http://www.irrawaddy.org/print_article.php?art_id=14156
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By KYAW ZWA MOE Tuesday, September 2, 2008
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You know that the United Nations’ efforts to broker reconciliation talks in Burma are failing miserably when all the visiting UN envoy wants to talk about is the ruling junta’s “road map” to a sham democracy.
Ibrahim Gambari’s latest trip to Burma was more than a disappointment: it was a disgrace. In the course of his nearly weeklong visit, the UN envoy held two brief consultations with members of the National League for Democracy (NLD) and spent the rest of his time speaking with handpicked advocates of a political process that deliberately excludes anyone who questions the military’s right to rule.
It should have come as no surprise, then, that detained opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi declined to meet with Gambari lest she further legitimize his failed mission, which is still being carried out under a mandate that he has evidently abandoned.
The objectives of Gambari’s mission are clear: to secure the release of Suu Kyi and other political prisoners and to initiate a dialogue between leaders of the regime and the democratic opposition. He has failed on both accounts, and has now taken it upon himself to sell critics of the regime on the idea that an election slated for 2010 could be the way forward.
The 2010 election is the fourth step in the regime’s seven-step “road map” to a “disciplined democracy.” In his discussions with senior members of the NLD, Gambari said that the UN would do its utmost to ensure that polling is conducted in a “free and fair” manner.
It is difficult, however, to have much faith in the UN’s ability to guarantee anything in Burma. After all, it had no influence whatsoever on the regime’s decision to foist a phony referendum on a country still reeling from the effects of Cyclone Nargis in early May. Indeed, it virtually had to beg to be allowed to assist victims of the deadly storm.
Strangely, the UN’s crucial role in the ongoing relief efforts in the Irrawaddy delta appears to have given it no political leverage inside Burma. On the contrary, the world body seems to be going out of its way to avoid displeasing the ruling generals.
Perhaps this reflects a new humanitarian focus, one that obscures the political quagmire underlying the country’s seemingly endless suffering. Or maybe it is something more cynical—an attempt to take the path of least resistance, even if it means sidelining Suu Kyi and her party.
Either way, the UN is taking a dangerous gamble on the goodwill of the Burmese junta. And even if the regime honors any promises that it may have made—which is extremely unlikely, given its record—it is ludicrous to buy into its vision of a future where the military is the ultimate arbiter of what constitutes a true democracy, particularly when its starting point is the eradication of the democratic opposition.
The UN must realize that the “road map” is nothing more than an attempt to return Burma to the days before the NLD’s historic electoral victory in 1990. Unless it gets back on track and starts pushing seriously for genuine dialogue between the generals and Burma’s legitimate leaders, the UN will be justifiably accused of sacrificing the country’s interests to save face.
The United Nations and the rest of the international community must never make the mistake of believing that Suu Kyi or the principles she represents are irrelevant. Until genuine reconciliation is reached, Burma will remain a victim of the generals’ whims—and every apparent step forward will be followed by seven steps back.
This article appeared in the September issue of The Irrawaddy magazine.
Copyright © 2008 Irrawaddy Publishing Group | www.irrawaddy.org
Tuesday, September 2, 2008
The UN’s Dangerous Detour
KI Media: Mekong carries the runoff from China's superpower status
Mekong carries the runoff from China's superpower status
1/09/2008
MICHAEL RICHARDSON
The Canberra Times (Australia)
China says it remains a developing country despite an impressively rapid rise in the league of global power. By some measures, it is now the world's third biggest economy and second largest exporter. However gauged, China is clearly a nation with increasing impact and influence, especially if you live in nearby South-East Asia.
So it comes as no surprise that China is blamed these days for local troubles almost as ritualistically as the United States, the superpower China says it will never emulate.
The latest finger pointing at China comes in the wake of devastating floods in parts of northern Thailand and Laos after the Mekong, South-East Asia's largest river, overflowed its banks, inundating villages and rice fields, and leaving a swath of destruction that will cost many millions of dollars to repair.
The water level on August 15 at Vientiane, the capital of Laos on the banks of the Mekong, was the highest since records began in 1913. Although it has dropped since then, low-lying regions in Cambodia and the Mekong Delta of southern Vietnam are bracing themselves for similar damage as the floodwaters move downstream.
Some Thais hit by the floods, as well as non-governmental organisations campaigning against dam building, say that water released from the reservoirs of three big Chinese dams on the upper reaches of the Mekong swelled the runoff from a tropical storm and heavy monsoon rain across northern Laos and China's southern Yunnan Province early last month.
But the Mekong River Commission, in a statement last week, pointed out that the volume of releasable water held by the three Chinese hydro-power dams to generate electricity was too small to have been a significant factor in the flooding. The commission, established by the governments of Cambodia, Laos, Thailand and Vietnam in 1995 at the end of a long period of conflict in the region, helps to coordinate management of the Mekong Basin in South-East Asia.
As the world's 12th longest river, the Mekong runs through or between six countries China, Burma and the four commission member states. Although the Mekong starts high in China's Qinghai-Tibetan plateau and flows through China for more than one-third of its total length of over 4300km, China is not a commission member.
Nor is reclusive Burma. They are ''dialogue partners'' who meet commission members from time to time and share only some information about their respective sections of the river.
The commission says that the combined storage capacity of the three Chinese dams on the upper section of the Mekong is less than one cubic kilometre. It adds that only a small part of this could have been released as the floodwaters in the area accumulated between August 8, when the tropical storm struck, and August 12, when the flood peak in the Mekong was measured at Chiang Saen, in Thailand, where the commission has its most northerly monitoring station.
At Chiang Saen on that day, measurements showed an accumulated flood runoff volume for the month of 8.5 cubic kilometres, while further downsteam at Vientiane on 12 August it was 23 cubic kilometres, leading the commission to conclude that any release from the Chinese dams ''could not have been a significant factor in this natural flood event''.
While this may be true, Chinese dam construction on the upper reaches of the Mekong is a legitimate source of concern for downstream South-East Asian countries. To generate electricity, water has to be released to drive the turbines.
Their worry is that too much will be released in the wet season, contributing to flooding, and too little in the dry season, when the water is needed in South-East Asia.
This concern will be accentuated when China completes the fourth dam on its section of the Mekong by 2013.
This dam at Xiaowan will be 292m high, one of the world's tallest. It will generate over 4000 megawatts of electricity, the equivalent output of at least four nuclear power stations.
Its reservoir will impound water in a 190sqkm reservoir that Chinese officials say will hold 15 billion cubic metres of water, nearly five times the volume held by the three existing dams.
They say this will reduce the amount of water flowing into South-East Asia by 17 per cent during the flood season and increase the flow by 40 per cent in the dry season.
Four more dams are planned for the Mekong in Yunnan, one of which will have a storage capacity similar to Xiaowan. Just filling the Xiaowan dam's reservoir is estimated to take between five and 10 years, using half the upper Mekong's flow. Clearly, a cascade of dams on this scale will affect the amount and quality of water available to downstream states in South-East Asia.
