| Tens of Thousands Pay Tribute to Win Tin at Rangoon Funeral Posted: 23 Apr 2014 07:56 AM PDT  A hearse carries Win Tin's coffin to the burial site. (Photo: Sai Zaw / The Irrawaddy) RANGOON — Tens of thousands of Burmese supporters gathered at a cemetery in Rangoon on Wednesday to pay tribute to one of the country's most respected democracy activists, Win Tin, who passed away on Monday at the age of 84. People from all walks of life, from Buddhist monks to politicians, braved the scorching summer heat to attend the five-hour wake and funeral service at Yay Way cemetery in the northern part of the former capital. Members of the National League for Democracy (NLD) party, which Win Tin co-founded, waited in line starting at 12 pm to enter the funeral parlor. They were joined by leaders of the 88 Generation Peace and Open Society, civil society leaders, journalists, activists and diplomats. The road to the cemetery was choked with traffic throughout the afternoon. Outside the parlor hall, trucks carrying bouquets and wreaths were decorated with red NLD flags at half-mast. "It is the finest funeral I have ever seen," an employee who has worked at the cemetery for 10 years told The Irrawaddy. In addition to co-founding the NLD, Win Tin was a veteran journalist for decades and an adamant supporter of free speech. He was an open critic of the Burmese government and endured physical torture during his nearly 20 years as a political prisoner. He died on Monday morning due to organ failure while seeking treatment for several health ailments at a general hospital in Rangoon. For mourners, the wake and funeral were a final opportunity to honor the democracy champion. "I came here to pay my respects to Saya Win Tin," said Win Mya, an NLD member. "For us, he is a symbol of courage. There is nobody else like him in Burma today." In the funeral parlor, a large black-and-white portrait of Win Tin adorned a wall in the hallway, while several dozen wreaths and bouquets were laid at the foot of a wooden coffin draped with an NLD flag. Beside the wooden coffin, Win Tin lay in state in another glass coffin, wearing his trademark prison-issued blue shirt and thick glasses, with a red rose resting on his chest. The wake was attended by NLD chairwoman Aung San Suu Kyi, NLD patron Tin Oo, and senior members from other political parties. US Ambassador to Burma Derek Mitchell was also among the mourners, along with British Ambassador to Burma Andrew Patrick and two officials from the Chinese Embassy in Rangoon. Some of the supporters wore blue shirts with Win Tin's portrait sketched on the front. "As an ethnic person, I feel very sad for his death, because he always raised ethnic issues and the ceasefire issue whenever he spoke," Aye Tha Aung, president of the Arakan League for Democracy, told The Irrawaddy. Min Ko Naing, a leader of the 88 Generation Peace and Open Society, remembered Win Tin's insistence on unity in the fight for democracy. "You see today how people are responding to the love he had for the country. … I just want to repeat one of his last words, to remember him: Don't lose your hands," Min Ko Naing said, referring to an image of the Burmese people holding hands in a common effort. At 4:15 pm, NLD members paid their last respects by bowing their heads and observing a minute of silence. Win Tin was then moved from the glass coffin into the wooden coffin and carried to a burial site several kilometers away from the parlor. In a eulogy, Tin Oo, the NLD patron, said the death of Win Tin was not only an immeasurable loss for the NLD, but also for Burmese literature, national reconciliation and the peace struggle. "As a founder of the NLD, he served his duty well," Tin Oo said. A few moments later, mourners called out in unison, "May Uncle Win Tin rest in peace," before the coffin was entombed. Win Tin's tomb was draped in blue velvet, with an epitaph that read: "May you differentiate between what is right and what is wrong, always stand on the right side, and fight against what is wrong." The post Tens of Thousands Pay Tribute to Win Tin at Rangoon Funeral appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine. |
| 10 Soldiers Killed in Shan State Clashes: TNLA Posted: 23 Apr 2014 05:35 AM PDT  A unit of the Ta'ang National Liberation Army (TNLA) in Shan State in 2013. (Photo: Kyaw Kha / The Irrawaddy) RANGOON — The Ta'ang National Liberation Army (TNLA) says it launched two attacks on Burmese government forces on Wednesday in northern Shan State, killing at least 10 government soldiers. Both attacks were in Namkham Township, which neighbors Kachin State as well as China. "At 5:30 am, our troops attacked one of their battalions. We shot at them, but we do not know exactly how many casualties there were," TNLA spokesman Mai Aie Kyaw told The Irrawaddy. He said that at about 10:30 am, TNLA troops fired rocket-propelled grenades at two vehicles carrying government forces, leaving at least 10 soldiers dead and others wounded, "We hit their cars with our RPG. One car flipped over on the road and was destroyed. Another caught on fire," the TNLA spokesman said. Fighting has been ongoing almost daily in Namkham Township, he said, citing 20 clashes this month. He said local civilians in some villages had fled their homes to avoid the conflict. Mai Aie Kyaw said that no TNLA soldiers had died in recent clashes, but that one soldier was wounded on Sunday. More troops from the government's army have been deployed to northern Shan State and neighboring Kachin State over the past month, despite pledges by Naypyidaw to work toward a nationwide ceasefire accord and host peace talks with ethnic armed groups in Rangoon. About 2,000 government troops are now active in Namkham Township, according to reports from Ta'ang army leaders. The TNLA and the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) are the only two major ethnic armed groups in the country that do not currently have individual ceasefire deals with the government's army. In KIA territory, waves of clashes that began earlier this month appear to be the most serious fighting since early last year. The clashes have left at least 22 soldiers dead, according to state media, while aid groups say 5,000 civilians have been forced to flee their homes. The newly displaced people join about 100,000 others who have fled due to the conflict since 2011. About 1,000 children have been displaced over the past month in Man Win Gyi and Momauk townships of southern Kachin State, according to Unicef. "The fighting and the associated displacement of families has increased the health risks that children face, including by reducing their access to safe, reliable water and sanitation facilities," Bertrand Bainvel, the Unicef representative in Burma, said in a statement. "It is an unfortunate fact that the heightened risk that children face does not disappear even after the fighting stops, because they face a significantly increased risk of falling victim to commonly used landmines and even to possible recruitment into the combatants' armed forces." The post 10 Soldiers Killed in Shan State Clashes: TNLA appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine. |
| The Funeral of a Lion Posted: 23 Apr 2014 04:43 AM PDT Since I learned of his deteriorating health and his attendance at the hospital I was worried. I knew that it would come one day, but it happened so fast. I fully understand that death doesn't send you a notice in advance—it just walks in and takes you away. But with this giant man I could see that death found a challenge. Death wanted to take him away, but Win Tin, a man with a mission, refused. As always, news in Burma was sketchy; even news about the health of Win Tin, the respected dissident journalist and activist. "He is getting better," a source told me, and I felt better. The next day, he was not receiving visitors, telling them not to bother coming. Prayers were held, Aung San Suu Kyi visited him and a rumor emerged that he would be taken overseas for treatment. But it was too late. The passport issued to him arrived too late, and it would not be possible to take him on a flight. It was comforting to think that he could fly somewhere, like Singapore or Bangkok, where he would get better treatment. But then, I thought, the man who never wanted to burden anyone would not go anyway. Only rich generals and their cohorts fly out to get their life extended. Since I cannot attend the funeral (I am stuck in Thailand), I will do my best to pay tribute here to this great man. We will remember his integrity. His actions matched his words. He was sincere, a trait the Burmese have always rated among the highest of qualities. It is difficult to gather my thoughts these days—there's an overwhelming sadness. On Tuesday, I wrote on Facebook that Win Tin was a true Nelson Mandela in Asia. He deserved to have the highest honors, even against his wishes. Why? Win Tin is a giant. Thus, he doesn't own himself. His friends, allies, admirers and the movement own him. But I smiled when another thought arose: In fact, Win Tin was "a criminal" in the regime's book. He was originally arrested for giving shelter to a girl said to have received an illegal abortion. This is Burma, where there have been so many trumped-up charges against political opponents and democrats. The prison sentence was extended as they found new charges and accused him of being "a communist." That communist lost most of his teeth in a beating during interrogation and was denied dentures. Win Tin, who was then already over 60, was locked up in tiny cell for years, suffering from a serious hernia and heart disease. But he surprised his enemies by staying alive though many of his friends died there or came out broken.  