Monday, September 10, 2018

The Irrawaddy Magazine

The Irrawaddy Magazine

USDP Vows to Protect Territory, Independence in By-Election Speech

Posted: 10 Sep 2018 09:12 AM PDT

YANGON — The military-backed Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) appealed to voters’ fears of losing territory and independence on Saturday in anticipation of the Nov. 3 by-elections.

"It is time to repulse the foreign intervention against the nation's sovereignty with true patriotic spirit," USDP Secretary U Pike Htwe said in a speech broadcast on state-run television and radio. "We would like to request that you vote for us to ensure the perpetuation of the country."

The secretary said the “national interest” was at the top of the party’s agenda and vowed that it would prevent any “territorial loss" or “bullying from foreign countries."

The USDP, which is campaigning on the slogan “Time to Think,” has been highly critical of the government’s decisions to seat foreign experts on the ad hoc bodies it has formed to address the crisis in Rakhine State, claiming they could jeopardize national security.

The party staged a rally in Naypyitaw in September 2017 at which it warned that the conflict in Rakhine could lead to "territorial loss" and accused the government of failing to adequately defend the military’s operations there, which the UN and US have described as ethnic cleansing.

The USDP, the political home of many retired military generals, came to power in the widely criticized 2010 general elections but was soundly defeated by the National League for Democracy (NLD) in 2015. Some of its members have since been tarnished by embezzlement scandals related to the party’s time in power.

On Saturday, U Pike Htwe said his party promised to make sure "not to lose an inch of land."

The USDP secretary said his party would also ensure that citizens enjoy the basic rights enshrined in the Constitution and bring the peace process it began while in power to end the country’s long-running civil war to a successful conclusion.

Human rights activist Ko Moe Thway said the USDP’s talk of "territorial loss" and the "perpetuation of sovereignty" were old hat for the party, part of its strategy to mobilize voters with scare tactics.

"It is propaganda based on nationalism, which has been revived recently," he said.

Political analyst U Yan Myo Thein said that only by amending the undemocratic Constitution and building a democratic federal union would Myanmar achieve peace and prosperity, but that the USDP was unlikely to play a lead role in tackling either judging by its public statements to date.

Thirteen national and regional parliamentary seats are up for grabs in the upcoming by-election. A total 69 candidates from 24 political parties have registered to contest the polls in Chin, Shan, Kachin and Rakhine states and Yangon, Sagaing, Bago, Magwe and Mandalay regions. Seven of the 69 candidates are running as independents.

The USDP, now the country’s main opposition party, is contesting 10 of the seats. The NLD is contesting all 13.

"It is important to assess the qualifications of the candidates and the parties’ policies as well as their activities at present and in the past for making a better future for the nation," U Pike Htwe said on Saturday.

"Everyone witnessed that when we were in office we put all our energy into developing the country's politics, economy, society, peace, rule of law and perpetuation of sovereignty and that the people enjoyed democracy," he said.

But U Yan Myo Thein said the USDP was unlikely to win over many new voters, even among those disappointed with the current government.

"There are those who are frustrated with the NLD government's performance over past two years. But even those who are disappointed, their votes will not go to the USDP," he said.

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Hundreds of Arakanese Protest ICRC Distribution of Aid to Rohingya Ahead of Repatriation

Posted: 10 Sep 2018 08:30 AM PDT

YANGON — About 300 Arakanese residents of northern Rakhine State's Maungdaw Township staged a protest on Monday afternoon against the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC)'s distribution of aid to Rohingya people camped between fences marking the Bangladesh/Myanmar border.

Several days ago, township authorities granted Arakanese nationalist U Sein Hla Phyu permission to stage Monday's rally. A copy of the permit letter widely regarded as authentic that went viral on Facebook states that the rally organizers strongly oppose the ICRC and Myanmar Red Cross Society (MRCS)'s project to deliver aid, saying the rations were being supplied to Bengali terrorists. "Bengali" is a contentious term that Myanmar's Buddhist majority commonly uses to refer to the Rohingya, implying that they are interlopers from neighboring Bangladesh who arrived during British rule.

