Asia Archives
A Day of Reckoning for North Korea
Filed under: Asia
A perfect storm is brewing over North Korea.
The price of the nation's staple food source, rice, is soaring on world markets due to panicked speculation (there is no actual shortage of the crop).
As a result, the Peterson Institute for International Economics now says that North Korea is facing outright famine conditions. North Korea has stonewalled on the nuclear question, alienating South Korea, a traditional source of aid in hard economic times. Now, it's neighbor to the south is demanding progress in the negotiations as a prerequisite to aid. China, facing the worst inflation rates of the past decade, has imposed strict new controls on rice exports, in effect also shutting the door on North Korea.
Some in North Korea may have believed it was "safer" to sit silently rather than confront the regime, fearing its draconian punishments. But those attitudes didn't save millions in Russia from being pulverized by Stalin's meat grinder, and the people of North Korea must now see that they cannot find safety in silence. North Korea is hurtling down the same path to total destruction that laid waste to the USSR. It is time for the people of the nation to rise and speak in its defense.
NOTE: To comment on this post for publication, write to: kimzigfeld@gmail.com
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redditArt History
Filed under: Asia
Did you ever wonder how China came up with the graphic emblem for its 2008 Summer Olympic Games, which it wanted to reflect the open and welcoming spirit it has adopted towards the world in honor of the occasion? Click the jump and have your curiosity satisfied!
del.icio.us | digg | technorati | stumble upon | furl | redditChina Rolls out its Welcome Mat
Filed under: Asia
In a magnificent display of hospitality and welcome to the world in the buildup to the China Olympiad, the civilized, friendly, reasonable people of China have eaten one of their own. It's a pretty strong indication of how very wrong the world is to even consider boycotting the China games.
NOTE: To comment on this post for publication, write to: kimzigfeld@gmail.com
del.icio.us | digg | technorati | stumble upon | furl | redditSkip the Opening Ceremonies, Mr. Bush
Filed under: Asia
U.S. President George Bush is giving serious consideration to heeding House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's suggestion that he boycott the opening ceremonies of the Olympic Games in China. In the same way that even paranoids can have enemies, even evil morons like Pelosi can be right sometimes. To quote Michelle Malkin, sometimes even a blind pig can find a truffle.
Mr. Bush should not attend the opening ceremonies. He should not attend any aspect of the games during the opening (as some have wrongly suggested), but should instead hold a public meeting with Tibetan opposition leaders, by teleconference if necessary, and give them all the encouragement he can to continue their fight.
China is already facing worldwide humiliation as the Olympic torch has been violently assaulted as it attempted to make its traditional circuit of the globe, leading to its being extinguished on at least two occasions. All around the world, people of good will are outraged at the barbaric actions of repression taken by China in Tibet, directly flouting the Olympic spirit. The torch has just arrived in San Francisco; hopefully, we will see that bastion of liberalism stand behind its creed and make an even greater show of outrage at Chinese atrocities, which include sending protesters to "reeducation camps" in classic Communist style.
It simply could not be more clear that China did not deserve the games and should not have received them. Having been awarded, America should have withdrawn. If it must attend, then its leader must make the strongest possible statement of condemnation, and must use the opportunity to confront the beasts that govern China on many other human rights issues as well.
NOTE: Publius Pundit no longer accepts comments directly on our posts. Instead, once per week we will publish a "letters to PP" feature in which readers with meritorious observations will get to see their views published on the main page of the blog. If you would like to have a letter considered for publication, send it to: kimzigfeld@gmail.com
del.icio.us | digg | technorati | stumble upon | furl | redditExposing Chinese Barbarism
Filed under: Asia
The New Yorker's review of the 2006 film Blind Mountain, currently in theaters:
The writer-director Li Yang's stunningly realistic drama, a furious denunciation of injustices in contemporary China, is designed to elicit from viewers a primal cry of anger. Bai (Huang Lu), a young woman who has recently graduated from a big-city university, is hired as a saleswoman of herbal medicines and accompanies her boss and a colleague on a business trip to an isolated, mountainous rural village. There, they drug her, steal her I.D., and vanish, having sold her to a local peasant to be his wife. Confined, beaten, chained, and raped, she is still unwilling to submit to her fate, but her every effort to escape is thwarted by a society of permanent surveillance. Li reveals corruption at every level of Chinese society, including the urban nouveaux riches who sold Bai; the police, who demand payment for an investigation; and an E.R. doctor who won't perform lifesaving first aid without cash in hand. As if to prove who's to blame, the new outfit that Bai's captors bring her is bright red, just like the armbands of Party officials and the flags that greet them. As Bai peers out from her domestic prison at the majestic mountain vistas, they look like a wasteland of barbaric ignorance and official oppression. In Mandarin.
