Tuesday, November 27, 2018

The Irrawaddy Magazine

The Irrawaddy Magazine

Kachin Group Accuses Myanmar Army of Beating Two Men Suspected of Rebel Ties

Posted: 27 Nov 2018 04:36 AM PST

Mon State — The Kachin Baptist Convention (KBC) is accusing the Myanmar Army of torturing two ethnic Kachin men detained on their way to a football match on Monday in Shan State after suspecting them of ties to a rebel group.

Khun Zaw Taung, 40, and Zaw Wong, 25, both residents of a camp in Kutkai Township for people displaced by the country’s civil war, were stopped by the army while traveling by motorbike to Mann Bein Village to join a football match organized by the KBC, said Bawk Tawng, a senior member of the convention and a camp leader.

She said the soldiers, from Infantry Battalion 45, detained them after finding a video on Khun Zaw Taung’s phone of him dancing in a group with members of the Kachin Independence Army (KIA).

"They accused him of being a member of the KIA,” she said. “They beat him and forced him to admit he was a member of the KIA…. They [the soldiers] covered their eyes with some clothes and beat them with sticks.”

She said Khun Zaw Tuang was badly wounded on the head and legs after first denying the accusation, and that Zaw Wong was beaten on the legs to make him implicate his companion.

The KBC reported their detention to township authorities, who convinced the soldiers to release them later the same day.

General Htun Htun Nyi, a spokesman for the Myanmar Army, said he did not know about the case.

Fighting between ethnic armed groups in northern Shan State, and often between them and the Myanmar Army, has displaced thousands of people over the years. Many civilians have been killed, wounded or detained on suspicion of being armed group members.

At least five people were killed in November and October amid fighting between the Restoration Council of Shan State (RCSS), the Shan State Progress Party (SSPP) and the Ta’ang National Liberation Army.

Three people, including an 8-year-old boy, were killed in Hsipaw Township last week during fighting between the RCSS and SSPP. Rights groups condemned them both for fighting in inhabited villages.

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93 Rohingya Headed For Malaysia Being Held at Sea by Navy in Tanintharyi

Posted: 27 Nov 2018 04:27 AM PST

YANGON — Fishermen and police in Tanintharyi Region say the Myanmar Navy detained 93 Rohingya on Sunday night on a boat off the coast of Dawei on their way to Malaysia from the Rakhine State capital of Sittwe.

Ko Naing Lin told The Irrawaddy that he was among the first local fishermen to spot the boat and surround it before calling the navy, which is holding the boat and its passengers at sea.

“Because they can’t speak Burmese, two imams from Launglon City translated the testimonies of the people on the boat for the authorities,” he said.

Ko Naing Lin said the navy was keeping them at sea because it feared locals may attack them if they were brought to shore. He said the boat was tethered to a navy vessel and that government authorities were providing them with regular meals.

“Locals are frightened of them because we have heard about many incidents about northern Rakhine,” the fisherman said.

The on-duty officer of the Launglon Police Station, speaking on condition on anonymity because he was not a designated spokesperson, said locals had nothing to fear because such incidents have become common during the dry season over the past few years.

He said the boat was found 10 kilometers west of Auk Bok Island and identified the passengers as Bengali, the government’s term for Rohingya because it does not recognize them as an ethnic group and to imply that they are illegal immigrants from Bangladesh.

The officer said they told authorities that they bought the boat from a fisherman in Sittwe by pooling 18 million kyats ($11,313), paying between 300,000 kyats and 500,000 kyats each.

He said the group left Sittwe, about 1,000 kilometers from Dawei, on Nov. 18 and that 32 of them were under 18. He said they were all from the Dar Paing camp for people displaced by the communal violence that tore through the area in 2012, which drove some 140,000 Rohingya out of their homes.

Sittwe’s Buddhist and Muslim communities remain strictly segregated. Rohingya cannot visit the local market or leave the state without permission from government authorities, putting strains on the community that have driven many to try to escape the camps for other countries, often by perilous boat journeys.

The on-duty officer said senior authorities were still deciding whether the Rohingya should be prosecuted for attempting to cross an international border illegally or sent back to Sittwe, though he suspected they were more likely to be sent back.

Last week, a second boat that left Sittwe on Nov. 18 carrying another 60 Rohingya from the Dar Paing camp was detained in Rakhine State not long after starting its journey.

The week before that, Yangon authorities brought ashore a boat carrying more than 100 Rohingya headed for Malaysia. The boat had been adrift for more than 20 days after its motor died, during which one woman died on board.

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Women’s Rights Groups Call for Immediate Enactment of Long-Awaited Protection Law

Posted: 27 Nov 2018 04:07 AM PST

YANGON—Women's rights groups in Myanmar have demanded for a long-awaited law preventing violence against women to be enacted as soon as possible, saying it would better protect women and girls from violence.

More than 30 civil society organizations kicked off 16 days of activism on Sunday as part of a global campaign to end gender-based violence under the theme "Prevent Violence Against Women by the Law."

The campaign, involving a film festival and awareness-raising events, will be held from Nov. 25 to Dec. 10 in major cities around Myanmar including Yangon and is being organized by an activism working group comprised of members of 39 organizations. The campaign aims to raise public awareness in eliminating violence against women and calls for the enactment of a law preventing violence against women.

In a statement released on Sunday, the Women's League of Burma (WLB), one of the members of the working group involved in the 16-day campaign, said rape and sexual assault against women and girls are on the rise in Myanmar, with 1,100 cases reported to police in 2016, and 1405 cases in 2017.

