Category Archives: Current Events

by Kaiser Kuo | March 4, 2014 · 9:19 am

Kaiser Kuo: On Radicalization and Chinese Policy

I get that some people trying to make sense of the attacks in Kunming want to take the opportunity to discuss how Chinese policy contributed to radicalization. And while I’ve noted elsewhere how it bothers me profoundly that many Anglophone commentators offer a merely perfunctory nod to the monstrousness of the knife attacks that claimed 29 innocent lives and sent 160 or more people to the hospital with stab and slash wounds before moving on to the “real” issue of Chinese repression of Uyghur rights, I do believe the desire on the part of some people to use the Kunming massacre to talk about underlying issues is well-intentioned and appropriate.

What troubles me, though, is that too often in that ensuing discussion, this attack as well as all the recent attacks—whether or not they cross our (still somewhat blurred) definitional line into terror—are seen simply as responses to Chinese repression. Is there repression and bad policy? Yes, absolutely. Has it contributed to radicalization? Sure.

But is it the only factor that has contributed to radicalization?

Of course not. The weird part is that while it should be stunningly obvious that the whole context, the whole relationship between Islam and the secular, industrialized world, the whole discourse on the way Islamic peoples are situated in the modern world—all this has dramatically changed, but this barely enters conversation. There are myriad alternative responses, loci of identity, causes, leaders, and movements on offer now that just weren’t there pre-September 11. The Internet barely existed in the oasis cities of the Tarim before 2001.

But people are for the most part writing and talking about the situation as though it’s happening in complete isolation, as though the rise of radical Islam in the rest of the world since the 1980s doesn’t figure in. It somehow doesn’t merit a paragraph or two alongside the context paragraphs that most of the Anglophone outlets see fit to include about repressive policies in restive Xinjiang. People can’t see beyond the simple narrative of Chinese repression.

Any serious effort to look at what’s happened and where things might go from here has to look at Chinese policy, and I’m sure that there’s plenty of blame to be laid there. But it should also factor in—and this is a far from comprehensive list—the rise of Wahhabism and other fundamentalist sects much further to the west; the Mujahedin in the aftermath of the Soviet withdrawal; Bin Laden and AQ; their bloody work; the whole idiotic enterprise of the GWoT; networks like the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan; the Afghan training camps (where let’s not forget there were many Uyghurs); the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq; and the Arab Spring in more recent years. It has to look critically at the WUC and the pared-down, simplistic narrative it’s managed to sell, and on and on.

It’s depressing that instead people are quibbling over how well organized ETIM is, with some even denying that any organizations like it exist at all. Or they quibble over whether scare-quotes should be used with the word terrorism. (Yes, I’ve been quibbling over that, but I think it’s important: Like many people, I find that the word’s been badly abused, mostly at the hands of the Bush 43 Administration, and is deeply problematic, but dropping our use of it now, or deploying it only with the scare-quotes, is too loaded a statement and sends very wrong messages).

But to my main point: Yes, let’s talk about the underlying problems. But let’s not for a second believe that if only the Chinese would be nicer all the nasty, violent radicalism would just disappear.

This post was originally published on Kaiser Kuo’s Facebook page on 3/3/14. It received so much attention that we reached out to Kaiser for a repost on ExSE. This is posted with the permission of the author. Comments and discussion welcome.

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Filed under Current Events, ethnic policy, Governance, Kunming Train Station Attack, Regional Relations, SLIDER, Uncategorized

Tagged as China ethnic policy, China security, China terrorism, Kaiser Kuo, Kunming, Kunming terror attacks, kunming train station attack, Yunnan

by East by Southeast | · 12:40 am

Kunming Train Station Attacks: The Media’s Response

It’s Monday night, local time, and more than a day has passed since Kunmingers and the rest of the world awoke to news of Saturday night’s terrorist attack at the Kunming Railway Station. In that time, local residents, concerned citizens, the media and the world at large have begun the process of digesting what happened and what it all means. In this short time, reports have gone from panicked messages on mobile chat apps to full articles in the international press and an ongoing discussion on Twitter and Weibo. A few narratives have emerged, each with their distinct angle on the attack and some focused solely on the reaction to them.

Many of the first stories that were published were strict accounts what happened, such as this report from the BBC. The BBC story is representative in describing only the scene at the train station and eyewitness accounts of the attack. Similar stories were found on the websites of most news outlets.

The Chinese press, like the international press, only reported accounts of the scene at first, but stressed the official response, with most articles carrying quotes from President Xi Jinping and Premier Li Keqiang. Today, much of the coverage focused around security measures, the efforts of medical teams in Kunming, and Chinese citizens’ response to the attacks.

Another narrative in the Chinese press was one of anger towards the foreign media for their treatment of the incident. One hotly discussed essay was this one from Xinhua News. Both the US Embassy and CNN drew Xinhua’s ire for downplaying the importance of the attacks. CNN put quotation marks around the word ‘terrorists’ in its first article on the incident while the US Embassy’s official statement failed to identify the attackers as terrorist. Xinhua was not the only one angry with the US Embassy, with thousands of Chinese criticizing the US online as well. In addition, this graphic from the People’s Daily online edition made for an intense discussion on both Twitter and Weibo.

A third strain of coverage of the incident centered around the bigger picture for China’s minority populations going forward. This article from Reuters looks at the possibility for increased tension between Uighurs and the majority Han population. A 2013 ChinaFile article by James Palmer, republished yesterday by Foreign Policy, was another article looking at ethnic tensions in Xinjiang that made the rounds on Twitter over the past 36 hours. The discussion around both articles has focused on whether or not the Kunming attacks are a harbinger for a new wave of crackdowns in Xinjiang and it’s a conversation that is sure to develop over the next days and weeks.

One line of discourse that has been missing from coverage is that of local Kunmingers. As often happens with events like these, the details and reactions of those most affected are discarded for larger implications and trends. Whether it be another short-lived skirmish over media bias towards China or the continuation of a long discussion on ethnic tensions in China, what locals think might be lost in the shuffle. Some interesting storylines that should be followed are: how Kunming as a city heals from the attacks; the language locals use to talk about the attack and what we can learn from that; how Kunming’s Uighur and Hui Muslim populations have been affected by the attacks; and how these attacks fit in the larger picture of ethnic relations in Yunnan. These are all critical questions and East by Southeast will do its best to find answers to them in the coming days. At the same time, we encourage our readers to reach out and tell us how they have been affected by the attacks what they see as important in the aftermath of such an event.

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Tagged as Kunming knife attack, Kunming train station, media, terrorism, Uighur, Yunnan muslim

by East by Southeast | March 2, 2014 · 9:13 pm

Deadly Kunming Knife Attack Leaves 33 Dead, 130+ Wounded

Kunming is a city known for its sleepy nature and a perfect climate that promotes a casual urban way of life. In many ways it offers an alternative to the busy competitive nature of China’s first and second tier cities. As the capital of Yunnan province, the city also prides itself as a peaceful melting pot of ethnic unity in one of the most ethnically diverse areas of the world.

The Spring City’s reputation was irrevocably changed on the evening of Saturday March 1 as a group of five to ten knife-wielding attackers entered the Kunming Railway Station and engaged in a stabbing rampage that killed 28 passengers and wounded more than 100. The Chinese government is labeling the assailants as a Uyghur separatist terrorist group although very little is known of the actual identities of the assailants and their motives.

This horrifying incident is the bloodiest in recent memory to occur outside of Xinjiang, a territory that has seen an increase in restive ethnic activity over the past five years. The domestic Chinese media and international media are providing plenty of coverage of the incident, but many questions remain unanswered and facts surrounding the incident are sketchy at best.

Most importantly, who are the assailants? Why was Kunming and its train station chosen as a site for the attack? And how could security at the train station be so lax to permit this unprecedented violence?

Official reports confirmed late Saturday evening that security forces killed four of five assailants and apprehended a fifth female attacker. In the firefight one or more of Kunming’s SWAT force was injured with undisclosed levels of injuries. Phoenix TV reported three of the assailants fled northward on Beijing Road (Kunming’s central north to south thoroughfare) out of the train station and continued to stab innocent bystanders until they met a police blockade several hundred meters from the station. Two were shot on sight and one apprehended, allegedly a woman five months pregnant. Photos show the assailants were wearing the same black head to toe uniforms and were said to have their heads covered. Early Sunday morning March 2, photographs of a short sleeve black t-shirt with a crescent moon and Arabic script began to circulate Chinese social media channels; the t-shirt was the alleged uniform of the attackers – however, photos of the apprehended and assailants killed on site suggest they were wearing long sleeve shirts.

On Sunday morning March 2, the official Chinese media labeled the incident as a terrorist attack laying the blame on Uyghur separatists groups. At the point of this publication no names, photos, or information on the assailants have been released to the public. Identifying the assailants as Uyghur did confirm the initial messages that hit popular Chinese social media channels around 10pm on Saturday evening. Concerned Chinese citizens are calling for the release of information on the assailants by the public security forces, but due process in China does not require the release of such information. It is possible that we will never know the true identity and motivations of the attackers.

At noon on March 2, a list of 11 Uyghur men with names and headshots began to circulate Chinese social media sites. The men are labeled as suspects fleeing the scene of the crime and no information has been released about their specific connection to the incident. Were these men identified by close circuit cameras in the train station? Were their names divulged by the apprehended fifth attacker? Were they simply men who failed to show up to work on Sunday and reported by their Han Chinese employers as missing or by local observers as suspicious figures? Again Chinese criminal and legal processes help to shed little light on the identity of these men who apparently are still at large.

Kunmingers are in a state of fear and disbelief as news of the incident unfolds. Of the few people interviewed by ExSE most state that it is important to stay indoors since suspects were still on the run. The municipal public security bureau has asked all housing complexes, public venues, and university campuses to increase security surveillance methods. Property management companies of housing complexes are encouraging residents to blanket report sightings of any Uyghurs to local police stations.