Averaged over the year, only about 20 per cent of the water flowing into the lower section of the Mekong comes from China. However, Chinese policy is particularly important in the dry season, when the long stretch of the Mekong on its territory accounts for 50 per cent to 70 per cent of the water flow at the mouth of river in Vietnam, where it meets the South China Sea.
If China is serious when it promises a cooperative and mutually beneficial partnership with South-East Asia, it should join the Mekong River Commission as a full member, share all hydrological information with its neighbours and integrate its Yunnan dam planning into the development blueprint for the lower Mekong Basin.
This would strengthen commission efforts to develop and apply an integrated management plan for the whole of the Mekong River Basin, with multilateral as well as national interests in mind.
The writer, a former Asia editor of the International Herald Tribune, is an energy and security specialist at the Institute of South-East Asian Studies in Singapore.
Posted by Socheata | Permalink |
Labels: Chinese dams water release | Mekong River Commission | Mekong River flooding
The Statesman-Rule of the generals
Rule of the generals
The term military-industrial complex was used by US President Eisenhower in his farewell address in 1961. He warned against “the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the military-industrial complex”. According to an analysis of this factor in US politics, Eisenhower’s comment did not include “a third member of the potent group: the politicians who sit in both houses of the Congress and enjoy their full share of the Pentagon’s business” (The Money Lords by Matthew Josephson,1972). The book described the dynamics of this linkage during the Cold War.
Eisenhower’s comment relates mostly to Europe during the Cold War. In contemporary forms in ‘modern’ settings in Asia, the military-industrial complex often coexists with feudal patterns associated with pre-modern cultural influences. Politics can be formally modern using voting and constitutions and operating modern-style industrial and military activities but these aspects of politics in most Third World countries are controlled by old elites.
In contemporary times, the military-industrial-political complex operates globally taking various forms. In the Asian context, it often takes crude forms wearing mantles of democracy. In the US context, it may take subtle, structural forms occasionally exposed in the free press.
In Pakistan, a well-known author, Ayesha Siddiqa, published a book entitled, Military Inc.: Inside Pakistan’s Military Economy last year, which presented documentary details about the army’s control of Pakistan’s economy. Pakistani army personnel, according to the book, own hundreds of businesses and millions of acres of land. According to her, the army has turned into an independent class. She described this relationship as “Milbus” or military business. According to her, it operates in all three sectors ~ agriculture, manufacturing and service. The military’s empire in Pakistan is worth billions of dollars, she wrote, but it is run with virtually no transparency or accountability. So-called free elections are unlikely to change this infrastructure of politics in Pakistan.
Political instability has marked Pakistan’s history since 1953 when Governor General Ghumam Muhammad dismissed the country’s first civilian government. Since then army chiefs and political leaders have dismissed 10 civilian governments that ruled for 27 years. The remaining 33 years were ruled by the military often in conjunction with political parties.
According to an article in Guardian Weekly last year, one of the reasons democracy did not thrive in Pakistan is because of the power of the landowning class which remains the social base from which politicians emerge. In many backward areas, the local zamindar exerts political influence expecting his people to vote for his chosen candidate. Such loyalty can be enforced. Many big zamindars have private prisons and private armies.
Sectarian diversity in rural areas is marked by militants who were financed by the ISI for 25 years for deployment in Afghanistan and then Kashmir to fight proxy wars for the army. Twenty-nine years after the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, Pakistani army-supported militants ~ thousands of armed, unemployed jihadis with modern weapons ~ have created mayhem.
Myanmar is a case of the crudest form of military-industrial-political complex. Since the military coup in 1962, the army has controlled the politics and economy directly. The military junta uses forced labour to construct projects for the army. Its opposition leader, Nobel Laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, has spent over 12 years under house arrest. When we look at Myanmar’s political history, we see how Washington shows a discriminatory approach to democracy and human rights. It condemned Saddam Hussein’s autocracy and overthrew him, but did not act strongly against the military autocracy in Myanmar. According to a report in the Guardian magazine, an estimated 95,000 people teeter on the brink of starvation, hiding in the jungles. The ranks of refugees in camps in Thailand have swelled to 153,000.
The military junta in Myanmar built a new capital city in the northern part of the state where high-class residential facilities for army officers and their families were built at a cost of over $200 million, according to a report by the International Monetary Fund. Over half of the annual budget is spent for the benefit of the 400,000-strong military shelling out billions of dollars on military equipment.
Leading Asian countries like India and China do not officially criticise and act to change Myanmar’s military rule. China once vetoed a UN Security Council resolution requiring the restoration of democracy in Myanmar. India and China along with Thailand, another neighbour, are motivated by economic interests in their relationships with one of the worst military dictatorships in recent history. A Chinese firm and the state-owned electric company of Thailand are interested in building a hydro-power plant on the Salween river on the border with Thailand. Beijing has also established strategic facilities for blue water naval operations and installed a technical network in Mynamar’s southern coastal belt bordering India.
India is a rare Asian country where politics is not crudely influenced by the military-industrial complex. But as its policy to Myanmar shows, it supports the military-industrial complex when geo-strategic and geo-economic interests are served. India showed interest in participating in the massive Swe gas project with a pipeline to India. According to a recent report, India has agreed to build a multimillion dollar seaport and transportation system in Myanmar.
If we look at the political history of China, Indonesia and Thailand, we find the operation of military-industrial complexes in these countries too. In China, military influence on politics developed during Mao’s regime. In Indonesia, under Sukarno the army was a part of the ruling elite. Later, when Suharto took over in 1965 after the massacre of the communists, the military became part of the political and economic elite. According to the history of this takeover of politics in The Army and Politics in Indonesia by Harold Crouch (1978), the army became more powerful in the economic and political arena. The President of Indonesia once was a former army general.
Thailand is, also dominated by the military. One can describe it as a monarchy-military-industrial complex since Thailand is ruled by a monarch. The overthrow of Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra last year and the takeover of power by the military with the monarch’s approval is a dramatic case of this type of complex.
If we extend analysis of this factor to other parts of the world, we can find different forms of the operation of this complex. According to a report in the British media, the British government paid over a billion pounds to Prince Bandar of Saudi Arabia following UK’s biggest arms deal with the country.
Saudi Arabia is a rare monarchy where the country it rules is named after a family dynasty which profits from its oil industry links with the Western world.
(The author is Professor Emeritus, California State University, Sacramento)
Burmese Troops on Alert over Border Dispute with Thailand
Burmese Troops on Alert over Border Dispute with Thailand
Burmese Troops on Alert over Border Dispute with Thailand
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By VIOLET CHO Monday, September 1, 2008
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Burmese military forces have reportedly stepped up security along a section of Burma’s border with Northern Thailand as the two countries discuss a disputed piece of territory there.
