Category Archives: SLIDER

by William Feinberg | July 28, 2015 · 1:30 am

Trial of Chinese loggers in Myanmar raises questions about bilateral relations

Chinese demand for prized woods like teak has led to an illegal logging epidemic in eastern Myanmar.

In Myanmar, the trial of over 150 Chinese workers has sparked yet another diplomatic row and has raised questions about the stability of the Sino-Burmese relationship.

Last week Wednesday, a local court in Myanmar sentenced 153 Chinese nationals to life in prison for illegal logging. In addition, another two Chinese minors were sentenced to 10 years imprisonment for the same offense.

The sentences were handed down in the Myitkyina district court, in northern Myanmar’s Kachin state. The 155 Chinese nationals, most from neighboring Yunnan province, were apprehended in January of this year by members of the Myanmar army, along with a number of Burmese citizens. At the time of arrest, the loggers were found with 436 logging trucks, along with drugs and around 12000 Chinese Yuan (around 2000 USD) in currency, according to a report from Phoenix News.

“We tried to make the sentences as fair as possible, but we had to consider the environmental point of view,” district deputy magistrate Myint Swe told Radio Free Asia’s Myanmar Service.

“If you look at the number of vehicles, and machinery and the equipment [they were arrested with], you can imagine the amount of environmental damage they’ve done.”

The criminals were convicted under a 1963 law carrying a sentence of 10 years to life imprisonment for abusing or stealing public property. However, life sentences are commonly only served for 20 years under Myanmar’s legal system, according to the Associated Press.

Searching for an explanation

The trial marks a new low in Sino-Burmese relations. Since the suspension of the Chinese-funded Myitsone hydropower project in 2011, the two neighbors’ relations have steadily deteriorated. The relationship was further strained in March when fighting between the Myanmar Army and the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA), a rebel group based in Myanmar’s Kokang Special Region, spilled over the border and killed five Chinese civilians.

The life sentences in this case could simply be the result of a local magistrate’s decision, however the recent downturn in bilateral relations has led some to wonder if there are ulterior motives behind the verdicts given to the loggers. One explanation is that the sentencing was given in response to Beijing hosting Nobel Peace Prize laureate Daw Aung San Suu Kyi in June. Despite the Burmese opposition leader speaking Chinese President Xi Jinping during a meeting of political parties (Daw Suu heads the National League for Democracy and Xi is the Chinese Communist Party leader), the significance of the visit was not lost on Naypidaw and the government might have taken offense at Beijing’s meeting with the opposition leader. However, Aung San Suu Kyi has met with world leaders before, including US President Barack Obama and Indian PM Nahendra Modi, and neither visit provoked such a controversial response from Naypidaw. It is unlikely that Daw Suu’s meeting with Xi is an exception.

Another possible explanation for the harsh sentences is that the Myanmar government wants some sort of insurance against aggressive actions from their neighbor. If the current trend in Sino-Burmese relations is to continue, Myanmar may be looking for some sort of bargaining chip in any future interactions with China. One can imagine that a further escalation of the ethnic conflict along the China-Myanmar border prompts the Chinese to send its military into Myanmar. The Burmese could use the release of the Chinese loggers as an incentive for Beijing to withdraw its troops. While Sino-Burmese relations have indeed reached a nadir in 2015, the Burmese would have to have an extremely cynical view of the relationship to make so shrewd a move.

A third view of the trial invokes a discussion of the so-called “Dream of the Golden Land,” one of the popular frameworks of the nation of Myanmar. Like China’s national humiliation discourse or US President Ronald Reagan’s “shining city upon a hill,” the “Dream of the Golden Land” is the Burmese nation’s story about itself, according to Yale University’s Josh Gordon. In the narrative, Myanmar is a land endowed with abundant natural resources, highly desired by foreigners. One has only to look at the colonial period for evidence of this. It is then the duty of the majority ethnic Bamar to protect their “Golden Land” from these covetous outsiders and since independence from the British in 1948 this has been done by expelling Chinese and Indian immigrants from the country in the 1960’s, remaining non-aligned through the Cold War and fighting off a host of ethnic insurgencies for almost six decades. The military junta’s attacks against Daw Suu as a tool of the West, the violent campaign against Rohingya Muslims and the results of this trial could also be interpreted using this narrative. In this view, by sentencing 153 Chinese loggers to life in prison, Myanmar has once again protected itself from the thieving hands of outsiders and is making an example of the offenders to avoid similar incidents in the future.

There are also sovereignty issues at stake in the trial. Kachin state has long been contested by ethnic armed groups, namely the Kachin Independence Army (KIA). The KIA has been known to issue permits for resource extraction projects, including logging, in the areas it controls, despite the Myanmar government’s protests. This appears to be the case here.

According to a report from Phoenix News, the workers in question were found with logging permits issued by the KIA. Moreover, the Chinese workers arrested in this case claimed they were unaware that they were breaking the law and believed that their permits were valid.

As parts of Kachin and Shan states have switched hands between rebel groups and central government control over the past decades, Chinese and Thai businessmen have taken advantage by signing shady logging and mining contracts with insurgent armies and local Myanmar army commanders. In this case, it appears that Myanmar’s long-running civil war may have moved from the battlefield to the court room. By prosecuting Chinese workers for logging with illegal permits issued by the KIA, the Myanmar government is sending a signal that it, not the KIA is the final authority on who gets to extract resources in the country. It is a significant move, especially considering the ongoing ceasefire negotiations between Naypidaw and a number of ethnic armed groups.

“Highly concerned with the verdict”

News of the verdicts last Wednesday provoked protests from China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lu Kang said that Beijing is “highly concerned” with the sentences and urged the Burmese to consider Chinese concerns and “properly” handle the case, according to a report from the state-run Xinhua News Agency.

On Thursday, Xinhua published a commentary on the matter, condemning the sentences and calling for the loggers to be treated in a “reasonable and sensible way.” The piece noted that China “respects laws and customs of other countries,” but also called the mass sentencing “abnormal,” questioning the impartiality of the verdict.

While the Chinese government has been vocal in its displeasure with the sentencing, it has not yet gone to extraordinary lengths to secure the release of its citizens. Following the announcement of the verdict, some analysts wondered whether Beijing would involve itself in the legal process, a move which could challenge China’s existing foreign policy principles. Since its founding, non-interference in other countries’ domestic affairs has been a pillar of the PRC’s foreign policy. Intervening strongly on the Chinese loggers’ behalf could trigger an evolution in China’s non-interference and would mark an important transition in the country’s foreign policy.

Until now, however, it appears that China will not take such extreme measures to see its citizens freed. Officials from China’s Foreign Ministry were in attendance for the reading of the verdict on Wednesday but there was no evidence of any further involvement.

According to a lawyer familiar with the case, the loggers can file an appeal with the Kachin state judiciary and then to the Supreme Court in Myanmar’s capital, Naypidaw.

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Filed under China, Foreign policy, Myanmar/Burma, Regional Relations, SLIDER

Tagged as 153 Chinese jailed, Aung San Suu Kyi, Golden Land, illegal logging, Kachin state, KIA, MNDAA, Myitkyina, Sino-Burmese relations

by News Digest | July 27, 2015 · 12:10 am

Regional Roundup for Week of 7.26.2015

The big news this week came from Myanmar, where 153 Chinese nationals were sentenced to life imprisonment as punishment for illegal logging in the country’s Kachin state. ExSE will delve into the story and its implications for Sino-Burmese relations later this week. In other news, Cambodia’s senate passed a strict NGO law that threatens to change the way more than 5,000 organizations operate. The law will allow the government to de-register NGO’s if they’re not ‘politically neutral’.

EXSE FOCUS

Burma sentences 153 Chinese workers to life imprisonment for illegal logging–The Guardian China has lodged a diplomatic protest with Burma after a court sentenced 153 Chinese nationals to life imprisonment for illegal logging. China’s voracious demand for raw materials has fuelled resentment in Burma towards its giant northern neighbour. Regions along Burma’s porous border with China have long been hotbeds for an illegal trade in timber to feed Chinese demand. A court in Myitkyina, capital of Kachin state in the north of Myanmar, handed down sentences to 155 Chinese citizens on Wednesday. Two of those convicted got 10-year prison terms, the rest life sentences. Rule of law suddenly making its way to Myanmar?Another jab at China as Myanmar moves further away from its old patron? Look for ExSE to explore the implications of this case later this week.

Related: The Dangers of Chinese Interference in Illegal Logging Case-The Irrawaddy Magazine

Cambodia’s Senate Passes NGO Law, Despite Ongoing Protests Against It–Radio Free Asia Ruling-party Senators in Cambodia’s parliament on Friday predictably approved a controversial law that lets the government regulate the roughly 5,000 nongovernmental organizations that operate in the developing country. A majority of Senators — 44 from the Cambodian people’s party (CPP) — passed the Law on Associations and Non-Governmental Organizations (LANGO), while 11 from the opposition Sam Rainsy Party boycotted the session in protest against the bill that places restrictions on NGOs and associations. The law requires all NGO’s to register activities and finances with government. Government can ‘de-register’ an NGO if it is not ‘politically neutral’. This is a strong move by the the Hun Sen government against those who most often oppose him – activists are right to worry about their future in the country.

Reopening of US naval base in Philippines could fuel South China Sea row–Investvine The Philippine government on July 16 announced that it will revive a US-built deep-water naval base in Subic Bay, marking the return of military presence there for the first time since George H.W. Bush was in the White House. China’s expansionist ambition in Southeast Asian waters is seen as the main instigator to the military base’s rebirth. Increasingly discordant exchanges between China and the Philippines have, according to security analysts, demanded action beyond the tub-thumping of President Aquino’s anti-China speech making. Another escalation of tensions in the SCS with no end in sight. Quite possible that US troops could be stationed at new Subic Bay base. It would be prudent for the US to avoid a military presence so close to Scarborough Shoal, situation is combustible enough.

Daniel Russel: Remarks at the 5th Annual South China Sea Conference–East by Southeast On July 21, 2015 at the 5th Annual South China Sea Conference at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), Daniel R. Russel, Assistant Secretary, Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs for the US State Department delivered a keynote speech clearly outlining the US position on China’s recent land reclamation action in the South China Sea and its implications for US-China relations.

REGIONAL RELATIONS

Obama to Push U.S. Trade in Kenya as China’s Role Grows–NYTimes Central agreements may help shape a major deal for private investment in Kenya’s infrastructure, while also helping mend relations between governments. Trade between China and Africa, valued at $222 billion in 2014, has been rising swiftly and is now about three times the amount of trade between the United States and the African continent, according to figures from the World Bank and the American government.

U.S. Fears Data Stolen by Chinese Hacker Could Identify Spies–NYTimes The potential exposure of the American intelligence officers could prevent a large number of them from being posted abroad again. American officials are concerned that the Chinese government could use the stolen records of millions of federal workers and contractors to piece together the identities of intelligence officers secretly posted in China over the years.

