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Monday, December 14, 2015

The Irrawaddy Magazine

For Suu Kyi and Than Shwe, an Inconvenient Truce
Burma’s Anti-Trafficking Unit Says 120 Cases Investigated in 2015
Hpakant Villagers Threatened with Legal Action after Jade Mine Blockade
In Idyllic Delta Locale, Locals Hope Proposed Power Plant Stays Grounded
Court Drops 1 of 2 Defamation Charges in Suit Over Military Insult
More Media Reform Needed to End Govt Control, Says Industry
Min Ko Naing on Shan State IDPs: ‘Children Said They Would Like to go Back Home’
Peace, of the Nobel Variety, in Portraits
India and Japan Sign Deals on Military, Train Sales, Nukes
China Says Senior Uighur Official Killed During Raid in Unruly Xinjiang
North, South Korea Talks End Without Agreement

For Suu Kyi and Than Shwe, an Inconvenient Truce

Posted: 14 Dec 2015 04:34 AM PST

A combination photograph of then junta leader Snr-Gen Than Shwe, left, and pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi. (Photos: The Irrawaddy)

It was just 10 days ago that Burma's ex-dictator sat down for a chat with his former prisoner, Aung San Suu Kyi. The two had met twice previously, in 1994 and 2002, but as they convened on Dec. 4 for their latest face-to-face, the political context could hardly have been more different.

Previously, Snr-Gen Than Shwe was head of one of the world's most repressive military dictatorships and Suu Kyi was leader of a persecuted pro-democracy movement against his reign; this month, Suu Kyi paid a call to his Naypyidaw residence as chairwoman of the National League for Democracy (NLD), which triumphed on Nov. 8 in a landmark election, while Than Shwe was likely still coming to terms with the crushing defeat of the ruling Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP), a political vehicle of his own making.

Why did he agree to meet her? And what can we expect in the aftermath of this crucial sit-down?

The meeting between Than Shwe and the pro-democracy leader excited many people, raising expectations that it might help see the country through to a smooth transfer of power from the current government to an NLD-led successor next year.

While little is known about the content of their conversation, one thing seems clear: It was the humiliating loss of the USDP, a military-backed party that Than Shwe created just before Burma's discredited 2010 general election, which forced the retired senior general to the table. In a theoretical post-Nov. 8 world where the USDP had won at the polls, it's safe to assume no such meeting would have taken place.

But faced with the cold hard reality of a failure by his hand-picked president, Thein Sein, to win voters' favor, Than Shwe decided it prudent to meet with the woman who has said she will govern Burma for the next five years.

The USDP's resounding defeat came even with the deck heavily stacked against the NLD, including through a constitutional provision granting 25 percent of seats in Parliament to the military. That allotment meant the USDP only needed to win one-third of elected seats to have the votes needed to ally with the military bloc in electing the next president.

Alternately described as part of his "master plan" and "exit strategy," the 25 percent guarantee in Parliament was not enough to hold back a tidal wave of popular support for the NLD. The USDP lost the reins of government, and now the question must be asked: What did Than Shwe hope to get out of his latest meeting with Suu Kyi, and more importantly, how does he want the next five years to play out?

Perhaps he genuinely wants to see to it that the transition from Thein Sein's government to the NLD is a smooth one. If that's the case, it is an aspiration he shares with Suu Kyi, who has emphasized the importance of an orderly transfer of power.

Their agendas may be aligned on this point, but the underlying motivations surely differ.

While Suu Kyi is mindful of the many ways in which the outgoing government or military establishment could hinder her ability to govern, Than Shwe is likely more concerned about his personal fate, that of his family, and perhaps the fortunes of close associates of the former junta.

There are many entrenched interests that could be threatened by a new administration that is retributive or even just seeks more innocuous changes to the status quo, such as greater transparency and less corruption in government.

Than Shwe pledged to support Suu Kyi "as best he can," so long as she truly works for the development of the country, according to a Facebook post from his grandson, Nay Shwe Thway Aung, who also met Suu Kyi prior to the Dec. 4 sit-down.

According to Nay Shwe Thway Aung's post, Than Shwe was quoted as saying: "After winning the election, it's the reality all have to accept—that Daw Aung San Suu Kyi will be the country's future leader."