See it. Then think about the massacre in Tibet on Saturday. The Dalai Lama calls it "cultural genocide." Should the civilized world attend the China Olympics? Boycott? Or should it go just to protest? We'd like your opinion.
del.icio.us | digg | technorati | stumble upon | furl | redditMusic to Our Ears
Filed under: Asia
On Tuesday in North Korea, New York Philharmonic Orchestra conductor Lorin Maazel stated:
"Someday a composer may write a work entitled 'Americans in Pyongyang'."
Maazel was just about to lead his orchestra in a rousing rendition of George Gershwin's classic An American in Paris, to the delight and thunderous applause of the North Korean audience assembled for the concert. The New York Times reported:
At a news conference Tuesday shortly before the performance, Mr. Maazel drew a distinction between Tuesday night's concert and the orchestra's 1959 visit to the Soviet Union. "It showed Soviet citizens that they could have relations with foreign organizations and these organizations could come in the country freely," he said. "But what the Soviets didn't realize was, this was a two-edged sword. By allowing interactions between people from outside the country with people inside, eventually the people found themselves out of power."
He also managed to slip in a pointed barb against the North Korean oligarchy: "'The Korean peninsula is a very small area geographically,' he said, 'and has an entirely different role to play in the course of human events.'"
Now that is more like it! Who knew that musicians could be so ferocious?
Meanwhile, don't think his message is lost on Russian dictator Vladimir Putin. Hence, his furious struggle to erect a neo-Soviet state and to exclude foreign influence as much as possible. Hear about him inviting Americans for cultural visits recently? No? Didn't think so.
del.icio.us | digg | technorati | stumble upon | furl | redditBurma's Destroyed Opposition
Filed under: Asia ~ Myanmar
Pro-democracy writer Bo Nyein pens a extremely quality article over at Pajamas Media telling of the completely disorganized Burmese opposition -- and how that amounted in large part to its failure to overthrow the military junta a couple weeks ago. If you found my article "When People Power Fails" insightful, then you will enjoy this. Whereas I focused on the strengths of the military-business regime, Bo Nyein focuses on the abhorrent weaknesses of the democratic opposition, which includes both those in the country as well as the organized expat NGOs and Western government. There is no cohesive strategy or connection between that outside and the actual, on the ground reality.
What astounds me is how the optimists believe the opposition had every chance of actually succeeding in overthrowing the military junta while in such a disorganized state. Of course, much of this can be blamed on the strength of the regime itself, but nonetheless certain comparisons should be made to other people power revolutions since the end of the USSR.
For one, the regimes in Central and Eastern Europe were much less cohesive, much less savvy, and much less oppressive than the Burmese military junta. As far as we can tell right now, the U.S. barely has its foot in the door with an American embassy in Burma, but is under such surveillance that little can be done to help. However, from the mid-'90s through the present, some independent media (radio and television) as well as native NGOs were able to set up in Central and Eastern Europe. The U.S. government, through pro-democracy institutions such as NDI, NED, and IRI -- not to mention George Soros' Open Society Institute above all -- were able to funnel hundreds of millions of dollars worth of cash, equipment, technical/logistical support, training, and advice that was able to organize the opposition in countries from Slovakia to Serbia to Georgia to Ukraine.
And while in these countries, sure, the democratic opposition would rally around a single charismatic leader, Bo Nyein points out that perhaps this is the wrong strategy in Burma. In Central/Eastern Europe, these leaders had an extremely strong organized support behind them. In Burma, however, Aung San Suu Kyi has been made into a golden idol who cannot possibly achieve democracy for her country alone when there is no organized, cohesive strategy behind supporting the people who support her.
