their project areas. "If we create job opportunities in their native towns, they can go back. If they have a regular salary, they can rent or own a house," the presidential spokesman said. He said monks were even guilty of squatting in the capital, after establishing monasteries without the required permit. In 2006 there were fewer than 10 monasteries in Naypyidaw, compared to about 30 monasteries today, he said. "Squatters come from various places, they settle step by step. While we're still considering how to take action, they have already set up their homes, so fast," he said. He added that half of all complaints received at the President's Office over the past year concerned land disputes. However, a majority of these cases involve allegations that the state, the military or businesses seized land from farmers and other civilians. Most squatters in Rangoon and surrounding areas are laborers who survive on daily wages of US$2.50 or less, while some have no regular income. Unable to buy or rent a residence, they become illegal tenants, settling in any free space they can find. About 600,000 people in the city of 6 million are believed to be squatters. According to the Rangoon divisional legislature, about one-fifth of all homes in 44 of 45 townships were inhabited by illegal tenants in 2013. On Jan. 15, more than 4,000 huts built by squatters on the outskirts of Burma's former capital were demolished without explanation by the divisional government. The mass eviction targeted people living in rickety bamboo shacks beneath the Pan Hlaing Bridge, as well as those living in makeshift dwellings along the highway between the townships of Hlaing Tharyar and Twan Tae. Residents received little warning by the police or municipal and township administrators. The divisional government says all squatters' dwellings will be demolished by the end of this month. "The squatters are not from Rangoon Division," a senior official from the divisional government said last month. "They come from various states and regions [divisions]. Rangoon Division cannot accommodate all of them." Forced evictions are expected to occur mainly in Hlaing Tharyar, Shwe Pyi Thar, North Okkalapa, Dagon Seikkan, East Dagon and Insein townships. Ye Htut said that under President Thein Sein's administration, state and divisional officials have the authority to handle land disputes. "Land management is under the regional government. We only talk about policy, while the regional governments can take action," he said. "Under the previous government, some businessmen got vacant land across the country to help jumpstart their businesses, but most have not used that land until now. Union Minister U Soe Thein is reconsidering whether this land should be taken back," he added. He said the central government would need to consider how to enact a clear land policy, and that creating job opportunities for migrant workers would be a priority. Moe Thida, assistance director of planning at the Department of Human Settlement and Housing Development [DHSHD], agreed that it would be necessary to focus on the legal framework. "To solve these eviction cases properly, we need a land policy for them [squatters]. We need to survey the root causes of these cases," she said, adding that depending on the department's previous experience with handling evictions, international assistance might be useful. "The DHSHD is considering these cases as top priority," she said. Burma has enacted a Farmland Law and a Vacant, Fallow and Virgin Lands Management Law, but the country does not have a law that governs evictions of squatters. The post Burma Needs Policy for Squatters: Ye Htut appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine. |
| In Conversation With a Dictator’s Grandson Posted: 14 Mar 2014 03:30 AM PDT  Aye Ne Win sits beneath a portrait of his grandfather, Gen. Ne Win, at his office in Rangoon. (Photo: JPaing/ The Irrawaddy) Aye Ne Win, a grandson of Burma's late dictator Gen. Ne Win, was one of 69 political prisoners released under a presidential pardon in November of last year. He was only 26 years old when he and his two brothers were arrested and charged with high treason in 2002, accused of plotting to overthrow the military regime of the time. Aye Ne Win spent 12 years behind bars until his release under the reformist government of President Thein Sein, and these days the dictator's grandson says he is helping out as he can with the family business interests. In a recent interview with The Irrawaddy's Burmese edition editor Ye Ni, Aye Ne Win discussed his time in prison for treason, the Ne Win family legacy, and Burma's treacherous power politics. Question: You were a member of a top political family and led a privileged life before you were arrested and imprisoned. How did you handle the transition to life behind bars? Answer: I feel very reluctant to talk about being thrown in jail, which is a sad story, because the person who ordered our imprisonment did it intentionally to trouble us. In the end, we had to spend 12 years in prison with even our right to receive visitors being prohibited. However, since we were from a well-known family in Burmese politics, there were times that we were kindly given support, which lessened our suffering and mental wounds. That support came to us because of my grandfather. His influence eased our troubles. Our situation in jail was much better than others who were imprisoned or sent to far-flung parts of the country due to their goodwill activities for the nation, and our troubles were far fewer than they and their families went through. Having a clear conscience—knowing that we were incarcerated without having committed any crime—was a moral encouragement for us when we were serving prison terms. I want to say that I do not have any bitter feelings left in my mind regarding my imprisonment, except for having lost 12 years of my life. Q: The military regime accused you of plotting to overthrow the government. Others say your imprisonment was collateral damage from a power struggle that brought the Ne Win family and its waning political fortunes against the ruling Snr-Gen Than Shwe. What is your take? A: Our grandfather