Friday, September 21, 2018

The Irrawaddy Magazine

The Irrawaddy Magazine

Local Committee Defuses Border Row Between Muse Residents, Chinese Villagers

Posted: 21 Sep 2018 08:53 AM PDT

CHIANG MAI, Thailand – District-level officials this week reached a temporary settlement in a dispute over the boundary between Myanmar and China on the Ruli River near northern Shan State's Muse Township.

The agreement was negotiated by a district-level boundary committee. The dispute erupted after Chinese villagers put up a fence nearly 30 meters inside Myanmar in Hpai Kawng village near Pang Sai Kyukote sub-township in Muse on Wednesday. When Myanmar villagers complained, the Chinese stopped the activity and took down the fencing materials.

Kachin News Group first reported the story and uploaded a video showing the fence being constructed. The video quickly went viral. Kachin News' report quoted locals as saying this is not the first such dispute; squabbles over the location of the border have simmered on and off since 2008.

The fencing activity was halted at around 5 pm on Wednesday after villagers in Hpai Kawng objected, said Sai Poe Myat, a Lower House lawmaker representing Muse constituency.

He told The Irrawaddy, "The border boundary pillars are there already as demarcated; they should not be removed by one side, but as we saw on the social media post, it was the Chinese who tried to move the pillars and redraw the boundary."

Local residents lack knowledge about official negotiations relating to the boundary, he added.

Asked about official efforts on border demarcation, government spokesman U Zaw Htay told The Irrawaddy on Friday at a regular press briefing at the Presidential Palace in Naypyitaw that, "We heard that the district-level committee had settled the dispute, [marking the] boundary [in the middle of] the waterway."

Boundary disputes that cannot be settled at the district level are referred to the ministerial level. In such cases, officials consult technical experts who travel to the areas and conduct surveys in accordance with the bilateral agreements between the two countries.

Parts of the Myanmar-China border near Muse are demarcated in the middle of the Ruli (Shweli) River. A director general at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) explained that such disputes emerge often. They are normally settled quickly, as the China-Myanmar border is fully demarcated, the official said.

"Disputes are more frequent over boundaries on waterways than over inland boundaries, because sometimes river currents cause changes or sediments build up. Local residents may be unaware and begin farming or putting up fences on the newly created land. It happens all the time with residents of both countries," said U Soe Han, the director general of the MOFA's Political Department and also a ministry spokesman.

He added that the ministry was in constant communication with the Chinese Embassy.

The Irrawaddy tried to contact to the MOFA’s Boundary Department spokesman for details, but the official could not be reached.

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Local Brand Uses Traditional Fabrics to Produce Handmade Shoes

Posted: 21 Sep 2018 07:02 AM PDT

YANGON—Myanmar's various ethnic groups all have their own traditional costumes, which make use of specific fabrics and draw on their unique cultural backgrounds. But one thing they have in common is that they're all colorful and attractive in their own ways. One local entrepreneur is using those different traditional fabrics to create a vibrant range of handmade shoes and bags.

Under the brand name Myanmar's Heart, local entrepreneur Ko Soe Moe Aung aims to promote his local handmade arts and crafts to the world as a kind of souvenir of the country.

He started the brand three years ago; prior to that he operated a souvenir shop at Bogyoke Market.

"I was working for the German Embassy and opened a small souvenir shop at Bogyoke Market. I collected good quality souvenir products from across the country and sold them; I didn't have my own brand at that time," Ko Soe Moe Aung said.

Myanmar's Heart shoes are displayed at the Pyinsama Arts and Crafts showroom. /Htet Wai /The Irrawaddy

One day, a German friend visited his shop and advised him to make shoes using local fabrics, pointing out that most of the souvenirs available in Myanmar are decorative items, whereas foreigners want things they can wear.

"He was right. Most of our souvenirs are not useful in daily life, and are just for decoration. People need to change their shoes depending on what they are wearing; most women own at least five pairs," Ko Soe Moe Aung said.

He took his friend's advice and made plans to begin creating high-quality, locally made souvenirs that are useful in the daily lives of both locals and foreigners.

Next, he needed to decide whether to make shoes or slippers. His aim was to produce Myanmar's Heart footwear that tourists would purchase as a souvenir or gift for when they returned from their visit to Myanmar.

"I chose shoes. There are already a lot of slippers made from fabric on the market, and my products are aimed at locals and foreigners. I'm always concerned about the availability of quality shoes," Ko Soe Moe Aung said.

He started with flat shoes because they're light, easy to wear and suitable for any occasion, but soon added sandals. Myanmar's Heart now makes high-heeled shoes as well.

In the beginning, foreign women were his main customers for Myanmar's Heart shoes; local people were not.

"The sad fact is that most local people don't value their own country's products and neglect them," Ko Soe Moe Aung said of his early business struggles.

A few months later, though, locals started expressing an interest in the shoes; some bought the shoes to wear while traveling abroad.

Bags in various designs/Htet Wai /The Irrawaddy

"But I'm still not satisfied; I will do my best to create more demand among locals. I want them to see Myanmar's Heart products as everyday wear," Ko Soe Moe Aung said.

Myanmar's Heart produces both handmade and machine-made shoes. Most of the flat shoes and sandals are handmade but all the shoes are made from different traditional fabrics, including those from Chin, Rakhine, Kachin, Kayin, Shan and elsewhere.

"I collect them from different sources across the country," Ko Soe Moe Aung said. "The fabrics are not naturally died, but they use low-chemical dyes and are safe for the skin."

Sometimes, customers order organic fabric; he has a source for that too.

"Natural dye fabrics are really expensive. So far I haven't been able to make such shoes because the production cost is too high, but I am taking orders," he said.

He says Myanmar's Heart shoes are made entirely from local products except for the glue, which he orders from abroad.

Myanmar's Heart shoes made from various types of fabric/Htet Wai /The Irrawaddy

"I have some clients from European countries; they checked the shoe quality and determined them to be safe; Myanmar's Heart is available in Singapore too," said Ko Soe Moe Aung, who designs the shoes himself. Myanmar's Heart also designs handbags made from traditional fabric.

"I use sheets of longyi [the traditional cloth worn in Myanmar] for shoes, and use blankets to make the bags; some ethnic people see the use of traditional blankets to make shoes as disrespectful," Ko Soe Moe Aung explained.

Nowadays, women are always looking for something new in fashion. So, he decided to produce bags to match the shoes.

Myanmar's Heart shoes sell for 15,000-25,000 kyats, while the bags are priced at 10,000-20,000 kyats.

Ko Soe Moe Aung is also secretary of the Myanmar Arts and Crafts Association; the group's ambition is to promote local products in local markets and establish a Souvenir Center in Myanmar.

"We want to create awareness of local arts and crafts among locals and foreigners and want to build a place where all locally made souvenirs are available," he said.

Myanmar's Heart shoes and bags are available at shopping centers and the Pyinsama Myanmar Arts and Crafts Showroom on Shwegonedine Road in Yangon's Bahan Township.

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UK Foreign Secretary Hunt Gets Rare Cold Shoulder From Commander-in-Chief

Posted: 21 Sep 2018 06:26 AM PDT

YANGON — Commander-in-Chief Senior General Min Aung Hlaing has received a number of foreign diplomats, UN officials and high-profile international figures over the crisis in northern Rakhine State. UK Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt has just become the exception.

Hunt had asked to meet with the general in Naypyitaw but was declined. Yet the commander-in-chief has received nearly a dozen Western diplomats and UN officials since the start of 2017; some were even given helicopter tours of the country’s conflict zones.

When a 15-member delegation from the UN Security Council visited Myanmar in April, Snr. Gen. Min Aung Hlaing brought nearly a dozen military generals together to meet them. At least one top general from the Defense or Home Affairs ministry meets the visiting diplomats when the commander-in-chief is busy or away.

Hunt, who replaced Boris Johnson as the UK’s top diplomat in July, was on his first visit to Myanmar in the role. Before arriving, he even announced his trip on Twitter during a meeting with Rohingya activists in the UK.

The foreign secretary landed in Myanmar on Wednesday and headed by helicopter to northern Rakhine State, where a late-2017 military crackdown that followed militant attacks on local security forces has driven some 700,000 Rohingya to neighboring Bangladesh. There he met with local authorities, displaced Hindus, ethnic Rakhine, and Rohingya villagers in areas spared the arson that engulfed much of the region at the time.

A United Nations Facts Finding Mission (FFM) recently recommended that some of Myanmar’s top military generals be referred to the International Criminal Court (ICC) for ethnic cleansing and genocidal intent against the Rohingya.

Immediately after meeting with State Counselor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi in Naypyitaw on Thursday, Hunt posted a tweet urging the international community to consider all options to bring the country’s military leaders before the ICC if they were not held to account in Myanmar. The government has rejected the FFM report as “one-sided.”

"We need to be absolutely clear that there can be no hiding place for anyone responsible for these kinds of atrocities," Hunt said on Twitter.

The State Counselor’s Office announced on Thursday evening that Hunt and Daw Aung San Suu Kyi had discussed recent developments in Rakhine State including repatriation arrangements and debate on the violence at recent UN meetings.

U Maung Maung Soe, an expert on Myanmar’s ethnic affairs, said Snr. Gen. Min Aung Hlaing’s failure to meet with the UK foreign secretary was likely a reaction to the latter’s tweet. He said Hunt appeared to come with orders for Naypyitaw rather than for a genuine diplomatic exchange, and predicted that Myanmar’s relations with some European countries could deteriorate further if they continue to demand accountability of the military.

“How can the army meet with a person who supports the ICC prosecutor? I would say this is very simple,” said U Maung Maung Soe.

A UN Security Council referral to the ICC requires that there be no vetoes from permanent members Russia, China, the United States, Britain and France. Some local experts predict that Russia and China, which has a long history of military relations with Myanmar and numerous development projects underway in the country, would block any attempt.

