The Irrawaddy Magazine |
- Case of Slain Journalist Returns to Court, But Family Say They Weren’t Invited
- Mongla Rebels Say ‘Full Control’ of Region Brings Development
- Thai Court Allows Review of DNA Evidence in Koh Tao Murders
- ‘This is Yoga for Everybody, Yoga for All’
- Burma’s Formerly Blacklisted Businessman Urges US to Delist Others
- Khin Aung Myint Hints at Opposition to Suu Kyi Presidency
- Madae Islanders Claim Premature End to Pipeline Development Assistance
- Ethnic Peace Conference to Begin in Wa Territory
- 40 Years After Vietnam War, North-South Wounds Fester
- A Pigeon-Size Dinosaur With Bat Wings? Strange But True
- North Korean Leader Ordered Execution of 15 Officials This Year: Seoul
- Aid Begins Arriving in Nepal’s Remote Quake-Hit Villages
| Case of Slain Journalist Returns to Court, But Family Say They Weren’t Invited Posted: 30 Apr 2015 06:28 AM PDT  Ma Thandar addresses the media on Nov. 6. (Photo: JPaing / The Irrawaddy) RANGOON — A court inquiry into the death of a journalist while in the custody of the Burma Army continued on Thursday, amid claims by his family that they had been left in the dark about the proceedings. The second of three scheduled hearings in the case of freelance reporter Aung Kyaw Naing, also known as Par Gyi, was held in Mon State's Kyaikmayaw Township, where three key witnesses were called upon for testimony. The next and last hearing has been set for May 11. Par Gyi's widow, Ma Thandar, told The Irrawaddy that she was not informed of Thursday's hearing and was previously unaware of an earlier session held in April. She further claimed that the witnesses called into court were unlikely to present compelling evidence. Par Gyi was apprehended in conflict-affected Mon State by the Burma Army late last September, and remained missing for several weeks as Ma Thandar, a renowned human rights activist, repeatedly called for a search. Weeks later, the military informed a member of the Interim Press Council that he had been killed while attempting to seize a weapon and flee from custody. The Council was informed that he had been buried shortly after his death. The military did not identify Par Gyi as a journalist, instead portraying him as a member of a rebel armed group. On Oct. 31, President Thein Sein ordered the Myanmar National Human Rights Commission to investigate Par Gyi's death. His body was exhumed from the grave on Nov. 5, revealing possible signs of torture. The corpse was later transferred to Rangoon and buried among hundreds of supporters. The Commission's report, released in early December, did not address claims of torture and was rejected by the victim's family and their lawyer. The report did, however, recommend that the case be brought before a civilian court. In February of this year, Ma Thandar appealed to Kyaikmayaw authorities to expedite the hearing. She said that despite several requests for a ruling, she had not been informed of any of the court dates. "I didn't even know there was a session today," she told The Irrawaddy. She said she was told that she had been sent a summons, but she maintains that she never received it. "I asked [the judge] to show me a copy of the summons but they wouldn't let me see. Summonses are sent by the post office, so I asked for the post voucher but the judge wouldn't show it to me," she said. Ma Thandar expressed concern that the case would not result in justice. She said the witnesses were far removed from the events and hardly knew her late husband. The court heard testimony from three men on Thursday: Phone Myint, a local dockworker who sighted Par Gyi before the incident; Phay Than, a local administrator; and Hla Soe Myint, a motorcycle driver. "Phay Than didn't know and didn't see Par Gyi," she said. "He only heard that he was caught by the military, and that was several hours later." The family's lawyer, Robert San Aung, displayed similar concerns. "I'm afraid this [investigation] will lead us further from the truth," he said. The post Case of Slain Journalist Returns to Court, But Family Say They Weren't Invited appeared first on The Irrawaddy. |
| Mongla Rebels Say ‘Full Control’ of Region Brings Development Posted: 30 Apr 2015 06:24 AM PDT Click to view slideshow. MONGLA, Shan State — Leaders of the Mongla rebel group told visiting ethnic leaders and reporters of their achievements in developing Special Region 4 in northeastern Shan State on Tuesday, saying they had "full control" over the area and established "a complete system of government" that provides adequate public services. "We supply 24 hours of electric power here because we have our own hydropower dam," a Mongla leader named Sai Mauk told ethnic armed group leaders and journalists during a dinner at Mongla town on Tuesday night. "Here we run a complete system of government. We did not ask anything from the [central] government for this region's development. But the government provided us with school teachers and medics for education and health services," he said, adding that his administration paid the civil servants but operated the schools and hospitals independently. "We have full power to control our region. If they [the Burma Army] want to cross into our area they have to inform us first," Sai Mauk said when asked whether the central government has any influence in the region. Sai Mauk is a leader of the National Democratic Alliance Army's (NDAA), who were hosting ethnic Mon and Karenni leaders and about half a dozen journalists in Mongla, where the latter group stayed before travelling further west to the neighboring United Wa