Thursday, December 20, 2018

The Irrawaddy Magazine

The Irrawaddy Magazine

Over 700 People Flee Homes as Tatmadaw, AA Clash in Northern Rakhine

Posted: 20 Dec 2018 04:03 AM PST

SITTWE—More than 700 villagers have been displaced by clashes between the Myanmar Army (or Tatmadaw) and the Arakan Army (AA) in northern Rakhine State.

The entire population of Pyinnagyi village fled after the two sides clashed near the border of Kyauktaw and Ponnagyun townships on Tuesday.

Pyinnagyi, which is home to ethnic Mro people, was the closest village to the clashes. U Maung Maung, a Rakhine State lawmaker from Kyauktaw Township, said over 180 villagers had fled the clashes.

Around 80 residents of Chin Ma Wun Taung village fled to Thalu Chaung village to avoid the fighting. "We heard a lot of gunfire. Last night over 100 villagers from Pyinnagyi village arrived in Nga Si Yine village," U Maung Ni, a resident of Thalu Chaung, told The Irrawaddy.

Locals reported hearing gunshots and artillery fire in the area until noon on Thursday. Villagers from the surrounding villages did not dare go out to their farms or go fishing.

Elsewhere, more than 200 ethnic Khami people from two villages in Ponnagyun Township fled to Sai Din village in Buthidaung Township on Monday.

"For the time being, government departments and social organizations are providing food for them. But the villagers are scared and dare not go outside. So, they could face many difficulties in future," said U Aung Thaung Shwe, a Lower House lawmaker representing Buthidaung Township.

The Buthidaung Township General Administration Department has provided a week's rations for displaced persons taking shelter in Sai Din village, according to administrator U Kyaw Min Tun.

"We are also negotiating with international non-governmental organizations to provide aid for them," he told The Irrawaddy.

On Dec. 9 and 13, over 330 ethnic Mro people from Kyaukse Taung, Thabyu Chaung and Hpet Wun villages in Ponnagyun Township fled to Thin Pone Tan village in the same township.

"We still hear gunshots. Now, over 300 people are taking shelter in our village. We have enough food for the time being," Thin Pone Tan village administrator U Thein Win told The Irrawaddy.

According to reports from the Tatmadaw and the AA, the two sides have been engaged in periodic clashes on the Myanmar-Bangladesh border in Buthidaung and Rathedaung townships since Nov. 30.

On Dec. 12, the AA and its allies the Ta'ang National Liberation Army and the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army released a joint statement saying they sought to engage in political negotiations and halt military operations in an effort to achieve peace.

The government's Peace Commission welcomed the statement, and said it would negotiate with the three to sign bilateral ceasefire agreements.

However, daily clashes between the AA and the Myanmar Army continue.

The AA is believed to have moved its headquarters from Laiza, which is under the control of the Kachin Independence Army, to a location in Chin State near the Indian border.

The post Over 700 People Flee Homes as Tatmadaw, AA Clash in Northern Rakhine appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Bodies of Two Missing Arakanese Fishermen Found With Throats Cut

Posted: 20 Dec 2018 12:53 AM PST

SITTWE—The bodies of two Arakanese men who went missing in Rakhine State's Maungdaw on Monday were recovered with their throats slit on Thursday morning.

U Maung Tun Aye, 56, of Maungdaw's Upper Pyu Ma village, and U Maung Maung Than, 51, of Rathedaung's Ohn Chaung village, went fishing in Pyu Ma Creek on Monday evening. When they had failed to return by the following day, their families reported them missing to Nga Khu Ya Police Station.

Police and locals searched for the two, and found them dead with their throats cut near the creek, Maungdaw Township administrator U Myint Khaing told The Irrawaddy.

Police are still investigating the crime, he said. "We don't know yet who killed them. But throat-slitting is ARSA's usual method of killing," he said, referring to the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army.

"One group searched along the creek by boat, and another group used motorbikes to search the road that runs along the creek," Kyein Chaung village administrator U Ko Ko Aung told The Irrawaddy.

In another case, two ethnic Maramagyi men, U Saw Tun Oo and U Maung Hla Oo, were reportedly attacked by Rohingya while fishing in Pyu Ma Creek on Monday evening.

U Saw Tun Oo managed to get away and call for help. U Maung Hla Oo was hit in the head with an oar and seriously injured. He was transferred to Maungdaw Township Hospital from Kyein Chaung Hospital on Thursday.

On Dec. 16, a 13-year-old girl from Thit Taw village in Maungdaw Township was found dead with her throat slit some 2 miles from the village. She went missing the previous day while tending cattle.

The post Bodies of Two Missing Arakanese Fishermen Found With Throats Cut appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Suspects in Murder of Migrant Family Arrested in Karen State

Posted: 20 Dec 2018 12:32 AM PST

Two people were detained yesterday in Myaing Kalay, Hpa-an Township in Karen State, on suspicion of the murders of a Myanmar migrant family of four in Mae Sot, Thailand according to police in Karen State, Myanmar.

The two suspects—Ko Swe, 29, and Ko Zaw Zaw, 28—are said to be ethnic Arakanese from Rakhine State.

The police officer, who requested anonymity, told The Irrawaddy on Thursday that the men detained in Myaing Kalay on Wednesday had fled across the border at the town of Mae Sot in a bid to escape arrest.

They went into hiding in Myaing Kalay, the hometown of one of their wives, according to the police.

As the incident happened in Mae Sot, a town on the Thai side of the border with Myanmar, Myanmar police have to extradite the suspects to Thailand, according to the police source. The case will be handled by the Thai police force after the suspects are escorted back to the border town.

"We are sending them back to Myawaddy Police Station," said the police officer.

Myanmar police in Myawaddy, the town on the Myanmar side of the border across from Mae Sot, are cooperating with their Thai counterparts to investigate the case.

The incident happened when the two suspects were intoxicated and causing noise disturbances to the neighboring homes. When a member of the victim family complained to them a quarrel ensued. The two suspects beat the mother and father of the family to death using an iron rod and a length of wood, according to the police officer.

This counters previous reports that the quarrel broke out over a cow.

After the suspects fled to Myaing Kalay, police received a tipoff about their whereabouts from a member of the Myanmar migrant community in Thailand who knew the suspects, according to the police officer.

The Myanmar migrant family, which included a baby of 4 months and a four-year-old boy who were also murdered on Dec. 16, was living in a hut outside Mae Sot and made a living cutting sugar cane and tending cattle in the area.

The post Suspects in Murder of Migrant Family Arrested in Karen State appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Christian Home Stoned, Vandalized During Christmas Prayer in Magwe

Posted: 19 Dec 2018 11:45 PM PST

GANGAW, Magwe Region — Police in Magwe Region’s Gangaw Township have received a criminal complaint against residents of Paw Lel Village accused of a violent Monday night attack on a house where local Christians were praying.

"They have opened a case under Article 337 and Article 427 of the Penal Code. The first charge is causing harm and the second is causing damage to property," Gangaw police Lieutenant Soe Nyunt Aung told The Irrawaddy.

More than 20 local Christians were holding an early Christmas prayer at a private home when stones started hitting the house for about an hour, according to the township’s Baptist Christian Association. It said a group of men then broke into the house and vandalized it.

"While we were saying prayers, [they] threw stones at all sides of the house. Six people were injured. One of them was seriously injured on his head," said Rev. San Kew, who was in the house during the attack.

He said motorbikes, furniture and the dishes and plates to be used for dinner were damaged.

"We didn't see who damaged the property. We were all hiding in a room because we were frightened," the reverend said.

He said only four of Paw Lel’s 52 households were Christian and that the owner of the house that as attacked, Wa Dawns, filed the complaint with police against about 30 villagers.

U Tin Myat, administrator of the Min Ywa village tract, said police and firefighters have been posted at the house for the family’s protection.

"The two communities are rather relaxed, though. We conducted a patrol at night,” he said on Wednesday.

U Aung Hsan Myint, a Magwe Region lawmaker, said the assailants must be brought to justice.

"You cannot oppose others celebrating their religious event. Action must be taken against perpetrators according to the law," he said.

Translated from Burmese by Thet Ko Ko.

The post Christian Home Stoned, Vandalized During Christmas Prayer in Magwe appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

An Illicit Business in Full Bloom in Hsi Hseng

Posted: 19 Dec 2018 11:30 PM PST

HSI HSENG, southern Shan State—Poppies grown by farmers in Hsi Hseng in southern Shan State's Pa-O Self-administered Zone are now in bloom.

In most poppy fields at this time of year, latex is being extracted from the seed pods. In some fields, however, growers are still fertilizing young poppy plants using the "broadcasting" method.

Poppy cultivation, a traditional practice in Hsi Hseng, is still the main livelihood for hundreds of families in the town.

Locals are well aware that poppy cultivation is illegal, but complain they lack the financial assistance needed to switch to other crops. Poppies take less time to harvest—and fetch higher prices—than other crops.

At harvest time, authorities arrive looking for poppy fields to destroy, so farmers in Hsi Hseng grow their poppies on remote, steep hillsides.

The remote locations of their fields do not spare farmers the need to pay taxes, however. Local growers are forced to make annual payments to local Pa-O militia, the Shan State Restoration Council and local police, according to the Myanmar Opium Farmers Association, a group of farmers who have for generations made their living by growing poppies and are now looking for alternative crops with the help of local and international NGOs.

According to a 2017 report by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, there are over 40,000 hectares of farmland under poppy cultivation in Myanmar, 40 percent of it in southern Shan State.

The post An Illicit Business in Full Bloom in Hsi Hseng appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Myanmar Govt Could Start Demining Program ‘Tomorrow,’ Researcher Says

Posted: 19 Dec 2018 10:46 PM PST

YANGON — Since 2007 Myanmar has suffered the third highest number of antipersonnel landmine casualties among Asian countries and is now fifth in terms of landmine use globally. There were 202 landmine victims across 78 townships over the past year alone, according to the latest Landmine and Cluster Munitions Monitor report, launched in November.

Since Myanmar's peace process begin in late 2011, almost 1,200 people have been killed or injured by mines, more than 90 percent of them in Kachin, Shan and Karen states or eastern Bago Region, according to Landmine Monitor Myanmar, which shares data with the International Campaign to Ban Landmines.

Yeshua Moser-Puangsuwan is the Landmines Monitor’s research coordinator. He said there have been at least 4,193 landmine casualties in Myanmar since 1999 but suspected the true number to be higher.

