http://www.mizzima.com/news/inside-burma/1353-another-changing-of-the-guards-for-burmas-junta.html
by Solomon
Monday, 24 November 2008 22:28
New Delhi – An official within Burma's Ministry of Information has hinted there has been a changing of guards within the top ranks of the country's military authorities during the last quarterly meeting held in the capital city of Naypyitaw.
The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said there have been a few changes among the ranks of the military leaders during the last quarterly meeting, but declined to give details, saying the government will soon make a public release of the reshuffle.
"There have been some changes and promotions of military personnel, but we cannot say anything at this movement," the official said.
Burma's military leaders regularly hold quarterly meetings, the most recent one ending last Saturday, at which they reportedly discussed matters and issues facing the military and conducted a reshuffling within the ranks. In the previous quarterly meeting, held in June, the junta reshuffled nearly 100 positions.
"This time there are some changes in the military, because they [the junta] have to strengthen the Army, so three Major Generals have been promoted to Lieutenant Generals," said Win Min, a Burmese analyst based in Thailand.
However, Win Min said the reshuffling was insignificant and the quarterly meeting, which is the last for 2008, focused more on the junta's planned election for 2010.
"I think this time there will be less changing within the Ministries, they will do that in the next meeting," Win Min iterated.
The last reshuffling in the top brass of Burma's Army was in June, which gathered members of the State Peace and Development Council, powerful military commanders and heads of Bureau of Special Operations (BSO).
However, sources told Mizzima that retired BSOs, such as Major Generals Maung Bo, Ye Myint and Kyaw Win, were seen at the most recent meeting, proving that they are still members of SPDC's upper echelon.
Sources told Mizzima that the head of the junta, Senior General Than Shwe, wants to keep them in the mix in order to handle ceasefire groups, and particularly due to their role in persuading the nearly one-and-a-half dozen mainly ethnic rebel groups to disarm.
"Than Shwe and his generals may become members of a defense commission; something along the lines of the Chinese model," said a source in Naypyitaw of the potential political landscape following the 2010 election.
The junta has been preparing for such offices in the post-2010 era by requisitioning some Defense buildings in the capital.
Sino-Burmese-based analyst Mya Maung said the recently concluded meeting aimed primarily at preparations for the 2010 general election.
"For the 2010 election, the generals are focusing on security, home affairs and the police department," said Mya Maung.
Burma's rulers have announced that they will hold a general election as part of their roadmap to democracy and will allow the winning party to assume power and form a government.
But it has also maintained strict vigilance over opposition activists in the run-up to the election by arresting and sentencing activists to long prison terms. Additionally, the junta has also stepped up security measures in several towns and cities across the country where pro-democracy activists had led mass demonstrations in August and September 2007.
According to Mya Maung, in preparation for the general election, the junta is likely to change several positions within the military – with some personnel retired and others sent into the civilian government. Police units might also be transformed into paramilitary outfits.
"They [junta] are enhancing police forces for the suppression of any kind of protest that might erupt, while the military will be maintained to sustain the fight against ethnic rebels," Mya Maung said.
He said the junta has thus far expanded at least 16 to 18 battalions of police across the country, with over 400 policemen in each battalion.
However Htay Aung, a researcher at the Network for Democracy and Development (NDD), based in Thailand, said the junta during the recent quarterly meeting was likely to have discussed only a few important things such as the 2010 general election and the recent maritime boundary issue with Bangladesh.
"I think they [the junta] would have discussed important things such as the 2010 election, and the recent oil crisis between Bangladesh, and also about the economic crisis," Htay Aung explained.
It is likely that the junta decided who would form political parties for the 2010 election and who would remain in the distinct military apparatus, Htay Aung said.
However, he said changes within the military ranks in the quarterly meeting are normal and have little overall significance on the military structure.
(Additional reporting by Sein Win)
Tuesday, November 25, 2008
Another changing of the guards for Burma's junta
Japanese Prime Minister Taro Aso's party makes plans to replace him
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/japan/3511559/Japanese-Prime-Minister-Taro-Asos-party-makes-plans-to-replace-him.html
Japanese Prime Minister Taro Aso is a lame duck barely two months into his administration and his own party is already making open plans to replace him.
By Julian Ryall in Tokyo
Last Updated: 2:20PM GMT 24 Nov 2008
Mr. Aso inherited a declining economy Photo: GETTY Elected head of the Liberal Democratic Party on Sept 22, Mr. Aso inherited a declining economy, increasing distrust of the government and widespread public concern over corruption and apparent incompetence in Japan's halls of power.
Summoned to settle the ship after Yasuo Fukuda's abrupt resignation, Mr. Aso has failed to do so. His plans to rebuild the economy have been ridiculed, he has offended key supporters of the party and announced plans to reverse some of the LDP's most cherished and hard-fought policy platforms.
It has not helped that at the same time, his habit of reading comic books has been mocked and his inability to read relatively straightforward "kanji" characters in prepared speeches leave most Japanese with the impression that the leader of the nation falls well short of being statesman material.
"I would say that up to 70 per cent of my colleagues have reached the conclusion that we will not be able to win the coming election with Mr Aso in charge and that already his power to lead has gone," LDP politician Ichita Yamamoto told The Daily Telegraph on Monday.
"A lot of people in the party have already started to talk about the situation post-Aso," he added.
The early names put forward for his possible successor include Yoshimi Watanabe, the former minister of financial services, Nobuteru Ishihara, who is best known for being the son of right wing Tokyo Mayor Shintaro Ishihara, and Yuriko Koike, who would become Japan's first ever female prime minister if elected.
As well as disappointing those in the party, Mr. Aso's enduring ability to offend was on display again in the last week as he angered doctors - one of the LDP's staunchest supporters - by saying that many of their numbers "lack common sense".
The same day he told a meeting of parents at private kindergartens that teachers should be disciplining the mothers instead of the pupils.
More significantly, Mr Aso suddenly informed the press on Thursday that he was considering freezing the privatisation of the post office, arguably the single issue that won the 2005 election for the LDP.
Mr Ichita responded angrily that he would not remain silent on an issue that former Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi staked so much on. He was joined by others who pointed out that to go back on such a monumental piece of legislation in the space of three years would inevitably raise more red flags with an already sceptical public.
"I'm a realist," said Mr. Yamamoto. "We're stuck between replacing Mr. Aso - and the negative impact that would have among voters just a few months after he was brought in - and keeping him and losing the next election disastrously.
"What will happen? It is impossible to say at the moment, but the advice I am giving my colleagues is that they should be ready for an emergency," he said.
Remember, Aung San Suu Kyi's disengagement is not her choice
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2008/nov/25/burma-aung-san-suu
Remember, Aung San Suu Kyi's disengagement is not her choiceBurma's pro-democracy movement is still strong, but action is not currently possible, says Thaung HtunComments (2) Thaung Htun guardian.co.uk, Tuesday November 25 2008 00.01 GMT The Guardian, Tuesday November 25 2008 Article historyThere are several misinterpretations and failures to contextualise in the article on Burma's democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi (Not such a hero after all, November 11). We will concentrate on the most glaring.