Whether he really meant it, and what that means in practical terms, are things only Than Shwe himself can know.

Back to those previous two meetings: Nothing concrete came out of them, no progress toward resolving the political stalemate between the military regime and the NLD, which festered for years after Suu Kyi's party won a 1990 election that the junta ignored.

There is hope, however, that the latest meeting could serve as a positive catalyst toward a peaceful power transfer.

The meeting this month affirmed what many have thought for years: Than Shwe still wields influence within the USDP and military. Let's hope his words, as quoted by his grandson, were sincere. If so, he should help Suu Kyi "as best he can" by urging the current military commander-in-chief Snr-Gen Min Aung Hlaing to fully collaborate with the new NLD government, particularly as it picks up where Thein Sein left off in attempting to bring an end to decades of conflict between the Burma Army and ethnic armed groups.

While the NLD won big last month, the military remains a political force and, more importantly, one of the key actors in the country's fragile peace process.

For her part, Suu Kyi will need to offer a firm guarantee—if she hasn't already—that Than Shwe and his acolytes need not fear a vindictive NLD government. She has already said as much publicly, renouncing a mentality of revenge and talking up the need for national reconciliation.

It's been 10 days since the two met, and myriad questions have been put forward in teashops and on social media in the time since. Among those queries, "Is another meeting on the cards in the near future?"

There's plenty of reason for both to seek a second sit-down in the changed political arena. For Than Shwe, every meeting is a chance to further humanize himself and cement a non-antagonistic relationship with Burma's "future leader." And if Suu Kyi can convince Than Shwe that he will be allowed to fade quietly into the night, he may even give his blessing on the matter of constitutional reform, and in particular a change to Article 59(f) that would allow her to become president.

We don't know if that prospect was discussed earlier this month, and there's been little concrete information made available from either party in the days since.

According to Nay Shwe Thway Aung's Facebook post, Suu Kyi reportedly said that "for the success of establishing [a brighter] future for Burma, I want to talk to Snr-Gen Than Shwe for all-inclusive collaboration, including with the Tatmadaw [Burma Army]."

Win Htein, the NLD's central committee member, said after the meeting: "Now, the situation is clearer than before. It seems certain that a hopeful and better future is ahead of us."

That kind of optimism is heartening, and one hopes not ill-founded amid a transition that still seems full of uncertainty. For now, Burmese people and the international community will wait to see whether another round of talks between the former captor and his ex-captive is in the cards, hoping that their delicate dance will help set Burma on the right track.

The post For Suu Kyi and Than Shwe, an Inconvenient Truce appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Burma’s Anti-Trafficking Unit Says 120 Cases Investigated in 2015

Posted: 14 Dec 2015 04:26 AM PST

A woman looks over the view from a remote Ta'ang village in northern Shan State. According to official figures, 36 cases of human trafficking were investigated by authorities in Shan State in 2015. (Photo: JPaing / The Irrawaddy)

RANGOON — According to figures published in state-run media on Saturday, Burma's anti-human trafficking unit has investigating 120 cases of human trafficking in 2015, leading to some 226 arrests.

A total of 549 victims among 617 affected persons were rescued as of November this year, according to Burma's Anti-Trafficking in Persons Division.

Khin Maung Hla, a police chief in the trafficking unit, told The Irrawaddy on Monday that of the total number of trafficking cases in 2015, 68 involved forced marriages in China.

"China practices a one-child per family policy," said Khin Maung Hla, referring to a long-standing Chinese policy that in fact was officially scrapped in 2015. "Besides, there is no law for the forced marriage issue in China because of their country's demand."

Khin Maung Hla said nearly 80 percent of human trafficking cases involved China, with Chinese culprits seldom charged under that country's laws. He said Burma's anti-trafficking unit was targeting local agencies offering overseas employment opportunities.

"We can't tell people not to go overseas but have to raise awareness of the patterns of human trafficking among the public," Khin Maung Hla said.

Aye Aye Mar Kyaw, project coordinator with the United Nations Action for Cooperation Against Trafficking in Persons (Myanmar), told The Irrawaddy that China was one of the most difficult countries to deal with in terms of collaborating to combat human trafficking.

However, in comparison with previous years, collaboration has improved, she added.

