Regional Roundup for Week of 5.10.2013

The China/India border kerfuffle is over for now, and the Chinese tourists came home from their fandango into disputed waters – see below.  Shifting back to the interior, the NY Times has two excellent stories linked to the damming of the Nu River in Yunnan.  EbSE blogger Zhou Dequn posted on this critical issue in April.

The biggest news this week in EbSE land comes from Kunming where EbSE has briefly entered the spotlight while covering Kunming’s protest against the construction of a PX chemical plant west of  the city.  EbSE blogger Brian Eyler live-tweeted the protest on 5/4 (@aikunming) and was mentioned  here at China Digital Times.  EbSE contributed photos used in international coverage of the protest.  The BBC, Reuters, Phoenix Satellite all had protest coverage. Phoenix and Caixin have ongoing analysis.

Kunming protestors sent a petition with 13000 signatures to the White House this week.  Hopefully it doesn’t get lost in the mound of mock petitions sent to the White House by China’s Netizens as well this week.

People’s Daily English version released a statement that Kunming’s PX project is still on hold and the Chinese language version acknowledged that “today we live in the information and government institutions and state owned enterprises must be transparent in their processes.”  The Chinese language version posted on 5/8 that “protesting the PX project is part of the road to decision making.”  Both assessments suggest certain institutions at the central government level are in support of these protests.

Whether or not the protest was approved by the city Civil Affairs Bureau remains unsettled.  EbSE contacts say the protest was indeed approved, but other sources close to organizers claim the protest was not approved.  The relaxed and permissive atmosphere during the three hour protest suggests that the it received approval, but we could be wrong.

Lastly, the Philippines’ South China Sea arbitration case against China at ITLOS is gathering a lot of discussion online.  EbSe launched its focus on the South China Sea and this issue yesterday with the first in a series of posts from RedOceans.

One month into our launch, we are providing you with more content throughout the week, so the news digest will be published on Fridays from here forward for your weekend reading pleasure.

CHINA IN THE REGION/WORLD 

Tropical trouble  – The Economist ON MAY 1ST, the Coconut Fragrance Princess, a former cargo vessel refitted as a cruise ship, docked at Haikou on the southern island of Hainan after a three-day cruise to the Paracel islands, the first of many expected Chinese excursions to the islands. The Paracels have been occupied by China since a brief war with South Vietnam in 1974, but are also claimed by Vietnam and Taiwan. Thanh Nien News, a state-run Vietnamese newspaper called the trip “the latest in a series of unilaterally provocative actions in the area”.

China, ASEAN fully capable of safeguarding regional peace – Global Times China and ASEAN members have reached consensus that the two sides are fully capable of maintaining peace and stability in the region, including on the South China Sea, visiting Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said Sunday before wrapping up a five-day visit.

Okinawa Piques Chinese Papers – NYT Chinese state-run newspapers are questioning Japan’s sovereignty over the island, the latest sign of growing nationalism and territorial ambitions among China’s elite.

An Army of Wa – Carnegie Endowment for Peace China’s relationship with Myanmar is developing alongside the latter’s domestic political evolution.  EbSE blogger Will Yale discusses the Wa army in his post here.

China’s Great India Folly – The Diplomat One hopes China has genuinely reconsidered picking a fight with India, a great power with which it shares a long land frontier. Beijing has created headaches aplenty for itself through its conduct in the South China Sea and East China Sea. The last thing it should do is open another axis along which to disperse energy and resources.

India-China border dispute: both sides step warily with high-level visits due – Guardian Most serious argument in 25 years risks undermining chances of a diplomatic breakthrough. Two weeks ago Indian military officials announced that they had discovered that a platoon of Chinese soldiers had crossed the de facto border between the two countries and set up camp an unprecedented 10km inside Indian-claimed territory, sparking a still unresolved standoff.

The Real Face of China: The Future of India and Sri Lanka – Carnegie Endowment for Peace Beijing believes that China’s strategic and security interests must be met in order to ensure that economic gains follow.

Diplomacy Trumps Jingoism at Ladakh Border – The Diplomat Finally, diplomacy has prevailed. After almost three weeks of standoff, India and China decided to maintain the status quo along their ill defined border and withdraw troops from their respective camps in the Daulat Beg Oldi area of Ladakh in eastern Kashmir. The agreement was reached after two weeks of intense parlays.

China’s Military and the U.S.-Japan Alliance in 2030: A Strategic Net Assessment  – Carnegie Endowment for Peace The first and only unclassified strategic net assessment of the future impact of China’s growing military power on Japan and the United States.