This year’s report says the latest casualty numbers were exacerbated by the military’s continued use of landmines for defense and the forced labor of civilians in conflict zones. It says Myanmar’s myriad ethnic armed organizations (EAOs) also continued to use antipersonnel mines and that the country still lacks any formal mine clearing operation despite mention of it in the Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement (NCA).

Myanmar was also the top recipient of international funding for mine action in 2017 with $6.2 million earmarked for non-technical surveys, risk education and victim assistance.

Irrawaddy reporter Nyein Nyein spoke with Moser-Puangsuwan in Yangon about his work in Myanmar and how best to reduce mine casualties.

How do you gather information on injuries or deaths caused by landmines? 

There’s no formal record, so we can count what we can count, but we don’t believe that’s comprehensive because there’s things, obviously, that we’re missing. So we ask for people to open records. Under the Convention on the Rights of Disabled People, the government should be doing more surveillance of landmine disability as well as every other kind of disability. They honestly lack the capacity to do so. They need to ask for more help.

How do you verify that these people are still using landmines?

We have these allegations, and the more detailed the allegations, the more confident you could have in it. Many of them come from local people; they’ve been warned by one side or the others, "Don't go to that area." Everybody knows what the code means; it means there are mines there. And so this is one of the ways in which we know it. The other way is, there’s a casualty, a red flag that mines are there. We might know who’s operating in that area, which gives us an idea about it. There may be allegations by the local community that that was the last unit through. So you have to make assessment on this. It’s very difficult to do.

A landmine victim in Zawti Village in Kyaukki Township, Bago Region, in 2013. / Reuters

How can we improve the situation not to have more landmines?

There will be elections coming up soon and this is something that should be asked [of] every political candidate. What is their stand on continued use in the country? Do they want to see Myanmar become a party to the 1997 Mine Ban Treaty, which comprehensively bans the mines and have remediation effects of victim assistance and mines clearance? This is the solution to the problem. Even the Myanmar government said so in their statement of November of this year, three weeks ago in Geneva. They have said that the Mine Ban Treaty is the solution to the problem of landmines contamination. So of course this is the direction that we encourage them to go in every opportunity that we have to encourage them. But we’re from outside the country. We can help in many ways, but ultimately it’s the people of the country here that need to hold the leaders to account, and one of the opportunities you have is the upcoming election, of asking political candidate, “Well, where do you stand on this? Do you want to see Myanmar join the Mine Ban Treaty?”

In the NCA there is a section for demining and protecting the civilian. But I heard that some of the [armed] groups, they’re starting to do mine awareness and starting to learn about demining things. They cannot really do that yet. Why do you think it is? The government is not allowing them?

You would have to ask each and every one of them that question to get a clear picture. Several groups have asked for assistance with mines clearances, and within the NCA framework it doesn’t seem that they’ve been able to get that. Different people have different readings for that — we have to wait for JMC [Joint Monitoring Committee], various other things. But there is no reason why the authorities could not put together a civil, not a military, but a civil mine clearance entity now and start working on the areas that are solely under its responsibility, that doesn't deal with the NCA. And once you start, it’s easier to expand that program into other areas.

If they [EAOs] do demining, would it [have an] effect on the peace process?

I think it would build confidence, because immediately you’d have a peace dividend. People get their lands back. They have a safer environment. If it’s done together, it builds confidence. So it’s a double win. It is only a good thing. It’s called for in the NCA. They should mobilize it and it will strengthen the peace process. And it will show that there’s commitment to the peace process. Some people are questioning that [commitment] now. So that’s really important to do.

You said all the mines here, they haven’t [been] demined yet.

That’s correct. There’s been no formal mine clearance program. There have been some haphazard attempts at clearing mines that we have seen over the years, and usually what happens is an ethnic armed group or the Tatmadaw [military] said they mine clear and area, they go in, they have a casualty, and they stop.

[Do] you work closely with the EAOs and Tatmadaw and everyone else for the documentation?

We talk to everyone. And of course we encourage them in the direction of the 1997 Mine Ban Treaty or, in the cases of ethnic armed groups, who can’t sign an international convention, that they put their practices in alignment with those types of legal restrictions. So this is something that we always ask them to do. There are a variety of types of systems out there even [for] ethnic armed groups, and I know some of them are interested in moving forward. But that just doesn't seem to be happening.

Which groups are really interested in demining? 

Karenni and the Karen.

But the progress [does] not seem [to be] a lot.

That's correct. There’s no formal clearance program going on.

So from you experience, the information gathering has always been difficult. That we know. We can see from your presentation. So how does this change, from the military, to the quasi-military, to the current [administration]? Is it getting [harder] to gather information?

No. I would say that it’s better than it had been in the past, partly because there is now formal acknowledgements that there’s a problem. So it’s easier to have the conversation. When people are denying that there’s even a problem, it’s very difficult. So now there’s formally been an acknowledgement that there is indeed the problem. But the discussion is, what do you do next at this point?

We would like to see them [the government] start now, but we want to see that they do the mine clearance to international standards. If they do secretive mine clearance, that’s not going to help. Nobody’s going to know what’s safe and what’s not.

About civil society participation in mine clearance, we know that civil society groups in Myanmar [are] strong and willing to do that. But in terms of their awareness and technical advancement, what level are we at?

Before zero.

Where in Myanmar can demining begin?

Have you ever been on the road out to Hpa-an [in Karen State]? Ok, so the south side of that road, there’s a big concrete factory or whatever it is. There are mines in that area. The local people would love to have them removed. There’s been no conflict there for 20 years. That area could be cleared tomorrow. It wouldn’t make any different to anybody except the local community. They would love to have that land back. There are lots of places like that.

The post Myanmar Govt Could Start Demining Program ‘Tomorrow,’ Researcher Says appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

National ID Cards Wrongly Issued to 21 Rohingya: Minister

Posted: 19 Dec 2018 10:42 PM PST

NAYPYITAW—The Ministry of Labor, Immigration and Population will take action against its own officials who issued national registration cards (NRCs) to Rohingya, wrongly identifying them as ethnic Kaman of Rakhine State.

The ministry in September launched an investigation after the Kaman National Progressive Party (KNPP) and the Kaman community lodged a complaint with the President’s Office and State Counselor’s Office saying that NRC cards labeling the holders ethnic Kaman were issued to more than 3,000 residents in southern Rakhine State's Ramree Township who are actually Rohingya.

The investigation of a total of 3,306 resident card recipients in Ramree Township's Kyauk Ni Maw Village found that 21 of them are not ethnic Kaman, Union Minister for Labor, Immigration and Population U Thein Swe told reporters in Naypyitaw on Wednesday.

The ministry will assign a deputy director to carry out further investigations to check whether there was misconduct by officials in the process of issuing the IDs to the residents, said the minister.

"We will take action according to the code of conduct for civil servants. We are collecting definitive evidence," the Union minister told reporters at the Lower House of Parliament.

During the Lower House session on Wednesday, an Arakanese lawmaker U Aung Thaung Shwe urged Parliament to review the issue of the incorrectly designated NRCs.

"I am concerned that stability will be disrupted in a stable and peaceful region by the fault of the government. I am concerned that doubts will arise between different communities. This will undermine public trust in the government. That's why I ask this question," U Aung Thaung Shwe told the Parliament.

U Pe Than, central executive committee member of the Arakan National Party accused some Rohingya of attempting to gain citizenship by claiming to be Kaman.

"If they make themselves an ethnic group through this short-cut, there will be many Kaman in the future. Then, they may demand autonomy from the ethnic affairs minister. Their birth rate is really high," U Pe Than told reporters.

Myanmar's 2008 Constitution says an ethnic affairs minister must be appointed to represent a minority ethnic group should it be of a certain size in population, and that the ethnic group should rightfully be appointed an official autonomous area in Myanmar.

An official household registration document issued by the General Administration Department in 2013, seen by The Irrawaddy, says only 500 of Kyauk Ni Maw's 4,300 residents at the time were Kaman. Most of the township's Kaman have moved to Yangon in recent years.

The KNPP secretary U Tin Hlaing Win has said that the number of ethnic Kaman in Kyauk Ni Maw at present is just over 200.

"The Kyaw Ni Maw community only speaks Bengali. They live according to Bengali culture. They can't even speak Arakanese (Rakhine) fluently. The immigration records indicate that they are not Kaman and they don't speak Kaman so this will further complicate [the citizenship problem]," he told The Irrawaddy.

Myanmar government officials often use the term "Bengali" to refer to Rohingya, whom they do not consider an indigenous ethnic group, but rather as illegal immigrants from Bangladesh.

Union minister U Thein Swe told the Parliament that all the residents issued with NRCs are ethnic Kaman except 21 individuals. His ministry has records to prove that the rest are Kaman, and anyone can check them at his ministry with the approval of the Parliament Speaker, he added.

"We checked the documents at our headquarters, and found that some of their ancestors are Bengali or Indian," U Thein Swe told the reporters about the 21 individuals, adding that his ministry would issue ID cards designating them as Kaman Bengali or Indian Kaman instead.

"We worked correctly in line with the law and have fixed the mistake. We will take action against [officials] who took bribes. As we have done this in a transparent manner, I hope this will help remove the doubts of the ethnic people," he said.

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.

The post National ID Cards Wrongly Issued to 21 Rohingya: Minister appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Indian Journalist Detained For Calling State Leader a Modi Puppet

Posted: 19 Dec 2018 09:10 PM PST

GUWAHATI, India — An Indian television journalist has been detained for criticizing the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government on social media under laws intended to ensure national security, leading to protests in the capital, New Delhi.

Kishorechandra Wangkhem was working for a television channel in the northeastern state of Manipur when he uploaded several video clips last month calling the state’s BJP chief minister, N Biren Singh, a "puppet" of the central government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

“It is nothing but a blatant abuse of the law and powers of the government,” Wangkhem’s lawyer, N. Victor, told Reuters by telephone.

Victor said he planned to appeal against his client’s detention, with a hearing likely on Thursday.

India has one of the world’s largest and most diverse media industries, but its journalists often face harassment and violence. The country is ranked 138th in the World Press Freedom Index run by Reporters Sans Frontières — lower than Zimbabwe, Afghanistan and Myanmar — as a result of censorship laws and the murder of several journalists.

Wangkhem was initially arrested on separate charges of sedition on Nov. 21, before being released on Nov. 25, his wife, Ranjita Elangbam, told Reuters.