voluntarily gave up his presidential position in 1981. From then on, he had planned to completely resign from politics. However, he continued to lead the party [Burma Socialist Programme Party] only because there were people who asked him not to leave. In 1988, he was physically strong and also incomparable in politics. But he opened up a new path for the country—to choose whether it would continue with a one-party system or a multi-party one. There were those who wanted changes to take place quickly and to contribute to the good of the country and its citizens. They were not only in the opposition forces, among people living abroad and the rebel organizations in the jungle, but also in the Tatmadaw [Burma's armed forces]. Our family believed that our country's situation would be much better if the above reform-minded people joined together to make some sort of change. We were also willing to help them as much as we could by using our family's previous status and influence. As for the other side, since they did not want such changes to occur or because changes we wanted were not the same as what they wanted, they were not satisfied with our efforts. Consequently, we were faced with plans aimed only at destroying us. Q: When you say that there were people in the Tatmadaw who wanted to help carry out reforms, are you referring to [former Military Intelligence chief] Khin Nyunt? Speculation has also linked Maj-Gen Aye Kway, then a divisional commander, and Maj-Gen Myint Swe from the air force, to your treason case—as having had a role in the alleged plot. Is there any truth to this? A: We were charged with high treason and given the death penalty. I am very reluctant to answer the question of whether or not these people were involved because their security would be much affected if I were to say who played what role at the time. The best answer I can give is that people who were punished in relation to the situation at that time were close to our family. There were also others with goodwill in the Tatmadaw who wanted it to take the leading role in making changes to better the country's situation. Some of them may still be serving with major duties in the military, administration or politics, so I don't want to name names or talk about them in detail. Q: In his resignation speech in 1988, Ne Win said, 'When the army shoots, it doesn't shoot into the air, it shoots to hit.' Later that year, the army fired on pro-democracy protestors and thousands were killed. As one of his grandsons, what do you want to say on his behalf at this time of national reconciliation? A: I think he should have said what he did, when he did, because he said that on July 23, 1988. If you look at what had happened prior to that, martial law had been declared for Rangoon and Prome cities due to growing riots there on July 21-22. This kind of practice is common in the world. According to Burma's Manual for Riot Control, which was last amended in 1940, it prevents soldiers from shooting into the air when they enter urban areas because if they do, they may hit people living in tall buildings as well as others in the markets, schools and hospitals. So, what my grandfather said was simply the warning of a national leader who was trying to let people know about the nature of martial law, and trying to avoid casualties due to a lack of knowledge. Q: The story goes that motorcycles were banned in Rangoon after you followed and harassed Vice Snr-Gen Maung Aye's motorcade. Is that true? A: My two brothers and I neither had motorcycles of our own nor had ever ridden them. Also, whether on motorcycles or in other vehicles, we never had anything to do with any motorcade of any state leader. I want to clarify that all of what you have heard is rumors. With regard to Vice Snr-Gen Maung Aye, he is an uncle who we very much love and respect, and there was no problem between our families. Q:How did it feel to have democracy activists, who had been against you, put you on their list of political prisoners whose release they were calling for? A: I want to say this is a situation in which we all can be kind to each other. Some people say that democracy activists are, in theory, in opposition to us. But personally speaking, we do not consider them as our enemy. Our family wished to make changes from the beginning, and those who worked then and later for democracy also aimed at a multi-party system, so I do not see that we have any differences in our objectives. We were all working for the benefit of our country, but due to timing and circumstance, we were unfortunate and unable to cooperate with each other then. The post In Conversation With a Dictator's Grandson appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine. |
| Quintana Releases Final Report on Burma Human Rights Posted: 14 Mar 2014 12:42 AM PDT  Tomás Ojea Quintana speaks during a press conference at Rangoon International Airport in August. (Photo: JPaing / The Irrawaddy) RANGOON — The outgoing UN human rights rapporteur for Burma will urge the United Nations to get involved in an investigation into allegations that dozens of Rohingya Muslims were killed in Duu Chee Yar Tan village, Arakan State. In his final report after six years of monitoring the rights situation in Burma, Tomás Ojea Quintana said he would recommend that the UN Human Rights Council assist with an inquiry into the situation because the Burmese government had failed to conduct a credible investigation on its own. The UN rapporteur is expected to make these recommendations formally when he presents his report to the UN council on Monday. Earlier this week, a government-backed investigation commission said it had found no evidence to suggest that police officers and an Arakanese Buddhist mob killed about 40 Rohingyas in Duu Chee Yar Tan in January. Members of the investigation commission included an adviser to President Thein Sein and an official from the Myanmar National Human Rights Commission, which earlier conducted its own investigation into the matter and also concluded that there was no evidence of a massacre. "In view of the failure of the government to conduct a credible and independent investigation into the