Aung Zaw is founder and editor of the Irrawaddy magazine. He can be reached at aungzaw@irrawaddy.org. I thought that death might have come to him at any time, since many of his fellow inmates and prominent intellectuals, writers and poets died in Burma's prisons or from ill-health after been released. Win Tin himself might have thought about death, but for a few years it seemed he had been spared and allowed to carry on and fight his campaign. In fact, of course, Win Tin was a stubborn man and a principled human being, not a criminal. He vowed that he would not bow to thugs and so, many in the ruling circle hated him. His criticisms, even after his release in 2008, were too sharp and too direct. They didn't like it at all. They will not show up to the funeral. From a distance, some ministers at least have sent letters of condolence and shared their "sadness." They know that it is still difficult for them to get close to Win Tin. They wouldn't dare to come anyway. They are not crowd-pleasers. In fact, they are afraid of crowds, unless those in the crowd are zombies. Even European Union-funded crowd control training given to the police will not allay their fears of a genuine large gathering, even a funeral. It shows they don't have the confidence or legitimacy to be in a conversation with Win Tin, even after his death! Win Tin is a giant and they are small. What about other governments, who cannot even pretend to maintain their integrity as they fall in love with Burma's self-styled reformist government? Will they come and shed tears at his funeral? Dead or alive, Win Tin, the voice of true Burmese aspirations, embarrasses those who have sucked up self-servingly to the regime. These days, emotions are high, anger is rising, the sun is too hot and speeches and poetry are once again political. The lies, past and present, of brutal leaders and wolves in sheep's clothing are once again exposed to the light. Even on social media like Facebook, Win Tin has dominated the whole week. Propagandists and apologists had sheepishly shied away for days. It occurred to me too that if Win Tin had died in prison or in the early days before the country was opening up, his funeral would not have been allowed. Maybe no one would have even known. It is comforting that this at least did not happen. In an op-ed in the Burmese language, I floated the idea of a state funeral for Win Tin or the building of a museum called "Win Tin House," where people from Burma and abroad can go to study about him, so the future generations can connect to him as well. I believe Win Tin's death is part of our history, and our future. In a normal democratic country, the state would honor a man of such integrity, who contributed so much to society. In Burma, it is not possible—not yet, since the country isn't yet free. But we know he will never die—his spirit will live with us. It will continue to haunt those officers who locked him up, and to give discomfort to those bastards who unjustly placed him in prison and tortured him. He will keep asking for a long overdue apology—not for himself but for the country. But I am selfish. If I could negotiate with death, I would want him to live a bit longer. I would want death to let him stay one more year—until the end of 2015, when I would want to hear his remarks on the election, when we know that cowards are going to cheat. I want to see him fight and take part in the war of words. Cowards will be pleased that one loud voice will be missing at the next election. Even just before he went into the hospital, he exchanged words with one of the senior members in the Union Solidarity Development Association, amusing us with his witty, withering words. One hardliner once said that it was not fair to campaign using Aung San's portrait—criticizing Win Tin's National League for Democracy and its leader Suu Kyi. Win Tin quickly returned a fiery shot: "Well they can also campaign using Than Shwe's photo!" He was bold and witty and he once said that until his last breath he would try to dismantle the military dictatorship in Burma. He knew the truth of now; that changes in Burma are just repackaging. Knowing this didn't need years of studying and writing country reports and assessments like those done by big institutions and the United Nations. He remained unbroken and even took a sweet revenge—by coming out of jail alive and telling them they should go to hell. This is one of many reasons we love and must honor this lion. The post The Funeral of a Lion appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine. |
| US Will ‘Consider Seriously’ Requests to Support Burma’s Peace Process Posted: 23 Apr 2014 04:36 AM PDT  Gen. Gun Maw, deputy chief of the Kachin Independence Army (KIA), on the way to a meeting room in May 2013 ahead of peace talks with the government. (Photo: The Irrawaddy) RANGOON — The US Embassy in Burma says it will seriously consider any request from the Burmese government and ethnic minority groups to support ongoing dialogue as part of the country's peace process, after an ethnic army leader recently called for greater US involvement. During a visit to the United States that began last week, Gen. Gun Maw, the deputy commander in chief of the Kachin Independence Army (KIA)—the biggest armed group still fighting the Burmese government—asked US officials to increase their presence in the peace process to ensure an improvement in the human rights situation for ethnic minorities. "General Gun Maw's visit to Washington and New York City was very helpful to enable candid discussions at senior levels with US government officials about the state of the peace process here," a spokesman for the US Embassy in Rangoon told The Irrawaddy on Wednesday. Gun Maw is thought to be the most senior KIA official ever to visit the United States. "We support dialogue as the best and only way to address the root cause of longstanding conflict, and to ultimately achieve lasting peace, justice, reconciliation and equitable development in Burma," the embassy spokesman said. "And we will consider seriously any request that comes from both the union government and the ethnic nationality representatives to support the ongoing dialogue." While individual officials from both the KIA and the Burmese government have in the past asked for greater US involvement in peace talks, it is understood that neither side has offered an official invitation for the United States to observe the next round of negotiations. However, in an interview with Reuters on Monday, Gun Maw indicated that the presence of US observers would be welcomed. "We would like to have the US present at the peace process as a witness, so this agreement will become strong," he was quoted as saying. "At present, we are still asking the US to be involved. Whether they will be, we don't know yet." The Burmese government said this week that conflicts with ethnic armed groups should be considered a domestic issue only. Presidential spokesman Ye Htut told The Associated Press on Tuesday that his government would listen to advice from other countries, but added that the US track record of ending conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan was "not impressive." The Burmese government is engaging with more than a dozen ethnic armed groups in peace negotiations, following decades of civil war. Since 2011, the government has signed individual ceasefire deals with all but two of the country's major ethnic armed groups, with efforts under way to consolidate those deals into one nationwide ceasefire. The KIA and the Ta'ang National Liberation Army (TNLA) do not currently have individual ceasefires with the government. In Kachin State, fighting has escalated this month, displacing thousands of civilians and leaving at least 22 people dead, according to state media. Over the past three years, the conflict has displaced more than 100,000 civilians. Kachin army leaders have held three rounds of peace negotiations with the Burmese government since early 2013 in Kachin State and neighboring China. The next round