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‘The issue has prompted serious challenges for us’: President’s Office Spokesman

Posted: 21 Sep 2018 06:20 AM PDT

YANGON—Myanmar's President's Office spokesperson has said the recent UN report on the Rohingya issue may cause divisions between ethnic groups in the country and encourage the disintegration of the state.

Repeating the response made by the Myanmar's ambassador to the UN on Sep. 18 during the UNHRC meeting in Geneva, the spokesperson U Zaw Htay told media on Friday that the report could derail the country's democratic transition.

The spokesperson said the Rakhine issue has badly damaged the country's image as well as the interests of the state and its people.

"The issue has prompted serious challenges for us," he said.

Myanmar has been facing mounting international pressure over the issue in which nearly 700,000 Rohingya have fled to Bangladesh after security forces' clearance operations in northern Rakhine were triggered by Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army's attacks on security outposts there. The government has denounced them as a terrorist organization.

The international community, including the UNHRC, has called for the persecution of Myanmar Army leaders at the International Criminal Court for the security forces' human rights abuses against the Rohingya during the clearance operations.

The spokesperson said the issue has taken a front seat for the government pushing back other challenges like the democratic transition, development and the peace process.

"When we have an international delegation, they raise the Rakhine issue first. We have lost the trust of international investors," he said.

Despite the call for prosecution, Myanmar's government has rejected the UNHRC's fact-finding mission and their report, questioning the report's impartiality and claiming that the information presented in the report is groundless.

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USDP Official in Sagaing Faces Defamation Suit over Rohingya Aid Claims

Posted: 21 Sep 2018 05:20 AM PDT

YANGON—Police in Sagaing Region have filed a defamation lawsuit against the chairman of the Union Solidarity and Development Party's Shwebo District.

The lawsuit was filed at the Shwebo Township Court under Section 505 (b) of the Penal Code, which prohibits defaming the state.

Shwebo Township management committee chairman U Soe Min Aung instructed township police chief Police Colonel Tar Zan to file the complaint against U Soe Aye over his alleged use of hate speech at a meeting with local residents in Pa Laing village on Sept. 8.

"I have no comment. I was asked by the township management committee to file the lawsuit. I was on leave before that," the police colonel said.

Police quoted U Soe Aye as saying at the meeting: "Despite the fact that Bengalis [a term used by the majority of people in Myanmar to refer to Rohingya] raped a schoolteacher in Rakhine State, State Counselor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi has built houses and paved roads and supplied electricity and water utilities to them.

"Sagaing Region Chief Minister Dr. Myint Naing also has to assume responsibility for building around 80 houses [for Rohingya]. Daw Aung San Suu Kyi has brought around 4,000 Bengalis [from Rakhine] and allowed them to live in Yangon.

"[Myanmar] will soon become a Bengali country," he was quoted as saying.

U Moe Kyaw Thu, a National League for Democracy lawmaker in the Sagaing regional parliament, told The Irrawaddy, "If they want to rally support from the public, they can do it honestly. They don't need to unfairly criticize the other side and defame the government. Such racial instigation is a dirty trick. For our part, we don't attack others," the lawmaker said.

The Irrawaddy was not able to reach U Soe Aye, but U Aung Soe Win, an executive of the Shwebo district chapter of the USDP, told The Irrawaddy that the township court had not summoned U Soe Aye yet.

"As the court has not yet summoned us, it is still too early to talk about the case," U Aung Soe Win said.

"We will help him face trial in line with the law. We have no plan to take action against U Soe Aye," said USDP spokesperson Dr. Nanda Hla Myint, adding that the party has sufficient evidence to support U Soe Aye's claim.

"Politicians have a duty to the country to point out the faults of the government," he said.

Section 505 (b) carries up to two years' imprisonment without labor and/or a fine.

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Serenity of Artist’s Latest Paintings Only Skin Deep

Posted: 21 Sep 2018 04:43 AM PDT

YANGON — Visitors to the latest art exhibit by MPP Ye Myint, showing now at Yangon's Lokanat Gallery, might think that the artist has gone soft.

MPP Ye Myint is known for works depicting the negative political and social dimensions of Myanmar. But for his latest show he has seemingly chosen a more pleasant theme: Bagan, the cultural centerpiece of Myanmar.

One of the paintings depicts a horse cart passing through Tharabar Gate, the only surviving gate of the 9th century city, as young women fetch water from the lotus-filled moat around it.

But not every viewer may know that the previous military regime added five steps to the original three in the staircase of the gate, that the junta never restored the moat, or that electric bicycles have driven the horse cart drivers out of business.

The exhibit, "Tharabar Gate & Dhammayangyi Temple," draws attention to modern-day Bagan’s deterioration.

"In my painting, I drew only three steps in the stairs of Tharabar Gate. And the horse cart culture nearly vanished when e-bikes from China flooded the city. Consequently, horse cart drivers had a hard life. I don't like that," MPP Ye Myint said.

"My elders said that they could fish in the moat in front of the Tharabar Gate. Saya Paragu [one of Myanmar’s most successful writers] also mentioned it in his book," titled “Bagan Wayfarer.”

"I want [the government] to clean the moat, fill it back with water and restore it. I drew these paintings because I want [the government] to do so," the artist said.

Some of his paintings show Dhammayangyi Temple surrounded by swirling clouds influenced by the brushwork of Vincent van Gogh.

MPP Ye Myint is upset that some of Bagan’s temples have been commercialized by businessmen who have incorporated them into their hotel compounds or used them to stage cultural shows. He feels that some dishonest people are taking advantage of the government’s policy of national reconciliation with the military.

"Because of its national reconciliation policy, it has to cooperate with cronies for fear that the grassroots might be impacted,” he said, as well-connected businessmen control much of the economy.

“I didn't draw these paintings for pleasure. Maybe you can call me pessimistic."

More than 50 paintings depicting Tharabar Gate and Dhammayangyi Temple from different perspectives and in various environments will be on display through Monday.

MPP Ye Myint has had 16 prior solo exhibits. His works have been collected by national museums of Singapore and Malaysia and the Fukuoka Museum of Japan.

Translated from Burmese by Thet Ko Ko.

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National Planning Law Expects Highest Growth in Telecom, Industrial, Financial Sectors

Posted: 21 Sep 2018 04:40 AM PDT

YANGON—Amid a slowing economy and complaints from the business community, Myanmar's parliament has approved a National Planning Law for the 2018-2019 fiscal year which expects to see the highest growth rate in the country's telecommunications, industrial and financial sectors.

On Wednesday, President U Win Myint signed the bill with the approval of the Union Parliament and it is to be effective from October 1 this year to September 30, 2019.

According to the National Planning Law, the government expects to increase the growth of GDP from 6.8 percent to 7.6 percent, while the telecommunications sector is projected to grow by 15 percent, the industrial sector by 11.2 percent and the financial sector by 9 percent in the coming fiscal year.

The law states that the government will make efforts to improve the trade sector by 7.7 percent, the mineral sector by 7.5 percent and the social management sector by 7.3 percent.

Meanwhile, a growth of only 4 percent is expected in the fisheries sector, 2.9 percent in the energy and electricity sector, 2.4 percent in agriculture and 1.1 percent in the forestry sector.

The government projects that the highest growth rates will take place in Yangon Region, Naypyitaw Union Territory, and Kachin State with rates of 9.8 percent, 9.6 percent and 9.3 percent respectively.

The relative ministries will draw up implementation plans in order to facilitate improvements across the sectors. The law also instructs the government departments to make a review of all national projects and assess whether they are beneficial to the people or not. It states that projects must be suspended or canceled if they are found not to be beneficial to the people.

The government departments need to compose a list of state-owned enterprises (SOEs) which make annual loses and suggests that they should be converted to private enterprises, according to the law.

The Ministry of Planning and Finance has said that 10 out of 32 state-owned enterprises make annual loses which are expected to amount to 1 billion kyats in the 2018-2019 fiscal year.

Businesses in Myanmar are suffering chronic loses due to the instability of the exchange rate which has caused inflation rates to rise at the fastest pace in recent years. This has affected imports and also raised fuel and transportation costs and overall consumer costs in the country. In their July inflation report, Myanmar Statistical Information Service (MSIS), a department under the planning and finance ministry, cited that the year-on-year inflation rate accelerated to 7.56 percent from 5.90 percent during the three-month period of May to July.

A recent survey by the Republic of the Union of Myanmar Federation of Chambers of Commerce and Industry (UMFCCI) said Myanmar's economy has been slowing since 2016 and business in all sectors has declined significantly this year. Overall business confidence is down by nearly 25 percent compared to last year with the manufacturing sector and import and export trading sectors experiencing significant downturns in this year.

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Govt to Probe Claims Citizenship Cards Wrongly Issued to Rohingya, Minister Says

Posted: 21 Sep 2018 01:43 AM PDT

NAYPYITAW — The Ministry of Labor, Immigration and Population will investigate allegations that more than 3,000 residents in southern Rakhine State's Ramree Township issued National Registration Cards (NRCs) as ethnic Kaman are actually Rohingya.

"The Kaman National Progressive Party [KNPP] has filed a complaint,” Labor, Immigration and Population Minister U Thein Swe told reporters on the sidelines of a workshop of Myanmar’s labor market in Naypyitaw on Thursday.

“Our ministry has carefully scrutinized it, and we will scrutinize it again. And we will act as necessary in line with the law based on our findings," he said.

The KNPP lodged a complaint with the President’s Office and State Counselor’s Office earlier this month alleging that more than 3,000 NRCs designating the holders as ethnic Kaman were wrongly issued to Rohingya in Ramree Township's Kyauk Ni Maw Village.

