This week, the Trump Administration continues hitting the headlines – the U.S-China dispute over the South China Sea is still making the world guessing; Trump’s decision to withdraw from TPP carries geopolitical implications for China and other Asian countries; and the controversial Muslim ban potentially escalates pre-existing ethnic and political tensions in Myanmar, given the subtle timing of U Ko Ni’s assassination. Also, Laos is to move forward the construction of the Pak Beng Hydropower project.
EXSE FOCUS
Pak Beng Hydropower project looks set to move forward –Vientiane Times The construction of the Pak Beng Hydropower Project is expected to begin at the end of this year after reaching agreement among Lower Mekong countries. A group of technical officials from the Ministry of Energy and Mines, Lao National Mekong Committee Secretariat and media organisations recently visited the construction site of the Pak Beng Hydropower Project in Oudomxay province.
US Withdrawal from TPP: Geopolitical and Geoeconomic Gift for China? – The Diplomat How far will the U.S. pulling out of the TPP benefit China?
Related: Heng on Trump’s T.P.P. Decision – NYT
The Trump administration vows to get tougher on China’s maritime claims – The Economist WHEN Donald Trump’s nominee for secretary of state, Rex Tillerson, said during his confirmation hearings that America should deny China access to the bases it had built on disputed reefs and islands in the South China Sea, many assumed that he was speaking off the top of his head, perhaps trying to impress the senators by sounding tough. But when, at a press briefing on January 23rd, the new president’s spokesman said something similar, it was not just jumpy Chinese who began wondering whether Mr Trump might deliberately and dramatically escalate military tensions with China.
Related: Tillerson, Trump and the South China Sea – The Diplomat
Related: Donald Trump’s plan for China relations is to be unpredictable, adviser says – The Guardian
Trump’s ‘Muslim ban’ met with anger in Southeast Asia – Southeast Asia Globe Magazine US President Donald Trump’s executive order banning travellers from seven Muslim-majority nations has been condemned by the region’s Islamic nations
Myanmar Says Gunman Killed Rights Lawyer to Undermine Stability – NYT The lawyer, U Ko Ni, 65, an adviser to Myanmar’s leader, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, was shot in the head at close range as he was leaving Yangon International Airport on Sunday. Myanmar’s government said on Monday that the gunman had been trying to undermine stability in the country.
Related: U Ko Ni, a Prominent Muslim Lawyer in Myanmar, Is Fatally Shot – NYT
Related: Myanmar Arrests 4 in Fatal Shooting of Prominent Rights Lawyer – NYT
Related: Why the NLD Victory Hasn’t Meant Much for Myanmar’s Ethnic Tensions – The Diplomat
Related: Surveillance and threats: Slain lawyer Ko Ni felt ‘targeted’ – DVB
REGIONAL RELATIONS
More China Tanks for Thailand? – The Diplomat Indications are that Bangkok will look to procure more tanks from Beijing in 2017.
When Will Thailand’s First China Submarine Arrive? – The Diplomat Thai defense officials are bullish about approving a key acquisition.
Can China Patrols Help Duterte With the Philippines’ Islamic State Fight? – The Diplomat The controversial president makes a surprising suggestion about Beijing patrolling neighboring waters.
Singapore-Hosted Military Exercise a Test for ASEAN’s Disaster Response – The Diplomat Ex COORES 2017 was a notable development on the HADR front.
Thai deputy PM to lead business delegation to Burma – DVB Thailand’s deputy prime minister, Somkid Jatusripitak, will be leading major Thai businesses to meet a team of Burmese officials and businesses to seek further cooperation in developing industrial estates in Burma and border trade operations on 3-4 February.
Burmese lead migrants’ push for better pay, benefits at Thai seafood firm – DVB More than 2,000 migrant workers at a major Thai seafood exporting company have called for bigger bonuses and better welfare benefits, a rare demand in a country that bars foreigners from forming trade unions, a rights group said.
SUSTAINABILITY AND RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
China’s Myanmar Dam Hypocrisy – The Diplomat China is preserving the ecology of the Nu River within its borders. Downstream in Myanmar, it’s a different story.
Before the flood: can the Bunong culture survive Cambodia’s Sesan II dam? – Mongabay At a time when much of Cambodia is developing at a breakneck speed, where smartphones and BMWs have become almost as ubiquitous on the streets of Phnom Penh as saffron-robed monks, the village of Kbal Romeas inhabits a world apart. Tucked deep into the jungles of the country’s untamed northeast, the village has no convenience stores, streetlights, or paved roads.