Challenges in obtaining justice for survivors of violence and a culture of impunity for rapists, especially in conflict areas, encourage more violent cases, it stated.

"The existing laws don't effectively protect women from violence," the WLB statement said, reiterating the urgent need to protect women from all forms of violence with separate legal protection.

Being the only ASEAN country without special laws focused on the protection of women, Myanmar currently practices the outdated British colonial-era Penal Code, which describes the offenses and penalties for sexual violence against women in generic terms.

Since 2013, the country's first law protecting women specifically, the Protection and Prevention of Violence against Women Law (PoVAW,) has been in development. Once it is enacted, women's rights activists hope it will prevent violence against women at home and sexual harassment in the workplace and public areas, as well as providing more effective legal and medical support for survivors of violence.

The activist group also demanded that rape cases committed by members of armed groups in conflict areas be investigated according to this law.

After five years of waiting, the bill has now been finalized but is yet to be submitted to Parliament.

"I can't understand why it is taking so long to pass the bill into law compared to any other bills," Lway Poe Ngal, general secretary of the WLB, said.

"It is not a good sign. We are seeing an increasing number of sexual violence cases. Also, many rape cases committed by neighbors and family members are happening. If we don't have a specific law to tackle it, it is sure the condition will become worse than now," she said.

When in January 2017 it was mentioned by a parliamentarian committee that a set of four existing race and religion laws would have to be amended in order for the proposed PoVAW law to be enacted, there was uproar from a prominent Buddhist nationalist group.

Members of the Association for the Protection of Race and Religion—a group more commonly known by its Burmese acronym "Ma Ba Tha" and now banned by the government—reacted quickly, threatening nationwide demonstrations.

The controversial set of four race and religion laws was initially pushed by Ma Ba Tha in 2014 and formally adopted by former President U Thein Sein's government in 2015.

From the outset, women's rights groups have criticized the set of laws, saying they further restrict women's equality and freedom and religious minorities.

During a parliamentary session on Tuesday, Upper House lawmaker Naw Susana Hla Hla Soe asked for an update on the development of the law. U Soe Aung, deputy minister for social welfare, relief and resettlement, said the ministry has been negotiating with the relevant departments for the development of the law and that it hopes to be able to enact it in 2019.

Heads of the Mission of the European Union Delegation and EU Member States to Myanmar joined the call of the women's rights groups. In a statement it released on Sunday, it called on the Myanmar government to adopt the PoVAW law in compliance with the UN's Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), which Myanmar ratified in 1997.

"We are very concerned by recent surveys revealing widespread acceptance within Myanmar of violence against women," it stated.

"Keeping silent about this is not an option. We must hear the voice of women, in the
workplace, in politics, and in the private sphere of the home."

Ending the culture of silence

Global movements and campaigns highlighting misconduct against women, such as #MeToo, have taken root in Myanmar too. In July this year, several women took to social media to speak out about incidents of harassment they faced while working in a local human rights and women's empowerment organization.

They directed accusations against the chief executive officer of the organization, speaking out about sexual assaults they had been subjected to at their former office. The movement prompted an investigation of the accused person and gave light to cases of sexual harassment that women have long faced in the workplace.

One of the women told The Irrawaddy that she shared her story on Facebook in order to encourage other victims to speak out.

"If we keep silent, other women might face the same that we faced and no action would be taken against the perpetrator, leaving him to commit the same to other women and girls," she said.

Yet a lack of policy against sexual harassment in organizations and no clear complaint procedure would discourage the survivors from filing complaints, she said, adding that making services accessible to all survivors of violence as well as legal support is needed.

"Women also need to know their rights," she stressed, urging rights groups to conduct more awareness campaigns for women in the community to understand their rights as well as sexual violence.

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Beijing Urges Gov’t to Get Ball Rolling on China-Myanmar Economic Corridor

Posted: 27 Nov 2018 03:56 AM PST

YANGON—The vice chairman of China's top economic planning agency has pushed Myanmar's State Counselor to work out an implementation plan for the China-Myanmar Economic Corridor, a part of Beijing's Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).

China National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) Vice Chairman Ning Jizhe held talks with State Counselor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi in Naypyitaw on Monday, according to Myanmar state media.

According to a press release, their discussion focused on the details of a working plan to implement the China-Myanmar Economic Corridor (CMEC), which will stretch 1,700 km between the two countries from Kunming, the capital of China's Yunnan Province, to Myanmar's major economic centers.

The working plan also covers the implementation of the Myanmar-China border economic cooperation zones and upgrades to three major roads through Mandalay, Muse (located in northern Shan State on the border with Yunnan province) and other parts of the state.

Myanmar occupies a unique geographical position in the BRI, lying at the junction of South and Southeast Asia, and between the Indian Ocean and southwestern China's landlocked Yunnan province.

The State Counselor said CMEC projects needed to be implemented in line with the Myanmar Sustainable Development Plan and should support the long-term interests of both peoples.

She stressed that China needed to negotiate the projects systematically and in accordance with domestic rules and regulations.

The visit came two weeks after Myanmar inked a framework agreement on the development of China's ambitious Kyaukphyu Special Economic Zone (SEZ), a key strategic project under the BRI that is expected to boost development in China's landlocked Yunnan province and provide China with direct access to the Indian Ocean, allowing its oil imports to bypass the Strait of Malacca.

In September, an agreement was signed by Myanmar Minister of Planning and Finance U Soe Win and He Lifeng, chairman of China's National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), to construct basic infrastructure across key economic centers in Myanmar.