State Army (UWSA)'s Special Region 2. From May 1-6, the UWSA is hosting a conference between ethnic groups involved in the drafting of the preliminary nationwide ceasefire accord with the government and several ethnic armed groups that have not directly participated in the process. The UWSA and NDAA are observers to the ceasefire process but are not members of the Nationwide Ceasefire Coordination Committee (NCCT), which represents 16 ethnic armed groups who reached an in-principle agreement with the government last month on the text for a nationwide ceasefire accord. Twelve NCCT members will attend the meeting at the UWSA headquarters in Pangshang together with several groups that are not recognized by the government, such as the Kokang and Arakan ethnic rebels currently battling the Burma Army. The meeting will focus on discussing the ceasefire text. The approximately 3,000-strong ethnic Shan NDAA is one of three armed groups in northern Shan State that was formed when the China-backed Communist Party of Burma collapsed and split in 1989. The ethnic Wa fighters formed the UWSA, a 20,000-strong army equipped with sophisticated Chinese arms, and control the Special Region 2. The ethnic Kokang formed a third, small armed group controlling Laukkai located to the west of the Wa region. The three border-based groups and former comrades maintain close military links and have been accused of earning income from large-scale drug smuggling and production, gun-running and gambling. Their areas of control—where the Chinese yuan is the main currency—have also seen rapid real estate development, such as hotels, casinos and shops, improved infrastructure and an expansion of rubber plantations. The groups have had relatively stable ceasefires with the government, but the issue of autonomy for their regions remains unresolved. Sai Mauk rejected well-documented reports that have described Mongla as a seedy border town known for attracting Chinese gamblers, prostitution and rampant illegal wildlife trade, saying this reputation was based on "wrong information." Instead, he boasted of the achievements of his armed group since it signed a ceasefire with Burma's then-military government in 1989, an agreement that gave it autonomy to administer the 4,950-square-kilometer Special Region 4. "We are having new road construction projects. Sorry you're having a hard time to travel here in the meantime," he told dinner guests, adding that journalists would be welcome to visit Mongla hydropower dam on the Mekong River in the Golden Triangle region situated between Burma, Thailand and Laos. The NDAA was granted permission by the central government in 2012 to produce 1,000 tons of timber, construct hydropower plants and operate mineral mines in its area. New Mon State Party leader Nai Htaw Mon told the NDAA leaders that he was impressed with level of development in Special Region 4. "Your region has seen a lot of development—it's even better than in Yangon, as it has constant electric power," said the Mon rebel leader. Rangoon, Burma's biggest city, is frequently hit by power cuts that last several hours. Kha Maung, a NDAA Central Committee member, joked that life was pleasant in Mongla and that living in the army-built capital Naypyidaw, situated in sweltering plains of central Burma, would be terrible by comparison. "We threaten our troops sometimes with sending them to Naypyidaw to be abandoned there—they become really afraid because they know Naypyidaw is a hot and isolated place. They do not want to be there," he said, prompting laughter from the dinner guests. The post Mongla Rebels Say 'Full Control' of Region Brings Development appeared first on The Irrawaddy. |
| Thai Court Allows Review of DNA Evidence in Koh Tao Murders Posted: 30 Apr 2015 05:56 AM PDT  People wait in line as Thai police collect data as part of their investigation into the murder of two British tourists on the island of Koh Tao. (Photo: Reuters) RANGOON — A court on the Thai island of Koh Samui has agreed to allow a review of the DNA test results for two Burmese migrant workers accused of murdering a pair of British tourists in Thailand last year, after the defendants' lawyers made the request at a reconvening of their trial on Thursday. Win Zaw Htun and Zaw Lin, both migrant workers in their early 20s, are accused of the double murder on Koh Tao island on Sept. 15. The case has captured international headlines amid concerns about the investigation's credibility stemming in part from the defendants' allegation that they were tortured while in police custody. "We requested to verify that the DNA results were tested in accordance with proper procedures at today's trial, and the court approved it this evening," Aung Myo Thant, a Burmese lawyer who is part of a Burmese Embassy team supporting the defendants, told The Irrawaddy on Thursday. He said the defense asked for the review because prosecutors were using an alleged DNA match between the defendants and evidence collected at the crime scene to underpin their case, along with the two men's alleged confession, which they have since retracted. The two migrants, both from Burma's Arakan State, were arrested in October by Thai authorities, two weeks after the battered bodies of two British tourists were found on a beach in Koh Tao. They were indicted in December following a controversial two-month investigation that critics said both lacked transparency and sufficient evidence. Police said Win Zaw Htun and Zaw Lin had confessed to the killings but the men later renounced it, claiming they had been tortured while in