Photos from the Kunming No. 1 Hospital located in the center of the city show the wounded recovering in gurneys, occupying hallways in the already crowded and resource strapped facility. A Sina Weibo user reported in an unverified report that a migrant family cannot afford the 50000 RMB required for treatment of their critically injured child.

Chinese train stations are often crowded and packed with passengers into the late evening as passengers board overnight trains to destinations throughout the country. Kunming’s station last night was no exception. The mix of people in the train station was likely comprised of various walks of life from migrant workers, to middle-class tourists, to foreign backpackers heading to the popular tourism destinations of Lijiang and Dali as well as points north in inland China. One photo showed a bag of golf clubs against a wall towering above a pool of blood. Gruesome photos of the scene also show luggage left strewn throughout the scene of the violence, a rampage that occurred in many of the stations waiting halls in addition to the main ticketing room.

Anyone who travels on China’s rails and bus system knows the security at train and bus stations is extremely lax. Poorly trained guards – really hired help in shabby blue uniforms – man posts at metal detectors and luggage scanners placed in station entryways more for show than to serve a security purpose. At peak times train and bus stations are much more crowded than airports in China and metal detectors are constantly sounding as passengers walk through without any recourse or further pat downs. With the exception of Xinjiang and Tibet were security has been increasingly tightened over the past five years, the quality of procedures to safeguard the security of public places wanes as one gets farther away from Beijing.

This lax security culture is likely to, and hopefully will change as a result of the incident in which locals are dubbing as Kunming’s 9/11. China’s President Xi Jinping dispatched top domestic security official Meng Jianzhu to Kunming to oversee the investigation that comes days before the opening of critical government meetings in Beijing. This incident will surely cast a cloud over the meetings which are a critical platform for Xi to further deepen his reform policies for China – or the incident will force the agenda to be more focused on security concerns, an already expressed concern for the new leadership. Meng Jianzhu said in a public statement today, “This gang of terrorists were cruel without any humanity. They completely abandoned their conscience. We must strike hard against them according to the law.”

Perhaps the known factor of a lax security environment and a municipal government famous for slow responses and public relations nightmares made Kunming an easy target for the assailants – if they were as the official Chinese media claims from western Xinjiang. We are all still grappling to understand why Kunming was chosen as a target for an attack of such scale. The last time an incident of this nature – although admittedly we are still trying to figure out the exact nature of the incident – happened was a series of two bombings in 2008 when a local man, a former convict disgruntled and unable to find a place and job in China’s competitive society bombed a bus killing two and then unintentionally killed himself in a second bombing inside the popular Salvador’s Café in the city’s university district. The two incidents were spread out over a five month period. Prior to the bomber’s death in the second December 2008 bombing, authorities blamed the first bombings on Uyghur separatists until they could forensically link the two incidents. The bomber was Hui Muslim but not Uyghur and religion ties or ethnic suppression were not revealed as motivations for the incident.

Today on the streets of Kunming, many were reluctant to discuss the incident. Known acquaintances opened conversations with “the thing on TV” or “what was in the news,” a reaction that displays the shock and disbelief that this could happen in their city or a willingness to distance themselves from the incident in self-protective behavior. A local fruit vendor was angry beyond words and could only mutter, to my disbelief, that all Uyghurs should be corralled and shot. Another local suggested that as a foreigner I should pack my bags and go back to the West where “you don’t have to worry about terrorism.” Similar responses and sentiments pervade the Chinese population

As the city begins to piece itself back together with the start of the work week tomorrow, ExSE will continue its discussion of this horrible incident, continuing to comment on official media response, the discussion of Uyghur separatism and its link to the incident. In addition to the broader topics above which the mainstream media has already defined as its main narrative surrounding the incident, ExSE, a Kunming based website is interested in exploring issues on the ground here in the city as they unfold and from a long term, more connected perspective.

With so little information released on the true identities of the assailants as well as the identity of those slain in the attack, how does an urban society process and respond to such a violent incident? We are also curious and concerned to the way an urban society heals from the shock and grief that now holds sway over Kunming and to what effect security will be raised in the city in both the short and long term. Importantly how will the ethnically diverse but general peaceful and non-restive ethnic groups of Yunnan respond to an attack labeled with ethnic motivations by an outside separatist group? And will angry Chinese nationals seek retaliation against Uyghurs and Muslims in all patterns of ethnic and nationalist tension that are becoming more and more predictable in China?

Please feel free to leave comments to this post or if you have contributions, contact us at eastbystheastmail@gmail.com.

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Filed under China, Current Events, Kunming Train Station Attack, SLIDER, Uncategorized, Yunnan Province

Tagged as China terrorism, Kunming, Kunming knife attack, Uyghur, Yunnan muslim

by East by Southeast | · 2:43 am

Attack at Kunming train station leaves 27 dead and more than 100 injured

Late Saturday evening March 1, unknown attackers used knives to randomly kill passengers waiting at the Kunming train station. Xinhua News has reported 27 killed with 109 injured. A local hospital has seen more than 170 patients apparently injured in the incident.

The assailants are of unknown origin and motivation although Chinese social media sites are flying with rumors of ethnic affiliation. The state media has officially called this incident a terrorist attack.

While details are extremely sketchy photos from the incident are circulating as the story hits the international media. To keep up with the story as it breaks follow this live blog.

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by East by Southeast | February 26, 2014 · 12:00 pm

New Addition: Country Profiles on East by Southeast

ExSE is excited to announce the addition of a new section to our website! Country profiles are now available for Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar/Burma, Thailand, and Vietnam. These profiles introduce the historical, political, and economic milieu of countries in Southeast Asia and provide you with up to date analysis of current events and developing trends in the region. You will find links to economic and environmental data as well as a discussion of each country’s regional connections (including the China connection!) in a greater context.

These country profiles are authored by undergraduate students enrolled in the Regional Development in China and Southeast Asia program at the IES Kunming center. Each semester new students will have the opportunity to update, edit, or add to the existing reports so be sure to check for updates frequently.

Country reports can also be accessed via the site’s top menu bar under Profiles.

If you have suggestions, contributions, or photos to provide for the country reports, please feel free to contact us at eastbysoutheastmail@gmail.com.

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by News Digest | February 24, 2014 · 11:36 am

Regional Roundup for Week of 2.23.2014

Just links this week – and lots of them…

EXSE FOCUS

Gunmen Wound at Least 35 at Rally in Thailand – AP Assailants in a pickup truck attacked the antigovernment rally held by the People’s Democratic Reform Committee in the province of Trat, about 180 miles east of Bangkok.//much more on the unfortunate news coming out of Thailand below

Behind Pattern of Global Unrest, a Middle Class in Revolt – Asia Unbound For months now, protesters have gathered in the capitals of many developing nations—Turkey, Ukraine, Thailand, Venezuela, Malaysia, and Cambodia, among others—in demonstrations united by some key features. In nearly all of these places, protesters are pushing to oust presidents or prime ministers they claim are venal, authoritarian, and unresponsive to popular opinion. Nearly all of these governments, no matter how corrupt, brutal, and autocratic, actually won elections in relatively free polls. And in nearly all of these countries the vast majority of demonstrators hail from cosmopolitan areas: Kiev, Bangkok, Caracas, Istanbul, and other cities. The streets seem to be filled with very people one might expect to support democracy rather than put more nails in its coffin. // Kurlantzick’s book Democracy in Retreat is a must read. Thankfully someone is looking through a classist lens at the perils and effects of globalization

Kerry Implores Indonesia on Climate Change Peril – NYT Secretary of State John Kerry said Indonesia’s failure to act would jeopardize its resources, damage its economy and put much of the capital under water.

Assessing John Kerry’s Visit to Jakarta – Asia Unbound Secretary of State John Kerry’s visit this weekend (U.S. time) to Jakarta was brief, packed into his whirlwind Asia trip. His short stay in Jakarta was understandable—I think Kerry, despite criticism that he has focused too much on the Middle East, has put in enough of the face time in Asia to justify his claim that he has continued the administration’s policy of re-engagement with Southeast Asia. The fact that Kerry chose to give a speech in front of an audience of students at a cultural center highlighted some of the American embassy in Jakarta’s soft power efforts in the archipelago. And I certainly would agree with most of what Kerry said in his speech on climate change and the threat of global warming—that climate change is a near-apocalyptic threat to the world, that the science about global warming is settled, that Indonesia is one of the developing nations most likely to be affected by climate change, that global warming could prove a death blow to many parts of the archipelago.

Chinese Ask Kerry to Help Tear Down a Firewall – NYT Meeting with Secretary of State John Kerry, a group of Chinese bloggers appealed to the United States to take up the cause of Internet freedom.

McDonald’s Opens in Vietnam, Bringing Big Mac to Fans of Banh Mi – NYT The fast-food giant is opening its first restaurant in the country, which some see as one of Asia’s last consumer markets with significant untapped potential.

After Winding Odyssey, Tibetan Texts Find Home in China – NYT An American scholar’s trove of 12,000 Tibetan-language texts has a new home, a lavishly decorated library on the campus of the Southwest University for Nationalities in Chengdu, China.

The Red Chains of Bureaucracy That ‘Torment’ Chinese – NYT A politician in the southern city of Guangzhou has listed more than 100 documents the average citizen needs in a lifetime, arguing that China’s bureaucracy is too tortuous. His proposal for streamlining has been met with approval.

Yes, cats and dogs are special – they deserve our protection in China – The Guardian Pets are still being stolen and slaughtered for their meat, but old ideas are changing. There’s no welcome like it when To Zhai and Muppet come hurtling towards me, after I return home to our bear rescue centre in Chengdu, Sichuan province. These incredibly sociable and outgoing dogs have, thankfully, forgotten that they were both once destined for the dinner table in China.

PLA Officer: China Must Establish South China Sea ADIZ – The Diplomat A Chinese military officer has said that establishing a South China Sea ADIZ is necessary to China’s national interest.

China Is Not 1914 Germany – The Diplomat Some critical differences render any comparison badly flawed.

