AllSBNews: 01/18/16

Monday, January 18, 2016

The Irrawaddy Magazine

US Fortifies Friendship During Post-Poll Diplomatic Visit
Female Candidate Wins Local Election in Mon State
Hundreds of Yebyu Protesters Call for Mining Law Compliance
Translation Brings Tales of Woe Home to Burmese Readers
Teenager on Poppy Eradication Drive Shot Dead in Kachin State
Thein Sein Rings In Naga New Year, Calls for Unity
Australian-Karen Actress: ‘I Hope Karen People Will Have the Right to Self-Determination’
Peace Conference Closes With Promise of Prompt Restart
Thailand’s Ousted Shinawatra Clan Defies Junta with Publicity Drive
Missing Hong Kong Bookseller in China to Answer 11 Year-Old Conviction—State Media
China, Economy Tests for Taiwan Presidential Winner Tsai

US Fortifies Friendship During Post-Poll Diplomatic Visit

Posted: 18 Jan 2016 06:05 AM PST

US Deputy Secretary of State Antony Blinken addressed reporters in Rangoon on May 22, 2015. (Photo: Tin Htet Paing / The Irrawaddy)

RANGOON — The United States has branded itself a "full and committed partner" as Burma continues toward democracy, departing from Washington's former reticence in light of what looks likely to be a peaceful transfer of power to a freely elected government this year.

Speaking to reporters from the capital Naypyidaw, US Deputy Secretary of State Antony Blinken hailed the Nov. 8 general election as a "testament to the decades-long" effort to bring about reform in the former military state.

"This is a moment of great opportunity," Blinken said, "a moment for all of Myanmar's political leaders to work together to form a new government and address differences through dialogue."

The deputy secretary noted a number of outstanding issues on which the United States stands ready to assist in overcoming, chief among them economic growth, national reconciliation, the continued detention of political prisoners and the dire humanitarian situation in Arakan State.

Blinken last visited Burma in May 2015, at the height of a refugee crisis in the coastal state, where violence between Buddhists and Muslims in 2012 left more than 100 people dead and upwards of 100,000 others displaced.

Most of those affected were Rohingya Muslims, a stateless minority that was denied the right to vote in the recent polls. Many of those relegated to displacement camps have since fled, some falling prey to human trafficking syndicates along the Andaman coast.

Blinken also took a more affirmative stance on Burma's peace process, an effort undertaken by the current administration to end decades of civil conflict between the government and the country's more than 20 non-state armed groups. The United States has in the past taken an arm's-length approach to the divisive issue.

Pledging that "the United States will do whatever stakeholders in this historic effort believe will be helpful," Blinken urged once again that the outgoing government end all offensives and allow unfettered humanitarian access to civilians affected by the conflict, who now number more than 100,000.

On Monday, Blinken met with outgoing President Thein Sein, Burma Army second-in-command Soe Win and opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, whose National League for Democracy (NLD) party won a landslide victory in the November poll.

The NLD will occupy the majority of both houses of Parliament when it convenes on Feb. 1, and has the power to select the next president and one of two vice presidents. The other will be nominated by the military, which is guaranteed 25 percent of seats in the national Parliament.

Suu Kyi herself is ineligible for the presidency due to a constitutional clause—believed to have been written expressly to undermine her—disqualifying anyone with a foreign spouse or children. Her late husband held a British passport, as do her two children.

The United States restored diplomatic relations with Burma in 2012, ending nearly two decades of reproach, after the former military junta ceded power to a quasi-civilian government led by former military strongman Thein Sein.

Embrace of the former pariah state has at times been criticized for the speedy lifting of sanctions that were put in place to punish the regime and its benefactors, as well as what some viewed as premature engagement with the country's notorious military.

The re-engagement has conversely been viewed as an achievement of the Obama administration's rapprochement policy toward foreign adversaries, as well as a success of his Asia rebalance strategy.

Before arriving in Burma, Blinken traveled to Tokyo where he met with representatives of the foreign ministries of Japan and the Republic of Korea to discuss security and other regional issues, particularly the threat of North Korea to stability in the region. The deputy secretary will continue on to visit South Korea and China.

The post US Fortifies Friendship During Post-Poll Diplomatic Visit appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Female Candidate Wins Local Election in Mon State

Posted: 18 Jan 2016 04:24 AM PST

Former school teacher Mi Ja Lon Htaw was elected head of Tarana village tract in Mon State's Kyaikmayaw Township on Sunday. (Photo: Pon Mon / Facebook)

RANGOON — Former school teacher Mi Ja Lon Htaw was elected head of Tarana village tract in Mon State's Kyaikmayaw Township on Sunday, a rare victory for a female leader in a local administrative structure traditionally dominated by men.