of talks is scheduled to begin next month. Meanwhile, leaders of 14 ethnic armed groups, including the KIA and the TNLA, met with government peace negotiators earlier this month in Rangoon to discuss the nationwide ceasefire. Both sides said they agreed "in principle" on a draft of the agreement, but differences remained over the wording of certain elements. "We welcome progress made by the union government and ethnic armed groups on recent rounds of negotiations on the nationwide ceasefire agreement and we applaud the seriousness of purpose that both sides have brought to the effort in the last few weeks and months," the US Embassy spokesman told The Irrawaddy. "And we encourage all parties to build on this momentum and to continue to work toward a sustainable peace and an inclusive process of national and political dialogue because we truly believe the ceasefire is just the beginning, but that after that a process of national political dialogue will be crucial." While the United States has never sent observers to formal peace talks in Burma, US Ambassador to Burma Derek Mitchell has repeatedly urged Burmese officials to ensure that the negotiations are inclusive of all ethnic groups and concerned civil society organizations. The United States funds capacity-building programs for civil society groups in Burma, including many based in ethnic states, to increase their skills and knowledge of topics that could be applicable to long-term political dialogue. A small grants program provides US funding to civil society groups for activities ranging from elections training to land-use workshops and gender empowerment programming. Burmese lawmakers and civil society representatives were also invited to the United States last year to discuss constitutional reform. The post US Will 'Consider Seriously' Requests to Support Burma's Peace Process appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine. |
| Journalists to Hold Meeting to Plan Media Freedom Campaign Posted: 23 Apr 2014 02:55 AM PDT  DVB staffers in Rangoon call for reporter Zaw Pe’s release on April 11. (Photo: DVB) RANGOON — Burmese journalists said they will gather in Rangoon on Saturday to plan a large campaign advocating for greater media freedom and protection of journalists, after Burma's government imprisoned a number of reporters in recent months. Toe Zaw Latt, bureau chief of Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB), is one of the organizers of the meeting and he told The Irrawaddy that the rising threat to local journalists needs to be countered by the media industry. "Our reporter Zaw Pe has been sentenced to one year in prison and other local journalists at Unity Journal and Weekly Eleven were imprisoned too, so we need to protect our journalists in the future. That's why we plan to hold preliminary discussions about [launching] a media freedom campaign," he said. All members of the media industry are invited to join the event at the House of Media and Entertainment (H.O.M.E.) on Rangoon's Bo Aung Kyaw Road. Representatives of Myanmar Journalists Union, Myanmar Journalists Associations and the Myanmar Journalists Network will attend the discussions. "During these detailed discussions we will talk about what we can do for the future of media freedom, the protection of journalists and we will decide who will lead the campaign and make plans," Toe Zaw Latt said, adding that he expected the campaign to become the largest media freedom movement Burma has seen thus far. Myint Kyaw, general secretary of the Myanmar Journalists Network, said that in recent months Burma's media environment has deteriorated, resulting in more arrests and increasing threats to journalists. "If we don't take any action the government will continue to pressure journalists. That's why we need to find a way to prevent this from happening," he said. "There are problems in the judiciary and legislative areas. The recent arrest of journalists is an example… That's why we plan to hold the preliminary discussion on organizing a media freedom movement." After President Thein Sein's reformist government took over from the previous military regime in 2011 numerous draconian media restrictions were lifted. Pre-publication censorship was abolished, detained journalists were released and publication of daily newspapers was allowed for the first time in decades. Since December, the arrest and imprisonment of a number of journalists has raised concerns among Burma's media industry over a roll-back on the growing freedoms the sector enjoyed since political reforms began in 2011. Earlier this month, a Magwe Division court sentenced Zaw Pe, a video reporter with DVB, to one year in prison for trespassing at an education department office and disrupting the duties of a civil servant there. The sentencing was the result of a lawsuit lodged in 2012 by the education department. In February, four journalists and an editor of Unity Journal were arrested and charged with violating the 1923 State Secrets Act and trespassing in a restricted area, after they published a story alleging that Chinese engineers were helping the Burma Army build a chemical weapons factory at Magwe's Pauk Township. The defendants face a maximum sentence of 14 years imprisonment. In December, Naw Khine Khine Aye Cho, a reporter of Eleven Media also known as Ma Khine, was sentenced by the Loikaw Township Court in Karenni State to three months imprisonment on charges of trespassing into the lawyer's home while the reporter was seeking comments. The government has also promised to replace restrictive media laws, but in March Parliament simultaneously adopted two media laws, one proposed by the Ministry of Information and one by the media industry. The former is considered restrictive as it gives the ministry the power to withhold or revoke publishing licenses unilaterally, while it contains vaguely defined bans on reporting that could "incite unrest", "insult religion" and "violate the Constitution." The post Journalists to Hold Meeting to Plan Media Freedom Campaign appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine. |
| A Cloud Hangs Over Marble-Crafting Village in Burma Posted: 23 Apr 2014 02:24 AM PDT  The sun sets over the mountains surrounding Sagyin village near Mandalay, where most locals are engaged in the marble trade. (Photo: Zarni Mann / The Irrawaddy) MANDALAY — Unlike other mountainous places, a village located at the foot of Sagyin Mountain, 32 miles north of Burma's second largest city, is not an ordinary tourist destination nor a hill station geared for relaxation. It is instead the birthplace of the centuries-old marble craft that is more commonly seen at a Mandalay lane named Kuauk Sit Tan, which is one of the most fabulous attractions drawing tourists in the city. The village, surrounded by peaks high and low, is covered with a white haze coming from the digging process in the mountains. On the only bumpy and dusty road in the village, various vehicles are busy transporting white marble stones and crafted statues. More dust, and the sound of drilling, rises from every workshop. Such establishments make up about 80 percent of the village, where houses, trees and craftsmen themselves are covered with a fine white marble dust, as if the village was covered with snow. Visitors might be concerned about air pollution in Sagyin village, but the 5,800 villagers, young and old, do not worry much about their health, and are more concerned about their business. The village has been here for many decades, but the pollution was never as bad as now. In the past four years, electric drills and tools have taken over from traditional hand tools, increasing pollution. "There are many health problems relating to breathing problems, but it's not a severe issue yet. However, it will soon become an important health issue for villagers," said Dr. Aung Zin Myint, who has operated a tiny clinic in the village for about eight years. "These [respiratory] problems arose just three or four years ago. It is probably relating to the dust, but nobody seems aware about this, despite our campaigns for them to wear masks and goggles." A deep-rooted belief that eating bananas neutralizes any negative effects of the dust is a major obstacle for the health workers trying to educate the craftsmen. "We never get bad health problems relating to this dust," insisted Myint Tin, a father of two whose family has been in the marble craft for four generations. "As the dust comes from the stone, it is cold and has no affect on our health. If we inhale lots of dust, we eat bananas and they dissolve it and we feel better." Instead of on their health, the minds of craftsmen like Myint Tin are concentrated on getting the best quality stone to carve, how to carve the most impressive sculptures and finding markets to increase their earnings. At Sagyin village, not all of the villagers are