custody. Thai police have denied the torture allegations. Andy Hall, a migrant labor rights activist who has also been assisting the defendants in the case, posted on his Facebook on Thursday that the DNA tests would be reviewed, along with physical and forensics evidence, by the Thai Ministry of Justice's Central Institute of Forensic Science. Aung Myo Thant said the Burmese Embassy team was working with the Thai National Human Rights Commission and Lawyers Council of Thailand to help the defendants. Meanwhile, Rangoon's Kyauktada Township Court on Wednesday sentenced three activists from the Democracy Forces group to three months in prison for holding a protest related to the case without permission. The trio of demonstrators had called for justice for the two accused Burmese migrants during the visit of Thai Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha to Rangoon in October. They were charged under Article 18 of the Peaceful Assembly Law. The post Thai Court Allows Review of DNA Evidence in Koh Tao Murders appeared first on The Irrawaddy. |
| ‘This is Yoga for Everybody, Yoga for All’ Posted: 30 Apr 2015 05:11 AM PDT Click to view slideshow. Sanjay Kumar, a professional yoga therapy trainer, now works at the Embassy of India in Rangoon, which offers affordable Yoga courses for various levels of proficiency. Sanjay, who graduated from Kasturba Medical College in Karnataka, India, said the course is intended to foster a "healthy relationship" between Burma and India by promoting the Indian tradition while providing a source of physical and spiritual health. A project of the India Council for Cultural Relations, the course will include three styles of the ancient art: Ashtanga, Hatha and Bihar yoga. In addition to leading the courses, Sanjay also gives outdoor demonstrations in such places as Kandawgyi Park, the Myanmar Convention Center and Thuwanna Stadium. The Irrawaddy recently visited the Indian Embassy to speak with Sanjay about the benefits of yoga and the impetus for the program. Are local people in Rangoon interested in yoga? Have you seen an increase in the number of participants since you began offering the course? Our class is open to anyone. Many people, including foreigners, are coming. Staffs from the British Embassy and the Japanese Embassy are also attending. Participants are Chinese, Austrian, Japanese, Singaporean, Italian, French and American. Most [participants] are Myanmar people, but others also come. Everybody can join. When I came here, there were 125 students, now there are about 250 to 300 in eight classes at the beginner and advanced levels. Most people come for health reasons, to keep fit and have peace of mind, to do well in their jobs. What are the main health benefits of yoga? Of the people who come here, some have back pain, some have neck pain. Some are obese. People have very different problems. Sometimes they are stressed; their lives feel hectic, they have too much work to do. They can't sleep at night. After practicing yoga for one or two months, they come to me and thank me for solving their problems. How is yoga helping the Embassy to build a "healthy relationship" with Burma? We are approaching the common people, it's easy to connect. They come here and they feel better. The Indian Embassy only charges $5 per month [5,000 kyats]. We are helping Myanmar people with their health and supporting them to keep fit. They are fit and feeling fresh. Sometimes people have disease, or back pain. After class, I will give them special training for about 10 to 15 minutes. I help them like this. Do many people come to you and tell you about their health problems? How many leave feeling satisfied? Many people taking the class tell me about their problems. More than 30 percent. Somebody came to me and told me, "thank you very much, I am relieved." They also tell others to do yoga by sharing their experiences. Why should people try yoga? I think everybody should learn Yoga. It is preventive of future ailments. Suppose people practice regularly, in the future, they will have better health. If you have time for half an hour, practice half an hour. If you have time once a week, practice weekly. This is not linked to religion. This is yoga for everybody, yoga for all. In the yoga textbook, it says, "Whether young or old, very old, sick or feeble, one can attain perfection in yoga by practicing." Everybody can practice. Those who want to achieve spiritual power, they can also practice. The post 'This is Yoga for Everybody, Yoga for All' appeared first on The Irrawaddy. |
| Burma’s Formerly Blacklisted Businessman Urges US to Delist Others Posted: 30 Apr 2015 05:10 AM PDT  Businessman Win Aung, second left, shakes hands with US Assistant Secretary of State Jose Fernandez after the signing of a memorandum of understanding on Feb. 25, 2013. (Photo: The Irrawaddy) RANGOON — The first Burmese businessman to be removed from a US blacklist since the country emerged from military rule said on Thursday that the United States should delist more people so they can partner with American companies to develop the economy. Win Aung and his two companies, Dagon International Ltd. and Dagon Timber Ltd., were the first to be taken off the blacklist since Washington started to ease a near-total ban on business with Burma in 2012 after a semi-civilian government took power the previous year. Dozens of Burma's businessmen remain on the sanctions list, and Win Aung said he hoped that those who meet the US Treasury Department's criteria could be removed soon. "If they can create more business, they can