News Analysis: China Dips a Toe Into Mideast Diplomacy  – NYT Back-to-back visits from the Palestinian and Israeli leaders hinted that China had given some thought to playing a more energetic, if very limited, role as mediator.

Asia’s Real Challenge: China’s “Potemkin” Rise  – The Diplomat If one looks only at the explosive growth of China’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) since the country began to embrace capitalism and global integration more than thirty years ago, it is impossible to deny that China’s rise is both real and breathtaking.  Minxin Pei adds a big BUT…

China Trade Figures Rise, but Weaknesses Persist – NYT The Chinese government said trade figures for April showed some improvement, but weren’t strong enough to pull the nation out of its economic quagmire.

A Shift in the Goals of China’s Rich Abroad – WSJ China’s rich continue to want to invest and move abroad in large numbers, but their goals have begun to shift, consulting firm Bain & Company said in a report released Tuesday.

A Global Economic Order with Chinese Characteristics – The Diplomat Although much of the current attention on China has focused on domestic and regional issues, recent days have offered a number of reminders that Beijing itself is still very much committed to gradually reshaping the global economic order.

CHINA AT HOME

Plans to Harness China’s Nu River Threaten a Region – NYT China has revived plans for hydropower dams on the Nu River, a project critics say will threaten endangered fish and force thousands of ethnic minorities to relocate.

Chinese River’s Fate May Reshape a Region – NYT Those who treasure the Nu River in Bingzhongluo, China, say the construction of proposed dams would alter what guidebooks call the Grand Canyon of the East.

Yuxi-Mengzi: China’s newest railroad – GoKunming The newest railroad in China has just gone into service in Yunnan province. After a decade of planning and construction and a months-long, freight-only trial period, the Yuxi-Mengzi Railroad (玉蒙铁路) finally opened its doors to passengers on April 28, 2013

How to navigate China’s contradictory data – Reuters Video China and Japan will send out confusing signals next week about the state of their economies. Reuters’ Wayne Arnold explains how to sift through the numbers for the real picture on Asia’s powerhouses.

Is China really a climate change leader? – Guardian A new report portrays China as a leader in tackling climate change but its emissions are still rising dramatically. China’s environmental woes have attracted a lot of attention internationally since the start of the new year. Air pollution was first up in January as levels in a number of cities, including the capital Beijing, hit lung clogging off the record levels. Dubbed the ‘air-pocalypse’, hazardous smog left air pollution left cities enveloped in a thick layer of smog

David Victor on Shale Expansion in China – IR/PS News In a remote corner of Sichuan with lush, terraced hillsides, oil exploration teams have been scaling cliffs to lay seismic charges and struggling to move heavy equipment along winding mountain roads. That is where China hopes to find vast stores of natural gas trapped in shale rock. The U.S. Energy Information Administration has estimated that China’s technically recoverable shale gas resources could be 50 percent bigger than those in the United States, where shale has transformed the energy sector.

Controlling China’s Currency – Project Syndicate China is stuck in a currency-creating cycle: GDP growth encourages investment, which boosts demand for capital, creates liquidity, and stimulates further GDP growth. The key to controlling the money supply is to prevent the government from becoming a second currency-creating body.

The Resurrection of Zhu Ling, Poison Victim – ChinaFile How an unsolved crime from 1994 has suddenly become a hot topic in China. The latest in an ongoing series of discussions with ChinaFile.

Zhang Yimou ‘seven children’ claims trigger anger in China – Guardian Film director behind opening ceremony for Beijing Olympics faces up to £17m fine if found to have broken ‘one child’ policy. Renowned Chinese film director Zhang Yimou, who designed the opening ceremony for the Beijing Olympics, is under investigation over claims he broke strict family planning laws by fathering seven children, state media have reported.

China’s barbaric one-child policy – Guardian For more than 30 years, China has upheld a strict one-child policy. And despite the country’s growing prosperity, novelist Ma Jian discovered that ruthless squads still brutally enforce the law with vast fines – and compulsory sterilisations and abortions.  I think it’s time to but this one child policy into retirement.

Chinese police shut down protest over woman’s death at Beijing shopping mall – Guardian Hundreds of demonstrators demand full investigation into Anhui woman’s fall from building and allegations that she was raped Police and paramilitaries swarmed the area around a shopping centre in southern Beijing on Wednesday as hundreds of people mounted a protest over the death of a young woman.

Woman Is Arrested in Rape Rumor That Ignited Beijing Protest  – NYT Rumors that a woman who died had been the victim of a rape led hundreds of workers to protest in the streets.