At a session of the Regional Border Committee (RBC) in Chiang Rai, Northern Thailand, the Burmese delegation demanded the return of Loilang, known in Thai as Doilang, a 32 square kilometre area of land once controlled by the Mong Tai Army but taken over by the Thai Army in 1987. The land is sandwiched between Monghsat in Burma and the Thai village of Mae Ai.
The Shan Herald Agency for News reported that the leader of the Burmese delegation, Maj-Gen Kyaw Phyoe, commander of Burmese forces in the Gold Triangle region, had accused Thailand of “violating the territorial integrity” of Burma during a speech delivered to local officials in Mongton township, Shan State.
Referring to Thailand’s dispute with Cambodia over the Preah Vihear temple. Kyaw Phyoe said:
"Just as they (Thailand) have unilaterally taken possession of the Cambodian territory, they are doing the same at Loilang. The time will come when we'll have to deal with the issue properly.”
The English language daily The Bangkok Post reported that the issue has now been referred to the Thai and Burmese governments in the hope of resolving the dispute.
ENC reiterates call for tripartite dialogue
Than Htike Oo
Monday, 01 September 2008 22:03
Chiang Mai – The Ethnic Nationalities Council (ENC) has said that a political dialogue between Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, ethnic leaders and the military regime is crucial for Burma.
On the conclusion of the 5th Congress of the ENC held on the Thai-Burma border for five days starting on August 26, it reiterated its call for a tripartite dialogue and rejected the junta's declared 2010 general elections.
"In the current political situation, we need to resolve the political crisis by political means so we badly need this tripartite dialogue. Under such circumstances, we must focus on dialogue," Saw David Taw, spokesman of ENC told Mizzima.
"The junta's constitution is undemocratic and all the powers are vested and concentrated in the hands of the President and Commander-in-Chief. We cannot accept this. At the same time, the would-be government under this constitution cannot implement democratic norms and practices. So we cannot accept the 2010 general election either," he said.
It is learnt that 55 representatives from political parties, women, youth and other civil societies from seven ethnic States attended the congress.
The ENC statement on 'SPDC's planned 2010 general election' issued on August 28 urged the junta to hold political tripartite talks with Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and ethnic leaders which must lead to legal and a de jure government of the Union of Burma.
The congress urged the 1990 election winning parties to continue their struggle against the junta's roadmap as the 2010 general election is part of it.
The congress also called for 'Multi-Party Talk' on the Burma issue including involving neighbouring countries under the aegis of UN to resolve the political, economic and social crisis in Burma by bringing the ruling SPDC (junta) to the dialogue table.
"The opinion and stance of Burma's neigbours, India and China, are different from the international community. The consultation and coordination involving these neighbouring countries can bring Burma close to a solution. UN's intervention and mediation is not encouraging. The UN envoy could do nothing. And China and Russia always exercise their veto rights at the UN Security Council on Burma resolutions. So we are exploring another tangible solution by coordinating with neighbouring countries especially China in seeking a solution which will be acceptable to China and these neigbouring countries before putting the Burma issue again at the UNSC," U David Taw said.
On the UN's role on the Burma issue, he said, "It is very simple, the UN has no formidable force and no one pays respect to it. That is very clear. So the junta won't heed whatever resolutions the UN adopts and presents to them because China is standing firmly behind them. So we adopted this line", he added.
The UN special envoy Mr. Ibrahim Gambari recently concluded his six-day visit to Burma for political reforms in the country but the opposition forces were not encouraged or pleased with this visit and criticized him for just advocating the junta's planned 2010 general elections.
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Naga Blog » Blog Archive » Voice of the Voiceless: Trust building in a divided World
Global Indigenous Dialogue
World Indigenous Day, 9 August 2007
Caux Lecture, Switzerland
Voice of the Voiceless: Trust building in a divided World
Dr Visier Sanyü
G’day mate – we say this when we greet each other in Australia. But I am one of the 4.6 million or 23% of Australians born overseas. My origins are from Nagaland and when my tribe greet each other we say: “Mhacü lie temo?”the origin of this greetings could be translated as “Come into my house and have food with me”. This greeting says something about the culture of my people. But our neighbours the Indians, say “Namaste” when they greet each other, which means “I salute the divine you”. The Jews, especially in Israel, greet each other with “shalom”, and you reply “shalom”. In most Christian traditions we say “peace be with you,” and the reply is, “and also with you”. Recently, a bishop went to a very important meeting. The PA system was not working well and the Bishop was a little embarrassed, so he pointed to the mike and said “there is something wrong with this,” and the congregation replied, “and also with you.”
We all think there is something wrong with the other religion, the other Nation, whereas the other group may think there is something wrong with us. Many indigenous people think that there is something wrong with the rest of the world. The Nation States view indigenous people as a problem. If we are honest, we all have some elements of xenophobia in us whether we are indigenous or non indigenous, but what we often forget is that we all also have some elements of Filoxenia which is the opposite of xenophobia. Filoxenia is defined as being attracted to that which is foreign, especially to foreign people, manners, or cultures. I am not trying to exhibit my knowledge of Greek to you all, but I am highlighting this love of strangers and others which exists in every culture. I have an Uncle whose name is Sovizo, which means “he who will have many guests/strangers in his home”. I thought it was an unusual name but we all have that side in us. People go crazy when they go to a festival where there are lots of foreign foods and cultures. People love the exotic – including indigenous cultures. This can be a starting point to built trust.
It is a unique gift to be an indigenous person. At the outset, I want to share with you my understanding of the term indigenous people. If we take the literal meaning of the word, every human being is an indigenous person somewhere and non indigenous somewhere else. Therefore this would make the German, Swiss, French, English and Chinese all indigenous people. The definition of the word means as originating or occurring naturally in a country or region. However, for want of a better term the word Indigenous is used for the nations and peoples who are colonized, marginalized, dispossessed of culture and even having a spiritual dislocation. It also refers to a philosophy of life–having a spiritual connection with mother and father earth. Paradoxically, it is these societies who have an unbroken link with the past, a culture of respect for nature and a deep sense of spiritual awareness for the future.
The indigenous people of the world have been defeated, marginalized, displaced and have suffered untold miseries. This is a fact, but indigenous people have also become a time bomb about to explode at any moment. What I mean by this is that the ill treatment of indigenous people by the Nations States has reached a point where their anger can cause harm to everyone – both indigenous and non-indigenous. It is true is that we have not always been easily understood by the larger communities of the world, even by people who have good and genuine intentions to achieve reconciliation. But unless the voices of the Indigenous people are heard they will become more difficult because they are angry for what they have become, and rightly so.
The indigenous people who are victims of the western world such as the Americas, known as the First Nations and the indigenous in Europe and Australia are very different in their history, political struggles, cultural heritage, and views from those of the indigenous people from Africa and Asia. Certainly the indigenous people of Asia, particularly in India, where they are still known as “tribal,” have a different approach to the indigenous movement . Whatever the nomenclature, Indigenous people are the people without political and economic power and therefore without a voice in the decision making for shaping the future of our planet.