The 41-year-old ethnic Mon woman successfully contested Sunday's local level poll against three male counterparts.

"Two hundred and twenty people voted and I won 140 votes. I felt very happy when I found the people supported me," said Mi Ja Lon Htaw, a former Mon language teacher with the Mon National Education Department.

"I worked a lot for my community's development. This was how the people got to know me well. This is why some people encouraged me to run in the election," she said.

Mi Ja Lon Htaw said her first priority would be to obtain electricity for her village. She also vowed to tackle local corruption, citing instances where villagers gave money to administrative heads to secure recommendation letters to travel and obtain ID cards.

According to a June 2014 paper by The Asia Foundation, "Women’s Participation in the Subnational Governance of Myanmar," women accounted for only 0.11 percent of ward and village tract administrators around the country.

"Women and Local Leadership," a report issued by the UN Development Programme in Myanmar in November 2015, established that, following the passing of the Ward or Village Tract Administration Law in 2012, only 42 (or 0.25 percent) of 16,785 elected ward or village-tract heads were women.

After the country's recent general election, the number of female MPs in Union Parliament will more than double on current figures, a percentage that will nevertheless remain well shy of the 30 percent representation for women that is widely cited as the figure to strive for globally.

The post Female Candidate Wins Local Election in Mon State appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Hundreds of Yebyu Protesters Call for Mining Law Compliance

Posted: 18 Jan 2016 04:18 AM PST

Detritus is seen after the rupture of a water filtering and sediment tank operated by the Delco mining company in September. (Photo: Facebook / Aung Lwin)

RANGOON — Some 300 locals in Kanbauk village, in Tenasserim Division's Yebyu Township, staged a protest on Monday accusing a company of reckless mining in the area.

Protesters, bearing signs demanding protection of natural resources, called on Delco mining company to take responsibility for the damage wrought by a recently ruptured water filtering and sediment tank, to cease dumping waste into a nearby stream, and to comply with mining legislation enacted to prevent damage to the environment, Khin Soe, a resident, told The Irrawaddy.

A wastewater tank broke in September, sweeping away 19 houses and drowning one child. Initially, the divisional government deemed the incident a natural disaster. But the family of the deceased child was eventually compensated 7 million kyats (US$5,400), while all destroyed houses were rebuilt and their owners given small compensation for property loss.

Still, locals say there was no change following the accident, and mining in the area has since resumed.

"We're protesting today because [the company] hasn't satisfactorily negotiated with villagers," Khin Soe said. "We told them after the first incident that we don't want something like that to happen again, and that they shouldn't harm the environment and must comply with mining law. But they haven't extended any promises to us."

The village's close proximity to the mining has pressed locals to ask if they should, helped by proper compensation, relocate their houses and orchards. But Khin Soe said the company merely ignored locals' grievances, and this, coupled with a lack of investigation and sufficient management on the part of the government, drove hundreds to protest.

Khin Soe added that 4-5 feet of muddy water build-up caused by the company's disposal of waste flows alarmingly close to a stream near the homes of some villagers.

"Although there's no harm during the dry season, it could be worse during the rainy season."

An officer for Delco, however, said he was unaware of the company's waste disposal procedures at the site but added that the company would rectify the situation.

Villagers hope for a three-party dialogue between Kanbauk locals, Delco representatives and the government that will ultimately lead to compliance with mining industry regulations.

The post Hundreds of Yebyu Protesters Call for Mining Law Compliance appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Translation Brings Tales of Woe Home to Burmese Readers

Posted: 18 Jan 2016 03:10 AM PST

Maggie Lemere, right, and Zoe West, left, at the launch of the Burmese-language translation of the book "Nowhere to Be Home," on Saturday in Rangoon. (Photo: Hein Htet / The Irrawaddy)

RANGOON — For the last five years, the personal oral accounts of former political prisoners and refugees from Burma have existed in consolidated form for international audiences, but these tales of misery and suffering were not available to Burmese readers in their native language—until now.

With publication of a Burmese translation of the book "Nowhere to Be Home," made possible in no small part by the demise of state censorship, narratives from survivors of Burma's former military regime will finally be heard locally, as the translation hits bookstores inside the country this week.

Since independence in 1948, most of Burma's ethnic areas have seen decades of war between the government and local rebel groups pressing for federalism and greater autonomy. These conflicts have killed thousands of people from ethnic minority groups and left hundreds of thousands more displaced or exiled.

Over decades of military rule, a failed 1988 pro-democracy uprising fueled an intensification of human rights abuses against dissidents and ethnic minorities, leading tens of thousands to flee across the border into neighboring countries.

Originally published in English in 2011, "Nowhere to Be Home" is the seventh volume in a series by Voice of Witness, a non-profit organization that uses oral histories to highlight human rights crises in the United States and around the world.