According to official figures published in the Global New Light of Myanmar on Saturday, trafficking victims from January to November this year included 100 children, with police investigating 60 cases involving children last month alone.

Burma's government launched a five-year National Action Plan to Combat Human Trafficking in 2012 with an annual operating budget of US$780,000—covered mostly by international NGOs. As part of the plan, the Anti-Trafficking in Persons Division was created within the country's police force.

The post Burma's Anti-Trafficking Unit Says 120 Cases Investigated in 2015 appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Hpakant Villagers Threatened with Legal Action after Jade Mine Blockade

Posted: 14 Dec 2015 03:53 AM PST

A vendor carries clothes to sell to miners at a Hpakant jade mine, Nov. 27. (Photo: Soe Zeya Tun / Reuters)

MANDALAY — Locals from the Hpakant Jade mining region in Kachin State have been threatened with legal action by authorities after staging a roadblock to halt dozens of trucks planning to dump mine waste in nearby villages.

Local officials, including representatives of Hpakant's municipal government, met with the locals on Sunday and urged them to disband the roadblock, warning those present that they could face criminal proceedings.

"They said we can be arrested and sued, but we decided not to reopen the blockade because we don't want the soil near our village anymore," said Kai Rwae, a resident of Seng La village.

The roadblock was formed in response to what locals say is a sudden and sharp increase in recent weeks of mining activity in Hpakant, which is still reeling from a deadly landslide in November that claimed the lives of at least 113 prospectors. Locals allege that mine tailings were being regularly dumped in the vicinity of Seng La, Mazut Pyan, Aung Larang and Seng Khar villages.

"Waste soil dumped by the mining companies near our villages is increasing, and that hurts our crops and plantations. In recent days, over a hundred dump trucks came to dump soil. We can't accept it anymore," Kai Rwae told The Irrawaddy, adding that several requests to stop the dumping had been ignored.

Locals also say that there has been an attendant increase in the presence of heavy machinery operating in the area's mines, including more than 100 dump trucks without license plates, leading to concerns about the potential environmental impacts. Floods and landslides are a regular occurrence in the region, and locals claim that some of the soil waste from the mines has found its way into the Uru River, which is exacerbating flooding in nearby villages during the rainy season.

"It is unusual that hundreds of dump trucks are rapidly pouring into the area," said Awng Seng, a local jade merchant. "Some of the heavy machinery, we've never seen anything like it in our lives. We wonder if the companies are trying to dig as much as they can before the new government takes power."

"Those dump trucks without license plates we think are coming through the Chinese border, as some of them have Chinese script on them. We want to know if they have been permitted to trespass freely through our region like this."

According to the figures from local jade merchants, more than five hundred jade mining companies are now working in the area since mining resumed in late 2014. Operations had earlier ceased due to security concerns over the Burma Army's long-running conflict with the Kachin Independence Organization.

"This mass mining has been happening since early November, right after the election," said La Htuang, a Hpakant-based social worker. "We've asked the state government to stop this. We will now report it to the Union government because we believe this kind of activity is illegal."

The post Hpakant Villagers Threatened with Legal Action after Jade Mine Blockade appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

In Idyllic Delta Locale, Locals Hope Proposed Power Plant Stays Grounded

Posted: 14 Dec 2015 03:42 AM PST

Click to view slideshow.

NGAPUDAW TOWNSHIP, Irrawaddy Division — Eight hours drive from Rangoon, the idyllic coastal site of Nga Yoke Kaung in Irrawaddy Division boasts fertile fishing grounds and pristine stretches of sand.

But residents of the sub-township, located in the delta's Ngapudaw Township, are not without concerns, including the fate of a planned coal-fired power plant which has faced strident local opposition.

The Irrawaddy recently visited Nga Yoke Kaung Island, staying at a coconut farm in Kywe Kyaing, a small fishing village where the locals offered free accommodation and ample supplies of cheap seafood.

"Most people here go to sea almost every day for fishing," said Tun Tun, a 35-year-old local. "We first go to observe areas where many fish usually gather together. Then, if we see hundreds of them all together, we use fishing nets to catch them."

The fishermen here often net sizeable hauls. On Sunday, one group caught some 8,000 fish—a number locals' said more than doubled regular catches.

