The Irrawaddy Magazine |
- Blue Plaques to Bring Attention to Rangoon’s Colonial Buildings
- Burma Can Renegotiate Dam Deals to Keep More Power, Says Chinese Firm
- Accountability Sought in Mandalay Riots’ Aftermath
- Wa Rebel Army Denies All Involvement in Drug Trade
- Burmese Refugees Still Welcome in New Zealand: Prime Minister
- Curfew Lifted as Stability Returns to Mandalay
- US Will Not ‘Turn a Blind Eye’ to Burma’s Reform Issues: Kerry
- In The Zone
- A Lifetime of War, with No Peace in Sight
- China Rebuffs US Efforts on South China Sea Tensions
- Australian Parents of Thai Surrogate Twin Say They Feared Losing Both Babies
- US Urges India to Step Up as Regional Power
| Blue Plaques to Bring Attention to Rangoon’s Colonial Buildings Posted: 11 Aug 2014 05:02 AM PDT  The new plaque was revealed outside City Hall during a ceremony on Saturday. (Photo: The Irrawaddy) RANGOON — The Yangon Heritage Trust (YHT) installed a descriptive plaque outside Rangoon's City Hall on Saturday, as part of a larger project to highlight colonial architecture throughout Burma's biggest city. The blue plaques initiative, as the US$75,000 project is known, will see 100 plaques installed outside sites of architectural and historical significance over the next year, with descriptions in Burmese and English languages about when each building was built and why it is important. The High Court and the Central Fire Station will also receive plaques, as will the buildings that once housed the Rowe & Co. department store, the headquarters of the Irrawaddy Flotilla Company and Grindlays Bank. "We will not only put plaques at buildings, but also along roads of historical significance and at places where internationally famous persons once lived," Shwe Yinn Mar Oo, a senior communications officer at the YHT, told The Irrawaddy. The project is being funded by Dutch electronics giant Philips, which partnered with the YHT last year. Both groups originally planned to install 200 plaques in the city but were forced to scale back their plans due to the expense of ordering high-quality plaques from Australia. Amsterdam-based Philips, which opened its first electronics shop in Rangoon last year, is also paying separately to illuminate the colonial buildings with light-emitting diode (LED) lights. It has already installed lights outside Mahabandoola Park and City Hall. "With fast-paced urbanization and massive redevelopment underway, we believe sustainable LED lighting solutions can help conservation and to build livability, supporting Yangon's goal to regain its stature as the jewel of Asia," Alex Ngian, commercial leader of Philips Myanmar, said in a statement on Saturday. YHT founder Thant Myint-U said he hoped the plaques would draw attention to Rangoon's importance not only in Burma, but also for international history. "It has witnessed two Anglo-Burmese wars, the Second World War, British and Japanese occupation, a civil war, coups and uprisings. It's been home to Myanmar's top leaders, thinkers, writers and artists, as well as internationally renowned figures from the last Mogul Emperor to Nobel Laureate Pablo Neruda," he said of the city in a statement. "It has played host to icons from Mahatma Gandhi to Nikita Khrushchev. And it's been home to millions of ordinary people from many different faiths and backgrounds. "It's a special city, a unique city, and all this is reflected in Yangon's beautifully built heritage. This is what these plaques will recognize and celebrate. We hope it will help residents and visitors alike appreciate what is around them." The post Blue Plaques to Bring Attention to Rangoon's Colonial Buildings appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine. | |
| Burma Can Renegotiate Dam Deals to Keep More Power, Says Chinese Firm Posted: 11 Aug 2014 04:36 AM PDT  Construction going ahead at the Myitsone Dam in 2010 before President Thein Sein ordered a suspension on the project. (Photo: The Irrawaddy) RANGOON — A Chinese firm that signed deals with Burma’s former military rulers to build hydro dams said it could renegotiate the terms, which would see some projects supplying 90 percent of power to China, in order to allow more power for domestic consumption. Burma’s unreliable power supply is undermining economic development in Asia’s second-poorest country, which is emerging from 49 years of autocratic mismanagement under military rule. There has also been increased sensitivity in Burma about whether it has been selling off too big a share of its rich resources to neighboring countries, particularly China. “If the new government thinks there is more power demand now in Myanmar, then of course there is no problem to meet the local demand first,” Sun Hongshui, vice president of the Power Construction Corp of China, told Reuters. Despite having abundant natural gas and hydropower potential, only around a quarter of Burma’s 60 million people have access to electricity, among the lowest rates in Asia, according to an October 2012 Asian Development Bank report. Burma’s semi-civilian government has promised to supply electricity to the entire country by 2030. Sun said his company was willing to renegotiate agreements in order to help the government achieve that objective. “If there is extra electricity, maybe it can be exported to China or another neighboring country,” he said on the sidelines of an energy conference last week in Yangon, the commercial capital. The Ministry of Electric Power declined to comment. Energy Mix Burma’s economy should grow 8.5 percent this fiscal year, higher than previously forecast mainly due to rising gas output and investment, the International Monetary Fund has said. “Without a reliable, growing supply of electric power, the manufacturing industry especially probably wouldn’t be attracted to this country and that would hamper economic growth,” said Kyosuke Inada, senior representative in Burma for the Japanese International Cooperation Agency (JICA). “And economic growth and political reform are closely related.” JICA is working with the government on increasing power supplies. Total generation of electric power during the last fiscal year was 13.048 billion kwh, up from 10.964 billion kwh in the 2012-13 fiscal year and 8.625 billion kwh in 2011-2012, according to the state-run Central Statistical Organization (CSO). Burma's electrification plan would see a multi-prong approach involving hydro, gas, coal, and renewable. “We will discuss with the government to find best mix,” said Inada. Private consultant Thoung Win, who sits on the government’s energy development committee, said that by 2030, Burma may generate about 30 percent of its power from gas and coal fired plants, 30 percent from renewable sources like wind and solar, and 40 percent from hydro. But Burma will have to balance environmental and social costs in pursuing power projects. In 2011, President Thein Sein abandoned plans for a $3.6 billion, Chinese-led dam project on the Irrawaddy River after pro-democracy and environmental protests. The post Burma Can Renegotiate Dam Deals to Keep More Power, Says Chinese Firm appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine. | |