allegations of widespread and systematic human rights violations in Rakhine [Arakan] State which may constitute crimes against humanity, particularly since the outbreak of the June 2012 violence … the Special Rapporteur calls on the Human Rights Council to work with the Government to establish a credible investigation to uncover the truth of what happened in Du Chee Yar Tan on 13 and 14 January 2014, and to hold anyone responsible for human rights violations to account," said the report, published late this week on the website for the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights. Quintana made his ninth and final mission to Burma from Feb. 14-19. In Arakan State he met with the chief of the state police force and revisited Aung Mingalar, the only remaining Muslim neighborhood in the state capital Sittwe. He also went to Laiza, a rebel stronghold in the conflict area of Kachin State, as well as the Letpadaung copper mine in Sagaing Division and the Thilawa Special Economic Zone in Rangoon Division, both sites of alleged land-grabs. He noted "significant changes" for the better in the country's overall rights situation since he began monitoring six years ago, including presidential amnesties that have led to the release of more than 1,100 political prisoners, free and fair by-elections in 2012, and progress in winding down decades of armed conflict in ethnic border states. However, he said he was disappointed that Snr-Gen Min Aung Hlaing, commander-in-chief of Burma's armed forces, never once agreed to meet with him during his term. The UN rapporteur said it was important for the military to engage more with the international community. "For the time being, the military retains a prevailing role in the life and institutions of Myanmar [Burma]," said the report. "State institutions in general remain unaccountable and the judiciary is not yet functioning as an independent branch of the State. Moreover, the rule of law cannot yet be said to exist in Myanmar. In this regard, tackling the impunity and systematic discrimination in Rakhine State represents a particular challenge which, if left unaddressed, could jeopardise the entire reform process." The report reiterated many of the concerns expressed by Quintana last month, at the close of his visit, regarding ongoing rights violations in Kachin State and northern Shan State, including allegations of rape, arbitrary detention and torture during interrogation. It also expressed concerns over press freedoms. "The Special Rapporteur highlights that there is a long way to go before Myanmar has a free, uncensored and unhindered press," it said, noting the recent detention of journalists from two local publications for their reporting about sensitive issues. According to the report, Quintana received assurances from Minister of Information Aung Kyi that the Printers and Publishers Registration Bill had been amended to remove the ministry's power to grant and revoke publication licenses. The bill was formally approved by Parliament last week and will soon be signed into law by Thein Sein, but members of Burma's Interim Press Council say it still grants the government unilateral authority to withhold or revoke licenses. The new rapporteur on human rights in Burma will be Yanghee Lee, a South Korean expert on children's rights issues. She has been a member of the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child since 2003, and the committee's chair from 2007 to 2011. The post Quintana Releases Final Report on Burma Human Rights appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine. |
| Photo of the Week (March 14, 2014) Posted: 14 Mar 2014 12:10 AM PDT |
| Journalist Beseeches Brethren: Stop With the Muslim Hate Speech Posted: 13 Mar 2014 10:23 PM PDT  Arakanese women protest against a planned visit of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation in Sittwe in October 2012. (Photo: Rakhine Straight Views) RANGOON — The slight, soft-spoken woman onstage called on the media and the rest of the country to let go of narrow-minded nationalism. "This is a time to fight for democratization. We have to respect each and every ethnic (group) as a human being," beseeched Mon Mon Myat, whose meek bearing veils her ferocity as a powerful freelance journalist and documentary filmmaker. It was refreshing to hear these words in a public forum in Burma because—let's face it—such sentiments have been sorely lacking. Since religious conflict erupted June 2012, killing at least 240 people and displacing more than 140,000, mostly Muslims, Burma has been engulfed in hate speech. Vitriolic and inflammatory comments targeting Muslims, who make up a small fraction of the country, have become worryingly common on blogs, web forums and Facebook pages. Internet access is low—some estimates say only 0.2 percent of the population is online—but young people, as well as a large Burmese diaspora worldwide, are increasingly using social media to share news and opinions. Besieged by a fear that Muslims will take over Burma, Buddhist nationalists as well as some monks have urged people to boycott Muslim-owned businesses and successfully lobbied the government to draft controversial laws, including one that will restrict Buddhist women from marrying Muslim men. No similar restrictions are being planned for Buddhist men. "The two strongest institutions in our country—the military and monk organizations—are driven by men, and promote nationalism and religion. That influences our media coverage," Mon Mon Myat said on Tuesday at the second day of an international media conference organized by Hawaii-based East-West Center. "I found that in the local media coverage, there are few voices on Muslims' view. I think some owners worry their circulation may decrease if they are seen as sympathetic to the Muslims." Rescued From Hate-Filled Conflict Three years after a quasi-civilian government took office in Burma and introduced democratic reforms that have won near-universal praise, the issue of violence against Muslims is casting a long shadow on the country's future. Mon Mon Myat, who wrote an investigative report in 2013 on how social media posts and websites were stirring