"They sold half of the catch to fish buyers, but the buyers' could not handle the other half. The fishermen then brought the rest of the fish to their houses, where they cleaned them, mixed them with salt and stored them, for two days, to dry before sending them to market," Tun Tun said.

One viss (approximately 1.6 kilograms) of dried fish typically sells for 6,500 kyat, while the price for fresh fish is 1,000 kyat per viss.

The Irrawaddy visited another house on Sunday where a group of about 30 people were working to clean, salt and store around 4,000 freshly caught fish. Locals work through piles of fish dumped just outside their houses, discarding the innards and heads and keeping the rest.

One female worker said she received 50 kyat for each fish she gutted, cleaned and salted. She usually got through 100 fish per session, with a workday starting at 2 am.

"We can get around 5,000 kyat for today," said another woman on Sunday. "It is very hard work, I did not have enough sleep."

There are around 300 houses in the village, a middle school and a small hospital. Those who attend high school have to catch a boat to the town of Nga Yoke Kaung.

"It is a good place to stay," said Htein Aung Kyaw, a local boat operator. "We have a good environment here. We eat all natural things. But the village does not have a big hospital. In case of emergencies, we have to travel by boat to get to the town. This is one of our main problems."

Htein Aung Kyaw also feared the village's beautiful natural surrounds would be irreparably damaged if the mooted power plant was built in the area.

Preliminary work on the proposed 300-megawatt power plant in Nga Yoke Kaung sub-township has reportedly stalled amid local opposition. Local newspaper 7 Days reported in July that field research being carried out by Japan's Mitsubishi Corporation and local conglomerate A1 Group of Companies had been halted due to local resistance. Its future remains unclear.

According to the Dawei Development Association, more than a dozen coal-fired power plants are currently planned nationwide.

"We are worried that they will build the power plant here," Htein Aung Kyaw said. "But this issue is a little quiet now. Hopefully they will not implement their plan. For our villagers, we will not let them build it here. We are happy with what we have here."

The post In Idyllic Delta Locale, Locals Hope Proposed Power Plant Stays Grounded appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Court Drops 1 of 2 Defamation Charges in Suit Over Military Insult

Posted: 14 Dec 2015 02:15 AM PST

Police lead Chaw Sandi Tun, in green, to her eighth court hearing in Irrawaddy Division's Maubin Township on Monday. (Photo: JPaing / The Irrawaddy)

RANGOON — A court in Irrawaddy Division on Monday dropped one of two defamation charges brought against Chaw Sandi Tun, a National League for Democracy (NLD) supporter who remains on trial for allegedly sharing a satirical Facebook post deemed insulting to the military.

Chaw Sandi Tun was arrested in October and charged under Article 66(d) of the Telecommunications Law after she was accused of sharing the offending post, which compared newly redesigned military uniforms to a green traditional htamein, a female longyi, worn by NLD chairwoman Aung San Suu Kyi. The image was considered insulting to Burma's powerful military establishment.

An additional charge was brought against her by the division's Maubin Township Court in late October, under Article 500 of the Penal Code, also a defamation clause.

"The Article 500 [charge] was discharged at the court today, but the charge under Article 66[d] remains," the defendant's lawyer Robert San Aung told The Irrawaddy on Monday, adding that the defense had requested at a previous hearing that all charges be thrown out, as the complainant was unable to offer compelling evidence to back the allegations.

Article 66(d) of the Telecommunications Law stipulates punishment of up to three years' imprisonment for using a telecommunications network to defame.

Robert San Aung expressed optimism at how the trial was proceeding, citing the court's decision to drop one of the charges on Monday and the presiding judge's willingness to grant full rights of defense to his client.

Chaw Sandi Tun's next court hearing is scheduled for Dec. 21, when the court will begin taking testimony from the defense's witnesses. Monday's hearing was the defendant's eighth since she was detained.

Her case is one of at least four currently making their way through the courts that involve charges based on social media posts. A similar prosecution has been brought against aid worker Patrick Khum Jaa Lee, who has been jailed—with several requests for bail denied—since October over a Facebook post he disputes sharing.

A young poet in Rangoon was detained on Nov. 5 after posting a poem on Facebook claiming that he had an image of President Thein Sein tattooed on his penis, and Than Tun, a Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) official, is facing trial for allegedly doctoring a photo of the NLD's Suu Kyi, whose face was transposed onto the body of a naked woman in the offending image.