U Thein Swe insisted that the ministry’s Immigration Department was issuing NRCs, which are commonly known as pink cards and grant full citizenship, in line with the Citizenship Law.

Though ethnic Kaman in Kyauk Ni Maw number just over 200, the Immigration Department has issued 3,306 NRCs designating the holders as Kaman in the area, according to KNPP Secretary U Tin Hlaing Win.

The KNPP claimed that some people, in an apparent reference to Rohingya, have been trying to gain citizenship by claiming to be Kaman in order to be able to vote in elections.

"The party has been pointing out those who are not Kaman since the campaign season of the 2010 general election. We assume that we are responsible if someone takes advantage of our Kaman ethnicity for political gains,” said U Tin Hlaing Win.

The party secretary said the KNPP was not trying to prevent Rohingya from gaining citizenship. But he said issuing NRC’s that identify the holder as Kaman to people who have a different language and culture harms the Kaman community.

U Aung Kyaw Zan, a community elder in Kyauk Ni Maw, said the more than 3,000 people issued the NRCs as Kaman are in fact Kaman, speak their language and practice their customs.

"We share the same culture. What do they want to say? We speak both Arakanese and Burmese, we go to [public] schools, and we have family members and relatives who are civil servants," he said.

On Sept 10, the Upper House of Parliament blocked  a proposal by ethnic Rakhine lawmaker Daw Htoot May to review the NRCs in dispute.

On Thursday, lawmaker U Than Maung, who represents Ramree Township in the national legislature, urged the Rakhine State Parliament to review the cards instead.

The Kaman minority is one of 135 officially recognized ethnic groups in Myanmar and one of the seven ethnic subgroups in Rakhine State. Unlike the Buddhist Rakhine, the Kaman are Muslim.

They have been living in Rakhine for centuries. During the Arakan Kingdom, the Kaman served as royal archers, but the profession vanished when the kingdom fell to the Burmese Konbaung Dynasty in 1784. Nowadays, there are about 45,000 ethnic Kaman Muslims across the country.

Translated from Burmese by Thet Ko Ko.

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Ethnic Mro Murdered in Maungdaw, N. Rakhine

Posted: 21 Sep 2018 01:28 AM PDT

SITTWE—An ethnic Mro man from the village of Thit Tone Na Kwa Sone in northern Rakhine State's Maungdaw Township was murdered on Wednesday.

The victim, identified as Duu Lu (40), reportedly went to the woods near his village to put the cattle out to pasture on Wednesday. He did not come back and when villagers searched for him the following day, they found him dead with stab wounds some 2.4 kilometers (1.5 miles) north of the village.

"He took eight cows to pasture, and we only found six cows," Maungdaw Township administrator U Myat Khaing told The Irrawaddy.

Police are investigating the murder, he said.

Lower House lawmaker U Aung Thaung Shwe of Buthidaung Township blamed the lack of rule of law in Buthidaung and Maungdaw townships in northern Rakhine State for the killings, adding that security services are not sufficient for the safety of local ethnic people.

"Though [authorities] provide a security apparatus, it can't protect ethnic people so, [they] will be continued to be killed in the future," U Aung Thaung Shwe told The Irrawaddy.

"I proposed in the Parliament to form a militia with local villagers but it was rejected. Now, almost all the ethnic people have left their villages," he added.

On August 3, last year, eight Mro people of Kaing Gyi village in Maungdaw were killed by the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army, according to reports of state-run media.

State-run media has made several other reports about the murders of individual Mro villagers in Maungdaw since then.

A majority of the Mro ethnic minority live in the northern parts of Maungdaw with more Mro in the southern parts of Maungdaw of Seinpan Myaing, Shwe Baho and Kaing Gyi.

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Singapore Panel Recommends Regulation of Tech Firms Over Fake News

Posted: 20 Sep 2018 10:18 PM PDT

SINGAPORE — A Singapore parliamentary committee said on Thursday the government should consider legislation to ensure technology companies rein in online fake news and that those responsible are punished.

The committee, set up to make recommendations on fighting “deliberate online falsehoods,” said measures were needed as companies such as Facebook, Google and Twitter “have a policy of generally not acting against” content known to be false.

“I think there is increasing recognition on all sides that there has to be responsibility on the part of tech companies and that governments have to intervene to ensure that responsibility,” Law Minister K. Shanmugam, a member of the panel, told reporters.

He said the government’s response to the recommendations had to be “urgent and serious.”

The ministries of Law and of Communications said in a statement the government accepted the recommendations in principle and it would work with stakeholders to adopt legislative and non-legislative measures in the next few months.

It did not elaborate on what those measures would involve.

Global tech companies have expressed concern about Singapore’s plans to bring in new laws to tackle fake news, saying sufficient rules are already in place.

In an emailed statement on Thursday, Google said it took “the issue of false information seriously” and looked forward continuing to work with the Singapore government to address the issue.

Twitter said it also cared “deeply about the issues of misinformation” and their “potentially harmful effects on the civic and political discourse.” It added that it looked forward to the Singapore government’s engagement with industry “on the full range of approaches to address these issues.”

Facebook did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Criminal sanctions

Singapore’s efforts to tackle fake news and the spread of false information online mirror those in various countries amid growing questions about the influence of internet companies and influence of foreign entities in domestic political processes.

Neighboring Malaysia’s opposition-led Senate blocked an effort to repeal a law against fake news this month, presenting the first major challenge for the new government of Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad.

Facebook’s WhatsApp messaging platform in July published advertisements in key Indian newspapers to tackle the spread of misinformation there, its first such effort to combat a flurry of fake messages that prompted mob lynchings.

As well as tackling tech companies, the Singapore committee’s lengthy report also said criminal sanctions should be imposed on “perpetrators” of deliberate online falsehoods.

It added that for such sanctions, there should be a “threshold of serious harm such as election interference, public disorder, and the erosion of trust in public institutions.”

Singapore, which has been run by the same political party since its independence from Britain more than 50 years ago, is due to hold elections by early 2021.

Singapore says it is vulnerable to fake news because of its position as a global financial hub, its mixed ethnic and religious population and widespread internet access.

Activists worry that laws aimed at stopping fake news could be used by governments to stifle free speech and target legitimate news outlets that are critical of them.

Another of the committee’s recommendations was for media organizations and other industry partners to consider establishing a “fact checking coalition” in Singapore, although it said consideration was needed over whether the government should be involved.

Singapore ranks 151 out of 180 countries in a World Press Freedom Index issued by Reporters Without Borders, a non-government group that promotes freedom of information.

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Former Malaysian PM Charged with Money Laundering, Abuse of Power

Posted: 20 Sep 2018 10:05 PM PDT

KUALA LUMPUR—Malaysian prosecutors charged former Prime Minister Najib Razak with 21 counts of money laundering and four counts of abuse of power on Thursday over hundreds of millions of dollars received in his personal bank account.

The charges bring the total number against Najib to 32 as investigators ramp up a probe into how billions went missing from scandal-plagued 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB), a state fund that he founded and chaired.

Najib has denied all charges, which have piled up since he unexpectedly lost a general election in May to Mahathir Mohamad, who reopened the 1MDB investigation.

Prosecutors, describing the abuse of power charges, said Najib used his position as prime minister, finance minister and chairman of 1MDB to obtain funds totaling about 2.3 billion ringgit ($556.23 million) between 2011 and 2014.

The money-laundering charges describe how Najib received 2.1 billion ringgit ($508 million) from Tanore Finance Corp, which US authorities have said was used to siphon money from 1MDB.

“The charges made today will give me a chance to clear my name, that I am not a thief,” Najib told reporters.

He was released after the judge set bail of 3.5 million ringgit ($846,430), to be paid by Sept. 28.

Prosecutors said it was a matter of “national disgrace” for a head of state to be facing such charges.

“This is a case involving a man holding the highest elected office. And him, facing such serious charges, must face some consequences in the eyes of the court,” lead prosecutor Gopal Sri Ram said, arguing for a bail amount of 5 million ringgit ($1.2 million).

Najib has faced corruption allegations since the Wall Street Journal reported in 2015 that $681 million was sent to a personal bank account of the then-prime minister in 2013. A year later, the US Department of Justice confirmed the transaction and said the funds originated from 1MDB.

Najib has said the funds were donations from Saudi Arabia, most of which he returned.

Despite growing calls to step down, he clung to power by cracking down on dissent and the media. But Malaysians voted him out earlier this year and he has since come under close scrutiny.

In recent months, prosecutors brought a total of seven charges against Najib over 42 million ringgit ($10 million) that allegedly flowed from SRC International, a former 1MDB unit, into his bank account.

The Department of Justice has said a total of $4.5 billion was stolen from 1MDB through a complex web of transactions and fraudulent shell companies. Malaysian financier Low Taek Jho is described as a central figure in the scandal.

More charges?

Azam Baki, the deputy commissioner of the anti-graft agency, said more charges could be brought against individuals.

When asked if Najib’s wife, Rosmah Mansor, could face charges, he said: “I’m not denying that.” Rosmah was questioned by investigators earlier this year and has been barred from leaving the country.

Najib’s lawyer, Muhammad Shafee Abdullah, described the charges against his client as “bizarre”.

“Can you be accused of money laundering for returning funds? It doesn’t make sense,” he said.

Shafee himself was charged with money laundering last week after allegedly receiving 9.5 million ringgit ($2.3 million) from Najib.

Both Malaysian and US authorities have described how Najib returned most of the money he received to the Tanore account he originally received the money from.

However, US authorities have said Tanore was controlled by an associate of Low and held funds diverted from 1MDB.

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China Tightens Embrace of Hong Kong With Bullet Train, Other Mega Projects

Posted: 20 Sep 2018 09:58 PM PDT

HONG KONG — Hong Kong’s first bullet train glides out of a sleek harborfront railway station bound for mainland China on Saturday, launching a new era of integration and raising fears for some for the territory’s cherished freedoms.