Arakan National Party (ANP) union lawmaker U Kyaw Kyaw Win confirmed the event via phone on Monday. According to him, the protesters were dissatisfied with the relief program of the ICRC and MRCS. Some Maungdaw residents say the ICRC is biased in favor of the Rohingya and does not provide equivalent humanitarian assistance to non-Muslim minorities in the area.

In fact, for the past several months humanitarian assistance to the several thousand Rohingya near the border fence has been provided by Bangladesh-based UN agencies, but the Myanmar government asked the Bangladeshi foreign affairs minister during his recent visit to halt the aid program from the Bangladesh side so that delivery of rations could begin from the Myanmar side.

Last Friday, Myanmar President's Office spokesman U Zaw Htat told reporters in Napyitaw that the Bangladesh government had informed Myanmar that it would start repatriating some 3,000 refugees in the near future.

Responding to the Maungdaw protest, ICRC issued a statement this afteroon stating it was aware of the rally. It explained that the ICRC was asked to assist people living near the border in Maungdaw's Taung Pyo sub-town with life-saving humanitarian aid from the Myanmar side.

It said the Red Cross movement is in discussion with community leaders and authorities and is still investigating the pratical implications of the request.

"The Red Cross Movement's partners work at all times to provide emergency support to people in need in a neutral and impartial manner. The organization is working to fulfill its mandate by assisting all those affected by the recent violence in Rakhine," the statement reads.

Hindu community leader U Ni Mal told The Irrawaddy over the phone that rally participants marched from downtown to the ICRC's Maungdaw branch office located next to the Maungdaw District Administrative Office. He explained that several hundred Hindu refugees had suffered food shortages for months, but the government had merely distributed two cans of condensed milk per person per day, and that they had not received any international aid for months, including from the ICRC.

"The refugee camp for Hindus is situated right behind the ICRC's Maungdaw office, but we were not given rations until today. We have already appealed to ICRC officials, but nothing has happened so far. I don't know why they don't want to help us. But what can we do?" U Ni Mal said.

He said that in December 2017—after nearly 1,000 Hindus were displaced by the same August 2017 violence that displaced the Rohingya—the ICRC gave Hindu IDPs about 45,000 kyats each as travel expenses. A few months ago, the Ministry of Social Welfare promised the Hindu IDPs weekly food distribution, but according to U Ni Mal, since last month, they had been given one week's worth of rations to last for an entire month.

The Rohingya and the Hindus were displaced by military clearance operations that followed the August 2017 attacks by the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA) on 30 government border outposts and an Army base in Maungdaw. The clearance operations caused nearly 700,000 Rohingya to flee to neighboring Bangladesh within a few months.

The UN labels the military clearance operations ethnic cleansing and has said they had "genocidal intent". It has called for Myanmar's top Army generals to be investigated by the International Criminal Court. The court accepted the request for prosecution early this month.

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Death Toll from Seasonal Flu Rises to 7 Children in Naga Zone

Posted: 10 Sep 2018 06:18 AM PDT

YANGON—Seasonal flu has claimed the lives of three more children in the Naga Self-Administered Zone in Sagaing's Nanyun Township over the past week, taking the total death toll for the past two weeks to seven.

The three fatalities were a 1-month-old baby and a 1-year-old child from Hachun Sar village, and a 1-month-old baby from Shan Hae Paw Kun village in Nanyun, said Sing Maung Yawngva, the Sagaing regional lawmaker for Nanyun Township.

As in Lan Pan village—where four children died in the week before last—the entire population of Shan Hae Paw Kun village is now sick with the flu, he said.

The sick villagers' symptoms include cough, fever, diarrhea, sore throat, and nosebleeds.

Officials in the Naga governance office, however, put the death toll for the two villages in Nanyun Township at five.