create more job opportunities," he said in his first interview since the April 24 delisting. Once one of the most developed countries in the region, Burma's economy was eviscerated by mismanagement and corruption during 49 years of military rule. Western countries further isolated the Southeast Asian nation by imposing sanctions in response to human rights abuses. Burma launched widespread economic and political reforms in 2011, convincing the United States and other Western countries to suspend most sanctions. But many in Burma now feel the reform process has stalled. The US sanctions regime included the entire government as well as businessmen such as Win Aung, who were accused of providing financial support to the junta. The Treasury Department is not required to provide information about why someone is placed on the blacklist to the public or even to the individual, but classified diplomatic cables released by Wikileaks provide some clues. The cables allege that Win Aung illegally exported US$5 million worth of teak logs to China, and used connections to ruling generals to win lucrative contracts to help build Naypyidaw, the capital that was constructed secretly and unveiled by the regime in 2005. "I find a lot of the information in the Wikileaks is not correct," Win Aung said. He said the regime ordered most construction companies in Burma to build at least two buildings in Naypyidaw, which he did. He said he has never exported logs to China and provided Treasury with company records to prove it. The US State Department statement gave no details on why Win Aung was removed from the list, but his former lawyer, John Viverito, told Reuters that Win Aung's willingness to open his company's books was likely a main factor. The post Burma's Formerly Blacklisted Businessman Urges US to Delist Others appeared first on The Irrawaddy. |
| Khin Aung Myint Hints at Opposition to Suu Kyi Presidency Posted: 30 Apr 2015 04:23 AM PDT  Khin Aung Myint, speaker of the Upper House of Parliament, arrives to attend Burma's six-party talks at the Presidential palace in Naypyidaw on Apr. 10. (Photo: Soe Zeya Tun / Reuters) RANGOON — Khin Aung Myint appears to have once again poured cold water on opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi's post-election prospects, after the Upper House speaker said that questions of the presidency should be considered within the "national interest". During an interview with South Korea's Yonhap news agency, Khin Aung Myint said that while he would like to see Suu Kyi participate in the country's leadership, it was important for those contesting this year's general election that the country's future prospects were considered ahead of individual ambitions. "We should look at this problem not from the point of one individual, but from the point of the national interest of the country," he said. "There should not be an emphasis on one or another person over the process of deciding the fate of the country as a whole." The speaker’s comments come amid growing certainty from political observers that a referendum to consider amendments to the 2008 military-drafted constitution, which bars Suu Kyi from the presidency, is unlikely to occur before the election. Union Parliament Speaker Shwe Mann, who is perceived to be close with Suu Kyi, said last October that Article 59(f) should be amended to allow the opposition leader to contest the presidency. The constitutional provision prevents those with close relatives in possession of foreign citizenship, as is the case with Suu Kyi's children, from holding presidential office. Political analyst Yan Myo Thein told The Irrawaddy that Khin Aung Myint's more conciliatory comments about the opposition leader, along with Shwe Mann's comments on charter reform last year, were a strategic intervention by the leadership of the incumbent Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP). "It is a political strategy…to receive support in creating closer relationship with the opposition leader, to make Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and observers believe that her rivals are in separate moderate and hardline factions. There is no such division between the leaders of the USDP," he said. Khin Aung Myint, Shwe Mann and Suu Kyi are all members of the parliamentary six-party talks, which will discuss proposals for constitutional reform. The talks commenced in April after they were proposed in November last year, and the leaders are scheduled to meet again in May. The post Khin Aung Myint Hints at Opposition to Suu Kyi Presidency appeared first on The Irrawaddy. |
| Madae Islanders Claim Premature End to Pipeline Development Assistance Posted: 30 Apr 2015 01:54 AM PDT  A work site at the Shwe gas project on Madae Island in 2013. (Photo: The Irrawaddy) RANGOON — Residents of Madae Island in Arakan State have criticized Myanmar Oil and Gas Enterprise (MOGE) and the China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC), claiming that regional development assistance promised to local communities has been prematurely halted. The two state-owned enterprises of China and Burma are operating oil and gas pipelines from the Arakan State of Kyaukphyu to China's Yunnan province. Early this year the companies promised Madae islanders electricity and access to the telecommunications network, a commitment which locals say has now been abandoned. "They donated money for building a cell tower and installing meter boxes, Tun Kyi, chairman of the Madae Island Development Committee, told The Irrawaddy. "They failed to keep all their promises." Arakan