up hatred, said her analysis of two bouts of conflicts in western Burma's Arakan state and in central Meikhtila showed there are four steps to the process. "The first step is that whatever happened, whether it was a rape or a quarrel, it is put on social media and (hatred is) stirred up through it," she said. Then the print media pique nationalism, influenced by nationalist editors, businessmen and religious leaders. When it becomes an ethno-religious conflict, the military steps in for the sake of people's security, she said. "This scenario creates the military as an essential institution for the country's stability," she added. "First it is an ethnic conflict, later it becomes a religious issue and now even the president has handed over (the drafting of controversial laws) to the government so the president is showing he's taking the side of the Buddhists," she later told Thomson Reuters Foundation. "It's not good for our nation because (nationalism) is a tool politicians use to control the people and to sustain their power." As the 2015 elections draw near, she fears nationalism will be used even more to create conflict between different ethnic groups and religions. "The most important thing for the media is they shouldn't be used (by) the government, opposition or religious groups. They have to be independent and neutral," she said. "We're far beyond the colonial period. We have to wake up from that very narrow-minded nationalist view. Everyone has equal rights and equal dignity and are equal human beings." The post Journalist Beseeches Brethren: Stop With the Muslim Hate Speech appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine. |
| Burma’s Private Newspapers Struggle to Stay Afloat Posted: 13 Mar 2014 10:17 PM PDT  A newspaper vendor sits under pictures of pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi and her father, the country's independence hero General Aung San in central Rangoon. (Photo: Reuters) RANGOON — With tears in his eyes, the chief editor scoured the last-ever edition of his newspaper before sending the proofread copy to the printing press. His once-bustling newsroom was quiet. Some reporters cleared their desks while others tried to cheer up their boss with words of gratitude, or even some homemade pork stew. Khin Maung Lay is one of many Burmese journalists who last year embraced the chance to produce independent daily newspapers free from censorship for the first time in five decades. It was not the government that shut him down, but economics: His paper and others have been losing money as they struggle to compete with state-owned papers for advertisers and circulation. "It breaks my heart," said Khin Maung Lay, who has been part of the country's ever-shifting media landscape for most of his 82 years and was jailed repeatedly when it was under military rule. "Today is my real last day as a newsman." One year after publishers and editors took advantage of a decision by the country's nominally civilian government to lift a half-century-old ban on private dailies, the feeling of euphoria is fading. Khin Maung Lay's paper, Golden Fresh Land, published its last edition Wednesday. It is the first well-known private daily to fold, but 11 others that are still publishing also appear to be struggling. "All the daily newspapers except the pro-junta party newspapers are running at a loss," said an editor-in-chief of one of the most popular private dailies. He asked not to be named because he was not authorized to comment by management. "We are losing around 3 million kyat ($3,000) every day and many smaller papers are in the red too. Some can barely survive," he said. The more popular private dailies sell about 80,000 copies per day, far less than the three state-run newspapers, which all have circulations of more than 320,000. Though the state-run papers often read like government press releases, with stories like one on a bridge inauguration that named every official in attendance, they have established distribution systems and nationwide printing presses. That allows them to sell papers virtually everywhere in Burma, while the private papers sell mostly in Rangoon and other big cities such as Mandalay and Taunggyi. State-run papers also operate with public money, allowing them to keep the cost of advertisements low. Tha Tun Oo, chief executive officer of the media conglomerate Today Publishing House, suggested that many of the new publishers did not concentrate enough on making their newspapers profitable. His company publishes weekly and monthly publications but does not own daily papers. "Too many of the publications just focused on the product, not the market," Tha Tun Oo said. He said that in a developing nation of 60 million, "The media market is just too crowded." He thinks six or seven papers would be about right. After Burma won independence from Britain in 1948, the country had a vibrant free press. Newsstands fluttered with more than 70 daily dailies in the Burmese, English, Indian and Chinese languages. But in 1964, after Gen. Ne Win seized power and began military rule, private businesses were abruptly nationalized. Once-popular papers were transformed into propaganda sheets. After generals handed over power to an elected government in 2011, the press became one of the fastest and most visible beneficiaries of sweeping political and economic reforms. Censors put away their red pens, and on April 1, 2013, private dailies began publishing again. For Khin Maung Lay, it was a "second lease on life." He had been a senior newsman at the Burmese-language Mogyo daily before it was driven out of business by government pressure in 1964. He went to jail three times under Ne Win, including a three-year stretch in "protective custody," a catchall phrase the military regime used to imprison critics. Khin Maung Lay started Golden Fresh Land with a flock of young reporters, photographers and editors, mostly in the early and late 20s. He thought he could compete against well-established state-run papers and those operated by powerful political parties by offering reliable, quality news, but now says he underestimated the strong market forces at work. "The government's goodwill toward private dailies is minimal," Khin Maung Lay lamented. "Compared to the well-established state-run papers, we are really handicapped. It's like having the oars broken while you are rowing." "We feel very sorry not just for ourselves, but for uncle [Khin Maung Lay], who put everything he had into this paper in the last year," senior reporter Kyaw Kyaw Myint said with tremors in this voice. He was the one who tried to cheer his boss up with a bowl of pork stew his wife made. Khin Maung Lay will continue to run two weekly papers, but he said it won't be the same without the day-to-day buzz. It is a wistfulness that extended to his last editorial for Golden Fresh Land, titled, "Till we meet again." The post Burma's Private Newspapers Struggle to Stay Afloat appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine. |