One other point of Bo Nyein's that I would like to point out which I found very interesting is the extreme disconnect between the expat NGOs operating around the world for a free Burma and the situation with the domestic opposition. While these NGOs work tirelessly to promote awareness and influence foreign governments, very little has been done in terms of actually organizing the domestic opposition to deal with its struggle. Believe it or not, there are classes you can take at universities about democratization, and one of the things you will learn is that foreign influence is almost always second or third tier when it comes to a regime transition. Many of the NGOs and independent media that these foreign NGOs helped out and trained were native organizations that were simply given the boost they needed. Burma has very little of this.
Now, I'm not going to quote any of the article itself. I highly recommend that you click the link though if you're interested in Burma. Just keep these thoughts in mind as you read!
del.icio.us | digg | technorati | stumble upon | furl | redditWhen People Power Fails
Filed under: Asia ~ Myanmar
I have posted a new article to the site, entitled "When People Power Fails." It has to do with regards to the current situation in Burma, but draws more broadly on some of the particular reasons why a people power revolution may fail. For those following the story, it should be pretty interesting.
del.icio.us | digg | technorati | stumble upon | furl | redditBurmese vs. Chinese
Filed under: Asia ~ Myanmar
The unexpectedly enormous demonstrations in Burma that have been ongoing for over a week now have surprised the world. It has been nearly two decades since such an uprising has occurred, and as Richard Fernandez at Pajamas Media points out, the entire episode is reminiscient of the "people power" uprisings in both the Philippines and Indonesia. He also makes the astute observation, repeated in this Opinion Journal article, that the state of China has to some degree supported the military dictatorship in Burma.
Surely, the scene is familiar. Tens or hundreds of thousands of people in the streets demonstrating against a ruthless dictatorship is one that has been repeated the world over. Yet when these revolutions occur, the people have another target: those on the periphery supporting the regime. In this case, though, I am not simply talking about the state of China itself, but the ethnic Chinese population in Burma itself.
A huge reason this scene is familiar to me, aside from the people protesting in the streets, is the fact that Burma has, like at the time of the Philippines' and Indonesia's revolutions, an incredibly strong "market-dominant" ethnic Chinese population.
It is well-known in the Philippines, back then as well as now, that the ethnic Chinese minority, despite its incredibly small numbers, controlled the vast majority of the economy, from big business to retail. Their economic strength was granted through the cronyism of the Marcos dictatorship, which produced a comfortable symbiotic relationship in which they were able to thrive while Marcos could stay in power while pocketing a truckload of cash as well. The pro-democracy People Power Revolution had an interesting anti-Chinese tint to it.
Same story in Indonesia. General Suharto pocketed more than a billion dollars through corrupt deals with ethnic Chinese. It is no wonder that when Suharto was forced to resign in the chaos of mass protests in 1998, that thousands of ethnic Chinese were slaughtered, with their homes and storefronts ransacked. Afterward, mass nationalizations occurred in the name of the "native people," predominantly Chinese-owned, causing over $40 billion in capital flight from which Indonesia has yet to recover.
The situation is not all that different in Burma. General Ne Win encouraged anti-Chinese policies; but following the crushing of pro-democracy protests and the subsequent military coup, the junta found a very cozy relationship with the Chinese minority. Since then, they have become the supreme economic minority. They have the most education, hold the most professional jobs, and control all of the middle and big businesses in the country in conjunction with the government. They deal in mining, illicit drug trades, and even human trafficking. In return for this, they support the military junta, from which this native autocracy profits highly.
Meanwhile, the rest of the Burmese wonder why they're so damn poor and can't do anything about it. Gas and food prices are skyrocketing, putting them on the edge of survival, while they see that their own government and a bunch of "outsiders" are doing very well for themselves despite the widespread poverty all around. When these people are taking to the streets, not only are they protesting for democracy, but they are protesting in large part due to their current economic conditions, which many are largely blaming on the collusion between the government and ethnic Chinese businessmen.