The first leg of the CMEC will link with Mandalay in central Myanmar. The corridor then branches east to Yangon and west to the Kyaukphyu SEZ. As part of the CMEC, the two sides agreed to construct three economic cooperation zones along the Myanmar-China border in Shan and Kachin states.

The governments have agreed to collaborate on many sectors including basic infrastructure, construction, manufacturing, agriculture, transport, finance, human resources development, telecommunications, and research and technology.

In October, two state-owned companies, China Railway Eryuan Engineering Group (China Railway Group Ltd) and Myanmar Railways signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to begin studying a proposed railway line from Muse to Mandalay, which are envisioned as key hubs in a plan to improve connectivity in Southeast Asia. Muse is the largest trade portal between the two nations. Mandalay is central Myanmar's commercial center and the country's second-largest city. The railway is expected to become a lifeline for China-Myanmar trade.

In November 2017, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi announced a proposal to build the CMEC following a meeting with State Counselor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi in Naypyitaw. Wang said the economic corridor would enhance investment in development and trade under Chinese-Myanmar cooperation as part of the BRI.

The BRI is Chinese President Xi Jinping's signature foreign policy project. Unveiled in 2013, it is also known as the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st-Century Maritime Silk Road. The project aims to build a network of roads, railroads and shipping lanes linking at least 70 countries from China to Europe passing through Central Asia, the Middle East and Russia, fostering trade and investment.

Ning also held meetings with Yangon Chief Minister U Phyo Min Thein on Sunday. No details of their discussion were released to the media, however.

The New Yangon City project is a component of the CMEC plan. New Yangon Development Company (NYDC) and Hong Kong-listed China Communications Construction Company (CCCC) signed a framework agreement for the US$1.5-billion development project, which is envisioned as a complex of new towns, industrial parks and urban development projects. Recently, NYDC said it was in the final stage of negotiating with CCCC over the project's technical specifications, financial proposal, and business model and related documents. It said details would be announced soon.

The post Beijing Urges Gov't to Get Ball Rolling on China-Myanmar Economic Corridor appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Local Indie Rockers The Reasonabilists to Take 1st Step Overseas With Concert in India

Posted: 27 Nov 2018 02:58 AM PST

Yangon-based indie band The Reasonabilists will be rocking at next month's 5th Orange Festival of Adventure and Music in Dambuk, in the Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh.

"We're really excited about this trip—it's our first-ever overseas gig," said vocalist and rhythm guitarist Paing Lynn Aung, a restless, energetic 23-year-old with an appealing, powerful vocal style.

"At the moment, we're completely focused on the gig—it's all we talk about. That's how excited we are about it," he said.

The Orange Festival is India's first event bringing together adventure sports and musical performances on one stage. The four-day festival will be held on Dec. 15-18 and will feature adventure sports including the 4×4 fury challenge, whitewater rafting, scuba diving, quad biking, zip-lining and others.

"I heard more than 30 bands from different countries will be performing. We've played a lot of shows at bars but have only done one big concert. So we're a little nervous about performing with many other bands on the same big stage," he said.

The band will fly to India from Yangon on Dec. 14 ahead of their performance on Dec. 17.

"We'll have a total of 45 minutes to perform, and plan to play about nine tracks. They're all original songs, mostly with English lyrics but one is in Burmese," Paing Lynn Aung said.

The Reasonabilists' front man Paing Lynn Aung (Photo: Aung Kyaw Htet/ The Irrawaddy)

"Most of our songs are in English; I just prefer writing in English. But we have Burmese songs as well. Most Indian bands' songs are in English. We'd be a little wary of how audiences would respond if we got up and sang all our songs in Burmese," he said.

The Reasonabilists were introduced to the organizers of the Orange Festival through a woman named Susanne Kempl, whom they met at a show. Previously, she had helped another local band, Side Effect, contact concert organizers overseas and participate in international gigs.

"She introduced me to the organizers and our band was invited to perform at the gig," Paing Lynn Aung said.

The Reasonabilists formed in October 2017 and have four members, the three others being bassist Kyaw Lynn Aung, lead guitarist Pha Pha and drummer Ye Khine Oo.

"I'm really into music and started the band after I finished school. I don't want to get a job and earn a living that way—music is the only thing in life that interests me," Paing Lynn Aung said.

When he first started, he would write and record songs by himself and send them to the organizers of the Jam It series of local underground concerts.

"They told me I needed a band," he said.

He got together with some other musicians including his younger brother Kyaw Lynn Aung, and their musical journey began when they formed The Reasonabilists.

"We all knew each other because we were doing music individually before. We share similar taste in music and are all into indie. So there are no big problems," he said.

He added that, "We didn't set out to make this kind of music; [the style] developed after we started arranging songs with all the band members. We love indie because it's so free and really independent."

Drummer Ye Khine Oo agreed. "It's the same for me. I feel so free with this musical style. In the past I listened to a lot of metal and I liked it, but as I got older I discovered indie music."

The band has performed many gigs at local bars and released a four-song EP, "Amour", last September. The record, released by Bipolarbear Record, includes two songs in English and two in Burmese.

In Myanmar, the indie music style appeals more to underground audiences, and doesn't yet have a mainstream presence.

"It's gotten more popular in the past few years. Many people accept indie now, and there're a few other bands. Each has its own style and is going well. Personally, I play the music I like and I'm perfectly happy with that. It's enough," Paing Lynn Aung said.

He added, "My family lets me do this music even though they weren't enthusiastic about it. On the other hand, they didn't try to stop me."

