Blogging the democratic revolution
To read some of the news, one might think the U.S. is the only place affected by the rise in world energy prices. After all, we are the world’s largest energy consumer (no value judgment, I add) and Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez often makes anti-U.S. statements expressly for the purpose of driving up prices, something he can benefit from. Meanwhile, in the Middle East, Zarkawi, bin Laden, and other terrorists expressly target U.S. economic interests in a bid to wage economic warfare on us. Usually that means attacks on critical energy supply. Sometimes they gain small victories. Europe has diversified…
I think property rights is rapidly emerging as a central revolution of our time in many areas. It touches even the United States, as the Kelo case demonstrates. Private property is the one thing communist regimes oppose. It’s also the key to freedom and the only basis for rule of law. And what a coincidence, in the countries where there are the biggest fault lines on property rights, a communist regime is somewhere in the background, be it China or Venezuela. Via Fiscal Study (a great blog), linking Global Voices, and also via Simon World, a very important Chinese blog…
Singapore threw into jail a couple of ethnic Chinese Internet posters who wrote derogatory remarks about their Malay countrymen. As I wrote here, this kind of thing goes on all the time, and I’ve seen it myself. But this time, the Singaporean government cracked down, swiftly and surely laying down its brand of justice, something that may have a chilling effect on Internet freedom. The Internet is one of the few places where one can feel free in taut neat Singapore. For a country so obsessed with its international ‘competitiveness’ it doesn’t look auspicious. But a look at the government’s…
Via Real Clear Politics, the Washington Post has an astounding article about a young rock band in Indonesia that is defying the vicious local Islamofascists by singing innovative songs against Jihad terrorism. Every time the terrorists threaten to blow them up, the youthful band comes up with a new song, calling it their next new ‘smart bomb’ aimed at the Islamists. They are literally defying death by singing songs condemning terrorism. And they just keep doing it. There are signs that this group is changing Indonesia, a nation that is full of intelligent, interesting young people who have no interest…
The weekend’s terror attack on the Indonesian island of Bali was a monstrous atrocity. Does it have revolutionary implications? I think it does, because it’s closely aligned with Indonesia’s brave self-transformation into an authentic democracy in 1999. The terrorists who struck Bali were trying to destroy Indonesia’s fragile democracy – at a sensitive time. With fuel costs soaring and the rupiah battered, these evil people were going after an economic power center, and they intended their attack as economic warfare. It’s something they are betting can topple democracy. Do I think they can do it? No. Indonesians treasure their democracy…
The United States government could be readying up a drive to deal with Burma, one of the six main “outposts of tyranny” with one of the most repressive regimes in the world. To do this, it will be pushing for a referral to the United Nations Security Council, where at best we will be able to find out where all of the world’s major players stand on the issue. Sep 22, 2005 (DVB) – US Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Eric G. John told a congressional committee that Washington intended to push for United Nations Security Council discussion of Burma,…
Months after disbanding the parliament and initializing a state of emergency, the king of Nepal has promised elections. This is the part where we all laugh and snicker. Nepal’s royalist administration has repeated its commitment to restoring democracy in the country. But the announcement has been met with skepticism in Kathmandu. Nepalese Foreign Minister Ramesh Nath Pandey has told the United Nations General Assembly that King Gyanendra’s commitment to multiparty democracy is “unflinching and total”. Mr. Pandey reiterated the King’s promise to hold municipal polls by April next year, and parliamentary elections within two years. But the announcement brought little…
Indonesia is at the boiling point with a whole string of frightening developments. Oil prices are going through the moon and the indonesian government, which subsidizes oil, is being crushed by those higher prices. That’s sent the miserable-anyway currency, the Indonesian rupiah, to its lowest levels in four years as capital flight takes off. Meanwhile, Bird Flu is prompting additional fears of an epidemic in Jakarta, one of the world’s most densely populated cities. There is even a row with China now that the Indonesian navy has fired on a Chinese fishing boat, killing a crewmember. They are in a…
They’re so darn dumb. How does anyone get that dumb? Rule Number One: You DO NOT do drugs in Asia. Rule Number Two: You DO NOT transport drugs in Asia. Rule Number Three: You DO NOT associate with anyone who does drugs in Asia. Rule Number Four: You read the signs at airports, the ones in great big red letters that say ‘Drug Dealing Will Be Punished By Death’ and drop your drugs in that convenient trash receptacle right under that sign before you go see Mister Asian Customs Man. Rule Number Five: You do not violate any of this,…