Every government feels the need to protect the interests of its citizens abroad, especially the incredibly wealthy and well-connected ones. The government of China does use its influence to protect the Burmese military junta to some degree, but it is doing so because of the huge investments and interests of its powerful citizens there. The Chinese, both the businessmen and the government, know that their minority population is in a very precarious situation. The junta knows this as well. Because of this symbiotic relationship, in which one cannot possibly survive without the other, the Chinese continue to support the junta with money and development from the contracts given them, while the junta must apply force at all possible times so that these people and their assets are protected so that, in the end, they remain in power!
China's position is extremely precarious right now. Unless these protestors and their leaders are particularly high-minded, it would not be at all surprising to see a slew of renationalizations of Chinese-owned industries should the junta be completely swept out of power. More than likely, with the arms that the military possesses, along with the entrenched interests of the Chinese businessmen and military autocracy with each other, the only way the pro-democracy opposition will be allowed to have power to formulate policy is if they take a tone of reconciliation and extreme moderation. If anything comes out of their camp talking about confiscation of all that wealth, no matter how corruptly it was obtained, then they are going to have a hard time ever beating the junta.
While we see a lot of similarities between this demonstration in Burma and the people power revolutions elsewhere in Asia, one of the big ones is the cronyism present between the dictatorship and the Chinese businessmen. Given the strength of the military junta, though, we may not see this dictatorship simply swept away, and if we do, it could be with even more disastrous economic consequences than they already suffer. The country cannot afford to see what capital it has leave completely.
Yet this does not mean that change is impossible. Most democratic transitions occur slowly; in fact, most people power movements fail relatively soon afterward. If the pro-democracy opposition can prove to the military that it won't try to persecute them and confiscate Chinese wealth, the possibility of a slow transition with greater economic liberalization, the growth of civil society, and the removal of international sanctions should become possible.
del.icio.us | digg | technorati | stumble upon | furl | redditAnnals of Islam
Filed under: Asia
Translation:
PANEL #1:
-Boy, what is your name?
- My name is Babu.
PANEL #2
-It is customary to mention Muhammed before the name.
PANEL #3
-What is your father's name?
-Muhammed Abu
PANEL #4
-What's this in your lap?
-Muhammed cat
Source: Little Green Footballs
Guess what happened after the above cartoon appeared in Alpin, a weekly satire magazine of leading Bengali daily Prothom Alo in Bangladesh. The author of the cartoon, Arifur Rahman, was arrested, and mobs went wild in the streets of Bangladesh calling for the execution of the paper's editor, Matiur Rahman. Gateway Pundit has photographs. Click here to read about the U.S. State Department's effort to use blogs to combat the evils of radical Islam.
del.icio.us | digg | technorati | stumble upon | furl | redditThe Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) the Asian NATO?
Filed under: Asia
"The Iranian weekly Sobh-e Sadeq, the mouthpiece of Iranian Supreme leader Ali Khamenei circulated among the Revolutionary Guards, called on Shanghai Alliance member countries to accept Iran as a member. Iran's membership, the paper said, would create a new regional strategic axis, to include Iran, Russia, and China - and this could reduce the West's political, security, and economic maneuvering ability in the region as well as in Asia." Trapped in the Middle East (basically America had a poor understanding of the tribal/feudal/religious type of conducting business of the Arab Muslims) the United States lost its stamina and to a certain extent lost direction. The result is that the Russian bear roars, Iran and Syria adopts the well known expression: "We must, indeed, all hang together or most assuredly we shall all hang separately" (Benjamin Franklin ); Venezuela and China will most likely take any opportunity to prove the United States that they too have the capacity of leading and changing the world. Which side will India and Pakistan eventually choose?
If you have the time I recommend an exceptional piece by Tony Corn, The Revolution in Transatlantic Affairs
More on SCO
del.icio.us | digg | technorati | stumble upon | furl | redditShe Ain't No Holla Back Girl . . . More's the Pity
Filed under: Asia
Can you imagine rocker Gwen Stefani showing up at an American university and the student association demanding that she NOT show any skin during her concert? Well, that's what happened when she appeared in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, recently and faced the oppressive strictures of radical Islam. The Associated Press reports: "Under government guidelines, a female artist must be covered from the top of her chest, including shoulders, to her knees. No jumping, shouting or throwing of objects onstage or at the audience is allowed. Performers also cannot hug or kiss, and their clothes must not have obscene or drug-related images or messages."
And guess how she responded. She complied!