The Reasonabilists recently signed a contract with Jam It records and plan to release their first album next year.

"All the tracks will have Burmese lyrics. We're targeting a March release. We would love to reach international audiences with our music and this India trip is our first step. We will keep moving and trying to reach our goal," Paing Lynn Aung said.

You can listen to The Reasonabilists' EP "Amour" on iTunes here or via a different streaming service here.

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Balloon-Launching Arakan Army Supporter Sentenced

Posted: 27 Nov 2018 12:38 AM PST

SITTWE—A local court in Rakhine State sentenced a man to two years in prison on Monday for launching a hot air balloon donning a portrait of the chief of the Arakan Army (AA), a Rakhine State-based armed organization denounced by the Myanmar Army as an insurgent group.

U Tun Hla Kyaw, a resident of Leik Ka Maw Village in Kyaukphyu Township, launched the hot air balloon with a picture of the AA's commander-in-chief Maj-Gen Tun Myat Naing, during the Tazaungdaing Festival in November 2017.

The fire balloon had "Happy Birthday General" written on it and was said to have been launched to celebrate the 39th birthday of the AA chief. Officers of Kyaukphyu Township Police Force arrested U Tun Hla Kyaw soon after the incident and charged him under Article 17 (1) of the Unlawful Associations Act.

"He was sentenced to two years in prison under Article 17 (1) of the Unlawful Associations Act. We think this verdict is unfair and have plans to appeal it," said defense lawyer U Tin Myint.

Section 17(1) of the Unlawful Associations Act carries a penalty of up to three years in prison for "whoever is a member of an unlawful association, or takes part in meetings of any such association, or contributes or receives or solicits any contribution for the purpose of any such association or in any way assists the operations of any such association."

The AA was founded in 2009 in Kachin State's Laiza with the support of the Kachin Independence Army. The AA has said it planned to return to its homeland of Rakhine State since 2014. Since 2015, heavy clashes have occurred between AA and the Myanmar Army on numerous occasions in Shan, Chin and Rakhine states, with the latest one taking place last week.

The AA has widespread support among the Arakanese, despite a crackdown by the Myanmar Army that has seen dozens of people arrested and imprisoned on charges of unlawful association.

Translated from Burmese by Thet Ko Ko.

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Shan Party Offers to Broker Talks Between Clashing Armed Groups

Posted: 27 Nov 2018 12:10 AM PST

YANGON — The Shan Nationalities League for Democracy (SNLD) says it is attempting to broker peace talks between two rival ethnic armed groups currently fighting in northern Shan State.

SNLD First Secretary U Sai Leik said the party on Monday sent letters to General Yawd Serk and Lieutenant General Pan Fa, chairmen of the Restoration Council of Shan State (RCSS) and the Shan State Progress Party (SSPP), respectively, urging them to stop fighting immediately.

"We also urged them to take responsibility for the lives and property of the people and to give them help," he added.

Some local residents have been killed or wounded in the latest round of fighting between the armed wings of the two groups, which broke out earlier this month. Others have fled their homes to escape the violence.

"If the two sides are willing to meet each other, we are ready to arrange a meeting for them," said U Sai Leik.

The last time the two groups clashed, in July, the Committee for Shan State Unity (CSSU) also urged them to hold talks to settle their differences peacefully. They met in southern Shan State in August to discuss a ceasefire but agreed only to have more talks.

"I've sent letters to them twice. This problem can be solved only with meetings between U Pan Fa and U Yawd Serk. I have asked the two sides to form committees to have meeting in the meantime," CSSU Chairman U Sai Ai Bao said.

"People are suffering a lot. There shouldn't be fighting within our own ethnic group, as well as with the Tatmadaw [Myanmar military}. We are fed up with the war; it has been going on for 70 years," he added, referring to the country’s long-running civil war.

The SSPP says the fighting will end only when the RCSS withdraws its troops from northern Shan State. But the RCSS, which is based in southern Shan, refused to hold talks on a withdrawal.

Translated from Burmese by Thet Ko Ko.

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Smog War Casualty: China Coal City Bears Brunt of Pollution Crackdown

Posted: 26 Nov 2018 10:00 PM PST

JINCHENG, China — Residents in the rugged, over-mined city of Jincheng in northern China’s coal heartland have been breathing a little easier after campaigns to reduce pollution forced dozens of collieries and chemical plants to close.

"Everything was covered in dust, and it’s cleaner now," said Zhang Haibin, a 44-year-old farmer living in a largely abandoned hamlet on the edge of a defunct coal deposit that once attracted migrant workers from across the country.

But Jincheng has paid a heavy price, Zhang said.

Factories and coal mines have shut down, sending shockwaves through the local economy. The migrants have drifted away, and jobs are hard to find even for locals.

And the air is still not clean enough, falling short of the government’s pollution targets. That means that as another punishing anti-pollution campaign gets underway this winter in smog-choked north China, Jincheng will be under even more pressure.

The city’s experience illustrates the challenges facing the Chinese government as it tries to rein in pollution without further weighing on an economy that is showing signs of a slowdown, exacerbated by the effects of a bruising trade war with the United States.

Across north China, cities are struggling to strike a balance between reversing the environmental damage done by decades of breakneck growth and keeping their heavy industrial economies afloat.

Jincheng has done particularly poorly, according to the central government.

A sprawling, mountainous administrative region in the south of Shanxi Province, Jincheng is still dominated by coal. Though many pits have been shut, the craggy landscape bears the scars of decades of excessive mining.

