Territorial Hissings – The Irrawaddy
June 6th, 2011
http://www.irrawaddy.org/article.php?art_id=21433
BANGKOK—A rare public protest held on Sunday in Vietnam’s capital Hanoi illustrates how seriously the country’s government takes what it describes as Chinese violations of its sovereignty.
On Sunday morning in Hanoi, hundreds of protesters gathered for half an hour outside the Chinese Embassy, not far from a landmark statue of Soviet leader Vladimir Lenin, in the center of the capital. Some apparently came after rallying calls made on social networking sites such as Facebook, despite the latter being officially blocked in Vietnam. After being turned back by police, some of the gathering paraded through city’s streets as far as Hoan Kiem Lake near the old town, chanting anti-Chinese slogans and carrying placards in Vietnamese and English with slogans such as “Protesting Against China Causing Trouble.” In Ho Chi Minh City, the sprawling commercial capital in the south, demonstrators converged on the Chinese consulate on Sunday. (more…)
Meditations of a detained monk in Vietnam – Asia Times
May 23rd, 2011
http://atimes.com/atimes/Southeast_Asia/ME24Ae01.html
Thich Quang Do pictured inside the temple at the Thanh Minh Zen monastery. (Photo: Simon Roughneen)
HO CHI MINH CITY – Emerging from the anterooms of the Thanh Minh Zen monastery, Thich Quang Do nodded and smiled, extending a handshake firm enough to belie his 83 years.
“Thank you for coming, you are right on time”, exclaimed the Supreme Patriarch of the Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam (UBCV), glancing over my shoulder out onto the street behind. He beckoned me to follow him upstairs to a small meeting room above the temple area.
The site’s gateway opens onto a lively side-street in Ho Chi Minh City, where street-food vendors sell local snacks and passers-by sit inside fanned cafes sipping Vietnamese iced-coffee. Some of those inside the cafes, however, were not just relaxing over a mid-morning drink.
“You know there are police sitting outside across the street? I am sure they saw you enter the temple,” said Thich Quang Do. (more…)
Protest commemoration hints at fraught election – The Irrawaddy
May 20th, 2011
http://www.irrawaddy.org/article.php?art_id=21330
Redshirts commemorate their dead from last year's protest, near the Erawan Shrine on Thursday evening (Photo: Simon Roughneen)
BANGKOK – As the searing late afternoon heat bore down on the massing crowd, three rows of orange-clad monks led the chanting, with thousands of red-clad demonstrators joining in, most with hands clasped and some with heads bowed. Their prayers were for the dead they had come to commemorate, a year ago to the day after the Thai Army dispersed their anti-Government demonstration, which had successively occupied two landmark sites in central Bangkok. (more…)
Elections loom for tense Thailand – The Irrawaddy
May 9th, 2011
http://www.irrawaddy.org/article.php?art_id=21255
Thai Prime Minster Abhisit Vejajjiva will announce details of Thailand’s parliamentary elections later today, with a July 3 mooted as voting day after Thailand’s King Bhumibol Adulyadej endorsed the dissolution of the country’s parliament, which takes effect tomorrow. By law, the elections do not have to be held until the end of 2011, though an offer was made a year ago by Abhisit to hold a vote in October 2010. Early or late, Thailand’s parliamentary elections could offer a way out of the country’s five-year old cycle of protests and violence, or they could open a new chapter of division. (more…)
Burma’s old wine in new bottles – Sunday Business Post
March 27th, 2011
http://sbpost.ie/news/world/earthquake-adds-to-burmese-woe-55315.html
Simon Roughneen in Bangkok. As Burma comes to terms with an earthquake on Thursday evening that killed at least 75 people, the country’s seemingly never-ending political crisis goes on. Speaking to German media last week, opposition figurehead Aung San Suu Kyi asked European countries not to remove sanctions on the country’s rulers unless significant reforms are undertaken. “Sanctions must remain in place. Sanctions should only be lifted when something has changed here”, said the 1991 Nobel peace laureate.
European Union member-states, including Ireland, will decide whether to retain the measures at the bloc’s annual review of Burma policy next month. Suu Kyi’s comments came days after she met with a group of EU-country diplomats about sanctions on Burma.
Think-tanks such as Chatham House – which is part-funded by Total and Chevron, companies with energy investments in Burma – have spoken against the measures, saying that the establishment of a new parliament signals that there is some hope for reform in Burma, which has been ruled by the Army since 1962. (more…)
Stirring the pot or letting off steam? – Asia Sentinel
February 23rd, 2011
http://www.asiasentinel.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=3009&Itemid=185
Recent court decisions in Thailand could reduce political tensions, but there are other complicating factors that could make for a tense election year.