| UN Criticized Over Peacekeeping Invite to Burma Posted: 13 Mar 2014 10:11 PM PDT  Guards of honor stand at attention during a flag-raising ceremony to mark Burma's 66th Independence Day at the People's Square near Shwedagon Pagoda in Rangoon on Jan. 4, 2014. (Photo: Reuters / Soe Zeya Tun) WASHINGTON — Human Rights Watch criticized the United Nations on Thursday for raising the possibility of Burma contributing UN peacekeepers, describing the nation's military as among the most abusive in the world. The New York-based group voiced its concerns in a letter to UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. It said that despite the democratic opening in the country, its military remains unreformed and continues to use child soldiers. Vijay Nambiar, Ban's special adviser on Burma, raised the issue when he met Burma's commander-in-chief Sen-Gen Min Aung Hlaing in late January in the nation's capital Naypyidaw. "The Burmese military's poor record on rights and civilian protection is profoundly at odds with the standards that UN peacekeepers are expected to defend around the world," said Kenneth Roth, executive director of Human Rights Watch. "Any move by the UN to recruit Burmese forces risks grave damage to the UN's reputation." UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric told reporters Thursday that the Nambiar's talks with the Burma military chief were part of broader discussions Nambiar has been having with Burma on its reintegration into the international community. He said like any UN member state, Burma was invited to discuss its interest with the UN peacekeeping department which would consider the request. UN forces are accountable to the highest standards in training and conduct, and thorough assessments are carried out prior to the acceptance of any uniformed personnel, he said. Burma's diplomatic mission at the UN did not respond to a request for comment on whether it was interested in contributing peacekeepers—a potential source of revenue and international prestige. A UN report last May cited Burma on its list of countries that recruit children to its government forces, although it said Burma had made progress. Human Rights Watch said Thursday that while the government has signed an action plan with the UN and committed to releasing all child soldiers by the end of 2013, few have been released. Nick Birnback, UN peacekeeping spokesman, said that when considering whether to deploy peacekeepers from a member state, the UN carefully reviews that nation's record on recruiting child soldiers and whether it's taking serious measures to stop it, although there's no formal policy in the UN on barring a nation that it has cited for it. Several Western nations, including the United States, have begun engaging Burma's military after years of isolation, while still blocking arms exports and voicing concerns over its lingering ties with North Korea. Those nations want to encourage Burma's military to embrace reform and submit to civilian control. But in the letter to Ban, Human Rights Watch also cautioned against inviting Burma military officials to attend UN training or orientation sessions, saying it would signal the UN is ready to welcome Burma forces under the flag of the world body. In January, a rights group accused Burma's military of continuing to use rape as weapon of war, despite the democratic reforms that began three years ago. The report from the Women's League of Burma documented more than 100 rapes, almost all in townships plagued by stubborn ethnic insurgencies. In February, the UN rights rapporteur for Burma, Tomas Quintana, said he raised with Burma authorities allegations of rape, arbitrary detention and torture following military clashes in Kachin State and northern Shan State. Associated Press writers Edith M. Lederer and Peter Spielmann at the United Nations contributed to this report. The post UN Criticized Over Peacekeeping Invite to Burma appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine. |
| Tank-commanding Cartoon Girls Capture Fans for Japan’s Military Posted: 13 Mar 2014 10:09 PM PDT  Tank-commanding Cartoon Girls Capture Fans for Japan’s Military TOKYO — Being a soldier in Japan after World War Two was seen as a job for failed police recruits and unemployed youth from depressed rural towns. But as tension with China chips away at Japan’s post-war pacifism, the military is regaining its prestige—helped by a blitz of television dramas, movies and cartoons. Patriotic zeal is now a more compelling reason to enlist. A decade ago, around one in 10 candidates said they wanted to be a soldier for love of country. These days it’s closer to one in three, according to recruitment data obtained by Reuters. Film directors, animators and TV producers have delivered a bumper crop of military-themed content, much of it with help from the Ministry of Defense. Hit shows include "Girls und Panzer", a cartoon about schoolgirls fighting tank battles, and "Eternal Zero", a movie about a kamikaze pilot that its director made in part to counter an image of Japanese soldiers as fanatics. The military’s attempt to emerge from decades in the shadows is in line with Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s more nationalistic tone and a less apologetic diplomacy. Making the military cool is important for Abe’s drive to increase defense