Laos and China to Build Bridge to Thailand as Part of Railway Project–Radio Free Asia Laos and China will jointly build a bridge linking the Southeast Asian nation with northeastern Thailand as part of a U.S. $7.2 billion high-speed railway project that has been delayed by numerous setbacks for more than four years, a Lao government official said. Officials from both sides agreed to construct the bridge over the Mekong River to link Laos with Thailand’s Nong Khai province during a meeting in which they resolved to build the much-delayed rail line from Kunming in south China’s Yunnan province to the Lao capital Vientiane, a high-ranking official in the Ministry of Public Works and Transport told RFA’s Lao Service. The cost of this rail line is about equal to Lao PDR’s annual GDP. Laos badly needs infrastructure improvements but vanity projects like this are not the way to go.

Chinese ship accused of attacking Vietnamese fishing boats off central coast–Thanh Nien News Fisherfolk in Binh Dinh Province have said their boats were attacked by a Chinese ship while they were fishing in Vietnamese waters this week.Nguyen Nhat Ngoc, a 53-year-old captain, told local coast guards on Friday that his boat with three people aboard was at more than 15 nautical miles from the Spratly Islands on Tuesday when an armored Chinese ship chased after them.

SUSTAINABILITY AND RESOURCE MANAGEMENT

Locals worried about plans to divert water from Mekong–The Nation A NETWORK of Thais living along the Mekong River yesterday voiced their concern about a plan to divert water from the river to special economic zones. Beung Kan is one of the provinces on the banks of the Mekong River, which also runs through China, Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam. Jintana pointed out that local farmers and fishermen were already suffering from dams built upstream of the river, and hence they have a reason to worry about impacts from other big projects.

Thai Court Holds Hope for Transboundary Justice in the Mekong–International Rivers The closely-watched lawsuit filed by Thai Mekong communities against the Xayaburi Dam’s power purchase agreement (PPA) reaches a critical juncture Friday, as it is the final day that the Administrative Court will accept evidence into the case. Should the court overturn the agreement, construction on the dam would likely be suspended.

Silence of the Dammed–Mekong Commons In the ongoing controversy over the costs and benefits of hydropower in the Mekong River basin, there is much debate among governments, private business and civil society especially in Thailand and internationally. But one voice seems to be always silent in this debate: that of the local communities of Laos in whose country at least two mainstream Mekong dams are being built or planned and who will face the brunt of the projects’ impacts.

Cash-strapped farmers forced to watch crops wither away–The Nation AS THE Chao Phraya River Basin runs out of water for farmland, rice farmers are running out of cash. Without water, farmers can do nothing but leave their plants to wither. Without crops, they have no source of certain income. As a result, many farmers have turned to loan sharks to get money to fill their family members’ hungry stomachs. This means the longer the drought crisis, the deeper they will plunge into debt. Based on the grim weather forecasts, there is a risk the drought may drag on for years.

Government water projects set in motion–The Nation THE GOVERNMENT will revive 12 water resource management projects worth more than Bt30 |billion for implementation in 2015-16 to ensure that the country will not face another water shortage over the next decade. Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha said these projects include construction of more water reservoirs and irrigation systems using the annual investment budget plus some state borrowing. In the longer term, he said, the government needs to conduct a feasibility study on water usage resources in neighbouring countries.

Dawei’s coastal calm disrupted by Thailand’s industrial plans–Mekong Commons The Dawei Special Economic Zone (DSEZ) in the Dawei district of Tanintharyi Region is a planned massive multi-billion-dollar project that includes a deep-sea port, heavy industries and extensive transport links. The project has met resistance due to its right violations, land grabbing and potentially enormous ecological impacts on coastal livelihoods. Hundreds of farmers have already lost land to the project, but tens of thousands more would be required to give up farmland if the project continues.

Will China ‘export’ GHG emissions through overseas investment?–China Dialogue Climate change is now firmly at the top of the agenda, especially in China. The world’s largest polluter wants to become an example of a less carbon-intensive economy, one which embraces renewable energy, makes the transition away from coal and has the capacity to capture carbon instead of emit it. But can China ‘decarbonise’ its economy, and what does cutting carbon domestically mean for the rest of the world? Besides being the world’s leading carbon emitter, China is also responsible for major emissions outside its own borders, many of which result from infrastructure projects in Latin America.

Pollution From Copper Mining in Northern Laos Destroying Local Livelihoods–Radio Free Asia A company operating a copper mine in northern Laos’ Oudomxay province is polluting the local environment and destroying the livelihoods of residents, according to villagers, who have called for officials to investigate the firm. A resident of Sawang village, in Oudomxay’s Namo district, told RFA’s Lao Service that domestic firm CNP Exploration Mining and Import-Exports Company had been digging for copper in the area, ruining the local water.

CHINA

Top Chinese Official Is Ousted From Communist Party–NYTimes Ling Jihua, a top aide to China’s former president, was also removed from public office and will be prosecuted on corruption charges. The charges against the official, Ling Jihua, 58, are the result of an internal investigation begun last December by the party’s Politburo, which found evidence that he took bribes, committed adultery and improperly hoarded a large amount of state and party “core secrets,” according to a report by the state-run Xinhua news agency. Ling first entered the hot seat when his son was notoriously killed in a car crash racing Ferraris around Beijing in 2012. Ling reportedly denied his son was invovled and tried to cover up the incident, paying off two women who were involved in the crash to keep silent. The downfall of Ling Jihua, former top aide to Hu Jintao, further proves that no one is safe from Xi’s anti-graft force. Prosecution of such high officials only causing the Chinese rumour mill to churn more – is Xi aiming for a higher target like Ling’s old boss?

China’s Global Ambitions, With Loans and Strings Attached–NYTimes The country has invested billions in Ecuador and elsewhere, using its economic clout to win diplomatic allies and secure natural resources around the world. Where the Andean foothills dip into the Amazon jungle, nearly 1,000 Chinese engineers and workers have been pouring concrete for a dam and a 15-mile underground tunnel. The $2.2 billion project will feed river water to eight giant Chinese turbines designed to produce enough electricity to light more than a third of Ecuador.

Trial of Chinese Rights Campaigners on Subversion Charges Continues–NYTimes The proceedings in the southern city of Guangzhou against the three defendants, who have been held for over a year, resumed after a monthlong halt. The trial of three prominent rights campaigners, including a lawyer, on charges of inciting subversion continued on Friday in the southern Chinese city of Guangzhou, amid a sweeping crackdown on human rights lawyers that has drawn international condemnation.

Asia stocks down as China manufacturing weakens–The Associated Press Asian stock markets were rattled Friday by cautious earnings outlooks from U.S. companies and a further deterioration in Chinese manufacturing.

SOUTHEAST ASIA

Thai officials among more than 100 charged with human trafficking–The Guardian Army general, politicians and police among those charged after dozens of bodies, believed to be of migrants, exhumed from abandoned camps. Thailand’s state prosecutors are pressing charges against more than 100 people, including an army general, in a multinational human trafficking scandal that came to light after dozens of bodies were discovered in the south of the country earlier this year. The sweeping investigation, in which 15 Thai state officials were implicated, began after 36 bodies, believed to be those of migrants from Burma and Bangladesh, were exhumed from abandoned jungle camps near the Thai-Malay border in May. The Thai army has long been rumored to be involved in human trafficking related to sex and fishing trades.

Thailand’s Junta Pushes Back Election Date Again–The Diplomat Despite protestations, the coup leader appears to be settling into power. Since taking power in a coup in May 2014, the junta has repeatedly delayed planned elections, claiming that the country needs greater stability before a poll will be held or that the new constitution is not yet finished. After vowing elections in 2016, the deputy chairman of the junta-created legislature now reportedly has declared that elections will not be possible until 2017, since it will take so long to print the new charter and deliver written copies of it across Thailand.

A Thai House Divided–NYTimes Tensions within the military-royalist establishment will complicate the royal succession in Thailand. A rift is growing within Thailand’s military-royalist establishment, threatening the country’s stability and undermining prospects that the upcoming royal succession will unfold smoothly. On one side is an old guard of senior officers who gradually consolidated power during the long reign of King Bhumibol Adulyadej. On the other is a new guard from a semi-autonomous elite military unit at the service of Queen Sirikit, which includes the leaders of last year’s coup against the elected government of Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra. Many believe that the 2014 coup was carried out for the express reason of keeping order during the transition period following the King’s death. That Gen. Prayuth’s junta government is causing instability is neither ideal nor surprising.

Political implications of Thailand’s royal succession–New Mandala The imminent passing of the 87-year Thai monarch, Bhumibol Adulyadej, will send tectonic shock waves through Thailand’s body politic. Bhumibol, the world’s longest-serving monarch, is a pillar of Thai politics. During his reign Thailand emerged as a $390 billion economy, a middle income state. If nothing else, his passing creates an enormous vacuum in Thai politics and there is palpable fear about Thailand’s future without him. The uncertainty is real because the succession has the potential to upend Thai politics.

The ‘boat people’ crisis won’t end until Burma stops persecuting the Rohingya–The Guardian Boat departures have slowed for now, but are expected to resume as the regime steps up its relentless ethnic cleansing. Ebadullah can barely stand. Twenty-six years old and from Burma, he’s weak and weathered, but wants to talk. “If someone tried to move in the boat, they would beat us,” he said. “Those who didn’t move were beaten, too.” Armed gangs have promised jobs and lump-sum payments to families left behind, and have crammed approximately 150,000 men, women, and children — mostly Rohingya Muslims like Ebadullah — into modern-day slave ships. Where is the international pressure against Myanmar for the Rohingya crisis? Nowhere to be found as long as there’s money to be made.

Related: 155 boatpeople returned to Bangladesh–DVB

Cambodian court jails 11 opposition activists for ‘insurrection’–The Guardian Eleven Cambodian opposition members and activists have been jailed on insurrection charges, including three who received 20-year sentences, a defence lawyer has said. Rights groups said the draconian penalties, for taking part in clashes in July 2014 over the closure of a key protest site in the capital, were imposed as leader Hun Sen intensifies efforts to smother dissent in a kingdom he has led for more than three decades.

YUNNAN

World’s largest solar maker invests in Yunnan–GoKunming Solar power is shining a renewed spotlight on Yunnan. Last week, Trina Solar announced an agreement with Yunnan Electric Power Design Institute to supply solar cells capable of producing 51 megawatts of electricity. These panels will be the first installment of a larger plan to populate some tea-growing areas in Xishuangbanna with photovoltaic generators.The proposed solar farm will eventually reach a capacity of 100 megawatts (MW), enough to power roughly 36,000 homes annually. Despite its tremendous size, all of the electricity has been reserved exclusively for large tea plantations within the prefecture. The power will be utilized to run well-water pumps and irrigation systems already in place within the farms.