Residents say air quality has improved, but whiffs of sulfur pervade the city’s industrial districts, and smoke can be seen billowing from factory chimneys.

Jincheng was the worst performer among 28 northern cities forced to impose special pollution measures last year, according to data from the Ministry of Ecology and Environment.

It failed to meet its target of cutting concentrations of lung-damaging PM2.5 particles by 10 percent last winter, and recorded 1,819 pollution violations, the most of the 28 cities.

Summoned to Beijing in April to explain his city’s poor performance, mayor Liu Feng said the city’s gross domestic product plunged 9 percent and fixed asset investment 41 percent in the first quarter as a result of production cuts.

Feng told officials, at a meeting attended by Reuters, that he was "deeply embarrassed" and would seek to "learn painful lessons" about improving compliance this year.

Feng said city inspectors had been too "passive" and had failed to properly forecast smog build-ups or supervise industries. But he also blamed unfavorable weather conditions, as well as the city’s "industrial structure," dominated by polluting power plants, steel mills and cement factories.

The economy bounced back after the winter curbs were lifted, with GDP growing 4.9 percent from a year earlier in the first three quarters of 2018, according to the city’s statistics bureau, although fixed asset investment was still down 1.9 percent on the year.

But with the winter anti-pollution curbs that took effect on Nov. 1, Jincheng—like many cities in Shanxi—will again struggle to reconcile official pollution targets with their industrial structures.

Shanxi "faces a very complex situation, it has few resources and its supervision capabilities are quite weak—it has a lot of different kinds of challenges," said Ma Jun, director of the Institute of Public and Environmental Affairs (IPE), a non-government group that monitors pollution.

"Many cities in Shanxi rank the lowest in the country when it comes to environmental law enforcement and information disclosure," Ma said.

Shanxi produces nearly a billion tons of coal a year, around a quarter of the national total, and despite promises to promote cleaner energy, its production of the fossil fuel actually increased in the first three quarters of 2018.

No Leniency

Last year’s winter smog crackdown was criticized for a "one size fits all" approach that failed to take account of local conditions, shuttering hundreds of factories whether they had implemented pollution controls or not.

Beijing has promised a more business-friendly campaign this year, setting lower emissions-cutting targets and promising to exempt environmentally compliant firms.

But after its failures last year, Jincheng is unlikely to be treated leniently in the war on pollution, which is a signature policy of President Xi Jinping.

On Monday, inspectors said 19 firms in Jincheng had failed to follow rules to restrict output during a smog outbreak last week, the latest in a series of problems uncovered this year.

The city’s coal districts are now in a state of siege as inspectors scour mines, coal processing facilities, chemical plants and storage depots for violations.

This winter, Jincheng aims to cut coal chemical production by 30 percent, and impose output curbs of as much as 50 percent in certain districts. It will also establish a 95-square kilometer "no-coal zone" banning household coal combustion and convert more than 9,000 households to gas.

One manager with Shanxi Lanhua High-Tech, a local conglomerate involved in coal, chemicals and real estate, said the city was under far greater pressure.

The firm will completely shut down some of its subsidiaries in winter, and expects to lose around 450 million yuan ($64.84 million) in earnings over the winter period.

"This year the intensity is going to be stronger," said the manager, who requested anonymity because he wasn’t authorized to talk to the media.

Diversification

Ma of the IPE said polluting firms in cities like Jincheng had long taken advantage of the system. Their failure to comply with costly rules means they could out-compete compliant rivals, and China needed to create a "level playing field" to make sure lawbreakers were eliminated from the market.

But at a meeting of China’s parliament in March, delegates from Jincheng said the city needed more financial support from Beijing to diversify and regenerate its economy.

Despite years of crackdowns, Jincheng continues to rely heavily on coal, and while surviving mines have benefited from the closure of smaller rivals, related businesses—including local truckers—are struggling with higher compliance costs and intensifying competition.

Gas has now emerged as the major bright spot for the city, with its seams rich in coalbed methane, which has replaced coal as a source of heating for many outlying villages, but development will still take time.

"The GDP growth that Jincheng wishes to accomplish … will be driven from gas today, while historically it would have been from coal," said Randeep Grewal, chairman of Greka, a unit of G3 Exploration, which has drilled more than 4,500 coalbed methane wells in Jincheng.

"We are in that transition mode, and clearly in transition, you have a bit of growing pain, but the transition is irreversible."

In the meantime, the legacy of coal is still being felt by residents of Jincheng like Zhang, the farmer.

His sparsely furnished home is riddled with dangerous cracks—the result of subsidence caused by mining—but he said he has not received enough compensation from the state to move out.

"They’ve even closed down livestock farms here because of the environmental policies and lots of farmers are out of work," he said. "The government knows how to ask you for money but it doesn’t know how to resolve the problems of ordinary people."

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Ten Things to Do in Yangon This Week

Posted: 26 Nov 2018 08:51 PM PST

Yangon Film School Annual Screening

Young filmmakers from the Yangon Film School will showcase their works.

Nov. 28, 6 p.m. Goethe Institute, corner of Kaba Aye Pagoda Road and Nat Mauk Street, Bahan Township. Free admission. Reservations at 09-421157629.

Rock and Roll Night

Phoe Kyaw and Lu Lay will be rocking together with guest singer Manson Burns and The Ugly band.

Nov. 28, 7 p.m. to 11 p.m. Hard Rock Café, Myanma Plaza. Tickets are 5,000 kyats. Reservations at 09-795814127 or 09-458261390.