Unlike other cross-border connections, the $11 billion train project has stoked considerable controversy, with Hong Kong, a former British colony, having had to concede part of its jurisdiction to China for the first time.

Passengers entering the modernist building will have their documents stamped by Chinese immigration officers and will be subject to Chinese law while zipping across Hong Kong at 200 kph to the mainland.

Hong Kong and Beijing officials have justified the unusual arrangement as a one-off, while touting its logistical and economic benefits.

But critics say the railway is a symbol of continuing Chinese assimilation of Hong Kong, which returned to Chinese rule in 1997 with guarantees of widespread autonomy and freedoms not enjoyed on the mainland, including an independent legal system.

“I worry that Hong Kong will no longer be Hong Kong,” said Martin Lee, a veteran democrat and barrister who is fighting to derail the project in the city’s courts.

He said Hong Kong risked losing its allure as a financial hub underpinned by strong rule of law as Beijing steps up a push to fuse the city into the vast hinterland of the Pearl River Delta including nine Chinese cities dubbed the Greater Bay Area.

Several other infrastructure projects will open this year, including a $20 billion sea bridge to Macau and Zhuhai, while Beijing is now working with Chinese tech giant Tencent to let people replace their travel documents by using a mobile phone WeChat app to cross the border in future.

“Little ant in a box”

“Hong Kong will be completely submerged into the Greater Bay, and we don’t know what it’s going to be like,” said the 80-year-old Lee, who helped found the city’s Democratic Party.

“That’s the worrying thing. Hong Kong is going to be put like a little ant into a box.”

In recent years, especially since mass pro-democracy protests in 2014 that ended with no concessions from the government, Beijing has struggled to win hearts and minds, especially among those youths who reject any notion of being part of mainland China and have chafed at perceived meddling in Hong Kong’s affairs.

As protesters demanded greater freedoms amid some talk of splitting Hong Kong from China, Beijing tightened its grip, jailing some young protest leaders, forcing others to flee and taking the wind out of the democracy movement’s sails.

Hong Kong officials dismissed concerns that Hong Kong’s identity was being swamped.

“In such a closely knitted hinterland, there is always a wish to bring down any sort of unnecessary barriers,” Hong Kong Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development Edward Yau told Reuters.

“But that’s not to say compromising on one country, two systems,” Yau said, referring to the formula by which Hong Kong returned to Chinese rule with the promise that its “capitalist system and way of life” would remain unchanged until at least 2047.

“The bottom line will still be one country, two systems,” Yau added. “The Basic Law [Hong Kong’s mini-constitution] does not have an expiry date of 2047.”

Bernard Chan, who runs an insurance business and sits on Hong Kong’s Executive Council, which advises the government on policy, said he believes China wants to make Hong Kong work in its best interests.

The high-speed rail and bridge will bolster existing infrastructure that already allows more than 600,000 people to shuttle between the two sides daily by road, rail and sea.

Beijing wants the Greater Bay Area, home to some 68 million people with a combined GDP of $1.5 trillion, roughly that of Australia or South Korea, to model itself on San Francisco Bay and Tokyo Bay, to better meld people, goods and sectors including finance, tourism, logistics, manufacturing and tech.

“The truth of the matter is, of course, we are integrating fast, economically and socially,” said Chan. “The one part that is not integrating at all is politics.”

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US Sanctions China for Buying Russian Fighter Jets, Missiles

Posted: 20 Sep 2018 09:43 PM PDT

WASHINGTON—The Trump administration imposed sanctions on the Chinese military on Thursday for buying fighter jets and missile systems from Russia, in breach of a sweeping US sanctions law punishing Moscow for meddling in the 2016 US election.

The US State Department said it would immediately impose sanctions on China’s Equipment Development Department (EDD), the branch of the Chinese military responsible for weapons and equipment, and its director, Li Shangfu, for engaging in “significant transactions” with Rosoboronexport, Russia’s main arms exporter.

The sanctions are related to China’s purchase of 10 SU-35 combat aircraft in 2017 and S-400 surface-to-air missile system-related equipment in 2018, the State Department said.

They block the Chinese agency, and Li, from applying for export licenses and participating in the US financial system.

It also adds them to the Treasury Department’s list of specially designated individuals with whom Americans are barred from doing business.

The administration also blacklisted an additional 33 people and entities associated with the Russian military and intelligence, adding them to a list under the 2017 law, known as the Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act, or CAATSA.

CAATSA also seeks to punish Russia for its aggression in Ukraine and involvement in Syria’s civil war.

Doing significant business with anyone on that list can trigger sanctions like those imposed on China.

Some of those added to the list, which now contains 72 names, were indicted in connection with Russian interference in the 2016 US election, the official said.

Earlier on Thursday, President Donald Trump issued an executive order intended to facilitate implementation of the sanctions.

A federal special counsel is leading a criminal investigation of Russian interference in the US election, and any possible cooperation with Trump’s presidential campaign.

Trump has insisted there was no collusion with Russia. Moscow denies any effort to meddle in US politics.

Aimed at Moscow—or Beijing?

One US administration official, who briefed reporters on condition of anonymity, said the sanctions imposed on the Chinese agency were aimed at Moscow, not Beijing or its military, despite an escalating trade war between the United States and China.

“The ultimate target of these sanctions is Russia. CAATSA sanctions in this context are not intended to undermine the defense capabilities of any particular country,” the official told reporters on a conference call.

“They are instead aimed at imposing costs upon Russia in response to its malign activities,” the official said.

In Moscow, Russian member of parliament Franz Klintsevich said the sanctions would not affect the S-400 and SU-35 contracts.

“I am sure that these contracts will be executed in line with the schedule,” Klintsevich was quoted as saying by Russia’s Interfax news agency. “The possession of this military equipment is very important for China.”

Security analysts in Asia said the move appeared to be largely symbolic and would serve only to push Moscow and Beijing closer together.

“The imposition of US sanctions will have zero impact on Russian arms sales to China,” said Ian Storey, of Singapore’s ISEAS Yusof Ishak Institute.

“Both countries are opposed to what they see as US bullying and these kinds of actions will just push Beijing and Moscow even closer together,” he said, adding that Moscow needed Chinese money and Beijing wanted advanced military technology.

Collin Koh, a security analyst at Singapore’s S Rajaratnam School of International Studies, said the sanctions would do little to counter the evolving research and development relationship between China and Russia.

China relied less on large big-ticket purchases from Russia as in previous years, but Chinese defense industries were seeking expertise from Russia and former-Soviet states to plug knowledge gaps, he said.

The measures come as the Trump administration pursues a variety of strategies to clamp down on China and faces growing pressure to respond strongly to US intelligence agency reports that Russia is continuing to meddle in US politics.

Members of Congress, including many of Trump’s fellow Republicans, who passed the sanctions bill nearly unanimously, have repeatedly called on the administration to take a harder line against Moscow.

Administration officials said they hoped the action against EDD would send a message to others considering buying the S-400.

US officials have been discussing the issue particularly with NATO ally Turkey, which wants to buy the Russian-made S-400 surface-to-air missile batteries.

Washington has expressed concern that Turkey’s planned deployment of the S-400s could pose a risk to the security of some US-made weapons and other technology used by Turkey, including the F-35 fighter jet.

US officials have warned that Turkey’s purchase of the system could contravene CAATSA.

“We hope that at least this step will send a signal of our seriousness and perhaps encourage others to think twice about their own engagement with the Russian defense and intelligence sectors,” another US official said.

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UK’s Hunt Says Pressed Suu Kyi on ‘Justice and Accountability’ for Rohingya

Posted: 20 Sep 2018 09:31 PM PDT

NAYPYITAW — Myanmar must ensure there is “no hiding place” for those responsible for crimes against its Rohingya minority if it is to avoid a lasting stain on the country’s reputation, Britain’s foreign secretary, Jeremy Hunt, said on Thursday.

Hunt told Reuters he pressed Myanmar’s civilian leader, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, on the importance of holding the armed forces accountable for any atrocities, adding that if that did not happen within the country other options should be considered, including referral to the International Criminal Court (ICC).

“If there isn’t accountability through domestic processes the international community will not let it rest at that,” Hunt said in an interview at the end of a two-day visit to the former British colony previously known as Burma.

“We need to be absolutely clear that there can be no hiding place for anyone responsible for these kinds of atrocities.”

Myanmar’s main government spokesman, U Zaw Htay, was unavailable for comment.

United Nations-mandated investigators have said Myanmar’s military carried out mass killings and gang rapes of Rohingya with “genocidal intent” in an operation in Rakhine State, in the west of the country, that drove more than 700,000 refugees across the border to Bangladesh.

The investigators called for commander-in-chief Senior General Min Aung Hlaing and five generals to be prosecuted for genocide and crimes against humanity.

Myanmar has rejected the UN findings as “one-sided.” It says the military action, which followed militant attacks on security forces in August last year, was a legitimate counterinsurgency operation.

Myanmar has launched several domestic probes that have largely dismissed allegations made by Rohingya refugees. In July, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi appointed a commission chaired by retired Filipino diplomat Rosario Manalo to investigate the allegations of human rights violations.

Reuters case raised

Hunt said he had witnessed a “climate of fear” during a visit to Rakhine, where he was taken to empty centers built by Myanmar to house Rohingya the government says it is ready to welcome back. Refugees needed to see “accountability and justice” for atrocities to feel confident enough to return, he said. “If there isn’t accountability and justice, this will be as big a stain on Burma’s history as the Khmer Rouge are for Cambodia.”

Asked whether he would support referring Myanmar to the ICC, Hunt said there were “a number of different options.”

In separate comments on Twitter, Hunt noted an ICC referral would need the support of the UN Security Council “which it may not get so we need to look at other options too.”