Our world is divided between the rich and the poor, between black and white, North and South, East and West, Muslims, Jews, Christians, Indigenous and the coloniser and the list goes on. The indigenous people must ask themselves what kind of role they are going to play in trust building in this divided world.
We are deeply concerned about climate change. Not only scientists but even the ordinary people are aware that our planet is heading for a catastrophe unless we do something to change the way we live. We are all grateful to people like Al Gore who have played a major role in educating us about this crisis. Yet how many times have you read or seen the Cree prophecy long before Al Gore? Let me remind you once again, “only after the last tree has been cut down, only after the last river has been poisoned, only after the last fish caught, only then will you find that we cannot eat money”. I am sure that most people have read it at some point, but the world did not listen because it was the voice of the voiceless indigenous people. We cannot always afford to wait for an Al Gore appear to warn us about environmental issues.
I have lived in Australia for 11 years and I realise that I will never fully understand the ancient culture and wisdom of the Indigenous people of Australia. I also realise that I am only just beginning to have some insights into the Anglo-European culture, which is dominant in Australia.
Australia is not only a lucky country but a blessed land. It is the great South land of the Holy Spirit. We have also experimented with one of the most unique forms of multiculturalism. Unlike the melting pot theory elsewhere where it appears that all the cultures evolved into one culture, in Australia everyone can practice one’s own culture, speak their original language and be Australian all at the same time. Therefore, we have many Greeks and Italians in Australia who are more Greek and Italian than the people of Greece and Italy. And many Aussies love the Queen of England more than the English people. This is based on the fact that no culture is superior. Cultures are simply different from each other, but in Australia this noble concept of multiculturalism has come under serious threat under from the present government [John Howard’s]. I am that glad our indigenous people are playing a significant role in reminding our current government that Australia became multicultural ever since the first boat people arrived from England.
The relationship between the Indigenous and Settlers, as you all know, is a sad history of colonisation. Many horrible things happened to the indigenous people. For example ‘the stolen generation’ witnessed the removal of aboriginal children from their parents where they were raised by white families. There was even an eradication program of Aboriginals and rabbits in Tasmania. The positive side of this story is that today a large majority of the population are sorry for the past and want reconciliation. Unfortunately this is not happening under the present government reign. But the resilience of the Aboriginal people in their commitment to the Journey Healing is like light in the darkness.
To begin a new life with a young family in a new country is very challenging. We were very grateful to be granted Australian citizenship after four years of our stay but at the same time there were mixed feelings as I felt something was incomplete without the blessings of the Indigenous people. So we requested that they welcome us to their country. Reg Blow, the Aboriginal elder performed a smoke ceremony where our family was welcomed. After that we felt a spiritual connection to the indigenous people of the land and we still do now. I continue to work with the indigenous people of Australia and every fortnight I go to the Maya Healing centre to conduct meditation workshops.
The most recent debate in Australia is the issue of child sexual abuse amongst the indigenous community. The problem is of serious concern for the whole nation. Prime Minister John Howard has declared it as a National Emergency and has sent the army and police into Aboriginal communities to tackle this problem. This drastic action has angered many Aboriginal leaders and they see this as an election campaign tactic. Patrick Dodson, who is a prominent Aboriginal leader said, “There continues to be a wide perception in the indigenous community, and considered opinion across the nation, that the National Emergency intervention strategy is motivated by political factors in the election year. It lacks integrity”. He continues to say, “This is an Iraq-style intervention with no exit strategy or plans for long-term economic and social development”. The Aboriginals are once again made voiceless in this debate and they continue to be the most disadvantaged community in Australia. The life expectancy of an indigenous person is 17 years less than the non-indigenous. Also 22% of prisoners in Australia are indigenous but they make up less then 3% of Australia’s population.
Mahatma Gandhi was once asked what he thought of Western Civilization. He quickly replied, “I think it’s a good idea”. While western civilization, which dominates our planet today, is a good idea, it has also fallen short of providing us with a good and safe world to live in. I am aware that Westerners are the best critics of their own civilization and I am not an authority to comment on that as my own civilization is inadequate of providing the answers. But it is time to pause and ask whether this civilization has missed out something which is deeply indigenous, in a sense, deeply spiritual? Has it strayed too far in economic rationalism and military might? Can the Indigenous people fill the gap between the western-based civilization and a spiritual peaceful world that we all longed for? Can we truly offer an answer to the world‘s hunger and thirst for a spirituality that deeply satisfies so that everyone can live with dignity? Can we build a spiritual civilization?
In my part of the world there is a beautiful mountain. For thousands of years it was known to the Tibetan as Chomolungma (pronounced Jongmalunga) but the mountain did not exist until the British army officer Andrew Waugh saw it and decided to name it after his teacher George Everest. According to Waugh, “so that it may become a word among civilized Nations”. This is how the whole world knows this mountain as Mount Everest. (I am glad that you are all civilized people!!) There are numerous demonstrations of this arrogant attitude; for example, Australia was called ‘No Man’s Land’ or “Terra Nullius” because the Indigenous people were not considered then to be human by the European settlers. The list is endless in the ways this was demonstrated throughout Indigenous history. A civilization that is arrogant and that ignores the small voice will face serious consequences in the future.
As an indigenous person I would like to share some journeys of indigenous people. Search for God or pursuit of enlightenment and of a higher spiritual life is not unique to the indigenous people. But because the indigenous are deprived of political and economic powers and because of their history of displacement and dislocation, it becomes even more urgent and pertinent for them than for other communities to seek something higher than themselves. In other words, there is always a deep search for spirituality among the indigenous people. The unbroken link with the past in their culture and their close relationship with nature and the land is a factor that helps them. This is an area where the indigenous people can play a unique role in building trust in this divided world.
It is in our human nature to create God in our own image. We manipulate God and contextualize our religion to suit our own culture and our own ideology. At the end of our search we reach a fundamental point which assumes that “I am right and all other religions and views are wrong”. This is the problem in our world today, entrenched fundamentalism.
We are all deeply concerned by the rise of terrorism. It is a complex issue with many expert theories and opinions. We are horrified when Muslim Al-Qaeda kills innocent people. We are sad when the soldiers of Christian George Bush and John Howard kill innocent people. But there seems to be some justification in that killing. For example, we went into war to help the Iraqi people and in the process some innocent people were killed. And we went to Afghanistan to get rid of the Taliban so that Afghans could live in a civilized society. These are some the justifications given for killing innocent people, yet we continue to say that we cannot understand the mind of the terrorists. We cannot understand the horror of suicide bombers nor how people can be so full of hate that they are ready to blow themselves up. As an indigenous person one aspect of this complexity is quite clear and we understand why the other side is fighting for their voice. Legal sanctions blind many and they are not able to understand that innocent casualties occur on both sides; therefore they will never understand why a terrorist becomes a terrorist.