The regional lawmaker and the Naga governance office told The Irrawaddy that the villagers were getting medical support from township and volunteer medical staff, as well as from Myanmar military medical personnel, and that the situation was now under control in those villages.

"The sick children's health has not completely recovered yet, but they are now receiving treatment and the threat to their lives has eased," Sing Maung Yawngva said.

Considered treatable in many other cities and villages in the country, a case of the flu is a potentially life-threatening condition in the remote region, which lacks access to transport and communication and faces a seasonal health crisis almost every year.

However, officials in the Naga Self-Administered Zone Office said they had responded to the emergency by sending medical staff to the villages.

Lack of access to food had exacerbated the effects of severe weather in the region, said U Than Htwe, deputy director of the Naga Self-Administered Zone Office.

"As transport is difficult, we were not able to reach affected villages quickly. We respond as soon as we receive information about health problems," he said.

Two years ago, scores of children died in a measles outbreak in the Naga Zone. The official death toll was 41, but reports put the toll as high as 80 children.

The post Death Toll from Seasonal Flu Rises to 7 Children in Naga Zone appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Trapped Survivors of Mine Blast Believed Dead, Rescue Called Off

Posted: 10 Sep 2018 05:02 AM PDT

MANDALAY — Authorities on Sunday called off rescue operations at a coal mine in Magwe Region’s Saw Township where four men believed to have survived an explosion on Sunday are now believed dead from a lack of oxygen.

The explosion, blamed on a methane gas reaction, instantly killed four miners and injured another four who were taken to the township general hospital for care.

U San Win, head of the Saw Township Red Cross Society, which joined the rescue team, said four other miners who survived the explosion but were trapped inside the 700-foot-deep shaft by the blast were now believed dead as well.

He said the decision to end the rescue operation was made by local authorities and an inspection team from the Ministry of Mining that arrived in the area on Sunday.

"A team went down and came back with no sign of survivors. The team said the tunnel had collapsed and was blocked after 650 feet and that it was full of gas odor and that a smell seemed to be coming from the bodies of the four trapped miners," said U San Win.

The trapped miners were U Nyi Nyi, 32, from Kone Zaung Village in Nga Phae Township; U Kyaw Min Tun, 30, from Ohnpin Village in Pinlaebu Township; U Tun Maung, 30, from Laythar Village in Wuntho Township; and U Aung Aung, 30, from Padan Village in Nga Phae Township.

“There is also a high risk that the mine will collapse at any time, so the local authorities and the officials from the Ministry of Mining who came from Naypyitaw decided to end the rescue," said U San Win.

The coal mine, located in Saw Township’s Kyauk Myaung Village, is operated by the Htun Yaza Coal Mining company, which joined local authorities in providing some compensation to the affected families. Company manager U Min Min Oo is being sued for the deaths of the miners and for neglecting the mine’s own safety protocols.

The inspection team is investigating the incident to decide whether the coal mine will be allowed to resume operations.

"The officials from the Ministry of Mining, government officials, police and the local administration office are investigating the incident and will check the safety of the mine and decide whether the company should continue with that coal mine," said U Htin Lin, a lawmaker in the Magwe Region Parliament.

"If the inspection team finds that the coal mine is unsafe to continue, it will have to be closed forever. On the other hand, the mining company can also receive a ban or fine under the mining law if the team finds that the company is not safe for its miners,” he added.

A coal mine in Magwe Region’s Minbu Township was shut down after an explosion there killed eight people in November.

About 40 coal mines are operating across Magwe, most of them in Gangaw, Minbu, Minhla, Pauk and Saw townships.

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Rakhine Political Leader Faces High Treason, Defamation Charges

Posted: 10 Sep 2018 04:54 AM PDT

SITTWE, Rakhine State — The Sittwe District Court ruled on Monday that prominent Arakanese politician Dr. Aye Maung and author Wai Hin Aung be prosecuted for high treason and defamation of the State.