A Security Council referral would need nine votes in favor and no vetoes from the permanent members Russia, China, the United States, Britain and France. Diplomats say Russia and China are unlikely to agree to such a move.

The ICC declined to comment. On Tuesday, the ICC prosecutor said her office had begun a preliminary examination into whether alleged forced deportations of Rohingya from Myanmar into Bangladesh could constitute war crimes or crimes against humanity.

During his trip, Hunt visited a group supporting political prisoners in Yangon and met Daw Aung San Suu Kyi in the capital, Naypyitaw. The military declined Hunt’s request for a meeting, he said.

Hunt said he was “extremely concerned” about the case of two Reuters journalists who were arrested last December while investigating a massacre in Rakhine.

Reporters Ko Wa Lone and Ko Kyaw Soe Oo were sentenced to seven years in prison after being convicted this month under the colonial-era Official Secrets Act.

Hunt said he raised specific concerns with Daw Aung San Suu Kyi about the conviction and asked her to consider giving them a pardon.

“She indicated that the judicial processes would probably need to be concluded before that could be considered, but I did put that squarely on the table as something I hoped she would consider,” he said.

“This is a critical moment for Burma as one of the newest democracies in the world to show that its court system is effective and there is due process, and I think there are a number of grounds for concern that that didn’t happen in this case.”

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Thursday, September 20, 2018

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Lawmakers Call for End to Disciplinary Transfers of Corrupt, Incompetent Officials

Posted: 20 Sep 2018 08:50 AM PDT

NAYPYITAW—Lawmakers have criticized the unofficial but long-standing practice of transferring civil servants to border and ethnic areas of the country as a disciplinary measure.

Such disciplinary action should no longer be practiced in a country that is preparing to establish a federal Union system, lawmakers from underdeveloped areas told reporters in Naypyitaw on Thursday.

Disciplinary transfers of civil servants for corruption or poor performance have a negative impact on the development of ethnic regions, said Lower House lawmaker Dr. Khin Sithu of Karenni State's Loikaw Township.

"I was quite upset when a police colonel said at a recent meeting of the bill committee that he had consigned some policemen to Chin State because they hadn't performed their duties properly," the lawmaker said.

Whenever a newly transferred civil servant arrives in Karenni State, his colleagues ask him what he did wrong to be transferred there, the lawmaker said.

It had become a cliché among officials to speak of punitive transfers to ethnic states like Kachin, Karenni, Chin and Rakhine, whose development lags behind other parts of the country, she said.

The practice showed a disregard for ethnic regions that belied the rhetoric of a federal Union, democracy and equality, she said.

Karenni State is not a prison, said Dr. Khin Sithu, who is a former chairperson of the Karenni State chapter of the ruling National League for Democracy.

Ni Shwe Lan, a Lower House lawmaker from Chin State's Htantalan Township, said, "We are unhappy that civil servants are transferred to our areas as a punishment. There are not many educated persons [civil servants] in Chin State. Most of the people here are inexperienced. So we want to receive those who can educate and mentor our staff and enhance their capacity."

Transferring civil servants to less-developed parts of the country not only ends their career but also impedes the development of the region, she said, adding that civil servants who are punished in that way lose all enthusiasm for their work.

Lower House lawmaker U Ar Moe Si of Kachin State's Khaung Lam Pu said the current township and assistant township education officers in his constituency had been transferred there as a form of disciplinary action.

"The Union education minister said in the Union Parliament that the two were transferred to Khaung Lam Pu as a punishment," he said.

No one has passed the matriculation examination in Khaung Lam Pu for the past nine years, so assigning such officials to the township education office discourages the existing staff, who have been working in very poor conditions and bad weather, the lawmaker said.

The lawmaker said he had raised questions about the practice in Parliament, and suggested that officials who break the code of conduct for civil servants be assigned to offices in Naypyitaw instead.

Deputy Education Minister Dr. Win Maw Tun said there is no official policy of punishing civil servants by transferring them to ethnic regions. Official punishments range from verbal and written warnings, to suspension, demotion and dismissal, he said.

"In the Khaung Lam Pu case, I only intended to improve their performance. No law prescribes the punishment of transferring someone to remote areas," the deputy education minister told The Irrawaddy.

In fact, the unofficial practice of transferring civil servants to remote areas as a punishment has been around since the monarchical period.

"I found that some civil servants in Buthidaung were taking bribes. They had in fact been transferred from non-ethnic areas as a punishment for corruption," said Lower House lawmaker U Aung Thaung Shwe of Rakhine State's Buthidaung Township.

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U.K. Says Myanmar May Need to Be Referred to ICC over Rohingya

Posted: 20 Sep 2018 07:00 AM PDT

LONDON—British Foreign Minister Jeremy Hunt said on Thursday that the international community should consider referring the treatment of Rohingya in Myanmar to the International Criminal Court (ICC) unless those responsible are tried and held accountable in the country.

"If there is not going to be accountability and justice in Burma, then the international community needs to look at all options including ICC referral," Hunt said on Twitter, posting during his visit to Myanmar.

"The latter would need the support of the Security Council, which it may not get, so we need to look at other options too."

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UWSA Cracks Down on Church Construction, Recruitment by ‘Extremist’ Christians

Posted: 20 Sep 2018 06:56 AM PDT

The United Wa State Army (UWSA) is cracking down on the unauthorized construction of Christian churches in Pangsang, the capital of Wa Region, according to local sources.

Several video clips posted on Facebook and other social media platforms show members of the UWSA using tools to tear down an unauthorized church. Christian religious leaders have also been detained by authorities, according to reports on social media.

Nyi Rang, a UWSA spokesperson based in Lashio, told The Irrawaddy that the action was intended to prevent extremist religious leaders from destabilizing the region.  A UWSA Central Committee meeting held early this month decided not to allow the teaching of religion in schools, to limit the number of churches in the region and to demolish churches built after 1992 that had not received approval from officials.

He said his organization's police had detained several people for questioning on suspicion of engaging in illegal construction.

"The laws in our region do not allow people to build churches without permission," Nyi Rang said.

He described those who had been detained as religious extremists who acted unlawfully.

According to a Burmese-language translation of a UWSA statement issued in the Wa language on Sept. 13, all churches built after 1992 would be destroyed as they had been built illegally. Only churches built between 1989 and 1992 were legal, it said.

Authorities would also check on the number of Christian schoolteachers and students in the region, according to the statement.

"We will not allow the building of new churches here anymore. Nor will we allow [Christian] organizations to accept new members," said the statement.

The authority will also monitor the activities of organizations that support churches in the region. Evangelical Christians will not be allowed to proselytize at schools, the statement added.

Only ethnic Wa would be allowed to train as religious leaders, and they would be under the authority of the UWSA central government, according to the statement.

Kachin Baptist Convention (KBC) chairman Rev. Samson, whose church has been conducting baptisms in Wa Region for more than 30 years, said the ban was prompted by the activities of extremist missionaries.

"You can't call them typical Christians. They are just people who want to attack established churches. They are against what we Christians believe," he told The Irrawaddy.

Some Christian groups had been confining new converts to churches and not allowing them to go home, he said. Additionally, UWSA leaders were angered when Christian groups posted a video on social media that condemned the local practice among ethnic Wa of worshipping "nats"(spirits), Rev. Samson said. Nats are spirits worshipped by local people in conjunction with Buddhism.

The UWSA has temporarily shut down all churches, but will allow some to reopen after it completes its investigation of Christian leaders, he said.

The UWSA has full authority in the Wa Region, where the Myanmar government has no presence.

The region is home to various ethnic groups including Wa, Kachin, Ta'ang, Lahu, Lisu, Kokang, Shan, Chinese, Burmese and Muslim groups. They observe various religious beliefs including Christianity, Buddhism, animism, nat worship, and Islam. The largest religious group is Christian.

Based in northern Shan State, the UWSA is the largest ethnic armed force in Myanmar, with an estimated 40,000 personnel. Most leaders of the group have communist views, a reflection of their long proximity to the Chinese border. The UWSA split from the Burmese Communist Party in 1989 and later entered a ceasefire agreement with the military government that ruled Myanmar at the time. The UWSA has not yet signed the Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement, but is party to the ongoing bilateral peace deal with the Myanmar government.

The Irrawaddy reporter Nan Lwin Hnin Pwint contributed to this story.

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Analysis: Why the Rohingya Teaching Assistants Project is Facing Opposition

Posted: 20 Sep 2018 06:33 AM PDT

YANGON—In order to alleviate language barriers in schools in Rohingya-dominant northern Rakhine State’s Maungdaw District, the National League for Democracy (NLD) government began recruiting Rohingya teachers last week and the district education department has already received more than 1,000 applicants as of Wednesday.

Government schoolteachers across Myanmar use Burmese language and materials in their classrooms but this proves tough for Rohingya children who most commonly speak a Chittagonian dialect. Sometimes they cannot interact with teachers even in simple conversations. In the Maungdaw area, there are a very limited number of Rohingya with civil servant jobs and this rare offer from the Ministry of Education has drawn the attention of the Rohingya community.

The head of Maugdaw District's education department, U Khin Aung told The Irrawaddy that they have already received more than 1,000 applications from Rohingya as of Wednesday— within one week of the call for applications.  He said 400 applications from Maungdaw and 600 from Buthidaung townships respectively were submitted. The education official used the term “teaching assistant” rather than “schoolteacher.”

68% of Rohingya students now in Bangladeshi camps

It’s unclear as of yet how much funding the Ministry of Education will allocate to this pilot project and whether the government has plans to hire more applicants in the future or not, as final decision is in the hands of the higher authorities. U Khin Aung said that the ministry will pay the teaching assistants salaries of 50,000 to 150,000 kyats in cash per month.