spending after years of cuts. But even a soft-power approach to boosting defense risks inflaming tensions with neighbors who still have strong memories of Japan’s aggression. "It’s our job to explain to the Japanese people why we have to raise the Self-Defense Force budget," said Hirokazu Mihara, the head of public relations at the Defense Ministry. "We need to have as close a relationship with them as possible." That relationship is getting tighter. Reflecting the praise the Self-Defense Force (SDF) won for its rescue efforts after the devastating earthquake and tsunami that hit Japan in 2011, a government survey in 2012 showed that 91.7 percent of respondents expressed a favorable opinion of the military, the highest level since the survey began in 1969. Military Allergy Escalating tension with China over maritime borders and the threat from North Korean missiles have ensured the military’s place in the media spotlight. "When I was at school, feelings about the war were strong and anti-military feeling was high," said Yutaka Takaku, editor of Mamoru, the Defense Ministry’s official magazine. "That allergy is going. People realize a military is necessary." The growing popularity of soldiers as potential husbands prompted Takaku to begin a dating feature that introduces three single men from the navy, airforce or army every month. Each issue also has a popular female model on its cover to draw in men. In December it was Mai Fuchigami, the voice of one of the lead characters in "Girls und Panzer". The TV series, which ran last year, featured the girls commanding old and modern tanks accurately drawn to scale. To get those details right, staff from Bandai Visual, an animation unit of computer game maker Namco Bandai, were granted access to the army’s tank school and other SDF bases. The girls are never hurt in the cartoon battles, protected by a special "carbon lining" in their tanks. "We have presented it like a sports tournament. A real battle would mean people dying," said producer Kiyoshi Sugiyama. Bandai, which will release a "Girls und Panzer" movie this year, has also collaborated with Wargaming.net, put out a mobile social game in Japan and plans to sell a game for Sony Corp’s PSP Vita handheld console. The cartoon, Sugiyama said, was not made to promote the military but as a venture to make money for Bandai. Nonetheless, the girls and their tanks have reinforced the military’s public relations, with copycat characters used in recruitment posters. At the army’s annual live-fire exercises last August, a record 110,000 people applied for less than 6,000 public seats, many of them fans of the cartoon. 'The Power of Popular Culture' Cute images have long been used by Japan’s military but it has become even more "warm and fuzzy" to appeal to young people, said Sabinne Fruhstuck, professor of Modern Japanese Cultural Studies at the University of California, Santa Barbara. "The military has, along with other governmental agencies and corporations, finally discovered the power of popular culture. Thus those tank girls," said Fruhstuck, who wrote "Uneasy Warriors", a 2007 book about the Japanese army. But the popularity of the armed forces may not translate into greater public backing for military action, she said. The military’s appetite for publicity prompted it to lend a missile destroyer to Takashi Yamazaki, the director of "Eternal Zero", for a day. The footage he took helped generate computer images of a wartime aircraft carrier. "If you approach the SDF with a proposal that is going to make them look bad then you won’t get anywhere," he said. "But if it benefits both sides then they are ready to cooperate." Yamazaki’s movie led box office returns at the end of last year. The tale of a kamikaze pilot moved Prime Minister Abe to tears, according to media reports. The resurgent role of the military and the prospect of changes to Japan’s pacificist constitution have alarmed its Chinese and Korean neighbors. Naoki Hyakuta, author of a 2006 book on which "Eternal Zero" was based and an Abe-appointed member of state broadcaster NHK’s board, further fuelled those concerns in February. In a speech backing Toshio Tamogami, a right-wing candidate in elections for Tokyo’s governor, Hyakuta denied the Nanjing Massacre ever happened. China says 300,000 people were killed. Other backers of Tamogami, who won 12 percent of the vote in Tokyo, are also looking to transform wartime history. Satoru Mizushima, the head of right-wing Internet TV service Channel Sakura, welcomes the higher profile of the military as "a return to normality". Japan’s decision to go to war, he argues, inspired Asian nations to throw off Western imperialism. "The question is who is going to contain the fascist regime in China and it looks like it is down to Japan," said Mizushima. Yamazaki, the "Eternal Zero" director, also wants to revise history lessons, albeit in a milder way. "The education we received after the war was one sided," he said. "That doesn’t mean we have to flip to the other side but we need to think how we can achieve a middle road." The post Tank-commanding Cartoon Girls Capture Fans for Japan’s Military appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine. |
| A Nervous Region Eyes Robust Chinese Response to Missing Malaysian Plane Posted: 13 Mar 2014 08:46 PM PDT  A helicopter takes off from China's Jingangshan warship to search the waters suspected to be the site of the missing Beijing-bound Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 in this March 11, 2014 photo courtesy of China News Service. (Photo: Reuters) HONG KONG — From high-resolution satellites to advanced warships, China's military build-up is on full display in the hunt for a missing Malaysian jetliner – putting Asia on notice as to what Beijing might do in the future to further assert its regional presence. Now in its sixth day, the search for the Malaysia Airlines Boeing 777 and its 239 passengers and crew has exposed tensions between Beijing and Kuala Lumpur, with Chinese officials from Premier Li Keqiang on down criticizing Malaysia's handling of the crisis. China has sent a team of envoys and investigators to Malaysia to deepen its