Too bad the Dixie Chicks were not so accommodating of George Bush.
del.icio.us | digg | technorati | stumble upon | furl | redditAnnals of the Chinese "Success" Story
Filed under: Asia
The Korea Times reports that things are not quite so rosy in China as some would have you believe:The Chinese are big believers in omens, so it was not a good sign that on the eve of its big pre-Olympic celebration that, in a Russian crash test, the Chinese-made Chery, its big hope for auto exports, folded up like a cheap suitcase. "Crumpled like newspaper" were the words of one observer. It was so bad the crash dummy had to be extricated in pieces. Not, as they say, an auspicious omen.The big shindig Wednesday night in Beijing was to mark the one-year countdown to the start of the 2008 Summer Olympics, which China sees as its coming-out party as a full and accepted member of the family of major nations. Many Olympic officials and dignitaries were present, as were a band of foreign demonstrators and a band of foreign reporters there to cover both. The Chinese foreign ministry had decreed that foreign reporters were to be allowed to do their work unmolested, but as has a way of happening, the memo didn't get down to the guys with the riot batons. The prowess displayed by the Beijing police suggests that they should go for Olympic gold in rounding up reporters and protesters. (Recent revelations about the handling of demonstrators at the 2006 Republican convention also suggest that the New York City police should send a team. They're looking at certain silver.) These particular demonstrators were demanding the release of political prisoners, but the authorities are bracing for all kinds of activists -- Tibet and Xinjiang separatist movements, pressure to ease up on the Falun Gong, those trying to get Sudan to end the slaughter in Darfur.
However, the appearance of Beijing's periodic blanket of suffocating fog outweighed the human-rights considerations in the minds of Olympic officials. The Chinese stressed that pollution-abating efforts had advanced to the point where the air was breathable two days out of three instead of less than one day out of five as heretofore. Still, some officials speculated that, faced with air they could see, their athletes might want either to stay home or arrive early in Beijing to acclimate to the local pollutants.
Paper cars, air you can see and the Gestapo. Seems like China hasn't yet reached the lofty status some would like to claim.
del.icio.us | digg | technorati | stumble upon | furl | redditThink You've Got it Bad? Try being a Chinese Traffic Cop!
Filed under: Asia
Reuters reports: "Chinese city traffic police have an average life expectancy of just 43 years because of the dire working conditions and pollution, state media said on Tuesday. Pollution was the chief culprit, but stress, traffic noise and standing long periods in the sun were also to blame.More than 90 percent of the 2,746 traffic police who underwent a check-up in Guangzhou had infections. Guangzhou, with a population of about 10 million, is home to 1.8 million cars and other vehicles, and the number is increasing by 16 percent annually."
del.icio.us | digg | technorati | stumble upon | furl | redditRevolution by Paintbrush: The Story of Htein Lin
Filed under: Asia ~ Myanmar
The Economist tells the story of Myanmarite painter Htein Lin (shown above), who bravely continues to make his art even behind bars:
The hardest place to pursue his calling was prison. Brushes, paints and paper were not allowed. At first, he used his fingers to spread dye from the prison factory over empty food packets. Gradually, however, he discovered that the lungyis (sarongs) of the prisoners' uniforms made the best canvases, while almost anything, from the lids of toothpaste tubes to the wheels of cigarette lighters could be used as brushes. Sometimes, he carved stencils out of bars of soap; at others, as in the self-portrait on display in the show, he applied his improvised paints with a syringe. His fellow prisoners kept an eye out for guards while he painted. In exchange, he put on "exhibitions" for them in his cell block, or painted scenes they requested. He hid his work in his bedroll and bribed friendly guards to smuggle it out. Once, a guard mistook a series of abstract paintings as blueprints for an escape attempt and destroyed them. Many of the paintings show snapshots of prison life: convicts crouched in subservient squats for inspections, or curled morosely in tiny cells. One, made for a friend who pined for a pretty view, depicts a sunset. Another, painted at the turn of the millennium, presents an imaginary firework display.