According to him, more than 130 Muslims are currently serving in the education department of Maungdaw District and a small number of them retired last year.  It’s unclear whether the qualified candidates will have opportunities in the future to be promoted to schoolteacher positions when they have sufficient experience for the position.

Approximately 500 government schools—including primary, middle and high schools—were serving more than 140,000 Muslim students and some non-Muslim students before the violence broke out in August 2017 and ultimately resulted in 700,000 Rohingya fleeing to Bangladesh.

Most of the schools are now empty as ninety percent of the Rohingya population were ejected by the violence and more than 200 Rohingya villages were reduced to ashes. The Bangladesh and Myanmar governments have been working out a repatriation process since this early year but not a single refugee has returned through official channels as of today.

U Khin Aung acknowledged that more than 80,000 students in Maungdaw and more than 60,000 students in Buthidaung Township were studying at government schools in early 2017.  Today, the size of the population of Muslim students in the entire Maungdaw District has declined to 60,000—approximately 20,000 in Maungdaw Township and 40,000 in Buthidaung Township.

Rohingya children tending cattle in northern Maungdaw’s Maung Hnama Village in 2016. / Moe Myint / The Irrawaddy

These numbers indicate that at least 68 percent of the Muslim students of Maungdaw District—a number of about 80,000—have been sheltering in neighboring Bangladesh in muddy refugee camps without any access to education. The figure for displaced students does not include deaths and the missing.

A rare career for Rohingya    

Some of the Rohingya who did not join the exodus, like Abdul Wahid from Rathedaung Township who is currently sheltering with his relatives in Buthidaung Township, told The Irrawaddy that job opportunities are an incentive for the displaced people as they have been in financial hardship for months.

He said that five people from his village applied for the positions via the Nyaung Chaung village superintendent.

“They are happy with the [call for] recruitments as it can become a professional career for them. At the same time, it can [provide for] their daily life,” said Abdul Wahid.

However, the fate of their applications are uncertain as local authorities have announced that Rohingya applicants from Buthidaung and Maungdaw are preferable for the posts.

“The applicants were unhappy when they heard about the government’s preferences but they are still hopeful”, said Abdul Wahid.

Objections from nationalists

Although the education department says this is just the initial stage of a pilot project, more challenges are imminent as serious objections have already been voiced to the government from Myanmar's nationalists.

Nearly 200 representatives from Buddhist religious orders, Rakhine political parties and the Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) as well as civil society groups held an urgent meeting in Rakhine’s capital of Sittwe this week which focused on objecting offering the positions to Muslims from Maugdaw District who are high school graduates. Anti-Muslim activists have said they will send a letter of objection to the president's office.

Arakanese nationalist U Than Tun, who joined the meeting told The Irrawaddy that the previous government under U Thein Sein had made the same offer to Muslims in 2013 but the positions was clearly labelled “volunteer teacher” positions at the time. The current NLD-led government officially stated “teacher assistant” and “educational staff” in its recruitment letter. He argued that current Myanmar laws only grant civil servant positions to citizens, not non-citizens.

As for the nationalists drumming-up objections, U Khin Aung said “There is no discriminative policy in the government education system. We civil servants are implementing what the ministry instructed on the ground.”

Yangon-based organization Gender Equality's founder U Aung Myo Min, remarked that education is essential for every single child. Making this change to the school teaching system could significantly improve the students' learning potential. Educational opportunities should be offered to kids regardless of racial or religious backgrounds, he said.

“People should simply acknowledge that a kid is a kid,” he said.

U Aung Myo Min recommended that educators who know about sensitive and regional situations would be appropriate teaching assistants or teachers and they should educate students on sensitive issues through the school curriculum.  He emphasized that promoting education in strife-torn regions is a necessity, especially; children should be taught proper education at school.

"Conflicts happen more easily in regions with lower education levels,” said U Aung Myo Min.

U Khaing Kaung San, founder of Sittwe-based Wunlurk Development Foundation, recalled that since armed conflicts erupted in Maugdaw last year, schoolteachers from other areas who had been working in Maungdaw, returned to their hometowns and have yet to go back to Maungdaw as they feel it is still unsafe there. Local authorities quickly filled the gap with temporary schoolteachers. Thus, he agreed that this government approach is realistic and reasonable.

A burnt-out market in a Rohingya village of Myo Thu Gyi in August 2017 which was later reconstructed as a border police regiment. / Moe Myint / The Irrawaddy

Why do Arakanese disrespect other groups’ rights?

Some Arakanese civil society groups have claimed that the majority of Arakanese are not familiar with the concept of basic human rights and sometimes have no idea even about their own basic rights. They do not know the necessity of respecting other groups’ basic rights, and so block or demand a revoke of rights for other groups. Similarly, narrow-minded reactions will only result in negative impressions of Rakhine being relayed to the international community.

U Khaing Kaung San criticized the response saying it indicates how the community is not well informed about basic human rights. He said that people should not connect job opportunities and citizenship matters citing the example of neighboring Thailand allowing job opportunities for Myanmar immigrants though they are obviously not Thai citizens.

Despite some members of the Arakanese community being troubled with longstanding human rights abuses, the number of institutionalized human rights watchdogs or organization focusing on Arakanese are extremely limited. The Irrawaddy asked several social activists from Rakhine State, including members of Kyaukphyu Rural Development Assocaition (KRDA) and Wunlark Development Foundation, whether any human rights institution or watchdogs are monitoring rights abuses among the Arakanese and all of them answered that they have no knowledge of such activities.

The Arakan Human Rights and Development Organisation (AHRDO), established by exiled Rakhine citizens in 2011, was made up mostly of members of the All Arakan Students and Youths Congress (AASYC). The group’s mission was to promote human rights and improve economic and social conditions as well as sustainable development in the state. They jointly conducted some training sessions with USAID in Sittwe in 2013.  Since then it has been no longer active.

KRDA’s coordinator U Tun Kyi said that the Arakanese have lack of knowledge of basic human rights concepts and very a few people are familiar with human rights articles like the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. He agreed that Arakanese society needs rights-watch organizations.

When it comes to human rights, the Arakanese community often accuse organizations of helping only the Rohingya community, of receiving funding from the international community and of working for foreign governments. Sometimes rights activists are closely watched by the government and for these reasons, even motivated, flexible Arakanese activists are hesitant to establish human rights institutions.

“We refrain from putting our professional work status on our Facebook profile,” said U Khaing Kaung San.

Mindset change necessary for peace

U Tun Kyi claimed there is always criticism no matter what an organization professionally works on.  For the community's mindset to change, CSOs and rights advocates should regularly hold rights awareness campaigns and knowledge-sharing activities across the state.

Arkanese activists have suggested that rights lobbyists should convince prominent Arakanese politicians, activists, well-respected community leaders and religious leaders to install a new ideology. They suggested for politicians not to further politicize the wounds of the Muslim and Rakhine community.

To improve trust-building between two communities, relevant organization should organize cultural exchange programs by inviting Rakhine and Muslims to come together for community-level dialogue events. In addition, international relief organizations should carry out not only food distribution campaigns for the Rohingya but also encourage a change of mindset towards the displaced Rohingya who have been living in camps for years.

A border police guard near the fence where thousands of displaced Rohingya have lived in encampments since 2017. / Moe Myint / The Irrawaddy

Gender Equality’s U Aung Myo Min agreed that mindset change is crucial for social cohesion and a harmonious society and added that a society should be broad and made up of diverse communities which can offer different perspectives in finding solutions. He said if a community refuses to accept diversity, it could lead to self-isolation and a disconnect from the outside world.

“A child is like a blank white page. As they are observing and learning from their environment, they should be properly educated with truthfulness and guidance. Once children are misguided by their community, it can become an infectious disease or cancer,” he said.

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NLD Urges China to Respect Local Laws, Concerns on Beijing Trip

Posted: 20 Sep 2018 06:00 AM PDT

YANGON — China must respect local concerns when implementing projects in Myanmar, the vice chairman of the National League for Democracy (NLD) told his hosts during a recent goodwill visit to Beijing, according to a press release from the party.

The release, issued today, said U Zaw Myint Maung also urged Beijing to respect Myanmar’s laws, create local jobs and to focus on peace when planning and carrying out projects in the country in a meeting on Monday with Song Tao, chief international liaison officer for the Communist Party of China (CPC).

The CPC invited U Zaw Myint Maung and other top NLD officials to Beijing for the nine-day visit starting Sept. 11 to strengthen relations between the two ruling parties.

The delegation included 18 NLD central committee members, including two chief ministers — from Mandalay and Magway regions — six central executive committee members, four auxiliary central executive committee members, two central economic committee members and one central information committee member. Five of the delegates have no additional senior party roles.

China is Myanmar’s largest investor, though many of its investments are controversial, perhaps none more so than the Myitsone hydropower dam in Kachin State, which was suspended in 2011 in the face of widespread public concern about the project’s potential social and environmental impacts.

The delegation also met with Huang Kunming, head of the CPC’s Propaganda Department and a member of the party’s politburo.

"Each side shared the party's constitution and discipline," NLD spokesman U Myo Nyunt, who joined the trip, told The Irrawaddy.

The CPC arranged for the delegates to visit the Three Gorges hydroelectric dam, the world's largest power station with an installed capacity of 22,500 MW, which spans the Yangtze River.

Although the dam displaced 1.3 million people and caused significant ecological change including an increased risk of landslides, and remains controversial both at home and abroad, China considers it a social and economic success.

"Chinese official explained their challenges while they were constructing the dam, how they addressed the local objections," U Myo Nyunt said.

Beijing and Naypyitaw recently signed a memorandum of understanding on the China-Myanmar Economic Corridor, part of Chinese President Xi Jinping's Belt and Road Initiative, which aims to build a network of roads, rail lines and shipping lanes linking China and Europe via at least 70 countries in Asia and the Middle East to foster trade and investment.