The two were arrested in the second week of January in Sittwe, the state capital, for remarks at a commemoration event in Rathedaung Township earlier that month for the 233rd anniversary of the fall of the Arakan Kingdom to the Burmese in 1785.

The two reportedly expressed support for the ethnic armed group the Arakan Army (AA), which has been labeled by the Myanmar Army or Tatmadaw as an insurgent group.

They were then charged for high treason, defamation of the State and unlawful association.

"We were prosecuted under Article 122, high treason, and Article 505 (b), defamation of the State [under the Penal Code]. The charge for unlawful association was dismissed. According to the 1973 Interpretation of Expressions Law, we should be prosecuted for only one charge," writer Wai Hin Aung told the reporters.

"But we are being prosecuted under two charges. Today has proven that Myanmar's judicial sector is not impartial," he added.

The former Lower House lawmaker of Rakhine State's Ann Township Dr. Aye Maung also said that the charges are not fair.

"Far from staging an armed rebellion, I didn't even bring a toothpick [to the public talks]," he said.

"I just spoke a bit openly as a politician and lawmaker, as the government is said to be the people's government establishing a federal democracy. I'd say that the current government has an even more hardline attitude than U Thein Sein's government in the reconstruction era," he added.

Dozens of police were deployed around the court on Monday and locals from Sittwe, Rathedaung and Ann townships also came to support the two men.

The court hearing of the defense witnesses will begin on Sept. 17 and the two will not appeal to the higher level courts to review the charges, said defense lawyer U Kyaw Nyunt Maung.

"Dr. Aye Maung doesn't want to appeal. He believes that the charges will not change even if he appeals. He feels sorry that the president has permitted his prosecution," the lawyer told the reporters.

Translated from Burmese by Thet Ko Ko.

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Calls Mount for Official Secrets Act to Be Amended in Wake of Reuters Case

Posted: 10 Sep 2018 04:02 AM PDT

YANGON — Legal experts, journalism professionals and human rights defenders have called for the outdated Official Secrets Act to be amended after the jailing of two reporters for possessing classified government materials prompted concerns that news gathering was leaving journalists vulnerable to prosecution.

Last week, a court in Yangon's Insein Township convicted Reuters journalists Ko Wa Lone and Ko Kyaw Soe Oo of violating the law and sentenced them to seven years in prison.

The Official Secrets Act was enacted by the country's former British colonial rulers in 1923 to criminalize the sharing of almost any kind of information held by the government.

The court ruled there was sufficient evidence to show the pair breached Article 3 (1) (c) of the law, and Judge U Ye Lwin said in his verdict that "confidential documents" discovered on the two would have been useful "to those who oppose the state or are enemies of the state".

In imposing the sentence, he quoted Article 3 (2) of the law: "It shall not be necessary to show that the accused person was guilty of any particular act tending to show a purpose prejudicial to the safety or interests of the State, and, notwithstanding that no such act is proved against him, he may be convicted if, from the circumstances of the case or his conduct or his known character as proved, it appears that his purpose was a purpose prejudicial to the safety or interests of the State…."

In other words, you can be found guilty of the crime if you possess classified documents, even if the prosecutor fails to provide evidence that you used the information to commit an act that jeopardized the interests or safety of the state, as long as your action and intention "appear to harm the state".

For journalists in Myanmar, this outdated and ill-defined law has become a threat to their professionalism. It leaves them easy prey to being charged under the Official Secrets Act, as they sometimes rely on leaked government documents (directives, internal memos or police wires, etc.) as first-hand information, because the government's lone spokesperson is difficult to reach for timely confirmation, while the police and army are rarely cooperative.

"It could have a negative impact on news gathering, especially if you write about police or the armed forces," said U Than Zaw Aung, one of the lawyers for the two Reuters journalists.

He said the key phrase in Article 3 (2), "appear to harm the state", is vague and open to interpretation.

"How do you judge if the accused 'appeared to offend'? It's very broad," he said.