| Accountability Sought in Mandalay Riots’ Aftermath Posted: 11 Aug 2014 04:15 AM PDT  Lt-Col Sein Tun from the Mandalay Police Force talks to Buddhist monks after clashes between Buddhist and Muslim communities in Mandalay on July 1. (Photo: The Irrawaddy) RANGOON — When President Thein Sein declared in a nationwide address that his government was investigating and taking action against those responsible for instigating religious rioting in Mandalay last month, Min Htet Nyein Chan was not impressed. "If the instigators were found out, why don't we know who was behind it and why they did it?" the Mandalay native said when asked for his take on the president's monthly speech, which aired via state media on Aug. 1. These are the questions on the minds of many Mandalay residents in the wake of the communal violence early last month between Buddhists and Muslims in Burma's second largest city, claiming the lives of two men—one Buddhist and the other Muslim. The four days of rioting became the deadliest communal strife in the more than 150-year history of Burma's last royal capital. Now more than one month on, the government has disclosed scant details about its prosecution of those responsible, and suspicions persist that the violence was orchestrated. The Mandalay Divisional Police Force said that as of Friday, nearly 20 people had been sentenced to prison terms varying from two year to four years for their involvement in the violence. State media said on Aug. 3 that more than 50 people had been arrested in total, and 36 others suspected of involvement remained at large. But those figures do not convince many in Mandalay that justice has been done. "They are just part of the problem," said Thein Than Oo, a lawyer from the Mandalay Peace Making Committee, a vigilante group made up of community and religious leaders that was founded in the immediate aftermath of the violence last month. "As long as you haven't arrested anyone behind the mob who rampaged through our city with swords and clubs in their hands, you can't say you have solved the problem," he said. The lawyer explained that what happened in his city was quite unusual because for all its past minor conflicts between Buddhist and Muslim communities, Mandalay has been known for its religious tolerance. During the nationwide democracy uprising in 1988, Buddhist monks protected a mosque when rumors circulated that thugs backing the ruling junta of the time were on their way to destroy the building. Then, as now, suspicions were rife that religious conflict was being used to divert people's attention from Burma's burgeoning democracy movement. "With the long religious harmony we have had, it's unthinkable to have had that kind of deadly violence here," Thein Than Oo said. "Given what has happened in Burma over the last two years, I'm seriously suspicious that the riot here was carefully orchestrated," he added. Beginning in western Arakan State in 2012 and later spreading to central and northeastern Burma, religious conflicts have pitted the country's Buddhist and Muslim communities against each other in several bouts of violence that has killed hundreds of people. Nearly every outbreak of violence was either sparked by the alleged rape of a Buddhist woman by a Muslim man, or a row between members of the two communities. In Mandalay, two Muslim men were falsely accused on social media of raping their Buddhist maid, a case that was fabricated by the alleged victim. The woman, whose religion was not identified, was paid by two other men to lodge the fake criminal report, according to state-run media. In most of the incidents over the last two years, such accusations were followed by the sudden appearance of a mob, seemingly out of nowhere and armed with swords and clubs to terrorize both communities. Security forces have often been accused of dragging their feet in putting a stop to the violence. When communal strife was raging in central Burma's Meikhtila last year, Thein Sein admitted that "political opportunists, religious extremists and outside instigators" were responsible for the violence, and said "their efforts will not be tolerated." The former general added that he "would not hesitate to use force as a last resort to protect the lives and safeguard the property of the general public." But with the recent violence in Mandalay, Thein Sein has shied away from rhetoric suggestive of political opportunists, religious extremists and outside instigators, and the country's most notorious monk U Wirathu—who calls Mandalay home and helped spread the false rape rumor—has avoided censure. Critics say that in arresting dozens of individuals charged with direct involvement in the riots, authorities appeared to be discounting the possibility of a mastermind behind the violence. The government's failure to take action has even prompted speculation that the government itself or someone high within the ruling Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) hierarchy was behind the riots in a divide-and-rule attempt to cement their hold on power. "It's no wonder they are under suspicion as they have failed to punish the real culprit," said Win Mya Mya, deputy chief of the opposition National League for Democracy (NLD) in Mandalay. The 65-year old Muslim woman said if the president had kept the promise he made