The spirit of freedom is indomitable. It is always darkest before the toothpaste-hued dawn.
del.icio.us | digg | technorati | stumble upon | furl | redditThe Condom Corps: Annals of Chinese Protest Babes
Filed under: Asia ~ Protest Babes
Click the jump to see a fashion show spread on Chinese protest babes decked out in outfits (including chapeaux) made from condoms in an effort to promote safe sex. Courtesy of Pravda. These are women who truly come prepared -- especially the wedding gown! Now if only they could adopt the same pro-active attitude towards their government . . .
del.icio.us | digg | technorati | stumble upon | furl | redditFreedom of expression? Not available (yet) for Afghani women
Filed under: Asia
Zakiyyah Zaki owner of the private Afghani Radio Peace was shot seven times in front of her eight year old son. She is the second woman to be murdered after Shakibah Sanga Amaj, another Afghani media figure. It now appears that Zakiyyah Zaki, a former teacher has received threats in the past from local militia men who were "disturbed" by the talk shows hosted by Radio Peace about women rights and other social issues.
Despite the NATO presence the armed radical tribal militias are still alive and kicking. It is deeply concerning (to say the least) that women continue to be treated as second class citizens in Afghanistan and killed for expressing their views.
del.icio.us | digg | technorati | stumble upon | furl | redditAbsolutely abominable!
Filed under: Asia
The Talibans are distributing a propaganda video with a 12 year old boy being encouraged by men as he takes a knife to behead a Pakistani man accused of being an "American spy."
The men and women around him shout Allahu Akbar – "Allah is Great" as the boy carries on the slaughter.
This is the video clip but I warn you that it is one of the most dreadful things I have ever laid my eyes on.
del.icio.us | digg | technorati | stumble upon | furl | redditA Moment of Opportunity: China, Darfur, and the 2008 Olympics
Filed under: Africa ~ Asia
China, on a domestic and international cleaning binge, is seeking to cleanse its status and reputation by the time it begins hosting the Olympics in 2008 to appear as a developed nation in a first-world prom dress. While this may appear as a farcical whitewash operation by a totalitarian regime, it presents an opportunity for the international community to take concrete steps in resolving the Darfur crisis.
del.icio.us | digg | technorati | stumble upon | furl | redditIs the Election of the President of East Timor Important?
Filed under: Asia ~ East Timor
In the last few days there was much talk about what happened. There was a big election turnout, or was there? The elections were open and not violent, or was their serious coercion from Fretilin? In a run-off the voters for other candidates will switch to Ramos-Horta, or will they go to Fretilin? All interesting, but what is important?
The President of the Country has a figurehead, ceremonial role of relatively limited power. But the current President, Xanana Gusmao, has had more relative power because his opinion is highly valued by the Timorese people. Now an independent (Ramos Horta) is running against a Fretilin party leader (Francisco, Lu-Olo, Guterres) for this figurehead position. Probably both want it because it is more important than it appears, and because Gusmao, who used to want to be a carrot farmer, has declared that he wants to run for Prime Minister, a post he most probably will win.
Is this important for the country? Probably it is. The Fretilin/Alkitiri government has been criticized for failing to invest more money in its people. As Prime Minister Alkatiri avoided any indebtedness for the country, even did not spend oil revenues so the country could have a good bank account in the future. But many, myself included, felt that was a major error. Since the country is so poor, and since future oil revenues probably will be pretty good, the wise thing would have been to request loans, particularly soft loans from the World Bank with very favorable interest rates and long payback times, to invest the money in education, health, roads and agriculture so the country could significantly improve the welfare of its people. Alkatiri did not do that but relied on support from international organizations. Much help was given, but certainly not enough to jump-start the country. Some of the help, like the UNICEF/WorldBank efforts in education, was very inadequate.
So Fretilin wants the Presidency so that their party can keep some form of control (they will also want seats in the parliament), while Ramos-Horta wants the Presidency so he can help the country to take actions to do more for the people. If Ramos-Horta wins, and the Xanana Gusmao becomes Prime Minister, they most probably will take major action to help the people. If Lu-Olo wins he and his party may be able to continue their short-sighted policies of saving money instead of investing it.
So who wins the Presidency is important.
Who becomes Prime Minister is more important.
del.icio.us | digg | technorati | stumble upon | furl | redditAnd Then They Came For My Minivan...