The writers have wrongly assumed that the Burmese pro-democracy movement's willingness to be self-critical and/or to be critical of Suu Kyi is evidence of its demise. They quote many figures. One, a "senior MP in Rangoon", said: "We ... have to consider seriously ... whether our sacrifices alone will actually bring victory." Another argued that "the NLD, a party that was popular, got lost". But, rather than signal the breakdown of the opposition movement, these voices prove its strength - its ability to air disagreements and to debate differences without recrimination.
Burma revels in its multifaceted culture and in its many voices, as would any who were as faithful to democracy as we are. Burmese people have proven that the clamour of multitudes does not equate to an implosion. This critical tendency is a sign of rude health.
In assessing Suu Kyi's current silence, your article sought to blame her for the ills of Burma's military regime. She is "internationally renowned for her recalcitrance rather than her compliance"; has become "mute since her arrest"; her "fight appears to have sublimated to a meditative battle"; and she has been guilty of "political naivety and moral high-handedness". The writers ask, "What new policies did the NLD generate?", the implication being that Suu Kyi's seemingly truculent disengagement is her choice, and that the "vacuum" she has created has left the democracy movement weak and directionless.
But under Suu Kyi's incarceration she is denied even the most rudimentary means of communicating with the wider world. Under the regime's iron rule, it is effectively impossible to engage the population and even those who represent them democratically. As such, lasting policy cannot be secured as it would be policy on the run, created without due reference to our constituents - by definition, undemocratic.
Our movement encourages an educated engagement with the issues we are confronting. Suu Kyi herself has never shied from a good debate; informed criticism is constructive and ultimately helpful. Yet firing ill-informed grapeshot in the interests of deflating a national heroine is useful only in terms of sensationalism, not solid debate.
Aung San Suu Kyi's case is quite unique in world politics. Never before has a Nobel peace prize winner been imprisoned for such a long period after receiving the award. Few, if any, democratically elected governments have had to face such extraordinary obstacles over nearly five decades as we have.
Despite this article, we can only keep going, knowing such hollow attacks on the resolve and standing of a woman our people hold very dear will not break her will, nor that of the Burmese people who are sacrificing all to bring freedom to their country.
• Thaung Htun is the UN representative for the National Coalition Government of the Union of Burma, the government in exile made up of MPs elected in 1990, nominally led by Aung San Suu Kyi thaung.htun@gmail.com.
• If you wish to respond, at greater length than in a letter, to an article in which you have featured either directly or indirectly, email response@guardian.co.uk or write to Response, The Guardian, 119 Farringdon Road, London EC1R 3ER. We cannot guarantee to publish all responses, and we reserve the right to edit pieces for both length and content.
Experts propose developing SW corridor of 3rd Asia-Europe land-bridge
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2008-11/24/content_10406702.htm
BEIJING, Nov. 24 (Xinhua) -- Experts of some Asian countries called for concerted efforts to build the southwest corridor of the third Eurasian continental land-bridge at a seminar opened here Monday.
Experts believed the southwest corridor was the most important part of the Eurasian land-bridge. The 1,800-km-long corridor will start from Kunming, capital of southwestern China's Yunnan Province, go southwards to Dali, Ruili and end at Myanmar's port city Kyaukpyu.
If constructed, the corridor would greatly improve communications and cooperation in the intra-Asian region as well as between Asia and the rest of the world, Wang Weiguang, executive vice president of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said at the seminar.
More than 50 officials and scholars from countries including China, Myanmar, Pakistan, India and Bangladesh, attended the seminar. Its theme is to "Build the southwest corridor of the third Asia-Europe continental land-bridge".
The planned overland bridge would become one of the most convenient land routes linking Asia, Europe with Africa, said Qin Guangrong, governor of Yunnan Province.
The bridge will contribute to the social and economic development of countries along it, said Mohammad Rahmatullah, transport policy advisor of Bangladesh Planning Commission.
Rahmatullah also noted the challenges in establishing the bridge, such as missing links in the trans-Asian railway, difference in railway gauges of related countries and long cross-border customs delays.
According to plans floated by some scholars, the proposed land-bridge will extend from Shenzhen in southern China's Guangdong Province to Rotterdam in the Netherlands.
The 15,000-km line will run through 21 countries, including Myanmar, Bangladesh, India, Pakistan and Turkey. It will cut short about 3,000 km of the journey between the two ports by sea.
Editor: Jiang Yuxia
The task of unification
by Dr. Sein Myint
Mizzima Tuesday, 25 November 2008 15:10
The world's most renowned scientist of the 20th century, Albert Einstein, successfully revealed the nature of light with his Special Theory of Relativity in 1905 and postulated the curvature of spacetime in his Theory of General Relativity in 1916, integrating his work with Sir Isaac Newton's Universal Law of Gravitation, first conceived of over two-hundred years previously.
While high-profile searches for the unification of the four forces of nature continue through such mechanisms as the gigantic Large Hadron Collider near Geneva, the low-profile political quest for the "unification" of exile-Burmese democratic forces is subtly underway in the small town of Fort Wayne, Indiana.
It is most encouraging to learn that some exile student leaders from 1988 living in the United States and other countries have come together and are working under the process of unifying the exile democratic movement under a motto of 'One Voice One Goal,' as expressed by a former All Burma Students Democratic Front leader. And there is no shortage of endorsements and support from other exile democratic communities across the globe for their endeavors and efforts.
The unity talked about among exiles is long overdue, and time – a commodity that many exile opposition leaders took for granted for so long – is now running out. Soon after the 2010 elections in Burma, the legitimacy and mandate that the National League for Democracy (NLD) obtained through the 1990 elections will no longer be as effective a weapon as before.
The MPs elected in the 1990 election inside the country will soon be joining the Veteran Politicians club, currently comprised of ex-MPs from the Anti-Fascist People's Freedom League era that lost their legitimate posts after General Ne Win's military coup of 1962.
In order for any exile organization to be named as a Federal Democratic Government, it should be based and founded upon democratic principles and must be supported by a broad grassroots-based exile community residing across the globe. And it should be well structured and organized, comprising dedicated, committed, honest and trustworthy team players, who are democratically elected by the various exile communities as their representatives.
However, today there are many exile democratic groups and organizations currently operating under diverse banners, with leaders pursuing their own political agendas and maintaining an egotistic stature – instead of promoting, as they should, unity in spirit and political magnanimity.
One shining example of unification across divides can be seen in the current actions of US President Elect Barack Obama, who has repeatedly made statements to the effect that he will reach out across party and personal divides when forming his future cabinet. Already, his principle Democratic Primary rival, Hillary Clinton, has been offered the post of Secretary of State.
Sadly, many of our compatriots are still wavering on priorities and lingering on self interests rather than the public interest, with many having long been living off welfare from sympathetic donors.