Birds Flight Love Cages — A Concert of Vocal Music

This is a concert of music sung and spoken in German, Burmese and English about birds as pets in cages, birds flying free and birds as messengers and the humans who love them.

Nov. 29, 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. Goethe Institute, corner of Kaba Aye Pagoda Road and Nat Mauk Street, Bahan Township. Free admission. Reservations at 09-421157629.

Rock Music Concert

The bands Idiots and Eternal Gosh will perform.

Nov. 30, 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. 369 Dine and Bar, ibis Style Yangon Stadium Hotel, Lay Daung Kan Road. Tickets at 09-5053759.

Singapore Festival

There will be Singaporean food, art and much more.

Nov. 30 to Dec. 2. Bogalay Zay Street, Botatung Township.

Signature Night Market

This night market is for foodies.

Nov. 30 to Dec. 2, 4 p.m. to 10 p.m. People's Square and Park.

Nate Ban Zay

There will be about 70 pavilions selling clothes, food, toys, cosmetics and other consumer goods.

Evening of Dec. 1. Hninzigon Home for the Aged, Kaba Aye Pagoda Road.

Maung Di's Global Village

Maung Di will showcase his artwork.

Dec. 1 to 5, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Ahla Thit Art Gallery, No. 17 University Avenue Road, Bahan Township.

Innocent Models

The subject of this art exhibition is domestic pets.

Dec. 1 to 5, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. 43 Art Gallery, 43rd Street.

Myanmar Watercolor 2018

Several artists will showcase their works in watercolor.

Dec. 1 to 7, 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. National Museum.

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Protect Indian Sex Workers’ Right to Reject Rehab, Say Campaigners After Reports of Abuse

Posted: 26 Nov 2018 08:45 PM PST

MUMBAI — Reports of forced labor at a shelter for abused women run by a charity in India sparked fresh fears on Monday that the country’s long-awaited anti-trafficking bill could lead to consenting sex workers being locked up and treated like victims.

The Lower House of the Indian Parliament cleared the anti-trafficking bill in July this year and it is expected to be tabled in the Upper House in December.

India’s women’s minister has said it aims to unify existing anti-trafficking laws, prioritize survivors’ needs and prevent victims such as those found in brothel raids from being arrested and jailed like traffickers.

But sex workers’ organizations say it does not distinguish between victims of trafficking and women doing sex work out of choice, and could lead to the latter being held in shelters against their will.

“There is a concern among sex workers’ rights movements about adult consenting sex workers being incarcerated in protection homes,” said Aarti Pai of the India-based National Network of Sex Workers.

The National Network of Sex Workers has made this point against shelters in its opposition to the bill.

Britain’s Guardian newspaper on Saturday quoted former inmates of a shelter in Hyderabad run by anti-trafficking charity Prajwala as saying it was worse than prison and that they were beaten and forced to work unpaid.

“You can’t force rehabilitation on survivors who reject it,” said Devi, a women’s rights activist who goes only by her first name.

“Why can’t a shelter home be an open house – if a person doesn’t want to learn, let her go. They (those in sex work out of choice) are sent as trafficking victims to these homes,” she told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.

Most of the more than 23,000 trafficking victims rescued in 2016 were women and girls, according to government data. Rescued survivors are taken to hostels run by charities or the government.

“Shelters are required as a transit space for any human being who is grievously traumatized to gain the coping skills to reintegrate into the society,” Prajwala founder Sunitha Krishnan told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.

Prajwala is a member of TrustLaw, the Thomson Reuters Foundation’s global pro bono legal program.

In a blog post Krishnan said the “care and protection provided in Prajwala is the best."

She said the allegations made in the report were an attempt to discredit her rehabilitation model.

The post Protect Indian Sex Workers’ Right to Reject Rehab, Say Campaigners After Reports of Abuse appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Hundreds of Scholars Condemn China for Xinjiang Camps

Posted: 26 Nov 2018 08:37 PM PST

WASHINGTON — Countries must hit China with sanctions over the mass detention of ethnic Uighurs in its western Xinjiang region, hundreds of scholars said on Monday, warning that a failure to act would signal acceptance of “psychological torture of innocent civilians.”

Beijing has in recent months faced an outcry from activists, academics and foreign governments over mass detentions and strict surveillance of the Muslim Uighur minority and other ethnic groups that live in Xinjiang.

In August, a United Nations human rights panel said it had received many credible reports that a million or more Uighurs and other minorities are being held in what resembles a “massive internment camp that is shrouded in secrecy” in the region.

Representatives from a group of 278 scholars in various disciplines from dozens of countries called on China at a news briefing in Washington to end its detention policies, and for sanctions directed at key Chinese leaders and security companies linked to the abuses.

“This situation must be addressed to prevent setting negative future precedents regarding the acceptability of any state’s complete repression of a segment of its population, especially on the basis of ethnicity or religion,” the group said in a statement.

Countries should expedite asylum requests from Xinjiang’s Muslim minorities, as well as “spearhead a movement for UN action aimed at investigating this mass internment system and closing the camps,” it said.

China rejects criticism of its actions in Xinjiang, saying that it protects the religion and culture of minorities, and that its security measures are needed to combat the influence of “extremist” groups that incite violence there.

The country’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi has said the world should ignore “gossip” about Xinjiang and trust the government.

But after initial denials about the detention camps, Chinese officials have said some people guilty of minor offenses were being sent to “vocational” training centers, where they are taught work skills and legal knowledge aimed at curbing militancy.