U Than Zaw Aung said that in today's era of advanced information technology, there is often a fine line between confidential and public information. Once classified documents go viral online, they are in the public domain.

"So the law has to be fixed to rectify these problems," he said.

His two clients were prosecuted over military documents planted on them by the police, as well as other "classified" material found on their phones. The material on their phones included the itinerary of the vice president's visit to volatile northern Rakhine State and a security deployment plan for the papal visit to Myanmar last year, as well the phone number of an Arakan Army (AA) official. The AA is an ethnic armed group currently battling the Myanmar Army.

Both Reuters reporters testified that they didn't even know the contents of the documents that a policeman handed to them shortly before their arrests, and weren't aware of the existence of the classified documents found on their phones, as they were probably sent to them via an information-sharing app like Messenger. They said that information had nothing to do with the Rohingya massacre story they were working on at the time of their arrests. But the judge said "the information from the classified documents might be helpful directly or indirectly to those who oppose the state, including armed groups like the AA."

"It is very disappointing. This shows the critical situation facing democracy, freedom of expression and the rule of law in Myanmar," Ko Than Zaw Aung said.

Colonial-era laws have been invoked to bring criminal charges against journalists before. In 2014, five journalists from The Unity Weekly received 10-year jail terms under the Official Secrets Act for their reporting about an alleged military chemical weapons factory in northern Myanmar. They were later released in a presidential amnesty.

Last year, one of The Irrawaddy's senior reporters was charged along with two others from Democratic Voice of Burma by the army with violating the Unlawful Association Act during their trip in northern Shan State to cover a drug elimination program by an ethnic armed group that has been fighting government troops. The army later dropped the charges.

According to the International Commission of Jurists (ICJ), the offenses contained in these laws are often broadly defined, carry harsh penalties, and are open to abuse by authorities.

Sean Bain, a legal adviser for the ICJ, told The Irrawaddy that the Official Secrets Act is an outdated colonial legacy that is inconsistent with human rights and the rule of law.

"The punitive use of antiquated laws against journalists threatens the development of a democratic society in Myanmar," he said, adding that "to fulfill its stated commitment to the rule of law the NLD [National League for Democracy] government should immediately amend these repressive colonial-era laws."

Myanmar Journalism Institute training director U Sein Win said journalists in Myanmar have to be more careful when handling government documents these days, explaining that they are more vulnerable to prosecution under the Official Secrets Act because nearly everything related to the government is considered "secret."

"So, the law has to be fixed. If not, it is highly likely that more journalists will face prison terms under the Official Secrets Act," he said.

According to the human-rights NGO Free Expression Myanmar (FEM), the Official Secrets Act as deeply anti-democratic and needs to be replaced with a modern law that protects freedom of information and defines official secrets in a very clear way with safeguards for publishing information that is in the public interest, such as on government wrongdoing or corruption.

"Myanmar's government pretends the Official Secrets Act is for national security, but everyone can see they use it to hide allegations of their own wrongdoing," said Daw Yin Yadanar Thein, the program manager of FEM, referring to the Reuters case.

She said Britain reformed its version of the law in 1989 following public demands for a more democratic approach to the right to information. "But Myanmar has kept its colonial version," she said.

The new British law also makes it clear that "only government officials have a duty to keep information secret. Under their amended law, journalists or activists could never be held liable for having information leaked from the state," Daw Yin Yadanar Thein added.

The FEM supports amending Articles 3 (under which the Reuters journalists were charged) and 5 (which also criminalizes the sharing of information about the government) of the Myanmar law so as to define clearly what information must be kept secret to protect national security, and to include a "public interest" test so that the law cannot be used to hide corruption and wrongdoing.

Reform of the nearly 100-year-old law was debated in Parliament in 2014 after the jailing of the Unity journalists. Describing the law as oppressive, U Thein Nyunt of New National Democracy Party told the Parliament that the act should be amended to bring it in line with the 2008 Constitution and reflect the rights of citizens and the news media.