Extreme summer weather wreaks havoc around Yunnan–GoKunming Walking through Kunming on a warm sunny day, a casual observer would find little trace of the drought that parched much of the province for half a decade. Running water and frequent rains stand in stark contrast to the water shortages once a constant nuisance for residents of the Spring City. Other parts of Yunnan, however, are not so lucky, experiencing wildly juxtaposed weather, including flash floods and scorching droughts.

This week’s news digest was compiled by Brooke Rose with commentary by William Feinberg.

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by East by Southeast | July 23, 2015 · 6:48 am

Daniel Russel: Remarks at the 5th Annual South China Sea Conference

On July 21, 2015 at the 5th Annual South China Sea Conference at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), Daniel R. Russel, Assistant Secretary, Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs for the US State Department delivered a keynote speech clearly outlining the US position on China’s recent land reclamation action in the South China Sea and its implications for US-China relations. Given the timeliness and relevance of this speech, we’ve posted it in its entirety below.

Good afternoon. Thank you, Murray, for the kind introduction. It’s always a pleasure to be back at CSIS.

Let me start by laying out the essential context.

The United States has always had interests in Asia. These interests have only grown stronger as our economies have become more interconnected, and as our people have grown closer through travel and the Internet.

For the last seven decades, we’ve worked with allies and partners in the region to build shared prosperity and shared security. In the last six-and-a-half years, in particular, we’ve invested in building cooperative relations with every country in the region. This is the rebalance.

There are many types of investment the world, and Asia, needs in order to grow—investment in people, first and foremost; investment in business; in physical infrastructure, and just as important; investment in “cooperative capital” – the international law and order infrastructure that facilitates the interactions between countries, that advances regional economic integration, and helps states peacefully manage and settle disputes.

The U.S. makes balanced investments in all of these areas.

The last one, the international rules-based system, has been the ‘essential but underappreciated underpinning’ of global growth over the last 70 years. That’s especially true in Asia, where many countries have grown – and continue to grow – their economies through international trade, especially trade with the U.S.

Asia’s nations have achieved so much in recent decades—reducing poverty, raising living standards, and creating opportunities for their people. They’ve done it through hard work, cooperation with each other, partnership with the U.S., and by jointly developing and operating within a rules-based system.

And we are helping them to do even more:

We’re taking broad-based, sustainable economic growth to a new level with the Trans-Pacific Partnership.

The TPP embraces a future that reaches beyond trade and investment to include high standards for environmental protection, for labor rights.

TPP’s provisions will support a thriving, growing, entrepreneurial middle class that is able to connect with the world and do business through a free, open Internet.

We’re taking the security architecture that underpins this brighter future to a new level by investing in regional institutions like the East Asia Summit and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), in addition to our longstanding work with global ones like the U.N.

These institutions uphold norms and tackle tough challenges; they can help bring parties together to hash out disagreements, or when bilateral diplomacy doesn’t succeed, help to have those disputes resolved peacefully in a fair, impartial manner.

Standing behind and supporting these institutions is our system of alliances and partnerships.

This network has helped keep the peace in the region since World War II. And through a series of important agreements with key security partners over the last few years, we’ve refreshed them so they’ll last for decades to come.

We’re taking environmental protection to a new level, through our work on ocean preservation, on combatting climate change and its effects, and through programs like the Lower Mekong Initiative that help make economic growth environmentally sustainable.

As we pursue this broad, forward-looking vision for the region, we’ve worked constructively with China—a lot.

We’ve built greater understanding through President Obama’s 20 some-odd meetings with the Chinese President or Premier; and through the Strategic and Economic Dialogue and an alphabet soup of other consultations.

We’ve put a floor under the relationship so it can withstand tensions or even a crisis.

And in the last couple years, all of this work has paid off—we’ve made measurable progress in a range of cooperative efforts: in low-carbon policies; countering piracy at sea; in stemming the Ebola crisis; supporting a better future for Afghanistan; and much more.

But unfortunately, the situation in the South China Sea does not fit this cooperative pattern.

Now, the U.S. is not a claimant. As I’ve said here at CSIS, these maritime and territorial disputes are not intrinsically a US-China issue. The issue is between China and its neighbors and – ultimately – it’s an issue of what kind of power China will become. But for a variety of reasons, the competing claims and problematic behavior in the South China Sea have emerged as a serious area of friction in the U.S.-China relationship.

Let’s take a step back and recall, as I’m sure you discussed this morning, that there is a history of competing assertions of sovereignty and jurisdiction in the South China Sea, and even violent conflicts in 1974 and 1988.

There are no angels here. The occupation of land features in this contested space over the years looked a lot like “squatters’ rights.” But that is something that in 2002 the claimants agreed to stop doing.

In that year, all the claimants (and the ASEAN states) signed a Declaration of Conduct. In it, and on other occasions, they have committed “to exercise self-restraint in the conduct of activities that would complicate or escalate disputes and affect peace and stability including, among others, refraining from … inhabiting the presently uninhabited… features and to handle their differences in a constructive manner”.

In the Declaration of Conduct, they also committed to negotiate a Code of Conduct that would lay out and lock in responsible behavior. But in the ensuing 13 years, work on the Code has stalled, and the Declaration has not been sufficient to prevent confrontations or to help claimants resolve these disputes peacefully.

Recently, the level of concern in the region has escalated as the scale and speed of China’s reclamation work has become public. The Chairman’s statement at the ASEAN leaders’ summit in April was unusually blunt, speaking of “serious concerns” about “land reclamation being undertaken in the South China Sea, which has eroded trust and confidence and may undermine peace, security and stability….”

While China’s statement on June 16 that it would stop reclamation work “soon” was presumably intended to reassure, its effect was in fact alarming since the statement went on to warn that China would construct military facilities on these reclaimed outposts.

So we are pushing the parties to revive the spirit of cooperation embodied in the 2002 Declaration of Conduct.

We see a broad consensus within ASEAN on a path forward to reduce tensions and promote peaceful handling of these disputes. And we support ASEAN’s efforts to expeditiously conclude an effective, rigorous Code of Conduct that builds on the Declaration by translating its cooperative spirit into specific “do’s and don’ts.”

But to make this happen, the parties need to create room for diplomacy.

In the famous words of Rich Armitage’s Dictum Number 1, “when you find yourself in a hole – stop digging.” That is the advice we are giving to all the claimants: lower the temperature and create breathing room by: stopping land reclamation on South China Sea features; stopping construction of new facilities; and stopping militarization of existing facilities.

These are steps the parties could commit to immediately; steps that would cost them nothing; steps that would significantly reduce risks; steps that would open the door to eventual resolution of the disputes.

Secretary Kerry has made this point to Chinese leaders and to the other claimants, and will be meeting with his counterparts early next month in Malaysia at the ASEAN Regional Forum, or ARF, to push for progress on this important priority.

Now, steps to exercise restraint through a moratorium and a Code of Conduct will create diplomatic space and help keep the peace, but they won’t address the question of maritime boundaries or sovereignty over land features.

So what’s the way forward?

When it comes to competing claims, two of the main peaceful paths available to claimants are negotiations and arbitration.

Countries across the region in fact have resolved maritime and territorial disputes peacefully and cooperatively, whether through direct negotiations or through third-party dispute settlement mechanisms.

Just a few examples: Indonesia and the Philippines recently agreed on their maritime boundary;

Malaysia and Singapore used international court and tribunal proceedings to resolve disputes concerning the Singapore Strait; and the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea delimited the maritime boundary between Bangladesh and Burma.

A common thread runs through the maritime boundary disputes that have been resolved peacefully: the parties asserted maritime claims based on land features, and were prepared to resolve those disputes in accordance with international law.

This is why we’ve consistently called on all claimants to clarify the scope of their claims in the South China Sea, in accordance with international law as reflected in the 1982 Law of the Sea Convention. Doing so would narrow the differences and offer the basis for negotiations and cooperative solutions.

Regrettably, I don’t know anyone in the region who believes that a negotiated settlement between China and other claimants is attainable in the current atmosphere.

And the multiple competing claims in some parts of the South China Sea make negotiations that much more difficult.

And then there is the absolutist political position taken by some claimants who insist that their own claims are “indisputable” and represent territory – however distant from their shores – that was “entrusted to them by ancestors” and who vow never to relinquish “one inch.”

What about arbitration? As this audience knows, there currently is an arbitration case pending under the Law of the Sea Convention between the Philippines and China.

At the heart of the case is the question of the so-called “Nine Dash Line” and whether that has a legal basis under the international law of the sea. It also asks what maritime entitlements, if any, are generated by features that China occupies? In other words, regardless of whose jurisdiction it may fall under, would Mischief Reef, for example, be entitled to a 12 nautical mile territorial sea? A 200nm exclusive economic zone? A continental shelf?

Now, it’s important to note that the Tribunal is not being asked – and is not authorized to rule – on the question of sovereignty over disputed land features. Everyone recognizes that the sovereignty issue is beyond the Tribunal’s jurisdiction. Claimants would need to agree to bring that sort of sovereignty dispute before a court or tribunal, typically the ICJ.

But under the Law of the Sea Convention, the Tribunal is authorized to first determine whether it has jurisdiction under the Convention over any of the Philippines’ claims in the case and, if it does, whether the Philippines’ arguments have merit.

The United States, of course, is not a party to this arbitration and does not take a position on the merits of the case. But when they became parties to the Convention, both the Philippines and China agreed to its compulsory dispute settlement regime.

Under this regime, the decision of the arbitral tribunal is legally binding on the parties to the dispute. It’s a treaty. In keeping with the rule of law, both the Philippines and China are obligated to abide by whatever decision may be rendered in the case, whether they like it or not.

Now China has argued that the tribunal lacks jurisdiction, and the tribunal has specifically considered this issue in recent hearings in The Hague, looking very carefully at a position paper published by China. But if the Tribunal concludes that it in fact has jurisdiction in this case, it will proceed to the merits, including potentially the question of the legality of China’s “Nine-Dash Line.”

Should it then rule that the “Nine-Dash Line” is not consistent with the Law of the Sea Convention, and particularly if the Tribunal ruled that the features cited in the case do not generate EEZ or continental shelf entitlements, the scope of the overlapping maritime claims – and hopefully the points of friction – would be significantly reduced.

But it’s also important to recognize that even in this outcome, important sovereignty and boundary issues would remain unresolved.

This is as good a time as any to acknowledge (as China has often pointed out) that the United States has not acceded to the Law of the Sea Convention, although accession has been supported by every Republican and Democratic administration since the Convention was signed and sent to the Senate in 1994. It is supported by the U.S. military, by industry, environmental groups, and other stakeholders.

For the United States to secure the benefits of accession, the Senate has to provide its advice and consent, as I hope it ultimately will.