Under such circumstances, the emergence of a frustrated younger generation is inevitable, as many of them are well educated in Western universities and have lived long enough to appreciate the ways and functioning of democratic societies. Yet, they are still committed to the well-being of their fellow countrymen and women in their impoverished homeland, dedicated to the restoration of democracy and basic human rights and now ready to take on the task of unification.
Many of them still well remember how dear the whole population had to pay for the failure of uniting key political players at the critical juncture surrounding 1988. History cannot be allowed to repeat itself.
But the military regime is now well entrenched and more powerful than before, on course with a plan to rule for many years. Since the democratic opposition inside the country has been continuously marginalized for nearly two decades, all exile democratic leaders are imbued with the political responsibility and moral obligation to unite under a common umbrella group and to work for a common goal.
Dr. Sein Myint serves as the director of Policy Development of Justice for Human Rights in Burma, located in Maryland, USA. He is an Honorary Member of Amnesty International Chapter 22 in Washington D.C.
Bangladesh Plans Dispatching Team to Talk with Myanmar
http://energybangla.com/index.php?mod=article&cat=EBReport&article=1210
Monday, 11.24.2008, 11:59pm (GMT)
The state-owned Petrobangla is working towards establishment of friendly working relations with their Myanmar counterpart, Myanmar Oil and Gas, to augment bilateral understanding, officials said.
It will soon seek the energy ministry's consent for sending a delegation for talks with the Myanmar Oil and Gas as part of its initiative to establish mutual understanding between the two state-run bodies of the two countries.
This initiative from Petrobangla is a follow-up to the visit of a Myanmar delegation last week, when both Dhaka and Yangon agreed to continue talks until resolving the bilateral dispute over demarcation of the maritime boundary in the Bay of Bengal.
"We will send a proposal to the energy ministry within a day or two seeking approval for sending a delegation for discussion with the Myanmar counterparts," Petrobangla Chairman Jalal Ahmed told.
He said the Petrobangla delegation is expected to visit Myanmar in December next if the energy ministry permits.
Dhaka and Yangon were locked in a duel early this month to establish their respective rights to exploration of oil and gas in the prospective Bay of Bengal.
The tensions between the two neighbors began to rise at the beginning of November when Myanmar started exploring oil and gas in one of its disputed offshore blocks, AD-7, in the bay that overlaps Bangladesh’s offshore block DS-08-13.
After a week of standoff, the tension eased following intervention of China and South Korea.
Pointing to the Petrobangla delegation's visit to Myanmar, a senior official said both the sides might sign a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to ensure future cooperation in the energy sector, if mutually agreed.
Petrobangla earlier signed MoUs with Thailand’s state-run PTT Exploration and Production Company and a consortium of Korean energy companies to enhance cooperation.
Myanmar and Bangladesh sharing around 320 kilometers of bordering areas are among the many impoverished countries around the globe.
According to an independent survey, Myanmar has encroached on half a dozen of Bangladesh’s offshore gas blocks in the Bay.
After intruding into Bangladesh’s offshore blocks, the Southeast Asian country already leased out those to Chinese, Indian and South Korean companies for exploration in last several years.
The companies that were awarded the disputed offshore blocks in the Bay include the China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC), Indian Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Ltd (ONGC) and South Korean Daewoo International.
The Chinese CNPC was awarded by Myanmar the block AD-8 that overlaps Bangladesh’s deep-sea offshore blocks - DS-08-18 and part of DS-08-17 and DS-08-13.
The Indian ONGC was awarded Myanmar’s block AD-9 that overlaps the Bangladeshi offshore gas blocks DS-08-22, DS-08-23, DS-08-27 and DS-08-28.
Myanmar suffers steep drop in foreign tourists
http://www.hindu.com/thehindu/holnus/003200811251263.htm
YANGON (AP): A Myanmar news journal says foreign tourist numbers are down by half at one of the country's most revered Buddhist sites after the country was hit by a devastating cyclone in May that killed more than 84,000 people.
The Weekly Eleven news journal says foreign tourists visiting the famed Shwedagon pagoda fell to 25,380 during May through November compared with 53,841 in the same period last year.
The tourism sector across the impoverished country has been hit hard following Cyclone Nargis in May. The storm killed 84,537, left another 53,836 people missing, and caused a vast trail of destruction across the Irrawaddy delta.
The military has held authoritarian power in the Southeast Asian nation since 1962.
A preventable fate: the failure of ART scale-up in Myanmar
http://www.msf.org/msfinternational/invoke.cfm?objectid=D2C233CF-15C5-F00A-25ABCFBC12786F68&component=toolkit.pressrelease&method=full_html
Few of the big international donors provide resources out of concern over the appropriate and effective use of aid in the country, yet it is the people of Myanmar who suffer as a result.
Down a PDF of the report, Preventable Fate, here
Thousands of people are needlessly dying due to a severe lack of lifesaving HIV/AIDS treatment in Myanmar, says international humanitarian organization Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) in a report released today. Unable to continue shouldering the primary responsibility for responding to one of Asia's worst HIV crises, MSF insists that the Government of Myanmar and international organizations urgently and rapidly scale-up ART provision.
An estimated 240,000 people are thought to have HIV/AIDS in Myanmar. Of these people, 76,000 are in urgent need of antiretroviral treatment, yet less than 20 percent of them are currently able to access it.
"Last year, around 25,000 people died of AIDS related illnesses. A similar number of people could suffer the same fate in 2008 unless there is a significant increase in accessible antiretroviral treatment (ART)", declared MSF Operations Manager, Joe Belliveau.
As it stands, the majority of ART available throughout the country is provided by MSF (to more than 11,000 people), with the Government of Myanmar and other non-governmental organizations (NGOs) providing relatively little.
"It is unacceptable that a single NGO is treating the vast majority of HIV patients in a crisis of this magnitude. It is unacceptable because it is wholly inadequate. We cannot meet the needs, and we therefore call upon those who can to take up this responsibility ", stated Belliveau.
Pushed to its limit, MSF has recently been forced to make the painful decision to drastically reduce the number of new patients it can treat. With so few other actors providing ART, there is little option to refer new patients for treatment elsewhere. "With so many needs still unmet, we strongly urge all actors, led by the Government, to scale-up the provision of ART", continues Mr. Belliveau.
The urgent need for increased treatment is evident, yet investment from both inside and outside of the country remains grossly insufficient. In 2007, the Government of Myanmar spent just $0.7USD per person on healthcare, with a paltry $200,000USD allocated for HIV/AIDS in 2008. This sum is hugely disproportionate when compared to the extent of the needs and availability of resources. The government of Myanmar has proven its ability to treat HIV/AIDS patients in the public sector, but must commit the necessary resources to scale-up.
Likewise, the level of international humanitarian aid is strikingly low, around $3USD per person, one of the lowest rates worldwide. This is significantly less than the far greater amounts received by nearby countries facing similar epidemics. Few of the big international donors provide resources out of concern over the appropriate and effective use of aid in the country, yet it is the people of Myanmar who suffer as a result.