The post Court Drops 1 of 2 Defamation Charges in Suit Over Military Insult appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

More Media Reform Needed to End Govt Control, Says Industry

Posted: 14 Dec 2015 01:42 AM PST

A copy of the state-run newspaper Myanma Ahlin. Members of the media industry say that the government should hasten its plans to convert its media assets into independent "public service" media outlets. (Photo: The Irrawaddy)

RANGOON — Attendees at a media conference in Rangoon have called for revisions to recently passed media laws, arguing that the government retains undue power over broadcasters and print publishers under the current legislative framework.

The conference, organized by the Myanmar Journalists Association and several freedom of expression advocacy groups, convened over Friday and Saturday and discussed further media reforms needed after three years of seismic changes to the sector.

Attendees said the Broadcasting Law, which was enacted in August and permits the establishment of independent radio and television broadcasters, left the government with a troubling amount of influence over the regulation of licensees.

A Broadcast Council to be formed in the coming months will be dominated by government appointees. The Upper and Lower houses of Union Parliament and the president nominate are given power under the law to nominate six members each to the council, while a further nine members will be elected by broadcasters. The council is empowered to issue and revoke broadcasting licenses, and the president is also granted the power to unilaterally dismiss members of the council.

"The structure of this council was formed without considering the suggestions of media organizations and civil society groups," said Khin Maung Win, the deputy executive director of Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB). "We asked lawmakers before the law was approved to include civil society members, but our recommendations were ignored."

Ye Htut, the Information Minister and chief spokesman for President Thein Sein, told the conference on Friday that the Broadcast Council would be formed within the next six months, leaving the matter unclear as to whether the current administration would appoint members before the new parliament was sworn in at the end of January.

The Broadcasting Law is the third major piece of media legislation passed since the Thein Sein government ended the decades-old practice of prepublication censorship in mid-2012. The Printing and Publishing Law and the News Media Law were passed in 2014 to mixed reviews, with the US-based rights organization Article 19 claiming that the laws did not sufficiently guarantee freedom of expression for media workers.

The News Media Law provides for the formation a semi-independent council to uphold professional standards of conduct in the sector and consider ethical complaints directed against publishers. The majority of positions on the News Media Council are appointed by the parliament, president and professional associations.

On Friday, the News Media Council was finally sworn in, replacing the Interim Press Council formed by Thein Sein in 2012. Vice-chairman Pe Myint, one of four people who successfully contested a council seat in October, told that day's conference session that all enacted media laws needed to be reviewed and amended.

Aspiring broadcasters are also concerned about the legacy presence of the state-owned Myanmar Radio and Television (MRTV) in the sector. Though media houses will no longer have to partner with the broadcaster to be granted a license, plans to convert government-run media enterprises into state-funded "public service" outlets have been criticized for lacking detail and a timetable.

"I think the state's broadcasting channels are unnecessary," said Khin Maung Win. "We just want to see a transformation into a private sector industry. Why do we need to keep these same organizations?"

Both DVB and fellow exile media outfit Mizzima are planning to court official broadcast licenses under the new regime. Mizzima founder Soe Myint told The Irrawaddy that while the new law had some merits, he was concerned that the lack of transparency around the founding of the Broadcast Council would be a portent of things to come when it began hearing license applications.

Two days before the conference began, several currently operating broadcasters formed the Myanmar Broadcasting Association to represent the sector. Exile media organizations were not invited to join, said Khin Maung Win.

In its legal analysis of the Broadcast Law, Article 9 called for an end to government broadcasting services in favor of independent state-funded outlets, guarantees of the Broadcast Council's independence and powers, an independent and transparent licensing process, and greater access into the sector for foreign investors.

Elsewhere, the state-run Global New Light of Myanmar newspaper reported on Sunday that representatives of Mizzima, Burma News International and the National League for Democracy's Information Committee met with Tint Swe, the permanent secretary of the Ministry of Information, to discuss means for the ministry to assist with the expansion of ethnic language news media platforms.