Redshirts at Democracy Monument, February 19 2011 (Photo: Simon Roughneen)
BANGKOK – The release on bail by Thailand’s Criminal Court of seven detained leaders of the anti-government United Front for Democracy against Dictatorship (UDD) — the Red Shirt movement – is regarded by observers as a move that could possibly ease tensions in advance of elections scheduled for sometime before the end of this year. (more…)
Changes to Thai electoral rules may help PM’s side – Sydney Morning Herald
February 18th, 2011
http://www.smh.com.au/world/changes-to-thai-electoral-rules-may-help-pms-side-20110218-1azlm.html
Simon Roughneen in BANGKOK - Nine months after the Siege of Bangkok, Thailand continues to struggle with competing colour-coded political factions, against a backdrop of court-endorsed controls on freedom of expression.
Yellowshirts camped-out near Thailand's seat of Government in Bangkok (Photo: Simon Roughneen)
The past two weekends, separate red and yellow-shirted demonstrations took place in Bangkok, highlighting the fractious, yet vibrant, nature of political debate in Thailand. Recent history shows that vibrant can easily spill over into violent, and Thailand remains divided. On Thursday Prime Minister Abisit Vejjajiva confirmed he would call an early general election, before the end of June.
As the country’s political classes, wrestle for control, two recent high profile court cases have thrown a spotlight on Thailand’s onerous lese majeste laws, that relate to offending the Thai king. (more…)
Ghosts of Panglong May Haunt Parliament – The Irrawaddy
February 15th, 2011
http://www.irrawaddy.org/article.php?art_id=20761
BANGKOK—The anniversary of the Feb. 12, 1947 Panglong Agreement is focusing some minds on the prospects of reform in Burma, days after the meeting of the new Parliament and the emergence of Thein Sein as the new President.
While the National Democratic Front (NDF) and other small, like-minded parties in Burma’s new government may try to discuss issues such as political prisoners and press freedom, it remains to be seen how far they will be able to push these measures.
With the junta-backed Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) dominant in the legislature—backed by a 25 percent bloc representation from the country’s army—it will be numerically impossible to pass any laws that the USDP and its allies do not agree with.
However the challenge facing Burma’s reform-minded parliamentarians is not just to try to get legislation passed, but to get motions discussed in Parliament in the first place. (more…)
Political Burlesque Follows Economic Chaos in Ireland – ISN
February 3rd, 2011
Ireland’s economy has shrunk by over 20 percent since the Celtic Tiger’s heyday, and a February 25 election could see the country’s political map redrawn.
For the birds? Ireland's politicians have come under relentless attack in recent months. (Photo, Dublin city centre Jan 2001, taken by Simon Roughneen)
The echo-chamber that is Irish political punditry has seen an over-used acronym get another airing in the past few weeks: “GUBU”, coined by the late Conor Cruise O’Brien, former UN diplomat, Irish Government Minister and editor of The Observer, stands for “Grotesque, Unbelievable, Bizarre and Unprecedented”. Whenever something controversial or unusual takes place in Irish politics, GUBU is the shorthand of choice, irrespective of hyperbole or appropriateness. (more…)
Muted International Reaction to Opening of Parliament – The Irrawaddy
February 1st, 2011
http://www.irrawaddy.org/article.php?art_id=20648
BY SIMON ROUGHNEEN AND LALIT K. JHA – While international media headlines focused on the “historic” opening of Parliament in Burma, international diplomatic reaction has been somewhat muted.
Since Monday’s first sitting of Burma’s Upper and Lower Houses of Parliament, little has been said by countries or international organizations that either have strong trade or diplomatic links with Burma, or by those that have been critical of the ruling junta.
Among the few to make any comment, a foreign ministry statement from Tokyo said, “The Government of Japan will closely observe the future direction of the National Assembly, including its administration, debates to be taken, as well as activities of pro-democracy movement and ethnic minority parties.”
A US statement ahead of Monday’s opening sessions was less optimistic. “The Nov. 7 parliamentary elections were neither free nor fair, so unsurprisingly it has yielded a parliament dominated by the pro-junta Union Solidarity and Development Party, so-called USDP, and military officials,” said State Department spokesman P J Crowley. (more…)