A 29 year-old male ART patient in Myanmar best explains why more should be done, "It is everyone's responsibility to fight against this disease. All people must have a spirit of humanity in helping HIV patients regardless of nation, organization and government".
MSF's work has shown that even though working in Myanmar can be challenging, providing lifesaving HIV/AIDS care and treatment directly to patients is possible. It is long overdue that the Government of Myanmar and other international organizations step-up their efforts and make ART rapidly and widely available. It is crucial that they act now, in order to prevent the suffering and needless death of thousands of people.
MSF has provided essential healthcare services in Myanmar since 1993 and began an integrated programme to support people living with HIV/AIDS in 2003. Since then, MSF staff has assisted thousands of HIV patients, working from 23 clinics, in five areas throughout the country. Services include counseling, testing, treatment of opportunistic infections, nutritional support, health education and most importantly antiretroviral treatment.
BURMA DIGEST » Article » Domestic & Interantional Situations and Us (Burmese)
BY DR. TINT SWE-NCGUB
BURMA DIGEST » Article » Domestic & Interantional Situations and Us (Burmese)
Economy, not rights, rules the new China-US world
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081124/ap_on_re_as/as_obama_the_china_challenge_1
By CHRISTOPHER BODEEN, Associated Press Writer Christopher Bodeen, Associated Press Writer – Sun Nov 23, 11:20 pm ET AP – A Chinese man watches election result developments at a U.S. Presidential result party organized by the … BEIJING – As a dangerous confrontation flared between China and Taiwan in 1996, Bill Clinton deployed the Seventh Fleet to deter the two rivals from going to war. Five years later, when a U.S. spy plane collided with a Chinese fighter, George W. Bush faced a prolonged international crisis. Meanwhile, human rights and democracy in China were a perennial hot-button issue.
Now it's Barack Obama's turn to deal with the China challenge, and this time, it's all about the money. As the global financial system teeters, China, with its $1.9 trillion in foreign reserves and slowing but still strong economy, offers a potential lifeline.
The crisis that Obama is inheriting has pushed aside the old points of contention and underscored how profoundly the power equation between Washington and Beijing has changed.
China now owns over half-a-trillion dollars in U.S. government bonds, more than any other country, and Washington needs Beijing to continue buying them to help finance the national debt and the $700 billion financial industry bailout.
And while China's economy is heavily dependent on exports to the U.S., it is also a growing market for U.S. products, making trade retaliation — long a threat wielded solely by Washington — more of a two-way street.
"The power shift in China-U.S. relations is making them more interdependent," said Cheng Xiaohe, an international relations scholar at Beijing's Renmin University. "This next president will need to exercise greater caution."
When Clinton first ran for the White House, he made human rights an issue, accusing then President George Bush of "coddling" the communist dictatorship. But during his presidency, the administration moved to uncouple human rights from trade privileges — a milestone in normalizing ties between the two powers.
During Bush's presidency, as Chinese exports boomed, China's trade surplus hit $163.3 billion in 2007, becoming an increasingly fractious political issue, even as the question of human rights was moving to the fringes of the public agenda.
In the Barack Obama-John McCain race, human rights figured early when Tibetan unrest flared and Obama called on Bush to boycott the Beijing Olympics. But the issue soon faded from his talking points, and when relations with China briefly resurfaced, the context was purely economic.
During the campaign, Obama described China as "neither our enemy nor our friend; they're competitors." He called for broad cooperation with Beijing while repeating the accusation that the trade surplus was stoked by a Chinese currency kept artificially cheap.
The currency has been an especially hot topic in Congress and could arise again as an irritant in relations. On Thursday, a congressional advisory panel recommended Congress enact legislation to pressure Beijing into forcing up the value of the yuan, thereby making Chinese imports more expensive.
China is a veto-holding permanent member of the U.N. Security Council and there are many other reasons why Washington needs Beijing's help — to maintain detente in the Taiwan Strait, strip North Korea of its nukes, and pressure Iran into cooperating with nuclear inspections.
Throw in the economy, and many expect Obama to take a mild approach toward Beijing on issues of human rights, freedom of speech and Tibet.
That would be a mistake, argues Wei Jingsheng, the internationally renowned pro-democracy dissident whose imprisonment and exile came to define the difficulties of the U.S.-China relationship in the 1980s and 1990s.
Wei, who now lives in Washington, D.C., maintains that the root of the economic crisis lies in the trade imbalance with China, and that China's industrial might is built on underpaid, badly treated workers. China gets away with it because Western business doesn't want human rights getting in the way of profits, he says.
In an interview with The Associated Press, Wei rejected the idea of China as the West's economic lifeline, saying China would have a hard time saving its own economy and anyway wouldn't mind seeing the West failing.
"This expectation of China to save the West is only a dream," he said. "But why is this dream fanned up so much? Because the big businesses in the West are pumping up this idea; they do not want to see Western governments take severe measures against the Chinese government."
He recalled the days when Western governments and media were focused on Chinese human rights abuses — "It is really because of their effort that people like me survived" — and urged Obama to renew the pressure by establishing a link between trade privileges and workers' rights.
"It would be like killing two birds with one stone — reducing the trade deficit while boosting rights for Chinese workers," he said.
But Chinese scholars at government-backed research bodies sound confident that no radical changes in the relationship will happen under Obama.
"Although we'll see some disputes around issues like trade, human rights and climate change, the general framework will be stable," said Jin Canrong, an expert on the U.S. at Renmin University. "This is mature bilateral relations between two big powers."
___
Associated Press writer Carley Petesch in New York contributed to this report.
China president in Greece for $1 billion port deal
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081124/ap_on_bi_ge/eu_greece_china_2;_ylt=An3KMcKAfUYwF0m_isc8ZceoOrgF
By DEREK GATOPOULOS, Associated Press Writer Derek Gatopoulos, Associated Press Writer – Mon Nov 24, 8:58 am
ATHENS, Greece – China's President Hu Jintao arrived Monday in Greece for a three-day visit timed to coincide with the signing of a 831.2 million euro ($1 billion) port deal.
China's Cosco Pacific Ltd. will receive a 35-year concession to manage two container wharfs at Greece's main port of Piraeus.
Hu was greeted by Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis at the airport in Athens, and the two planned to hold talks Tuesday. Hu planned to meet later Monday with Greek President Karolos Papoulias.
"We have the will to further develop our ties. This is happening at a rapid rate," Hu was quoted as saying by Greek state television.
The port agreement will be signed Tuesday, amid the global financial crisis which has affected the shipping industry, and commodity shipments in particular. Greek companies control nearly 20 percent of the world's merchant fleet.
The Chinese port operator announced details of the deal last month, citing the value of the deal at 831.2 million euro ($1 billion) in present value terms.
Cosco said it would spend an additional 235.5 million euro ($297 million) on pier upgrades.
Dock workers' unions oppose the Piraeus privatization plan. The Federation of Greek Port Employees announced a 24-hour strike Tuesday as well as a protest rally in central Athens.