The post More Media Reform Needed to End Govt Control, Says Industry appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Min Ko Naing on Shan State IDPs: ‘Children Said They Would Like to go Back Home’

Posted: 14 Dec 2015 12:52 AM PST

88 Generation Peace and Open Society member Min Ko Naing, who recently visited IDP camps in central Shan State for civilians displaced by conflict between the Burma Army and the Shan State Army-North. (Photo: JPaing / The Irrawaddy)

Over 6,000 civilians were forced to flee their homes in central Shan State to escape fighting between the Burma Army and the Shan State Army-North which first erupted in early October. Members of the 88 Generation Peace and Open Society, including renowned pro-democracy activist and former political prisoner Min Ko Naing, recently visited camps for internally displaced persons (IDPs) in the state. In a three-day visit which began on December 6, the activists provided IDPs with foodstuffs and gave snacks, toys, books and notebooks to displaced children, as well as letters and paintings from children in Rangoon and other urban centers in Burma. The Irrawaddy's Kyaw Kha recently spoke with Min Ko Naing about the plight of IDPs in the state.

How many IDP camps have you visited and how many IDPs were there?

Mainly two, Wang Wa and Hai Pa. There were thousands of IDPs at Wang Wa IDP camp and there were even more at Hai Pa. Most of the IDPs in Wang Wa are Shan people while IDPs sheltering in Hai Pai were mostly from other ethnicities. The weather was severe and the chance of contracting communicable diseases was high. As the life they have to live is different from what they are used to, they have difficulties.

What kind of difficulties are IDPs facing?

I found that the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) was providing blankets. One problem is there are not enough doctors though there is an [adequate] supply of medicines. We provided contacts to get doctors. Again, most of the children are school-age and there is only one school there.

How was the condition of the roads to IDP camps?

Roads were in very bad condition beginning from Mongyai. Only four-wheel drive vehicles will travel on bumpy roads. I saw some small but heavily overloaded vehicles. It is too risky. But they had no choice.

What did the 88 Generation Peace and Open Society give to IDPs there?

In fact, we just transported the contributions made by well-wishers. Some social organizations as well as students of university student unions also accompanied us on the trip. We went there mainly for children. We brought note books and story and cartoon books to boost their morale. We also brought letters and paintings sent by children in Rangoon and other major towns. Mainly, we brought toys. At the moment we gave them those things, they forgot their hardship and felt the love and compassion between humans. I can tell you for sure that those [gifts] helped relieve them from their miserable experiences.

You gave toys and paintings to children. How did you get that idea?

We adults have striven for peace. But I think a whimpering child touches the heart more than one hundred men preaching for peace. In Rangoon, we presented a documentary [on displaced children affected by clashes] shot by director Shin Daewi to children. They were moved by the documentary and promised to do whatever they possibly could. So they wrote letters of comfort and introduction and gave their toys and cartoon books. What is noticeable was that I only found fun items when I looked in the bags packed with toys. When I asked why there were no toy guns, a child answered: "Because of guns, fighting is going on. So we are not going to give them guns." That was memorable.

When we gave the stuff to children at IDP camps, children responded [positively]. They drew pictures. That's the life people want. Their paintings featured flowers, the sun and family members together at home. Children said they would like to go back home. That still echoes in my ear.

The next government will have to engage in the peace process with both signatories and non-signatories of the nationwide ceasefire accord. What role will the 88 Generation Peace and Open Society play?

We've always said that we'll only play a part if necessary. If there is no longer a need for us, we have no reason to play a part. Everyone needs to bear in mind that a federal Union with full democratic rights should be guaranteed. We'll fill in if there is a gap [somewhere]. The most important thing is that it must be achieved. Stakeholders are responsible for this. We're only happy if it is successful.

Translated by Thet Ko Ko

The post Min Ko Naing on Shan State IDPs: 'Children Said They Would Like to go Back Home' appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Peace, of the Nobel Variety, in Portraits

Posted: 13 Dec 2015 11:35 PM PST

Click to view slideshow.

MANDALAY — In a country still grappling with civil war, Burmese contemporary artist Kyi Wynn has set his sights on peace—or more specifically, the 16 Nobel Peace Prize laureates who hail from Asia.

At the recently concluded "Homage to Asian Peace Nobelists" exhibition in Mandalay, the collection of portraits offered depictions of some of the continent's most recognizable faces, including the Vietnamese revolutionary Le Duc Tho; Tibetan spiritual leader His Holiness the Dalai Lama; South Korea's former President Kim Dae-jung; Chinese human rights activist Liu Xiaobo; Malala Yousafzai of Pakistan; and of course, Burmese pro-democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi.