He was then detained on Nov. 27 under India’s National Security Act, which allows for detention of up to a year without trial, and has since been held at a jail in the state capital, Imphal. A board of judges set up under the Act approved his detention on Thursday.

In the posts, Wangkhem criticized the state government for commemorating a north Indian freedom fighter, the Rani of Jhansi, a symbol of resistance against British colonial rule in the mid-1800s, who he said had nothing to do with Manipur’s own struggle against the British.

“Don't betray, don't insult the freedom fighters of Manipur,” he said in one of the posts.

Manipur’s deputy home minister, Th Charanjeet Singh, said in a statement the state had considered the evidence and stood by its decision to detain Wangkhem.

The post Indian Journalist Detained For Calling State Leader a Modi Puppet appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Trudeau Says No ‘Stomping on Table’ Over Canadians Held in China

Posted: 19 Dec 2018 09:03 PM PST

OTTAWA, Canada—Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau urged caution on Wednesday and said he would not be “stomping on a table” after China detained a third Canadian amid a diplomatic dispute over the arrest of a Chinese technology executive.

The detentions of the Canadians—including one disclosed on Wednesday—followed the Dec. 1 arrest in Vancouver of Meng Wanzhou, chief financial officer of the Chinese telecommunications giant Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd. The arrest was made at the request of the United States, which is engaged in a trade war with China.

Trudeau has been under pressure to take a more robust stand on the detentions, but said at a news conference: “Political posturing or political statements aren't necessarily going to contribute. They might actually hinder the Canadians' release. We're going to take every situation carefully and seriously.

“Canadians understand that even though political posturing might be satisfactory in the short term to make yourself … feel like you’re stomping on a table and doing something significant, it may not directly contribute to the outcome we all want, which is for these Canadians to come home safely.”

Trudeau said he was asking China for more information on the detentions. No details have been given on the latest, but Trudeau said it was “a very separate case” from last week when former Canadian diplomat Michael Kovrig and businessman Michael Spavor were detained amid the diplomatic quarrel triggered by Meng’s arrest.

The National Post newspaper said the latest detainee was a Canadian woman who was teaching English in China and was held because of “visa complications.”

Huawei is the world's biggest supplier of telecoms network equipment and second-biggest smartphone seller. The United States has been looking since at least 2016 into whether Huawei shipped US-origin products to Iran and other countries in violation of US export and sanctions laws, Reuters reported in April.

The Canadian government has said several times it saw no explicit link between the arrest of Meng, the daughter of Huawei's founder, and the detentions of Kovrig and Spavor. But Beijing-based Western diplomats and former Canadian diplomats have said they believed the detentions were a “tit-for-tat” reprisal by China.

Bob Rae, Canada’s special envoy to Myanmar and a former Liberal Party leader, tweeted on Wednesday that “there are no coincidences” and said the detentions looked “too much like hostage taking.”

An official at the Chinese Embassy in Ottawa said the embassy had no information to release on the issue.

Meng is accused by the United States of misleading multinational banks about Iran-linked transactions, putting the banks at risk of violating US sanctions. She was released on bail in Vancouver, where she owns two homes, while waiting to learn if she will be extradited to the United States. She is due in court on Feb. 6.

US President Donald Trump told Reuters last week he might intervene in the case if it would serve national security interests or help close a trade deal with China.

The comments upset Canada, which warned the United States against politicizing extradition cases.

Trudeau said a decision on whether to use Huawei equipment in Canada’s 5G mobile network should be made by experts and not influenced by politics.

Buying time

A source with direct knowledge of the situation said senior officials at the Canadian Foreign Ministry had held many meetings about the detainees but that a formal task force had yet to be created.

“At this point, Canada is trying to buy time by stressing it has a rules-based order and an independent judiciary,” said the source, who declined to be identified because of the sensitivity of the situation.

A second source said Canada was concerned that the detainees were in the hands of the powerful security authorities.

“Even if there were voices of reason in the Chinese system saying: ‘Are you crazy? The Canadian government cannot order a judge to release Ms. Meng,’ the security voices are going to trump them,” the source said.

Philip Calvert, a former diplomat in China and now a research fellow at the University of Victoria, said at least the first two detentions were indicative of “the way China often engages internationally in situations like this.”

“The people making the decisions in Beijing really think when push comes to shove, they can put pressure on Canada to override the system,” he said.

Flavio Volpe, president of Canada’s Automotive Parts Manufacturers’ Association, said on Wednesday he had spoken with a few Chinese automakers that are now delaying a decision to set up production facilities in Canada. The automakers, which Volpe declined to name, had been weighing whether to sell cars built in Canada to the North American market.

The last time Canadians were detained in China for security reasons was in 2014 when Kevin and Julia Garratt, who ran a coffee shop in northeastern China, were held near the border with North Korea. She was released and left the country, while her husband was charged with spying and stealing state secrets before being released and deported two years later.

The arrest of the Garratts came shortly after a Chinese businessman was picked up on a US warrant in Canada.

The post Trudeau Says No ‘Stomping on Table’ Over Canadians Held in China appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Bipartisan Senators Call For US ‘Genocide’ Label of Myanmar Killings

Posted: 19 Dec 2018 08:45 PM PST

WASHINGTON — A bipartisan group of U.S. senators on Wednesday called on Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to designate the Myanmar military’s campaign against the Rohingya Muslim minority a genocide.

More than 700,000 Rohingya have fled Myanmar’s Rakhine State for neighboring Bangladesh since August last year, when attacks on security posts by Rohingya insurgents triggered a military crackdown that the United Nations, the United States, Britain and others described as ethnic cleansing.

Myanmar denies the accusations of ethnic cleansing.

“We are deeply concerned that despite clear evidence of genocide amassed by the Department’s own report … that the Department has not made a formal determination that the crime of genocide has been committed,” said a letter to Pompeo from the senators, a copy of which was seen by Reuters.

In September, leaders of the U.S. House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee called on the Trump administration to declare the military campaign a genocide, days after a State Department report stopped short of that description.

A declaration of genocide by the U.S. government could have legal implications of committing Washington to stronger punitive measures against Myanmar’s government, which is led by Nobel laureate Daw Aung San Suu Kyi. This has made some in the Trump administration wary of issuing such an assessment.

The areas where the Rohingya lived in Myanmar’s western Rakhine State before the army ousted them were being dramatically transformed, making their return increasingly unlikely, Reuters reported on Tuesday.

The senators asked Pompeo to provide a formal determination about the actions of Myanmar’s military.

“There is no question that the violence in northern Rakhine State — intended to terrorize, drive out, and exterminate Rakhine’s Rohingya population — meets the definition of genocide,” the letter said.

Led by Senator Bob Menendez, the top Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, the letter was also signed by Republican Senators Marco Rubio and Susan Collins and Democratic Senators Ed Markey, Tim Kaine, Ben Cardin and Jeff Merkley.

Failing to officially label the actions a genocide would “deny truth-telling and accountability” for the Rohingya and “… would leave an indelible stain on our nation’s legacy of promoting and advancing human rights, dignity, and accountability,” the letter said.

The United Nations Security Council is mulling a resolution that the council could consider further steps, including sanctions, if there was not enough progress made by Myanmar in returning refugees, diplomats said.

The post Bipartisan Senators Call For US ‘Genocide’ Label of Myanmar Killings appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Malaysia Targets Middlemen to End Debt Bondage of Migrant Workers

Posted: 19 Dec 2018 08:32 PM PST

KUALA LUMPUR — Under pressure to crack down on labor abuses, Malaysia is moving to eliminate middlemen who charge millions of foreign workers exorbitant recruitment fees, leaving them saddled with debt and vulnerable to exploitation.

From factories to construction sites and plantations, the Southeast Asian nation relies heavily on foreign workers for jobs usually shunned by locals.

Many arrive having borrowed huge sums to pay recruitment agents, meaning they have to work for years earning virtually nothing — a form of modern-day slavery known as debt bondage.

In a bid to address this, recently Malaysia struck a deal with Nepal to directly recruit workers there, without going through agents. The agreement came after Nepal temporarily suspended sending workers due to concerns about their treatment.

“This is aimed at curbing human trafficking and exploitation of workers,” Malaysian Human Resources Minister M. Kulasegaran told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.

“They must not be in a bondage situation in this country and caught in a vicious cycle of earning to pay back money.”

Under the agreement, which came into effect on Oct. 29, Nepali workers will be hired on a government-to-government basis. Malaysian employers will have to bear all the recruitment costs, including airfare, and visa and medical check-up fees.

Kulasegaran said Malaysia is negotiating similar agreements with Bangladesh, Indonesia and Vietnam.

Bangladesh, Indonesia and Nepal are the top providers of Malaysia’s nearly 2 million registered migrant workers, government figures show. There are millions more without work permits.

Overworked

The world’s largest glove maker, the Malaysian firm Top Glove, said this month it would cut ties with unethical recruitment agents, after some of its migrant workers were found to have clocked excessive overtime to clear debts.

Campaigners for years have asked Malaysia to eliminate the middlemen who charge migrants up to 20,000 Malaysian ringgit ($4,790), a debt they often toil for years to pay off.

Debt bondage is one of the most prevalent forms of modern slavery, which affects more than 40 million people worldwide, according to the United Nations’ International Labor Organization.

The U.S. State Department’s 2018 Trafficking in Persons report put Malaysia in its Tier 2 Watch List — the second-lowest ranking — for not meeting the minimum standards in efforts to eliminate human trafficking, including debt bondage.

Since a reformist government swept into power in May — ousting a long-ruling, corruption-mired coalition — it has suspended a key recruitment firm accused of exploiting workers, and initiated a review on migrant worker policies.

High recruitment fees mean that migrants often become trapped, working excessive hours in the hope of repaying their debt more quickly.

Indra, who left Nepal for Malaysia in 2011 to work on a plantation, said he had to fork out $1,100 to pay an agent.

He managed to repay the debt within six months by borrowing money from relatives. But he said others are not so lucky, and are instead forced to turn to moneylenders who charge interest of at least 3 percent monthly.

Migrant workers must work extra hours to service the debt as the interest builds up, but they struggle to pay it off entirely, he said.

“Many workers have to ask for overtime work, because they have no other options to survive if they don’t do that,” said Indra, who now works at a laundry firm in downtown Kuala Lumpur and declined to give his full name for fear of reprisals.

“Change the system”

Kulasegaran, the government minister, has urged major firms operating in Malaysia to take the lead in ensuring there are no labor abuses among migrant workers.