involvement. While Beijing's concerns reflect, in part, public anxiety over the fate of more than 150 Chinese on board Flight MH370, the search comes at a time when China has been flexing its muscles in the disputed South and East China Seas. One aerospace and defense industry source with years of experience in the region said the Chinese response would stick in the minds of its neighbors. "This is a demonstration of force in a peaceful context," said the source, who declined to be identified because he was not authorized to speak to the media. China has deployed four warships, four coastguard vessels, eight aircraft and trained 10 satellites on a wide search area far from mainland China. Chinese media have described the ship deployment as the largest Chinese rescue fleet ever assembled. The missing plane's last reported contact with civilian radar was near the mouth of the Gulf of Thailand, which opens into the South China Sea. The aircraft was bound for Beijing after taking off from Kuala Lumpur. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang on Monday acknowledged Malaysia had the "main responsibility" for both the search and the follow-up investigation. He added, however, that Beijing had a responsibility not only to participate but to "demand and urge" Malaysia to step up its efforts. Once Warm Ties? Ironically, China's ties with Malaysia had been among its warmest in the region despite a dispute over territory in the South China Sea. However, Chinese warships staged a show of sovereignty just two months ago at the James Shoal, a submerged reef about 80 km (50 miles) off Malaysia's Borneo island state of Sarawak—and some 1,800 km (1,125 miles) from mainland China. Beijing regards those waters as its southernmost territory, the bottom of a looping so-called nine-dash line on maps that comprise 90 percent of the South China Sea. The Philippines, Vietnam, Brunei and Taiwan are also in dispute with Beijing over parts of the ocean. The People's Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) deployment at the shoal was led by one of its three state-of-the-art amphibious assault ships. Two of those 20,000-tonne vessels—the Kunlunshan and the Jingangshan—have joined the search for the missing plane. "The Chinese are drawing the conclusion that these guys are not ready for prime time," said Ernie Bower, a Southeast Asia specialist at Washington's Center for Strategic and International Studies, referring to Malaysia. The fruitless search has shone the spotlight on a series of fumbling news conferences by Malaysian officials and a long delay in divulging details of the military's tracking of what could have been the plane hundreds of miles off course. Malaysian government officials say they are coping as best they can with a highly complex crisis. Regional naval officials and analysts said one of the big questions now was what the protracted search—and China's growing concerns over Malaysia's response—would mean for Beijing's approach to the region in future. While many foreign experts see Beijing's deployment as robust, Chinese state television and other media reports have referred to a lack of Chinese capabilities to conduct extended search and rescue operations far from the mainland coast. More facilities would be needed for dealing with humanitarian disasters, one Chinese expert said, even though China had expanded listening posts, ports and runways at its facilities in the disputed Paracel and Spratly archipelagoes of the South China Sea. "This will not be the last time. China has a responsibility and calling to join in," said Ruan Zongze, a former Chinese diplomat with the China Institute of International Studies, a think tank affiliated with the Foreign Ministry. The Chinese effort is already sparking concern among the public in Vietnam, where battles over sovereignty against China go back decades. Social media has been active with postings, comments and deep suspicion about the presence of Chinese planes and warships near the Vietnamese coast. Deputy Transport Minister Pham Quy Tieu, head of Vietnam's search and rescue effort, told Reuters that China had asked permission for its ships and planes to enter Vietnamese territory and that Hanoi remained in "total control." "China only flies and searches at high altitude, its boats never go deep inside our waters. So we are not concerned about breaches of our sovereignty," Tieu said. "New Historic Missions" Ian Storey, an expert on ties between China and Southeast Asia, said Beijing's deployment reflected its regional military build-up and the PLA's so-called "new historic missions," which included protecting Chinese nationals abroad. The crisis would bolster the case of those in China who believe that as the country's global interests expand, its defense budget should grow to protect those interests, added Storey, from the Institute of South East Asian Studies in Singapore. China this month announced a 12.2 percent rise in military spending to 808.23 billion yuan ($131.57 billion) for 2014, but gave no breakdown of how the money would be spent. Its military spending, second only to the United States, has allowed China to create a modern force that is projecting power not only across the East and South China Seas, but further into the western Pacific and Indian Oceans. Bower said the confused search highlighted weak military cooperation in Asia and the need for better coordination between Washington and its Asian allies and partners. A long-running effort by the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) to tie China to a binding agreement on measures to lower tensions in the South China Sea includes search and rescue cooperation. Such cooperation is part of the discussions, and ASEAN envoys said this could be accelerated outside the broader and more sensitive talks. "Since we don't have that collaborative effort well established yet, I think the Chinese are, whether intentionally or unintentionally, sending a message to their citizens that Malaysia is a small country that's not able to manage well," said Bower. The post A Nervous Region Eyes Robust Chinese Response to Missing Malaysian Plane appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine. |