But even as we encourage the parties to work for long term solutions, we are obligated to protect U.S. interests. Let me take a moment to examine what some of those interests are:

Protecting unimpeded freedom of navigation and overflight and other lawful uses of the sea by all, not just the U.S. Navy;
Honoring our alliance and security commitments, and retaining the full confidence of our partners and the region in the United States;
Aiding the development of effective regional institutions, including a unified ASEAN;
Promoting responsible marine environmental practices;
Fostering China’s peaceful rise in a manner that promotes economic growth and regional stability, including through consistency with international law and standards.
And more generally, an international order based on compliance with international law and the peaceful of disputes without the threat or use of force.

As a practical matter, in addition to our support for principles such as the rule of law, we are taking steps to help all countries in the region cooperate on maritime issues. For example, we’re investing in the maritime domain awareness capabilities of coastal states in the region.

This allows countries to protect safety at sea and respond to threats such as piracy, marine pollution and illegal trafficking. Maritime awareness also advances transparency, in line with our call to all claimants to be more open and transparent about their capabilities, actions, and intentions at sea.

The U.S. military’s freedom of navigation operations are another element of a global policy to promote compliance with the international law of the sea.

Our goal is to ensure that not only can the U.S. Navy or Air Force exercise their navigational rights and freedoms, but ships and planes from even the smallest countries are also able to enjoy those rights without risk. The principles underlying unimpeded lawful commerce apply to vessels from countries around the globe.

And under international law, all countries—not just the United States—enjoy the rights, freedoms, and lawful uses of the sea that our diplomacy and the U.S. military’s freedom of navigation operations help protect.

For us, it’s not about the rocks and shoals in the South China Sea or the resources in and under it, it’s about rules and it’s about the kind of neighborhood we all want to live in. So we will continue to defend the rules, and encourage others to do so as well. We will also encourage all countries to apply principles of good neighborliness to avoid dangerous confrontations.

Let me close by mentioning that we have a host of cooperative initiatives we’re working on for the upcoming ASEAN Regional Forum meeting, the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum, and the East Asia Summit—all of which will advance much more quickly and effectively when tensions in the South China Sea are lower.

President Obama and Secretary Kerry have shown that they are not afraid to tackle the biggest challenges facing US foreign policy and the world. And we’re energized, here in the fourth quarter of this administration to do much more in partnership with our Allies, with ASEAN and with China.

For us, for the region, and for China – finding a peaceful, lawful and responsible way forward on the South China Sea is a prerequisite to achieving our longer term goals.

Thank you.

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Filed under ASEAN, China, Current Events, Philippines, Regional Relations, SLIDER, South China Seas, Vietnam, water

Tagged as Dan Russel, philippines arbitration, South China Sea, US State Department, US-China relations

by Mekong Commons | July 21, 2015 · 9:21 am

Silence of the Dammed

In the ongoing controversy over the costs and benefits of hydropower in the Mekong River basin, there is much debate among governments, private business and civil society especially in Thailand and internationally. But one voice seems to be always silent in this debate: that of the local communities of Laos in whose country at least two mainstream Mekong dams are being built or planned and who will face the brunt of the projects’ impacts.

We never get to hear or see an informed opinion from local communities in Laos about the dams under planning and construction although many of these communities would face being displaced or resettled and lose their fisheries and other river-based livelihoods.

Laos is often perceived as a peaceful, Buddhist country with verdant mountains, rivers and a rural (and laid-back) way of life. While this may be true on the surface, it is a daily fact of life for Laotians that the ruling Lao People’s Revolutionary Party (LPRP) maintains control over the country’s press and civil society.

This also gives the impression that Laos has for the most part a passive citizenry that is least interested in politics. During three years of my field research in Laos, however, I found many Laotians I met always enjoyed talking about politics with me. They have access to Thailand’s radio and television channels, and understanding Thai language is not a problem. Its just that the politics that they could freely talk about was about Thailand not Laos.

It is not surprising then that the debate about hydropower in Laos is met with silence among Lao people, especially communities, and the people who do voice their opinions are usually those in government or the hydropower business.

Missing voices in Don Sahong

I interviewed people about 10 km from the site of the Don Sahong Hydropower Project (DSHP) located on the Mekong River’s mainstream in the Siphandone area of southern Laos, less than two kilometers upstream of the Laos-Cambodia border.¹

The Don Sahong Dam threatens the rich subsistence and commercial fisheries in Laos and could pose impacts also in Cambodia, Thailand, and Vietnam. It also threatens the last remaining population of the Irrawaddy dolphins in Laos whose habitat is the Siphandone area. Moreover, the planned water diversion from the Khone Phapheng waterfalls could undermine the area’s tourism.

The dam builders and government officials have organized many public information activities about the dam and social or environmental assessment studies to evaluate the potential impacts of the DSHP.

I asked my interviewees – the local people in the area – whether they were involved in these studies. Most said they have never engaged in these studies, and did not know about the DSHP’s expected impacts.

“Laos has only one communist party”. Local people always repeat this sentence several times, before somebody clarifies watchfully: “Nobody is allowed to express their opinions against the party. Whether we like the Don Sahong dam or not, it will be constructed..

When I asked them if they know about the potential impacts of the dam, a fisher replied: “I cannot foresee what will happen if the Don Sahong dam is completed. The officials said nothing is going to harm our life. However, I am worried about the reduction in fishing.”

Dam developers have announced no-fishing zones around the Don Sahong dam site although local fishers have used these areas for their livelihoods for more than a hundred years. (Photo by JeeRung.)

To my surprise, many did not even understand the concept of a dam. One sixty-five year old woman said: “I do not know what is a dam. Will a dam be built here? I asked my children to explain the meaning of a dam.” Another fisher asked: “What is the Don Sahong dam? I never heard any news if it will be located here?”

“Public information activities”

The public information activities being held by the DSHP developer are not like a “public hearing” process where citizens can freely debate the merits and demerits of the project, ask for information, provide alternatives, raise concerns, etc. In fact, the DSHP’s public activities does not include the free, prior and informed consent from potentially affected people before going ahead with the project. Moreover, the available documents such as EIA, mitigation and other plans are not made available in the local language.

I conducted in-depth interviews with local people who had an opportunity to participate in the DSHP’s public information activities. Most interviewees said the information they received were about the dam’s positive impacts provided by the dam developers, but there was no information about the negative impacts. The summary of these efforts at misinformation by the dam proponents are provided in the table below.

Restrictions on media and other freedoms, weak civil society

There are few local civil society or nongovernmental organizations (CSOs/NGOs) dealing with issues of hydropower projects and monitoring them in Laos. Moreover, any emergent grassroots-level NGO working on public policy monitoring are viewed with government suspicion as politically subversive troublemakers. Although a few international CSOs especially based outside Laos have voiced critical views about the Mekong hydropower projects in Laos, their views are ignored by official state policy.

The citizenry of Laos (apart from state officials and some influential groups) has only minimal access to information about pending legislation, changes in regulations, or government policy. There are no established mechanisms for government consultation with civil society groups.

Lao people are also subject to severe restrictions on freedom of expression. The government controls all print and electronic media through the state news agency, Khaosan Pathet Lao. All media content is vetted by the Ministry of Information and Culture. A press law announced in 2001 that would allow limited private media ownership has not yet been adopted. If enacted, it would still impose strict controls, including the power to close publications deemed to be “anti-government”.

Once Don Sahong is completed, the Don Sadam secondary school will be taken for the site of the hydropower transmission station. (Photo by JeeRung.)

Freedom of speech is restricted by provisions in the penal code that forbid “slandering the state, distorting party or state policies, inciting disorder, or propagating information or opinions that weaken the state.”

Article 59 of the penal code sets a prison sentence of 1 to 5 years for anti-government propaganda. Journalists who do not file “constructive reports” or who attempt to “obstruct” the work of the LPRP may be subject to jail terms of 5 to 15 years. Previous violators are believed to have incurred prison sentences of between 1 and 5 years². The authorities usually harass the English-language press when it does not toe the official line.

The act of expressing views opposite to the official view of the state administration or public policies in public spaces is considered taboo. Lao authorities have consistently suppressed political antagonists, cracked down on those expressing critical opinions with arbitrary imprisonments and sometimes enforced disappearance³. The most high-profile case has been the “disappearance” of Magsaysay award winner Sombath Somphone. He was last seen in Vientiane in December 2012. Through these measures, Laotian authoritaries have instilled a fear among the populace of free expression of views.

Given this situation described above, it is not surprising that we do not hear about or see the genuine participation or expression of critical views by local communities in Laos regarding the Mekong hydropower projects.

Show 3 footnotes

This article written by JeeRung was originally posted here on the Mekong Commons site. It is reposted with permission of the author and Mekong Commons.

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Filed under Laos, SLIDER, Sustainability and Resource Management, Uncategorized

Tagged as civil society Laos, Don Sadam, don sahong, Four Thousand Islands, Laos, Laos dams, Mekong, mekong dams, Mekong hydropower, SIphandone

by News Digest | July 20, 2015 · 7:28 am

Regional roundup for week of 7.19.15

EXSE FOCUS

China begins construction of ‘world’s tallest’ dam – Thanh Nien News China has begun building a 314-metre (1,030-ft) high dam which will be among the world’s tallest, officials said, as the country massively expands hydropower. The Shuangjiankou dam on a tributary of China’s mighty Yangtze river will be completed in 2022, the environmental ministry said on its website Tuesday. The facility, costing 36 billion yuan ($5.8 billion), will be higher than the world’s current tallest dam, the 305-metre Jinping-1, also in China. //Hydroelectric energy sources can help decrease carbon emissions, but the environmental hazards, as well as social impacts, of these mega dams aren’t negligible.

Related: Burma, Thailand, China sign MoU for Salween dam – DVB

Related: Is China’s hydroelectric revolution as green as it sounds? – International Rivers

Chinese police kill three ‘Xinjiang terrorists’ in north-east, authorities say – The Guardian Police in north-eastern China on Monday killed three knife-wielding “terrorists” from Xinjiang, the mainly Muslim region in the far west, who attacked officers, local authorities said. One other assailant, described as a 28-year-old woman, was injured in Liaoning, said a notice posted on a verified provincial government social media account. Shenyang, the Liaoning capital where the incident happened, is almost 3,000km (1,900 miles) from Urumqi, the capital of Xinjiang, which has seen sporadic violence in recent years blamed by authorities on Islamist terrorists.

Related: Behind the veil: China’s policies in restive Xinjiang hurt traditional minority businesses – The South China Morning Post

ASEAN Seen As Future Labour Powerhouse, Succeeding China – InvestVine The structural change in the East Asian labour market and rising wages in China – which used to be the cheap manufacturing hub of the world – will shift a lot of labour towards Southeast Asian countries, especially the ones which still have low labour costs and/or minimum wages, experts say. Southeast Asia will eventually displace China for the title of “world’s factory”, another study released in April by Australia and New Zealand Banking Group, or ANZ, said. This would happen over the next 10 to 15 years, “as companies move to take advantage of cheap and abundant labour in areas such as the Mekong [delta],” ANZ said in the report.