While Top Glove has pledged to cut ties with unscrupulous agents, the issue remains sensitive for many companies, including the electronics brands Samsung and Panasonic, which both declined to comment.

A spokeswoman for the palm oil giant Wilmar, a Singapore-listed firm with nearly 9,500 migrant laborers on its plantations in Malaysia, said the company has been paying recruitment costs for foreign workers since 2012.

Aegile Fernandez, from the Malaysian migrant rights group Tenaganita, welcomed the government’s plan to eliminate recruitment agents. But she warned that foreign workers continue to be exploited in other ways.

“No recruitment fees, no debt bondage — this is a good step that helps workers,” she said. “But what about when they arrive here for work?”

Fernandez urged the government to address other abuses by employers, such as underpaying wages, refusing to secure the proper documents for migrant workers and keeping their passports to prevent them from leaving.

“We need to change the system. We need to put in place a comprehensive labor migration system,” she said.

The post Malaysia Targets Middlemen to End Debt Bondage of Migrant Workers appeared first on The Irrawaddy.
Posted by at No comments:

Wednesday, December 19, 2018

The Irrawaddy Magazine

The Irrawaddy Magazine

Analysis: Deft Diplomacy Required as China, Japan Court Myanmar

Posted: 19 Dec 2018 04:39 AM PST

YANGON—While the West abandons Myanmar over the human rights crisis in Rakhine, China and Japan, understanding the value of the country's strategic location in Southeast Asia, have done the opposite, accelerating their collaboration in a bid to get the upper hand and further their own grand plans.

Beijing and Tokyo's strategies to connect continents and oceans with sea lanes and inland highways that will improve Myanmar's infrastructure have the potential to revive the country's slowing economy and position the country as a regional trade and supply hub.

Key Chinese figures have been traveling back and forth between the two countries this year to pursue Beijing's dream of implementing the China-Myanmar Economic Corridor (CMEC), part of its region-wide Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). A week after signing the Kyaukphyu SEZ, the vice chairman of China's top economic planning agency pushed Myanmar's State Counselor—who also serves as chair of Myanmar's BRI steering committee, to move forward with projects on the ground.

Myanmar's BRI steering committee comprises 25 members including 18 Union ministers (from ministries ranging from Home Affairs to Hotels and Tourism); five chief ministers (from Kachin, Mandalay, Rakhine, Yangon and Shan); the foreign affairs permanent secretary; and the chairman of the Naypyitaw Council.

Last month, Beijing secured a long-awaited agreement to build the Kyaukphyu deep-water port in northern Rakhine State, which already serves as the terminus for twin cross-border oil and gas pipelines between the two countries. Kyaukphyu is a crucial phase in the CMEC.

According to U Set Aung, deputy minister for planning and finance, the Kyaukphyu project will contribute to the sustainable development of both countries and will also be crucial to enhancing Myanmar's regional connectivity.

State Counselor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe attend a bilateral meeting at the State Guest House in Tokyo on Oct. 9, 2018. / Myanmar Foreign Ministry / Facebook

Japan has accelerated its plans for Myanmar's first special economic zone (SEZ) in Thilawa, which received more than $1.3 million in investment from 2014-18. It is also planning to upgrade roads and bridges through two states via the East-West Economic Corridor, one of the cross-border transport infrastructure projects that form part of Tokyo's Greater Mekong Region economic integration scheme.

After nearly six decades of isolation under military dictatorship, the government led by State Counselor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi has been implementing economic reforms to complete Myanmar's democratic transition. The government has drawn up the Myanmar Sustainable Development Plan (MSDP), the aim of which is to align the country's numerous policies and institutions to achieve genuine, inclusive and transformational economic growth. The MSDP also aims to improve the country's connectivity with neighboring countries and prioritizes economic corridors under both the GMS and BRI.

Under the BRI, Kyaukphyu is seen as a potential hub for China, giving it direct access to the Indian Ocean and allowing its oil imports to bypass the Strait of Malacca. It also serves Beijing's goal of developing China's land-locked Yunnan province.

At a recent Union-ministerial-level planning and finance meeting, it was disclosed that the CMEC will pass through Yangon, Mandalay, Shan, Irrawaddy and Rakhine (to the Kyaukphyu SEZ). China has proposed a total of 40 projects, but the two sides have only agreed to implement nine so far. However, the meeting didn't issue details of the projects, other than construction plans for three economic cooperation zones along the Myanmar-China border in Shan and Kachin states.

In Yangon, the multi-billion-dollar New Yangon City project is a part of the CMEC plan. A framework agreement was recently signed for the project, which is envisioned as a complex of new towns, industrial parks and urban development projects.

Myanmar has also signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with China to begin studying a proposed railway line from Muse, in northern Shan State, to Mandalay. The Muse-Mandalay line is part of Beijing's plan to build a parallel expressway and railway line from Ruili (across the border from Muse in China's Yunnan province) to Kyaukphyu, with a separate road running through northern Myanmar, the northeast states of India, and Bangladesh under the Bangladesh-China-India-Myanmar Economic Corridor (BCIM-EC).

Within the competition between China and Japan in the Mekong Region, "vertical" integration has been driven by China, while "horizontal" integration has been driven by Japan, as Myanmar exists in the heart of Asia with China to the north and east, India to the west and ASEAN to the east and south.

While Myanmar has come under severe pressure from the international community, Japan has shown its full support, helping to solve the Rakhine crisis and also showing strong disagreement with the EU's consideration to withdraw trade preferences, which would hurt ordinary people in the country. In recent months, Japan announced its Tokyo Strategy 2018, aimed at promoting quality infrastructure development in countries along the Mekong River to counterbalance China's growing influence in the region via the BRI.

A map showing the route of China's planned Bangladesh-China-India-Myanmar Economic Corridor. / 'China's Asian Dream' by Tom Miller

However, Japan's quality infrastructure projects in the Mekong Region date back to the early 2000s, initiated by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA). JICA has spent trillions of yen to improve economic integration in the Greater Mekong Region with a network of land and sea infrastructure routes between the countries. It emphasizes regional connectivity, which is focused on both industrial and physical infrastructure such as roads, telecommunications and power transmission lines.

"The rapid rise of China is one major factor in JICA's decision to increase infrastructure development assistance in the Mekong Region," said Tetsuji Iida, an adviser to the Planning and ASEAN Partnership Division of JICA's Southeast Asia and Pacific Department.

Since the 2010s, Myanmar has opened up to the world and also joined in the full scope of GMS cooperation that has opened a new front in China and Japan's rivalry in economic diplomacy.

Within Japan's grand plan, Myanmar sits on two major economic corridors: the East-West Economic Corridor connecting Vietnam's Dong Ha City with Yangon's Thilawa Special Economic Zone (SEZ) via Cambodia and Thailand, and the Southern Economic Corridor connecting central Vietnam, Cambodia and Thailand to the Dawei SEZ in southeastern Myanmar.

State Counselor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi has claimed that Myanmar will benefit from over 16 bilateral projects and 100 multilateral projects as part of the Mekong-Japan cooperation.

Japan's grand plan aims to improve connectivity between Bangkok and Yangon along the East West Corridor. The corridor will help businesses based in Bangkok extend their supply chains to Yangon (at the Thilawa SEZ).

A map detailing Japan's plans to establish economic corridors in the Mekong Region / Government of Japan

JICA is looking to build an inland highway as a transport shortcut from Thilawa to Bangkok. Transportation routes from Singapore currently runt to a combined length of 4,000 km and take 21 days to negotiate. On the East-West Corridor, the Myanmar section does not function as an international highway due to bottlenecks such as one-way traffic, a lack of paved roads, traffic difficulties in the rainy season and weight limitations.

JICA plans to shorten transport time by constructing three bridges in Karen and Mon states—the Gyaing-Kawkareik Bridge, the Gyaing-Zathabyin Bridge and the Atran Bridge—as a part of the East-West Economic Corridor. It expects to take one-and-a-half days to transport goods over 870 km from Thilawa to Bangkok. JICA expects loans for the project to amount to about 33.8 billion yen and that the project will be complete by 2023.

Japan pledged about 800 billion yen (US$7.03 billion) in 2016 in public and private support over five years, including for urban development in Yangon, and roughly 260 billion yen for the Mandalay-Yangon rail modernization project. JICA agreed to provide 6 billion yen in grants to develop a major port in Mandalay that will connect the two cities by river. The plan includes the construction of a new pier and cranes to handle freight.

According to Japan's Free and Open Indo-Pacific strategy, Tokyo also plans to construct the Hanthawaddy International Airport near Bago city around 80 kilometers north of Yangon. In May, Transport and Communications Minister U Thant Sin Maung said that although Japan wants to start the project as soon as possible, Myanmar is considering the investment amount. However, according to a Japanese newspaper report in June, both sides agreed to go ahead with the project, which has a total estimated cost of $1.5 billion and is slated to be completed in 2020.

On the Southern Economic Corridor, the Dawei Special Economic Zone (SEZ) is crucial for Japan's GMS connectivity, which will link central Vietnam, Cambodia and Thailand to southeastern Myanmar. The Dawei SEZ is an $8-billion project in Tanintharyi Region that includes a deep seaport, set to be Southeast Asia's largest industrial complex. In November, Myanmar and Thailand signed an agreement to upgrade a highway linking their border with the Dawei SEZ.

According to Dawei SEZ Management Committee Chairman U Tun Naing, JICA has been conducting a full phase master plan for the deep seaport project, including setting up an electrical grid, basic infrastructure and buildings. The primary stage of the project will jointly be implemented by Myanmar, Thailand and Japan, according to Ministry of Commerce.

Prof. Manabu Fujimura of the College of Economics at Tokyo's Aoyama Gakuin University, an expert on economic corridors in GMS, told The Irrawaddy that Myanmar's economic landscape is basically divided into two parts—Chinese economic influence in Myanmar will continue to extend from Muse (in Shan State on Myanmar's border with China's Yunnan province) to Mandalay and "upper Myanmar", while Japanese and Thai economic influence would extend from Myawaddy (in Kayin State, on the border with Thailand's Tak province) to Yangon and "lower Myanmar."

A map showing expected industrial connectivity in the Mekong Region. / JICA

Naypyitaw believes foreign direct investment (FDI) offers a shortcut by which Myanmar can catch up to its neighbors and the rest of the global economy, but experts suggest the country needs to make efforts to improve the business environment by engaging in continuous reform—while also making an effort to balance two giants while not pitting one power directly against the other.