Drowning out traditions –The Nation Despite little consultation, Laos and China forge ahead with the construction of the Pak Beng dam in Northwest Laos. The smiles that once brightened faces in Luangtong, a small community in Laos’ northwest Oudomxay province, have disappeared. These days the residents appear defeated, stunned by the knowledge that before long the land that has sustained them for generations will be submerged under the waters behind Pak Beng Dam.
Interview: Too early to oppose Mekong navigational improvement plan: expert – Xinhua It is too early for some Thai scholars and media sources to oppose the plan to clear islets and rocky outcrops along the Mekong River to boost shipping navigation as there is no clear evidence that such a plan would cause environmental or other damage, an expert on the matter has told Xinhua in an exclusive interview.
Beijing’s Plan for Clean Heat Leaves Villagers Cold – WSJ China has opened a challenging chapter in its pollution battle, installing electric heaters in village homes near Beijing to cut winter coal-burning, but stoking discontent about rising power bills.
Coal-fired plant tests new power generator -Phnom Penh Post Structural testing of the third unit of a 700-megawatt coal-fired power plant under development in Preah Sihanouk province has begun, with the new unit expected to go online by the end of the quarter, a government official said yesterday.
Climate change-affected soybean farmers get new seeds, technology – DVB Hla Min had been successfully farming soybean since 1994 on the hillsides of Shwe Pahtoe (South), an ethnic Danu village in Pindaya Township, southern Shan State, when around 2008 his harvests began to fall.
Cambodia’s ‘rain gamblers’ could see their money washed away – Southeast Asia Globe Magazine Climate change could spell the end for Cambodia’s high-stakes habit of betting on the weather
Thap Lan: Thailand’s unsung forest gem under threat, but still abrim with life – Mongabay On the trail of a conservation group conducting a wildlife monitoring survey, we stop the 4×4 on the road and walk along the red earth to check on camera traps. Wildlife rangers from Thailand’s Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation and international conservationists are working deep in Thap Lan National Park, where the air smells of forest matter and minerals.
As honey sales rise, growing buzz surrounds beekeeping in Burma – DVB Until a few years ago, the farmers in Kyauk Htet village paid little attention to the wild bees that were living around them in the farm fields, fruit trees and forests that cover the rolling Shan Hills here in Kalaw Township.
WFP Faces Funding Shortfall of $19 Million – The Irrawaddy World Food Programme says it will not be able to continue full operations after the end of February unless they receive more funds.
Oceans of Plastic: Fixing Indonesia’s Marine Debris Pollution Laws – The Diplomat In 2015, research by Jenna Jamback found that 3.2 million tons of plastic waste polluted Indonesian waters in 2010, making Indonesia the biggest source of plastic marine waste in Southeast Asia and second biggest in the world (China is number one). How can Indonesia overcome its status as one of the world’s largest contributors to plastic marine pollution?
CHINA
The Origins of China’s New Law on Foreign NGOs – ChinaFile For many years, the vast majority of foreign NGOs operated quietly in China in a legal grey area. Many are unregistered and work in China through local partners, while others are registered as commercial enterprises. That all changed with the passage in April 2016 of the Law on the Management of Foreign Non-Governmental Organizations’ Activities in the People’s Republic of China (hereafter Foreign NGO Law), which went into effect on January 1, 2017. The law is the first comprehensive regulation of its kind covering all foreign NGO activity in China, and came out in a year when much of China’s nonprofit legislation was being rewritten.
China-US Relations: Get Ready for a Change – The Diplomat Moving forward, both sides will have to make adjustments to their usual approach to the relationship.
Related: America’s Mao Zedong – Foreign Policy
Related: Make China Great Again – NYT
Related: The Obstacles to China’s Bid for Soft Power – The Diplomat
What’s the End Game for Xi Jinping’s Political Moves? – The Diplomat China faces a year of potential political instability in 2017. Not only will Beijing need to deal with the potentially antagonistic U.S. Trump administration, it will also undergo a leadership upheaval later this year, which even President Xi Jinping himself will find it difficult to fully control.
The Next Generation of China’s Navy: Transformation and Transition for the PLAN – The Diplomat As China’s navy undergoes a change in leadership, what lies ahead for the rapidly modernizing service?