State Chief Minister Maung Maung Ohn, along with CNPC and MOGE personnel, together presented locals with a billboard that promised US$420,000 to provide electricity, phone connections and a mobile phone tower for 704 households in the Madae Island villages of Kyauktan, Yawama and Pyeinywa. Though the tower has been built and phone lines have been installed, not every household has received a meter box, said locals, adding that they have taken their grievances to the Kyaukphyu Township administration and not received a response. Nyi Nyi Lin, Kyaukphyu Township's administrator, told The Irrawaddy that more than half of the development assistance to the villages had been completed, and the remaining work had been halted due to a funding shortfall. He said he had been informed that the CNPC would resume work in May. "40% of the development projects remain because we still have not received money from CNPC," he said. "We have to seek the funds via MOGE to get the money. They said they would send the money after Thingyan. Once they send the money, we can install meter boxes." Nyi Nyi Lin said more than 500 of the houses receiving development assistance had been fitted with meter boxes for electricity connections, and compensation had also been dispensed for villagers whose lands were affected by the construction of the pipelines. Since work on the pipelines began in 2011, Madae Island villagers have staged a number of demonstrations against the projects, and most of their demands for compensation and infrastructure development remain unfulfilled. Villagers say the project has left a number of locals landless and without employment. The post Madae Islanders Claim Premature End to Pipeline Development Assistance appeared first on The Irrawaddy. |
| Ethnic Peace Conference to Begin in Wa Territory Posted: 29 Apr 2015 10:47 PM PDT    PANGHSANG, Wa Special Region — The United Wa State Army (UWSA) will from Friday play host to a meeting of ethnic armed groups, who are involved in the drafting of the preliminary nationwide ceasefire accord. A total of 12 ethnic groups are expected to convene in Panghsang, a town located on the Burma-China border, where the powerful UWSA has its headquarters. Though the ethnic conference in Panghsang was scheduled to run for three days, it has been extended until May 6 in order to comprehensively discuss outstanding concerns over ethnic affairs and the peace process. On Mar. 30, the government agreed in principle with the Nationwide Ceasefire Coordination Team (NCCT), which represents 16 ethnic organizations, on the text for a nationwide ceasefire. The occasion was hailed by the government as a breakthrough, although the NCCT said it would have to take the draft text back to ethnic leaders, who would need to convene and endorse its content before an accord could be signed. The UWSA is not participating in ceasefire negotiations with the government. The post Ethnic Peace Conference to Begin in Wa Territory appeared first on The Irrawaddy. |
| 40 Years After Vietnam War, North-South Wounds Fester Posted: 29 Apr 2015 10:16 PM PDT  A man looks at photos taken during the Vietnam War, at a photo exhibition held in Hanoi ahead of the 40th anniversary of the end of the war. (Photo: Reuters) HO CHI MINH CITY, Vietnam — When Luu Dinh Trieu was drafted into the South Vietnamese army, he literally went to war against his father. His parents had moved quickly to the north in 1954 to support the communist cause after the country was split in half. Trieu, just a baby then, and his sister were raised by their grandmother just outside of Saigon. She warned him to tell everyone that his mother and father were dead; his father had become a high-ranking official in the north, and that knowledge could have been dangerous for the family he left behind. When Trieu was called to go to war in 1972, the 19-year-old wasn't thinking about his father. He knew only that if he refused to leave law school, he could be jailed or sent to the front lines, where death was almost guaranteed. So, he took up arms against the Viet Cong southern insurgents and rose to the rank of second lieutenant, earning metals for his bravery and for the injuries he endured. He didn't know his actions would separate his family—let alone that their struggle would also reflect the pain that still continues to divide north and south. "For most of the students in southern Vietnam at that time, we were drafted and did not want to fight," he said this week from his quiet, breezy home in a new housing complex just outside the central hub of what is now called Ho Chi Minh City. "All we wanted was to be slightly injured and be decommissioned." The Vietnam War, known here as the "American War," ended with the US-backed South Vietnamese capital of Saigon falling to northern forces on April 30, 1975. Many Vietnamese in the south feared an imminent bloodbath. Amid panicked chaos, they fled by US helicopters in the final days leading up to the end of the war. Hundreds of thousands more left on rickety boats in the years that followed, with many resettling and building new lives in America. As the north closed in, Trieu was told he, too, should leave the country. But he didn't want to flee. He wanted the family reunion he had longed for since childhood. "After 21 years apart," he said, "I was willing to suffer anything to see my parents again." That happened less than two weeks after the war ended, but the meeting was not as joyous as he had imagined. Trieu's parents had earlier learned that he had fought for the south. It was the last thing his father, a