REGION

America’s Pivot to Asia: A Report Card – The Diplomat Mutual understanding seldom comes easily to Sino-U.S. relations. And so General Martin Dempsey, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, who was visiting China recently, deserves credit for explaining the United States “pivot” to Asia in terms that his audience, well used to policy slogans, might hope to understand.

In Defense of Leading from Behind – CFR “Going forward, the United States has no choice but to embrace the sound underpinnings of leading from behind,” writes Leslie H. Gelb.

The Three-Speed World is Not Forever – Carnegie Endowment for Peace Although the United States weathered the global recession relatively better than its European counterparts, it is not as strong as it looks and Europe’s long-term prospects are better than its current dismal performance suggests.

Improved South-Southeast Asia Connectivity Key to Boosting Trade, Rebalancing Economy – ADB Better connectivity between South Asia and Southeast Asia – through hardware and associated software – can unlock the full benefits of closer economic ties between the two subregions and help rebalance Asian growth toward domestic and regional markets, delegates at the 46th Annual Meeting of ADB heard today. )

Transforming Beyond ‘Factory Asia’ Key to Keeping Economies Strong – ADB Developing Asia must invest in skills, technologies, and the private sector to move beyond low-cost manufacturing and ensure economic growth remains strong, delegates at the Governors’ Seminar at the 46th Annual Meeting of the Board of Governors of ADB heard today.

ASEAN Infrastructure Fund Readies $1 Billion Pipeline for Lending Operations – ADB The ASEAN Infrastructure Fund Limited is set to begin its lending operations in the second half of 2013, with a pipeline of around $1 billion in projects for the next three years.

Asia’s Public Services Failing Needy, New Approaches Required – ADB Public services in developing Asia’s are frequently failing to reach the needy, says a new ADB study which recommends improvements to avoid a further widening of the region’s already sharp divide between rich and poor.

Will the Brics bank deliver a more just world order?  – Guardian A development bank financed by the giants of the developing world has the potential to change how development is done, but the devil is in the detail

Nordic Development Fund approves $5.3 million for the Core Environment Program– GMS On 3 May, the Nordic Development Fund (NDF) signed a co-financing agreement with ADB committing $5.3 million to climate change activities under the GMS Core Environment Program. The agreement was signed by NDF Managing Director Pasi Hellman and ADB’s Office of Co-financing Operations Head, Cecile Gregory during ADB’s Annual Meeting in Delhi, India. Total secured funding for the Core Environment Program’s second phase (2012­–2016) now stands at $28.4 million, with NDF joining ADB and the Governments of Finland and Sweden as co-financing partners.

Asia-Pacific Nations Push to Rein In Rising Currencies – NYT Policy makers across the region have deployed a range of tools to try to dampen the adverse effects that can come when too much money flows into an economy.

Does the World Bank speak with forked tongue on land grabs – Oxfam Land is a big deal for Oxfam. Last year at around this time, we published Risky Business, looking at the explosion in channelling development finance to private sector businesses indirectly, using so-called Financial Intermediaries (FIs) like banks and private equity funds. In the paper we identified some worrying characteristics of this arms-length financing – opacity, complexity, focus on financial returns over development impact, focus on financial risk over environmental and social risk, lack of oversight or ability to influence the business practices of investee companies, remoteness from the projects ultimately financed and the impacts they have on poor people. We worried that such poorly governed financing was fuelling land grabs.

CAMBODIA

Cambodia’s Economic Opportunity – The Diplomat Cambodia announced two major bilateral trade agreements recently, with the Philippines and Thailand, that are expected to further expand the country’s rice export sector. Over the last few years, Cambodia has emerged as a major rice exporter in the region, due in large part to the Royal Government of Cambodia’s (RGC) recent expansion of its agricultural sector.

The canes of wrath Sea Globe Editorial There is nothing sweet about life for the exploited labourers of Cambodia’s sugar fields

Growing green Sea Globe Editorial Can Cambodia develop and become an eco-friendly tourist destination at the same time?

LAOS

European tourism council to give Laos best destination award —  The Nation Laos has been named world’s best tourist destination for 2013 by the European Council on Tourism and Trade, local media reports said Tuesday.  Kudos to eco-tourism providers like Green Discovery and Teamworkz (and many many others) for making Laos a top tourism destination.  If you haven’t been yet, jump on a plane and go!

MALAYSIA

Malaysia re-elects National Front coalition – Guardian Najib Razak’s governing coalition extends 56-year rule after winning election opinion polls suggested would be tight. Malaysia’s governing coalition has extended its 56-year rule, winning what opinion polls suggested would be a tight general election.