But his attempt to reform the law was in vain; then Deputy Minister for Home Affairs Brigadier General Kyaw Kyaw Tun said, "The amendment would prevent action against people intruding into a prohibited area and would effectively kill the law." With no other lawmakers will to support reform of the law, the Parliament took no further action.

The FEM has been advocating for the amendment of the act, along with other repressive laws, since 2014. When the NLD came to power in 2016, Daw Yin Yadanar Thein said, the NGO had meetings with officials, including those from the Attorney General's Office and Ministry of Information, to lobby for reform.

"They referred the cases to and fro. But there has been no green light yet," she said.

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Severe Delta Erosion Uproots 200 Households

Posted: 10 Sep 2018 02:36 AM PDT

PATHEIN, Irrawaddy Region — River bank erosion in Irrawaddy Region is four times worse this year than the previous year, according to the region's natural disaster management center.

There were 57 cases of bank erosion recorded in the 2016-17 fiscal year—a number that increased to 266 in 2017-18, said a representative of the center.

"The region has experienced many cases of river bank erosion lately," said the center's director U Than Soe.

Of the six districts in Irrawaddy Region, Hinthada District recorded the highest number of bank erosion with 191 cases.

It was followed by Maubin District with 57 cases, and by Pathein, Myaungmya, and Labutta with fewer cases while Pyapon District experienced no erosion cases at all.

Bank erosion has been frequent in Irrawaddy Region since 2015, causing many locals to lose their homes and farmland. Schools and monasteries have also been affected by land erosion along riverbanks.

"There have been more cases of river bank erosion. Rural villages are hit especially hard by it," said Daw Ni Ni Moe, a lawmaker representing Nyaungdon Township of Irrawaddy Region in the regional parliament.

The entire village of Shwe Phala Kyun in Pantanaw Township has had to be relocated because of erosion caused by the river Toe. (Photo: U Myo Thant/ Facebook)

Riverbank erosion accounted for 49 percent of natural disasters that occurred in Irrawaddy Region during the 2018-18 fiscal year. Strong winds were the second most common, causing 26 percent of natural disasters in the region.

"Households have had to move one after another since 2015 because of erosion. It became worse in June [2018] and all the remaining households had to move. All 200 households of our village have been relocated now," said community elder U Myo Thant of Shwe Phala Kyun Village in Pantanaw Township, Irrawaddy Region.

In the 2017-18 fiscal year, more than 92,705 people from some 23,000 households were affected by natural disasters including lightning and flooding in Irrawaddy Region.

The government provided over 720 million kyats ($464,000) for disaster victim support during the 2017-18 fiscal year, according to the regional natural disaster management center.

Translated from Burmese by Thet Ko Ko.

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Myanmar Touts Repatriation, Time Frame Remains Unclear

Posted: 10 Sep 2018 02:12 AM PDT

NAYPYITAW — Bangladesh will start repatriating some 3,000 refugees who left Rakhine State following last year's crisis in western Myanmar, said President's Office spokesman U Zaw Htay at a press conference on Friday in Naypyitaw.

"It is a welcome move that the Bangladeshi minister will repatriate about 3,000 people in the first batch. We've been working for that to happen," said U Zaw Htay.

He did not speak about the time frame for the repatriation process. The Myanmar government hopes that the cooperation of Bangladesh will speed up the repatriation and resettlement process so that Myanmar can alleviate international pressures, he added.

There have been calls from the international community for the Rakhine issue to be referred to the International Criminal Court (ICC). The ICC last week ruled that it could prosecute Myanmar for alleged crimes against humanity against the Rohingya, which the government promptly rejected.

Lawmaker U Aung Thaung Shwe representing Buthidaung Township in Rakhine State's Parliament spoke against the repatriation plan, referring to Rohingya refugees as rebels who committed violent acts.

"I want [the government] to consult with local people as opposed to giving in to pressures from the international community," said U Aung Thaung Shwe.