craftsmen. Some own or run marble mines and are the ones who dig out the stones for the craftsmen to carve. Every year, tons of marble is extracted here. Some premium-quality stones are transported to the Sino-Burmese border to sell to Chinese craftsmen. The crafted sculptures include images of the Buddha or figures related to Buddhism. Most of those are bought up by traders on Kuauk Sit Tan. Unlike Kuauk Sit Tan, though, Sagyin village also offers a range of statues relating to Chinese culture, such as statues of Kwan Yin, the laughing Buddha, and Chinese spirits and goddesses. Fully crafted statues are also transported to the Chinese border. Another market is Thailand, from where orders come for premium quality Buddha statues made in porcelain-white first-grade marble. "We have foreign markets, mainly China where the Chinese traders come here to make direct orders. If we get such orders, our profits are more than satisfactory," said Soe Win, a craftsman. "However, we can only get such orders if we have good connections. Sometimes, because the costs of transportation are high, especially if the order is just a small statue, it means the profit is too little. Most of the craftsmen expect to get huge orders, such as life-sized statues." As well as health worries, there are concerns about the damage the marble trade is doing to the local environment. The mountains themselves are slowly being reduced to nothing by the miners. Mass production of marble by large companies, using modern mining techniques and heavy machinery, is making locals worry that the mountains, and their livelihoods, will soon be gone. Locals complain specifically that Chinese companies are using such techniques and point out a valley which they say was a mountain just a few months ago. "They [large companies] are trying to buy plots owned by the villagers, offering high prices. The problem is the local craftsmen have to buy raw materials from the companies at high prices and never get the premium-quality raw marble stones," said Soe Win. Despite an awareness of the environmental impacts of their business, craftsmen say they have no other options for work. "We know only how to craft and will pass this knowledge to the young generation as well. We are aware that these mountains will soon be gone forever," said Ko Ko Lwin, who owns a marble production plot and a sculpting workshop. "If the day comes when we can't find marble, we will have to stop crafting. But we believe that there will be another marble mountain and we will have to move to that area. Or we might have to change profession. But we will craft like this until that day arrives." There are about five mountains that can produce white marble in this area at present, but they are being rapidly diminished. And local monks are trying to prevent nearby Phayar Taung mountain from becoming yet another source of marble. On the summit of the mountain sits the 300-year-old Shwe San Shin Pagoda. However, it is said Phayaw Taung contains some of the best marble, and businessmen have begun eying the mountain for mining. Local monk Ashin Tharwara said plans were underway to rescue the pagoda by listing the whole mountain as a religious site. "If we can register the area as religious land, no one can destroy it. This will automatically maintain the area around this mountain. But we worry that the companies will move faster than the registration process," said Ashin Tharwara. "These mountains will be gone sooner or later. But we want to keep this mountain with the pagoda to be preserved for history and to tell the future generations about the mountains and the glory of Sagyin village." The post A Cloud Hangs Over Marble-Crafting Village in Burma appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine. |
| New Species Related to ‘Penis Snake’ Discovered in Burma Posted: 23 Apr 2014 02:08 AM PDT  A preserved holotype of the Ichthyophis multicolor, in a photograph by Harry Taylor of the National History Museum in London. (Photo: Magnolia Press, Zootaxa issue 3785-1) RANGOON — A new species of a strange order of limbless amphibian has been discovered in Burma, according to a report in a scientific journal for animal taxonomists. The Ichthyophis multicolor, or the "colorful ich," was discovered in Burma's Irrawaddy Division, according to a report published in Zootaxa journal this month. It is a new species of caecilian amphibians, an order of amphibians which superficially resemble earthworms or snakes, and scientists say it stands out because of its distinct coloring. Caecilians are among the least studied amphibians in the world because they typically burrow in the soil underground. They live in tropical climates, with about 200 species recognized by scientists. The largest and most famous of these species, known as the "penis snake" (Atretochoana eiselti), was discovered in Brazil near the mouth of the Amazon. Burma's colorful ich belongs to the a family of caecilians known as Ichthyophis, which are found in Sri Lanka and India through mainland China, as well as Sundaland and islands including the Philippines that are west of the Wallace Line, an imaginary boundary line that runs through Indonesia and separates animal species of Asian and Australian descent. "Although multiple species and specimens of Ichthyophis have been documented from Thailand and from Northeast India, including some recently described species, there are only a few old literature records of any caecilians from [Burma], and the caecilian fauna of that country must be considered essentially unexplored and unknown," a team of scientists from the United Kingdom, United States and New Zealand wrote in the report. The scientists described 14 specimens of striped caecilians that were obtained in 2000 from a single location in Irrawaddy Division by the California Academy of Sciences. The specimens were collected on the surface of sandy, hard packed soil following a period of heavy rain. "The species is unusual among Ichthyophis in having a dark ventrolateral stripe … bordering a much paler ventral coloration, a feature found elsewhere only in I. tricolor from peninsular India. Numerous other features distinguish the [Burma] population from I. tricolor, indicating the former to be a new species," the scientists wrote. The specimens from Burma were described as having more vertebrae than the similarly colored I. tricolor of India, and their tentacular apertures were nearly or more than twice as far from their nostrils than from their eyes. Other striped caecilians have been reported in Burma in the past. However, these were described as I. glutinosus, a species which scientists now believe to be restricted to Sri Lanka. "Thus the historical reports of caecilians from [Burma] may well be of as yet undescribed species," the scientists wrote. The report was co-authored by Mark Wilkinson from the zoology department of the Natural History Museum in London, along with scientists from Harvard University and the University of Michigan in the United States as well as the University of Otago in New Zealand. They said that like most caecilian species, very little is known about the colorful ich's geographic range or environmental requirements. "That specimens were found in areas of human disturbances gives some hope that they are not immediately threatened, but this depends foremost on a reasonable range size," they wrote, recommending further fieldwork and systematic research to develop a more accurate inventory of the caecilian fauna in the country. According to the Natural History Museum in London, caecilians are known for certain bizarre properties, such as a sensitive tentacle that likely evolved from unused components of the eye, as well as scales that form underneath the skin. "When there's not a lot known about the group, sometimes people make the mistake of thinking there's not a lot to know about them," Wilkinson was quoted as saying on the museum's website. "They have a lot of strange features, and because they are a poorly known group the adaptive significance of those features is not well understood." The post New Species Related to 'Penis Snake' Discovered in Burma appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine. |