"This is to honor the Asian Nobel Peace Prize winners who have worked hard for democracy and human rights in their countries," said the Rangoon-based Kyi Wynn, whose three-day exhibition wrapped up on Sunday.

Kyi Wynn, who studied under the late, veteran artist Thu Kha, has held many exhibitions since 1989, both at home and abroad, using canvas and colorful paints. For this exhibition, however, the artist distinguished his works by using stainless steel plates as his "canvas" and acid as the precursor "paint," a technique that was a first for the artist and quite possibly, he said, the last.

"These paintings could be limited edition within my art collection, because the method is so tricky, time-consuming, costly and requiring of extreme care. I can't guarantee myself that I'll paint them [like this] again in future, although the result is fabulous," he said.

Starting from a plain sheet of stainless steel, the artist applied a sticker to each, forming the rough outlines of each laureate's face. Acid was then poured onto the metal, creating a more solid base for the paint that the artist later applied to complete the portraiture. Upon peeling back the sticker, after applying black spray paint, the contrast of hue and light dazzles.

"I call my paintings 'Artistic Erosion on Steel,' because I used acid to wear down the steel and spray paint on it," said the artist.

The portraits of Asia's 16 Nobel laureates are available for sale, with each offered at the sizeable price tag of US$4,500. Interested art collectors can contact the Lokanat Gallery in Rangoon for details.

The post Peace, of the Nobel Variety, in Portraits appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

India and Japan Sign Deals on Military, Train Sales, Nukes

Posted: 13 Dec 2015 09:09 PM PST

Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, left, and his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi share a moment during a signing of agreement at Hyderabad House in New Delhi, India, on Dec. 12, 2015. (Photo: Adnan Abidi / Reuters)

NEW DELHI — Japan and India signed agreements Saturday that could pave the way for Tokyo to supply New Delhi with military aircraft and high-speed trains, as Prime Minister Shinzo Abe promised to fully support India's efforts to become an economic powerhouse.

The two countries also laid the groundwork for Japan to help India further develop its nuclear power, with a final deal to be signed after technical details are finalized.

Abe described the agreements, signed during his weekend visit to New Delhi, as a new era of cooperation between the two countries.

"In September 2014 in Tokyo, Prime Minister Abe spoke of $35 billion of Japanese finance and investments for India over five years," Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said at a news conference with Abe. "It was ambitious. But together, we are quickly turning it into reality."

Abe said Japan's cooperation with India in the nuclear field would be limited to peaceful objectives.

Japan imposed economic sanctions and cut off financial aid to India in 1998, when New Delhi conducted five nuclear tests. The sanctions were lifted in 2001, and bilateral relations have since improved significantly.

On Saturday, Abe referred to India's stand that it would continue a moratorium on nuclear tests and advance its use of nuclear energy for peaceful purposes.

India, which has 21 nuclear power plants, has ambitious plans to quadruple its current 5,000 megawatts of nuclear power to 20,000 megawatts by 2020 to fuel the energy demands of its booming economy.

The two countries also signed a deal that would help India's efforts to upgrade its military equipment. Japan's possible sale of US-2 amphibious aircraft to India would be Tokyo's first major military hardware transfer since lifting a postwar ban on the export of defense equipment in 2014.

Japan also promised technical and financial support to help India build a high-speed train system using Japan's Shinkansen bullet trains. The train service would link the Indian financial hub of Mumbai with Ahmadabad, the commercial capital of Modi's home state, Gujarat, cutting the travel time on the 505-kilometer (315-mile) route from eight hours to two.

India also announced Japan's participation in the India-US Malabar naval exercises on a regular basis to deal with maritime challenges in the Indo-Pacific region. Modi said India and Japan would work together to promote maritime security in the region.

"We stand strongly for ensuring freedom of navigation and overflight, and unimpeded maritime commerce," he said. "We believe that disputes must be resolved peacefully and that all countries must abide by international law and norms on maritime issues."