Japan, ASEAN Discuss Defense Exports, Disaster Relief Cooperation – The Diplomat Japanese and ASEAN officials met to discuss potential Japanese defense exports.

Try Procrastination and Prevarication – Banyan NEGOTIATIONS for the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), which enter a crucial phase this weekend with a ministerial meeting in Singapore, seem to take place in two parallel universes. In one, the 12 countries pursuing this ambitious “21st-century” plurilateral free-trade agreement, including America and Japan (but not China) and representing 40% of the world’s GDP and one-third of its trade, came tantalisingly close to meeting their deadline of finalising the deal last year, and are now one last big push—perhaps in the next few days—away from success. In the other, TPP talks are bogged down in intractable disagreements on the most fundamental issues. The notion that it might be signed—let alone implemented—in the near future seems a delusion.

Chinese Netizens (Still) Love ‘House of Cards’ – TLN “Everyone in China who works on this level pays who they need to pay.” Mild spoiler alert: These are the words of the fictitious Xander Feng, an influential Chinese billionaire on the Netflix series “House of Cards,” a show that follows the machinations of U.S. Representative (and later Vice President) Frank Underwood to agglomerate power and crush whoever stands in his way. The phrase is also now viral on the Chinese Internet, which has proven surprisingly hospitable to the show’s second season, which debuted on February 14. Despite having its arguably Sinophobic moments—in addition to Feng-as-villain, the show depicts a Stateside Chinese businessman hiring both male and female sex workers, and a U.S. casino laundering Chinese money to fund a Congressional SuperPAC—the show has Chinese social media users applauding what they believe is a largely accurate depiction of Chinese palace politics

China in ‘House of Cards’ – ChinaFile China figures heavily in the second season of the Netflix series House of Cards, but how accurately does the show portray U.S.-China relations? Steven Jiang, a journalist for CNN in Beijing, binged-watched all thirteen recently-released web-only episodes over the weekend. Donald Clarke, professor of Chinese law at George Washington University, responded to our query saying we’d reached his “inner nerd.” Jiang and Clarke started us off putting the lie to Hollywood’s portrayal of U.S.-China relations, and were followed by Kaiser Kuo, Director of International Communications for Chinese search engine Baidu and co-host of the Sinica Podcast, and by Evan Osnos, staff writer at The New Yorker.

Chinese Censors Have Kept Their Hands Off ‘House of Cards’ – NYT The absence of censorship for the Chinese broadcast of the series is somewhat surprising, and it may indicate a more relaxed approach toward the newer medium of online television show imports.

Chinese thriller wins best film and best actor prizes at Berlin festival – The Guardian Asian films take limelight with best actor and best actress prizes but Richard linklater wins best director for Boyhoo

Party chief: Yunnan ’embracing a new era of environmental protection’ – GoKunming The most powerful government official in Yunnan, Party Secretary Qin Guangrong (秦光荣), delivered a speech last week in which he at times bluntly addressed many of the environmental concerns facing the province. Although Qin was, perhaps expectedly, speaking in broad terms, he did mention specific goals and characterized environmental issues as the top priority currently facing the province. His opening remarks set the tone for a surprisingly frank monologue.//Believe it when we see it.

Dawei Awaits Its Destiny – Irawaddy U Aung Myint, a community leader from Mudu village, stands next to a meter-long, gold-colored footprint with 108 Buddhist signs that was carved on a large boulder many centuries ago. “We believe that the Buddha visited here and that this is his left footprint,” he said. The relic, around which a pagoda has been constructed, is part of the heritage of the ethnic Dawei people, who have lived in southern Myanmar’s Tanintharyi Region since the 8th century. The ancient artifact gave the cluster of villages on this remote coastal plain its local name: Nabule. “The Pali word for left foot is Nabule,” U Aung Myint explained.//The Dawei port is a game changer in geo-politics, trade routes and regional relations. It’s a way for Burma to wean itself further from China and for Thailand to emerge as a stronger regional player.

Overshooting in Emerging Markets – Project Syndicate In the last few years, investors, policymakers, and businesses have been devoting considerable attention to the so-called “middle-income trap.” As a result, emerging markets’ downside risks are increasingly shaping the consensus forecast – a poor basis for investment and policy decisions.

ON THE DALAI LAMA’S VISIT TO THE WHITE HOUSE

What Can the Dalai Lama’s White House Visit Actually Accomplish? – ChinaFile On February 21, the Dalai Lama visited United States President Barack Obama in the White House over the objections of the Chinese government. Beijing labels the exiled spiritual leader a “wolf in sheep’s clothing” who seeks to use violence to free Tibet from Chinese rule. The Dalai Lama, who fled to India after a failed uprising in 1959, disavows the use of violence and says he only wants autonomy for Tibetans. He and Obama previously met in February 2010 and July 2011.

On Lamas in the White House… – The Granite Studio Most Chinese are well aware of the “Western” perspective on Tibet and are understandably prickly about the kinds of epithets used to describe Chinese control over the region. I’m not advocating that we (as in the “West”) need to sugarcoat what is happening in Tibet so that our Chinese friends can feel warm and fuzzy, but the habit of talking AT the Chinese about Tibet is likely no less productive in the long run than the Chinese PR ‘strategy’ outlined in this article.

China denounces Barack Obama’s meeting with Dalai Lama – The Guardian Beijing says White House meeting is ‘gross interference in Chinese politics’ and will damage China-US relations. Barack Obama met the Dalai Lama at the White House on Friday, despite objections from China, which has warned that the meeting would inflict grave damage on Sino-American relations.

Obama Walks Tightrope With Dalai Lama Meeting – The Diplomat Obama did just enough to avoid retaliation by Beijing for his meeting with the Dalai Lama.

China Criticizes Obama Over Visit by Dalai Lama – NYT In contrast to previous meetings, the White House seemed unruffled by the diplomatic repercussions of the meeting with the Tibetan spiritual leader.

CHINA

Beijing Official Detained in Investigation of Former Security Chief – NYT The investigation, centered on the former head of law and order policy, reaches a secretive realm in China’s leadership.

Chinese Officials Widen Campaign Against Vices – NYT The operation appears intended to send a message similar to the so-called anticorruption campaign promoted by President Xi Jinping

Manufacturing Activity Contracts Again in China – REUTERS The slowdown at factories has unsettled markets, although the decline may have reflected in part the annual Lunar New Year holiday.

China Investigating Qualcomm’s Pricing – REUTERS The American chip maker is suspected of overcharging and abusing its market position, the Chinese anti-monopoly regulator said.

Nobel Winner’s Frank Advice to China’s Leadership – NYT To make the transition to a high-income economy, A. Michael Spence calls for bolstering domestic demand and exposing state firms to more market pressure

Taiwan and China Edge Ever Closer – NYT But many Taiwanese prefer the status quo over future unification.

Hunter Gross: What Did China and Taiwan’s Historic Talks Accomplish? Asia Unbound The four-day visit between Zhang Zhijun, director of China’s Taiwan Affairs Office (TAO) and Wang Yu-chi, chairman of Taiwan’s Mainland Affairs Council (MAC), has been described as “historic,” “a turning point in relations,” and “unimaginable.” But the meeting is not unprecedented. In recent years, several encounters between Chinese and Taiwanese representatives have led to this moment. This meeting, however, serves as a symbolic affirmation of the relatively stable status quo that benefits both Beijing and Taipei. To be sure, from a diplomatic standpoint, this is the first official meeting between China and Taiwan since the end of the civil war in 1949. Despite the media hype, however, this is unlikely to bring about any substantial changes in cross-strait relations, and a dramatic change was not necessarily the goal.

China’s Fear Strategy – Project Syndicate Not long ago, China was a soft-power juggernaut, seemingly content to allow its own example of success to speak for itself. Today, China, like many large countries, is allowing its internal political battles to shape how it interacts with others, especially with neighbors whose sensitivities it seems entirely willing to ignore.

China vows to hunt down officials who sheltered Liu Han’s ‘mafia gang’ – The Guardian Authorities to punish Sichuan officials who protected former mining tycoon Liu Han and his gang during ’10-year crime spree.’ Chinese authorities will hunt down the officials who gave protection to a “mafia-style” gang run by a former mining magnate charged with crimes ranging from murder to gun-running. Liu Han – the former chairman of Hanlong Mining, which attempted to take over Australia’s Sundance Resources Ltd – led his gang on a crime spree for more than a decade in China’s south-western province of Sichuan, state media said.

Chinese government sacks Dongguan police chief over prostitution scandal – The Guardian Yan Xiaokang removed from posts of police chief and vice mayor following televised report into underground sex industry. The Chinese government has sacked the police chief of Dongguan following a report by the main state broadcaster,China Central Television (CCTV), on the underground sex industry there, the Xinhua news agency has reported.

China Will Have to Face a Stronger US-Japan Alliance – The Diplomat Despite its wish for a new type of relationship with the US, China will face a stronger US-Japan alliance in coming years.

China: The Insecure Global Power – The Diplomat Faced with growing expectations, China’s foreign policy is actually becoming more insecure.

Local-government debt: Bridging the fiscal chasm – The Economist CHINA’S provincial administrations are often referred to as “local” governments. But the phrase does not do them justice. The province of Guangdong, for example, boasts more than 105m people and a GDP worth more than $1 trillion. Only 11 countries (including China itself) have a bigger population and only 15 have a larger economy.Equally impressive is the scale of provincial debts. At the end of 2013 China’s national auditor revealed that the liabilities of local governments had grown to 10.9 trillion yuan ($1.8 trillion) by the middle of last year, or 17.9 trillion yuan if various debt guarantees were added.

Academic freedom: Don’t think, just teach – The Economist A MOTTO of Peking University, one of China’s leading academic institutions, is “freedom of thought and an all-embracing attitude”. But in recent months it was not all-embracing enough to allow Xia Yeliang, an outspoken economics professor, to keep his job. Economics was not the subject on which Mr Xia was most forthright. He was a signatory of Charter 08, a petition drawn up in 2008 that called for sweeping political change, and he was known for his liberal political views.