top official in the Communist Party's propaganda unit, had wanted. "He was frustrated and my mother was also frustrated," he said. "She cried for a week after learning that." Trieu's father told him to study hard and remake his life, but just a couple of days after their reunion, Trieu was sent to a re-education camp. Those who served as officers in the South Vietnamese army or worked closely with the Americans were rounded up and sent to camps where they were indoctrinated with Marxist dogma and subjected to backbreaking hard labor, often with little food or access to medical care. Many have said they were beaten and denied access to their families, sometimes for years. Trieu's sentence was six months. He was forced to learn about revolutionary leader Ho Chi Minh and the new communist system. He farmed vegetables and cleared timber in sweltering heat during the day and sang nationalistic songs at night. There wasn't enough clean water to take a bath, and food rations were thin. He learned that his father could have intervened to reduce his sentence, but did not. Rather than visit his son at camp, he sent him a letter telling him to work hard. "At the time, I was very angry with my father. The first time he abandoned me and my sister when I was 1 year old," Trieu said, adding he felt shunned again. "I cried and I tore up the letter." Life was hard in Vietnam after the war. A US trade embargo isolated the country as Hanoi embarked on failed socialist policies of collective farming, plunging its people deeper into severe poverty and isolation. By the mid-1980s, the Communist Party began introducing economic reforms that would open Vietnam up to capitalism and eventually to the world. Trieu wanted to become a journalist, but was told propaganda school was reserved for party members or those who fought for the north. Discrimination ran rampant, and southerners with ties to the South Vietnam government were barred from getting jobs or being accepted into colleges. Trieu turned to his father, and eventually he got accepted at the school, where some classmates taunted and ostracized him for having fought for the south. He moved to Hanoi, where he only saw his aging father on weekends, but during those years, he said the relationship warmed and he realized that his father had never truly given up on him. "I thought there was always love even though with my father there was a gap," he said. "But over time, the love of the father for the son could overcome that gap." Trieu went on to a long career in newspapers, which are still controlled by the government and heavily censored. Over time, the country has softened its stance toward southern supporters. Overseas Vietnamese, or Viet kieu, eventually began to slowly trickle back with their American dollars. The government has relaxed visa policies to make it easier for them to come home, and resentment and skepticism have gradually faded. Today, overseas Vietnamese send back US$12 billion in remittances and are important foreign investors. Even Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung—himself a former guerrilla fighter—has a Vietnamese-American son-in-law who fled the south at the end of the war with his family. But a deep divide still exists. In Vietnamese high school textbooks, the war is explained as "resistance against the Americans for national salvation," and the South Vietnamese military is referred to in some places as the "henchmen army." There is nothing written about why the south was fighting or its desire to remain a separate state free from communism. A former South Vietnamese military cemetery in Binh Duong province, just outside Ho Chi Minh City, houses up to 18,000 graves. It is a tangled mess of leaves and overgrown weeds, strewn trash, broken headstones and mounds of dark earth with missing or broken markers. About a kilometer away, a finely manicured graveyard for Viet Cong and northern soldiers is filled with neatly arranged, matching headstones. The shady grounds are scented by sweet plumeria trees and surrounded by giant statues that boast of the country's war martyrs and the sacrifice mothers gave to the country. Hanoi refuses to say how many South Vietnamese soldiers died in the war; some US estimates have put the number as high as 250,000. The government has said about 3 million communist forces and civilians perished during the conflict. Some 58,000 Americans were killed. War statues and monuments honoring North Vietnamese fighters pepper the country, but nothing exists for the south. "The greatest and most sacred monument always lies in the heart of each Vietnamese person," said Foreign Ministry spokesman Le Hai Binh, referring to dead South Vietnamese soldiers as "those people who passed away." The wound also still festers among many Vietnamese who fled to America and remain staunchly opposed to Hanoi's communist government. "The younger generations of Vietnamese-Americans are growing up steeped in this," said Steve Maxner, director of the Vietnam Center at Texas Tech University. "Both sides seem to be still entrenched in 1975. It hasn't gone away." Trieu, now 61 and retired, said his own experience is proof that time and understanding can heal the past—eventually. "If they did it right after the war, it would have been easier," he said of the north recognizing the south's role in the nation's history. "As more time passes, it becomes more difficult. It could be five, 10 years to accept that fact. It could be 50 years." The post 40 Years After Vietnam War, North-South Wounds Fester appeared first on The Irrawaddy. |