Developing Asia To Grow At A Slower Pace: ADB – InvestVine The Asian Development Bank (ADB) on July 16 cut its economic-growth forecast for developing Asia amid slower-than-expected growth in the US and China. The Manila-based bank said the region’s gross domestic product (GDP) was projected to grow by only 6.1 per cent from the original forecast of 6.3 per cent in its annual Asian Development Outlook published in March this year. It added that the growth outlook for Southeast Asia was trimmed to 4.6 per cent because Thailand, Indonesia, and Singapore’s economies disappointed in the first half, while subregional growth will likely accelerate next year to 5.1 per cent.

An HA/DR Solution to South China Sea Tensions – The Diplomat Humanitarian assistance and disaster relief could offer innovative approach to territorial conflict. China’s extensive land reclamation in the South China Sea poses a challenge to the security environment of the Asia-Pacific. Territorial conflicts are difficult to resolve given complex and deeply rooted sovereignty and historical interpretation issues. However, the essence of the issue is not the Chinese land reclamation itself (many other countries in the region have engaged in land reclamation), but rather the legal and political consequences that could escalate into a security issue, which in turn could destabilize a region that has the potential to drive the world economic growth.//Get ready for the annual CSIS South China Sea Conference. It’s kinda like DC’s version of Shark Week. Also watch this week for critical ruling re the Philippines arbitration case vs. China.

Related: Naval Buildups in the South China Sea – The Diplomat

Related: How China Views the South China Sea Arbitration Case – The Diplomat

Myanmar Faces Daunting Post-Election Challenges, Experts Warn – The Diplomat Myanmar faces significant challenges following historic elections to be held later this year, experts warned Tuesday. Last week, Myanmar confirmed that it would hold its election on November 8, setting the stage for polls following a historic opening in 2011 after half a century of military rule.

Related: Myanmar Reveals Date for Historic 2015 Elections – The Diplomat

REGIONAL RELATIONS

Forecasting the Future of US-China Competition – The Diplomat China figured prominently in this year’s annual conference conducted by the Center for a New American Security (CNAS), which held the massive, all-day event at the end of last month in Washington, D.C. While the event focused on global challenges from Russia and the Islamic State to technology and energy, one of four breakout sessions focused exclusively on “The Future of China.”

Obama official sees momentum to conclude Asia-Pacific trade pact – Thanh Nien News The 12 nations negotiating a Pacific trade pact are “keenly focused” on reaching an agreement as ministers prepare to meet in Hawaii this month, according to U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman. Froman acknowledged sticking points remain to the Trans-Pacific Partnership on issues including market access. He wouldn’t be drawn on a specific time line after five years of negotiations, but said he’s optimistic ahead of the next discussions.//Waiting for details of this deal whose negotiations are conducted in secret is unnerving.

RMB Internationalization and US Economic Leadership: Reforms and Rebalance – The Diplomat The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is currently considering whether or not to recognize the Chinese currency – yuan or renminbi (RMB) – as an official reserve currency to be included in the Special Drawing Rights (SDR) along with the dollar, euro, yen and sterling. Eswar Prasad, the former head of the IMF’s China division recently stated, “The IMF’s imprimatur is nice to have but ultimately it is market forces that will drive the renminbi’s adoption as a reserve currency.”//with Saudi Arabia and oil not meaning so much to the US anymore, RMB internationalization and position as a potential reserve currency is probably one of the top five international developments with long-term, game changing implications to watch.

Can Myanmar benefit from China plan? – New Mandala China’s leaders are looking to convince us that their dreams of “one belt, one road” can lead to a new wave of global prosperity. These initiatives are designed to enmesh partners from near and far in a Chinese-led network of investment and economic growth. The Chinese government inevitably has firm ideas about how Myanmar fits into its bold plans for 21st-century economic development. It sees the country as a key site for large-scale Chinese projects, including the dams, bridges, roads and ports that will be the concrete-and-steel manifestation of the “one belt, one road” idea.//The answer is Yes. Would Myanmar benefit by being left out of the Belt and Road project? No. But the devil is in the details – who gets the projects, what are environmental implications, and how can the projects be implemented with efficiency and on a predictable schedule with ethnic conflict looming and raging in Myanmar?

Related: The Belt and Road: China’s Economic Lifeline? – The Diplomat

Connectivity with China a priority – The Star BEIJING: Malaysia is ready to work with China on developing connectivity, said Transport Minister Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai. Among others, ports in Malaysia will be upgraded and more free trade zones and industrial parks will be built near the ports.

China’s slowdown may widen Vietnam trade gap, official says – Thanh Nien News China’s economic slowdown may widen Vietnam’s trade deficit as the Southeast Asian nation counts on its largest trading partner to buy commodities, according to a government official. China has been Vietnam’s biggest trade partner since at least 2007. The recent stock plunge and the slowdown in China’s growth has triggered concerns in regional governments including Indonesia and Philippines.//Enter opportunity for US purchases of more Vietnamese goods – maybe not commodities, but purchasing fewer commodities from Vietnam may help the country implement higher environmental standards.

SUSTAINABILITY AND RESOURCE MANAGEMENT

To sustain its forests, Asia needs to invest in local people: experts – Thanh Nien News Asia has a unique opportunity to fight climate change and lift many more people out of poverty if it invests more in the communities living in its forests, experts said. The Asia-Pacific region’s forests, which account for almost 20 percent of the world’s forested area, play a big role in fighting climate change because of trees’ ability to absorb carbon dioxide (CO2).

Silence of the dammed – Mekong Commons In the ongoing controversy over the costs and benefits of hydropower in the Mekong River basin, there is much debate among governments, private business and civil society especially in Thailand and internationally. But one voice seems to be always silent in this debate: that of the local communities of Laos in whose country at least two mainstream Mekong dams are being built or planned and who will face the brunt of the projects’ impacts.//More needs to be done to bring local stakeholders to the discussion table. NGOs can serve as a bridge, representing and passing on the voices of local community stakeholders. NGOs, contrary to popular opinion, the Laos government wants to hear from you. Laos government, to get more NGOs to talk to you, stop detaining and kidnapping development activists and whistle blowers.

18,000 trees to be felled for new tourist road through Vietnam mangrove forest – Thanh Nien News Ho Chi Minh City has approved a plan to build a new road through Can Gio Mangrove Forest, a biosphere reserve recognized by UNESCO, in a bid to attract more tourists. Here’s the catch: the road will be 17 meters wide and run 3.5 kilometers, which means 18,600 trees will have to be cut down to make space for it. Can Gio District conceded that the construction will destroy 6.4 hectares of forest and force creatures living in that area to move.

Long-term overuse of fertilisers saps China’s farmlands – South China Morning Post

CHINA

Uncivil – The Economist Some were taken from their homes in the middle of the night. Others had their offices raided, or were summoned to “take tea” at the local police station—a euphemism for being interrogated. According to Amnesty International, around 120 lawyers, as well as more than 50 support staff, family members and activists, have been rounded up across the country since the pre-dawn hours of July 9th. Many have been released, but as The Economist went to press at least 31 were still missing or were believed to remain in custody. //Is this the rule of law that Xi promoted in at his 3^rd plenum?

Related: China’s ‘Rule by Law’ Takes an Ugly Turn – ChinaFile

Remaining Uighurs in detention may go to Turkey – The Nation The last group of 52 Uighur migrants detained in Thailand will likely be going to Turkey because China has already been given those it wants for alleged crimes and violence in its territory. Beijing has got those who are suspected of involvement in crimes in China, so the remaining Uighur migrants are not wanted by China. It seems that the remaining migrants have no criminal record in China so they may go to the country of their choice or Turkey,” a high-ranking security official said yesterday.//To further understand this case, in general it would be helpful for the Chinese government to release the names of the 70 refugees repatriated to China two weeks ago as well as the charges surrounding their cases. Transparency.

The Environmental Problem China Can No Longer Overlook – The Diplomat China’s Ministry of Environmental Protection is taking steps to clean up soil contamination. Will it be enough? China’s Ministry of Environmental Protection (MEP) is on a roll, pushing out action plans, regulations, and laws to address a number of its most pressing environmental challenges. Most recently, in mid-July it announced that it had submitted an action plan to the State Council to tackle one of the country’s least visible but most serious problems: soil contamination. Plans are also in the works for a new soil pollution prevention law in 2017.

China must make use of minority cultures to develop poorer border areas, says senior official – The South China Morning Post China must utilise the linguistic and cultural links of its ethnic minorities with neighbouring countries to help develop its poor border areas, but also guard against an infiltration of extremists, a senior official wrote in an influential journal.

China’s Rapidly Changing Views on Wildlife Conservation in Africa – ChinaFile A dramatic shift in Chinese public opinion about animal welfare and global wildlife conservation appears to be underway. Supported by high-profile celebrity campaigns by NBA legend Yao Ming and actress Li Bing Bing, there is growing awareness in China over the country’s role in the illicit African wildlife trade.//Glad to see the mass PSA campaigns working as well as bar raised on punishment for offenders on this issue.

SOUTHEAST ASIA

Clock ticks on rice harvest – The Phnom Penh Post As el niño continues to buffet Cambodia, the next two weeks could be crucial in determining whether the Kingdom will suffer from a smaller-than-usual rice harvest and potential food shortages, experts said yesterday. The bulk of the rice harvested in Cambodia is normally planted between May and July, but amid unusually high temperatures and reduced precipitation, concerns are mounting regarding the hardships farmers might face and how it could affect their crops, according to a report released late last week by the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). //With such a huge portion of the kingdom’s population in the agriculture sector, lower precipitation and high temps would mean trouble for Cambodia.

Everyone must save water till rains come mid-Aug: PM – The Nation It is now absolutely necessary for everybody – be they farmers or not – to save fresh water for consumption and daily use, at least until mid-August, when more rain is expected, Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha said yesterday. The government ordered a big cut yesterday in the amount of water released from four key dams – Bhumibol, Sirikit, Kwai Noi and Pasak Jolasid – from 28 million cubic metres to 18 million cubic metres per day, so there is more left until the rains come.//This year’s drought seems to be the #1 conversation topic and concern among mainland Southeast Asians.

NGO alert: Cambodia legislation gives government new powers to monitor, fine or disband – The Guardian The government has just passed a Law on Associations and Non-Governmental Organisations (LANGO) which will impose mandatory registration on all domestic and international associations and NGOs, in order to have legal standing. They must also file annual reports on their activities and finances to the government. This bill will give the government powers to monitor activity and to fine or take legal action against NGOs. The government will also have the power to disband NGOs if their activities “jeopardise peace, stability and public order or harm the national security, national unity, culture, and traditions of Cambodian society”.//Call this THE CHINA EFFECT.