post-Meikhtila, there would have been no communal clashes in Mandalay. She also blamed security forces for their failure to intervene in the Mandalay riots. "Hundreds of thugs rampaged through the city under the gaze of the police. Then arrests followed. It doesn't make sense," she said. But Mandalay Division Chief Minister Ye Myint has dismissed suspicion of a government hand in the riots, as well as rejecting accusations that the response from law enforcement was slow. "That kind of accusation isn't worth my consideration to respond. If you have any evidence [of government involvement], please provide it to us. It would help us to more easily solve the problem," he said during a press conference in Mandalay in the wake of the riots. "We caught some rioters red-handed. We also made immediate arrests to some people who spread rumors sparking the unrest," he added. Interestingly, the Mandalay riots unfolded amid a nationwide signature campaign soliciting popular support for constitutional reform. The two-month campaign was jointly organized by the country's main opposition party, the NLD, and the 88 Generation Peace and Open Society. The clashes happened just days after the NLD announced the preliminary results, saying petitioners had collected 3.3 million signatures as of June 30. Min Htet Nyein Chan, the Mandalay native, claimed that what happened in his city was a political ploy by the government to distract public interest from the campaign. He said it was doubtful that the communal clashes just happened to coincide with the day when Mandalay organizers planned to hold a major signature collecting event. "We planned to hold it on July 2 and 3. But with the outbreak of the riot, we had to cancel it," said the political activist, who helped arrange the petition campaign. "Whether it [the violence] was in Mandalay or elsewhere, it's taken for granted that it has had a negative impact on the campaign," he added. Mandalay-based writer Hsu Nget said anti-Muslim speech and false rumors on social media also played an important role in stoking religious tensions. In the aftermath of the Mandalay violence, the government said it had moved to crack down on hate speech, but no action has been taken against those spreading false rumors on social media before or during the Mandalay violence. In Burma, anti-Muslim speech campaigns led by the radical 969 movement, including those led by U Wirathu, have gained momentum since 2012. Unchecked by the government, the movement has expanded to include a network known as the Association to Protect Race and Religion (Ma Ba Tha), which is lobbying for four pieces of legislation—including one restricting interfaith marriage—with the support of the military-backed ruling party. "The government has to prevent them as that kind of hate speech has an impact on both communities more or less. Arresting those who joined the violence is not a big deal," the writer said. He wondered aloud whether the government was taking a page out of the playbook of the former military junta, which was known to stoke communal tensions to achieve its own political ends. "Religion is a very sensitive issue here. So, they use it to kill two birds with one stone—to divert public attention from constitutional amendments that would allow Daw Aung San Suu Kyi to become the country's next president. Whatever happened, they know there was no loss for them," he explained. Rangoon-based political analyst Yan Myo Thein said the government was solely responsible for religious violence in Burma over the last two years, the prevention of which would be increasingly important as the country approaches elections in 2015. "They have to emphasize rule of law and protect citizens' rights granted under the Constitution. If we have any violence again, I think it is the result of their failure to do their job," he said. The analyst added that the government also needed to be transparent about how it planned to tackle the problem and punish anyone responsible for the unrest. "If they fail to do so, they will never escape from accusations of having masterminded the violence." The post Accountability Sought in Mandalay Riots' Aftermath appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine. | |
| Wa Rebel Army Denies All Involvement in Drug Trade Posted: 11 Aug 2014 03:16 AM PDT  The United Wa State Army on parade in Wa State (Photo: SYCB) RANGOON — A United Wa State Party (UWSP) spokesman has denied that the ethnic rebel army in northern Burma continues to be involved in drug trade, saying their autonomous region is "drug-free." Aung Myint, a spokesperson from the UWSP, told The Irrawaddy that the heavily-armed group was involved in drug production and trade in the past, but said that the Wa Special Region 2, located on the Burma-China border, "has been a drug-free zone" for close to a decade. "We stopped planting opium crops since the year 2005. We do not grow a single plant in our region. You can come around and check for yourself at any time," he claimed in a phone interview, adding that on World Drug Day 2005 the Wa ended all involvement in the illicit trade. Aung Myint said opium crops in the Wa region have been replaced with rubber plantations and that some 120,000 hectare of farmland is under rubber cultivation. A 2012 UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) report that surveyed areas of opium cultivation in Burma and Laos through remote sensing techniques found no evidence of poppy growing in the UWSP's Special Region 2. A retired officer from the Mong Tai Army, a former armed group of the deceased Shan State drug lord Khun Sa, said he visits the Wa region regularly as a businessman and had seen only small-scale poppy cultivation. "The cultivation of opium farms has reduced considerably. Yet, I can still see some people growing it when the season comes. The opium plants are not as good as before, they get emaciated lately," said the man, who declined to be named. "It’s hard for the people who grow opium crops to change to other work since cultivating opium is profitable and you can have a good income." Opium and meth has long been produced in northern Burma, where the trade is directly tied to the country's decades-old ethnic conflict, which continues to fester in many