| Search for Malaysian Plane May Extend to Indian Ocean: US Posted: 13 Mar 2014 08:32 PM PDT  A woman and a girl look at a Malaysia Airlines plane on the tarmac of Kuala Lumpur International Airport on March 13, 2014. (Reuters / Damir Sagolj) KUALA LUMPUR/WASHINGTON — A new search area for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 may be opened in the Indian Ocean, the White House said, significantly broadening the potential location of the plane, which disappeared nearly a week ago with 239 people on board. Expanding the search area to the Indian Ocean would be consistent with the theory that the Boeing 777 may have detoured to the west about an hour after take-off from the Malaysian capital Kuala Lumpur en route to Beijing. "It's my understanding that based on some new information that's not necessarily conclusive—but new information—an additional search area may be opened in the Indian Ocean," White House spokesman Jay Carney told reporters in Washington. Carney did not specify the nature of the new information and Malaysian officials were not immediately available to comment. The disappearance of the Malaysia Airlines plane is one of the most baffling mysteries in the history of modern aviation. There has been no trace of the plane nor any sign of wreckage despite a search by the navies and military aircraft of more than a dozen countries across Southeast Asia. Satellites picked up faint electronic pulses from the aircraft after it went missing on Saturday, but the signals gave no information about where the jet was heading and little else about its fate, two sources close to the investigation said on Thursday. But the "pings" indicated its maintenance troubleshooting systems were switched on and ready to communicate with satellites, showing the aircraft was at least capable of communicating after losing touch with air traffic controllers. The system transmits such pings about once an hour, according to the sources, who said five or six were heard. However, the pings alone are not proof that the plane was in the air or on the ground, the sources said. Malaysian authorities have said the last civilian contact occurred as the Boeing 777-200ER flew north into the Gulf of Thailand. They said military radar sightings indicated it may have turned sharply to the west and crossed the Malay Peninsula toward the Andaman Sea. The new information about signals heard by satellites shed little light on the mystery of what happened to the plane, whether it was a technical failure, a hijacking or another kind of incident on board. While the troubleshooting systems were functioning, no data links were opened, the sources said, because the companies involved had not subscribed to that level of service from the satellite operator, the sources said. Boeing and Rolls-Royce, which supplied its Trent engines, declined to comment. Earlier Malaysian officials denied reports that the aircraft had continued to send technical data and said there was no evidence that it flew for hours after losing contact with air traffic controllers early last Saturday. "It's extraordinary that with all the technology that we've got that an aircraft can disappear like this," Tony Tyler, the head of the International Air Transport Association that links over 90 percent of the world's airlines, told reporters in London. Ships and aircraft are now combing a vast area that had already been widened to cover both sides of the Malay Peninsula and the Andaman Sea. The US Navy was sending an advanced P-8A Poseidon plane to help search the Strait of Malacca, separating the Malay Peninsula from the Indonesian island of Sumatra. It had already deployed a Navy P-3 Orion aircraft to those waters. US defense officials told Reuters that the US Navy guided-missile destroyer, USS Kidd, was heading to the Strait of Malacca, answering a request from the Malaysian government. The Kidd had been searching the areas south of the Gulf of Thailand, along with the destroyer USS Pinckney. India's Defense Ministry has ordered the deployment of ships, aircraft and helicopters from the remote Andaman and Nicobar Islands, at the juncture of the Bay of Bengal and the Andaman Sea. An Indian P8I Poseidon surveillance plane was sent to the Andaman islands on Thursday. China, which had more than 150 citizens on board the missing plane, has deployed four warships, four coastguard vessels, eight aircraft and trained 10 satellites on a wide search area. Chinese media have described the ship deployment as the largest Chinese rescue fleet ever assembled. On the sixth day of the search, planes scanned an area of sea where Chinese satellite images had shown what could be debris but found no sign of the airliner. Malaysian Transport Minister Hishammuddin Hussein told a news conference the images were provided accidentally, saying the Chinese government neither authorized nor endorsed putting them on a website. "The image is not confirmed to be connected to the plane," he said. It was the latest in a series of contradictory reports, adding to the confusion and agony of the relatives of the passengers. As frustration mounted over the failure to find any trace of the plane, China heaped pressure on Malaysia to improve coordination in the search. Premier Li Keqiang, speaking at a news conference in Beijing, demanded that the "relevant party" step up coordination while China's civil aviation chief said he wanted a "smoother" flow of information from Malaysia, which has come under heavy criticism for its handling of the disaster. Malaysian police have said they were investigating whether any passengers or crew on the plane had personal or psychological problems that might shed light on the mystery, along with the possibility of a hijacking, sabotage or mechanical failure. The Boeing 777 has one of the best safety records of any commercial aircraft in service. Its only previous fatal crash came on July 6 last year when Asiana Airlines Flight 214 struck a seawall with its undercarriage on landing in San Francisco, killing three people. The post Search for Malaysian Plane May Extend to Indian Ocean: US appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine. |