While the stories of many sharing similar experiences to those in the book were not unheard of, with the international press and a number of exile media organizations including The Irrawaddy working to shine a light on atrocities committed by the former junta, those stories were largely for an international audience. Oppressive censorship inside Burma meant these accounts were not printed in the pages of local news journals, and websites like The Irrawaddy were blocked from Burmese internet users.

With pre-publication censorship abolished in 2012, now the domestically marketed translation will offer Burmese readers the personal accounts of the military regime's victims, including a man who was forcibly recruited as a child soldier when he was 9 years old, and a woman who was arrested and tortured for her affiliation to the National League for Democracy (NLD).

San Mon Aung, the book's Burmese publisher, told The Irrawaddy that the narratives in "Nowhere to Be Home" are the voices of ordinary people who had suffered under dictatorship, adding that "people living in big cities should hear them, what really had happened to those people."

"Only the voices of big names are heard here. I just let the underdogs' voices out," he said.

Maggie Lemere and Zoe West, who compiled and edited the original book, told The Irrawaddy that they were both "very emotional and extremely happy to know that the stories have come home back to Burma," with a Burmese-language translation sold in Burma being a goal of theirs from the very beginning of the project.

Nonetheless, "It's quite shocking for us to have it here," West acknowledged.

Lemere said she hoped schools and training organizations in Burma could use the stories to help promote empathy and understanding for others' experiences, something previously made difficult by censorship and a lack of information and communication between different groups, especially between urban and rural, remote populations.

"So we hope, for example, that people can read stories, maybe from a group they don't know or an experience they don't know, and begin to see the commonality and have a more shared vision for the country to move forward," she said.

The post Translation Brings Tales of Woe Home to Burmese Readers appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Teenager on Poppy Eradication Drive Shot Dead in Kachin State

Posted: 18 Jan 2016 12:58 AM PST

Members of Christian anti-drugs group Pat Ja San on an opium eradication mission in Kachin State earlier this month. (Photo: Jade Land Kachin / Facebook)

RANGOON — A teenage member of an anti-drugs group was shot and killed on Friday while clearing poppy fields in Kachin State's Tanai Township, according to a spokesperson for the local organization.

"While we were destroying a poppy farm, he was shot and died on the trip," said Naw Tawng of Christian anti-drugs organization Pat Ja San that organized the poppy eradication mission.

The 19-year-old ethnic Kachin man, Tu Seng, was helping to destroy a poppy plantation on Jan. 15 when he was shot dead by a gunman suspected to be the farm's owner, according to Naw Tawng.

The victim was from Mogaung Township and took part in the mission alongside 600 other members of the organization, the spokesperson said.

Pat Ja San's members use knives and sticks to destroy opium poppies in townships across Kachin State, with the group's recent mission in Tanai Township beginning on Jan. 12.

According to the Myanmar Times, the group was established by the Kachin Baptist Church in 2014 and claims a membership of some 100,000 people.

This was the group's first deadly incident, according to Naw Tawng.

"We want to see our young people serve the country or be good civil servants. But we have found that many of our young Kachin become slaves to the drugs or… die at a young age," he said.

According to the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), the total area under opium cultivation in Burma in 2015 was estimated at 55,500 hectares, including 4,200 hectares in Kachin State.

While the figure represented a 4 percent decrease from 2014, Burma remains the second-largest opium producer in the world after Afghanistan.

The post Teenager on Poppy Eradication Drive Shot Dead in Kachin State appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Thein Sein Rings In Naga New Year, Calls for Unity

Posted: 17 Jan 2016 10:10 PM PST

President Thein Sein, right, and Burma Army commander-in-chief Snr-Gen Min Aung Hlaing participate in Naga New Year festivities. (Photo: Facebook / Myanmar President's Office)

RANGOON — Outgoing President Thein Sein attended the Naga New Year festival on Friday and into the weekend, when, donned in traditional Naga attire, he called on Burma's citizens to come together in unity.

While the Union Peace Conference continued in the capital Naypyidaw, Thein Sein, along with Burma Army commander-in-chief Snr-Gen Min Aung Hlaing and other top military officials, participated in Naga New Year celebrations at the Shwepyitha sports ground in Lahe village, located in the Naga Self-Administered Zone, Sagaing Division. Photographs of the event show the leaders receiving traditional hats and a lance, and observing and participating in other festivities.

According to the President's Office website, Thein Sein called for collaboration between local people and the state in ongoing efforts to generate and sustain peace and to develop various sectors, from tourism and trade to creating job opportunities and ensuring access to drinking water.

"So long as mutual respect between Union brethren exists with a strong sense of belonging to the country, all the national races can co-exist forever in unity," he was quoted as saying.