| A Pigeon-Size Dinosaur With Bat Wings? Strange But True Posted: 29 Apr 2015 10:14 PM PDT  A model of a dinosaur skeleton is seen during a dinosaur exhibition, in front of a residential complex in Kunming, Yunnan province, November 30, 2014. (Photo: Reuters) WASHINGTON — Scientists in China on Wednesday described one of the weirdest flying creatures ever discovered, a pigeon-size dinosaur with wings like a bat that lived not long before the first birds. The dinosaur, named Yi qi (meaning "strange wing" in Mandarin and pronounced EE-chee), lived about 160 million years during the Jurassic Period, about 10 million years before the earliest-known bird, Archaeopteryx. It is considered a cousin of birds, but boasted membranous wings made of skin like those of the extinct flying reptiles known as pterosaurs, which lived at the same time, and bats, which appeared more than 100 million years later, instead of the stiff, plume-like feathers of birds. Each wing was supported by a clawed, three-fingered hand and a rod-like bone extending from the wrist. One of the fingers was much longer than the others. Feathers preserved around its head, neck and limbs are more similar to hairs or bristles than to bird flight feathers. "It's hard to imagine that it could have flapped very effectively, since the rod-like bone was presumably a fairly unwieldy thing to have attached to the wrist," said paleontologist Corwin Sullivan of the Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology in Beijing. "So our guess would be that Yi qi was gliding or maybe combining gliding with some relatively inefficient flapping." Before aviation pioneers Orville and Wilbur Wright flew the world's first successful airplane, others dabbled with all manner of experimental flying machines. There was an analogous period of flight experimentation among dinosaurs before small feathered ones evolved into birds. Finding a dinosaur with membranous wings was "quite amazing and unexpected," Sullivan said. "Yi qi illustrates the flight-related evolutionary tinkering that was going on in the dinosaur precursors to birds." Patches of the membranous wing tissue were preserved in the fossil discovered in Hebei Province by a local farmer, but the overall wing shape remains uncertain. The dinosaur probably lived in trees and used peg-like teeth to munch lizards, mammals and insects, and perhaps fruit. "This guy is not far from the first birds, in fact," said paleontologist Xing Xu of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and Linyi University. "It belongs to a bizarre dinosaur group called the scansoriopterygids, which are closely related to the most primitive birds such as Archaeopteryx." Yi qi is the shortest name of any of the more than 700 identified dinosaur species. The research appears in the journal Nature. The post A Pigeon-Size Dinosaur With Bat Wings? Strange But True appeared first on The Irrawaddy. |
| North Korean Leader Ordered Execution of 15 Officials This Year: Seoul Posted: 29 Apr 2015 10:08 PM PDT  North Korean leader Kim Jong Un at the Wonsan Baby Home and Orphanage, in a photo released by the Korean Central News Agency on Apr. 22. (Photo: KCNA / Reuters) SEOUL — North Korean leader Kim Jong Un ordered the execution of 15 senior officials this year as punishment for challenging his authority, South Korea’s spy agency told a closed-door parliament meeting on Wednesday. A vice minister for forestry was one of the officials executed for complaining about a state policy, a member of parliament’s intelligence committee, Shin Kyung-min, quoted an unnamed National Intelligence Service official as saying. “Excuses or reasoning doesn’t work for Kim Jong Un, and his style of rule is to push through everything, and if there’s any objection, he takes that as a challenge to authority and comes back with execution as a showcase,” Shin said. “In the four months this year, fifteen senior officials are said to have been executed,” Shin cited the intelligence official as saying, according to his office. Shin added four members of the Unhasu Orchestra, where Kim’s wife, Ri Sol Ju, previously performed as a singer, were executed by firing squad in March for espionage, without elaborating. In 2013, Kim purged and executed his uncle, Jang Song Thaek, once considered the second most powerful man in Pyongyang’s leadership circle, for corruption and committing crimes damaging to the economy, along with a group of officials close to him. Kim has also reshuffled close aides and senior officials repeatedly since taking office. South Korea’s spy agency also expected Kim to travel to Moscow this month to attend an event marking the end of World War Two in Europe, although there was no independent confirmation of the plan, Shin said after the spy agency briefing. North Korea has not booked a hotel in Moscow for Kim’s stay, but the country’s embassy was equipped to accommodate its leader, Shin said, quoting the spy agency official. The visit would be Kim’s first overseas trip since he took power in 2011 after the death of his father. Russia has said Kim would attend the May 9 event marking the 70th anniversary of the war’s end in Europe, although officials in Seoul have cautioned that there was no official confirmation from the North. Some analysts have questioned whether Kim, believed to be in his early 30s, would choose for his first overseas visit an event where he would share the stage with several leaders and have less control over proceedings than in a two-way summit. South Korean President Park Geun-hye has decided not to attend the function. U.S. President Barack Obama and many European leaders are staying away, but Chinese President Xi Jinping and the heads of many former Soviet republics are expected to attend. The post North Korean Leader Ordered Execution of 15 Officials This Year: Seoul appeared first on The Irrawaddy. |