Related: Does Cambodia Really Need a New NGO Law? – The Diplomat

Shelling Sends Civilians Fleeing in Shan State – The Irrawaddy More than 100 people from Kaung Kha village in Muse Township have fled their homes after artillery shells were fired into the settlement on Monday, reportedly leaving one person dead and two others injured. The displaced villagers told The Irrawaddy that the artillery bombardment began at about 10 am on Monday and stopped sometime in the afternoon. The villagers have sought shelter at nearby Namtaw village and say they dare not return to their homes amid reports that the Burma Army is occupying the village.

YUNNAN

Kunming to invest in public electric car fleet – GoKunming The Kunming municipal government is moving toward the acquisition of all-electric cars that will be made publicly available by year’s end. Once delivered, the vehicles would become the centerpiece of a public transportation initiative designed to reduce general traffic congestion and cut down on overall tailpipe emissions in the Spring City. //Kunming is following suit in finding ways to alleviate traffic and reduce carbon emissions. Kudos to the municipal government for working to improve a city whose air conditions are already above standards for larger cities in China.

Video: Hip-hop grannies in Kunming’s Green Lake Park – GoKunming For anyone who has spent time in China, witnessing nocturnal dances by groups of women is not a new occurrence. Every evening across the country, in rural hamlets and huge metropolises alike, ladies gather in public squares and shake it to all different types of music. The nightly gatherings are simply a way to connect with like-minded people who want to step out, get some fun exercise and indulge in a bit of good-natured exhibitionism. //One of the exciting bits of Kunming’s urban personality that makes you fall in love with it!

REVIEWS

The Dog by Jack Livings review – a risky debut collection of extraordinary power – The Guardian The Dog is, among other things, a forceful argument for the role of imagination in fiction and in life. These short stories successfully put us into other people’s shoes, extending a gift of empathy. Livings has spent time studying and teaching in China, but it is still a gutsy move for an American writer to build his first work of fiction around the imagined lives of people in a foreign land. Like his characters, he seems to find something productive in being an outsider.

This week’s analysis was compiled by Rachel Tritsch with analysis by Rachel Tritsch and Brian Eyler.

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by GoKunming | July 17, 2015 · 10:57 pm

Kunming to invest in public electric car fleet

The Kunming municipal government is moving toward the acquisition of all-electric cars that will be made publicly available by year’s end. Once delivered, the vehicles would become the centerpiece of a public transportation initiative designed to reduce general traffic congestion and cut down on overall tailpipe emissions in the Spring City.

Kunming deputy mayor Wang Chunyan (王春燕) traveled to Hangzhou on a fact-finding mission concerned with the scheme earlier this week. While there, he met with government counterparts and automotive industry leaders to discuss the city’s electric car-sharing fleet — a first in China when inaugurated in 2013.

Hangzhou officials have been lauded for the implementation of a public car rental system that relies on automation and cars using no gasoline. Wang wants Kunming to emulate this system. Following a meeting with Hangzhou deputy mayor Zhang Zheng (张耕), Wang told reporters he expects the Spring City to make an initial purchase of 2,000 electric cars by December 2015.

At its inception, Hangzhou’s ‘micro-transport’ (微公交) system made available two thousand electric cars built by Zhejiang-based Kandi Technologies, a subsidiary of manufacturer Geely. People who need to rent a car for a few hours or days can present their national identification cards and driver’s licenses, along with valid credit cards, at rental centers resembling outsized vending machines. Once registered, customers choose between two- or four-seat cars, both with top speeds of 80 kilometers per hour and a single charge range of roughly 90 kilometers.

Two years on, the Hangzhou fleet has quadrupled in size to 9,850 vehicles. They rent for between 20 and 25 yuan per hour, a fee that includes insurance. Long-term leases are also available — 9,000 yuan for year-long use of a two-passenger car and 14,400 yuan for a four-passenger version. The cars can be re-powered, or have their batteries replaced, at any rental facility or at an expanding network of quick-charge locations.

Deputy mayor Wang said Kunming would adopt the Hangzhou project and adapt it for implementation in the city. Kandi cars will be utilized, but a pricing scheme has yet to be announced. Kunming urban planners want to alleviate at least some of the traffic jams that stifle commuters on a daily basis. Wang’s proposal also targets the related problem of perpetual parking shortages — which once caused some garage spaces to fetch yearly prices of 180,000 yuan (US$29,000).

Kunming’s frenzy of car buying perhaps reached its zenith in 2010, when 1,000 new cars were being registered in the city each day. Costly infrastructure projects aimed at easing traffic congestion have been largely hit-or-miss. This newest solution of publicly sharing e-vehicles has become quite popular in China’s largest metropolises, as Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen, Chengdu and now Kunming have all followed Hangzhou’s lead.

This article written by Patrick Scally was originally published here on the GoKunming.com site on July 16, 2015.

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Filed under China, Current Events, SLIDER, Sustainability and Resource Management, Yunnan Province

Tagged as electric cars, energy, Kunming, sustainable development, urbanization

by News Digest | July 12, 2015 · 11:37 pm

Regional round-up for week of 7.12.15

Giant steps for the future of US-Vietnam relations this week, as Vietnam’s Communist Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong paid a historic visit to Washington and discussed Agent Orange cleanup, the TPP, and military relations with President Obama. It was the first time that a standing party General Secretary visited the US – Ho Chi Minh lived in the US before he became founder of Vietnam’s Communist Party. The Chinese stock market roller coaster threatened to unravel much of the goodwill promised in Xi Jinping’s Silk Road infrastructure development projects and the AIIB – let’s keep our eye on this. Finally Thai usurper PM Prayuth continued to prove his reputation as Southeast Asia’s biggest asshole by separating more than 50 Uighur families for life – he sent 170 women and children refugees to Turkey while dispatching their husbands back to China for likely life imprisonment. These stories and more below.

EXSE FOCUS

After Week of Turmoil, Chinese Stocks Post Further Gains – NYTimes A week of volatility in China’s stock markets ended on a better note than many investors expected, as government policies to prop up shares seemed to have muted some of the panic among sellers. China’s Shanghai composite index jumped 4.5 percent Friday, after a similar rise on Thursday. Responding to the restored confidence and a new proposal from the Greek government for a bailout plan, regional markets followed suit. The Hang Seng in Hong Kong rose over 2.1 percent.//Recovery in China’s stock market is critical for Xi Jinping’s political aspirations both domestically and abroad. A major crash could bankrupt his policy reform plans and reduce much capital earmarked for infrastructure projects in Southeast Asia. This week the Indonesian media ran a headline of China poses a bigger threat to Indonesia than Greece with logic in the aforementioned vein, but the headline could read the same in each of Southeast Asia’s countries.

Ignoring Protests, Thailand Deports About 100 Uighurs Back to China – NYTimes Thailand has sent about 100 ethnic Uighurs back to China, the country they fled, a Thai government spokesman said on Thursday. Thailand acted despite international warnings that the Uighurs could face harsh treatment in China and pleas that they be allowed to resettle elsewhere. // Point for China in Thai relations, adds to Thai gov announcement of Chinese sub deal a few weeks ago.

ExSE analysis by Will Feinberg here.

Southeast Asia Drought Forces Farmers to Leave Fields Unplanted – Radio Free Asia A severe lack of rain and higher-than-normal temperatures in parts of Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia have caused some farmers to leave their fields and rice paddies unplanted, sources inside the developing Southeast Asian countries said.//Finally the rains came this week. Overnight the Mekong rose by one meter in Vientiane – droughts and sudden rises in river levels disables the opportunity for flood retreat agriculture, a long relied on form of planting in Southeast Asia.

Malaysian prime minister faces corruption allegations – CFR Asia Unbound Prime Minister Najib Razak is facing calls to resign after a Wall Street Journal report traced nearly $700 million of deposits into his personal bank account from the 1Malaysia Development Bhd. (1MDB), the country’s strategic development fund. Investigators have frozen bank accounts associated with the case and have raided the offices of 1MDB, while both 1MDB and Najib have denied wrongdoing. The fund, which is owned by Malaysia’s Finance Ministry, has financed itself by issuing more than $11 billion in debt. Though the fractured political opposition poses little threat to the prime minister,criticism from within his own governing party, and from political heavyweight and former Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad, could threaten Najib’s continued leadership.

Related: self-explanatory.

Sesan families report illness – Phnom Penh Post Villagers living downstream from the controversial Lower Sesan II hydropower project have claimed that they contracted unusual skin ailments causing large black spots on their bodies after the firm building the dam drained industrial waste into a river they use for bathing. Locals in Plok village, only a few kilometres downstream from the $800-million project in Stung Treng province’s Sesan district, have said they saw workers at the dam site using explosives near the river bank and piping industrial waste into the water earlier this year.//The costs of hydropower projects in Southeast Asia continue to rise along with unforeseen risks.

All aboard: Kunming-Vientiane Railway inches forward – East by Southeast Although a bit trite with repetition, no saying better encapsulates the major obstacle facing Laos than “geography is destiny”. The only landlocked country in Southeast Asia, Laos is wedged between the vast rivers and expansive mountain ranges that demarcate its natural borders with China, Vietnam, Cambodia, Myanmar and Thailand. Because of its lack of access to maritime trade routes, the small country has historically relied heavily on domestic subsistence agriculture with little opportunity for much international commerce. // Kunming – Singapore (really South Malaysia) rail would be HUGE win for China, and Laos must be a part of that. Beijing’s progress on this will reflect robustness of government and economy.

Myanmar: General Election Is Scheduled for Nov. 8 – AP via NYTimes The military, which had ruled the country since 1964, scheduled the last general election in 2010 under rules widely seen as rigging the outcome. // These elections will be test of Burma’s commitment to democracy reforms. Suu Kyi’s absence will hurt but not crush NLD’s chances, watch to see which candidate they field.

President Obama, Vietnam Party chief talk deepening of partnership at White House — Tuoi Tre News U.S. President Barrack Obama and Vietnam’s Party leader Nguyen Phu Trong have agreed to the principle of resolving disputes in the East Sea via peaceful means based on international law. The agreement was reached during a meeting held at the White House in Washington, D.C., on July 7 (local time) between the U.S. president and his guest, who is the General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam. // VN wants to be new US darling, almost all citizens want to be in TPP (June Pew poll). Not just hedge against China, VN wants development it can’t get from China.

Thailand’s electricity utility may be complicit in human rights violations in Myanmar’s Salween dams – Mekong Commons The building of the 241 meter high Mong Ton (also known as Tasang dam) is well underway in the Upper Salween River in the southern Shan state of Myanmar. The largest dam planned on the Upper Salween River, the US$10 billion Mong Ton dam’s reservoir will flood at least 640 square km stretching across two-thirds of Shan State. It will produce 7,000 MW of power, 90% of which will be exported to Thailand and China. the reservoir. // 🙁

REGIONAL RELATIONS

UN tribunal to begin South China Sea deliberation – BBC A United Nations tribunal is to begin deliberations on whether it can hear a legal challenge over territorial claims in the South China Sea. In 2013, the Philippines asked the Permanent Court of Arbitration to declare invalid most of China’s maritime claims in the disputed area. China claims almost the whole of the South China Sea angering several Asian neighbors. It says the tribunal does not have the jurisdiction to hear the challenge. If the tribunal decides it can rule on the case, the legal hearings will get under way. // The likely mixed ruling (expected in August or September) will be an ultimate Phils win, but probably won’t stop China from doing anything as the court has no jurisdiction.