Michael Clarke, a Xinjiang expert at Australian National University who signed the statement, told reporters that China sought international respect for its weight in global affairs.

“The international community needs to demonstrate to Beijing that it will not actually get that while it’s doing this to a significant portion of its own citizenry,” Clarke said.

The post Hundreds of Scholars Condemn China for Xinjiang Camps appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Citing Disease Risk to Tribe, Group Urges Halt to Hunt for Dead American

Posted: 26 Nov 2018 08:37 PM PST

PORT BLAIR/NEW DELHI — A rights organization urged Indian police on Monday to call off efforts to recover the body of an American missionary believed to have been killed by an isolated tribe on a remote island due to the risk of introducing them to diseases.

John Allen Chau, 26, is believed to have been killed last week after traveling to North Sentinel – part of the Indian archipelago of Andaman and Nicobar in the Bay of Bengal – to try to convert the tribe to Christianity.

Indian police are working with anthropologists and psychologists to see if a plan can be forged to recover the body of Chau, an officer said on Monday.

But Survival International, a body that campaigns for the rights of indigenous tribes, said the attempts were dangerous for the Indian officials as well as the Sentinelese, who face being “wiped out” if any outside diseases were introduced.

“The risk of a deadly epidemic of flu, measles or other outside disease is very real, and increases with every such contact,” they said.

The Sentinelese, generally considered the last pre-Neolithic tribe in the world, have violently resisted any contact with outsiders. The Indian government has for years placed the island off-limits to visitors to protect the tribe.

“We are in constant touch with anthropologists and psychologists,” said Dependra Pathak, director general of police in the Andaman and Nicobar islands.

“If they suggest any methodology to interact without disturbing them then we can draw (up a) strategy,” he said. “At this stage we don’t have any plan to confront our Sentinelese.”

A group of anthropologists, journalists and activists said in a joint statement that continuing with the efforts to recover Chau’s body could lead to further violence and “completely unwarranted loss of life."

“The rights and the desires of the Sentinelese need to be respected and nothing is to be achieved by escalating the conflict and tension, and worse, to creating a situation where more harm is caused,” they said.

Chau, who described himself in social media posts as an adventurer and explorer, made several trips to the island by canoe on Nov. 15.

He told fishermen who took him to the island a day later he would not be returning, Pathak said previously.

Seven people who helped Chau reach the island have been arrested.

Separately, Andaman and Nicobar authorities issued a statement on Monday reiterating that the island remained off limits to foreigners as well as Indians after some media reported relaxations of restrictions for visitors.

The post Citing Disease Risk to Tribe, Group Urges Halt to Hunt for Dead American appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Look East Policy Is Fine, but a Balancing Act Is Needed

Posted: 26 Nov 2018 04:30 PM PST

China's influence over Myanmar is rising as the West continues to condemn the government over the Rohingya issue.

Beijing's consistent and assertive engagement with government leaders in Naypyitaw—intended to counter the Western influence that began to flourish under the previous government led by then-President U Thein Sein—is paying off. Myanmar is seen as moving closer to China.

Even before her government came to power, Beijing expressed concern to then-opposition leader Daw Aung San Suu Kyi about the rise of Western influence in Myanmar and made known its willingness to assist in the peace process and economic development. She was invited to Beijing to meet Chinese President Xi Jinping even before her party won the 2015 election in a landslide.

The West's condemnation and renewed sanctions on the government over the Rohingya issue now appear to have been counterproductive, alienating both Myanmar's elite and the grassroots population. That doesn't mean the population as a whole has become pro-China, but Myanmar people want to see the country's foreign relations strike a balance between regional superpowers China, Japan and India, as well as the West.

In regards to China, Myanmar should adopt a cautious and deliberate approach that always serves the national interest and heeds the public's concerns about Beijing's clout over Myanmar.

Since last year, China's ambitious Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) has been widely discussed in Myanmar thanks to steady media coverage and the holding of a number of forums. The initiative faced steady opposition from some quarters in Myanmar, and a cautious welcome from others. There has been pushback.

Beijing needs to keep in mind how far it can push, and when it needs to ease off, while respecting the nature and sovereignty of Myanmar and its citizens' concerns.

It is time for Myanmar's leaders—if they possess sufficient vision—to assert themselves and strike a balance. The plain fact is that Myanmar is not a puppet of any country, and like any other country in the world it must put its national interest first.

In years past, through many ups and downs in bilateral relations, Beijing was able to maintain special, privileged access to Myanmar's leaders, including former military chiefs General Ne Win and Senior-General Than Shwe. So it is not surprising to see Beijing forge closer relations with the current government led by de facto leader Daw Aung San Suu Kyi. It is to Myanmar's benefit to be on good terms with China and all its neighbors, as it adopts a "Look East" policy.

Myanmar President U Win Myint has appointed national security adviser U Thaung Tun to head a new ministry tasked with boosting local and international investment. One of its duties will be to ensure that all foreign investment is socially and environmentally responsible. The appointment indicates that the government is making a priority of improving the economy by luring more investment from overseas.

Song Tao, the head of the International Department of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, recently visited Myanmar and met with a wide range of high-ranking officials including State Counselor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and military commander-in-chief Senior-General Min Aung Hlaing.

Snr-Gen Min Aung Hlaing dressed in civilian clothes as he received Song Tao. He told the visiting Chinese official that he hoped Beijing would further promote its stand on political reforms in Myanmar and foster good relations between political forces, the public and ethnic groups in the country.