The post India and Japan Sign Deals on Military, Train Sales, Nukes appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

China Says Senior Uighur Official Killed During Raid in Unruly Xinjiang

Posted: 13 Dec 2015 09:02 PM PST

Uighur women wearing face veils walk on a street in Urumqi, the capital of Xinjiang. (Photo: Reuters)

BEIGING — A senior ethnic Uighur security official was killed in a police raid on a "nest of terrorists," Chinese state media reported, giving details on a previously unannounced operation in the violence-prone far western region of Xinjiang.

Hundreds of people have been killed in the past few years in the region which is home to the mainly Muslim Uighur people in violence blamed by the government on Islamist militants seeking an independent state called East Turkestan.

The official People's Daily, in a report late on Saturday, named the dead official as Maimaitijiang Tuohuniyazi, a deputy head of public security in Aksu, a vast part of western Xinjiang that borders Kyrgyzstan.

It said domestic security chief Meng Jianzhu, who is currently in Xinjiang's capital Urumqi, offered condolences to Tuohuniyazi's widow, praising him as a brave and selfless man.

"In order to rescue a herder who had been kidnapped by terrorists, he threw himself into the breach, charged into the nest of terrorists and unfortunately heroically sacrificed himself," the paper said, without giving other details.

At least 16 people, including five police officers, were killed in an attack at a colliery in Aksu in September. Chinese security forces later said they had killed 28 "terrorists" involved in that attack.

The newspaper said Meng took part in an award ceremony for those involved in tracking down the coal mine attackers.

Meng said that over the past year, security services had "obvious successes" in cracking down on terrorism, and had succeeded in stopping "more than 98 percent" of terror plots in the planning stage. He gave no details.

China's battle against the violence in Xinjiang has been hampered by poor intelligence in a part of the country where few officials understand the Uighur language or Islam and the government has had difficulty recruiting Uighur operatives, diplomats and experts say.

Meng has previously said the government needed to improve its intelligence gathering and intelligence sharing between different departments it if wanted to better deal with the threat of terrorism, a rare admission of the problems it faces.

Rights groups and exiles say the violence in Xinjiang stems more from widespread Uighur resentment at Chinese controls on their religion and culture rather than the action of a well-organized militant group.

China strongly denies abusing human rights in Xinjiang, and says it is facing a determined campaign from Islamist radicals and separatists.

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North, South Korea Talks End Without Agreement

Posted: 13 Dec 2015 08:51 PM PST

South Korean soldiers stand guard at a checkpoint on the Grand Unification Bridge, just south of the demilitarized zone separating the two Koreas. (Photo: Kim Hong-Ji / Reuters)

SEOUL — The first high-level talks between North and South Korea since an August agreement to end an armed confrontation across their border ended inconclusively on Saturday with no date set for a further meeting.

Hwang Boogi, South Korea's chief delegate, told reporters after the talks that the two Koreas had not issued a joint statement.

Pyongyang pushed for the resumption of cross-border tours of the Mount Kumgang resort, just north of the demilitarized frontier, which were suspended in 2008 following the fatal shooting of a South Korean tourist, according to Hwang.

South Korea in turn weighed in on the issue of Korean War-separated families, calling for identification of separated families and letter exchanges.

"The North intensively raised the issue of the Mount Kumgang tourism…demanding an agreement to restart the tourism as a priority," Hwang was quoted as saying by Yonhap news agency.

South Korea sought guarantees from the North that the safety of visitors to the resort would be assured.

After the negotiations, Pyongyang blamed the South for the breakdown.

North Korea's state-run KCNA news agency said Seoul refused to discuss fundamental issues such as the resumption of the resort tours and stuck to "unfair assertions."

The dispute over the Mount Kumgang tours, a once-lucrative source of cash for the impoverished North, is one of a series of unresolved issues that continue to sour relations on the peninsula.

The rivals, technically still at war after their 1950-53 conflict ended in a truce, not a treaty, had all but cut ties since early 2010, when a South Korean navy ship was sunk by a torpedo that Seoul said was fired from a North Korean submarine. Pyongyang denies any involvement.

The South's Unification Ministry, which handles inter-Korean affairs, was not immediately available for comment.

The meeting, which began on Friday, was the first forum for high-level discussions over a range of issues following an agreement in August that ended an armed standoff involving an exchange of artillery fire across the inter-Korean border.

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