"The government and the Chinese leadership should realize that we will not allow our ports ... to become Chinatowns," a union statement said.
Piraeus, the port of Athens, is among the 10 largest ports in Europe, and the largest in container throughput in the eastern Mediterranean.
Greece and China expanded cooperation in the run up to this year's Beijing Olympics, with Athens having hosted the 2004 Games. Papoulias visited China in June, while Karamanlis traveled to China in 2006.
Last year, the volume of trade between the two countries was euro2.9 billion ($3.7 billion) with Chinese exports making up more than 95 percent of that figure, according to data from the Hellenic-Chinese Chamber of Commerce.
Greek companies currently have some 480 orders at Chinese shipyards, chamber spokeswoman Stamatina Markou said.
Hu is in Greece after attending a summit of world leaders in Washington and a visits to Latin America. He will return to Beijing Wednesday.
___
On the Net:
Proposed port concession agreement: http://www.coscopac.com.hk/admin/upload/ir/announcements_circular/e20081118.pdf
China's second-richest person detained: state media
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20081124/bs_afp/chinacrimestockscompanygome_081124044327
Sun Nov 23, 11:43 pm ET AFP/Fil
BEIJING (AFP) – China's second-richest person, who made his fortune building up the nation's largest home appliance chain, has been detained on suspicion of market manipulation, state media reported on Monday.
Hong Kong-listed shares in Huang Guangyu's company, Gome Electrical Appliances Holdings, were also suspended on Monday, according to a statement from the firm to the city's stock exchange.
The shares were suspended "pending the release of an announcement in relation to price sensitive information", the statement said.
This followed a report on the website of Chinese state-run finance magazine Caijing saying Huang had been detained and was under investigation on suspicion of market manipulation.
The magazine, which did not reveal its sources, said the detention took place Wednesday last week, and other Chinese media outlets carried the story.
With assets of 18.4 billion yuan (2.7 billion dollars), Huang was ranked as number two on a list of China's richest people issued by US magazine Forbes in October.
An executive at Gome's investor relations department contacted by AFP Monday morning said she was not aware of the reported case.
Burma needs a pragmatic solution-MIZZIMA
http://arpwar.burmabloggers.net/?p=1650
admin | Articles | November 24th, 2008
Mizzima : Since 1962, not a single military-dominated government in Burma has been able to improve the country’s economy. This, as the Burmese economy is poised to suffer even more in the upcoming months, and possibly years, due to the pervading global economic crisis.
The country’s economy has already suffered a lot during the past two decades, a period when the military regime has continued to pursue its stranglehold on political power, dragging the economy into the doldrums along the way.
“The Burmese army’s philosophy is to keep its own ass safe to the detriment of others, so we will go around in circles until the present structure is forced to change,” said one Rangoon-based observer.
The country is moribund in a Catch-22 situation, in which one “solution” inevitably leads to but another problem.
“I have no hope the country will be back on the right track soon after the 2010 general election, which it is highly possible will lead to but another crisis,” he said. “That’s because of those military officers who have been indoctrinated with a superiority complex for generations.
The Revolutionary Council, which was installed in 1962 and headed by General Ne Win and later transformed into the Burma Socialist Program Party through the 1974 constitution, started this unhealthy mix of civilians and military personnel in public administration.
Ne Win’s military government of xenophobia, combined with the mismanagement of the economy, assured that the country descended to the status of a least developed nation, the effects of which eventually erupted into the mass anti-government uprising that was put down by the Army through bloodshed in 1988.
Following 1988, the then State Law and Order Restoration Council – and present day State Peace and Development Council – assumed power and continued to rule the country, without any constitutional mandate and consumed by paranoia, as has happened throughout Burma’s
martial history.
What could be the remedy for the Southeast Asian nation, rich in natural resources like timber, minerals and natural gas? As long as the country forges ahead with the new constitution, which solely favors the role of the military in the public administration, it will be but old wine in a new bottle.
“We are desperately in need of ‘agents’ like liberal minded general David O. Abel, both in the military and civilian circles,” commented an observer who wished to remain anonymous. Almost all liberal minded civilians are in exile or in prison.
In 1999, a newspaper quoted the military government as saying that the National Convention would go forward without the National League for Democracy (NLD) – who had earlier walked-out of the proceedings under protest in 1996. Burma, the official added, was going to be a democracy in its own way.
The international community has since continuously recognized the NLD’s commitment to democracy. Yet, such recognition has not translated into productive “action.”
It might be possible that Burma could first improve its economy within a framework of a slightly altered political forum. Under such a scenario, some liberal figures would be allowed to play a role, and changes in an improved economy would assist in fomenting pluralism in the political environment.
“In the future government of Burma after 2010, we do not need opportunist civilian politicians who would just sit back and seek personal gains from the status quo, but those who really dare to come out of their comfort zone and speak up to military officers on economic and social issues,” added the observer. He also questioned the democratic credentials and self-complacency of some domestic elitist groups, mainly Burman in ethnicity, who seek to present themselves as the only viable alternatives to military officers.
However, the trick in Burma is that if the leadership was practically enlightened as in China and Vietnam, political pluralism can be kept waiting. But, Burma to date has lacked such political leadership.
In the present stock, only dogmatists are dominant. So are we going to see liberal — not even fully, but partially — elements in the government under the new constitution? Hope very marginally, because it is not in the nature of the military.
“Those 25 percent of seats in the future parliament, which the military reserves in both
houses, will always vote as a bloc,” the observer continued.
Even if Burma is fortunate enough, after the multi-party election is carried through, the key phrase in the coming years will be “economic rationality.”
However, for that, can we be so optimistic about the already corrupted military reinventing itself in our country’s future? Officials of the regime are already corrupt themselves in their morals, and they corrupt others along with them.
“Even if and when Burma is a liberal economy, rent-seeking will be really great and widespread,” he said, adding that most resources would go into private pockets.
Still now, there are elements who are promoting the concept of “regime security,” while the security of 53 million Burmese has been starkly neglected. And they try to expose themselves as an opposition or counterbalance to the military in a future so-called civilian government, if elected.
As generally expected, some businessmen are preparing to contest the 2010 election.
Most of these people will likely come from regime-friendly media and business circles. However, it remains to be seen whether there may be an altered scenario following the announcement of the electoral laws, which are anticipated in a few months time.
Many of these prominent elements are currently active, taking leading roles with the civic organization.
However, an even larger question still looms: Will any civilian government really be able to influence the direction of the country to become a free country broadly accepted by both Burmese and the international community?
Burma’s history since 1962 has been filled with failure stories of “insider” civilian politicians who achieved little or nothing to change the mindset of the ruling military caste. Yale-trained Dr. Maung Maung who was President of Burma during the 1988 uprising is a telling example.
Veteran analysts therefore have cautioned that the possibility for reform within the proposed constitutional framework will be extremely limited. Hopes are slim because many of the older generation Burmese elites, educated in the West and employed in public administration, just gave their nod to all that the Army wanted at the National Convention.