We are perplexed as to how a person can kill in the name of God? When I was a child, our village teacher told us many ancient stories and mythologies. One such story was about a good man, a righteous man. His name was Abraham (Recently a Jewish friend told me that the Ham was added by the Christians as they really like pork, but that he was actually named Abram). Growing up, I learned that Abraham was the spiritual father of three important religions: Judaism, Christianity and Islam. In this story there is a part where God asked Abraham to kill his son. As Abraham was faithful and obedient he was ready to sacrifice his own son and you all know that this did not happen. But the question here is, does that send a message to the extremists who are ready to kill in the name of God? Are the fundamentalists so “God intoxicated” that they are ready to kill in the name of God? As an indigenous person, if God were to ask me to kill my son for his names’ sake, I would tell that God that I would certainly not do that. There must be a better way, a peaceful solution to stop conflict. In fact there are many ways to bring peace. Let me share with you one aspect of my work with refugees.
The Refugee Healing Trail
I am an Advocacy officer for Refugees with the Christian World Service, National Council of Churches in Australia. I have developed a program called Refugee Healing Trail - Refugees Finding New Dreams with Us. It is a program where a group of refugees go to an Australian country town for a weekend. They are hosted by Australian families. They share their stories - their dreams, hopes and feelings of angst at starting a new life in Australia; the traumas of fleeing conflicts and wars in their country of origin, living in refugee camps and detention centers, and seeking asylum in Australia. These experiences and stories create the Refugee Healing Trail. The experience includes a public function where the community can come together to hear the refugees’ stories and see their dances, hear their songs and share their cultures. But more importantly the host families and refugees develop compassion and a deeper friendship which helps create a healthy multicultural society in Australia.
For refugees the end of the journey is often the beginning of another journey. After the initial jubilation and celebration when accepted by Australia, the refugees face a deep cultural shock as they settle down in the community. A sense of deep loneliness and desperation grips them beyond their anticipation, everything is new and strange. And they become mute. Some even miss the miserable refugee camps where they had spent many years but are too polite to express these emotions as they are expected to be grateful for their wonderful life now. For them it is not simply a change of country, it is also a cultural and spiritual dislocation. The Refugee Healing Trail is a way to help these brave people start new lives.
The most common remark from the people who hosted the Healing Trail is that it was healing for them to care for refugees. In the last Healing Trail in June this year, a school teacher who kept two refugees in her home wrote, “The entire weekend was such an uplifting experience for me. I was overwhelmed by their gratefulness, the positive outlook and love they are willing to give. They want for so little. It really was a life changing experience. It is no longer a story I can distance myself from. They are unique individuals with so much to offer. They have helped me put my life into perspective. I now know that my problems are so small and incidental. We really have nothing to worry about in comparison to what these refugees have encountered. I shall never forget this weekend for as long as I live.”
One of the first refugees who took part in the Refugee Healing Trail was David Vincent Nyuol, a Dinka from Sudan. He left his village when he was three due to the war and for 19 years lived in Kakuma refugee camp as one of the lost boys. A few months after his arrival in Australia he attended a Healing Trail. After the trip he told me that the experience was one the happiest trips in his life. Later I invited him to do a course with Initiatives of Change called Life Matters. The course gave him hope and inspiration for his people. David started with his friends a North /South Sudanese Youth Dialogue in Australia to bring reconciliation between the North and South Sudanese. He has since returned to Sudan twice and has met his mother after 22 years and his father after 20 years. He also visited Caux last year. These young Sudanese are organizing a conference of reconciliation in Sudan in 2008.
Australia has been enriched by the presence of refugees as they become part of the Australian story. Five out of eight billionaires in Australia are people whose families came to Australia as refugees. The presence of refugees in our midst challenges us to create an Australia that is caring and compassionate. The spiritual health of a nation depends on how strangers and those who speak with a small voice are welcomed into the community.
Let us look at an indigenous voice and where the indigenous way of peace making has been inspiring.
The Khonoma Public Commission
As I said earlier, originally I came from Nagaland. Naga are indigenous people who occupy the frontier of India and Burma. Under British colonial rule, the country Nagaland was divided between India and Burma. Although this is a common phenomenon of British colonialism it was very traumatic in the case of the Naga people. The palace of the chief of Longwa in Nagaland was divided in such a way that his kitchen went to Burma and his bedroom went to India. In 1947, the Naga National Council declared Nagaland independent from Britain a day before India’s Independence Day, but both India and Britain ignored this and India invaded Nagaland after the British left the subcontinent.
Gandhi promised the Nagas that they will have their independence, but sadly he was soon assassinated.
We have fought for our independence from India and Burma for the last 60 years since the British left the subcontinent of India. In this war we lost some 150,000 thousand lives. But in our struggle many things went wrong and our revolution began to devour our own children. In the process every family in Nagaland has been affected in one way or another. The national movement splintered into four factions in the ‘80s and by early ‘90s factional fights and fratricide became a daily scene.
A.Z Phizo, the father of the Naga nation, was born in my village and my village Khonoma made significant sacrifices for our independence movement. But very early on in the movement divisions /fractures emerged. Mistrust and divisions led to the loss of many lives.
One of our most prominent leaders, Sakhrie, was the man who gave the intellectual ideology to our independence movement. He was killed because the militant group felt that he was compromising our stand of total sovereignty. But his murder in turn was the trigger that marked an escalation of revenge and divisions within families and clans. Mistrust and hatred grew amongst our people. It took 50 long and painful years for our villagers to come to the point of reconciliation. Last year all the clans of Khonoma unitedly erected a monolith to commemorate Sakhrie’s death anniversary as a symbol of the healing and reconciliation that has taken place.
This peace process did not come easily. It took years of dedication, a willingness to bring peace and some indigenous methods of settling disputes. Key to this process was Niketu Iralu who has worked with Initiatives of Change in many countries. He returned to our village some years ago to work for reconciliation as he was deeply disturbed by the killings in Nagaland. With the villager elders and the youth the village formed the Khonoma Public Commission.
The role of the commission was to deliberate on the issues and on the wrongs, hurts and misunderstandings that have produced distrust, resentment and divisions in the village. Guided by the truth of history that “hurts not transformed are always transferred,” the Commission extended its assistance wherever there was a need to forgive or be forgiven, for closure, and to create mutual goodwill as a result of restitutions made, accepted or reciprocated.
The people of Khonoma expressed their prayer and longing for inner healing and liberation so that her sons and daughters might grow to God’s fullest stature for each one of them. The Commission members accepted the task given to them pledging to rise above motivations for personal or clan advantage so that the truth and the greater good of the village might prevail.
The task was to resolve yesterday’s wounds and divisions to bring healings to enable today’s generation to build a better tomorrow. “We must be able to remember sufficiently the pain of the past, so that it can safely be forgotten” Given the moral and spiritual nature of the task of the Commission, all its members were required to be committed to Khonoma achieving together what is right and best for all before God and man. Believing in the utmost importance of the gift of healing, the Commission declared their humble commitment to God and to one another to pursue the common objective, trusting in the power of God to guide them and to change what has gone wrong in our village starting with the commission members.