The post Thein Sein Rings In Naga New Year, Calls for Unity appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Australian-Karen Actress: ‘I Hope Karen People Will Have the Right to Self-Determination’

Posted: 17 Jan 2016 10:00 PM PST

Click to view slideshow.

She may be of mixed background—born to a Scottish mom, an ethnic Karen father and raised in Sydney, Australia—but film actress Tasneem Roc retains a deep fondness for her Burmese roots. She paid a visit to her father's hometown, Myaungmya, Irrawaddy Division, in early January and met with some of her relatives. The Irrawaddy recently spoke with Tasneem Roc about her career and her connection to Burma, particularly her ethnic Karen roots.

What were some of your impressions from your recent trip to Burma, your father's home country?

That was my second visit to Burma, the last time being 16 years ago. I remember loving the country on my first visit with my family, and having a sense of familiarity, of feeling "at home," even though it was my first visit. So much has changed since then, but my love of the country remains the same.

One of the most exciting and fulfilling things that happened during my trip was seeing my family. Some I hadn't seen since my first visit, and others it was my first time meeting them, but I felt love for all of them. We were able to meet some relatives in Yangon and then travel to Myaungmya and my father's village, where I met so many relatives for the first time and was able to experience life in their village.

The main reason I came to Burma was to visit family and accompany my parents as my dad revisited some significant locations from his childhood, such as the village where his parents are buried and other places from his early career, such as his teaching post at No. 1 High School in Hpa-an [the capital of Karen State].

Why did your visit gain more attention this time?

[Karen artists] also facilitated a photoshoot where I was photographed in some traditional Karen dresses. They also organized an event that allowed me to meet many Karen musicians and performers, which included a well-attended press conference, and then a dinner. All of this was totally unexpected, and an amazing experience.

Because of the media coverage and Facebook posts, it became more widely known that we were traveling in the country, and as a result changed the nature of our trip. I have had the opportunity to meet so many of my Karen brothers and sisters because they have approached me after seeing the posts on Facebook.

The final exciting and unexpected thing was having the opportunity to be present at the meetings my father had with Karen educational organizations and government bodies while we were in Mae Sot, Thailand, and being able to visit different Karen educational facilities both in Mae Sot, a refugee camp, and in Karen State.

Tell us about your family background, your father and his work in and connection to Burma and Karen affairs.

Both of my parents are educators. My father taught at the University of Technology Sydney for 20 years before moving on to teach at Sydney TAFE [technical and further education] for 18 years, where in the last eight years he was head teacher in information technology.

His main intention in visiting these Karen organizations was to report to the Australian Karen Organisation [AKO] about education in Karen State and in the refugee camps on the Thai-Burma border. This is because the AKO helps in the resettlement of Karen refugees and my father, as member, in particular wanted to see if there was a way to make integration into the Australian educational system smoother for young Karen in primary, secondary and tertiary education.

He also wants to highlight the great work in education taking place in the camps, even under difficult circumstances. Equally, he was investigating if and how Karen overseas can contribute to the education programs in Karen State and on the Thai-Burma border. I was helping my parents by documenting these meetings with video and photos, and feel incredibly privileged to have been present at these meetings, as it has allowed me to meet many important and influential decision-makers and has enabled me to appreciate the long history and the high level of education provided by these various Karen organizations and understand their current situation and challenges so much better.

Please tell us about your career as a television and film actress in Australia.

I started working as an actress after my first year of university, so I had to defer my studies to work full time. I told my father when I was a child that my dream when I grew up was to be a famous actress, but I was very shy as a teenager and never spoke of my dream again. In my first year at the University of Sydney, I got an acting agent whose job was to get me auditions. My first job was a small role on a popular Australian series at the time called Heartbreak High. After this small role the show auditioned me for a main role in their ensemble cast. This was an incredible experience for me, working alongside actors that I had watched on television.

How do you find your life as an actress, and how have you overcome challenges in your career?

I have been fortunate to work on some well-respected television shows and work with some of Australia's best actors, directors and producers. Most of my experience is in television, and as time has gone on I have had roles in various films as well. One of the most challenging things I have faced is developing self-confidence and belief in myself, and persevering with my dream to be an actress, despite setbacks. I read a lot of motivational books, and books on positive thinking, most of which my father has passed on to me.

What are the key elements to becoming a successful celebrity?

When I look at some of the qualities of successful and famous actors and actresses I have worked with and admire, I notice that they are very personable and kind to everyone. They give time to everyone and seem to know everybody's name on set. They are incredibly hardworking and knowledgeable about filmmaking and screenwriting, and they are passionate about their art. These are qualities that I hope to emulate.

How do you spend your free time?