Pollution Tax Suggested for Wealthy Chinese Fleeing for Greener Pastures – ChinaDialogue Environmental problems have become an important factor causing the rich to leave China—but one academic has now suggested that they should first pay an environmental levy. Chen Guoen, a professor at Wuhan University, said that some Western investment-for-citizenship schemes are tempting China’s rich to emigrate and enjoy cleaner air. According to Chen, China should respond by imposing an environmental restoration levy on those leaving—their accumulation of wealth will have had environmental consequences, and they should not be allowed to take that money and run.

Yunnan province increasingly feeding China’s hungry north – GoKunming China’s ever-growing cities need food, massive amounts of it, and are often unable to grow enough locally. One of many attempts to address this problem was implemented in 2011, when a program designed to send produce grown in the country’s less populated west to teaming cities elsewhere in China was instituted. An article originally published in the Spring City Evening News, and then redistributed nationally by Xinhua, reports the initiative has proved successful enough to warrant further expansion and investment.

REGION

Asylum Fraud in Chinatown: Industry of Lies – NYT More Chinese immigrants seek asylum than any other immigrant group in the country, and most of them apply from New York, where federal officials regard the applicant pool with suspicion.

U.S. Army Seeks Better Ties With China’s Military – NYT As tensions rise between China and other Asian nations, a top U.S. general is working on improving contacts with China’s military.’ v:shapes=”_x0000_i1026″>

Ecuador pursued China oil deal while pledging to protect Yasuni, papers show – The Guardian Negotiations took place while the country sought funds to forgo oil exploitation in pristine forest under the Yasuni-ITT scheme. The Ecuadorian government was negotiating a secret $1bn deal with a Chinese bank to drill for oil under the Yasuni national park in the Amazon while pursuing a high-profile scheme to keep the oil under the ground in return for international donations, according to a government document seen by the Guardian.

Wealthy Chinese buyers are making Sydney’s housing problem worse – The Guardian Last year median house prices in Sydney rose by 15%, and in some suburbs by up to 27%. Cash pouring in from foreign investors is one of the drivers of this change.

A U.S.-China Summit Diplomacy Rivalry – The Diplomat With a new summit this year, the U.S. can begin to compete with China for influence in Africa

China Offers To Finance 30 Percent Of Indian Infrastructure Spending Through 2017 – The Diplomat The offer would see $300 billion of Chinese funding flow into India through 2017.

America and China’s Perception Problems – The Diplomat Around the world China is increasingly seen as the bully while the U.S. seems more and more irresolute.

Closing the Distance: Investing in the Pacific Transport Sector – ADB Island countries in the Pacific need a strong transport sector to support economic growth. ADB’s transport strategy in the region focuses on improving access to markets and social services and building integrated transport systems.

Lee Hsien Loong on What Singapore Can—and Can’t—Teach China – Caixin As one of the Four Asian Tigers, Singapore is known for its strong economy and orderly society. The city-state, with its population of 5.3 million people, is listed by the World Bank as fourth in the world in terms of per capita income. As a regional business hub, it is lauded for its sound business reputation and the transparency of its government. Singapore has also been something of an example for China over the past three decades. A visit by Deng Xiaoping in 1978 provided inspiration for China’s reform and opening up.

Asia’s New Security Trifecta – Project Syndicate Winter is India’s diplomatic high season, with the cool, sunny weather forming an ideal backdrop for pageantry. But this winter has been particularly impressive, with leaders from Japan and South Korea joining Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to advance the cause of security cooperation in Asia.

A Clear Case for Golden Rice – Project Syndicate In some environmental circles, blanket opposition to genetically modified organisms is like taking a loyalty oath – dissidents are regarded as traitors in league with the evil biotech industry. It is time to move beyond such a narrowly ideological stance.

The Davos Apocalypse – Project Syndicate At the World Economic Forum’s annual meeting in Davos last month, leading participants called for a rapid shift to cleaner energy to tackle climate change. There was something unsettling about the global power elite jetting into an exclusive Swiss ski resort and telling the rest of the world to stop using fossil fuels.

India’s disappearing glaciers – The Third Pole The base camp of the Chhota Shigri glacier – one of the few glaciers monitored regularly in the Indian Himalayas – stands amidst stones, where once ice flowed 50 metres thick. The Chhota Shigri glacier is one of three glaciers that has been monitored regularly in the Indian Himalayas over the past decades. (Photo by Ranvir Singh). The Chhota Shigri base camp offers a breath-taking view of the northern ridge of the Pir Panjal range in the Indian Himalayas that reach up to 6,500 metres (21,325 feet). Lateral moraines, the accumulation of boulders and stone deposited by a glacier, form parallel ridges about 50 metres high and 170 metres wide.

CAMBODIA

Cambodians board Phnom Penh’s first public buses in more than a decade – The Guardian Authorities hope road users will swap motorbikes taxis for buses to ease congestion on city’s traffic-clogged roads. Motorcycles, cars, tuk-tuks and the humble rickshaw dominate its traffic-clogged roads, but Phnom Penh has a new weapon in the fight against chronic congestion – its first public buses in more than a decade. Cambodia’s transport system lags behind many of its south-east Asian neighbours, which long ago resorted to public vehicles to ease gridlocked roads in major cities.

Getting Stares on the Streets of Cambodia: Buses for the Masses – NYT Phnom Penh is experimenting with a public transportation system, beginning with 10 buses, in a program underwritten by the Japanese government.’ v:shapes=”_x0000_i1030″>

Mending hearts – SEA Globe At SL Factory in Phnom Penh, young women sort through piles of blue jeans; their colourful clothes strike a contrast against the steel tables and grey walls. Down a corridor, geysers of steam erupt from massive steel washing machines. Pairs of young men wheel plastic carts of soggy garments, some eventually to be sold in Gap and H&M stores around the world, to the drying room. A man stares into the distance, his mind thick with imagination. Behind him, sheets of scalding water begin to leak from the metal hatch of his washing machine. He jumps and hits a button to release the pressure.

LAOS

Young Laotians Learn Chinese to Improve Job Prospects – NYT Many Chinese schools have sprung up in towns along the Laos-China border, and the schools in Vientiane are gaining popularity.

Tomorrow’s Women Water Leaders in Lao PDR – ADB Scholarships for young women in Lao People’s Democratic Republic are helping today’s students become tomorrow’s water leaders.

MYANMAR/BURMA

Myanmar: Signs of Unrest Raise Alarms – REUTERS

Burmese Refugees in Thailand Are Running out of Options – Irawaddy Win Myint and his two younger sisters fled Burma in June 2011, after months of harassment by plainclothes officers because of a documentary about the Burmese army featuring their exiled younger brother, a former soldier who later spent 15 years in jail for his pro-democracy activism. The officers accused them of distributing the film and warned them they could be jailed. “They told us not to go anywhere overnight. They also followed me to places I gave tuition. They accused our younger brother of trying to break the unity of the armed forces,” said Win Myint, speaking by phone from Umpiem Mai refugee camp in northern Thailand. “We didn’t feel safe,” said Myint, a 63-year-old former teacher and a Muslim.

At the mercy of the winds – SEA Globe Artisans fear their skills won’t survive the onslaught of time and increasing modernity in Myanmar. Hpan Myay Hman Myay can’t quite remember his age. “More than 60, but not yet 70,” he says, sitting in the shade of a rust-ravaged roof. In the more than 1.5 hectares that surround him, the fruits of his labour for more than 60, but not yet 70 years, are scattered, piled high on the damp soil and half-hidden under leaf litter and sprouting shrubs encroaching on this hidden treasure. It is here, on the outskirts of Myanmar’s largest city, Yangon, that Hpan Myay Hman Myay joined his father in Myanmar’s first hand-blown glass factory.

Poppy replacement in Shan State will take time, money – DVB In eastern Burma, efforts are underway to hamper opium production in Shan State, which, combined with adjacent parts of Laos and Thailand, produces a staggering 18 percent of the world’s opiates. Crop substitution schemes currently being implemented in three townships are unlikely to spread to other areas without a cash injection.

Anti-corruption commission to be formed – DVB President Thein Sein proposed on Thursday that a commission be formed to begin tackling corruption in Burma. In a letter to the Chairman of the Union Parliament, Thein Sein recommended 15 members; five were selected by the president, five by the Pyithu Hluttaw (lower house) and five by the Amyotha Hluttaw (upper house).

Development needed to ensure peace: KPC – DVB Brig-Gen Timothy Laklem of the Karen National Union Peace Council (KPC), an offshoot of the Karen National Union (KNU), has said that peace with Naypyidaw will only be possible once poverty has been reduced in Karen State. “Ethnic leaders are much more likely to sign the [nationwide ceasefire] agreement if there is a guarantee for people’s development,” Timothy Laklem said at a press conference in Rangoon on Thursday.

Govt urged to settle land grab claims by September – DVB The Burmese Parliament on Thursday called on relevant government bodies to implement settlement claims over land confiscation cases by September at the latest, though the number of cases remains disputed.

From Jade Land to a Wasteland – Irawaddy “They eat up the hills like they’re devouring cakes. Hills three or four hundred feet high are completely flattened, or even turned into holes 300 feet deep. Where there used to be mountains, now there are lakes,” said U Cho, a resident of Hpakant, a town in Kachin State famed for its jade mines. Like many others in the area, U Cho is a jade dealer. But even he struggles to comprehend the scale of the destruction wrought by the jade mines here.

Manufacturing Could Start in Burma’s Thilawa Zone in Mid-2015 – Irawaddy RANGOON — About 40 foreign manufacturers are interested in setting up in the Thilawa economic zone being developed with Japanese help outside Burma’s main city, Rangoon, and commercial operations could start in mid-2015, a Burmese official said. Burma has opened up since a quasi-civilian government took office in 2011 after decades of military dictatorship and foreign firms are looking to benefit from cheap labor and a virgin market in thriving Southeast Asia.