Related: 3 out of 5 Filipinos have ‘little trust’ in China – SWS poll

A Tipping Point in the US-China-Vietnam Triangle – The Diplomat The significance of Trong’s visit lies more in what it means than in what it says. For the United States, it means that the strategic gains from a close and strong relationship with Vietnam have outweighed the strategic costs of provoking China and the political costs of befriending a communist regime. For Vietnam, the trip will boost the communist regime’s legitimacy, but at the same time, the friendship with America will have political and strategic ramifications. It will affect the balance of power among the country’s elites in favor of the reformers at the expense of the conservatives, and it will irritate China. Trong’s trip means that the reformers are on the rise and the conservatives in decline. It also means that Hanoi has reached the limits of its engagement with Beijing and is now trying to reach out to Washington to broaden its options.

Cambodia’s Strategic China Alignment – The Diplomat Cambodia’s provisional alignment with China will depend on the foreign policy behaviors of Thailand and Vietnam toward Cambodia, ASEAN’s relevance in meeting the security need of its members, its capability to withstand perceived threats from neighboring countries, and the availability of sufficient support from the international community to ensure the small kingdom’s survival, sovereignty, and pursuit of prosperity. // Cambodia gets infrastructure development, an army training school, and support for neglecting human rights from China. In return China got support in the SCS during Cambodia’s 2012 ASEAN chair.

SUSTAINABILITY AND RESOURCE MANAGEMENT

New dams could drown hopes of returning home for refugees – Bangkok Post In mid-June, the Thai military government and its Myanmar counterpart signed a memorandum of understanding on energy, with an eye to expanding Thailand’s import of electricity from Myanmar, by up to 10,000 megawatts. The initial agreement also promotes overseas investment by Thai state-owned and public companies in numerous coal and hydropower projects in Myanmar, including the Hat Gyu, Ywathit, and Mong Ton dams on the Salween River. Significantly, these projects are all situated in ethnic states, namely the Shan, Kayah, Karen, and the Tanessserim divisions, which make up some of the country’s most vulnerable areas and populations.

Italian-Thai set to sign 50-year Dawei contract – Bangkok Post Italian-Thai Development Plc (ITD) through its subsidiary Dawei Development Co (DDC) will sign a contract with the Myanmar government by July 24 to develop and run the Dawei economic development zone for at least 50 years.

As Blockade Against Sarawak Dam Continues, OECD Complaint Results in Unprecedented Agreement – International Rivers The blockade to stop the Baram Hydroelectric Dam in Sarawak, Malaysia from being built is now entering into its 21st month, standing as a testament to the strength, determination and hope of thousands of women and men, prepared to go up against all odds. Up to 20,000 indigenous people, known collectively as the Orang Ulu, or upriver people, would be displaced if the proposed 1,200 megawatt (MW) dam moves ahead. Much of the land to be inundated is considered the customary territory of the Orang Ulu. The blockade effort began in October 2013 and consists of two separate sites set up at road access points in the area of the proposed dam.

CHINA

Chinese Authorities Detain and Denounce Rights Lawyers – NYTimes At least five lawyers from a firm that specialized in rights cases have been detained and accused of running a criminal syndicate to smear the Communist Party and “create social turmoil” through their litigation, state-run media said on Saturday.

Mass Evacuation in China as Typhoon Chan-Hom Hits Coast – NYTimes A typhoon swept along the coast of eastern China on Saturday, whipping up high waves, intense winds, and rain that forced the crowded commercial region to suspend flights and evacuate hundreds of thousands of residents.

The Big Story Behind China’s New Military Strategy – The Diplomat As China reemerges as one of the globe’s leading powers, just what type of actor it will be on the world stage has become a subject of intense debate among China watchers and the broader public. With tensions rising to what one eminent China scholar has called a “tipping point” in U.S.-China relations, the Chinese government released its first-ever white paper on military strategy just before the fourteenth annual Shangri-La Dialogue was held in Singapore this past weekend. Since 2012, Beijing has indeed become more assertive in proximate waters, and the paper underscores determination to strengthen Chinese “strategic management of the sea.”

SOUTHEAST ASIA

Outcry as Malaysia’s human trafficking record brings praise from US — Reuters Country could now sign up to Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal, but advocates say Malaysia continues to face human trafficking issues. The United States is upgrading Malaysia from the lowest tier on its list of worst human trafficking centres, US sources said on Wednesday, a move that could smooth the way for an ambitious US-led free-trade deal with the south-east Asian nation and 11 other countries. The upgrade to so-called “tier two watch list” status removes a potential barrier to President Barack Obama’s signature global trade deal. // U.S. reps have said they’ll introduce bills to stop this if it isn’t changed. How will Obama get around it for TPP?

Seven dead and dozens injured in attacks in Thailand’s south – Agence France-Presse More than 6,300 people have been killed in the conflict pitting troops and police against rebels seeking greater autonomy for three Muslim-majority provinces. Three people were killed and a dozen injured in four separate bomb blasts in Thailand’s war-torn deep south, police said on Saturday, while another four died from shooting and arson attacks. More than 6,300 people have been killed in near-daily conflict pitting troops and police against rebels seeking greater autonomy for the three Muslim-majority provinces bordering Malaysia since 2004.

Vietnam After 2016: Who Will Lead? – The Diplomat Every five years, the Vietnamese Communist Party holds its National Congress. Among other important policy issues, the party congress chooses the central leadership teams, to govern both the party and the country. If the 11th party congress (2011) is any guide, the new Central Committee, which will be elected by all delegates at the coming 12th party congress (to be held in 2016), will select a new general secretary (Tổng Bí Thư), a new Politburo (Bộ Chính Trị), a new Secretariat (Ban Bí Thư), and a new Central Commission of Inspection (Uỷ Ban Kiểm Tra Trung Ương).

Why people don’t buy insurance in Asia – ADB Blog Insurance is often viewed as a product of the sophisticated, capitalistic system of the West, and those who are outside this cultural group are less likely to value insurance protection. Asians, who rely on informal insurance such as a family network, are thus typically less focused on buying insurance

Kokang conflict reveals ethnic strife unlikely to end after cease fire – East by Southeast Many things in Myanmar are changing – the economy, the government, infrastructure. Others, like violent ethnic conflict, seem destined to stay the same. For the past three months, the government of Myanmar has been fighting the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA), an ethnic rebel army based on the country’s border with China. The MNDAA are predominantly made up of ethnic Kokang fighters. The Kokang are ethnically Han Chinese and the live in Kokang region, in Myanmar’s Shan state.

YUNNAN

New Research: Rubber Expansion Threatens Biodiversity and Livelihoods – East by Southeast Xishuangbanna prefecture in China’s Yunnan province has seen an explosion of rubber cultivation in the past 15 years. Increasing amounts of environmentally valuable and protected land are being cleared for rubber plantations that are economically unsustainable, new research suggests. More widespread monitoring is vital to design policy that protects livelihoods and environments. The research was recently published in Global Environmental Change and constitutes a joint effort by scientists at the World Agroforestry Centre (ICRAF) East and Central Asia office, the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh, the University of Singapore and the East-West Center.

This week’s news digest was compiled by John Jeunemann with analysis by John Jeunemann and Brian Eyler.

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by William Feinberg | July 11, 2015 · 3:11 am

Thailand deports Uyghur refugees to China, despite protests

Refugees on the way to a Thai detention center, March 18, 2014. Image used courtesy of VOA News.

Refugees being transported to a Thai detention center, March 18, 2014. Image used courtesy of VOA News.

After more than a year of waiting, almost 300 ethnic Uyghurs are leaving Thailand. On July 1, a group of 173 Uyghur refugees, mostly women and children, left Thailand for Turkey. A week later, another 109 Uyghurs were deported back to their home country of China. The decision on the fate of these refugees, who have remained in Thai custody since their arrests in March 2014, has sparked criticism from human rights groups and protests from the Turkish public.

These 282 Uyghurs are part of a group of almost 300 people taken into custody by Thai authorities in March 2014. Many were found in a human trafficking camp in Songkhla province. Since then, they have waited in detention centers in Songkhla, Trat and Rayong while an intense diplomatic battle over their fates raged between the governments of China, Turkey and Thailand.

The Uyghurs are a Turkic-speaking, predominantly Muslim people from Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region in China’s northwest. In the last decade, they have left China in increasingly larger numbers, escaping religious persecution and political and economic repression.

On July 1, Seyit Tumturk, vice president of the Munich-based World Uyghur Congress (WUC), confirmed through Radio Free Asia‘s Uyghur language service that the first group of 173 Uyghurs were able to “enter into Turkey safely” after arriving in Istanbul.

“They are mostly women and kids—around 120 kids and about 50 women. Hopefully, the men [still in detention] will be granted this kind of chance in the near future.”

Initial reports of bloodshed

The Uyghur men, however were not given such a chance. On July 8, 109 refugees were forcibly deported to China from Thailand. The group was made up of mostly men, however some women and children were also repatriated.

The World Uyghur Congress first reported that 25 men had been shot dead after resisting their deportation in Bangkok. Thai authorities, however, denied the story.

Thai government deputy spokesman Weerachon Sukhontapatipak told Radio Free Asia in an interview that “there was no such thing as claimed by WUC.” Another, anonymous source in the Thai government confirmed Weerachon’s statement, saying, “It is not true. There was no killing as claimed by the WUC.” He added that video evidence confirming the refugees’ safety could be provided.

In the initial report published on their website, the WUC reported that a first plane of mostly women and children departed without incident. “The second plane, however, was intended to transport around 65 men, but authorities faced some resistance from the men in doing so.”

In the process of subduing the resisters, 25 men were shot and killed, the WUC originally reported. Hours after its publication, however, the paragraph concerning the killings was removed from the report.

Protests and condemnation

The move by Thailand to repatriate the refugees drew intense criticism from Uyghur organizations and human rights groups. The office of the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees said it was “shocked” by Thailand’s decision and considered the deportation “a flagrant violation of international law.”

Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha, head of Thailand’s military government, seemed unconcerned with issues of international law, claiming that the matter did not concern Thailand.

“I’m asking if we don’t do it this way, then how would we do it?” he said. “Or do you want us to keep them for ages until they have children for three generations?”

Rights groups worry that the deported Uyghurs will face harsh penalties once on Chinese soil. Uyghurs that have been repatriated from Southeast Asian countries in the past have received long jail sentences and even capital punishment for illegally leaving China.