I spend my free time with my boyfriend, cooking and eating, and on the weekends walking with him. If I have time, I like running in the local park and visiting the gym. I am also continuing to develop a documentary project about Karen culture and in particular the threats to Karen culture and if and how it is being preserved both within Burma and around the world. I am also developing a TV project with a good friend of mine. It is a supernatural thriller that we have been working on for a couple of years.

What is your favorite sport, and what's your daily diet?

Four years ago I joined a gym in preparation for an acting role. I was really nervous and unfamiliar with the equipment, but my trainer Tom Hewett (now my boyfriend!) taught me how to train in the gym and wrote my programs, and now it is one of my favorite physical activities. I love getting stronger and more confident.

In terms of my daily diet, I am not really strict about it, but we all know to avoid heavily processed foods and too much sugar, so I try to eat more fresh vegetables and good quality meat, mostly with rice. I especially love when my mom or dad makes a good curry, and after the amazing food I have experienced in Burma, I am going to try my hand at recreating some of those dishes. There is one chicken dish I tasted in my father's village I have been craving ever since I had it.

You may be aware that Burma has been ruled by military governments for decades and that there have been widespread human rights abuses in ethnic minority regions, including in Karen State, while those regimes have been in power. Seeing as how your father is ethnic Karen, do you feel any connection or proximity to these abuses?

I am absolutely aware of the human rights abuses the military government has perpetrated against the Karen and other ethnic minorities, and against the Burmese people as well. I am also aware that military offences are still being undertaken against ethnic minorities in some parts of Burma. One of the main reasons that my father was unable to return to Burma was because the military dictatorship took over in 1962, otherwise I would most likely have been born and brought up in Burma, not in Australia.

My father received a scholarship from Karen State, and went to Australia on the Columbo Plan, and studied at the University of Sydney. My parents were married in 1965, and my mother, who was born in Scotland before immigrating to Australia as a child, was quite prepared to make a life with my father in Burma, but the political climate was very bad, and my father was advised to stay in Australia.

Growing up, I remained informed about the situation in Burma, but felt unsure of how I could contribute to a solution. I grew up in a part of Sydney that was not close to other Karen or Burmese people.

However, for the past ten years I have been lucky enough to be a speaker at the Sydney Karen New Year's celebration and am grateful I have been able to contribute in this way to the community. A large portion of the Karen community in Sydney is refugees who have been resettled. Some of them have spent many years in refugee camps, some young children have been born in refugee camps. Looking into the audience at these events is a reminder about the severity of the situation in Burma.

Tell us about your expectations for and concerns about Burma's emerging new political landscape.

Now is a very historic time for Burma and for the Karen and other ethnic minorities. I feel hopeful that the recent elections and new government provide the opportunity for the Karen people to peacefully negotiate for their education, health and judicial system to be recognized by the Burmese government. Whereas before it did not seem possible, I am hopeful that the Karen people will have the right to self-determination in a truly federal system. I am heartened by Aung San Suu Kyi's statement for the Karen New Year, and her acknowledgement of the Karen on this internationally celebrated holiday indicates an awareness of ethnic concerns.

One of the main issues is the fact that the Burmese educational system is being implemented in Karen areas without consultation with the Karen, and that Karen children are not being taught their history, or their language. This is of great concern to the Karen people, who have their own well-established syllabus for primary, secondary and tertiary students, that has been independently assessed by international bodies as excellent.

Equally, the continued re-enforcement of Burmese military bases in Karen and other ethnic areas despite the recent ceasefire agreements is a source of concern.

The recent political developments have led to talk of "repatriation" or the return of refugees. But the question is raised, what are they returning to? The point was raised that there needs to be assurances of safety and security for both refugees and IDPs [internally displaced persons], and there needs to be a sufficient health and education infrastructure to support all people within Burma.

The recent ceasefire and subsequent peace talks have also changed the climate of international NGO funding. Tragically, we were told that many NGOs have moved their focus from the refugee community and borders to within Burma. It has been said that there is now donor fatigue and that refugee issues are not "sexy" anymore.

The result is that the funding to education and health initiatives taking place on the Thai-Burma border are being reduced, leaving these important initiatives in a very uncertain and precarious position. They are still trying to support an enormous refugee community, and while they have all been developing readiness and preparedness for the eventual return of refugees, they still desperately need the international funding in the interim.

Can you tell us if you have any plans to act or direct a movie on Burma in the future? And if so, what will the movie be about?

I would absolutely love to act within Burma, if that would be possible. I am interested in the possibility of an Australian Burmese co-production, either in film or television. I know that Saw Hackett [a Karen actor and director] is very keen to develop the Karen film industry, and I thoroughly support him in that.