MALAYSIA

Malaysian Restaurants Busted for Putting Endangered Species on the Dinner Menu – The Diplomat Special Valentine’s Day courses offered flying fox, civet and pangolin meat among others.

THAILAND

Court in Thailand Limits Crackdown on Protesters – NYT The Bangkok court barred the authorities from dispersing protesters one day after violent clashes left five people dead.

Economic Growth in Thailand Cools to 0.6% – NYT The unrest that has shaken Thailand since November is taking a potentially lasting toll on the country’s economy, just when regional growth over all is facing headwinds.

Thailand unrest: court prohibits use of force against protesters – The Guardian Two government orders deemed unconstitutional as violent protests continue against PM Yinluck Shinawatra. A Thai court has ordered the government not to use force against anti-government protesters after clashes between riot police and demonstrators left five dead and nearly 70 wounded.

Four killed as Thai police clash with protesters in Bangkok – The Guardian Reports of multiple gunshots from both sides as authorities attempt to clear protest sites around government offices. Four people have been killed and more than 60 injured in Bangkok after a gun battle erupted between police and anti-government protesters who have spent the past month calling for an end to the current regime.

Thailand protesters besiege temporary government HQ – The Guardian Hundreds of protesting rice farmers breach perimeter of military compound used by Yingluck Shinawatra’s mobile government. Thai opposition demonstrators have surrounded government offices – including a compound used as a temporary headquarters by the prime minister, Yingluck Shinawatra – in defiance of authorities who have vowed to reclaim key state buildings.

Protests in Thailand: Stagnant revolution – The Economist AS ARMED police moved in to clear an opposition protest site in central Bangkok on February 18th, it appeared that the gridlock that has paralysed the city for three months might be reaching a dénouement. Four protesters and one policemen were killed and dozens injured in the clashes that followed. But carnage did not lead to catharsis. Just a day later, a civil court ruled that police could not break up any more demonstrations.On the same day the election commission cancelled polls that had been rescheduled for April after a widespread opposition boycott of a general election on February 2nd.

Last gatekeepers – Banyan A HANDWRITTEN piece of paper affixed to one of the entrance gates of Government House reads: “Get out (of) this land”. There, sandbags and a barricade of rubber tyres fortified with razor wire protect the young men who, bucketful by bucketful, are raising a cement wall. They are sealing off the office of the prime minister, Yingluck Shinawatra, so that she cannot return “in this life or the next”. The arrival of food, energy drinks and more cement bags suggests that they are serious. No one will rule Thailand from here, or from anywhere else for that matter, at least for a while.

PHILIPPINES

The Philippines social workers who are still battling typhoon Yolanda – The Guardian Rory Truell, secretary-general of the International Federation of Social Workers, visits Filipino social workers who put their personal losses aside to support their community. The peoples of the Philippines know about hardship, surviving poverty and resilience. Despite enduring the same terrible conditions as other survivors, the social workers in Tacloban carried on doing their jobs – supporting people in restoring their lives.

15,000 Donated Boats to Replace Those Lost in Philippine Super Typhoon – The Diplomat Also: Husband joins search for missing Japanese diver in Bali, peat fires rage in Malaysia.

VIETNAM

UK warned that aid to Vietnam inadvertently supports death penalty – The Guardian Charities link British funding for UN anti-heroin initiatives with executions for drug-smuggling in the country. The UK’s decision to send millions of pounds in aid to Vietnam has been called into question after the country confirmed that it is to execute 30 heroin smugglers.

Bird feeders – Banyan LAPPY BIRD is a wildly popular game played on smartphones. As well as being compulsively playable, it is also frustratingly difficult: the bird has a habit of dying at the slightest slip of the index finger. To cap it all, this month its Vietnamese creator, Nguyen Ha Dong, suddenly withdrew the game from download sites such as Google Play and Apple’s App Store. Vietnam’s budding tech industry has come a long way in the last decade, but the withdrawal points to how far it still has to go.

Hyper-super hype? – Banyan ON FEBRUARY 8th Vietnam’s first McDonald’s opened with great fanfare in Ho Chi Minh City, the country’s business capital. The event was rich in both saturated fat and historical irony: the outlet, a potent symbol of American capitalism, sits in a city that was, until 1975, a key outpost in America’s struggle against communism. The company’s local franchisee, a Harvard-educated, Vietnamese-American tech tycoon, is the son-in-law of Nguyen Tan Dung, the prime minister, who presides over a nominally communist nation.

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by Brian Eyler | February 3, 2014 · 10:33 pm

A Quick Glance at Yunnan’s 2013 GDP

Below is the translation of a recent media release on Yunnan’s GDP and breakdown by sector and source. I’m still tracking down some explanatory data (like why imports decreased by 10%) before I provide analysis and representations, but observe that total debt is greater than 2013 GDP as well as debt/total savings ratio is approximately 77%. Investment growth was double consumption and real estate investment grew by 40%! Lastly, there seems to be a mistake with total fixed capital investments listed at nearly 85% of GDP.

Yunnan Wangxun – January 17, 2014 (author: Lei Suyue): Experts at the Yunnan province Bureau of Statistics report the province’s 2013 GDP totaled 1.17 trillion RMB (193 million USD). The province’s GDP growth rate ranked third in China at 12.1% and is demonstrating a stable and positive trend.

The data show the agricultural sector contributing 305bn RMB and growing by 7% on the previous year. Grain harvests were the highest in five years totaling 18.24mn tons and a YOY growth rate of 4.3% (.749mn tons). Additionally, special agriculture industries (agro-forestry, livestock, and fisheries) from upland areas (高原特色农业) are contributing strongly to this growth in terms of improvements in quality and quantity.

Industrial output rose to 347Bn RMB and grew by 12.3%. Light industry contributed 152.8bn RMB and grew by 7.4%. Growth in heavy industry rose to 194.3bn RMB demonstrating a significant growth rate of 16.3%. These industries consumed 675.2bn tons of coal (8.1% growth), and the entire province consumed 145.9bn KWH of electricity (10.9%).

Investment in fixed capital assets (not including farm investments) increased by 27.4% reaching a total of 962bn RMB (translators note: this looks too high, could be a typo). Real estate investment totaled 248.8bn RMB (39.6% growth). The province added a total of 182mn square meters (27.1% growth) and sales of 33mn square meters (2.2% growth) at a total value of 14.87bn RMB (9.1% growth).

Total government expenditure for 2013 was 278.5bn RMB. Total government revenues for Yunnan province totaled 161bn RMB (20.4% increase). Tax revenue totaled 121.5bn RMB (increase 14.2%); Non-tax revenue totaled 38.56bn RMB (44.3% increase)

Provincial government expenditures (including locality expenditure) totaled 409.65bn RMB (14.7% increase)with 278.46bn RMB spent on education, social welfare and employment programs, agro-forestry and water resources, transportation shipping, and social housing programs. This expenditure rose 34.4BN RMB from last year and totals 68% of provincial public expenditure.

Total Consumption reached 403.6bn RMB – a 14% increase over 2012. Urban consumption totaled 324bn RMB growing by 13.8%; rural consumption totaled 79.5bn RMB (growth 14.5%) 7 percentage points higher than urban consumption growth rates.

Yunnan’s international trade (exports + imports) totaled 125bn RMB (25bn USD)

Total trade rose by 22.9% in 2013 – the province’s growth rate is 15.3 points higher than the national trade growth percentage. Among this exports totaled 15.96bn USD (59.3% growth); Imports totaled 9.87bn USD representing a decrease of 10.2%.

By the end of December, 2013, total savings of provincial financial institutions totaled 2.06 trillion RMB, an increase of 271.84bn RMB (15.2% increase); total debt of Yunnan’s financial institutions is 1.58 trillion RMB an increase of 192bn RMB (14% increase)

GDP breakdown by sector: Primary sector GDP totaled 189.5Bn RMB (6.8% growth), secondary sector GDP totaled 492.8bn RMB (13.3% growth) where industry contributed 376.7bn RMB (12% growth) and construction totaled 116bn RMB (18.4% growth); Tertiary industry totaled 489.8bn RMB (12.4% growth).

Yunnan has made progress in navigating its development through the pressures of the complex global economic climate through the promotion of a “Stability provides progress, stability provides effectiveness, stability provides expedience” program. Success in Yunnan has come from promoting stable growth, institutional restructuring, promoting reform.

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Tagged as Yunnan GDP, Yunnan imports, Yunnan investment, Yunnan trade

by News Digest | · 1:17 pm

Regional Roundup for Week of 2.2.2014

Happy Spring Festival from East by Southeast! Just links in this week’s digest. ExSE’s writers are either off celebrating the Year of the Horse, stealthily checking polling places in Bangkok, or on visa runs to the US.

EXSE FOCUS

Thai voters prevented from casting ballot by anti-government protesters – Guardian Boycotts, blockades and violence lead to disruption or closure of polling booths, affecting about six million voters across Thailand. Tens of thousands of Thais were unable to cast their ballots on Sunday after anti-government protesters blockaded roads and commandeered polling booths in what has become an increasingly tense political standoff. //More links to Thai protests and elections analysis below – by far the biggest story in Asia this week.

Red-shirts ‘ready to resist’ Thai army coup, set up capital in Chiang Mai – SCMP The embattled Thai government’s hardline “red-shirt” supporters in the country’s north say they are ready to resist any attempt by the military to stage a coup. Some supporters say they also expect popularly elected Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra to retreat to Chiang Mai and set up government there if the army tries to take power in Bangkok amid ongoing anti-government demonstrations. //by ExSE contributor Tom Fawthrop

Climate change could worsen Mekong Delta woes – Third Pole Scientists say climate change will have grave impact on Vietnam’s Mekong Delta, a region already battling pollution, salinity and flooding. Vietnamese scientists say climate change will probably exacerbate existing ecological problems in the Mekong delta, such as water pollution, salinity intrusion, loss of aquatic biodiversity and rising susceptibility to flooding. Their concerns echo a 2006 warning by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) that the Mekong River Delta and two others — the Ganga and the Nile — are particularly susceptible to rising sea levels.