parts of Shan and Kachin states. Since 2006, opium cultivation has been on the rise, reaching 58,000 hectares of poppy last year, according to UNODC, while the flow of meth from northern Burma continues unabated. From 1998 to 2006, opium production was in decline after Burma's former military regime and the ethnic Wa, Kokang and Mongla rebels enforced bans on poppy cultivation in northern Shan State following growing international pressure to stem the flow of drugs. A recent report by the Transnational Institute said the bans had effectively pushed opium production to southern Shan State where it had proliferated. Of the Wa, Kokang and Mongla rebels it said, "These groups officially banned the production of and trade in heroin and methamphetamine, mainly due to Chinese pressure. Nevertheless, they continued to be accused of involvement in production of heroin and especially of having switched to large-scale methamphetamine production." In January 2005, the US Department of Justiceannounced the indictment of eight UWSA leaders of charges of trafficking heroin and methamphetamine. The department described the Wa as one of the world's largest drug producing and trafficking groups. The United Wa State Army (UWSA), the military wing of the UWSP, was formed from the remnants of the Communist Party of Burma after it collapsed in 1989 and its Burmese leadership fled to China. The Wa army is the strongest ethnic rebel group in Burma with an estimated 20,000 to 30,000 soldiers and sophisticated weaponry, such as surface-to-air missiles, helicopters and armed personnel carriers, reportedly supplied by China. It signed a ceasefire agreement with the Burmese government in 1989, which it renewed in 2011. The Wa are not involved in the ongoing nationwide ceasefire process between the Burmese government and 16 ethnic rebel groups. The post Wa Rebel Army Denies All Involvement in Drug Trade appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine. | |
| Burmese Refugees Still Welcome in New Zealand: Prime Minister Posted: 11 Aug 2014 03:03 AM PDT  A young girl living at Mae La refugee camp near Mae Sot, Thailand. (Photo: Steve Tickner / The Irrawaddy) WELLINGTON — New Zealand's prime minister says his country will continue to accept Burmese refugees, including those currently living in camps along the Thai-Burma border, despite political reforms in Burma since 2011. In an exclusive interview, John Key told The Irrawaddy that New Zealand would welcome any refugee who has qualified for resettlement according to the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). "As long as they're on the UN list, we'll take them," he said. "And in some places like Rakhine [Arakan] State, for instance, there's obviously a desperate need, so yes, I imagine we'll continue to take them from Myanmar [Burma]." The United Nations estimates that more than 86,000 people have attempted to leave western Burma's Arakan State by boat since 2012, when an outbreak of inter-communal violence left 140,000 people homeless. For more than a decade, Burmese refugees from camps in Thailand and Malaysia have resettled to New Zealand as part of the UNHCR program. Most were ethnic Karen, Kayah and Chin and had been staying in camps along the Thai-Burma border. "There are more than 2,000 Burmese living in New Zealand now. Not all are refugees, but most came from the refugees camps," said Annie Coates, a Karen-Burmese social worker who has lived in Wellington for more than 30 years. "The Karen and Kayah come from camps along the Thai-Burma border, while the Chin and Rakhine [Arakanese] come mostly from camps in Malaysia." She said they faced challenges while adjusting to their new lives. "The language barrier is a major issue," she said. "I support their education, health and other social needs in times of difficulty, because many of them are young people who do not have any relatives here." Key said that despite political and economic reforms under Burmese President Thein Sein's administration, refugees in New Zealand would never be asked to return home. "If we take them under the [UNHCR] program, even if there's a change in the domestic circumstances, we have granted them effectively citizenship in New Zealand, or residency leading to citizenship, so we can't return them," he said. In the past 10 years, New Zealand has approved residency status for 7,473 refugees. Of those, most came from Burma (1,901), Afghanistan (1,237) and Iraq (999). The post Burmese Refugees Still Welcome in New Zealand: Prime Minister appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine. | |
| Curfew Lifted as Stability Returns to Mandalay Posted: 11 Aug 2014 02:17 AM PDT  Police in riot gear stand guard at Joon Mosque in central Mandalay during inter-communal unrest last month. (Photo: The Irrawaddy) MANDALAY — A nighttime curfew in Mandalay will be lifted starting Monday as stability has returned more than five weeks after inter-communal violence raged in the city, a senior local official said. A 9pm-5am curfew was imposed in Burma's second city on July 3 after violence between Buddhists and Muslims on the preceding two nights resulted in the deaths of two people. The curfew was reduced on July 28 to 9pm-3am and changed again days later to begin at 10pm. "The stability of the city is improving and we believe the curfew is no longer needed," Mandalay Division's Chief Minister Win Zaw Naing told The Irrawaddy on Monday. "That's why we decided to lift the curfew starting from today." According to police, more than 50 people have been arrested over the riots and are facing various charges including weapons possession and creating unrest. Nearly 20 people who were involved in an attack with sticks, rods and swords on the Kyarnikan cemetery in a Muslim neighborhood were sentenced in recent weeks to prison terms ranging from two to four years. "The suspects for the murder cases are still in custody, and we cannot give details of them yet," said a duty officer from the Mandalay divisional police office. The post Curfew Lifted as Stability Returns to Mandalay appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine. | |