| Burmese Migrants Strike Over Pay at Thai Seafood Employer Posted: 23 Apr 2014 01:54 AM PDT  Migrant workers from Burma unload fish at a seafood market near Bangkok in 2010. (Photo: Reuters) CHIANG MAI, Thailand — More than 100 Burmese migrant workers at the Lee Heng Seafood company in Songkhla, southern Thailand, planned to return to work on Wednesday after staging a two-day strike to demand that their employer compensate them for unpaid overtime work. Along with about a dozen Cambodian workers, 142 Burmese migrant laborers stopped working this week, claiming that they had been forced to work overtime without pay for months. The laborers came to work at the seafood factory with the terms of their employment laid out in a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), but they say rights guaranteed in the document, including provisions on overtime pay and healthcare benefits, were not being honored. "We only demand that they pay us the full overtime payment, despite the fact that there are some other violations from the industry, such as [a lack of] healthcare benefits," said Ma Wah, who has been working at the factory for five years. Ma Wah said it was female Burmese migrant workers who had borne the brunt of what amounted to forced labor over the last six months. "On Monday morning, we stopped working, and instead sat in front of the manager's office in the industry compound and raised our demands," said Ma Wah, adding that their demand for overtime pay was not met. "The manager said we can leave if we are not satisfied with his answer, but we would not get any of the compensation described in the contract," added another worker, who asked to remain anonymous due to the sensitivity of the situation. The workers have complained that irregular working hours have also made home life difficult. Their labor contract states that normal working hours are from 8am to 5pm, and that any work outside of those hours would be regarded as overtime. Under Thai law, the standard daily wage is 300 baht (US$9), and overtime is paid at 56 baht per hour. The workers said that since about six months ago, they have been paid 300 baht per day, but have not been compensated for any overtime. They say management has justified the failure to pay by claiming that there were times during regular working hours when the employees had no work to do and sat idle. "We usually work every day from 8 am to 8 pm," said Ma Wah. "The managers would call us [into work] some days at about 3 pm and the eight hours' working time is counted from this time. So we had to work until 10 pm or 11 pm. "We said not to do like that. When we go to work in the morning at 8 am, some days the manger and supervisors said they would come and call us when the raw seafood materials arrived," added Ma Wah, explaining that the workers live in the same compound as the factory is located. "The time that the material arrives varies from day to day. This did not happen under previous managers." The Burmese workers came to Lee Heng Seafood from Kawthaung, a town in southern Burma's Tenasserim Division, via the employment agency Royal Golden Gate. Many of the workers have been sent by the Rangoon-based agency under one-year contract agreements. "When we arrived to the factory, some points in the contract agreement were no longer consistent," the anonymous male worker said. "We are now told to work under a two-year contract, and if we leave before two years, the workers have to reimburse money for their passport fees." A common practice among Thai companies that employ labor from Burma is to pay for the issuance of workers' temporary passports and deduct the money from their salary over time. The workers said some laborers had already left Lee Heng Seafood due to the labor conditions, and were required to pay 3,000 baht for the return of their passports, on top of management having already taken at least 12,000 baht from their salaries for the cost of the passports. Lee Heng Seafood did not immediately respond to an emailed request for comment. Burmese labor rights groups including the Foundation for Education and Development, the Migrant Association in Thailand and the Migrant Assistance Program are helping the workers to negotiate their demands with the employer. On Tuesday, Htoo Chit, the director of the Foundation for Education and Development, told The Irrawaddy that the coalition has been in talks with Thai labor protection officials about the situation at the seafood processing factory. "We encouraged them [the striking workers] to raise their demands in accordance with Thai labor law, so we advised them to get back to work," Htoo Chit said. The workers said they would return to work on Wednesday, because Thai labor law stipulates that any contractual benefits are forfeited by workers who participate in a strike lasting more than two days. "We have to get back to work after two days of protest, even though we have not yet gotten any of our demands. But, we will maintain our demands," said another worker, Ko Aung. "In the meantime, we are helping them to get to talk with the officials," Htoo Chit said. Thai labor officials met with Lee Heng Seafood representatives on Tuesday evening, but not with the workers. The post Burmese Migrants Strike Over Pay at Thai Seafood Employer appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine. |
| ‘They Must Apologize to the People’ Posted: 22 Apr 2014 10:56 PM PDT  A screenshot of the Dateline Irrawaddy episode from December 2013, featuring the late Win Tin and Hnin Hnin Hmway. In December 2013, Kyaw Zwa Moe, editor of the English edition of The Irrawaddy Magazine, held a discussion with the late Win Tin, patron of the National League for Democracy (NLD) and Hnin Hnin Hmway of Democratic Party for New Society (DPNS) about the arrest, torture and imprisonment of dissidents and political activists when former Chief of Military Intelligence Unit General Khin Nyunt was in power. The discussions were recorded for Dateline Irrawaddy and broadcast on DVB. The video, with English subtitles, can be found here. The following text is an English translation of the transcript of the discussions with Win Tin. Kyaw Zwa Moe: Former Chief of Military Intelligence Unit General Khin Nyunt once said that he is not accountable for the arrests and imprisonments because he was just following orders and thus he can't apologize to anyone. U Win Tin, you were arrested in 1989 by the Military Intelligence and underwent torture that resulted in loss of your teeth and you spent 19 years in prison. How do you want to respond to General Khin Nyunt's remarks? Win Tin: I met him by chance at the funeral of Guardian [journalist] U Sein Win [in November 2013]. He told me to let bygones be bygones. I didn't reply anything because there were many people around and I didn't want to argue with him. However, our brief meeting was photographed and the news spread across the media and online. When the media interviewed me how my response would be on his remarks, I answered in three points. Point one is that these Military Intelligence personnel, including their seniors and those who ordered them, must apologize to us, former political prisoners, the people and also themselves.
Because what they did was wrong. Point two is to correct the wrongs and prevent any transgressions in the future. The intelligence personnel might still be active in current governance mechanisms, so we must prevent intelligence personnel from committing any such deeds; they must apologize and correct their transgressions. Point three is related to rehabilitation of the former political prisoners, which is what we have been doing already. Those former generals with their enormous treasure troves, obtained either from the state or through their powerful roles, should consider contributing to the rehabilitation activities for former political prisoners or establish funds for that. These are the points I mentioned to the media. However, Khin Nyunt said, "To whom should I apologize?" in another case. So my response for that was first: The political prisoners, former intelligence prisoners, and exiles, and second: The people, and third: themselves. KZM: Can you tell me about your experience of the interrogation and torture you endured in prison? WT: They used a lot of torture methods and there are many people who have experiences like me. I want to tell you about an exceptional experience. They interrogated me on my first night in the prison. They interrogated me for six days and I had to scream when they tortured me. While they were doing this they wore masks, so that we didn't know who they were. I strongly objected to that because I am a politician and a leader of a political party. I lost all of my teeth within a year because of the torture. In 1991, when they started to release some prisoners, they had people with missing teeth receive implants and receive medical service. By then, I had no more teeth and I had to eat with just my gums. KZM: Was the rice served in prison hard? WT: The rice was hard and I couldn't even chew it with my gums. My suffering lasted for 7 years and they only implanted my new teeth in 1998. That was an exceptional experience. There might be people who underwent similar or much worse experiences then my own. No one can bear such torture and no one is willing to endure torture. KZM: U Win Tin, who do you consider responsible for the [1988] coup? Was it General Khin Nyunt, Senior General Than Shwe, or Senior General Saw Maung? Was General Khin Nyunt the right hand man of General Ne Win at that time?