The Maldives is a small archipelago country located just 500 miles south of India. To European tourists, it is a quaint, charming breath of fresh air that conjures up fantasies of sandy beaches, crystal clear waters, sun-filled days and moon-lit nights. The four star hotels are exquisite, the food likewise, and the locals sweeter than grandma’s homemade pie. But travel guides leave out one essential detail that fails to stand out amid the romanticism: an island dictator that compares much better to Fidel Castro than to Tony Blair. President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom, who many natives conspicuously refer to as “the…
Singapore arrested two bloggers for making offensive-to-Islam remarks on their blogs, with charges of contributing to religious hatred. The de-facto state-controlled Singapore tabloid, The Electric New Paper, breathily noted that this pair also even was ‘said to contain vulgarities.’ In Singapore they have laws against that kind of thing. I am an ex-Singapore resident who first learned how to use the Internet in Singapore. Prior to that, I had no idea what it was. I was a denizen of Singapore’s first Internet cafes, (since I didn’t have a very good home computer) and often I consider Singapore and cyber-Singapore my…
Japan’s politics, like its economics, has been sclerotic for ages. Bureaucrats, comfy pork barrel politicians and socialism have kept that economy on ice for a long long time. Until now. Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, an authentic revolutionary who is taking untold radical steps to shake Japan from top to bottom, reforming the giant postal savings program, getting rid of bureaucrats, setting the markets free … has just won a MASSIVE unexpected electoral victory in Japan, way bigger than he thought he could get … after a ballsy move to call new elections, effectively telling Japan’s voters and legislative creatures that…
The ongoing election fraud scandal surrounding President Arroyo is coming to an official close, as the opposition was not able to garner the 1/3 vote necessary to bring an impeachment trial to the Senate. The Philippine Legislature ended the impeachment process against President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo on Tuesday, finally dismissing all three complaints against her. While her adversaries reiterated that they were committed to fighting on – and staged the largest street demonstrations since the crisis began – the Legislature’s move is likely to ensure Arroyo’s hold on power after more than three months of political turmoil. After marathon debates…
The biggest argument I’ve made with regards to the political crisis in Nepal has been that the king’s taking of absolute power will drive the political parties and civil society into the arms of the Maoists, mostly because they are in opposition to the king. It isn’t that the pro-democracy parties agree with the Maoist philosophy, but that they are acting out of the necessity of survival. And now, the Maoists have declared a ceasefire and the parties have entered into talks with them on how to unseat the government. KATHMANDU, Sept. 3 (Xinhuanet) — Seven Nepali political parties have…
RFE/RL has an interesting story on the rise of social unrest in China. Scarcely a month goes by without news coming from rural China of often-violent protests by locals over corruption, land-grabs, taxation, or environmental issues. The authorities are struggling to stem this rising tide of challenges to abuses that are probably inherent in any one-party dictatorship. It discusses in-depth a lot of the themes I went over in a post I wrote recently. With protests growing in the double-digit percentages a year, their sizes increasing, and the violence escalating, this is something that needs to be watched very carefully…
This piece was beautifully written by D.J. McGuire at the China e-Lobby, which is “dedicated to exposing the abuses of human rights, threats to American security, and attacks on general decency committed by Communist China, and to influencing American policy to ensure these egregious acts do not go unopposed.” Make sure to check him out. Fifty-six years ago today, a plane carrying the leadership of the Republic of East Turkestan was on its way to Beijing for talks with Mao Zedong. In circumstances that can at best be called suspicious, the plane crashed, killing everyone on board. Upon hearing the…
According to a Chinese government report, income disparity and government corruption will cause instability throughout the entire country by 2010 if action isn’t taken. This would certainly coincide with anecdotal evidence of increasing large protests, in both size and frequency. China’s rapidly widening income gap has reached dangerous levels, risking social instability by 2010 if the present trend continues, a government report warns. “China’s growing income gap is likely to trigger social instability after 2010 if the government finds no effective solutions to end the disparity,” the Ministry of Labour and Social Security warned in the China Daily. Su Hainan,…