Experts said the evidence showed that Japan wants to counter China's economic and political forays into Myanmar, and that Japan's role has become increasingly important as the West turns its back on Myanmar due to the crisis in Rakhine State and human-rights abuses in the country.

Longtime Myanmar observer Bertil Lintner told The Irrawaddy, "Myanmar would need some very skilled diplomats to deal with this issue, because the country is rapidly becoming a pawn in a geopolitical game that goes far beyond ports and economic zones. It's about power games in the region where countries such as Japan and India are trying their utmost to contain China's growing influence in Myanmar."

Accepting aid from Japan is less risky than taking Chinese assistance, which usually comes in the form of loans and credits, which can turn into what's known as a "debt trap". If the loans can't be repaid, China seizes the asset, as it has done in Hambantota in Sri Lanka. Japanese aid comes with fewer strings attached. But given the rivalry between Japan and China, Myanmar should expect a lot of Chinese pressure (political, economic, support for armed groups) if it accepts aid and assistance from Japan, Lintner added.

The post Analysis: Deft Diplomacy Required as China, Japan Court Myanmar appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Doctor Says Facebook Comedian Died From Blows to Head

Posted: 19 Dec 2018 04:03 AM PST

YANGON — A forensic doctor testified in the Aung Yell Htwe murder trial on Tuesday that the popular Facebook comedian died from severe head trauma, according to local media.

Taking questions from the  prosecution, the doctor, from Yangon General Hospital, told the Yangon Eastern District Court that the trauma included fracturing and hemorrhaging of the meninges resulting from blows with a hard and round object.

He was the last of the prosecution’s 22 witnesses.

The court will decide whether to charge the three murder suspects at its next hearing.

Aung Yell Htwe, 24, was severely beaten by a group of men at a New Year’s Eve party on Dec. 31 and died in hospital hours later after being operated on.

The Eastern District Court had dropped the case after questioning only 14 witnesses and before hearing from either the doctor or police investigator or reviewing the CCTV records. Yangon’s attorney general at the time, U Han Htoo, who approved the dismissal, said there was no solid evidence against the suspects.

U Han Htoo has since been dismissed and is on trial with five other court officials for allegedly taking bribes from a relative of one of the three suspects to drop the case.

Following a public outcry and pressure from the President’s Office, the Eastern District Court resumed the trial in October.

The post Doctor Says Facebook Comedian Died From Blows to Head appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Lawmakers Fret Over Chinese Loans

Posted: 19 Dec 2018 02:17 AM PST

NAYPYITAW — Union Parliament lawmakers on Tuesday complained that they could see no signs of progress on the projects paid for with the $700 million in foreign loans the government paid back over the past year.

"Of the annual $700 million repayment, we had to pay about $550 million in principal and interest to China alone — about 80 percent. But taking a look at the projects being implemented with the loans, there is nothing noticeable," Lower House lawmaker Daw Khin San Hlaing said during discussion of a new report on the 2017-18 fiscal year debt.

She said two steel mills being run by the Ministry of Industry in Mandalay and Bago regions, with loans from the China Development Bank and the Export-Import Bank of China, were only adding to Myanmar’s debt burden, as were loans from the same banks being passed on to local farmers to set up cooperatives.

The previous Parliament approved $300 million in loans from the Export-Import Bank of China at 4.5 percent interest to fund the cooperatives.

Daw Khin San Hlaing, who opposed the loans, has urged the government to negotiate with Beijing to convince it to either cancel the debt or to reduce the interest rate and extend the repayment period.

According to the latest debt report, Myanmar had racked up some $4 billion in loans by 1988 and another $2.7 billion after that up to 2011, 97 percent of it from China. It says the government amassed another $3.1 billion in loans between 2011 and 2016 and $91 million more since then.

Myanmar currently owes a total $10 billion to international lenders, $4 billion of it to China.

"According to the report, it is clear in which period the burden was heaviest," said Upper House lawmaker U Hla Hsan.

Lower House lawmaker Daw Thet Thet Khaing called on the government to adopt a clear borrowing policy.

"As most of the loans are long-term, the current government is enticed to take them because only its successors will have to pay the loans back," she said.

Lawmakers also noted with concern that the kyat’s ongoing depreciation against the US dollar will make it increasingly costly for Myanmar to finance its long-term loans.

"As a result, the government might have to either increase taxes or reduce its budget," Daw Thet Thet Khaing said.

Translated from Burmese by Thet Ko Ko.

The post Lawmakers Fret Over Chinese Loans appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Facebook Shuts Hundreds More Pages Linked to Myanmar Military

Posted: 19 Dec 2018 01:02 AM PST

YANGON—As part of its ongoing effort to remove hate speech from its platform, Facebook on Tuesday said it had purged nearly 600 hundred additional accounts, pages and groups with links to the Myanmar military for engaging in "coordinated inauthentic behavior". Critics have accused Facebook of contributing to outbreaks of deadly violence in Myanmar by allowing the spread of inflammatory rhetoric targeting ethnic communities.

This is the third time Facebook has targeted activity related to the Myanmar military (or Tatmadaw). In August, following the release of a UN Fact-Finding Mission report that found evidence of genocide in Rakhine State, the company removed 18 Facebook accounts, one Instagram account and 52 Facebook pages, including those of armed forces commander-in-chief Senior General Min Aung Hlaing and the military's Myawaddy television network.

More than 700,000 Rohingya have fled Myanmar for neighboring Bangladesh since last August as a result of the Tatmadaw's clearance operations, which followed attacks by the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA) on military and security outposts in northern Rakhine State.

Facebook is the most popular social media platform in Myanmar with 18 million local users. Since its arrival in the country, the volume of hate speech against minority groups—particularly the Rohingya in Rakhine State—has exploded.

Facebook said the move was the result of its ongoing investigation into this type of behavior in Myanmar. The company's latest action removed 425 Facebook Pages, 17 Facebook Groups, 135 Facebook accounts and 15 Instagram accounts it said were posing as independent news, entertainment, beauty and lifestyle pages.

"This kind of behavior is not allowed on Facebook under our misrepresentation policy because we don't want people or organizations creating networks of accounts to mislead others about who they are, or what they're doing," Facebook said.

It said the decision to remove pages was based on the behavior of the actors rather than on the type of content they were posting.

It had discovered that the pages, accounts and groups were linked to the military and to pages or persons previously removed from Facebook.

Facebook said one of the closed pages had 2.5 million followers, while one of the closed Facebook groups had 6,400 followers and one of the Instagram accounts had 1,300 followers.

Some of the most-followed of the banned Facebook Pages were "Down for Anything," "Let's Laugh Casually", "We Love Myanmar Knowledge" and "All About Myanmar," according to Facebook Newsroom.

"Our investigations in Myanmar are ongoing and we will continue to provide updates on abuse we find and remove," Facebook said.

In October, the company removed 13 Pages and 10 accounts associated with violence against Rohingya Muslims for engaging in "coordinated inauthentic behavior". Among the removed items was a page containing collections of soldiers' photos.

The post Facebook Shuts Hundreds More Pages Linked to Myanmar Military appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Daw Aung San Suu Kyi’s Brother Refuses to Concede Legal Fight over Inheritance

Posted: 18 Dec 2018 11:52 PM PST

NAYPYITAW—U Aung San Oo, the elder brother of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, said that the rejection of his appeal against a court decision involving the residence of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi at No. 54 University Avenue, is unfair.

"I will lodge an appeal to Chief Justice U Tun Tun Oo. I don't know whether he will accept it or not, but he might not. Three judges under him seemed to be afraid to handle the case. I think they are worried about the case as it involves the State Counselor," U Aung San Oo told the Irrawaddy.

The special appeal was filed by U Aung San Oo himself to the Union Supreme Court on Oct. 17 this year and rejected by the court on Dec. 12.

A spokesperson for the public relations branch of the Union Supreme Court said, "The appeal lodged by U Aung San Oo was rejected by the court on December 12."

Official documents of the court and other pieces of evidence will be sought in order to lodge an appeal to the chief justice as soon as possible.

U Aung San Oo said that he would make it clear in his appeal that the sharing of the inheritance with defendant U Khin Maung Aye, who he believes was not entitled to it, was never mentioned in the case.

"His name was never mentioned when Daw Aung San Suu Kyi lodged an appeal three times. According to the law, he is not eligible to be a defendant when the inheritance is shared under a commissioner. But Daw Aung San Suu Kyi said that he was eligible. It was her influence above the law. She used it and said that the inheritance must also be shared with U Khin Maung Aye so I lost that case at the court," he added.

The case involving the State Counselor's residence was opened in 2011 and a final verdict was given by Yangon West District Court in November 2016.

The court decided that a two-story house and half of the two-acre plot owned by Daw Khin Kyi, their mother, would be given to Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, while a one-story house plus the other half of the plot would be given to her brother, U Aung San Oo. However, he was not satisfied with the court's decision and demanded that the residence be auctioned off and the proceeds of the sale shared equally between them.

During her ill health in 1988, Daw Khin Kyi told her son and daughter, who were then living abroad, to come back to Myanmar. Daw Aung San Suu Kyi returned to Yangon to nurse her sick mother but U Aung San Oo failed to follow his mother's request. Before her death, Daw Khin Kyi decided to give her nephew U Khin Maung Aye a plot in the compound measuring 21.3 by 30.5 meters (70 by 100 feet) as inheritance.

U Khin Maung Aye died in August this year.

U Aung San Oo said, "They said my demands were too much and they could not be negotiated. If I am demanding too much, they can auction off the plot and they will know whether I am demanding too much or not. Why can't they auction it off?"

However, he did not elaborate on exactly how much money he was demanding.

U Myo Nyunt, spokesperson for the National League for Democracy, said, "It is not true. The court will decide independently. We will not intervene in the case. We will not even make a remark as a political party. Daw Aung San Suu Kyi will not make a remark as an individual. The court has the right to decide on the case independently."

The house and plot at No. 54 University Avenue was given to Daw Khin Kyi by former prime minister U Nu. U Nu invited Daw Khin Kyi to move to the residence on University Avenue from their residence at Tower Lane (now General Aung San Museum), in order to help the family to overcome their grief after one of the sons drowned there.

The post Daw Aung San Suu Kyi's Brother Refuses to Concede Legal Fight over Inheritance appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Three Fined for Demanding Release of Jailed Kachin Antiwar Activists

Posted: 18 Dec 2018 11:30 PM PST

YANGON—A court in Myitkyina, Kachin State has fined three activists who led a rally calling for the release of three imprisoned anti-war protesters.