| US Will Not ‘Turn a Blind Eye’ to Burma’s Reform Issues: Kerry Posted: 10 Aug 2014 11:56 PM PDT  US Secretary of State John Kerry meets National League for Democracy chairwoman Aung San Suu Kyi at her lakeside villa in Rangoon on Sunday evening. (Photo: Simon Lewis / The Irrawaddy) RANGOON — The United States will not turn a blind eye to problems including human rights violations in Burma, Secretary of State John Kerry said during his visit to the country, while reaffirming his government's endorsement of President Thein Sein's reforms. Kerry spent Saturday and Sunday in Burma, attending a regional meeting in Naypyidaw and meeting with Thein Sein and Parliament Speaker Shwe Mann. "We had a very frank discussion with the president and with his team," Kerry told a press conference in the capital on Sunday that was broadcast on state television, describing the talks as "very comprehensive." "We talked about human rights; we talked about the law; we talked about democracy and how you move to it; we talked about the election and the need for it to be open and free and fair; we talked about people's full participation without penalty; we talked about journalists who recently have been arrested." Kerry reportedly also raised US concerns over ongoing discrimination against the Rohingya Muslim minority in Arakan State. Lawmakers in Washington and international rights groups had called for Kerry to take a harder line with the Burmese government during the visit, in view of so-called "backsliding" on human rights since US President Barack Obama visited the country in 2012. The US rewarded the Thein Sein reformist government's early signs of progress with the suspension of most economic sanctions, although some individuals remain blacklisted by the US Treasury Department and an arms embargo against Burma continues. "The sanctions are now very much focused on members of the junta and on key individuals who may still be representing a challenge to achieving [the reforms], but this is fundamentally a new government, in a new moment, with a possibility for an election next year," Kerry said, adding that it was important to recognize "legitimate effort" toward democracy in Burma. "Is everything hunky-dory? No, not yet. Absolutely not…" he said. "We will continue to work very, very carefully, without jumping ahead of anybody's rights and without turning a blind eye to anything that violates our notion of fairness, accountability, human rights and the standards by which America always stands. And those will be forefront in all of our discussions as they were throughout the last two days." Following the press conference, Kerry flew to Rangoon and paid a call on opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi at her villa on the bank of Inya Lake. During his talks with Burmese government leaders, Kerry reportedly supported the campaign—led by Suu Kyi and receiving mass public support—for the 2008 Constitution to be amended ahead of parliamentary elections expected in late 2015. The current wording of the military-drafted charter precludes Nobel Peace Prize winner Suu Kyi from contesting the presidency, as well as containing a number of measures that give the Burmese military a prominent role in politics. Kerry—who vacillated between using the names Burma and Myanmar to refer to the country—said "the evolution of Myanmar into a full democracy" would take time. "It doesn't happen overnight—anywhere. It didn't happen overnight in the United States of America. We started out with a Constitution that had slavery written into it, before 100 years later it was finally written out of it. It sometimes takes time to manage change," he said. "Now that doesn't allow you to turn a blind eye to things that are critical, and we're not. You have to call them to account. And I believe we've been very clear about that." The post US Will Not 'Turn a Blind Eye' to Burma's Reform Issues: Kerry appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine. | |
| Posted: 10 Aug 2014 05:30 PM PDT  U Myat Thin Aung in conversation with a member of his staff. (Photo: Sai Zaw / The Irrawaddy) YANGON — As chairman of the Hlaing Tharyar Industrial Zone, U Myat Thin Aung understands the challenges facing Myanmar's manufacturing sector. Despite concerns about whether local manufacturers will be able to compete when the country becomes part of the Asean Free Trade Area next year, however, Hlaing Tharyar—Yangon's largest industrial zone, with nearly 600 factories employing some 60,000 workers—continues to attract investors. U Myat Thin Aung (who is also the chairman of Yoma Bank and the sole distributor of Samsung products in Myanmar) recently spoke with The Irrawaddy's Kyaw Hsu Mon about the outlook for the country's manufacturing sector. Question: Has the number of factories in the HlaingTharyar Industrial Zone increased since Myanmar's transition to civilian rule? Answer: Yes, before military rule ended in 2011, there were only 500 factories, but now we have 600. We don't have any more land available now, so newcomers are going to other industrial zones. Q: What kind of factories do you have in this industrial zone? A: Most are factories for consumer goods. Food products come next. There are also a lot of garment factories. Until 1998, when the US and EU imposed sanctions on Myanmar, there were 96 garment factories here, but then more than 30 closed. It didn't happen all at once: US sanctions took effect gradually. Then more orders came from Japan, but not for high-quality clothes. They just ordered workers' uniforms, and didn't pay very much for them. Q: Is it true that most of the factory owners are local people backed by foreign investors? A: Many foreign investors prefer to do it this way because it's cheaper and easier. Local people can use kyat to rent space, but foreigners have to pay in dollars. There are also restrictions on foreigners renting private land. That's why 90 percent of [foreign] factory owners register under local names. This is still the case, although some Korean investors set up factories under their own names. But Taiwanese mostly register their factories in the names of local people. Q: Do you think local manufacturers are ready for the establishment of the Asean Free Trade Area next year? Many say they're worried they won't be able to compete with goods imported from other Asean countries. A: It's