The Commission members made numerous journeys and visits to facilitate sensitive connections and honest interactions between individuals and the clans, in the space and atmosphere of trust and confidence. Heartfelt apologies were made for wounds inflicted during some of the most difficult years of the Naga struggle. Bitterness, doubts, fears, guilt and regrets held onto for years were expressed and heard. Mutual forgiveness and understanding thus became the liberating experience of all brought to God in equal need of His grace and blessing to start afresh.
The Commission gave sufficient time and opportunity for reviews of all the cases and grievances were heard several times.
The Commission identified 22 killings. They helped the wounded estranged families and clans to meet and listen to one another for the larger interest of our people. Gradually, those whose side had caused wounds asked for forgiveness. Those wounded graciously forgave, resulting in the beginning of healing and reconciliation after many years.
The Commission concluded that:
The Naga struggle was the natural, honorable response of the Naga people to the wide-ranging changes taking place in the world around them. That their struggle for independence was not a mistake but the methods taken had not been well thought and examined.
Mistakes were also caused under serious pressure by the Indian army as the army went all out to crush the Naga movement and occupy our land.
Finally, the Commission appeals to the people of Khonoma that differences or disputes arising in the future are not allowed to turn us away from one another and thereby weaken us, because they are meant to make us stronger by our willingness to discover and rise together to what is right and best for all.
The search for reconciliation within Khonoma was launched with an observance of Naga indigenous ritual (gena) and prayer day by observing silence, “turning the searchlight inward” to discover where one or one’s side has been wrong in order to make a start. The day started with the whole village remaining silent for 3 minutes as soon as a sign was given at 6 am. A letter went to all the people of Khonoma living away from home that the time of silence on that day was to be used to listen to one’s conscience to examine where one has been wrong and not on where others had been wrong. Our village elder Sebi later said that he was so struck by the completeness of the silence that morning. In his own words, “even the animals became aware that something was happening. They went away to hide themselves. The silence moved me deeply and I felt God had come down to our village”.
I would also like to quote Niketu’s own words, “When the Khonoma Public Commission got to work to fulfill the task the village had entrusted to its members, a unique opportunity was given to the people of Khonoma to take a calm, honest look at what had been whispering in the bottom of their hearts that had been causing dissatisfaction in their souls and kept our people tentative and distrustful. The mutual resentment towards one another had seriously reduced the capacity of the village to face the rapid changes the world started to bring to them”.
What renders us voiceless? What depth of silence is required within the clamoring voices of this civilization that we can learn to listen to the whisper within our hearts which calls us to humaneness and dignity?
In conclusion, let me share my own journey in this story. I was born and brought up in Khonoma village. When I was six my village was burnt down by the Indian army and we lived in the jungle for three years. We survived on wild vegetables and meat from wild animals, including monkeys. My brother joined the Naga army and went to Pakistan to obtain arms. He was later arrested and went to prison. My father was the village chief and was tortured and arrested many times. Like all the other Nagas, life in Khonoma was very deplorable in those days. Later I was educated in some of the best institutions in India and I became the Head of the History Department in Nagaland University, the youngest head of Department in the University at that time.
In 1996 at the height of factional fighting, I left Nagaland and moved to Australia with my wife and three children; our youngest son turned five the day we arrived. (My wife Pari and my daughter Visopiano are here with me today). Two months after I left Nagaland my colleague in the University was assassinated and my friend was shot in his own house. War and oppression create many types of casualties and people suffer in many different ways, such as drug abuse, poverty, dysfunctional families, mistrust, corruption, sexual abuse, mental illness and so on. Since we left Nagaland I have lost two brothers, one sister and five nephews. One brother died of cancer and the other brother died of alcoholism. One nephew died of alcoholism, one from drugs, and two have died from AIDS. For me, like many indigenous people, life could be a daily battle.
My story is not a unique story but just a part of the whole scenario as all the Naga families have experienced the same fate in our struggle. There are many orphans in Nagaland who witnessed their own parents killed in front of them.
Indigenous people have a deep spirituality. I also consider myself to be a spiritual person but recently an encounter with a non-indigenous person deeply shook my belief system. I have a great respect for a Professor of Theology, an Anglo Australian who has previously taught me. He is a compassionate, caring and an understanding man. He is truly a guru and a holy man. Whilst organizing a conference a little misunderstanding arose and I felt that he was not honest in one area and I shared this with him. He responded with integrity and genuinely apologized for his mistake. I could see from his eyes that he meant what he said. After this incident I was in the lift on my way to my office and I noticed that my hands were shaking. His graciousness had deeply touched me. This experience taught me that I have often taken a short cut or the easy way of doing things or I do the wrong things and give the flimsy excuse that it’s an indigenous way of doing things and expect other people to understand me because I am an Indigenous person. But if we want to contribute our wisdom and our spiritually to the rest of the world we must be honest first with ourselves and do things the right way, which is not always easy. Other nations and people have done wrong things to us, but we also do wrong things to ourselves.
I am reminded of my first encounter with the idea of Initiatives of Change when my friend Kolezo was able to forgive the people who were responsible for the death of his brother. His words still ring true today. He said “I have been too sensitive to how much others have hurt me but forgotten how much I have hurt others. If I have the courage to kill a man why can’t I also have the courage to love him enough to make him a different man?”
I believe in the survival of the Naga people. In spite of the powerlessness and all the injustices done to us, we have never failed to rise up again and again. The dynamics and splendor of our culture must survive for the good of humanity. Our loss will be the world’s loss too. No doubt we have to critically and wisely examine ourselves as we are our own greatest enemies, but our voice must be heard and it should not remain mute.
I conclude with a prayer to the indigenous female God of my tribe Ukepenuopfü. About the period when Buddha was receiving the enlightenment and the time when the prophets in Israel were saying great wisdom, our people were also finding and discovering their own God. It was a female God, not a goddess. When the missionaries came to our land they made her a male God and used her name to translate Jehovah. So today we have a female God who is a male.
O Ukenuopfü,
You have given birth to the human race
All the living creatures of the Earth
All the plants and the tress
Help me to care for them and treat them as my brothers and sisters
Bless my clan and my village
Provide us with plenty of rice to eat and wine to drink
So that I can perform the Feast of Merit for my clan and village
And help me to make the whole world my clan and my village
You speak to me in my dreams and in my heart
You give direction for my daily life
Help me to breath in love and exhale fear from within me
Hold my hands in my journey as I am afraid to take the step alone
Make my hands clean and my heart pure
Make me free and strong
So that I can help my brother to carry his basket across the river
Ukepenuopfü, help us create a world fill with spiritual people
May we live in total harmony with you.
Bangkok Post | General news | Right and wrong and ridiculous
Right and wrong and ridiculous
SARITDET MARUKATAT
Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej made two serious mistakes last week.