Song Tao pledged China's continued support for the peace process. Many ethnic insurgent groups, particularly along the northern border with China, are now under Beijing's influence.

Last month, Naypyitaw agreed to conduct a feasibility study on a high-speed railway project that would link Muse, in northern Shan State, to Mandalay as part of Beijing's grand infrastructure plan for the region. The project is part of the China-Myanmar Economic Corridor or CMEC, which is itself a component of the BRI.  Muse sits across Myanmar's border from Yunnan province in southwestern China. What would have happened if this project were conducted under the previous government? Most likely it would have provoked public discontent. This time, however, the Myanmar public hasn't made a fuss about it.

After many rounds of negotiation, China has deepened its relationship with the Myanmar government, which inked a framework agreement with a Chinese company on the development of a special economic zone (SEZ) in Rakhine State. The project will offer China access to the Bay of Bengal while enhancing regional connectivity as part of the BRI. Before the deal was signed there was a healthy discussion in the Myanmar media over the potential dangers of falling into a debt trap with China, as well as China's strategic interest in Rakhine State. The Irrawaddy published a series of articles, interviews and analyses on this particular project in both Burmese and English.

The Kyaukphyu SEZ is uniquely positioned to serve as a trade corridor connecting the three economies of China, India and Asean.

The point is that Myanmar is not throwing its lot entirely in with China—and nor should it.

In October, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi went to Japan to attend the 10th Mekong-Japan Summit and hold talks with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. She met several dozen Japanese businessmen and invited them to invest in Myanmar. As of 2017, Japan was the fourth-biggest foreign investor in Myanmar.

In an interview with The Irrawaddy, Japanese Ambassador Ichiro Maruyama told The Irrawaddy that Japan opposed Western countries' proposed trade sanctions over the Rohingya issue. He stressed that while a majority of Myanmar people wanted democracy—a desire he said echoes the international community's aspirations—on the Rakhine issue the two are on opposite sides. He said this state of affairs demonstrated the complexity of the situation in Rakhine State.

But there is one more actor in the Look East policy: India.

Unlike the West, New Delhi understands Myanmar's history and complexity and is keen to maintain its relations with Naypyitaw. Still, India lags behind China as a trading partner. Trade between China and Myanmar is expected to surpass US$7 billion this year.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi—who has renamed India's own "Look East" policy as "Act East"—visited Myanmar in September 2017, just weeks after terrorists attacked Myanmar forces in northern Rakhine State. As a result of the clashes, hundreds of thousands of Rohingya fled across the Bangladesh border. Myanmar quickly found itself on the receiving end of an international outcry, but Modi's pragmatic engagement was appreciated here.

Since a new border crossing opened between Tamu in Sagaing Region and Moreh in the Indian state of Manipur, tourists have started flowing into the area. As infrastructure improves, trade between the two countries will thrive.

New Delhi is concerned with Chinese influence in Myanmar and its support of rebel groups based near Myanmar's northern border and its border with India, including the Arakan Army, which now operates near the boundary between Chin and Rakhine states. To counter China's influence in Myanmar, more engagement from India is required.

Myanmar will need to engage in sophisticated diplomacy to counter China's rise, as the region is also in the U.S.'s strategic interest.

The growing rivalry and tensions between the U.S. and China in the Asia region will force Myanmar to think carefully about its foreign policy, in particular the Look East strategy.

At the recent Asean Summit in Singapore, U.S. Vice President Mike Pence told the gathering of leaders, "We all agree that empire and aggression have no place in the Indo-Pacific."

"Let me be clear, though: Our vision for the Indo-Pacific excludes no nation. It only requires that nations treat their neighbors with respect, and respect the sovereignty of our nations and international rules and order," he said, in a warning clearly aimed at China.

While in Singapore, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi met with Pence. The vice president voiced concern over the Myanmar Army's treatment of Rohingya Muslims. "The violence and persecution by military and vigilantes that resulted in driving 700,000 Rohingya to Bangladesh is without excuse," he said. The two engaged in a very "candid exchange", as a White House official put it.

Daw Aung San Suu Kyi told Pence, "Of course people have different points of view, but the point is that you should exchange these views and try to understand each other better."

"In a way we can say that we understand our country better than any other country does and I'm sure you will say the same of yours, that you understand your country better than anybody else," she added.

This conversation is far from over.

But at the Singapore summit, Washington's main target was China. In another blunt warning to Beijing, Pence said, "The United States' commitment to the Indo-Pacific is steadfast and enduring," adding that Asean was central to the U.S.'s view of the region as an "indispensable and irreplaceable strategic partner".

"In all that we do, the United States seeks collaboration, not control," he said. "Like you, we seek an Indo-Pacific in which all nations, large and small, can prosper and thrive, securing sovereignty, confident in our values, and growing stronger together."

Amid the rising tension between China and the U.S., Myanmar's leaders will need foresight and a clear vision to chart a course that avoids getting caught up in the rivalry.

During World War II, Myanmar was a battlefield fought over by British, U.S. and Japanese forces, all of which had their own strategic priorities in the region. Myanmar was just a pawn in the game.

This time Myanmar can't afford to be caught between the China-U.S. rivalry.

Pragmatism and policies that serve stability and the national interest must be fundamental to the shaping of Myanmar's continued engagement with China, India, Japan and rest of Asia. At the same time, Myanmar can't afford to entirely estrange itself from the West, including the U.S.

Aung Zaw is the founding editor-in-chief of The Irrawaddy.

The post Look East Policy Is Fine, but a Balancing Act Is Needed appeared first on The Irrawaddy.
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