definitely true that they are at a competitive disadvantage. But there's not much the government can do to support them, because it doesn't have the money. However, recently the government has been providing technical training for factory workers, with funding from donors. The trainers come right into the industrial zones. That's progress, compared to the past. Q: So what will happen to local manufacturers when zero-tariff imports start coming in from other Asean countries? A: Actually, it's hard to say, as some products will be zero-tariff, but others will still be taxed at a rate of zero to five percent. In fact, there are three kinds of applicable taxes: customs duties, sales taxes, and corporate taxes. Of these, only the customs duties will be removed. All companies—both local and foreign—will have to pay the other two types of tax after 2015. As for whether local businesses can compete under these circumstances, we should bear in mind that in the past, customs duties were 15 percent, and now they're just five percent. If taxes were any higher, consumers would be the losers—or goods would just be imported illegally. After 2015, I expect some local factories will be forced to shut their doors if they can't compete with imported goods. The quality and quantity of the products will not be the same [as those produced in Myanmar]. But I think the government will give local manufacturers until 2018 to become more competitive, because Myanmar is a CLMV country [one of the less-developed members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations: Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam]. Q: Why hasn't there been very much investment in heavy industry in Myanmar so far? A: There are many factors. The major one is that the government can't provide enough electricity. For example, Samsung has told me that they want to build electronics factories here. They could employ 40,000 people, but the government has only offered them the land, with no guarantees of a reliable supply of electricity. They need more than 50 megawatts per day. The government has told them they can produce their own electricity, but they're not power producers. If the government provided natural gas, it might be possible, but most of the natural gas is being sold to foreign countries. Labor, on the other hand, is no problem. Wages are still much cheaper than in neighboring countries. In Thailand, for example, the basic monthly salary is US$300 a month. People here would be happy to work for less than half that amount. Another concern is the unstable political situation here. Foreign investors are worried that the country might revert to military rule. This is an especially big concern for heavy industry, which must make very large investments. This interview first appeared in the August 2014 issue of The Irrawaddy magazine. The post In The Zone appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine. | |
| A Lifetime of War, with No Peace in Sight Posted: 10 Aug 2014 05:00 PM PDT  Lazum Htang, left, and his wife, Gaw Lu Hkang, at the Nhkawng Pa IDP camp in Momauk Township, Kachin State. (Photo: Seamus Martov / The Irrawaddy) NHKAWNG PA, Kachin State — Lazum Htang, a 92-year-old Kachin man living at the Nhkawng Pa camp for internally displaced persons (IDP) near Kachin State's border with China, doesn't think very highly of Myanmar's military. "I am very unhappy now because of the army," he says, expressing a view shared by many of his fellow Kachin. Unlike the vast majority of the estimated 100,000-plus Kachin people displaced by the current conflict in their home state, however, Lazum Htang has a special reason to be displeased with Myanmar's Tatmadaw, or armed forces: He was once on their side. It was while serving in the Tatmadaw in Nyaung Lay Bin in 1949 that he got shot in the arm by rebels from the Karen National Defense Organization (the precursor to the Karen National Union) during a massive Kayin offensive which began shortly after Myanmar achieved independence. The bullet passed through his arm, leaving a scar that is still visible nearly 70 years later. Lazum Htang originally joined a Kachin unit in the military in 1946 during the brief resumption of colonial rule that followed the country's liberation from the Japanese. Like many other ethnic people of his generation, his memories of that period were positive. "We were free during the time of the British," he says. He was discharged in 1957, but his 11-plus years of service in the Tatmadaw, most of which were spent in the 2nd Kachin Rifles, would come in handy when the Kachin uprising began in 1961. Like many of his fellow Kachin, Lazum Htang joined the Kachin Independence Organization's (KIO) village militia forces. It was an extremely difficult time, he says. Unlike the well-supplied KIO of today, in those days, the group had only the barest of necessities. "We only had one set of clothes and homemade guns," he recalls. While he and his unit were going hungry deep in the forest, his wife Gaw Lu Hkang, now in her mid-eighties, was left to look after the kids. Things got particularly bad after she and her children were forced to flee their village for the first time in 1964 and again the next year. "The army rounded up the villagers many times. The first time we fled was very difficult; we had no food," she recalls. It was while they were on the run from the military that three of their 15 children succumbed to illness. After the KIO made gains in their area in the 1960s, Lazum Htang returned to farming and raising his large family. Life was difficult but manageable. The resumption of hostilities in Kachin State in 2011 once again meant that Lazum Htang and his family were displaced. "If this was a good government, we wouldn't need to run," he says. According to Lazum Htang, this latest episode in the Kachin conflict has been worse for civilians than those that came before. "Now the army troops are worse. Whatever they see, they kill," he says—a view supported by numerous human rights reports highlighting the army's targeting of civilians during their ongoing operations in Kachin State. Hard of hearing and having difficulty walking, Lazum Htang is resigned to the fact that he isn't likely to outlive the conflict. "We're just staying here to die," he says. But, he adds: "We don't want to die in the camp. We want to die at home." At these words, his wife of 60 years, who is sitting quietly next to him, breaks down in tears. This story first appeared in the August 2014 issue of The Irrawaddy magazine. The post A Lifetime of War, with No Peace in Sight appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine. | |