| Aid Begins Arriving in Nepal’s Remote Quake-Hit Villages Posted: 29 Apr 2015 10:02 PM PDT  Volunteers unload relief supply from a truck at Asslang village, in Gorkha, Nepal April 29, 2015. (Photo: Reuters) KATHMANDU — The first supplies of food aid began reaching remote, earthquake-shattered mountain villages in Nepal, while thousands clamored to board buses out of Kathmandu, either to check on rural relatives or for fear of spending yet another night in the damaged capital. Frustration over the slow delivery of humanitarian aid boiled over in a protest in the city, with about 200 people facing off with police and blocking traffic. The protest was comparatively small and no demonstrators were detained. But it reflected growing anger over bottlenecks that delayed much-needed relief days after the powerful earthquake that killed more than 5,500 people, injured twice that many and left tens of thousands homeless. Police, meanwhile, arrested dozens of people on suspicion of looting or causing panic by spreading rumors of another big quake. Helicopters finally brought food, temporary shelter and other aid to hamlets north of Kathmandu in the mountainous Gorkha District near the epicenter of Saturday's 7.8-magnitude quake. Entire clusters of homes there were reduced to piles of stone and splintered wood. Women greeted the delivery with repeated cries of "We are hungry!" While the death toll in the village of Gumda was low—only five people were killed and 20 were injured among 1,300 residents—most had lost their homes and desperately needed temporary shelter, along with the 40-kilogram (90-pound) sacks of rice that were delivered on Wednesday. Adding to residents' misery was the rain that has fallen periodically since the quake and hampered helicopter aid flights. The UN World Food Program warned that it will take time for food and other supplies to reach more remote communities that have been cut off by landslides. "More helicopters, more personnel and certainly more relief supplies, including medical teams, shelter, tents, water and sanitation and food, are obviously needed," said the program's Geoff Pinnock, who was coordinating the flights. With more than 8 million Nepalese affected by the earthquake, including 1.4 million who need immediate food assistance, Pinnock said the effort would continue for months. President Barack Obama called Prime Minister Sushil Koirala and discussed US military and civilian efforts already underway to help Nepal, the White House said. Police said the official death toll in Nepal had reached 5,489 as of late Wednesday. That figure did not include the 19 people killed at Mount Everest—five foreign climbers and 14 Nepalese Sherpa guides—when the quake unleashed an avalanche at base camp. At least 210 foreign trekkers and residents stranded in the Lantang area north of Kathmandu had been rescued, government administrator Gautam Rimal said. The area, which borders Tibet, is popular with tourists. In Kathmandu, where most buildings were spared complete collapse, many residents—fearing aftershocks—continued to camp in parks and other open spaces. But people were starting to leave tent cities like those in Kathmandu's Tudikhel area. Anop Bhattachan and more than two dozen relatives have been sleeping on the field since Saturday, but he said they now want to get out of the city. Thousands waited at bus stations in Kathmandu, hoping to reach their hometowns in rural areas. Some wanted to check on the fate of family and loved ones in the quake, while others were fearful of more aftershocks in the city. "I am hoping to get on a bus, any bus heading out of Kathmandu. I am too scared to be staying in Kathmandu," said Raja Gurung, who wanted to get to his home in western Nepal. "The house near my rented apartment collapsed. It was horrible. I have not gone indoors in many days. I would rather leave than live a life of fear in Kathmandu." Despite Wednesday's small protest, there were signs that life was inching back to normal in the capital. Banks opened for a few hours and refilled their ATMs with cash, some shops reopened and vendors returned to the streets. Even though Nabin and Laxmi Shrestha remained frightened about aftershocks, the husband and wife have reopened their tea shop. "I'm scared, but people are hungry. We need to feed them," Laxmi Shrestha said. Planes carrying food and other supplies have been steadily arriving at Kathmandu's small airport, but the aid distribution process remains fairly chaotic, with Nepalese officials having difficulty directing the flow of emergency supplies. A man who was freed after being trapped for 82 hours in a collapsed hotel gave details of his ordeal, saying he drank his own urine to survive. "I had some hope, but by yesterday I'd given up," Rishi Khanal told The Associated Press from his hospital bed on Wednesday. "My nails went all white and my lips cracked … I was sure no one was coming for me. I was certain I was going to die." The 27-year-old Khanal, whose foot was crushed under the debris, said he was surrounded by bodies and kept banging on the rubble until a French rescue team pulled him out. "I am thankful," he said. The post Aid Begins Arriving in Nepal's Remote Quake-Hit Villages appeared first on The Irrawaddy. |
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