China and Myanmar also recently renegotiated the terms for the Kyaukphyu deep-water port in Rakhine State, which gives China access to the Indian Ocean and allows its oil imports to bypass the Strait of Malacca.

Meanwhile, the Chinese company behind the Myitsone dam has resumed lobbying residents and authorities in Kachin to support its plans to restart the project. Some locals and environmentalists are worried that the company may succeed in striking a new deal with Myanmar by year’s end.

CPC officials briefed the NLD delegation on China’s major investment projects and plans for Myanmar but did not mention the Myitsone dam.

"We didn't comment on their ongoing projects or on the Myitsone dam. Our visit was to represent the party, not the government." U Myo Nyunt said.

He added that the delegates were also briefed on China’s tax system and international relations and on its policies on rural development, agriculture and the environment.

The post NLD Urges China to Respect Local Laws, Concerns on Beijing Trip appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

President Tells State, Regional Officials to Wrap Up Land-Grab Probes

Posted: 20 Sep 2018 04:53 AM PDT

PATHEIN, Irrawaddy Region — President U Win Myint has instructed state and regional chief ministers to complete their investigations into land confiscation cases by the end of the year.

"The president has ordered that all land-grab investigations be completed by Dec. 31. He issued the instruction to the whole country, not only to the Irrawaddy regional government," Irrawaddy Region Chief Minister U Hla Moe Aung said at a press conference in Pathein on Tuesday.

The regional Committee for Rescrutinizing Confiscated Farmlands and Other Lands is working to comply with the president's order, said U Hla Moe Aung, who is also the chairman of the committee.

"I've instructed the chairpersons and secretaries of land committees at the township and district levels to get the job done by Dec. 31," he said.

The Central Committee for Rescrutinizing Confiscated Farmlands and Other Lands, chaired by Vice President U Henry Van Thio, is tasked with investigating land-grab cases and has counterparts at all administrative levels.

Earlier this month the central committee issued a 52-point set of guidelines to be followed in investigating land-grab cases.

The Irrawaddy regional committee was assigned to investigate 600 cases. So far, it has investigated 102 cases. Investigations are ongoing in 256 cases and the rest have yet to be investigated, said U Tin Win, director of the Department of Agriculture Land Management and Statistics.

The committee only investigates cases that arose after 1988, said U Tin Win, who is also the secretary of the regional committee. Nor does it handle cases already under investigation by farmland management committees, or disputes over land seized from farmers by lenders for failure to repay debts, he added.

The Irrawaddy Region Farmers Union has complained that the investigation will not be fair because many of the chairpersons and secretaries of the village- and ward-level committees, respectively, are administrators from the Land Records Department, whose officials have been involved in land-grab cases in the past.

"Most of the past land-grab cases involved chairmen and secretaries of the ward- and village-level committees. Though lawmakers are involved in the committees, they don't have much authority," the chairman of the regional farmers union, U Myo Chit, told The Irrawaddy.

"Regardless of the instructions from lawmakers, they [the chairpersons and secretaries of the committees] may write the reports as they like and present them to the higher authorities," he added.

"Unless and until civil society organizations representing farmers are included in the land rescrutinizing committees, it will be impossible to learn the truth, and farmers will continue to suffer."

According to statistics from the Central Committee for Rescrutinizing Confiscated Farmlands and Other Lands, over 200,000 acres of farmland and vacant, fallow land have been seized in Irrawaddy Region for industrial and hotel zone projects, railroad projects, mineral extraction, departmental offices and expansion of cantonments by cronies of officials, companies, government departments and the Myanmar military (or Tatmadaw).

Of the total land seized in Irrawaddy Region, which has six districts, over 170,000 acres were seized in Maubin District alone, according to the committee.

Since 2016, the National League for Democracy-led government has identified 63,417 acres of confiscated farmland to be returned. Farmers have received 13,091 acres; the remaining 50,326 acres have yet to be handed back to the original owners by the responsible departments and regional governments in line with the proper procedures, according to a report on the overall situation in the country regarding land grabs.

State Counselor's Office Minister U Kyaw Tint Swe submitted the report to the Union Parliament on Thursday.

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Artist Turns Medium Into Message to Challenge Stigma of Women’s Sarongs

Posted: 20 Sep 2018 03:34 AM PDT

YANGON — During his time in jail from 1998 and 2004, prominent artist Htein Lin used white prison uniforms as a canvas and turned soap and cigarette lighters into other works of art. He has made plaster molds of the arms of former political prisoners like himself to tell their stories.

Now, for his latest project, the artist is taking on the controversial subject of “htamein,” or women’s sarongs.

In Myanmar, there is a longstanding superstition that the clothes covering a woman’s lower half are “unclean” and cannot mix with men’s garments. The belief holds that women’s clothes, htamein in particular, should never be washed with the clothes of men or be hung in front of the house or higher than men’s garments. Men should never pass under a laundry line of women’s clothes.

Should any of these things come to pass, the thinking goes, the men will lose their "hpone," their spiritual power or strength. A wife is considered a bad spouse if she washes her clothes together with her husband’s.

Since last month, Htein Lin has been inviting women to take part in his new project by asking them to donate their old sarongs, on which he paints their portraits and the women write down their thoughts on the superstitions surrounding women’s clothes.

A painting by Htein Lin. The quote from the woman in the painting says: “I wash my husband’s clothes together with mine when he is away.” / Myo Min Soe / The Irrawaddy

Htein Lin said he wanted to find out how prevalent these superstitions still were and whether they were more common among men or women after seeing some of his friends land in trouble with their in-laws and one even be divorced by her husband for breaking the taboos.

The superstitions surrounds htamein are believed to stem from ancient legends in which the male heroes are assassinated after losing their powers because they unwittingly passed under a woman’s sarong.

The country’s most powerful institution appears to be under their spell even today. Htein Lin said the military still takes htamein seriously. He cited the 2015 case of a young woman who was convicted of criminal defamation and sentenced to six months in jail for sharing a Facebook post comparing the color of new military uniforms to the htamein of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi.

"If it were compared with a shawl or some cloth, it wouldn’t have been a problem for them," the artist said.

Htein Lin looks at one of his paintings in his Yangon studio. / Myo Min Soe / The Irrawaddy

Htein Lin doesn't believe in the superstitions himself. He does not wash his clothes separately from his wife’s or use a different laundry basket.

He cited the comments on the subject of prominent monk Ashin Nandamalabhivamsa, who said that a man who walks under a laundry line of women’s clothes will lose his strength not because the sarongs wield genuine power but because of his obsession with the fear that they do.

He claimed that the aim of his project, titled “Skirting the Issue,” was not to end the taboo but to stimulate discussion about it.

"It is not a revolutionary idea. It is not a feminist movement. It's just an art movement. I just want people, through this project, to reconsider" he said.

Since he started work, men and women alike have shared their thoughts on the project on the artist’s Facebook. Some of the women said they don’t believe in the superstitions; others said they do and fear a misstep could put their husband and sons in danger.

A painting by Htein Lin. The quote from the woman in the painting says: “All of us from our village wash htamein at a separate spot in the village.” / Myo Min Soe / The Irrawaddy

A woman from Tanintharyi Region who took part in the project wrote on her sarong that all the women in her village still wash their htamein in a separate, designated spot.

Yangon-based filmmaker Shin Daewe, who also took part, said the project was a chance for her to speak out against the superstitions, something she found hard to do day to day in the face of so much persistent belief. She said her husband shared her thoughts on the issue.

"Htamein is just some cloth to me,” she wrote on her sarong. “It's ok to wash it together with my husband's clothes.”

But Shin Daewe said she has received little support from friends and that the project has also made her realize just how prevalent the superstitions remain.

"I hope this project will get people to start rethinking their beliefs,” she said.

As part of the project, Htein Lin also plans to construct a tunnel-like sculpture made from women’s old sarongs, to exhibit along with the paintings. It will be up to the audience — the men especially — whether to pass through.

The post Artist Turns Medium Into Message to Challenge Stigma of Women’s Sarongs appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Activist Receives 15-Day Sentence for Peace Protest

Posted: 20 Sep 2018 03:19 AM PDT

MANDALAY — The Kyauktada Township Court in Yangon convicted three peace protesters under the Peaceful Assembly Law on Wednesday, giving them a choice of paying a fine of 20,000 kyats each or a sentence of 15 days' imprisonment.

Peace activist Ko Zeyar Lwin and poets Ko Khant Min Htet and Ko Ye Wint Aung participated in a protest at Mahabandoola Park on May 14, calling for an end to the wars in Kachin State, at which they gave speeches and recited poems.

The two poets agreed to pay the 20,000 kyats fine, however Ko Zeyar Lwin choose imprisonment.

"Suing and sentencing us under the Peaceful Assembly Law for participating in a movement for the peace of the country is limiting our freedom of expression and insulting peace," said Ko Zeyar Lwin.

"Our trial shows the devastation of the judicial system of the country and that is why I decided to take 15 days' imprisonment," he added.

Ko Zeyar Lwin is also facing trial under the Peaceful Assembly Law in Bahan Township where the peace rally passed through on the way to the larger gathering in Mahabandoola Park on the same day.

Protests urging government authorities to rescue locals trapped in the war-torn region of Kachin State and calling for a stop to the conflict, took place in Yangon and Mandalay in May, followed by the opening of a protest camp in Myitkyina, the capital of Kachin State.

Thousands of locals remain displaced by outbreaks of fighting between the Tatmadaw (Myanmar Army) and Kachin ethnic armed groups, which took place in Kachin State in April and May.

Four protesters from Mandalay and 17 protesters from Yangon have been sued under Article 19 of Peaceful Assembly Law over the protests in May.

The Mandalay protesters have already served prison sentences of two months behind bars.