Filed under: Asia ~ Maldives
The editor of Minivan News, the largest Maldivian opposition website on the net with over 70,000 viewers a day, has sent out an email saying that the site has been hacked and replaced with a giant picture of the dictator-in-chief.Dear all,So now, as governments crack down on physical media, now they and their supporters are going strong against news sites as well. If anything, though, I'd say this just brings more attention to them.
Our site has been temporarily hacked.
The front page is currently displaying a picture of President Gayoom with the banner "Our Nation, Our Culture", and the quote "our strength is our unity, don't let anyone break it. Protect this country from those people who are trying to corrupt it."
There is no way to navigate away from this page, so our home page and news articles are unavailable for the moment.
We apologise and hope to have the problem resolved as soon as possible.
We will be continuing to work as normal and maintain full email access.
The site will be updated as soon as the hack is resolved.
del.icio.us | digg | technorati | stumble upon | furl | redditA new twist in Thailand
Filed under: Asia ~ Thailand
In the 21st century, when all governments to one degree or another are facing challenges to their legitimacy, former Prime Minister Thaksin's politics had been so divisive -- especially in Bangkok -- that the military felt that it could legitimately take power to end the standoff. Tanks and soldiers began roaming the streets, Thaksin fled the country, and the military installed its own prime minister to run the country until and eventual return to democracy.
However, the military has a legitimacy of its own that it must keep. The promises it made, and even those it didn't, are constantly evaluated for performance. Military regimes in general tend to have relatively short lifespans, but those without a coherent message or policy direction go down faster than others. With the Muslim insurgency in the south growing much worse, economic policy off course, civil and political freedoms restricted, and the constant talk of reinstituting emergency laws, its legitimacy is on the wane. Opposition is beginning to mount once again.
Gen. Sondhi has been thinking a lot about the latter lately. Yet he faced rebellion when he brought it up from the very prime minister that he installed to run the government. In fact, not only did the prime minister disagree with the idea, but he took it upon himself to announce on national radio that the emergency laws would not go into effect and elections would be held later this year.BANGKOK: Thailand's prime minister, Surayud Chulanont, rejected the advice of the general who put him in power, declining on Thursday to declare a state of emergency in Bangkok to clamp down on anti-government protesters and instead promising to hold elections before the end of the year.The military has one shot to rule, but as opposition has mounted, a decision to quell protest would be tantamount to crushing its own legitimacy. Interestingly, this announcement should have the same effect without restricting civil liberties. Now that people know when the elections are to be held, there really is no need to organize demonstrations. It was the kind of solution a military government probably didn't even think of."As of now, we will not declare a state of emergency," Surayud told reporters after meeting with General Sonthi Boonyaratglin, who led the September coup.
"I gave my opinion that if the situation does not constitute an emergency that jeopardizes the stability of the country, we cannot use that law," Surayud said.
On Wednesday, Sonthi declared that emergency measures were necessary in Bangkok to deal with protesters who have announced numerous rallies for the coming days.
After comments late Wednesday suggesting that he might side with the general, Surayud took the opposite tack: He said he still had the power to declare a state of emergency, which would suspend civil laws, but that the current situation did not merit the move.
Then he set a timetable for the return to democracy.
A referendum on a Constitution currently being drafted would take place no later than September, he said, and elections would be held on Dec. 16 or Dec. 22.
del.icio.us | digg | technorati | stumble upon | furl | redditIs Russia Trying to Annex Abkhazia or Just Destabilize Georgia?
Filed under: Asia
Do you dare to imagine Russia's reaction if a wolfpack of NATO helicopters plunged into Chechnya by night, violating Russian air space to do so, in order to attack Russia-friendly forces seeking to subjugate the Chechen rebels? Can you imagine how Russia would wail to high heaven about "provocation" and the "territorial integrity" of Russia?
Other countries, it seems, are not entitled to any such attitudes. Especially not Georgia.