Chinese New Year: Increasingly Traditional, Increasingly Global – The Diplomat Spring Festival celebrations in China and around the world represent the twin pulls of modernization and tradition.//Out with the snake, in with the horse.

Chinese new year – in pictures – Guardian People around the world gather to see in the year of the horse

China Sentences Xu Zhiyong, Legal Activist, to 4 Years in Prison – NYT The case against Mr. Xu, who campaigned against corruption and injustice, was seen as a barometer of how China’s new leadership would respond to organized calls for reform.

White House Urges China to Act on Journalists’ Visas – NYT The statement was the latest public effort on behalf of reporters for Bloomberg and The New York Times thwarted in their work by visa delays.

China Appears Set to Force Times Reporter to Leave – NYT Austin Ramzy would be the second Times correspondent obliged to leave mainland China in 13 months because of an unprocessed visa application.

China denies ‘deporting’ New York Times journalist Austin Ramzy – Guardian China hits back at ‘unjustifiable accusations’ after White House press secretary said US deeply concerned by restrictions faced by foreign journalists

Obama’s Asia rebalancing turns into a big foreign policy heachache – Guardian US effort to deepen relations with both China and its traditional Asian allies is creating a host of new problems. China and Japan are not talking any more, and the US is hardly being listened to.

On 35th Anniversary of Diplomatic Ties With U.S., China Tries to Soften Image – NYT China has moved to expand friendly cultural exchanges with the United States and promote a series of prominent collaborations in music, dance and education, particularly in New York.

Obama and G.O.P. Facing Opposition to Trade Pacts – NYT President Obama, supported by many Republicans and business groups, has met opposition from labor and many Democrats on his push for fast-track approval of trade deals with Pacific Rim nations and Europe.

Fragile economies under pressure as recovery prompts capital flight – Guardian So far this year $12bn of foreign money has fled the stock markets of emerging economies, and last week’s Fed decision will accelerate that. We look at how further loss of western funds could affect six vulnerable countries. The decision by the US Federal Reserve to further slow its programme of bond buying last week gave a clear signal of confidence in the world’s largest economy. But the scaling down of monthly purchases, by a further $10bn to $65bn, put emerging market economies under renewed pressure: currency falls and a flight of foreign capital have already placed them on the “at risk” list.

Official proposes reopening Wujiaba Airport – GoKunming Two news stories with quite different visions for Kunming’s defunct airport were published in the Yunnan press this week. One discloses initial plans for a sprawling redevelopment project on the site of Wujiaba Airport while the other reports a provincial official has proposed the now unused runways and terminals be reopened.//upcoming post on this issue soon. Kunming’s 5^th largest airport in the world has become the laughing stock of China, rife with problems in addition to expected levels of bureaucratic idiocy

The White-haired Man-Asia Literary Review THE WHITE-HAIRED MAN cruised along the emptying thoroughfare as the falling sun swam in red over the neighbouring nation. He enjoyed the push of wind through his hair and the dampish chill of the December air on his hands as he drove his open sided wartime jeep. His wife had gone ahead in the far more modern family car.//Essay on Sombat Somphone by writer Melody Kemp

CHINA

China’s Communist party expels disgraced former mayor of Nanjing – Guardian Ji Jianye had earlier removed from city mayoralty amid accusations of sweeping corruption//another one bites the dust, likely one of many mayoral level/provincial head levels to lose power this year

The Chinese Military’s Toughest Opponent: Corruption – The Diplomat Is Xi Jinping willing to bring his anti-corruption drive to bear on the People’s Liberation Army?

China sets new world record for solar installations – Guardian China installed more solar energy than any other country in the world in 2013. China installed a record 12GW of solar power in 2013, doubling its rate of solar installations, according to preliminary figures. This is more than has ever been installed by any country in a single year and means that China installed three times more solar energy in 2013 than the total UK solar capacity.//Solar power can be produced by private owners and sold to the grid in China (along with wind power) but infrastructure is unstable and regulatory roadblocks prevent efficiency.

China becomes biggest market for red wine, with 1.8bn bottles sold in 2013 – Guardian Boom attributed to new urban affluence – and to Chinese fondness for lucky colour. The Chinese appear to have beaten the French at one of their own favourite pastimes – quaffing red wine. China’s drinkers knocked back 1,865bn bottles of vin rouge last year, an increase of 136% over five years, making the country the leading market for red wine.//when will we see the same report for coffee 2015? 2018?

In China, ‘Once the Villages Are Gone, the Culture Is Gone’ – NYT As village life in China disappears and its traditions fade, some fight to maintain the country’s rural cultural heritage.

Look: The Empire State Building in Ice – NYT Photos from the Harbin Ice Festival

Hong Kong Paper Ousts Top Editor, Stirring Concern – NYT Ming Pao’s history as a serious, independent paper has given it outsize influence, but it might be the latest victim of the mainland’s effort to rein in the media here.

Getting Away: A return to Shaxi – GoKunming A trip to the Yunnan countryside is often seen by tourists as a chance to see China as it once was. But rural villages attempting to bill themselves as rustic travel destinations often run up against a common problem: how can a place preserve its cultural roots and often fragile ancient architecture while at the same time accommodating an influx of camera-toting visitors?//Get there while you can, top Yunnan destination

REGION

Asian Markets Slip After Fed’s Decision on Stimulus – NYT Key stock indexes in Japan, Australia, Singapore and Hong Kong dropped after the Federal Reserve’s announcement to continue to roll back bond purchases.

Preparing for a dengue fever vaccine: why Brazil’s ahead of the game – Guardian Six dengue vaccine candidates are in various stages of clinical development but developing countries will not receive the benefits if planning does not start now. Dengue fever is now endemic in more than 125 countries. Six vaccines are currently in clinical development and policymakers and global health leaders need to be ready for when they come on the market

US foreign policy in Latin America leaves an open door for China – Guardian America’s ‘pivot’ to Asia along with decades of heavy-handed policy give China an opportunity to rebalance global powers

France’s truffle farmers aim to stop inferior Chinese fungi getting a sniff – Guardian Scientists use their noses to help distinguish between highly prized black truffles and cheap Chinese imports. When is a black truffle not a €1,000-a-kilo rare French fungus? When it fails the smell test.

International Ocean Drilling Expedition Heads For South China Sea – The Diplomat An international scientific ocean drilling expedition could raise the stakes in the South China Sea disputes.

The New Age of Nationalism – The Diplomat The 21st century will be defined by nationalism; not religion or culture.

Hard times for soft shells – SEA Globe Editorial Hunted for their meat or sold on to Vietnam, giant turtles cling to existence in the north of Cambodia

INDONESIA

Death Toll Climbs After Major Volcanic Eruption in Indonesia – NYT Toxic clouds of hot ash hampered teams looking for more victims from Saturday’s eruption at Mount Sinabung, which killed at least 15 people.

MYANMAR/BURMA

UN urges Burma to investigate Rohingya deaths after latest violence – Guardian UN human rights agency says it has information of 48 Muslims killed in Rakhine by Buddhist mobs, the deadliest in a year. At least 48 Muslims were killed when Buddhist mobs attacked a village in an isolated corner of western Burma earlier this month, the United Nations has said, calling on the government to carry out a swift, impartial investigation and to hold those responsible accountable.

18 Kachin villagers captured by Burmese army in Mansi – DVB Burmese government forces launched an assault on the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) in the village of Nam Gau in Mansi Township on Thursday, according to a mobile team of the Free Burma Rangers (FBR), which supplies medical support in the area.

Burma’s emerging women leaders – DVB Kay Thi Win was forced to drop out of high school when her father died in order to help support her mother and siblings. “I told my mother that I got a job in a factory on the Thai-Burmese border and I was going to work there,” she said. “I ended up working as a sex worker.”

Crossing the Indo-Burmese Border on Motorcycle – The Irrawaddy MOREH/TAMU — After a long and thorough inspection of our documents and various exchanges with colleagues in Naypyidaw, the white-suited immigration officer finally laid down the phone, turned towards us, broke into a huge smile, and said: “Welcome to Myanmar. We have been expecting you.”

PHILIPPINES

Typhoon Haiyan Communities Gradually Recovering – ADB Just over 2 months after Super Typhoon Haiyan, known locally as Yolanda, devastated the central Philippines, survivors in the affected areas have started the process of rebuilding their lives and their homes, as they await longer term support from the government and donors.

THAILAND

Thailand’s political crisis: The show staggers on – Economist IN FRONT of the Royal Thai Army Club the rump of a people’s revolution gathered to collect their reward. Inside, the prime minister, Yingluck Shinawatra, was locked in talks with the election commission over whether to suspend a snap poll which she had called for February 2nd. Before the meeting, the commission had cited disruption and the risks of violence as reasons for delaying the poll by four months.

A symbolic exercise – Economist SO ENTRENCHED are positions on either side of Thailand’s divided polity that the outcome of the election held on February 2nd was clear long in advance. The governing Pheu Thai party of Yingluck Shinawatra, the prime minister, would win, if only because of a boycott by the main opposition party, the Democrats. In fact, it would win anyway. Parties loyal to Miss Yingluck’s brother, the self-exiled Thaksin Shinawatra, prime minister from 2001 until he was deposed in a coup in 2006, have won five successive elections (in 2001, 2005, 2006, 2007 and 2011).

Thai Voting Is Disrupted by Protesters – NYT Opposition forces vowed to contest the results of Sunday’s election, in which their efforts to block polling sites mostly affected Bangkok and areas surrounding it.

Thailand’s Democratic Way Out – NYT The only way forward is to strike a more viable balance between the majority and the minority.