The post Australian-Karen Actress: 'I Hope Karen People Will Have the Right to Self-Determination' appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Peace Conference Closes With Promise of Prompt Restart

Posted: 17 Jan 2016 09:47 PM PST

The final day of a Union Peace Conference held in Naypyidaw, Dec. 16, 2015. (Photo: Myanmar Peace Center / Facebook)

RANGOON — A five-day Union Peace Conference concluded in Naypyidaw on Saturday, as participants representing ethnic armed groups, the government and the Burma Army agreed to a set time-frame for political dialogue.

A proposal put forth by the Union Peace Dialogue Joint Committee (UPDJC) included four points, all approved, stipulating that the political dialogue conclude within three to five years, that a second Union Peace Conference convene "as soon as possible," that the process enable 30 percent women's participation and that those who ascended to an Oct. 15 ceasefire agreement and attended the conference be "put on record" and honored.

Vice Presdent Sai Mauk Kham said on Saturday at the closing remarks that documentation of all discussions throughout the conference will be handed over to the new government when it assumes power.

The National League for Democracy (NLD), chaired by Aung San Suu Kyi, will soon have a majority in the national Parliament and will appoint the new administration to be sworn into office in early April.

"We won't make any decisions based on what we've discussed here, we will take [these discussions] from representatives of different groups and refer them to the next conference," Sai Mauk Kham said. "We will refer them along with the peace process to the incoming government when we transfer duties to them."

The vice president expressed hope that the current round of dialogue will allow for "better agreements" during talks with the new administration.

The Union Peace Conference kicked off in Naypyidaw on Tuesday, marking the beginning of a long-sought political dialogue between the Burmese government and several of the country's non-state armed groups.

The majority of the country's rebel armies abstained from the preceding ceasefire agreement, however, and while they were invited to attend this week's talks as observers, all of the non-signatories declined.

In an interview with Radio Free Asia aired last Wednesday, Suu Kyi downplayed the conference as an effort to legitimize the ceasefire agreement reached in October, which the government refers to as "nationwide" despite its exclusion of a number of major non-state armed groups.

The NLD chairwoman said her administration is committed to facilitating a "genuine" political dialogue.

The post Peace Conference Closes With Promise of Prompt Restart appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Thailand’s Ousted Shinawatra Clan Defies Junta with Publicity Drive

Posted: 17 Jan 2016 09:10 PM PST

A woman holds up a New Year calendar showing a picture of former Thai Prime Ministers Thaksin and Yingluck Shinawatra at a local restaurant in Bangkok, Thailand, January 18, 2016. (Photo: Athit Perawongmetha / Reuters)

BANGKOK — Former Thai prime ministers Thaksin Shinawatra and his sister Yingluck are cranking up their promotional machines to reconnect with supporters in apparent defiance of the military that toppled their governments.

The publicity drive, which includes a cooking display by Yingluck Shinawatra and the distribution of free books, could signal the family's intention to one day return to power, one expert said.

Yingluck, who was overthrown in 2014 by the junta that has ruled Thailand since then, gave thousands of photo books about herself to journalists and diplomats as a New Year gift.

Her brother, deposed by the military 10 years ago, also sent a coffee table book called "Thaksin Shinawatra: Life and Times" to extol his achievements as prime minister.

Thailand's military has purged the bureaucracy of Shinawatra sympathizers and detained, monitored and restricted the movements of politicians loyal to the family.

Yingluck and Thaksin are despised by Thailand's military-backed royalist elite but they remain hugely popular in their traditional powerbase in the country's north and northeast.

Many analysts believe their Puea Thai Party would still easily win the next general election, which the junta has vowed to hold next year.

Their recent self-publicity is designed to reassure their base and needle their enemies, said Kan Yuenyong, an analyst with Siam Intelligence Unit, a Bangkok-based think tank.

"The Shinawatra family want to send a message to the elite and to their own followers: 'We're still here. We haven't disappeared,'" he said.

The government has taken note. "Mr Thaksin's administration was leading Thailand into a political conflict," said a foreign affairs ministry statement about his book.

It noted Thaksin faced "serious allegations" of corruption and human rights abuses.

Salad Dressing

Yingluck welcomed reporters to her Bangkok home on Jan. 8 to show off her organic vegetable garden.

She then mixed up a salad dressing, throwing back her hair and smiling when a photographer called her prime minister.

She and her brother have also been active on social media.

Kan Yuenyong said the publicity drive was timed to coincide with what promises to be a testing year for the junta. It has struggled to energize Thailand's export-dependent economy and snuff out opposition to its rule.

The draft of a new constitution is due to be finished this month, paving the way for a 2017 election.

Neither Shinawatra can run but, with Yingluck's charm and Thaksin's money, they will likely fuel a Puea Thai Party campaign.