Meanwhile, Burma’s military has already suffered its own generation gaps, resulting in a very limited number of fresh, liberal conscious, new officers, mainly because potential successors have poor exposure to alternative ideas – reflective of a nation that is educationally handicapped.
Imagine it the other way around, liberally trained Burmese soldiers could create a competition among elites, which might lead to a radical solution if competing military personnel claim that they are the ones who most love Burma and care for its future.
Without a reliable new generation produced professionally, no segments of society,
including the Burma defense services, could survive. The Burmese military is already facing such problem.
Recently, Home Affairs Minister Major General Maung Oo said the next one-and-a-half-years would be important for the NLD’s survival. So the NLD must be creative, seeking ways and means to be able to play a role in future political developments; this is why some political forces have come out to encourage the NLD to find a new way to integrate itself into the future processes.
The results of the 1990 election, decisively won by the NLD, could be a tool which it could utilize in order to gain a foothold in forward developments. Perhaps, the NLD should endorse a new political party, in low profile, to remain relevant and to continue to involve itself in the future political process.
Opposition forces are already weak, being unable to adequately oppose the new constitution. But they can still weaken the effectiveness of the implementation of the new constitution.
Politics is about aspiring to nominal things such as freedom, democracy and rights. The new constitution falls short of those basic things for the time being. No rational person is satisfied.
As long as there are accusations of violations of ethnic minority and political rights, then external forces such as the UN and some Western countries’ encouragement for democracy in Burma will be reluctant to openly deal with the Burmese government, regardless of it being called civilian or military.
However, the truth remains that Burma is a low priority in the eyes of most Western countries. For example, the United States has more than enough allies in the region to offset China. Adding Burma to the list will not make a meaningful difference.
The junta understands this, and is thus proceeding apace with its own political process, designed to ensure that it reaps the vast majority of the political spoils. Despite repeated calls from opposition parties and the masses for a process of dialogue to address persisting differences and divides within Burma’s political spectrum, the junta and its supporters look to be preparing to push ahead with the 2010 general election at all costs.
So, what is to be expected in the short and mid-terms? As elections draw near, the world community must make sure that it is endorsing a real opposition in Burma, with reliable democratic credentials, and not a sham opposition of seasoned politicians who entered politics for personal gain.
Some leading pundits and opinion leaders fear that Burma, after 2010, will withdraw into isolation if the ruling class does not get their way. Nevertheless, there is little chance that this worst case scenario will happen, because authoritarian regimes realize the costs of isolation in an increasingly globalized world. They will at least open up some space for their own elites. In Burma’s case, most probably sanctions will also become irrelevant with the arrival of a new government.
International policy circles, therefore, should be prepared and start to think about how to respond to continued political repression and human rights abuses in Burma, while encouraging economic reforms after 2010. They must not forget there are over 2,100 prisoners of conscience in Burma’s gulags and Burma’s future parliament is the fruit of their sacrifice. Revolutions are rare in history, but we should not downplay the role of social movements.
In summary, Burma is possibly headed for a change in direction, where barriers to democracy are cautiously lowered. But, even though this might be – many new challenges will remain.
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Japan Police Arrest Suspect in Fatal Pension Stabbing
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=axI4ZdT9tyP0&refer=home
By Hideki Asai and Megumi Yamanaka
Nov. 23 (Bloomberg) -- Japanese police arrested a man who turned himself in last night, handing over two bloodstained knives and saying he killed a former government pension official.
Takeshi Koizumi, 46, was arrested for violating weapons laws and authorities are investigating whether he committed the murder, said an official at the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department. The official asked not to be identified by name, citing department policy.
Takehiko Yamaguchi, 66, a former senior official at the Health and Welfare Ministry, and his wife Michiko, 61, were found dead at their home in Saitama, near Tokyo, with stab wounds to their chests on Nov. 18. On the same day, Yasuko Yoshihara, 72, was stabbed at her Tokyo home by a man who pretended to be delivering a parcel, according to police reports. Yoshihara, who survived the attack, is the wife of Kenji Yoshihara, who once held the same position as Yamaguchi.
Police are investigating whether Koizumi also stabbed Yoshihara, the Kyodo newswire reported, citing police sources.
Both Yamaguchi and Yoshihara were involved in administering pension plans. The ministry has said records of retirement contributions for 50 million Japanese are missing or incomplete, a scandal that helped force the resignations of two prime ministers.
Chief Cabinet Secretary Takeo Kawamura today urged the police to complete a thorough investigation of the stabbings as soon as possible, the Yomiuri newspaper said.
To contact the reporters on this story: Megumi Yamanaka in Tokyo at myamanaka@bloomberg.net.
Last Updated: November 23, 2008 01:15 EST
15 more hydropower dams for Burma (Myanmar)
http://asianenergy.blogspot.com/2008/11/15-more-hydropower-dams-for-burma.html
Junta to Permit Building of 15 More Hydro dams
The Burmese ruling junta is reportedly planning another 15 hydroelectric projects on Burma's rivers in addition to the 22 already on the drawing board or under construction.
If approved, the 15 hydrodams would have an electricity-generating capacity of almost 14,000 megawatts-on top of the 16,500 MW expected to result from dams already being developed.
"These dams, if they reach fruition and their full operating potential, would deliver more electricity than Thailand currently uses," energy consultant Collin Reynolds in Bangkok told The Irrawaddy this week.
"It's ironic, given the paltry level of electricity-generating capacity that Burma lives with in the 21st century. The Burmese have a mere 1,700 MW according to their own government's latest official figures. Such a low level explains why Burma looks black on nighttime satellite pictures of the region."
Neighboring Thailand has a generating capacity of 26,000 MW and will be a major recipient of hydropower generated in Burma. Other countries who will tap this power source are neighboring energy-hungry giants India and China.
The Chinese will not only be major recipients of the Burmese hydropower-their state-owned companies are heavily involved in the construction work to build them, the official Chinese news agency Xinhua said this week.
The companies include Yunnan Machinery and Equipment Import and Export Co, the Farsighted Investment Group Co, Gold Water Resources Limited and the China Power Investment Corporation, which alone will build seven dams, said Xinhua.
Posted by Saigon Charlie at 6:46 PM
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The Freedom Challenge-BURMA-US
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/11/23/AR2008112302000_pf.html
In Burma, a test of Barack Obama's attitude toward promoting democracy
Monday, November 24, 2008; A16
BARBARITY IN Burma last week served as a reminder that, with or without President-elect Barack Obama, the global struggle for liberty will rage on long after George W. Bush takes his "freedom agenda" home to Texas.
Some of Mr. Obama's foreign policy advisers are nearly as impatient to deep-six that policy as they are to bid farewell to its author. They believe that Mr. Bush's extravagant rhetoric overpromised and underperformed. Dissidents were encouraged and then abandoned. Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo Bay mocked Washington's pretensions to lead or lecture.