Trump Aide’s Deal With Chinese Firm Raises Fear of Tangled Interests – NYT Anthony Scaramucci, who has been named the White House liaison to the business community, is selling his firm to a company with deep ties to China’s Communist Party.
EU demands China investigate torture of lawyer and release political prisoners – The Guardian Rare statement cites China’s own laws that prohibit torture in condemnation of mistreatment of detained rights lawyer Xie Yang and others.
Billionaire Is Reported Seized From Hong Kong Hotel and Taken Into China – NYT The Chinese-born tycoon Xiao Jianhua, who holds Canadian and Antiguan passports, is in police custody on the mainland, a person close to him said.
Chinese medicine fuelling rise in donkey slaughter for global skin trade – The Guardian Demand for hide, used to make traditional ejiao, has raised the price and rate of slaughter of donkeys, endangering the livelihoods of those who rely on them.
SOUTHEAST ASIA
Lao Province Issues Banana Ban – RFA Authorities in the northern Lao province of Bokeo suspended the operations of 18 Chinese-backed banana plantations after they discovered widespread violations of the regulations governing the use of agricultural chemicals, government officials told RFA’s Lao Service.
Proposed hydropower plant in Laos to affect lower Mekong River in Vietnam – VietNamNet Bridge Laos is making hectic preparations for the building of one more hydropower dam – Pak Beng – on the Mekong river section which runs through Oudomxay province, despite strong warnings about the influence on the lower course, especially in Vietnam’s Mekong River Delta.
Environmental groups voice opposition to IFC dam workshops –Burma News International Leading Burmese environmental groups, including Burma Rivers Network (BRN) and Save the Salween Network (SSN), today released a statement, voicing strong opposition to the International Finance Corporation (IFC), which they say is currently promoting various hydropower projects in areas that are primarily conflict zones.
Arakanese Villagers Call for Suspension of Kyaukphyu SEZ Project – The Irrawaddy Locals call for a suspension of the Special Economic Zone until there is a compensation scheme for land grabbing, a resettlement plan and SEZ by-laws.
ADB eyes greater role in Myanmar road, port projects –Nikkei Asian Review The Asian Development Bank will help Myanmar modernize its transportation infrastructure, such as roads and ports, seeing public-private partnerships as key to promoting projects.
Time for Myanmar to Join the Commonwealth – The Diplomat Joining the Commonwealth could help cement Myanmar’s democratic transformation and boost its economy.
Environment Ministry Now Controls 40 Percent of Cambodia’s Land –The Cambodia Daily Prime Minister Hun Sen on Wednesday signed a sub-decree to create “biodiversity conservation corridors”—patches of land connecting Cambodia’s protected areas—putting an additional 1.4 million hectares under the management of the Environment Ministry. This brings Cambodia’s protected areas overseen by the ministry to more than 40 percent of the country’s land area.
Cambodia’s opposition on the run as Hun Sen threatens property seizure – Southeast Asia Globe Magazine With the opposition party stripped of its designation as an official minority party and Prime Minister Hun Sen threatening to seize the property of opposition leader Sam Rainsy, the country’s “culture of dialogue” between the two parties has come to a bitter end.
Cambodia still most corrupt country in Southeast Asia, says Transparency International – Southeast Asia Globe Magazine While some government ministries have made progress in the fight against corruption, Cambodia continues to languish in the lower reaches of Transparency International’s 2016 Corruption Perceptions Index
Related: Corruption Is Holding ASEAN Back – The Diplomat
Siemens to deliver gas-fired power plant to Thailand – Power Engineering International Siemens has received a $550m order for the delivery of a turnkey combined cycle power plant to Thailand. The gas-fired power plant in South Bangkok consists of two units in a single-shaft configuration and will feature two H-class gas turbines for the first time in the country. After commissioning in 2019 the 1200 MW power plant is expected to power 1.5 million Thai households.
YUNNAN
The Environmental Costs of Sand Mining on the Mekong – Sixth Tone In China’s Yunnan province, dredging river sediment is good business — but experts warn of its impact on the region’s fragile ecosystems.
REVIEWS
Book Review: Pathway to Peace – The Irrawaddy Aung Naing Oo falls short of providing real insight into Burma’s complicated peace process in this collection of essays, writes Bertil Lintner.
This week’s news digest was curated by Sonya Zhao.
Regional Roundup for Week of 1.5.2017
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Regional Roundup for Week of 5.11.2016