I was afraid this might happen. By suspending parliament and taking absolute power, Nepal’s monarch has effectively isolated and turned civil society against him. Now, it seems that the seven main political parties from parliament, which represent some 95% of the population, will be staging joint protests with the Maoist rebels against the king. Not good. KATHMANDU (Reuters) – Nepal’s royalist government urged opposition parties on Wednesday to call off proposed talks with Maoist rebels, saying they were playing into the hands of the guerrillas to sow fresh divisions in the troubled kingdom. The warning came a day after the…
Rumors are flying around Rangoon like mad, as word is going around that Than Shwe, the senior general of the military junta that rules Burma, has been possibly deposed by his number two. Everything is unconfirmed, but Burmese state media has not yet discounted any of the rumors, and Than Shwe isn’t to be seen. Nobody really knows what’s going on at this point, but intelligence officials are working overtime to figure it all out. BANGKOK (Reuters) – Rumours swirled in army-ruled Myanmar and neighbouring Thailand on Wednesday that junta strongman Senior General Than Shwe has been removed by the…
The tyrannical government of Maldives is charging opposition MDP Chairman Mohamed Nasheed on counts of terrorism after he was detained last Friday. TVM and Voice of Maldives, the state-run media in Maldives, has announced that the Chairperson of Maldivian Democratic Party, Mohamed Nasheed (Anni), is to be charged for terrorism. State run media said Nasheed is to be charged under the terrorism act????????s article 6 (b) with reference to 2 (g) Article 2(g) states, ???????any act or the attempt to commit an act that may instill fear among the people or threaten life, person or property of any person verbally…
It looks like hackers are taking shot at Burmese military junta websites. An interesting story, I think, of how pro-democracy forces can protest without being there. Aug 19, 2005 (DVB) – Burmese computer experts and hackers are increasingly targeting their attacks on websites owned by and related to Burma??????s military junta, State Peace and Development Council (SPDC), according to sources close to Burmese hackers. A Burmese computer student told DVB that recent breakdowns of the New Light of Myanmar and Myanmar Times websites could be the handiworks of either independent hackers or computer experts of ousted military intelligence service (MIS).…
In a continuing sequence of improved bilateral relations, Russia and China are staging first-ever joint military exercises over the next eight days. Andrew Young takes a look at all of the dimensions, both charitable and provocative. Here is his conclusion: Geopolitical considerations are also important to this exercise, although less important than the practical Russian and Chinese aims that I’ve outlined above. The two countries have an increasingly close, although still edgy relationship. Any kind of operation like this allows them to develop a closer working relationship and, more importantly, gives an outward show of co-operation to the rest of…
PREVIOUS POSTS, BACKGROUND: HERE LATEST PHOTOS: HERE, and HERE. It took nearly a week, but international NGOs and human rights organizations are starting to condemn the crackdown in Maldives. I’m rather surprised that they even know about it, given that Reuters gave up after its two token pieces toeing the government line. Reporter Without Borders jumps on top and tackles the regime for its brutal destruction of press freedoms in the past few weeks, including the closure of the only opposition newspaper and the arrest of several journalists. Article 19, an NGO that promotes global freedom of expression, has written…
Over 3,000 people staged a sit-in protest in Kathmandu demanding an end to the monarchy and the restoration of parliamentary democracy. My blogosphere buddy Jim Hoft has a roundup. The protesters on Tuesday squatted in the street at Basantapur Durbar Square for several hours and disrupted traffic. Demonstrators included members of the Peace Society of Nepal, supporters of the country’s seven main parties, artists and writers. The protest was called by a group called the Citizen’s Movement for Democracy and Peace, said one of the organisers, Mathura Shrestha. Women activists carried lit lanterns to symbolise their search for freedom and…
Mad Minerva posts a little bit of Asia democracy news regarding the creation of a 26 member Democratic Pacific Union. Taiwan’s President Chen said that the DPU should be used to bring the last 15 and the 39 Pacific rim countries into its democratic arc. Especially China. President Chen Shui-bian (????????????????????) yesterday called upon the political leaders of 26 Pacific Rim nations to help bring democracy to China — something he sees as a key mission of the newly-founded Democratic Pacific Union (DPU). Chen made the remarks while addressing the inaugural meeting of the DPU, a non-governmental organization with representatives…