The critics are right on all counts. If Mr. Obama intends to govern with more humility, caution and realism, we say, bring it on. U.S. foreign policy could use a healthy dose of all three.
But abandoning the promotion and support of democracy as core American goals would be a terrible mistake. Mr. Bush was right to see freedom as integral to all other foreign policy objectives. The stifling of democratic alternatives in Arab countries fuels terrorism. China's succor of dictators in Africa impedes healthy development in poor countries. Democracies are more likely, over time, to cooperate honestly with each other on global challenges such as climate change and disease control. And the United States can regain and retain the stature to lead in the world, on any issue, only if it is using its power on behalf of universal ideals.
No doubt these principles will feature somewhere in the new administration's rhetoric. But because other, seemingly more hardheaded considerations will always compete, the rhetoric will not mean much unless democracy promotion is baked into the administration's structure, budget and personnel.
The need is especially urgent when global recession could undermine democracy and stoke bellicose nationalism. It's urgent, too, because in the past decade, dictators and authoritarian ruling parties have learned to fight back. When Vladimir Putin seeks to extend Russia's influence, he doesn't just want more people watching Russian movies or buying Russian MiGs. He wants to replicate among his neighbors the kind of one-party rule he has imposed on his own country. His efforts will continue whether or not the Obama administration chooses to push back on behalf of the budding democracies Mr. Putin would target.
The spasm of repression in Burma last week similarly is not just about one country. In secret trials hidden away in fetid prisons, the ruling junta of that Southeast Asian nation of 50 million people sentenced more than 150 activists, Buddhist monks, bloggers, students and others to decades and decades in prison.
U Maung Thura, a comedian better known by his stage name of Zarganar, was sentenced to 45 years, with several charges still pending. His crime: attempting to deliver aid to victims of Cyclone Nargis last spring, when the regime did not want reminders of its own failure to help.
U Gambira, a monk who helped lead peaceful demonstrations against the regime 14 months ago, was sentenced to 68 years. A journalist was sentenced to 14 years for taking photographs during a sham referendum last spring. Lawyers have been sentenced for seeking to defend these activists and for resigning from cases when they were not permitted to mount serious defenses.
As news of these sentences spread from anguished relatives to supporters across the border and so around the world, another development was more openly announced: China's plans to proceed with a $2.5 billion pipeline to bring Burma's oil and gas to its Yunnan province. For China's Communist Party, repression in Burma is not an obstacle but a convenience, enabling the exploitation of natural resources with a minimum of well-targeted corruption.
The regime's ferocity last week, unexpected even by its dismal standards, came as something of an embarrassment to Western humanitarian groups, which have been revving up a campaign to convince the Obama administration that Burma's regime is moderating and that engagement, rather than isolation, is the right policy. Supporters of engagement argue that it helps neither the United States nor the long-suffering people of Burma to leave the field to the Chinese.
This may be true. But public opinion and, we trust, a sense of self-respect will never permit the United States to outbid China for the junta's affections. And in Burma, unlike in many dictatorships, there is a clear alternative authority: the National League for Democracy, which overwhelmingly won an election two decades ago. The regime negated the results, and the league's leader, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, has been under house arrest for most of the time since. Like Nelson Mandela in his long years of imprisonment, she remains the legitimate leader of her people. Like South Africans, Burmese will remember who sided with her during their years of oppression and who sided with the oppressor. And as the world watched and measured America's shifting stance on apartheid, so it will measure the next administration's commitment to democracy in Burma and beyond.
General Assembly approves Burma resolution, debate intensifies -MIZZIMA
http://www.mizzima.com/news/world/1351-general-assembly-approves-burma-resolution-debate-intensifies-.html
by Mizzima News
Monday, 24 November 2008 18:33
The United Nations General Assembly's Third Committee on Friday approved a draft resolution on the human rights situation inside Burma, amid a lengthy debate that illustrated the divide over Burma, the rights of member states and the workings of the international body.
The UN's Social, Humanitarian and Cultural Committee passed the resolution, critical of the human rights condition in Burma and the authorities inaction or unwillingness in combating rights violations, by a vote of 89 in favor and 29 against, with 63 abstentions.
All 27 members of the European Union offered their support for the resolution, in addition to the United States, Canada, Australia and New Zealand, among others.
In contrast, only seven Asian countries approved of the draft, including none of Burma's immediate neighbors and no member of ASEAN. Bangladesh, Brunei, China, India, Laos, Malaysia and Vietnam all voted against, while Indonesia, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand abstained (Cambodia was absent).
The abstention on the part of the Philippines came just days before U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice this weekend rained praise on the Philippines as being the one country in Asia supportive of the United States' position on Burma.
In addition to Japan, Mongolia, South Korea and Kazakhstan, the other three Asian countries to support the item have all recently witnessed significant external intervention, led by either the United States or Australia – Afghanistan, Iraq and Timor-Leste.
Burma's delegate to the Committee reserved strong language for those who supported the motion, letting it be known that Burma would feel under no obligation to be bound by the vote.
"If left unchallenged, [the motion] will set a dangerous precedent for all developing countries", he warned, as the resolution was an attempt to infringe on national sovereignty while a case of direct interference in the domestic affairs of a member state.
Subsequently, a no-action motion put forth by the Burmese representative was defeated by a vote of 90 against to 54 in favor, with 34 abstentions.
Those that opted not to support the draft commonly sighted the politicization of human rights, inattention to the domestic progress made by Burmese authorities and the inappropriateness of the venue for country specific resolutions – the Human Rights Council felt to be the rightful forum in which to raise such concerns.
France, who took the lead in tabling the action on behalf of the European Union, said the text was designed to raise awareness among the international community as to the continuing rights violations in the Southeast Asian country and "in an effort to mobilize action on all sides."
The French representative called on Burma's ruling military to engage in dialogue and to cooperate fully with United Nations mechanisms in the area of human rights. He proceeded to say the new constitution, approved in May, fails to address the assurance of basic rights inside the country and that, "No attempt had been made to prosecute those guilty of repressing the acts of peaceful protest from a year ago."
India's representative, explaining his country's vote, first noted that the country has always recognized the importance of human rights. However, it was forced to vote against the resolution as it was not "forward-looking" and confrontational in approach. India also wished that the Committee would recognize the positive steps of the Burmese government over the past year – a sentiment similarly voiced by Indonesia and Japan, despite the latter weighing in in support of the draft.
Further commenting on the ideological, development and interest divide at the international level, Friday also witnessed the tabling of a resolution critical of human rights as a unilateral coercive measure "implemented in contravention of international law and the United Nations Charter, and with negative consequences to economic development."
The resolution passed, garnering 124 votes in favor to 52 against. All ASEAN countries, China, India and Russia supported the motion; while the European Union, United States, Canada, Australia and Japan were among those who voted against the action.