In Beijing, Hua Chunying, spokeswoman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs confirmed that the Chinese government would pursue legal action against the repatriated Uyghurs.

“China’s relevant departments will bring those who are suspected of committing serious crimes to justice according to law,” she told reporters. “As for those who are not suspected of committing crimes or who commit lesser offences, we will find proper ways to deal with them.”

The episode has also led to protests in Turkey, where many see Uyghurs as their Turkic-speaking “cousins”. On Thursday, both the Thai consulate in Istanbul and the Thai embassy in Ankara were attacked during pro-Uyghur demonstrations. Police in Ankara used tear gas there to disperse protesters.

Earlier in the week, the Chinese consulate was attacked along with Chinese restaurants in Istanbul. Protesters were angry after reports emerged that local governments in Xinjiang region were prohibiting Uyghur schoolchildren and civil servants from fasting for Ramadan. Similar Ramadan crackdowns have been reported annually for over a decade In response to the protests, the Chinese government issued a travel warning to Turkey for Chinese tourists on July 8.

A split decision

Despite closer ties between Turkey and China in recent years, the issues surrounding the treatment of Uyghurs in Xinjiang and Turkey’s acceptance of Uyghur refugees have prevented the Sino-Turkish relations from moving forward. This week’s protests certainly marks a low point in the relationship and it will be interesting to see how things develop after this latest deportation episode. It is unlikely that China’s crackdowns nor Turkey’s acceptance of Uyghurs will end anytime soon.

Despite Thai Prime Minister Prayuth’s claims that Thailand was simply a third party actor, its role in the refugees’ deportation to Turkey and repatriation to China was key. How it navigated this tricky diplomatic issue says much about Thailand’s relations with China. Ties between the Southeast Asian state and China have improved in recent years and increased Chinese investment in Thailand’s infrastructure will only make the two countries closer. Therefore, it was never in doubt that Thailand would acquiesce to the PRC’s request to have the Uyghur migrants returned.

However, Thailand, with a proud history of resisting foreign pressures, still wishes to remain independent in the face of a rising China. Its decision to send 173 women and children, likely low-priority targets for China’s internal security forces, to Turkey instead of China is significant. It could be interpreted as a symbol that while China’s clout in the region is growing, it is not yet large enough to wholly influence diplomatic decisions. Future cases of deportation involving Uyghurs in Southeast Asia will act as a barometer of China’s influence on the foreign affairs ministries in Bangkok, Kuala Lumpur and other regional capitals. This episode may have reached its conclusion, but it is unlikely to be the last as long as Uyghurs continue to look for a better life outside China’s borders.

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Filed under China, ethnic policy, Human trafficking, Regional Relations, SLIDER, Thailand

Tagged as Human Rights, protests, repatriation, Turkey, Uyghur refugees, World Uyghur Congress

by GoKunming | July 9, 2015 · 10:05 pm

All aboard: Kunming-Vientiane Railway inches forward

Although a bit trite with repetition, no saying better encapsulates the major obstacle facing Laos than “geography is destiny”. The only landlocked country in Southeast Asia, Laos is wedged between the vast rivers and expansive mountain ranges that demarcate its natural borders with China, Vietnam, Cambodia, Myanmar and Thailand. Because of its lack of access to maritime trade routes, the small country has historically relied heavily on domestic subsistence agriculture with little opportunity for much international commerce.

The legacy of its geography in combination with the destruction wrought by the United States during the Vietnam War has today resulted in a nation with some of the world’s highest poverty and unemployment rates. With the help of the Chinese and Thai governments, Laos hopes to change this narrative of international isolation in the years to come.

Since 2010, plans have been under consideration to construct a high-speed railway between Kunming and Vientiane, Laos’ capital. However, political and financial setbacks have pushed the starting date of the project back by five years. This year, the three governments all sound confident that construction of the seven billion dollar project will begin.

Many analysts now view the construction of the Kunming-Vientiane railway within the context of China’s larger ambitions to revamp trade routes throughout Southeast Asia. China’s president Xi Jinping has openly stated his eagerness to establish silk road-esque connections with China’s neighbors, placing Kunming at the epicenter of overland transactions. The country has already invested 40 billion dollars to facilitate railway links, which it hopes will eventually drive new economic plans throughout South Asia.

Already, long-term proposals have been hashed out to eventually link Kunming with Singapore. The first phase in the series of projects is currently under construction, with China building a 737-kilometer connection between the Thai city of Nong Khai — just across the Mekong River from Vientiane — and Map Ta Phut — one of the largest deep water ports in Thailand.

The planned Kunming-Vientiane rail then, would add on to existing railroad infrastructure, facilitating a larger Kunming-Bangkok route by — according to recent estimates — no later than 2020. A link to Malaysia would from there be relatively simple. If all goes as projected, passengers may, within the next decade, be able to hop onto a high speed rail from Kunming all the way to Singapore.

Past financial qualms that have plagued the realization of the Vientiane-Kunming proposal continue to worry politicians in both China and Laos. Although a fairly small investment for China, the seven billion dollar price tag corresponds to over 60 percent of Laos’ US$11.24 billion gross domestic product, making it a hefty and risky endeavor. Currently, the two countries have agreed on a 40-60 split of the initial financing, with Laos contributing US$840 million and China US$1.26 billion. The remaining five billion will later be chipped in by Chinese venture capital firms, who would then hold substantial stakes in the railway once it is up and running.

Although worries over the pragmatic utilization of the railway have previously stymied Laos’ cooperation with Chinese entrepreneurs, increasingly Lao politicians believe the connection to Yunnan’s capital is paramount for their country’s economic growth. In an interview with Japanese magazine Nikkei, Laos’ deputy prime minister, Somsavat Lengsavad, explained that Laos, being a landlocked country, can only rely on roads, so the transport cost is very high. “In our policy of turning Laos from a landlocked to a land-linked country, we believe the railroad will help us reach our objective. [The railway] will boost the Lao economy because many investors are now looking for a production base here. They say that if the country had a railway, it would help them reduce their transportation costs. So it would make us more attractive to investors.”

Recently, the country has proven itself one in an appealing group of potential manufacturing centers in Southeast Asia as overseas companies flee China. Over the past few years, Laos has ridden a growing wave of economic growth, with annual GDP often topping eight percent. Such financial development has been attributed primarily to the construction of massive 1,000-megawatt hydroelectric dam complexes, growing highway infrastructure and multibillion-dollar investors betting on long term prosperity in the region.

Politicians, including Lengsavad, remain sanguine that the fiscal expansion will only be further boosted by a direct link to Yunnan. Already, companies including Samsung and Yahoo have left China to venture into smaller, burgeoning financial systems. Laos hopes the Vientiane-Kunming connection will enable it to hop onto the train of foreign investment out of China.

Skeptics, including Lao politicians, point out that the real construction cost of the Kunming-Vientiane route may soon render the project another white-elephant. Without a doubt, both financially and topographically, much stands in the way of the railway’s establishment. An astounding 154 bridges, 76 tunnels and 31 train stations will be necessary for the Lao leg of the track. The monumental proposals stands in stark contrast to Laos’ nearly complete lack of experience with railway construction. The land-locked country currently boasts only of a 3,5-kilometer train link, spanning the Thai-Lao Friendship Bridge.

To make matters more complicated, the Annamite mountain range, which the railway will eventually need to cross, is infamous as a minefield littered with unexploded American ordnance dropped during the Vietnam War. These factors combined are likely to result in a final cost for the track much greater than the projected seven billion dollar price tag. Laos thus finds itself stuck between a rock and a hard place — on one hand it desperately needs infrastructure for greater commerce, while on the other, current proposals may leave the country in an even more precarious financial situation than it currently faces.

This article was written by Richard Diehl Martinez and first posted here on GoKunming.

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Filed under ASEAN, China, Current Events, Foreign policy, GMS, Laos, Mekong River, Regional Relations, SLIDER, Thailand, Trade, Yunnan Province

Tagged as China trains, China's rise, infrastructure development, Kunming-Vientiane railway, Luang Prabang, railways, Southeast Asia transportation grid, trains

by Sander Van de Moortel | July 8, 2015 · 4:52 am

New Research: Rubber Expansion Threatens Biodiversity and Livelihoods

Xishuangbanna prefecture in China’s Yunnan province has seen an explosion of rubber cultivation in the past 15 years.

Increasing amounts of environmentally valuable and protected land are being cleared for rubber plantations that are economically unsustainable, new research suggests. More widespread monitoring is vital to design policy that protects livelihoods and environments.

The research was recently published in Global Environmental Change and constitutes a joint effort by scientists at the World Agroforestry Centre (ICRAF) East and Central Asia office, the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh, the University of Singapore and the East-West Center.

Although global natural rubber prices have fluctuated strongly in the last fifteen years, they are likely to continue rising as synthetic alternatives are no match for natural latex. This financial incentive, as well as the expansion of oil palm, an even more lucrative rival, has caused rubber plantations to expand beyond their tropical comfort zone in Indonesia and into the margins of continental south-east Asia.

This has brought wealth to some, but not all, say the researchers. As marginal lands are often too dry, too slanted, too high, too wet, too cold, too windy, or a combination of the above, rubber plantations require increasing amounts of input in the form of fertilizer, pesticides, and labour in order to maintain yield levels – and even then may not be profitable.

The research also suggests that climate change will render 70% of current and another 55% of future plantation areas environmentally poorly suited for rubber. Smallholder farmers’ livelihoods face additional threat from price fluctuations, loss of food security, and the narrowing of income sources.

The environment also suffers. The surge in rubber demand saw valuable and even protected lands being converted into rubber plantations, drastically reducing carbon stocks, soil productivity, water availability, and biodiversity. This is particularly tragic given the high chance of failure.

“There is clear potential for loss-loss scenarios when forest is being cleared for rubber plantations that are not economically sustainable, and that have negative impacts on soils and water balance,” says lead researcher Antje Ahrends from the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh and the World Agroforestry Centre.

Widespread monitoring of rubber expansion and its economic sustainability will prove vital for land-use planning and policy interventions. The team argue that carefully formulated payment for ecosystem services programmes, and a certification scheme for “environmentally friendly rubber” have potential to reduce the environmental impact of rubber expansion while ensuring the supply.

“Oil palm has received much more global attention than rubber, but in fact environmental and social impacts are comparable and the dynamics of the two are related. It may be time for a roundtable on sustainable rubber where the private sector, public parties and scientists can try to bridge the various interests and agree on standards,” says Meine Van Noordwijk, chief science advisor at the World Agroforestry Centre.

This article was authored by Sander Van de Moortel and originally published on the World Agroforestry Centre website. The article is republished, in its entirety, with full permission from the author.

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Filed under Agriculture, Environment and sustainability, SLIDER, Sustainability and Resource Management

Tagged as biodiversity, ICRAF, livelihoods, oil palm, research, Rubber, rubber prices, Southeast Asia, sustainability

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