Continuing Unrest Could Undermine Thailand’s Economy – NYT Companies are reconsidering investments in light of the protests and political gridlock the economy has normally shrugged off in past years.//Vietnam, Indonesia, and Myanmar will emerge as the winners of political unrest in Thailand

The colour of GDP – Economist THAILAND’S fraught political struggle invites oversimplification. The colour-coded protests suggest a crude split between the yellow-shirted rich and the red-shirted poor. Or at least, they once did: since then the red shirts have taken to wearing white and the yellows now tend to wear the national tricolour of red-white-and-blue. And on a deeper level, the divisions themselves are somewhat more subtle.

Drip, Drip, Drip: The Impact of Thailand’s Political Chaos on the Thai Economy (and the World) – Asia Unbound For months now, even as Thailand’s political crisis has escalated from street protests into daily violence, the disintegration of state institutions, and the threat of a coup, most Thai businesspeople, foreign investors, and analysts of the Thai economy have maintained a relatively positive outlook for the Thai economy this year and next. After all, as several long-time investors in Thailand have told me, the country’s economy has over decades proven extraordinarily resilient, surviving nineteen coups and attempted coups, natural disasters, the Indochina wars, and many Bangkok street protests that ended in bloodshed.

Thailand Endgame – Asia Unbound Over the weekend, Thailand’s political crisis moved closer to the ultimate endgame, which is a complete takeover by anti-government forces, both in the street and in institutions in Bangkok. Primarily pro-government Thais came out to polls across the country to vote in advance balloting, which went on without incident in much of the North and Northeast. In these places, one might have thought a normal election was proceeding. In Bangkok and parts of the South, the demonstrators blocked many polling booths, and the level of anger and violence went up a notch, if that was even possible. The Economist this weekend essentially suggests that Thailand is going to break apart. I think that’s extreme, but the situation is deteriorating out of control quite quickly.

VIETNAM

Zone 9, deep-sixed – Economist “WE’LL never find out what the real story was,” Nguyen Qui Duc said. In Vietnam, he explains, you never learn the real story in situations like this. Exactly one month ago, the day before I spoke with Mr Duc, city authorities had closed down Tadioto, his gallery-bar-and-performance space, along with the 60-odd other studios, galleries, boutiques, restaurants and nightclubs that made up the arts district known as Zone 9. Were the reasons political, bureaucratic

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by David Solomon | January 29, 2014 · 5:56 pm

China’s Humanitarian Policy in the Philippines: Politics Over People?

Image courtesy Bruce Reyes-Chow

China has been no stranger to territorial conflict throughout its long and complex history, having met plenty of resistance while spreading its dynamic culture near and far. Today is no different, as intense disputes over tiny island chains in the South and East China Seas have left China in a state of particularly poor relations with some of its most important neighbors. These disputes, of course, do not bode well for maintaining reasonable terms over some of the region’s most important geopolitical issues. However, what has become equally as apparent—and potentially more important—is the way these conflicts are currently affecting the way China conducts humanitarian policies in the region. As China continues to rise toward the top of global power and influence, many assert that with it comes a rising role of global responsibility. What we have found thus far is that China does not appear interested in taking up that challenge.

After Typhoon Haiyan—an exceptionally powerful storm—roared through Southeast Asia in early November and devastated parts of the Philippines, leaving the country’s death toll at over 6,000, China surprised the global community by offering a meager $100,000 in humanitarian aid. This, compared to the tens of millions of dollars in aid offered by many of the world’s most powerful countries, was perceived as particularly frugal and, to some, downright disrespectful. Understandably, China received quite a bit of backlash for its decision and soon thereafter increased its contribution to $1.6 million and committed state medical resources to the areas of the Philippines most affected by the disaster. However, China’s initial contribution seemed to clearly define its true opinion on the issue.

Despite China’s late arrival to the hard-hit Philippines, its aid and assistance was, of course, still received warmly and excitedly by the victims. When a natural disaster afflicts a nation, political relations no longer seem to matter to many. Filipino residents greatly embraced China’s support. Gina Tubigon expressed her appreciation after China’s arrival ensured the survival of her sister-in-law, Elesea. A 75-year-old suffering from a chronic respiratory ailment that worsened in the wake of the typhoon, Elesea may not have lived through the storm’s aftermath had it not been for the assistance of the Chinese medical team. Relieved about her sister-in-law’s stabilized condition, Gina expressed her appreciation, noting, “I know the relationship between the Philippines and China is not good, but we’re very thankful for the help.” This purely honest and non-politically calculated sentiment sums up the importance of cooperative relations between the two nations. It also suggests the possibility that a lack of increased aid and assistance from the Chinese government may have caused Gina to lose her sister-in-law.

Relations between the two countries have been tumultuous for some time. As China continues its unprecedented rise, with an increasingly strong military accompanying extraordinary economic development, its Southeast Asian neighbors have become more and more anxious about territorial integrity. As China’s claims to the region become more extensive, the Philippines has been bolstering its defense and maritime law enforcement—with the help of US support—and has sought endorsements from ASEAN during the process. The Philippines, just like many of its regional neighbors, has endorsed the US’s recent pivot to Asia, as a mechanism to balance against Beijing’s increased maritime objectives.

These exhaustive disputes have occurred between the two countries for decades, but have become further amplified in recent years, as China’s claim to maritime territory off the coast of the Philippines—the 200 nautical mile radius that makes up its Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ)—has continued to expand. This includes a tiny rock called the Scarborough Shoal, which is no bigger that the size of a relatively small raft, yet vital to the two countries, as it holds important designation for charting territorial boundaries. The dispute between the two countries serves as a microcosm for a more general trend of tension and insecurity that has existed between China and its neighbors further south.

Though these tensions have persisted for many years, amplified to greater extents during certain periods more so than others, they have ceased to have a highly significant or long-term impact on trade relations in the region. Yet, China’s frugal initial response to Haiyan relief reflected a new realm of implications—that these strained relations are having a negative impact on how China is handling its humanitarian policy in the region. As the countries of East Asia continue developing economically, their regional interdependence grows in import. They must be prepared to support one another in combatting natural international crises that extend beyond politics, such as typhoons of the magnitude of Haiyan, especially when these crises have potential for mutually severe impact on multiple countries in the region.

China’s interest in extended control and influence over the region of the South China Sea—and East China Sea as well—has caused many to ponder whether Beijing also plans to embrace a wider role of responsibility regarding international crises. By offering such a small amount of financial aid during the immediate aftermath of this horrific storm, Beijing has implied that—at least for the time being—national interests remain the focal point of its current objectives, clearly trumping the need to be an international leader.

Of course, China’s stance toward the Haiyan relief effort is certainly not simple—with a range of complex considerations likely at play throughout the decision-making process. One fundamental question posed in response to China’s position is whether China is currently choosing not to emphasize the importance of more intimate relations with its neighbors—and the international community more generally—in order to instead commit more focus inward. As the Chinese government creates very carefully calculated strategies regarding domestic economic growth and infrastructural development, large numbers of financial resources and assets are presently committed to various projects throughout the country.

Indeed, China’s current national economic milieu is one of many different parts. These parts include initiatives such as western economic expansion, raising the standard of living for larger populations, developing the nation’s energy sector in a push for cleaner sources of fuel to drive the country’s future development, further establishing modern industries throughout different parts of the country (i.e. financial, technological, and creative/cultural sectors)—and many others. In addition, unprecedented economic progress has also instigated a range of complex social strains, some of which have never before been seen. Actively seeking to deal with these increasingly pronounced issues, such as frustration with appallingly high levels of pollution, larger interest in individual freedoms and self-expression among Chinese citizens, and rapidly evolving national identity—to list only a few—the Chinese government is carefully undertaking its national strategy.

As China consciously addresses these economic and social factors, simultaneous emphasis on non-political/economic international issues may not be on the immediate agenda. National leadership may currently ascertain that, still in an infant state of modern global importance and influence, this complex and highly dynamic country is not in a position to fully involve itself financially and logistically in these types of crises. However, regardless of China’s strategy with respect to regional and international stability—which at this point can only be speculated—what is clear is that China’s highly active position in geopolitical affairs has caused its western counterparts to expect a greater level of support from the rising giant towards these types of crises. Most important will be how China responds to this increased level of pressure and expected responsibility from its global economic partners as similar issues come about into the future.

Nevertheless, in the case of Haiyan, this is only but one event in the midst of a lengthy modern history of strained relations between these two countries that has fluctuated in degree over the years. Therefore, only time will tell if China’s increasingly powerful international role will cause the economic powerhouse to engage the international community differently into the future. In the meantime, the aid and assistance that China did eventually provide to the Haiyan relief effort was effective and surely prevented many from severe illness or death. The victims of the storm as well as those on the medical relief team were not considering regional political tensions as lives were saved. This kind of understanding and expectation will hopefully be at the core of decision-making between China and its Southeast Asian neighbors into the future, as a rapidly changing world seeks to prioritize people over politics.

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Filed under China, Current Events, Foreign policy, Philippines, Regional Relations, SLIDER, South China Seas

Tagged as China, China aid, China global power, China's rise, Haiyan, South China Seas

by News Digest | January 24, 2014 · 6:32 pm

Regional Roundup for the Week of 1.24.14

This week, new reports of wealthy, well-connected Chinese stashing assets abroad contrasted with the trials of anti-corruption activists Hou Xin and Xu Zhiyong. Documents uncovered by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists traced offshore companies and investments based in the Caribbean to major figures in China’s economy and government, including state oil companies. Xi Jinping has made anti-corruption a centerpiece of new reforms introduced last fall but these new disclosures may be all the more embarassing in the context of the prosecution of members of the New Citizen’s Movement, a group which pushes for greater transparency and financial asset disclosures from officials.

A 60 day state of emergency was declared in Bangkok on Wednesday, and tensions remain high with continued violence, although general elections are still scheduled to proceed on February 2. Thailand is a popular destination for Chinese traveling abroad, especially during the upcoming Lunar New Year, but with current political unrest it seems highly likely that tourism will decrease significantly over the holiday.