SOFTWARE INDUSTRY -New regional organisation created
http://www.nationmultimedia.com/2008/11/25/technology/technology_30089326.php
By Asina Pornwasin
The Nation
Published on November 25, 2008
Parks in Asia-Oceania pool strengths to tackle global market
In a bid to expand its global marketing strategy for the local software industry, Software Park Thailand has joined 16 other software parks from eight countries and territories to form a collaborative organisation called the Asia Oceania Regional Software Park Alliance.
The ultimate goal is to put the region's industry on the world software map.
"We want the Asia-Oceania region to become a single window for global software outsourcing in the future," said Software Park Thailand director Suwipa Wanasathop.
Suwipa was elected as the first president of the new alliance, which consists of 16 parks from nine initial country and territorial members, including Thailand, China, Malaysia, Hong Kong, Brunei, Taiwan, Nepal, Burma and Singapore.
"Collaboration between the parks will play an important role in bridging the gap between markets across the Asia-Oceania region. From now on, instead of each country entering another country alone, networks will be pooled to form a single window, allowing software companies from one country to easily penetrate the market in another country," Suwipa said.
She said the alliance's mission was to enable the different parks to share infrastructure and domestic information. The initial goal will be to add value to the software industry of the entire region through business matching among country members.
The alliance will use a social networking model through its cyber infrastructure at www.softwarepark.asia to link members so they can share and exchange resources such as park facilities and infrastructure.
It is hoped that in the first year various regional software industries will begin "third-market penetration", involving collaboration between two countries to penetrate a market in a third, Suwipa said.
This will enable a combination of strengths from two countries, for example a water management solution from Thailand combining with Hong Kong's marketing expertise to tap a market in China.
Moreover, the alliance aims to encourage the IT growth cycle in member countries. It will build bridges between the software industries in member countries so each can be fulfilled through strategies such as business matching, marketing exchanges, the integration of IT-related events, partner programmes and solution centres.
It will also demonstrate best practices among country members, including incubation centres, park management, cooperative training and on-the-job training programmes.
"Each park will complement the others. This will help strengthen the IT-growth cycles in each country. A major problem of local software companies in the past has been a lack of local partners in other markets. To create their own marketing arms in different counties is costly. The alliance will address this issue," Suwipa said.
Forestalling water conflict in Asia
http://chellaney.spaces.live.com/blog/cns!4913C7C8A2EA4A30!903.entry
Beware of Water Wars
China’s hydro-engineering projects in Tibet raise serious concerns
Brahma Chellaney
The Times of India, November 24, 2008
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s disclosure that during his recent Beijing visit he raised the issue of international rivers flowing out of Tibet underscores the enormous implications of China’s hydro-engineering projects and plans. Through its control over the Tibet plateau, China controls the flow of several major river systems that are a lifeline to southern and southeastern Asia. Yet China is toying with massive inter-basin and inter-river water transfer projects. Its Great South-North Water Transfer Project is an overly ambitious engineering attempt to take water through manmade canals to its semi-arid north. The diversion of waters from the Tibetan plateau in this project’s third leg is an idea enthusiastically backed by President Hu Jintao, a hydrologist by training whose 1989 martial-law crackdown in Tibet helped facilitate his swift rise in the communist party hierarchy.
Water is getting tied to security in several parts of the world. The battles of yesterday were fought over land. Those of today are over energy. But the battles of tomorrow will be over water. And nowhere else does that prospect look real than Asia, the largest and most densely populated continent that awaits a future made hotter and drier by global warming. According to a 2006 UN report, Asia has less fresh water — 3,920 cubic metres per person — than any other continent other than the Antarctica.
With the world’s fastest-rising military expenditures, most-dangerous hot spots and fiercest resource competition, Asia appears the most likely flash-point for water wars — a concern underscored by attempts by some states to exploit their riparian position or dominance. Riparian dominance impervious to international legal principles can create a situation where water allocations to co-riparian states become a function of political fiat.
Upstream dams, barrages, canals and irrigation systems can help fashion water as a political weapon — a weapon that can be wielded overtly in a war, or subtly in peacetime to signal dissatisfaction with a co-riparian state. Even denial of hydrological data in a critically important season can amount to the use of water as a political tool. Such leverage could in turn prompt a downstream state to build up its military capabilities to help counterbalance the riparian disadvantage.
Except for Japan, Malaysia and Burma, Asian states already face water shortages. A different water-related problem confronts some low-lying states like Bangladesh and the Maldives, whose very future of is at stake due to creeping saltwater incursion and frequent flooding. Bangladesh today has too much water, yet not enough to meet its needs. Born in blood in 1971, it faces the spectre of a watery grave.
China and India already are water-stressed economies. The spread of irrigated farming and water-intensive industries and a rising middle class are drawing attention to their serious struggle for more water. The two giants have entered an era of perennial water shortages, which before long are likely to parallel, in terms of per-capita availability, the Mideast scarcity. Their rapid economic growth could slow if their demand for water continues to grow at the present frenetic pace. Water shortages, furthermore, threaten to turn food-exporting China and India into major importers — a development that would seriously accentuate the global food crisis.
Even though India’s usable arable land is larger than China’s — 160.5 million hectares compared to 137.1 million hectares — the source of all the major Indian rivers except one is the Tibetan plateau. While the Ganges originates on the Indian side of the Himalayas, its two main tributaries flow in from Tibet. This is the world’s largest plateau, whose vast glaciers, huge underground springs and high altitude have endowed it with the greatest river systems. Almost all the major rivers of Asia originate there. Tibet’s status thus is unique: No other area in the world is a water repository of such size, serving as a lifeline for much of an entire continent.
In the stark words of Premier Wen Jiabao, water scarcity threatens the very “survival of the Chinese nation”. But in seeking to address that challenge, China's gargantuan projects threaten to damage the delicate Tibetan ecosystem. They also carry seeds of inter-riparian conflict. The hydropolitics in the Mekong river basin, for example, can only get sharper as China, ignoring the concerns of downstream states, completes more upstream dams on the Mekong.
While making half-hearted attempts to stanch Indian fears about the prospective diversion of the Brahmaputra northward, Beijing has identified the bend where the Brahmaputra forms the world’s longest and deepest canyon, just before entering India, as holding the largest untapped reserves for meeting China’s water and energy needs. A Sino-Indian conflict over the sharing of the Brahmaputra waters, for instance, would begin no sooner than China begins to build the world’s largest hydropower plant on the river’s Great Bend. Upstream projects already have been held responsible for flash floods in Arunachal and Himachal Pradesh.
The way to forestall or manage water disputes in Asia is to build cooperative river-basin arrangements involving all riparian neighbours. Such institutional arrangements ought to centre on transparency, information sharing, pollution control and a pledge not to redirect the natural flow of trans-boundary rivers or undertake projects that would diminish cross-border flows. The successful interstate basin agreements (such as over the Indus, the Nile and the Senegal) are founded on such principles. In the absence of institutionalized cooperation over shared resources, peace will be the casualty in Asia as water becomes the new battleground.
The writer is a strategic affairs analyst.
(c) Times of India, 2008.
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Petition to UN to help political prisoners in Burma-BURMA DIGEST
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