Malaysia’s governing party accused of dirty tricks in run-up to election – Guardian Opposition claim irregularities in electoral register and say PM’s party is flying supporters into marginal constituencies. Malaysia’s governing party has been accused of a series of dirty tricks to ensure it keeps hold of power after Sunday’s election.

Malaysia’s Disastrous National Election –CFR On May 5, Malaysians went to the polls in what was expected to be the closest national election since independence. Massive turnout was reported, particularly in urban areas, with many districts reporting that over 80 percent of eligible voters came to the polls. In the early part of the vote counting, opposition supporters seemed jubilant, and opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim even announced that he believed his three-party opposition alliance had taken down the ruling Barisan Nasional coalition, which has dominated the country since independence, never losing an election.

Independent Poll-Watchers Find ‘Serious Flaws’ With Malaysian Vote – WSJ Two independent think tanks appointed by Malaysia’s election regulator to monitor Sunday’s national ballot concluded that the vote was only “partially free and not fair.”

Malaysia Awaits Opposition Leader Anwar’s Next Move – WSJ Opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim hurls accusations of vote manipulation in National Front’s victory in Sunday’s elections.

Update: Malaysia’s Markets Rise After Election – WSJ Malaysia’s financial markets jumped after the incumbent National Front’s general election victory, surprising many analysts who had forecasted a dive whatever the outcome.

A tawdry victory -Banyan, The Economist  IT IS more of the same in Malaysia as the ruling Barisan Nasional coalition has been re-elected in the country’s 13^th general election. Voting on May 5^th, with a record turnout of 80%, gave Barisan a majority of seats in parliament of 133 out of 222, probably a slightly bigger margin of victory than many had predicted. It means that the same government that has ruled Malaysia ever since the country became independent from Britain in 1957 gets yet another five-year term in office.

Op-Ed Contributor: Put An End to Malaysia’s Race-Baiting Politics – NYT Malaysian voters have a historic opportunity to throw out the long-ruling National Front and its polarizing race-based politics.

MYANMAR

Thein Sein vows to defend Muslim rights in Burma -AFP Burma’s president on Monday pledged to uphold the “fundamental rights” of Muslims in strife-torn Arakan state, in the wake of deadly religious unrest that has spread across the country.

Oakkan in pieces – DVB photos of Anti-Muslim violence in Myanmar

Buddhists protest the resettlement of Rohingya Muslims – DVB Hundreds of Buddhist residents in western Burma’s Arakan state took to the streets this week to protest a government plan to resettle Rohingya Muslims, who were uprooted in last year’s ethno-religious clashes, according to local sources.

In Myanmar, Classrooms Provide Litmus Test of Change  – NYT Repression under the military junta left universities in a mess. Now, signs of looser government control has prompted hopes that the higher education system can finally be modernized.

THAILAND

Reds file complaint with Constitutional Court against its three judges – The Nation The red shirts Thursday filed a complaint with the nine-member Constitutional Court, asking six of the judges to rule on whether the three who accepted a petition against the amendment of Article 68 of the charter have committed a constitutional offence.  Looks like Thailand and American Idol are linking up. 

Sibling rivalry Sea Globe Editorial After five years sitting on the sidelines of Thai politics, Yaowapa Wongsawat could soon find herself appointed Thailand’s next prime minister

Rail-related MoU with Korea approved-The Nation The Cabinet on Tuesday approved the memorandum of understanding (MoU) between Thailand’s Ministry of Transport and Korea’s Ministry of Land, Transport and Maritime Affairs for a rail system development cooperation. Anyone who has ridden a train in Thailand knows the rail system needs a makeover, but this MOU will link the existing system to China, Cambodia, and Myanmar.

Regional leaders to meet in Chiang Mai from May 14 – 20 – The Nation Thailand and neighbouring countries will benefit from a high-level meeting on water management to be held in Chiang Mai from May 14-20, Deputy Prime Minister Plodprasop Suraswadi said Sunday.

VIETNAM

Petrovietnam to Import Australian Coal to Meet Energy Needs – WSJ Vietnam plans to import coal from Australia to help it meet rapidly growing energy needs that are being driven by economic growth averaging 7% over the past decade.

DNA Test Debunks Claims in Vietnam MIA Documentary Unclaimed –  The Diplomat Almost four decades since the Vietnam War ended with the capitulation of Saigon, the issue of troops missing in action (MIAs) and the possibility that some American and allied soldiers remained behind as communist captives still evokes passionate debate.