"I don't think submitting to international pressure is good for our future. I also don't think that the pressures will decline once the repatriation process is implemented," he said.

U Zaw Htay said the repatriation process will be implemented according to the latest agreement between Myanmar and Bangladesh and that the Myanmar government believes it will be successful.

"The [agreement] is based on the 1993 agreement, which was successful. We believe that the agreement will be realized successfully," he added.

U Tun Kyi, a former political prisoner, said he believes that international pressures will let up if these 3,000 Rohingya refugees are able to return to Rakhine State and live in a secure and dignified manner.

"If we have a good start, we can hope to reduce some of the international pressure," he said.

Besides the bilateral agreement with Bangladesh, Myanmar is also implementing a memorandum of understanding signed with the UNHCR and UNDP, as well as the Kofi Annan-led Advisory Commission report on Rakhine State, U Zaw Htay said.

"We have done 81 of 88 recommendations made by Kofi Annan's commission. We have to fulfill the pledges we have made. Our country must be responsible and accountable. The international community at present is calling for Myanmar to be accountable," he said.

The Myanmar government formed an independent investigation commission led by Rosario Manalo, a former deputy foreign minister of the Philippines, on July 30. The commission has already started investigating rights abuses in Rakhine State, he added.

U Zaw Htay said that Myanmar has been ready to accept Rohingya refugees since it signed a bilateral agreement with Bangladesh on Jan. 23.

Translated from Burmese by Thet Ko Ko.

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‘Good Progress’ at Bangkok Climate Talks on Draft Paris Agreement Rules: UN Official

Posted: 09 Sep 2018 09:49 PM PDT

BANGKOK — A United Nations climate change meeting in Bangkok made good progress on drafting a ‘rule book’ for the implementation of the 2015 Paris Agreement before a summit in Poland this December, a top UN official said on Sunday, the last day of the talks.

The Paris Agreement, which was adopted by almost 200 nations and is due to come into force in 2020, set a sweeping goal of ending the fossil fuel era this century.

“We made good progress, but we cannot sit back, we need to continue to speed up and deepen the conversation,” Patricia Espinosa, who leads the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) which steers the talks, told a news conference in the Thai capital.

The negotiated text lays down the groundwork for a summit in Katowice from Dec. 2-14 at which governments will meet to agree rules on implementing the agreement.

The UNFCCC earlier this week agreed to add an extra day to the December talks to allow more work to be done.

“We need a streamlined draft that will assist us in Poland,” Philip S. Weech, a delegate from the Group of 77 and China, told fellow negotiators earlier in the day.

Espinosa would discuss some fundamental issues with G7 environment ministers next week, she said.

Negotiations, however still needed to “achieve full clarity in climate finance,” Espinosa said, referring to a $100 billion fund to help developing countries tackle climate change, describing funding as a “politically sensitive” issue.

Critics say that developed countries remained uncommitted over finance.

“The US is a major culprit in taking finance off the table," Lidy Nacpil, coordinator at non-governmental organization the Asian Peoples' Movement on Debt and Development, told reporters.

US President Donald Trump, who in the past has described climate change as a hoax, pulled the United States out of the Paris Agreement in 2017, saying it favored other countries and was disadvantageous to the United States.

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China Outlaws Large Underground Protestant Church in Beijing

Posted: 09 Sep 2018 09:25 PM PDT

BEIJING — Beijing city authorities have banned one of the largest unofficial Protestant churches in the city and confiscated “illegal promotional materials”, amid a deepening crackdown on China’s “underground” churches.

The Zion church had for years operated with relative freedoms, hosting hundreds of worshippers every weekend in an expansive specially renovated hall in north Beijing.

But since April, after they rejected requests from authorities to install closed-circuit television cameras in the building, the church has faced growing pressure from the authorities and has been threatened with eviction.