On Dec. 11, Sut Seng Htoi, Brang Mai and Seng Hkum Awng led a demonstration against the imprisonment of three activists who were convicted earlier this month of defaming the Army after leading an antiwar protest in April. Around 5,000 local residents took part in the Dec. 11 demonstration. Myitkyina Township police charged the three under Article 19 of the Peaceful Assembly and Procession Law.

"Sut Seng Htoi was fined 100,000 kyats, and the other two were fined 300,000 kyats each," Maran Seng Htwal, a member of the protest's organizing committee, told The Irrawaddy.

According to township police, demonstrators used the Kachin State flag without permission and held up placards reading "Failed democracy?" and "Failed law", as well as pictures of the three imprisoned anti-war demonstrators.

They were protesting the Dec. 7 sentencing by Myitkyina Township Court of Lum Zawng, Nang Pu and Zau Jat to six months in prison and fines of 500,000 kyats each for defaming the Myanmar Army during the anti-war protests in April. The plaintiff in that case, a military officer of the Myanmar Army's Northern Command, took the three to court over the protests, which called for the rescue of 2,000 locals displaced and trapped by fighting between the Myanmar Army and the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) near the village of Awng Lawt in Tanai Township.

Activists said they would continue their campaign, including lodging an appeal for the release of the anti-war demonstrators.

"We will also seek their unconditional release [through activities] outside the court," Maran Seng Htwal said.

"Demonstrations calling for the rescue of innocent civilians are not defamatory. They were simply calling on the parties involved to rescue innocent civilians," Maran Seng Htwal, who is also the manager of the Yangon branch of the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners told The Irrawaddy.

June 9 marked the seventh anniversary of renewed clashes between the Myanmar Army, or Tatmadaw, and the KIA after a 17-year truce between the Tatmadaw and the KIA collapsed in 2011. More than 100,000 locals have been forced from their homes into camps across Kachin State since then.

The post Three Fined for Demanding Release of Jailed Kachin Antiwar Activists appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Violence Against Journalists Hits Unprecedented Levels: RSF

Posted: 18 Dec 2018 09:03 PM PST

PARIS — The murder of Saudi columnist Jamal Khashoggi in a year when more than half of all journalists killed were targeted deliberately reflects a hatred of the media in many areas of society, Reporters Without Borders (RSF) said on Tuesday.

At least 63 professional journalists around the world were killed doing their jobs in 2018, RSF said, a 15 percent increase on last year. The number of fatalities rises to 80 when including all media workers and citizen journalists.

“The hatred of journalists that is voiced … by unscrupulous politicians, religious leaders and businessmen has tragic consequences on the ground, and has been reflected in this disturbing increase in violations against journalists,” RSF Secretary-General Christophe Deloire said in a statement.

Khashoggi, a royal insider who became a critic of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and began writing for the Washington Post after moving to the United States last year, was killed inside the Saudi consulate in Istanbul in October.

Khashoggi’s death sparked global outrage. Saudi officials have rejected accusations that the crown prince ordered his death.

The Paris-based body said that the three most dangerous countries for journalists to work in were Afghanistan, Syria and Mexico.

Meanwhile, the shooting of five employees of the Capital Gazette newspaper propelled the United States into the ranks of the most dangerous countries.

The media freedom organization said 348 journalists are being detained worldwide, compared with 326 at this time in 2017. China, Turkey, Iran, Saudi Arabia and Egypt hold more than half the world’s imprisoned journalists.

The post Violence Against Journalists Hits Unprecedented Levels: RSF appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Sri Lanka Lawmakers Defect From President to Prime Minister After Dispute

Posted: 18 Dec 2018 08:48 PM PST

COLOMBO — Three lawmakers from Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena’s party defected to the government of Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe on Tuesday after a dispute between the two leaders.

The island nation was plunged into crisis in October after Sirisena replaced Wickremesinghe with ex-president Mahinda Rajapaksa without the backing of Parliament, leading to protests and downgrades of Sri Lanka’s debt.

Rajapaksa, best known for crushing a long-running insurgency in the north of the country and drawing Sri Lanka closer to China, failed to win a parliamentary majority and resigned on Saturday as a government shutdown loomed.

Wickremesinghe was then sworn in as prime minister for the fifth time in a remarkable comeback.

“We joined the government… as the party and the country have been dragged into a difficult position," Vijith Wijayamuni Soysa, one of the three lawmakers, told Parliament.

With the latest defections, Wickremesinghe has the backing of 120 legislators in the 225-member Parliament.

On Thursday Sri Lanka’s Supreme Court ruled that Sirisena’s decision to dissolve parliament before the end of its term was unconstitutional, a judgment that eventually led to the return of Wickremesinghe as prime minister.

Members of his ruling United National Party and at least six opposition lawmakers want to oust Sirisena through an impeachment, though that needs a two-thirds majority in Parliament.

The post Sri Lanka Lawmakers Defect From President to Prime Minister After Dispute appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Bangladesh Ruling Party Promises Growth in Bid For Third Term

Posted: 18 Dec 2018 08:34 PM PST

DHAKA — Bangladesh's ruling Awami League unveiled its election manifesto on Tuesday, making sweeping promises to eradicate poverty and boost the economy as it seeks to retain power for a third straight term.

The 88-page manifesto released by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina promised to increase the country's gross domestic product to 9 percent from the 7.8 percent the government reported for the 2017-18 fiscal year, partly driven by a more competitive presence in international markets.

The Awami League is up against the National Unity Front, a coalition of smaller parties that have formed what they say is a movement to restore democracy in Bangladesh.

Ahead of elections due on Dec. 30, violent clashes have broken out across Bangladesh since campaigning began last week, and candidates of the main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), which is part of the coalition, have been attacked. The Awami League has denied involvement.

The coalition and human rights groups have criticized Hasina's government for being increasingly authoritarian and imposing curbs on free speech and the media.

Hasina's rule is credited for an improved economy, over 80 percent of which depends on a robust garments export sector. But her government has been criticized for cracking down on dissent, going after journalists by introducing tough new laws, and locking up opposition workers.

The Awami League manifesto touted the country’s improving international image under Hasina, who has been lauded for providing refuge for hundreds of thousands of Rohingya Muslims who have fled violence and persecution in Myanmar.

The opposition alliance’s manifesto released on Monday took aim at the rights abuses Hasina's government has been accused of, saying it would allow freedom of expression and would punish police officials involved in "politically motivated" arrests.

The BNP also released its manifesto on Tuesday, saying it would modernize education for madrassas, or Islamic religious schools, and offer "honorable allowances" to mosque leaders.

Hasina and BNP leader Khaleda Zia share a bitter rivalry and Hasina has criticized the BNP for its links to the Jamaat-e-Islami, a group that opposed Bangladesh's independence from Pakistan. Khaleda is in jail on corruption charges she says were aimed at keeping her away from politics.

Jamaat's registration as a political party has been revoked under Hasina's rule but at least 22 of its members are contesting the elections under the BNP banner.

The post Bangladesh Ruling Party Promises Growth in Bid For Third Term appeared first on The Irrawaddy.
Posted by at No comments:

Tuesday, December 18, 2018

The Irrawaddy Magazine

The Irrawaddy Magazine

Myanmar Couple, Children Murdered in Thailand

Posted: 18 Dec 2018 05:53 AM PST

YANGON — A Myanmar couple and their children, including a four-month-old baby, were murdered in the Thai border town of Mae Sot on Sunday, according to a community volunteer.

U Zayar, vice chairman of the People’s Volunteer Association, said he visited the family’s hut — where the attack occurred — with local police. He said the victims included the baby; husband, 47; wife, 45; and their other child, who was 4.

"All four were bludgeoned to death. The four-month-old was beaten in the face and died near its mother. The others were beaten on the head. The four-year-old was beaten and thrown into a lake in front of the hut," he said.

Two bloodstained iron rods and a bloody piece of wood found near their bodies were collected as evidence by the police, he added.

U Zayar said the couple made a living cutting sugar cane or tending cattle in the area, and that the wife’s three other children from a previous marriage were away from home when the attack occurred.

He said the woman’s 19-year-old daughter told police that her parents had a quarrel with a neighbor couple and their friend over a cow the night of the attack. He said the three were seen leaving the area that night and that police were searching for them as suspects.

"The three suspects, including a couple living in the same compound and a male friend of theirs, ran away the same night. They had a quarrel with the victims earlier. The police suspect that they killed the victims and are looking for them," U Zayar said.

A police official in Karen State’s Myawaddy Township, across the border from Mae Sot, said Myanmar police would cooperate with their Thai counterparts to investigate the case.

Translated from Burmese by Myint Win Thein.

The post Myanmar Couple, Children Murdered in Thailand appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Army’s Willingness to Sit Down with FPNCC Members Shows China’s Growing Clout

Posted: 18 Dec 2018 05:14 AM PST

China has stepped up its role in the peace process in Myanmar, especially as it relates to conflicts along the China-Myanmar border in northern Shan State. Beijing understands that stability and peace on the border will benefit both countries.

In particular, China is playing an important role as peace broker between the Myanmar Army and members of the Federal Political Negotiation and Consultative Committee (FPNCC). Sun Guoxiang, special envoy for Asian affairs at China's Foreign Ministry, is Beijing's go-between tasked with convincing the Myanmar Army (or Tatmadaw) to sit down with the FPNCC in peace negotiations.

On several occasions Sun has traveled to Naypyitaw to meet with military leaders, then traveled to the border to relay their messages to FPNCC members. Previously, Sun had found it difficult to convince the Myanmar Army to enter peace negotiations with the FPNCC. Until recently, the Tatmadaw refused to accept the participation of the Arakan Army (AA), Ta'ang National Liberation Army (TNLA) and Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA) in peace negotiations.

Given the difficulty of convincing Myanmar military commander-in-chief Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, Sun sometimes resorted to telling FPNCC members at meetings how nicely dressed the senior general's wife was dressed, and describing her traditional attire. The FPNCC leaders wanted to hear a message regarding peace negotiations, but instead had to listen to talk of Sen-Gen Min Aung Hlaing's wife.

And while some FPNCC leaders may have found the discussion of Sen-Gen Min Aung Hlaing's wife meaningless, they themselves had nothing to say to Sun. At that time, the FPNCC leaders believed that the peace mission from China was a failure.