Thaksin, who remains one of Thailand's wealthiest persons, fled into self-exile in 2008 to avoid a jail sentence for corruption.

Yingluck was impeached last year by a junta-appointed assembly and banned from politics for five years. She is currently on trial on criminal charges over corruption in a multi-billion-dollar rice subsidy scheme.

Authorities in northeast Thailand banned the distribution of thousands of 2016 calendars featuring Thaksin and Yingluck earlier this month.

"What's this calendar for?" Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha, a former army chief, asked reporters earlier this month. "Can any criminal distribute a calendar with his face on it, then?"

The post Thailand's Ousted Shinawatra Clan Defies Junta with Publicity Drive appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Missing Hong Kong Bookseller in China to Answer 11 Year-Old Conviction—State Media

Posted: 17 Jan 2016 08:41 PM PST

Pro-democracy lawmaker Albert Chan, carrying portraits of five missing booksellers from a local bookstore, shouts to Hong Kong Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying as he enters the Legislative Council chamber for the annual policy address in Hong Kong, January 13, 2016. (Photo: Bobby Yip / Reuters)

BEIJING — A Swedish bookseller whose mysterious disappearance has sparked fears he may have been taken by Chinese agents said he had voluntarily turned himself in to the authorities for a drink-driving accident that resulted in a death 11 years ago.

Gui Minhai, who vanished from his apartment in Thailand last October, voluntarily returned to China to answer a conviction from 2004 for killing a student, state media said on Sunday.

"I am returning to surrender by personal choice, it has nothing to do with anyone," Gui, looking distraught, said in a China Central Television broadcast. "This is a personal responsibility that I ought to bear."

Gui, a naturalized Swedish citizen, is one of five members to have gone missing from of a Hong Kong bookstore that specializes in selling gossipy political books on China's Communist Party leaders.

The disappearances and China's silence have prompted fears that mainland Chinese authorities may be using shadowy tactics that erode the "one country, two systems" formula under which Hong Kong has been governed since its return to China from British rule in 1997.

In recent years, state media has publicized a string of what is presented as confessions made by high-profile suspects. Critics say these accounts deprive the accused of the right to a fair trial.

Earlier this month, the Swedish Foreign Ministry said it had raised Gui's case with the Chinese ambassador to Stockholm.

It was not possible to contact Gui and it remains unclear whether he has a lawyer.

Daughter Believes Gui Abducted

Gui's daughter, Angela, who is based in Britain, said she could not confirm what was being reported but that she still believed her father had been abducted and his detention was related to his work.

Gui Minhai cautioned in the report "any individual or organization" against intervening or "engaging in malicious speculation."

His confession was broadcast Sunday night on China Central Television. The official Xinhua News Agency published a separate report.

Gui, who holds a Swedish passport, "surrendered to public security organs" in October, Xinhua said, without providing details about his surrender or transport from Thailand.

Gui was sentenced to two years imprisonment, suspended for two years, after killing a female student in the coastal city of Ningbo while driving drunk, the report said.

Gui fled in August 2006 and his two-year probation was revoked. He is now suspected of other crimes, the report said.

"Although I have Swedish citizenship, I truly feel I'm Chinese, my roots are still in China. So I hope that Sweden will respect my personal choice, respect my rights and privacy and let me solve my own problems," Gui said.

The five missing booksellers include Lee Bo, a British passport holder who disappeared from Hong Kong at the end of last month.

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said on Jan. 5 that Lee is "first and foremost a Chinese citizen" and called on others not to make "groundless accusations" on the case.

In a handwritten note dated January 3 and purportedly written and signed by Lee, photos of which were widely circulated on social and local media but couldn't be verified by Reuters, Lee wrote that he had travelled back to China in order to assist with an unspecified "investigation."

The Xinhua report said that "related persons" are cooperating with the investigation, but didn't provide details of the whereabouts or status of the other missing persons.

The post Missing Hong Kong Bookseller in China to Answer 11 Year-Old Conviction—State Media appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

China, Economy Tests for Taiwan Presidential Winner Tsai

Posted: 17 Jan 2016 08:32 PM PST

Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) chairperson Tsai Ing-wen greets supporters after her election victory at party headquarters in Taipei, Taiwan, January 16, 2016. (Photo: Pichi Chuang / Reuters)

TAIPEI, Taiwan — Taiwan's presidential election victor Tsai Ying-wen will enjoy a broad mandate from her commanding victory and her independence-leaning party's new legislative majority, but managing the island's delicate relations with China will be tricky.

Already, Beijing warned following her Saturday night victory that it will not budge on its bottom line that Taiwan's leader must agree that the communist mainland and self-governing island democracy are part of a single Chinese nation. The sides could be in for a lengthy wait as China assesses whether it feels it can trust Tsai.