WT: I don't know what exactly was going on in the army at that time. But there is a word I always use in talking about the coup, which is that the bones will crow one day and tell the real story, because the truth can't be hidden all the time. It will be revealed one day. I didn't know what the military intelligence were doing back then, but now we are getting some picture of what they were doing from what they say now in the media from people like General Khin Nyunt, or the grandsons of U Ne Win who were just released from prison. What we understand from these is that on September 17, one day before the coup, U Kyawt Maung and Colonel Tin Hlaing, I am not sure if it was him, put General Khin Nyunt in charge and they went to meet General Ne Win to present the [88 Uprising] situation and push for a coup. Ne Win replied them that they must inform the leaders before the coup as it is a military procedure and asked them to inform the leaders like Colonel Aye Ko, U Than Oo and Colonel Kyaw Soe. When they came back the next day after informing these leaders, General Ne Win asked them to do what they have to "go and arrest who you need to arrest", even him if they have to. By saying this, General Ne Win gave them permission to arrest anyone they wanted and stage a coup. What I understand from this is that it was General Khin Nyunt who pushed for the coup and General Ne Win gave the order. KZM: As you have lived through different ages like the Japanese occupation and the like, I would like ask: Do you consider the era of General Khin Nyunt after the 1988 coup the most terrible period in Burmese history? WT: It can be said it was the most terrible, the cruelest and the worst period in our history. At the time of Japanese occupation, I was very young and I can't remember the atrocities of Japanese Kempeitai. What I can say is that I have lived through that era, [the Anti-Fascist People's Freedom League] era and the following eras; so of all the eras I have lived, the era of the Military Intelligence Unit was the harshest, the most lawless, and the worst among all these eras. When they put me on trial at the Military Court, they produced some witnesses whom I didn't know and they didn't know me either. I objected to that at the trial. When they brought me at the court, they handcuffed me tightly and I screamed. After sentencing me to 10 years, the military intelligence officers who were there called the judge to leave the trial for a while. When the judge came back, he added one more year to my sentence, because I screamed. The total sentences I received amounted to 21 years, not just 20 years. There were a seven-year sentence, a three-year sentence and an eleven-year sentence handed to me. And they reduced a year from my total sentence only later. The Military Intelligence Unit was behind the Military Court in sentencing me, including sentencing me to a year more for screaming at the court. KZM: What about your experience U Win Tin? You had an operation while you were in prison? WT: Let me explain a bit about what Ma Hnin Hnin Hmway just mentioned about sleeping on the concrete floor with just a mat. When I was in the interrogation camp it was January, during the winter. They didn't provide us mats. Because Ko Thet Khaing tried to commit suicide by slashing his veins with a blade the authorities tried to suppress the news for fear that they will face blames from superiors and told them that he used the bamboo slats instead. As a result, they took all the mats from us to prevent any more cases like that. That's why we had to sleep on the bare concrete floors. Although General Khin Nyunt said he was acting in accordance with the orders from above, he himself was among those who gave such orders to those below him. He must apologize for that as well. I went through operations for hernia and was hospitalized for heart problems and benign prostatic hypertrophy, but they delayed the operation many times. In January 1990, while I was suffering from hernia and lying in my bed, they just gave me some shots instead of sending me to the hospital. I suffered from these problems for five years and only in 1995 they sent me to hospital. Than Shwe alone is not responsible for all these violations. Khin Nyunt and his underlings also played their roles in ignoring cases like these, as they wished us to die. So Khin Nyuint and others are responsible for these and they can't just blame the top man Than Shwe. KZM: They played a major role in crushing political activists? UT: They all are responsible. KZM: There are 162 recorded cases of death in custody after 1988 as far as I know. And during the years 1988, 1989 and 1990, there were about 3,000 to 4,000 political prisoners. How many political prisoners do you think they held through their reign? Can it be about ten thousands political prisoners during their reign until 2004? WT: I don't know about this statistically because I am not responsible for political prisoners' affairs institutionally. But I always tell the media that there could have been about 10,000 political prisoners. And there will be hundreds of thousands of family members related to these political prisoners. Those who are responsible for these deeds must also take care of them and apologize to them. I am happy to see that my estimation of the numbers of political prisoners is close to the assumptions of institutions working for the affairs of the political prisoners. KZM: There were people imprisoned from all walks of lives, starting from 14, 15 year-olds to educated doctors, lawyers, engineers to people like you who are political party leaders and journalists. That's why some people are accusing them of committing crimes against humanity. What do you think about this accusation? WT: Accusations like these emerged around 2009 in places like United States, at the United Nations and among human rights organizations. And they are suggesting to prosecute those responsible. I've also commented that they committed crimes against humanity. By 'they' I mean people like General Khin Nyunt, Than Shwe and even Thein Sein. He was also a member of that group that committed such crimes. KZM: But he released many political prisoners under his administration.
WT: They can't compensate for their crimes so easily. It depends on the severity of the crimes. I think these two are not related. There were those in the international community who were working back to prosecute them in 2009, like Ko Aung Din from the US, and people in about 13 countries, including the US. The army knew that and they had to change their course or face the consequences. They benefited from the change they carried out and tried to free themselves from the accusations. However, they are still responsible for what they did and they will still be recorded in history as those who committed crimes against humanity. History is not a judge and it can't give them any punishments. However, history will never forget what they did; their atrocious crimes against humanity will remain in history. That's what I want to say. The post 'They Must Apologize to the People' appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine. |
| Moyes Axed by Manchester United After Season of Failure Posted: 22 Apr 2014 10:45 PM PDT  Manchester United’s manager David Moyes watches their Champions League quarter-final second leg soccer match against Bayern Munich in Munich, April 9, 2014. (Photo: Reuters) LONDON — Manchester United’s succession planning for life after Alex Ferguson was left in tatters on Tuesday when manager David Moyes was sacked after 10 troubled months of failure and frustration at a club used to seamless success. Moyes, appointed with a six-year contract on the direction of retiring fellow-Scot Ferguson last July after 11 years at Everton, did not even get to complete his first season as the club’s American owners, the Glazer family, ran out of patience. Announcing his departure in a terse, two-line statement, United thanked Moyes for "the hard work, honesty and integrity he brought to the role" at Old Trafford but his spell in charge will be remembered more for dire performances, humiliating defeats and a failure to qualify for the all-important Champions League for the first time since 1995/96. United have lost six home league games, won only one match in 12 against the Premier League’s top six and will finish outside the top four for the first time since 1991. Midfielder Ryan Giggs, 40, was appointed to take interim charge of the team for the final four games of the season with United mired in seventh place, 23 points behind league leaders Liverpool. Speculation immediately turned to who might take over at Old Trafford, with the club’s executive vice-chairman Ed Woodward leading the recruitment process. A decision on Moyes’s successor will be taken by the board as a whole but senior figures, including Ferguson, will be consulted. Dutchman Louis van Gaal was installed as the bookmakers’ favorite. The former Barcelona, Ajax Amsterdam and Bayern Munich boss is coach of the Netherlands but has already said he will stand down after the World Cup in Brazil and has talked of a move to the Premier League. Other leading coaches distanced themselves from the role, with Juergen Klopp saying he was happy to stay with Borussia Dortmund and Pep Guardiola also indicating he had no desire to walk away from a Bayern Munich side he has forged into probably the best in world football. Also-Rans That is the level United fans and owners expect to be operating at but, a year to the day after securing their 20th English league title, they are instead scrambling to try to qualify for the "also-rans" Europa League. Tuesday’s announcement was widely expected after being leaked to British media on Monday – a day after United’s meek 2-0 loss at Moyes’s former club Everton. The manner of the defeat, and of many of the other 14 under Moyes’ troubled 51-game stewardship, would have been unthinkable under Ferguson, as newspaper stories that many of the current squad had no faith in their manager seemed to be borne out by their lackluster displays in recent weeks. The sacking of Moyes, less than a year into a contract of a reported four million pounds ($6.73 million) per year, is an indication of