On Sunday, the Beijing Chaoyang district civil affairs bureau said that by organizing events without registering, the church was breaking rules forbidding mass gatherings and were now “legally banned” and its “illegal promotional material” had been confiscated, according to images of the notice sent to Reuters late on Sunday and confirmed by churchgoers.

“I fear that there is no way for us to resolve this issue with the authorities,” Zion’s Pastor Jin Mingri told Reuters.

China’s religious affairs and civil affairs bureau did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

China’s constitution guarantees religious freedom, but since President Xi Jinping took office six years ago the government has tightened restrictions on religions seen as a challenge to the authority of the ruling Communist Party.

Churches across China have faced new waves of harassment and pressure to register since a new set of regulations to govern religious affairs in China came into effect in February and heightened punishments for unofficial churches.

In July, more than 30 of Beijing’s hundreds of underground Protestant churches took the rare step of releasing a joint statement complaining of “unceasing interference” and the “assault and obstruction” of regular activities of believers since the new regulations came into effect.

China’s Christian believers are split between those who attend unofficial “house” or “underground” churches and those who attend government-sanctioned places of worship.

Churchgoers were also given a notice from the district religious affairs bureau saying that the “great masses of believer must respect the rules and regulations and attend events in legally registered places of religious activity”.

Zion’s attendees were also given pamphlets of officially sanctioned churches that they might attend instead.

But for many worshippers and pastors, such as Jin, accepting the oversight and ultimate authority of the Communist Party would be a betrayal of their faith.

“On this land, the only one we can trust in is God,” Jin said.

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Alibaba’s Jack Ma to Step Down in One Year, Zhang to Become Chairman

Posted: 09 Sep 2018 09:15 PM PDT

BEIJING — Jack Ma, the charismatic co-founder of China’s largest e-commerce firm Alibaba Group Holding Ltd, will step down as chairman in exactly one year on Sept. 10, 2019, the company said.

Current Alibaba Chief Executive Daniel Zhang will replace him as chairman, while Ma will complete his current term on Alibaba’s board of directors following the company’s annual general meeting in 2020.

Ma, who turned 54 on Monday, relinquished the role of chief executive in 2013. Zhang, 46, has been in the job since 2015 after serving as chief operating officer and is known as a key architect of Alibaba’s “Singles Day”, the Nov. 11 event that has become the world’s largest online shopping event.

“Under his stewardship, Alibaba has seen consistent and sustainable growth for 13 consecutive quarters… Starting the process of passing the Alibaba torch to Daniel and his team is the right decision at the right time,” Ma said in a letter released by the company.

Zhang will also retain the CEO title, the company said.

Ma, who co-founded Alibaba in 1999, is one of China’s richest people with a net worth of $36.6 billion, according to Forbes. The company has grown to have more than 66,000 full-time employees and a market value of some $420 billion.

Ma said that after he steps down from his current roles he will continue to mentor management as part of the “Alibaba Partnership”, a 36-member group of core company managers.

The group has the ability to nominate the majority of directors on the company’s board.

A former English teacher with no technical background, Ma has a large popular following in China and is seen as an icon of self-made wealth.

He is also known for his eccentric personality and has donned wigs and costumes to perform highly choreographed pop routines at company events. Last year he starred alongside Chinese action star Jet Li in a short kung fu film.

Since handing over the CEO role, Ma has concentrated on philanthropy and promoting Alibaba internationally at business and political events.

Last year Ma invested 300 million yuan ($45 million) in a rural education project in China. He has also established a scholarship program in Newcastle, Australia.

Ma, who also controls Alibaba payment affiliate Ant Financial, is stepping back amid more challenging times for Chinese tech companies as sales growth in China’s eastern mega-cities shows signs of slowing.

Alibaba maintained robust revenue growth in the first half of 2018, but its profit margins have been squeezed by big-ticket investments as it battles to maintain pole position in payments and e-commerce. ($1 = 6.8526 Chinese yuan)

The post Alibaba’s Jack Ma to Step Down in One Year, Zhang to Become Chairman appeared first on The Irrawaddy.
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