| China Rebuffs US Efforts on South China Sea Tensions Posted: 10 Aug 2014 09:50 PM PDT  Dignitaries hold hands as they pose for a photo before the 4th East Asia Summit (EAS) Foreign Ministers Meeting at the Myanmar International Convention Centre (MICC) in Naypyidaw, August 10, 2014. (Photo: Reuters) NAYPYIDAW — China appeared to rebuff pressure from the United States to rein in its assertive actions in the South China Sea on Sunday as Southeast Asian nations declined to overtly back Washington's proposal for a freeze on provocative acts. The lack of progress in resolving the maritime tensions at Asia's highest-profile diplomatic meeting so far this year shows the tough task Washington faces in persuading smaller Asian nations to risk antagonizing the region's rising power. Foreign ministers from the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) released a statement expressing concern over "increased tensions" and called for stepped-up talks with China, in what US officials said was a setback for Beijing's efforts to play down the disputes. But there was no specific mention of China, and Asean only "noted" a formal three-point plan submitted by US ally the Philippines for a moratorium on destabilizing actions. The rancor over the disputed sea has split Asean, with several states including some of the claimant nations reluctant to jeopardize rising trade and investment ties with China. Beijing has been able to use its influence to block regional action on the maritime issue, most notably in 2012 when an Asean meeting chaired by Chinese ally Cambodia broke down in acrimony. "We urged all parties concerned to exercise self-restraint and avoid actions which would complicate the situation and undermine peace, stability, and security in the South China Sea," Asean said in a communiqué following its meeting this weekend in the Burmese capital Naypyidaw. Their meeting was part of the Asean Regional Forum, which brings together 27 countries including China, Russia, Japan, India and Australia. Sea tensions spiked in May when China parked a giant oil rig in waters claimed by Vietnam. The US and Philippine proposals aimed to prevent such actions, as well as building and land reclamation work on disputed islands being carried out by China and other claimants. A senior US official said Asean countries' concern over China's maritime actions was at an "all-time high" based on private conversations, although their public statements were more guarded to avoid antagonizing China. US Secretary of State John Kerry said he was satisfied with the communiqué. "I think the language goes far enough," Kerry told reporters. "I think we made the points that we came to make. We were not seeking to pass something, we were trying to put something on the table that people could embrace." Code of Conduct The communiqué did call for Asean and China to finalize a proposed Code of Conduct to ease maritime tensions, including "concrete elements" to promote trust and confidence. They have begun talks on the code but made little substantive progress. "This language represents a significant setback for China's efforts to play for time and change the subject," said one senior US administration official. Chinese officials were not immediately available for comment. China rejects US involvement in the dispute and has already dismissed the proposal for a freeze. China accuses the United States of emboldening claimants such as the Philippines and Vietnam with its military "pivot" back to Asia. Asean and China signed a trust-building agreement in 2002 called the Declaration of Conduct (DOC), committing to exercise "self-restraint" in activities that would escalate disputes, such as occupying islands and reefs or building on them. Most claimants have flouted those guidelines, leading to rising tension between four Asean claimant nations and China, which claims 90 percent of the waters. The Asean secretary-general, Le Luong Minh, said it was wrong to assume that the group did not support the US proposal, noting that China and Asean had committed to implement the 2002 agreement. "This clearly shows that the essence of the proposal of the US is already reflected in the DOC," Minh said. The Philippines accused China in May of reclaiming land on the disputed Johnson South Reef and said it appeared to be building an airstrip. Taiwan is building a US$100 million port next to an airstrip on the lone island it occupies in the disputed region. As well as Johnson South Reef, a Philippine navy official told Reuters China was continuing land reclamation work on Gaven, Cuarteron and Eldad Reefs in the disputed Spratlys chain. The post China Rebuffs US Efforts on South China Sea Tensions appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine. | |
| Australian Parents of Thai Surrogate Twin Say They Feared Losing Both Babies Posted: 10 Aug 2014 09:45 PM PDT  Gammy, a baby born with Down's Syndrome, is fed by his surrogate mother Pattaramon Janbua at a hospital in Chonburi province on Aug. 3, 2014. (Photo: Reuters / Damir Sagolj) SYDNEY — The Australian biological parents of twins caught up in a surrogacy scandal in Thailand wanted both babies but the surrogate mother threatened to involve the police and they feared she would keep both children, they said on Sunday. David and Wendy Farnell were speaking publicly for the first time since the story broke more than a week ago of 7-month-old baby Gammy, who has Down's syndrome and is being cared for by his surrogate mother in Thailand. The couple told Australian television they felt they had little choice but to leave Thailand with Gammy's healthy sister. "We wanted to bring him with us," David Farnell, 56, told the Nine Network's 60 Minutes program. They returned to Australia with Gammy's sister Pipah as the surrogate mother Pattaramon Janbua had told them "if we try to take our little boy, she's going to get the police and she's going to come and take our little girl and she's going to keep both of the babies," he said. The couple have been criticized for apparently rejecting the boy, who also has a hole in his heart and is being treated for a lung infection in a Thai hospital. 