the profit-focused approach of the Glazer family. While able to accept the $50 million shortfall caused by missing the Champions League – partly due to a huge new shirt sponsorship deal with General Motors – the prospect of giving Moyes a close-season transfer money pot in a market where the best players might not want to come, proved an unpalatable one. United’s shares, which trade on the New York Stock Exchange, were up just over six percent at $18.80 at 1924 GMT, signaling investor relief at the decision to sack Moyes. Former United stalwart Gary Neville suggested Moyes should have been given more time to make his mark and said the fault was not his alone. "The idea of giving people three and four and six year contracts and then getting rid of them after 10 months is something that is foreign to me," he told Sky Sports. "However, there is no disguising that the football this season has been poor, the results have been poor. As a fan, I’ve not enjoyed watching it. I’m sure David Moyes himself hasn’t enjoyed watching it. "I’ve played with a lot of those players, they love the club and are desperate to do well for the club but they’ve just completely lost confidence and belief. That’s ultimately what’s cost David Moyes." Busby Memories Moyes’s sudden departure mirrored the traumatic spell the Old Trafford club suffered between 1969 and 1971 when Matt Busby retired after 24 years as boss. His hand-picked successor Wilf McGuinness only lasted 18 months before Busby took over the reins again. Ferguson, who has sat in the stands silently watching his empire crumble, will not be returning to the dugout, but the comparisons between his time and Moyes’ brief stint did not help the new man. Moyes built his reputation during 11 seasons at Everton where, despite not winning a trophy and operating on a relatively shoestring budget, he routinely guided the club into the top 10. However, molding a well-drilled hard-to-beat unit proved to be a different managerial task than getting the best out of a team expected to win trophies, even if the squad he inherited did appear short of quality in key areas. Eyebrows were lifted before the season had even begun when Moyes raised concerns about the champions’ tough fixture list in the opening weeks. A crushing 4-1 loss to Manchester City on Sept. 22 and defeat in their next home game to West Bromwich Albion, who had not won at Old Trafford since 1978, left United 12th after their worst start to a league season for a quarter-of-a-century. Everton also won at Old Trafford for the first time in 21 years, Newcastle United won there for the first time in 41 years and Swansea City for the first time ever, when they triumphed in the third round of the FA Cup. The board started to feel concerned after lackluster defeats at Olympiakos Piraeus in the first leg of their Champions League last 16 clash and then Liverpool at home in recent weeks. Final Straw The loss at Moyes’s former club Everton on Sunday proved to be the final straw and the United hierarchy reached a decision to dispense with the Scot late on Monday night. Woodward met the manager to confirm his fate early on Tuesday. Moyes’s first major signing, Belgium midfielder Marouane Fellaini, who followed from Everton, looked ponderous and out of his depth as United failed to show attacking spark while his January purchase of Juan Mata for a club record 37.1 million pounds, even though the former Chelsea midfielder was ineligible for the Champions League, looked like a desperate move. Questions were being asked in Old Trafford’s corridors of power not about who Moyes would sign but about what he would get out of the players. Rumors emerged of player dissatisfaction with Moyes’s training regime while the new manager was further alienated by virtually ignoring Giggs, who is worshipped at Old Trafford. The few bright sparks came in the Champions League but they were extinguished when United were knocked out by holders Bayern Munich with the minimum of fuss. The knives had been out before then, with disgruntled fans paying for a plane trailing a banner over Old Trafford reading ‘Wrong One – Moyes Out’ in a game against Aston Villa in March – which United won 4-1. Fans of rival teams started to chant ‘David Moyes, we want you to stay’, stewards stood guard to keep home supporters away from the prominent banner inside Old Trafford declaring the manager to be ‘The Chosen One’ while at Everton last weekend Moyes was taunted by one fan posing as the Grim Reaper, complete with inflatable scythe. When Ferguson left Old Trafford after 26 years, he told the fans in a farewell speech: "Your job now is to get behind our new manager". As 70,000 roared their approval, the last thing he would have expected would have been to be repeating the plea 12 months later. The post Moyes Axed by Manchester United After Season of Failure appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine. |
| Search for MH370 Reveals a Military Vulnerability for China Posted: 22 Apr 2014 10:38 PM PDT  A member of the Chinese navy stands next to Chinese navy warship 'Jinggangshan' as it prepares to leave for the search and rescue operations of the missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370, at a port in Zhanjiang, Guangdong province, early on March 9, 2014. (Photo: Reuters) HONG KONG / BEIJING — When Chinese naval supply vessel Qiandaohu entered Australia's Albany Port this month to replenish Chinese warships helping search for a missing Malaysian airliner, it highlighted a strategic headache for Beijing—its lack of offshore bases and friendly ports to call on. China's deployment for the search—18 warships, smaller coastguard vessels, a civilian cargo ship and an Antarctic icebreaker—has stretched the supply lines and logistics of its rapidly expanding navy, Chinese analysts and regional military attaches say. China's naval planners know they will have to fill this strategic gap to meet Beijing's desire for a fully operational blue-water navy by 2050—especially if access around Southeast Asia or beyond is needed in times of tension. China is determined to eventually challenge Washington's traditional naval dominance across the Asia Pacific and is keen to be able to protect its own strategic interests across the Indian Ocean and Middle East. "As China's military presence and projection increases, it will want to have these kind of [port] arrangements in place, just as the US does," said Ian Storey, a regional security expert at Singapore's Institute of South East Asian Studies. "I am a bit surprised that there is no sign that they even started discussions about long-term access. If visits happen now they happen on an ad-hoc commercial basis. It is a glaring hole." The United States, by contrast, has built up an extensive network of full bases—Japan, Guam and Diego Garcia—buttressed by formal security alliances and access and repair agreements with friendly countries, including strategic ports in Singapore and Malaysia. While China is building up its fortified holdings on islands and reefs in the disputed South China Sea, its most significant southernmost base remains on Hainan Island, still some 3,000 nautical miles away from where Chinese warships have been searching for missing Malaysia airlines flight MH370. Military attaches say foreign port access is relatively easy to arrange during peace-time humanitarian efforts—such as the search for MH370 or during anti-piracy patrols off the Horn of Africa—but moments of tension or conflict are another matter. "If there was real tension and the risk of conflict between China and a US ally in East Asia, then it is hard to imagine Chinese warships being allowed to enter Australian ports for re-supply," said one Beijing-based analyst who watches China's naval build-up. "The Chinese know this lack of guaranteed port access is something they are going to have to broach at some point down the track," he said. "As the navy grows, this is going to be a potential strategic dilemma." Zha Daojiong, an international relations professor at Beijing's Peking University, said the Indian Ocean search was an "exceptional" circumstance and that Chinese strategists knew they could not automatically rely on getting into the ports of US allies if strategic tensions soared. China's navy had significantly expanded friendship visits to ports from Asia and the Pacific to the Middle East and Mediterranean in recent years, but discussions over longer-term strategic access were still some way off, he said. "At some point, we will have to create a kind of road-map to create these kind of agreements, that is for sure, but that will be for the future," Zha said. "We are pragmatic and we know there are sensitivities surrounding these kinds of discussions, or even historic suspicions in some places, so the time is probably not right just yet," he said. "I expect to see more friendship visits, and ongoing access on a request basis. Then there is the issue of making sure the facilities can meet our needs." Operationally, long-range deployments such as the anti-piracy patrols and the search for wreckage of MH370 have proved important logistical learning curves, he added. Potential blue-water deployments of future aircraft carrier strike groups further complicates China's logistical outlook. China's first carrier, the Liaoning, a Soviet-era ship bought from Ukraine in 1998 and re-built in a Chinese shipyard, is being used for training and is not yet fully operational. Regional military attaches and analysts said it could be decades before China was able to compete with US carriers, if at all. Tai Ming Cheung, director of the UC Institute of Global Conflict and Co-operation at the University of California, described the MH370 search as a "major learning moment" for the People's Liberation Army (PLA) and could lead to a push from its top brass to develop global power-projection capabilities. The PLA covers all arms of the military, including the navy. Chinese officials and analysts have bristled at suggestions by Western and Indian counterparts that Beijing is attempting to create a so-called "string of pearls" by funding port developments across the Indian Ocean, including Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Burma. Chinese analysts