The post Activist Receives 15-Day Sentence for Peace Protest appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Ethnic Armed Groups Discuss Peace Process Participation

Posted: 20 Sep 2018 02:08 AM PDT

Ethnic armed groups held a two-day meeting in Laiza, Kachin State, at the headquarters of the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) to discuss how they could cooperate for participation in the country's peace process, according to a KIA spokesperson.

At least 12 ethnic armed groups participated including 10 signatories to the nationwide ceasefire agreement (NCA) and other non-signatories including the KIA and Karenni National Progressive Party (KNPP).

Two main topics were discussed at the meeting, according to Col Naw Bu, a spokesperson from the KIA/KIO (Kachin Independence Organization).

First, NCA signatories explained the latest peace negotiations with the government. Then, the discussion moved to how all ethnic armed groups could participate in the peace deal, he said.

"It was just a preliminary meeting. No agreements were made. We just discussed how we could all participate," Col Naw Bu added.

Previously, NCA signatories released a statement that said they would try to bring non-signatories into the peace deal. The meeting in Laiza is one of the first steps in trying to achieve that aim.

Ethnic armed organizations recently asked Daw Aung San Suu Kyi to hold a meeting with the government, army and parliament soon, in order to discuss two issues that have created a deadlock in negotiations.

The first issue is that the Myanmar Army has asked ethnic leaders to promise that their groups would not secede from the Union. The second issue is the idea that Myanmar should have only one army, placing ethnic armed groups under the command of the Myanmar Army.

Nai Hong Sar, vice chairman of the New Mon State Party, said that ethnic armed leaders will not make these concessions to the army at this point, as the country does not have a real democracy and ethnic people still lack rights. Ethnic leaders will accept one national army when Myanmar has a true democracy and ethnic people are granted self-determination, he added.

The post Ethnic Armed Groups Discuss Peace Process Participation appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

At Least 21 Dead, Dozens Ill in Malaysia from Bootleg Liquor

Posted: 19 Sep 2018 09:50 PM PDT

KUALA LUMPUR — Police in Malaysia are investigating a case of alcohol poisoning that killed at least 21 people, with dozens more hospitalized, most of them citizens of Asian nations, officials said on Wednesday.

Cheap, homemade liquor is popular among poor, migrant workers in Muslim-majority Malaysia, which has high taxes on alcohol.

A total of 57 cases of methanol poisoning had been reported in Kuala Lumpur, the capital, and its surrounding state of Selangor, Health Minister Dzulkefly Ahmad said.

“The number of cases is expected to increase as more patients come in for treatment,” he told a news conference in the administrative capital of Putrajaya.

Methanol, an alcohol compound used in making spurious liquor, is harmless in tiny amounts but lethal in larger concentrations.

Five Malaysians were among those affected, while the rest were foreigners from Bangladesh, Indonesia, Myanmar and Nepal, Dzulkefly added.

Authorities had tested several types of alcoholic drinks to find some samples contained methanol in higher proportions than authorized, he said.

“We are very concerned because it comes in batches… people are resorting to cheap, compounded hard liquor,” Dzulkefly said.

Police arrested seven people in raids on 12 sites where they seized nearly 3,000 bottles and cans of whisky and beer, in a bid to identify the contaminated drinks and curb the outbreak, Selangor police chief Mazlan Mansor said in a statement.

Police are investigating the deaths as culpable homicide, which carries a jail term of up to 10 years, a fine, or both.

In neighboring Indonesia, also a Muslim-majority country, more than 50 people died in April after consuming homemade alcohol tainted with ingredients such as mosquito repellent.

The post At Least 21 Dead, Dozens Ill in Malaysia from Bootleg Liquor appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Malaysian Police Say Former PM Najib to Face 21 More Money Laundering Charges

Posted: 19 Sep 2018 09:43 PM PDT

KUALA LUMPUR — A total of 21 money laundering charges will be laid against former Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak over a $681 million dollar transfer into his bank account, police said on Thursday, money that allegedly came from scandal-linked state fund 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB).

The money laundering charges include nine counts of receiving illegal proceeds, five counts of using illegal proceeds and seven counts of transferring the proceeds to other entities, Deputy Inspector-General of Police Noor Rashid Ibrahim said in a statement.

Najib, who denies any wrongdoing, was expected to be charged in court later on Thursday over the transfer of funds into his personal bank account. The case is linked to the disappearance of billions of dollars from the heavily indebted 1MDB.

Najib, who founded 1MDB in 2009, has faced intense scrutiny since unexpectedly losing a general election in May to Mahathir Mohamad, who reopened investigations into allegations that billions of dollars were stolen from the fund.

Noor did not say whether the 21 money laundering charges related to 1MDB, but lawsuits filed by the United States Department of Justice allege that $681 million made its way into Najib’s account from the fund.

Najib will face additional charges for offenses involving the use of one’s office or position for gratification, officials said earlier.

Thursday’s charges will be the second batch leveled against the former premier for alleged crimes linked to 1MDB.

Najib was charged with money laundering, criminal breach of trust and abuse of power in July and August relating to funds of about 42 million ringgit ($10.14 million) that allegedly flowed from SRC International, a former 1MDB unit, into his personal bank account.

Najib has pleaded not guilty to all charges so far and has consistently denied wrongdoing. The SRC trial will begin in February.

1MDB is being investigated by at least six countries, including Singapore, Switzerland and the United States, over alleged money laundering and graft.

SRC had been the initial focus of Malaysian investigators because all the suspicious transactions involving it went through Malaysian entities.

The post Malaysian Police Say Former PM Najib to Face 21 More Money Laundering Charges appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

China’s Xi Says Places ‘High Premium’ on Pakistan Ties, as Army Chief Visits

Posted: 19 Sep 2018 09:37 PM PDT

BEIJING — China places a “high premium” on its relations with Pakistan and believes a key economic project will be successful, President Xi Jinping told Pakistan’s army chief, days after a Pakistani minister stirred unease about Chinese Silk Road schemes.

General Qamar Javed Bajwa is the most senior Pakistani figure to visit ally China since the new government of Prime Minister Imran Khan took office in August, and his trip comes a week or so after a senior Chinese diplomat visited Islamabad.

Pakistan has deepened ties with China in recent years as relations with the United States have frayed.

Bajwa may be hoping to smooth out any Chinese alarm at comments last week by Pakistan’s commerce minister, Abdul Razak Dawood, who suggested suspending for a year projects in the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, the Pakistan leg of China’s Belt and Road Initiative that includes recreating the old Silk Road trading route.

Meeting Bajwa on Wednesday, Xi said the two countries were “iron friends," China’s official Xinhua news agency said on Thursday.

“China always places a high premium on China-Pakistan relations,” the report cited Xi as saying.

Xi expressed his appreciation for the support and security safeguards provided by Pakistan for the Belt and Road Initiative and the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor construction, Xinhua added.

“As long as high-degree mutual trust and concrete measures are in place, the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor construction will succeed and deliver benefits to people of the two countries,” Xi said.

Beijing has pledged to invest about $60 billion in Pakistan for infrastructure for the Belt and Road project.

The post China’s Xi Says Places 'High Premium' on Pakistan Ties, as Army Chief Visits appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Dream Comes True for S. Korea’s Moon: Trekking Mt. Paektu with Kim Jong Un

Posted: 19 Sep 2018 09:27 PM PDT

SEOUL — South Korean President Moon Jae-in will clear a top item off his bucket list on Thursday: Climbing Mount Paektu in North Korea with its leader Kim Jong Un.

After the two leaders pledged new steps aimed at salvaging nuclear talks, South Korea made a surprise announcement that Moon and Kim will use the final day of their three-day summit to go up the symbolic mountain together.

Moon is known for his love of mountain climbing and has trekked in the Himalayas at least twice. The president has long stated that he would love to one day visit Mount Paektu, which is also sometimes spelled Baekdu.

As the highest mountain on the Korean peninsula at about 2,750 meters (9,000 ft) above sea level, Mount Paektu is the mythical origin of the Korean people, featuring in South Korea’s national anthem and various North Korean propaganda.

Although Mount Paektu straddles the North Korea-China border and can be reached from China, where it is known as Changbai Mountain, Moon has never visited.

That is because when he goes up Mount Paektu, he wants to go “stepping on our soil,” Kim Eui-kyeom, spokesman for the presidential Blue House, told reporters on Wednesday.

An active volcano, Mount Paektu is dotted with secret camps and historical sites from Korea’s guerrilla war against the occupying Japanese in the 1940s. A funicular railway takes tourists up the mountain, which also holds a huge crater lake.

“I have a dream that I have not been able to fulfill for a long time, which is trekking Mount Paektu and the Kaema Plateau (in North Korea),” Moon said during a banquet after his first summit with Kim in April, which took place at the demilitarized zone separating the two neighbors.

“I believe Chairman Kim will make that dream come true for sure.”

North Korea says Kim’s grandfather and father were born at Mount Paektu, a centerpiece of the North’s idolization and propaganda campaign to highlight the ruling family’s sacred bloodline.

Kim has previously visited the mountain around major developments in North Korea, such as visiting in late 2013 before he executed top officials including his uncle Jang Song-thaek, and after North Korea’s fifth nuclear test in 2016, North Korea watchers say.

Moon was born in South Korea in 1953 during the Korean War. His parents had fled from the North during the war, sailing for three days on the deck of a US ship packed with refugees.

A former human rights lawyer, he said in a 2017 book published months before his election as president that he wanted to “finish his life” in his mother’s North Korean hometown doing pro-bono service.

“When peaceful reunification comes, the first thing I want to do is to take my 90-year-old mother and go to her hometown,” Moon wrote in the book.

The post Dream Comes True for S. Korea’s Moon: Trekking Mt. Paektu with Kim Jong Un appeared first on The Irrawaddy.
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