The first has already become a hot topic. Last Tuesday he urged the media to make a decision between staying with the government side, or with the People's Alliance for Democracy camp.
For him the answer to his call might appear simple, given what the PAD was doing - occupying Government House for eight days now. The prime minister on Sunday questioned the media about the principle of balanced reporting, which he said should not apply to street gangsters like the PAD.
COMMENTARY
But the press, like many people on the streets, will be very uncomfortable when it comes to picking either one: the elected government or the PAD. Mr Samak has said time and again that his work is supported by a mandate from voters who selected the People Power party as their No. 1 choice in the Dec 23 elections. The government is a legitimate body running the country. So why does he have to listen to the voices of those PAD members shouting for his resignation?
The prime minister is right. The government has come about through the democratic process. But this does not mean he can do anything at will. The mandate should be used to serve the public interest. But the faces in his cabinet clearly show that public benefit comes after his own survival, as he has to keep all factions in the PPP happy by rewarding them with cabinet portfolios.
What the PAD has been doing is also disappointing. It is ridiculous to consider the seizure of Government House as showing the "progress of democracy". PAD members would also be happy to see army generals intervene by staging another coup, so long as it is aimed at kicking Mr Samak out of office.
So far, the anti-government group cannot supply a rationale for its decision to keep the rally going - even though its demands, particularly the one for the government to step back from any attempt to kill the charter, have been met. The PAD is showing that it is good at making both friends and foes. Those siding with the PAD are praised for their courage and fighting spirit. Anybody complaining about the PAD rally - from students fed up with noisy campaigns, to drivers tired of traffic jams - are branded as immature because they lack the spirit of democracy.
Another mistake of PM Samak is his idea for restoring democracy in Burma. He told visiting UN special envoy Ibrahim Gambari on Aug 25, that Aung San Suu Kyi should be put aside if other countries want to see a return of democracy to Burma. "Aung San Suu Kyi is one thing. The international community should talk about how to bring about democracy in Burma and focus on the constitution and the elections," he said.
Mr Samak will try to sell this idea to the United Nations this month, when he takes the podium at the UN General Assembly in New York. And as chairman of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, to what extent will his idea shape the direction of the regional grouping, remains to be seen.
Thinking about what the prime minister plans to do with this idea is already scary and should be good news for the Burmese military generals. The reality is that it is not logical to separate the Nobel peace prize laureate from democracy in Burma, just like it does not make sense trying to separate ousted prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra from the PPP. Mrs Suu Kyi is the symbol of democracy in Burma. She led the National League for Democracy to a landslide victory in the 1990 elections. But 18 years later, she is still under arrest.
As long as she is not included in talks about democracy in Burma, the problem will never end.
In fact, it is very surprising to see Mr Samak think the way he does. The prime minister should have more understanding and should sympathise with Mrs Suu Kyi, instead of alienating her from the political picture in Burma.
Mr Samak complains about the threat from outside parliament against his government, which was elected under the democratic process. Mrs Suu Kyi was also democratically elected, but the Burmese generals intentionally ignored the poll results.
Saritdet Marukatat is News Editor, Bangkok Post.
Emergency declared in Thai capital after clashes
AFP
Thailand's embattled prime minister declared a state of emergency in the capital Tuesday after thousands of his opponents and supporters clashed in the worst street violence here in more than a decade.
One person was killed and dozens were injured, some of them from gunshot wounds, as a week of mass protests calling for the resignation of Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej spilled over into blooshed overnight.
Samak had previously said he would not use force to push out the thousands of protesters who have occupied the main government complex since last week, but after the violence said it was now time for them to go.
"They must be moved from the Government House," Samak told a nationally televised news conference. "I had no other choice but to declare a state of emergency in Bangkok in order to solve the problem for once and for all."
Samak gave the army the power to break up any gathering of more than five people and to force people to leave any location, setting the stage for a showdown at Government House, a site that includes Samak's offices.
But a leader of the People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD), a well-organised movement that has been pushing for the premier to stand down after just seven months in office, urged his supporters to stay put.
"You don't have to be afraid of the state of emergency," media mogul Sondhi Limthongkul told thousands of people assembled at the protest camp.
Thai police called in army reinforcements early Tuesday to rein in the protests, setting nerves on edge in a country that has seen 18 military coups since the end of absolute monarchy in 1932.
Thai television showed pro- and anti-government protesters wearing helmets and carrying batons running though the streets, fighting with each other and throwing rocks, as people lay bleeding on the street.
One person died and 44 were injured in the clashes, a spokesman for the national emergency centre said.
PAD supporters stormed Samak's Government House complex one week ago, and thousands are still squatting on the grounds.
The activists accuse Samak of acting on behalf of ousted prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, who now lives in exile in Britain after the same protest group helped provoked a military coup that toppled his government in 2006.
No one was killed during that coup, making this the deadliest political violence since the Bloody May massacre in 1992 when dozens of pro-democracy activists were killed on the same streets as today's protests.
The protests which began a week ago expanded nationwide over the weekend to force the temporary closure of three regional airports and halt railway services.
They further scaled up Monday when Thailand's biggest union called for a strike to add to the pressure on Samak, threatening to disrupt Bangkok's water and power supplies from Wednesday.
PAD gathers most of its support from Bangkok's traditional elite and a portion of the middle class. Its leaders openly disparage the merit of votes cast by the nation's rural poor, who have thrown their support behind Thaksin and now Samak.
Thaksin's allies still fill many top seats in government, and Samak won elections in December by campaigning as Thaksin's proxy.
In addition to demanding that Samak resign, PAD wants an overhaul of Thailand's system of government, saying only 30 percent of seats in parliament should be elected, with the rest appointed.
Japan's Aso leads race for next prime minister | Reuters
Reuters
By Chisa Fujioka
TOKYO (Reuters) - Former foreign minister Taro Aso leads the race to become Japanese prime minister, analysts and media said on Tuesday, after unpopular Yasuo Fukuda became the second leader to abruptly resign in less than a year.
With a policy vacuum threatening an economy teetering on the brink of recession, 67-year-old Aso said he was a suitable candidate to head the country.
If he wins the leadership in what would be his fourth attempt, the former Olympic sharpshooter and comic-book fan will be Japan's 11th prime minister in 15 years.
"I think (Fukuda) felt he had work that was left undone, and he said he wanted it to be carried out," Aso told a news conference, ahead of a leadership vote in three weeks.
"As someone who discussed these issues with him, including the economic package, I think I have the credentials to take that on," said the veteran lawmaker, currently LDP secretary-general.
Japan's Nikkkei share average fell 1.8 percent on foreign nervousness that a second Japanese leader seemed to have just given up the job. Government bond futures jumped, despite analysts warning an Aso government might seek to spend Japan's way out of its economic woes.