60 Minutes said the couple were not paid for the interview. Pattaramon said doctors, the surrogate agency and the baby's parents had known that Gammy was disabled when she was four months pregnant but had not told her until the seventh month. She said she had feared she would be asked to abort him but would have refused due to her Buddhist beliefs. The Farnells said they were angry that the agency had not told them about the boy's condition until too late in the pregnancy to safely abort. They said they want the baby. The case has drawn international attention to the lack of regulation of international surrogacy and sparked calls in Australia for an overhaul of laws to cut the number of couples traveling abroad for surrogates. Public outrage intensified last week when it became known that David Farnell was jailed in 1997 for sex offences involving three girls aged under 13. "I have been convicted of child sex offences and I hang my head in shame for that," he told 60 Minutes, adding that he had reformed and was no longer a risk to children. As commercial surrogacy is outlawed in Australia many couples turn to clinics in Thailand and India. Thailand has no clear legal framework for surrogacy. Commercial surrogacy is barred by the Medical Council of Thailand but non-profit surrogacy is permitted for blood relatives, and exceptions are permitted on a case-by-case basis. A draft law banning commercial surrogacy in Thailand has been submitted to the military government, an official of the Social Development and Human Security Ministry said on Thursday. The Australian government has asked the Thai authorities to allow for the completion of any current commercial surrogate arrangements before introducing changes. Hands Across the Water, an Australian-run children's charity based in Thailand, will administer the more than A$241,000 (US$224,000) raised so far in an online public appeal for Gammy's medical treatment and care. Additional reporting by Morag McKinnon in Perth. The post Australian Parents of Thai Surrogate Twin Say They Feared Losing Both Babies appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine. | |
| US Urges India to Step Up as Regional Power Posted: 10 Aug 2014 09:41 PM PDT  U.S. Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel (center, R) shakes hands with India’s Defense Minister Arun Jaitley (center, L) before Hagel’s ceremonial reception in New Delhi August 8, 2014. (Photo: Reuters) NEW DELHI — The United States urged India on Saturday to bolster its role as a global power and force for regional stability, ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s first visit to Washington since his election in May. In a speech wrapping up two days of talks, Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel also played up deepening defense industry cooperation but did not have any major new arms export deals to announce. "The United States strongly supports India’s growing global influence and military capabilities including its potential as a security provider from the Indian Ocean to the greater Pacific," Hagel told an invited audience. Both Washington and New Delhi share concerns about the increasing geopolitical assertiveness of China, which from economic parity with India in 1980 now has an economy that is four times as large. India, which has embraced non-alignment since independence in 1947, long relied on the Soviet Union to equip its armed forces. But, in recent years, it has become the largest buyer of U.S. weaponry. Before Hagel’s visit, Indian officials played up chances that orders for U.S. Apache and Chinook helicopters, both made by Boeing, might advance. No announcement was made on those deals but officials have said the two sides would deepen cooperation on missile systems. Hagel, in a speech at the Observer Research Foundation, a privately funded think-tank, noted that India had spent $9 billion on U.S. defense equipment since 2008 – compared to half a billion dollars before then. "But we can do more to forge a defense industrial partnership," he said, calling to "transform our nations’ defense cooperation from simply buying and selling to co-production, co-development and freer exchange of technology." India’s cabinet has just cleared a proposal to allow 49 percent foreign participation in the defense industry, up from a current cap of 26 percent, in a bid to boost local manufacturing and end its chronic dependence on arms imports. Some Western manufacturers have been lukewarm about the raising of the cap on defense investment, saying it did not go far enough for them to transfer technology to India. Laying the Ground Hagel’s visit, which followed Secretary of State John Kerry’s a week earlier, seeks to lay the ground for Modi’s first trip to the United States, where he will meet President Barack Obama at the end of September. The Hindu nationalist was denied a U.S. visa in 2005 over communal rioting in Gujarat three years earlier where, as state premier, he faced criticism for failing to prevent the killing of more than 1,000 people, mainly Muslims. He has denied wrongdoing and was exonerated in an investigation later ordered by the Supreme Court. Modi has, in less than three months in power, practiced a ‘neighborhood first’ foreign policy, inviting regional leaders to his inauguration and making brief trips to Bhutan and Nepal. In the weeks ahead, he will engage with India’s most important counterparts –first travelling to Japan, receiving Chinese President Xi Jinping and then heading to Washington. "Just as America need not choose between its Asian alliances and its constructive relationship with China, India need not choose between closer partnership with America and improved ties with China," said Hagel, who was due next to visit Australia. The post US Urges India to Step Up as Regional Power appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine. |
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