say the ports will never develop into Chinese bases and even long-term access deals would be highly questionable, given the political uncertainties and the immense strategic trust this would require. Storey, of Singapore's Institute of South East Asian Studies, said the "string of pearls" theory was increasingly seen as discredited among strategic analysts. So far this decade, Chinese naval ships have visited Gulf ports and other strategic points across the Middle East, including Oman, Israel, Qatar and Kuwait, after completing piracy patrols. But despite its rapid naval build-up, many experts believe China is a decade or more away from being able to secure key offshore shipping lanes and was still reliant on the United States to secure oil choke-points such as the Straits of Hormuz that leads to the Gulf. Closer to home, the disputed South China Sea offers few solutions. China's eight fortified holdings on reefs and islets across the contested Spratly archipelago are not considered big enough for a significant offshore base, according to Richard Bitzinger, a regional military analyst at Singapore's S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies. Nor is the base at Woody Island in the Paracels further north, where China is expanding a runway and harbor. "Beyond the PLA's significant naval bases on Hainan Island, I just can't see where the Chinese will be able to get the port access they will need in Southeast Asia over the longer term," Bitzinger said. "The intensifying disputes with the likes of the Philippines and Vietnam have hardly helped." The Philippines and Vietnam, along with Malaysia and Brunei, dispute China's claim to much of the South China Sea, one of the world's most important trade routes. Taiwan's claim mirrors that of Beijing. Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia and Taiwan all maintain military bases across the Spratlys, which sit above a seabed rich in oil and gas potential. "The US Navy has been at this for 100 years or so," and constantly works at maintaining and nurturing its strategic network, Bitzinger said. "China's been doing it for about 15 … China's not going to be able to catch up overnight." Additional reporting by Grace Li in Hong Kong and Matt Siegel in Sydney. The post Search for MH370 Reveals a Military Vulnerability for China appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine. |
| Pirates Raid Japanese Oil Tanker Off Malaysia, Kidnap 3 Crew Posted: 22 Apr 2014 10:31 PM PDT  Malaysian marine police intercept a pirate boat during a 2007 joint exercise. Coast Guard officials from Japan, Malaysia and Thailand work together to combat piracy in the Malacca Strait, one of the world's busiest waterways key to Asian trade. (Photo: Reuters) KUALA LUMPUR — Armed pirates raided a Japanese oil tanker off the coast of Malaysia and abducted three crew members, Malaysian maritime police said on Wednesday, underscoring increasing threats to shipping in one of the world's busiest waterways. The incident in the Malacca Strait, a route for about a quarter of the world's seaborne oil trade, has fueled fears piracy could be on the rise in the area and drive up ship insurance premiums. Six pirates in a speedboat boarded the Naninwa Maru 1 at 1.00 am local time on Wednesday off the coast of west Malaysia, Maritime Police Commander Abdul Aziz Yusof told Reuters. The pirates pumped out more than half the 5 million liters of diesel carried by the tanker into two waiting vessels and made off with three crew members, he added. Domestic media said the abducted men were Indonesians. The Japanese tanker, headed for Burma from Singapore, had Indonesian, Thai, Burmese and Indian crew members. Regional security officials have previously told Reuters that armed gangs prowling the Malacca Strait may be part of a syndicate that can either have links to the crew on board the hijacking target or inside knowledge about the ship and cargo. Such intelligence led hijacks has involved seizing tankers so that gas or oil cargoes can be transferred and sold on the black market, the officials, who declined to be identified because they are not authorized to speak to the media, have said. Attacks by gangs armed with guns and knives on shipping in the Malacca Strait have ranged from 12 to 20 incidents a year over the last three years, says the Singapore headquarters of the Regional Cooperation Agreement on Combating Piracy and Armed Robbery against Ships in Asia (ReCAAP). Most of these incidents have involved the theft of ship's stores, cash and assaults on the crew. That compares with a peak of 220 recorded attacks in 2000, according to the Kuala Lumpur-based International Maritime Bureau, which tracks pirate activity. The post Pirates Raid Japanese Oil Tanker Off Malaysia, Kidnap 3 Crew appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine. |
| Obama Says Disputed Islands Within Scope Of US-Japan Security Treaty Posted: 22 Apr 2014 10:27 PM PDT  US President Barack Obama meets with China's then Vice President Xi Jinping in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington in February 2012. (Photo: Reuters) TOKYO — US President Barack Obama has assured Japan that tiny islands in the East China Sea at the heart of a territorial row with China are covered by a bilateral security treaty that obligates America to come to Japan's defense. Obama gave the assurance in remarks published by the Yomiuri newspaper on Wednesday, hours before he was due to arrive in Tokyo for a visit aimed at reaffirming strong US-Japan ties in the face of rising tensions over China and North Korea. "The policy of the United States is clear—the Senkaku islands are administered by Japan and therefore fall within the scope of … the US-Japan Treaty of Mutual Cooperation and Security," Obama said, referring to the disputed islands known as the Senkaku in Japan and the Diaoyu in China. "And we oppose any unilateral attempts to undermine Japan's administration of these islands," he said. Obama's visit to Japan is the first stop on a four-nation Asia tour. He will seek to assure key allies such as Japan and South Korea that their alliance is as strong as ever, while trying not to damage ties with an increasingly powerful China. In written replies to questions from the Yomiuri, Obama said he had told Chinese President Xi Jinping that all nations had an interest in the peaceful resolution of East China Sea disputes. Japanese and Chinese naval vessels and coastguard ships have played cat and mouse around the disputed islets since Japan's government purchased the formerly privately owned territory in 2012. Japanese fighter jets scrambled against Chinese planes a record 415 times in the year through to March, up 36 percent from the previous year, Japan's Defense Ministry said recently. Obama said any disputes should be resolved through dialogue and diplomacy, not intimidation and coercion, and also commended Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's efforts to strengthen Japan's military and deepen coordination with US forces. In a sign of the delicate balancing act that Washington now faces in Asia, he said he believes the United States and China can work together on issues of mutual interest, such as a strong global economy and the denuclearization of North Korea. "In other words, we welcome the continuing rise of a China that is stable, prosperous and peaceful and plays a responsible role in global affairs," he said. "And our engagement with China does not and will not come at the expense of Japan or any other ally." Obama reaffirmed Washington's commitment to the security of Japan and South Korea, and said it would stand firm in its insistence that a nuclear North Korea was unacceptable. "The burden is on Pyongyang to take concrete steps to abide by its commitments and obligations, and the United States, Japan and South Korea are united in our goal—the complete denuclearization of the Korean peninsula," he said. The post Obama Says Disputed Islands Within Scope Of US-Japan Security Treaty appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine. |
| Don’t Be Afraid to Honor a Burmese Hero! Posted: 22 Apr 2014 09:23 PM PDT  U Win Tin, 1930-2014 (Cartoon: Nay Myo Say / The Ladies News Journal) Today, Burma will put Uncle Win Tin, the fearless defender of the rights of the oppressed, to rest. To honor him, we should all be equally courageous and show no fear in paying him the respect he is due. Of course, most Burmese will not hesitate to pay tribute to this fallen hero. But do the country's past and present rulers have the nerve to honor a man they imprisoned for nearly 20 years? It's no good for the present "reformist" government to act as if bears no responsibility for the way Uncle Win Tin and countless others like him were treated by the former regime. The whole country knows that our president is no Gorbachev, but just a puppet of the old Than Shwe dictatorship. Let's see if the self-styled "reformists" now in power have the audacity to say that Uncle Win Tin was a great man—a man who should have been treated like a national hero, not a common criminal. Those who admire Uncle Win Tin will attend his funeral, or sing songs in his honor and pray for him. Will any Western or Asian government officials who have embraced the ex-military government turn up? How about the former spy chief Khin Nyunt, the man who had Uncle Win Tin locked up and tortured for his political convictions? Will he attend? Let's wait and see. How will the United Nations and the governments of Norway, Australia, Germany and other countries that have applauded the Thein Sein administration's "reforms" respond to the outpouring of grief at the loss of Uncle Win Tin? Will they share the Burmese people's sadness, or just shed crocodile tears and continue doing business as usual with Naypyidaw's wolves in sheep's clothing when the funeral is over? Today is a sad day for Burma, but it is not a day to stay silent. The only way to honor Uncle Win Tin is by clearly standing with him and the principles he spent a lifetime trying to defend. It is the least we can do for a man who has given so much for his country. The post Don't Be Afraid to Honor a Burmese Hero! appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine. |