Russia's Ministry of Foreign Affairs is not denying that, as the Jamestown Foundation reports: "an air attack on Georgia's upper Kodori Valley during the night of March 11-12 was carried out by Russian helicopters." JF describes the carnage:
Two or three helicopters violated Georgia's internationally recognized air space over the upper Kodori Valley that night, flying in from Russia's Karachaevo-Cherkessia region. The helicopters, apparently of the Mi-24 type, fired at least 20 guided projectiles, damaging the local government headquarters, a school, and some other civilian administration buildings in several villages. The damaged building in the village of Chkhalta is shared by the government office and a school. This attack is at least the fifth Russian violation of Georgian air space in the upper Kodori Valley in the last six months. It is, however, the first incident when weapons were fired. Georgian radar recorded all of those incidents, but Georgian police stationed in the area have long been instructed not to fire.
The Kodori Valley, see map above, borders Abkhazia, a region of Georgia agitating for independence in exactly the same way Chechnya has been doing against Russia for years now. Yet while Russia insists no foreign nation can dare to "interfere" in Chechnya, Russia apparently has no problem making military incursions against pro-Georgian forces in Abkhazia. The JF reports:
According to the ministry's chief spokesman, Mikhail Kamynin, the incident is a "logical result" of Georgia's July 2006 decision to re-establish control over this part of Abkhazia and install authorities loyal to Tbilisi there. Even more explicitly, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Grigory Karasin describes the air incident as part of an "action-reaction" process, triggered by Tbilisi's "destabilizing" decision last year, with consequences now and perhaps down the road. He warns, "This incident sends a strong message to those who are attempting to destabilize" the situation." By this logic, the re-establishment of Georgia's legitimate authority in the anarchic no-man's land that used to be upper Kodori is destabilizing, notwithstanding the actual stabilization and rapid economic development of the area in the secure environment that exists since July 2006. Further, by Moscow's official logic, the air attack on Kodori should serve as proof that Georgia is destabilizing the area. It reflects Moscow's traditional belief that Georgia's stability and prosperity are incompatible with Russian interests.
The JF notes: "An investigative report is due for release in the next few days under a United Nations imprint. The political issue at hand is whether the UN would, as usual, seek to obscure Russia's responsibility." It's more than obvious that if the UN is prepared to accept the conclusion that "Georgia's stability and prosperity are incompatible with Russian interests" and therefore sweep this incident under the carpet, it may have outlived its usefulness. Whether Russia is seeking to actually annex the territory of Abkhazia by attacking the chokepoint border area time after time, or just to destabilize the anti-Russian government in Tbilisi (against which it has already tried to foment a coup d'etat), the world must send a clear message to Russia that its actions are intolerable.
del.icio.us | digg | technorati | stumble upon | furl | redditDeath to Christian schoolgirls! Death for drug possession! 20 years for Islamic militants!
Filed under: Asia
If my calculations are correct, this could prove to become ever the popular chant among those in the Islamic militant community.
This story is in our news feed, but I found it so absolutely insane that I had to post it directly to the main page. The Jakarta Post reports that Islamic militants who were caught following the beheading of three Christian schoolgirls in 2005 have been sentenced to death... just kidding! They're getting 14 to 20 years in prison.AKARTA (JP): Panel of judges in Central Jakarta District Court Wednesday sentenced Muslim militants between 14 and 20 years in prison for beheading Christian schoolgirls in Central Sulawesi's town of Poso in 2005.You've got to love Indonesia. Islamic militants who behead schoolgirls, paving the way for even more inter-religious carnage, get maybe 20 years in prison. Meanwhile, you may remember that an Australian women got the same sentence for trafficking drugs, though we can hardly know if they were planted on her person. Six other Aussia men are getting the death penalty on similar charges, in which the debate over their sentences is not even whether or not they will receive capital punishment (for they have been assured of that), but whether or not foreigners even are allowed to receive constitutional protection at all!Hasanuddin was found guilty for masterminding the beheading, buying the machetes and leaving a handwritten note at the scene vowing more killings to avenge the deaths of Muslims in an earlier conflict on Sulawesi island.
Judge Udar Siregar was quoted by Elshinta news radio as saying that Hasanuddin's action can be categorized as terror crime, which could spark fresh religious violence in the Central Sulawesi towns.
Meanwhile, two other conspirators Lilik Purnomo and Irwanto Irano were handed 14-year jail terms in a separated hearing.
Religious conflict in Poso had left at least 1,000 people dead from both Muslims and Christians from 1998 to 2002.
It makes you wonder. Is there a bias here?