According to statements issued last week, however, the Myanmar Peace Commission has accepted the participation of the AA, TNLA and MNDAA in peace negotiations. The FPNCC members and China both feel that some progress has been made in peace negotiations, with this change of heart by the Myanmar Army.

If China is able to broker a peace agreement between the Myanmar Army and the ethnic armed organizations (EAOs), it could bring the armed conflicts in northern Shan State and Arakan State to an end.

The Chinese Embassy in Yangon even issued a statement last week welcoming both the MPC's statement and a joint statement from the AA, TNLA and MNDAA agreeing to work toward further peace negotiations.

China places an emphasis on peace negotiations and would continue to provide the necessary support for the process, the embassy statement said.

China put a lot of pressure on the Myanmar Army to accept the participation of the three groups, according to some FPNCC leaders. Myanmar and China have agreed to build a railway from Muse in northern Shan to Mandalay. According to the FNPCC members, China is using such projects as economic leverage over Myanmar's military leadership.

The railway project between the two countries forms part of a proposed economic corridor that is itself part of Beijing's huge regional infrastructure development strategy known as the Belt and Road Initiative, Chinese Ambassador Hong Liang said at the October signing of a memorandum of understanding to build the project.

During his speech, the ambassador made a point of saying that the project will support economic development, peace and stability in northern Shan State.

China the priority for Myanmar military

The Myanmar government and military's view of China has not always been so rosy. The previous government of former President U Thein Sein courted favor from Western countries to support the peace process and economic development. At that time, China was a lesser priority for Naypyitaw.

But as Western countries have put increasing pressure and sanctions on the Myanmar Army and government over the crisis in Rakhine State and rights abuses against the Rohingya, Naypyitaw has increasingly turned to China. Given the large portion of Myanmar's economy that is controlled by the Tatmadaw, and China's increasing role in development projects, Beijing will find many ways to pressure the Myanmar Army to build peace.

The post Army's Willingness to Sit Down with FPNCC Members Shows China's Growing Clout appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Peace Process Will Remain in Deadlock if Single Army Issue Cannot Be Resolved

Posted: 18 Dec 2018 05:04 AM PST

YANGON—The issue of establishing a single army will remain an obstacle to the ongoing peace process as long as the stakeholders of the Tatmadaw (Myanmar Army) and the ethnic armed organizations (EAOs) both hold their positions on the current conditions of the agreement, according to peace observers and stakeholders.

"The ideology of the single army is blurred, thus the conditions were raised when we talked about the issues," said Col. Khun Okkar, patron of the Pa-O Nationalities Liberation Organization during his remarks at the book launch of "Non-secession, Single Army and Self-Determination" published by the Myanmar Institute for Peace and Security (MIPS).

He said on Monday that the EAOs would raise questions about conditions of the would-be single army, including on its structure, responsibilities and so on, before fully agreeing on the issue. The Tatmadaw has urged them to accept the basic principles without knowing the full extent of the conditions of the proposed single army.

The issue of forming a single army has fallen behind other discussions because issues surrounding the security sector have not been able to move beyond the initial stages. Along with it, a common understanding of non-secession and self-determination—labeled as part of the package deal—has not been reached and thus the discussions have been stalled for nearly two years.

Although the National League for Democracy (NLD) government does not strongly object to the package deal—which includes conditions of non-secession, forming a single army and self-determination—no common understanding of the single army issue has yet been reached between the Tatmadaw and EAOs.

Khun Okkar said the Tatmadaw's immovable position on these three issues has delayed the peace process, and that solutions should be widely discussed between the negotiators.

In the MIPS publication, solutions and suggestions for overcoming the deadlock on the package deal were documented. They felt the need to focus on those issues since no agreement was reached at the third session of the 21st Panglong Peace Conference [in July], according to Salai Ngun Gung Lian, a researcher at the MIPS.

The book included examples from a number of different democratic states and their constitutional clauses on the issues of secession, single armed forces and self-determination.

The publication also highlighted three important suggestions on the single army issue: for the stakeholders to agree to a single army which protects the Union's borders and to form an army and state armed police force which would take responsibility for law and order in the states and regions close to the borders. It suggested that the army and the state armed police force be under the command of the Tatmadaw's commander-in-chief, but for the state armed police force to be a separate institution to the current Myanmar police force.

The suggestion caused confusion for observers who see the border guard forces and militia already in operation at Myanmar's borders to be similar to his suggested groups.

The Tatmadaw's forcing of the EAOs to form border guard forces back in 2009 resulted in renewed fighting, particularly between the Tatmadaw and the Kachin Independence Army.

However, Salai Ngan Cung Lian told The Irrawaddy on Monday that the suggestions in the publication are not about border guard forces. He said more publications they expect to produce in the next six months will have further details on the analysis of the single army issue, as well as other suggestions.

The post Peace Process Will Remain in Deadlock if Single Army Issue Cannot Be Resolved appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Parliament Approves $94M Loan From Korea For Govt Data Center

Posted: 18 Dec 2018 03:59 AM PST

YANGON — Myanmar's Union Parliament has approved a $93.8-million loan from the Export-Import Bank of Korea to help pay for the construction of a centralized e-government data center.

The Ministry of Transportation and Communication proposed the loan earlier this month. On Tuesday, lawmakers overwhelmingly approved it by a vote of 453 to nine.

The three-year project is slated to start in January under the direction of the Department of Information Technology and Cyber Security. At a total cost of $104.3 million, it calls for an e-Government Integrated Data Center in Naypyitaw and a backup center in Thanlyin Township near Yangon.

Myanmar will cover what the Korean loan does not from the national budget.

Once the project is completed, people will receive better and around-the-clock e-government services covering everything from online payments to visa applications, according to Transportation and Communication Minister U Thant Sin Maung.

Last week, four lawmakers debated the proposed project in Parliament and raised questions about cyber security.

On Tuesday, the minister discussed some of the security measures that would be taken at both centers. He added that a draft cyber law addressing social media, personal data, child protection and other issues would be ready for their consideration in 30 weeks.

The post Parliament Approves $94M Loan From Korea For Govt Data Center appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Armed Group, Locals Report Myanmar Air Force Attack in Rakhine

Posted: 18 Dec 2018 03:11 AM PST

SITTWE, Rakhine State — The Myanmar military’s air force attacked positions held by the Arakan Army in northern Rakhine State’s Kyauktaw Township on Tuesday, according to locals and the armed group.

U Maung Ni, a resident of the township’s Thalu Chaung village tract, said two military jet fighters started strafing a mountain range near his home with gunfire at about 8 a.m.

He said the attack has sent residents in at least six villages in the area fleeing their homes in fear.

Fighting between the military and the Arakan Army picked up in late November, with almost daily clashes in Rakhine State’s Kyauktaw, Ponnagyun, Rathedaung and Buthidaung townships.

On its Facebook page on Tuesday, the Arakan Army said the military started shelling its positions at about 10 a.m. and sent in two fighter gets for air support three hours later.

On Sunday, three soldiers were killed and more than 10 wounded in a rocket-propelled-grenade attack on a Myanmar military truck in Rathedaung. No one claimed responsibility for the attack, though the site was near territory contested by the Arakan Army.

After a meeting with the government’s Peace Commission on Wednesday, the Arakan Army, Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army and Ta’ang National Liberation Army offered to stop fighting with the military in return for the right to join the country’s formal peace talks.

Translated from Burmese by Nyein Nyein.

The post Armed Group, Locals Report Myanmar Air Force Attack in Rakhine appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

A Special Christmas at Sedona

Posted: 18 Dec 2018 02:46 AM PST

YANGON—Sedona Hotel Yangon is one of a number of locations offering special festive dining and events for the upcoming Christmas and New Year festive period. Its renowned restaurants D'Cuisine, Du Fu and Orzo are offering a Merry Menu for families, friends and colleagues to get together and enjoy their tantalizing dishes for the month of December.

D'Cuisine will be serving its wide-ranging selection of well-known international dishes with a suitable festive theme. Highlights of the menu include grilled prawn, grilled mutton, crab soup and, of course, whole roasted turkey.

The buffet counters at D’Cuisine are decorated to bring Christmas cheer to all diners. / Aung Kyaw Htet / The Irrawaddy

Their popular buffet, priced at $33 per person on weekdays and $36 at weekends, features special Christmas dishes. A whole buffet counter is dedicated to Christmas-style dishes and diners have already been queueing for the roast turkey—including me.

The roasted turkey, served by the slice by a dedicated chef, should be paired with traditional accompaniments like roast potatoes and Brussels sprouts. The turkey meat is very tender and the taste is perfect, even without seasoning or sauces. With Christmas around the corner, it provides the perfect Christmas feeling.

D’Cuisine is decorated with plenty of festive cheer for the holiday. / Aung Kyaw Htet / The Irrawaddy

The other international dishes available at the buffet are as delicious as ever and have earned a well-deserved reputation year-round as one of Yangon's famous hotel buffets. All the ingredients are fresh and the food tastes great but there are more meat choices than vegetables, so vegetarians watch out!

The grilled mutton and beef servings are also favorites of mine. They are cooked to the customer's requested specification by the masterful grilling chefs, giving them a hot and freshly-cooked flavor.

The grill counter and chef. / Aung Kyaw Htet / The Irrawaddy

This buffet allows you to truly indulge as it comes with a free-flow of wine, beer, and soft drinks included in the price. The high quality of foods they serve means the price is totally worth it for spending the special Christmas moment with a loved one or family.

As they do every year, Sedona Hotel will celebrate the ringing in of the new year with a lavish New Year's Eve party which this year, titled Be Dazzled, is expected to be the biggest in town.

Diners enjoy selecting their lunch buffet at D’Cuisine. / Aung Kyaw Htet / The Irrawaddy

The party will showcase international entertainment with tango, jazz, Broadway and Hollywood performances as well as some of the most famous local performers headlined by Ni Ni Khin Zaw and the music band Oxygen, who will welcome in 2019 with the guests.

"Sedona Hotel Yangon will provide guests with great entertainment featuring international and local artists, and DJs to be held at the spacious and luxurious poolside area of the hotel," said Mr. Mok Kok Meng, general manager of Sedona Hotel Yangon.

A diner choosing from different international options and the special Christmas menu at D’Cuisine. / Aung Kyaw Htet / The Irrawaddy

The special dinner buffet set for the Be-Dazzled party will include French oysters, lobsters, Alaska crab legs, abalone, suckling pig and roasted whole lamb leg.