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Thai court defers decision on election postponement as protests continue | Guardian — Thailand’s constitutional court has deferred a ruling on whether a general election scheduled for 2 February can be postponed, as protesters keep up pressure on the government to step down. The prime minister, Yingluck Shinawatra, declared a 60-day state of emergency in Bangkok and surrounding areas from Wednesday, hoping to prevent an escalation in the protests now in their third month.

A Leader of Pro-Government Faction Is Shot in Thailand | NYT — Kwanchai Praipana, who runs a group that supports the government, was shot a day after Thailand’s prime minister declared emergency rule.

Thai Leaders Declare State of Emergency in Bangkok | NYT — The emergency decree gives the government broad powers against protesters, but Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra seemed to be moving cautiously.

Retailers want answers from Cambodian PM over factory shootings | Guardian — Dozens of the world’s biggest clothing brands, including Adidas, Nike, H&M, Primark, Marks & Spencer, Tesco and Wal-Mart, have demanded Cambodia’s prime minister explain the use of “deadly force” against striking factory workers.

Vietnam sentences 30 people to death for drug trafficking | Guardian — A Vietnamese court has sentenced 30 people to death for trafficking in heroin at the conclusion of a mass trial. State media reported the 21 men and nine women were convicted on Monday of being part of a ring that smuggled nearly two tonnes of heroin from Laos into Vietnam and then on to China.

Gone: Fishing | SEA Globe Editorial — Millions of people fish Cambodia’s Tonle Sap lake and 3S (Sesan, Srepok and Sekong) rivers every day to feed their families and the nation, but mooted dam projects along the Mekong River could devastate livelihoods and threaten food security in Cambodia. The country’s next major hydropower project will be the Lower Sesan 2 dam, which will be located near the confluence of the 3S rivers and the Mekong.

China To Build World’s Largest Marine Surveillance Ship | Diplomat — China plans to build a 10,000 ton marine surveillance vessel, passing Japan’s Shikishima for the title of world’s largest.

Northeast India Anticipates Seaport | Diplomat — Come 2015, the people of northeast India will be able to use a seaport in Myanmar for transport and trade. The Sittwe port in the Bay of Bengal is expected to link Mizoram in the far east of India to the ocean through riverine transport and roadways. Construction work for jetties and other port facilities, which started in December 2010, is expected to be completed this year.

Out of the Dark Room | ChinaFile — Photographers document China’s breakneck development in fractions of a second every single day. Yet the work of Chinese photojournalists remains largely unseen outside their homeland. Of the thousands of images of the country illustrating the pages of international websites, newspapers, and magazines, most are made by photographers who come from someplace else.

CHINA

A Manufacturing Slowdown Carries Over to 2014 in China | NYT — The manufacturing sector contracted in January for the first time in six months as new orders declined, according to a preliminary survey.

Beijing to spend £76bn to improve air quality | Guardian — In an attempt to clean up the smoggy air in the Chinese capital, Beijing’s authorities have introduced a new set of measures to cut emissions and allocated 760 billion yuan (£75.8 billion) to improve the city’s air quality by 2017. The new measures will cut coal burning, limit car emissions and set yearly quotas for local governments and individual polluters. There will also be bigger fines for those found to be in violation of air pollution standards.

Real-time Air Quality Data Due from 179 Chinese Cities | ChinaFile — More than 170 cities in China have now joined a real-time air quality disclosure scheme, initiated by the Ministry of Environmental Protection. Launched in 2012, more than sixty cities had started publishing data from their monitoring stations by the end of that year. By January 2, 2014, 179 cities were giving real-time disclosure of air quality levels, according to a report published by the Institute of Public and Environmental Affairs (IPE).

Another Rights Advocate, Hou Xin, Is Tried in Beijing | NYT — Hou Xin, a former journalist who participated in a protest against official corruption, is one of at least eight activists in China being tried this week.

Report Says China’s Elite Use Offshore Companies | NYT — Leaked documents show that thousands of wealthy, well-connected Chinese have set up companies in tax-haven countries to hold assets, an investigative reporting group says.

China’s top hotels shed stars to woo austerity-hit customers | Guardian — Most luxury hotels seek to lure in new guests with the lustre of their star ratings but a clutch of Chinese establishments are hoping to win back customers by downgrading. More than 50 of the country’s five-star properties have asked to have a star removed, according to a leading hotelier, apparently due to the austerity drive that has forced officials to shun the high life.

Xinhua: China Approves 12 More Free Trade Zones | Diplomat — Xinhua, China’s state run news agency, reported Wednesday that China’s central government has approved 12 additional free trade zones (FTZs), after the initial zone opened in Shanghai in late September last year. Citing “a source with knowledge of the approval,” Xinhua said that two of the new zones will be located in the city of Tianjin and in Guangdong Province.

Shanghai Test Scores and the Mystery of the Missing Children | NYT — China’s restrictions on internal migration serve to drive migrant children out of the city as early as primary school, statistics show, and critics say that skews testing results indicating its education system’s equity and superiority.

A Popular Chinese Social Networking App Blazes Its Own Path | NYT — Weixin, a fast-growing app from the Chinese Internet company Tencent, is no mere copy of any existing service, and its success may thwart Facebook’s ambitions in China.

China Exports Pollution to U.S., Study Finds | NYT — Emissions from China’s export industries are carried across the Pacific and contribute to air pollution in the Western United States, according to a paper.

China could lose millions of hectares of farmland to pollution | Guardian — Millions of hectares of agricultural land in China could be withdrawn from production because of severe heavy-metal pollution, according to a Chinese agriculture official.

Chinese Internet Traffic Redirected to Small Wyoming Building | NYT — On Tuesday, a large portion of Internet traffic in China was redirected to a small 1,700-square-foot house in Cheyenne, Wyo.

When Chinese TV Rips Off The Colbert Report | The Atlantic — He may be an award-winning satirist in the United States, but in China, even Stephen Colbert is not beyond parody: A provincial TV channel in the country has produced a show that borrows rather liberally from the popular American program.

REGION

Japan’s Leader Compares Strain With China to Germany and Britain in 1914 | NYT — The blunt remarks, which concurred with others made recently by prominent historians, provoked an angry response from Beijing.

Indonesia sentences militant over Burma embassy plot | Guardian — An Indonesian court has sentenced an Islamist militant to seven-and-a-half years in prison for masterminding a plot to attack the Burmese embassy in Jakarta.

Who are the new middle classes around the world? You’d be surprised how poor some are | Paul Mason | Guardian — The International Labour Organisation has identified a rapid growth of ‘the developing middle class’ – a group earning between $4 and $13 a day. When a million people swarmed on to the streets of Brazil last June there was consensus that the protest was a phenomenon of the “new middle class” – squeezed by corruption and failing infrastructure. As the Thai protests continue, these too are labelled middle class: office workers staging flashmobs in their neat, pressed shirts. But what does middle class mean in the developing world? About 3 billion people earn less than two dollars a day, but figures for the rest are hazy.

INDONESIA

World Briefing | Asia: Indonesia: Leader Expresses Support for Abused Maid | NYT — President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono joined thousands of Indonesian migrant workers abroad and at home on Tuesday in expressing outrage at the alleged torture of an Indonesian maid by her Hong Kong employer.

Popular Indonesian Twitter Users Can Get Paid to Tweet Ads | Diplomat — Jakarta is not only the capital of Indonesia – it has also been named the “world’s tweet capital.” The social network’s popularity has led to some lucrative opportunities for Indonesia’s most followed users. “Anyone with more than 2,000 followers can get paid at least $21 to tweet during rush hour, when most Indonesians are stuck in traffic and (apparently) glued to their mobiles,” said Quartz.

MALAYSIA

Malaysia’s Kangkung Meme | Diplomat — Prime Minister Najib Razak’s gaffe involving the humble green veggie has become a rallying cry for the opposition.

MYANMAR/BURMA

U.N. Says Muslims Were Massacred in Tense Myanmar Region | NYT — Human rights groups say that with this latest round of anti-Muslim violence, Myanmar’s government appears to be trying to cover up the problem.

Myanmar Stumbles on Press Freedom | Diplomat — A little over a year after the much-heralded lifting of censorship for Myanmar media, journalists worry that murky intimidation tactics have replaced the censorship board, with true press freedom remaining elusive.

BarCamp Organizers Hope for Another Record Turnout in Burma | Irrawaddy — The fifth BarCamp Yangon, a forum about technology and the Internet that encourages participant involvement, is set to take place next month, and organizers are hopeful that the crowd this year will exceed the large turnouts seen in previous years. BarCamp is an international network of so-called “unconferences” that began as a meeting mainly of web developers in California’s Palo Alto. The user-generated events are primarily focused around technology and web, but take in other topics too.

PHILIPPINES

Philippines: Typhoon Haiyan Aftermath Part I | Diplomat — A photographer returns to the devastated city of Tacloban, as it begins the process of rebuilding.

Philippine Police: Sinaloa Cartel Hitmen Have Targeted Arrested Members | Diplomat — Mexico’s notorious Sinaloa drug cartel – the United States’ largest supplier of illegal narcotics – recently surfaced in the Philippines, with a National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) raid on Christmas Day breaking up an alleged trafficking ring in Lipa City.

THAILAND

Thai Royalty Becomes More Openly Involved in Politics | Asia Unbound — Despite officially being a constitutional monarchy and supposedly no different than the monarchies of Britain, the Netherlands, or modern-day Japan, Thailand’s royal family has, during the reign of King Bhumibhol Adulyadej, always been far more closely involved in Thai politics than any constitutional monarch would be.

VIETNAM

Lessons from the Battle of the Paracel Islands | Diplomat — Forty years on, the battle has enduring lessons for Vietnam’s naval modernization.

The price is not right | SEA Globe Editorial — The massive Trans-Pacific Partnership deal could cause drug prices to soar in Vietnam, devastating people with life-threatening illnesses.

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Category Archives: Current Events

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