"To handle cross-Taiwan Strait relations after Tsai's election will be difficult, not just for Taiwan but also for mainland China," said Huang Jing, a China expert at Singapore National University's Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy.

Tsai, who will be Taiwan's first female president, won by 56 percent of the vote to 31 percent for her closest rival Eric Chu of the China-friendly Nationalist Party, which has held the presidency for the last eight years. Her Democratic Progressive Party won 68 of 113 parliamentary seats, giving it its first majority in the assembly long-dominated by the Nationalists.

"I wasn't surprised a bit by the outcome. The Nationalists had to go. Now Tsai just needs to focus on the economy so I don't expect she'll do anything to rile up China," Taipei tour bus driver Tan Kuang-jung said as a constant drizzle fell over the capital Sunday.

The reasons for the massive win were many.

Outgoing President Ma Ying-jeou had been growing increasingly unpopular among Taiwan's 23 million people, largely due to perceptions that his push for closer economic ties with China was benefiting just a few and the futures of young Taiwanese who have seen wages stagnate and good full-time jobs harder to find.

Fearful of their original candidate's poor reception among voters, the Nationalists dumped her in favor of Chu, but even he proved unable to raise their prospects. He resigned as party chairman immediately after Saturday's defeat.

Newly politicized young people had coalesced in opposing yet another trade agreement with China and are believed to have voted heavily for the DPP.

A further backlash against the party's pro-China stance was prompted by a viral video of 16-year-old Taiwanese entertainer Chou Tzu-yu bowing in apology for waiving the Taiwanese flag on television. Her apology was triggered by her South Korean management company's fears that China would cancel appearances and endorsement deals.

"What happened surrounding Chou Tzu-yu, that whole controversy, made it almost a given [Tsai] would get over the 50 percent mark," said Raymond Wu, managing director of Taipei-based political risk consultancy e-telligence.

"It's an indication that someone would continue to bully Taiwan, at all different levels, even a 16-year-old who's trying to make a name for herself in the entertainment field. This is something most Taiwanese find unacceptable," Chou said.

The size of the win could also put additional pressure on Tsai and the DPP, said Larry Diamond, a senior fellow at the Hoover Institution who closely follows Taiwanese politics.

"When you do as well, as decisively as the DPP has done, there are no excuses" for failure, Diamond said.

While China had largely refrained on commenting about the election beforehand, its Taiwan Affairs Office responded swiftly to the result with a statement reiterating that it would deal only with those who agree that the "two sides of the strait belong to one China."

That was followed by another statement from the Foreign Ministry stating that "China's sovereignty and territorial integrity brook no division. The result of the election in Taiwan will not change the basic fact and the consensus of the international community."

"On such a major issue as safeguarding state sovereignty and territorial integrity, the Chinese government has rock-solid determination and never tolerates any separatist activities aiming at 'Taiwan independence,'" said the statement, quoting ministry spokesman Hong Lei.

Taiwan was a Japanese colony from 1895 to 1945, and split from the mainland amid the Chinese civil war in 1949, when leader Chiang Kai-shek moved his Nationalist government to the island.

Reflecting public opinion on Taiwan and mindful of US and other countries' concerns about cross-strait tensions, Tsai has pledged to maintain the status-quo of de-facto independence without taking steps that might provoke China. In her remarks Saturday, she referred to Taiwan by its formal name, the Republic of China.

However, unlike Ma, she has refused to endorse Beijing's "one China principle"—although she hasn't publicly repudiated it either—and told supporters Saturday night that she would work to strengthen Taiwan's status abroad.

Deprived of formal diplomatic relations with the world's major nations, Taiwan relies on its stable of 22 allies, mostly small, poor states in the Pacific, Africa and Central America and the Caribbean. Chinese pressure has barred Taiwan from the United Nations and Beijing strictly limits the island's participation in other groups or requires it to participate only under the name Chinese Taipei.

Depending on how it interprets Tsai's actions, Beijing could ratchet up the pressure by luring away Taiwan's remaining diplomatic allies or further shutting it out of international organizations. It could also seek to exact economic costs, possibly by limiting Chinese tourism to the island or reducing Taiwanese imports.

Far less likely is that it would resort to military intimidation despite its threat to invade if Taiwan opts for a formal declaration of independence. Although such tough talk plays well with the Chinese public, past attempts have backfired by generating even more support for pro-independence politicians.

Most probably, Beijing will observe what Tsai does and says before she takes office in May.

"I think the tough will get tougher and the soft will get softer. Certainly they're going to see from now till inauguration what Tsai says and who she puts in key offices," Wu said.

The post China, Economy Tests for Taiwan Presidential Winner Tsai appeared first on The Irrawaddy.