As well as the special food options, the party will have a lucky draw and other exciting surprises. The hotel's website has more information on tickets and other details.

The post A Special Christmas at Sedona appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

China Hopes For ‘Orderly’ Brexit, Calls For More Open EU Economy

Posted: 17 Dec 2018 08:34 PM PST

BEIJING — China hopes Britain’s exit from the European Union can happen in an orderly way and that the bloc will reduce hurdles to Chinese investment and keep its markets open, China’s Foreign Ministry said on Tuesday.

China, the world’s second-largest economy, has watched Brexit nervously, worried not only about potential market turmoil from a disorderly departure but about losing Britain’s supportive voice for free trade within the EU.

“China hopes to see Brexit proceed in an orderly fashion and stands ready to advance China-EU and China-UK relations in parallel,” the ministry said in a lengthy policy document on EU ties.

The EU and China are often at loggerheads over trade and other issues, with the EU sharing many of the same concerns as the United States about market access, trade imbalances and intellectual property rights protection.

The bloc is China’s largest trading partner while China is its biggest trading partner after the United States.

The EU has been pressing for better access to the Chinese market for its companies, while China has complained about what it sees as unfair restrictions on Chinese investments in the EU.

Despite events such as Brexit, China said the EU has remained committed to integration, pressed on with reforms and played a major role in regional and international affairs.

Beijing has promised to look at the possibility of reaching a “top notch” free trade deal with Britain post-Brexit.
The Brexit process is currently deadlocked with just over 100 days until Britain is due to leave the EU.
On trade, China’s white paper said the EU should ease high-tech export controls on China and facilitate mutual investment.

The government will significantly ease market access and endeavor to foster a “stable, fair, transparent, law-based and predictable business environment that protects the legitimate rights and interests of foreign investment and treats Chinese and foreign firms registered in China as equals,” it said.

“China hopes that the EU will keep its investment market open, reduce and eliminate investment hurdles and discriminatory barriers, and provide Chinese companies investing in Europe a fair, transparent and predictable policy environment and protect their legitimate rights and interests.”

The EU last month provisionally agreed on rules for a far-reaching system to coordinate scrutiny of foreign investments into Europe, notably from China in the wake of a surge in Chinese investments, to end what a negotiator called “European naivety.”

The post China Hopes For ‘Orderly’ Brexit, Calls For More Open EU Economy appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Ten Things to do in Yangon This Week

Posted: 17 Dec 2018 08:19 PM PST

Album Noize Game 2

Noize Gamer performs at a promotional event for their second album.

Dec. 18, 5 p.m. Junction City Level 2, Event Area. Free entry.

Ayatori

A game that involves making figures out of string.

Dec. 19, 2 p.m to 3 p.m. Japan Culture House, Room 322B, 2nd Floor, Bldg. C, Pearl Condo, Kaba Aye Pagoda Road. Free entry. Register at 09-459 148 405.

Open Mic Night

The last open mic night of 2018.

Dec. 20, 8 p.m. till late. YangonYangon Rooftop Bar. 01-255 131

Dumpu Dinki: Strangers are friends you haven't met yet

A play about the whole cosmos of human relationships, in which trust and confidence eventually prevail.

Dec. 21, 6.30 p.m. Goethe Institut Myanmar, corner of Kabar Aye Pagoda Road and Nat Mauk Street, Bahan Tsp. 01-937 6160.

Mom and Kalay Fair

Kid's fashion show, magic show, joker show and contests for children.

Dec. 21-23, 9 a.m. to 9 p.m., Junction City (Level 2, Promotion Area). Register at 09-760 89 89 22

Myanmar Music Wave

The biggest music festival in Myanmar

Dec. 21-22, 4.30 p.m. till late. Tickets 5,000 kyats to 72,000 kyats at 09-451 010 789

Anyar Pwe Zay

Visitors can choose from several traditional Myanmar meals.

Dec. 22, 6 p.m. Tickets at UKK, No. (314/A), U Wisara Road, Kamayut Tsp.

Serpentine

Artist Soe Yu Nwe showcases her works.

Dec. 15-29. Myanm/art, No. 98, Third Floor, Bogalay Zay Street.

Avijja

"Ignorance" is the subject of artist Ye Min's third solo exhibition.

Dec. 15-21. Nawaday Tharlar Gallery, No.304, 20/B, Yawmingyi Road, Dagon Tsp.

Ultramarine Blue

The second solo exhibition by Zarni.

Dec. 22-24. Gallery 65, No.65, Yaw Min Gyi Road, Dagon Tsp.

The post Ten Things to do in Yangon This Week appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Japan to Buy More Stealth Jets, Radar to Counter China, Russia

Posted: 17 Dec 2018 08:14 PM PST

TOKYO—Japan will accelerate spending on advanced stealth fighters, long-range missiles and other equipment over the next five years to support US forces facing China’s military in the Western Pacific, two new government defense papers said.

The plans are the clearest indication yet of Japan’s ambition to become a regional power as a military build-up by China and a resurgent Russia puts pressure on its US ally.

“The United States remains the world’s most powerful nation, but national rivalries are surfacing and we recognize the importance of the strategic competition with both China and Russia as they challenge the regional order,” said a 10-year defense program outline approved by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s government on Tuesday.

The United States, followed by China, North Korea and Russia, are the countries that most influenced Japan’s latest military thinking, the paper said.

China, the world’s second biggest economy, is deploying more ships and aircraft to patrol waters near Japan, while North Korea has yet to fulfil a pledge to dismantle its nuclear and missile programs.

Russia, which continues to probe Japanese air defenses, said on Monday it had built new barracks for troops on a northern island it captured from Japan at the end of World War Two.

More stealth fighters

Japan plans to buy 45 Lockheed Martin Corp F-35 stealth fighters, worth about $4 billion, in addition to the 42 jets already on order, according to a separate five-year procurement plan approved on Tuesday.

The new planes will include 18 short take off and vertical landing (STOVL) B variants of the F-35 that planners want to deploy on Japanese islands along the edge of the East China Sea.

The islands are part of a chain stretching past Taiwan and down to the Philippines that has marked the limit of Chinese military dominance east of the disputed South China Sea.

The navy’s two large helicopter carriers, the Izumo and Kaga, will be modified to accommodate F-35B operations, the paper said.

The 248-meter (814-feet) long Izumo-class ships are as big as any of Japan’s aircraft carriers in World War Two.

The ships will need reinforced decks to withstand the heat blast from F-35 engines and could be fitted with ramps to aid short take-offs, two defense ministry officials told Reuters.

Trade war threat

The new F-35 order may also help Japan avert a trade war with the United States.

US President Donald Trump, who has threatened to impose tariffs on Japanese car imports, thanked Abe for buying the F-35s when the two met at a summit in Argentina this month.

Other US-made equipment on Japan’s shopping list includes two land-based Aegis Ashore air defense radars to defend against North Korean missiles, four Boeing Co KC-46 Pegasus refueling planes to extend the range of Japanese aircraft, and nine Northrop Grumman E-2 Hawkeye early-warning planes.

Japan plans to spend 25.5 trillion yen ($224.7 billion) on military equipment over the next five years, 6.4 percent higher than the previous five-year plan. Cost-cutting will free up another 2 trillion yen for purchases, the procurement paper said.

Japan only spends about 1 percent of its gross domestic product (GDP) on defense, but the size of its economy means it already has one of the world’s largest militaries.

“The budget is increasing and there has been an acceleration to deploy capability as soon as possible,” Robert Morrissey, head of Raytheon Co.’s unit in Japan, said this month.

Wary of North Korean promises to abandon ballistic missile development, Japan’s military is buying longer-range Raytheon SM-3 interceptor missiles to strike enemy warheads in space.

The defense papers assessed non-traditional military threats as well. A new joint-forces cyber unit will bolster Japan’s defenses against cyber attacks. More electronic warfare capabilities are planned.

Japan’s air force will also get its first space unit to help keep tabs on potential adversaries high above the Earth’s atmosphere.

The post Japan to Buy More Stealth Jets, Radar to Counter China, Russia appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

U.N. Security Council Mulls Myanmar Action; Russia, China Boycott Talks

Posted: 17 Dec 2018 08:05 PM PST

UNITED NATIONS — The U.N. Security Council is considering action to push Myanmar to work with the United Nations to address the Rohingya refugee crisis, although China and Russia have so far boycotted talks on a British-drafted resolution, diplomats said on Monday.

The draft resolution aims to put a timeline on Myanmar allowing the return of more than 700,000 Rohingya Muslim refugees from neighboring Bangladesh and addressing accountability, said diplomats, speaking on condition of anonymity.

The Rohingya have fled Myanmar’s Rakhine State since August last year, when attacks on security posts by Rohingya insurgents triggered a military crackdown that the United Nations, the United States, Britain and others described as ethnic cleansing.

Myanmar denies the accusations of ethnic cleansing.

The draft resolution would warn that the 15-member Security Council could consider further steps, including sanctions, if there was not enough progress made by Myanmar, diplomats said. It would also ask U.N. officials to report back regularly to the council.

It was unclear if or when the draft resolution could be put to a vote. A resolution needs nine votes in favor and no vetoes by Russia, China, the United States, Britain or France to pass.

“I think it’s inappropriate, untimely and useless,” Russian U.N. Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia told Reuters on Monday.

China’s U.N. ambassador, Ma Zhaoxu, declined to comment. Myanmar’s U.N. ambassador, Hau Do Suan, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The draft was circulated to council members late last month and diplomats said that there had been several rounds of discussions. Russia and China attended an initial meeting but have not taken part in any further talks, diplomats said.

The text would push Myanmar to implement a memorandum of understanding with the U.N. development and refugee agencies that Nobel laureate Daw Aung San Suu Kyi’s government signed in June, as well recommendations made by the Rakhine Advisory Commission that was led by former U.N. chief Kofi Annan.

The draft resolution does not include a referral of the situation in Myanmar to the International Criminal Court, diplomats said.

U.N. Security Council envoys traveled to Bangladesh and Myanmar in late April.

In October, China, backed by Russia, failed to stop a Security Council briefing by the chair of a U.N. inquiry that accused Myanmar’s military of genocide against Rohingya Muslims. Myanmar has rejected the findings of the U.N. report.

The post U.N. Security Council Mulls Myanmar Action; Russia, China Boycott Talks appeared first on The Irrawaddy.
Posted by at No comments:
Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)