Fukuda, 72, had been struggling to cope with a divided parliament where opposition parties have the power to delay legislation, and his sudden exit raised questions about his conservative party's ability to cling to power or even hold together after ruling Japan for most of the past 53 years.
He produced an economic package last week, with a promise of tax cuts and $16.5 billion in new spending this year to help ease the pain of high oil and food prices, but only saw his government's ratings slide further.
ASO POPULAR
Aso is seen as the LDP's best bet to rebuild voter support. However, some analysts note the same was said when he lost to Fukuda in the LDP's last leadership race last year, when previous prime minister Shinzo Abe also suddenly quit.
The departure of Fukuda, a moderate conservative who favors close ties with Japan's Asian neighbors, does not automatically mean an early election as the LDP dominates parliament's lower house, which will vote on the leadership.
However, the next prime minister might go to the polls ahead of a deadline of September next year to take advantage of any recovery in public support.
A complete deadlock in parliament, where the opposition controls the upper house and can stall legislation, could also force the prime minister to call an election reluctantly.
The ruling coalition is almost certain to lose seats, if not its majority, in an election but voters say they want a turn to pick their government.
"As two LDP prime ministers resigned in a row, I think it is necessary to call a general election within this year," said Chika Hasegawa, 45, a patent agency employee.
"The LDP is now in tatters, why not let the Democratic Party take charge and see how it goes."
If the LDP passes over the outspoken Aso again, other potential leadership contenders are Economics Minister Kaoru Yosano, known for his commitment to fixing Japan's tattered finances, and conservative Yuriko Koike, who was briefly last year the country's first female defense minister.
Popular female lawmaker Seiko Noda, 47 and currently the minister in charge of consumer affairs, has also been mentioned as a possible fresh face at the top.
Analysts said the next LDP prime minister would face similar woes to Fukuda, given the parliamentary deadlock and the party's rusting political machine and scandal-tainted image.
While they initially shrugged off the now familiar scenario of no national leader, market analysts said Japan's stock and bond markets would likely sag after Fukuda's departure, as it raised doubts over policy paralysis and may spur debt-funded spending.
Japan's economy shrank in the second quarter and is widely seen as heading for a recession, prompting Aso to suggest delaying efforts to ease the government's sky-high debt -- the highest in the OECD -- and seek instead to stimulate the economy.
That would likely mean issuing more government debt to pay for new spending, putting pressure on bond yields.
One political scenario has the two big parties fraying or even collapsing. Talk of a broad realignment has been simmering since the opposition took control of the upper house last year, but it remains to be seem if early moves pick up steam.
(Additional reporting by Linda Sieg and Naoto Okamura; Editing by Rodney Joyce)
Mori's Skyscraper Opens in China - WSJ.com
Mori's Skyscraper Opens in China - WSJ.com
Mori's Skyscraper Opens in China
Building Represents
Developer's Big Bet
In Crowded Market
By JAMES T. AREDDY
September 2, 2008; Page B2
SHANGHAI -- In a big bet on China's post-Olympics economy, Japanese developer Minoru Mori opened the country's tallest skyscraper in a challenging environment.
Members of the public were allowed starting Saturday to enter the observatory near the top of the 492-meter, 101-floor Shanghai World Financial Center, following the opening of some other parts of the tower in recent days.
Reuters
The Shanghai World Financial Centre is on track to reach 90% occupancy within a year, according to its developer and biggest shareholder.
Mr. Mori, whose family-owned company Mori Building Co. owns 70% of the $1.13 billion project, now faces a difficult environment to profit on one of the world's tallest buildings.
In an interview Friday, the 74-year-old developer said he remains confident the building will be 90% full within a year, despite a global credit crunch that is starting to affect China's economy, too. But he also acknowledged that some of the Wall Street firms he was counting on to occupy his tower have scaled back ambitions, in particular Morgan Stanley and Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc.
Some financial executives have told him that "the liberalization of the financial markets [in China] were not enough to have a full business line here," Mr. Mori said.
A spokesman for Morgan Stanley, which through an investment fund owns about 9% of the Shanghai World Financial Center project, declined to comment. Lehman said in a statement: "Given current market conditions and future supply coming onto market, we do not have a pressing need to make commitment at this stage and are evaluating different options available."
One of Tokyo's most prominent developers, Mr. Mori moved more quickly in the early 1990s than almost anyone to capitalize on China's plans to make Shanghai into a financial center. The 14 years he spent on the Shanghai World Financial Center was almost as long as the 17 years required to get his flagship Tokyo development, Roppongi Hills, opened in 2003.
The project was delayed by everything from a regional financial crisis in the late 1990s to strange rumors in China that a circular space planned for the building's peak was a ploy by Mr. Mori to embed the Japanese "rising sun" in Shanghai's skyline.
Now, the building is opening its doors into a crowded market, months behind schedule and with 26 office tenants for almost 70 floors of space. But Mr. Mori shows no concern.
"My past experience shows me that if you have the strength to remain when others give up, opportunity arises," Mr. Mori said. "There is always a cycle." Unexpected new tenants, like Middle Eastern investment funds, will help fill up space, he added.
Mr. Mori isn't the only developer putting his mark on Shanghai's Pudong financial district, notoriously empty a decade ago but now one of the city's priciest areas. About 300 floors of office-building space are nearing completion within a few minutes' walk of Mr. Mori's complex, not including an even taller tower slated to open next door in 2014.
The World Financial Center, designed by New York-based architects Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates, is considered the world's second-tallest finished building, some 17 meters short of Taiwan's Taipei 101, according to a database maintained by Emporis Corp. A building under construction in Dubai will be even taller -- its height has already passed 630 meters.
The Shanghai building has a glass exterior that appears to twist as it narrows toward a flattened wedge at the top. Mr. Mori describes the boxy opening at the top -- which replaced the previously planned circle -- as "like a credit card, which is a symbol of financial development."
Mori officials say they will maintain premium lease rates but concede that their posted price of $3 per day per square meter of net space applies only to a fraction of the tower. "These buildings don't command a premium rental when they first come onto the market," said Tim O'Connor, senior director at CB Richard Ellis Property Consultants Ltd.
Atop Mr. Mori's building, a tunnel with glass floors and walls offers a view of Shanghai that is as dizzying as it is dazzling. A skyline of some of the world's tallest towers unfolds below, and people on the streets appear as imperceptible specks. The lobby of its Park Hyatt hotel stands on floor 87.
The 91 elevators that cut through the building, mostly its middle, can make for a confusing walk around office floors, while ventilation-system placement necessitates smallish windows.
"It probably is the highest-quality building in Shanghai. But the bang for the buck I'm not sure is worth it," said Theodore Jusin Novak, a senior adviser at property adviser Debenham Tie Leung in Shanghai. "It's not leasing as well as expected or hoped."
"It's a landmark building and no one will miss it," said Roy Chan, a partner at DLA Piper, which leased about two-thirds of floor 36.
Write to James T. Areddy at james.areddy@wsj.com
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