China's new European trade hub: An Irish town of 18,000 - Christian Science Monitor
The Athlone Institute of Technology hosts more than 200 Chinese students – one of the links that helped bring the trade hub to the town, says Prof. Ciaran Ó Catháin, the president of the school and one of the players in the project negotiations. Professor Ó Catháin would not disclose ...
Vietnam’s Problems, Promises - Asia Sentinel/RTÉ World Report
“We tend to lose around 20% of our staff every year after Tet” (the Vietnamese New Year), said Kim Jung Hee, manager of a factory in Binh Duong province, an hour's drive from Saigon's centre. Her Korean company NB Blue employs a thousand workers, in a clean and well-lit factory ...
Thailand sentences American to prison for insulting king - Los Angeles Times
"In Thailand they put people in jail without proof," Lerpong said Thursday, his arms and legs shackled, wearing an orange prison jumpsuit. "I was born in Thailand, but this does not mean I am Thai. I am proud to be an American citizen."
DMZ: Road trip to the world's most heavily armed border - CNNGo
SEOUL - As the tour bus moves from central Seoul to the city outskirts, the seamless transition from one of the world's biggest and most vibrant cities to the world's most heavily armed border is as surreal as it is functional, with roadside bus-stops giving way to military watchtowers even ...
Potent mix for Timor-Leste - Asia Times
DILI - Land, corruption and poverty are all on the table as Timor-Leste gets into political mode ahead of parliamentary and presidential elections scheduled for 2012, with one controversial figure already throwing his hat into the ring.
If Samuel Beckett met Pol Pot - Asia Sentinel/Irish Examiner
TIK PANHAO, CAMBODIA - In some of Cambodia’s thousands of killing fields, the bones of the dead can sometimes be seen, rising to the surface after storms or rain, like grisly emblems of an unburied past. Perhaps 16,000 died at the s-21 Detention Camp in Phnom Penh, or at Choeung ...
Voting ends in southern Sudan referendum - Sunday Tribune
Kyeli, Blue Nile State, Sudan - “Soon after we married, my husband was killed during the war”, says Hawa Abdul-Gadr. Her eyes show a suppressed grief, but her demeanour is purposeful. That said, there is a perceptible sadness - long-kept under wraps but perhaps closer to the surface than she ...
An unbreakable bond? – Asia Times
JERUSALEM – In 'The Great Divorce' C.S. Lewis attempted to allegorise about a reality which he admitted he could not know, but tentatively hoped to suggest. The US-Israeli relationship, to most, seems like an unbreakable bond, and any potential divorce might be regarded as unimaginable. But when Israeli Prime Minister ...
Narcotic use, drought rob babies of food – The Washington Times
DIRE DAWA, Ethiopia | When drought and food shortages hit, it is the very young who suffer first, and most. Weighing only 10 pounds, Ayaan is among nearly 100,000 Ethiopian children whose lives are at risk. Just four days before her first birthday, she is lighter than an average 3-month-old ...
Corruption trumps tribalism – New York Times (IHT)
Kenyans were cynical about their political establishment long before the latest election violence. One wisecrack doing the rounds since last year says "there is more chance of a Luo becoming president of the United States than president of this country" - referring to Barack Obama, whose father hails from the ...
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…)
Leaked cables pre-empt EU-ASEAN meeting – The Irrawaddy
May 6th, 2011
http://www.irrawaddy.org/article.php?art_id=21245
Following the May 5 business summit in Jakarta between the European Union (EU) and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean)—combined with reports from recently leaked US diplomatic cables shedding light on several European countries’ policies on Burma—suggestions are that the EU’s post-election shift on Burma should not come as a major surprise.
The EU modified its sanctions against the Burmese authorities, relaxing visa restrictions against a number of officials, including the new foreign minister, Wunna Maung Lin, who is now deemed “an essential interlocutor” by the Council of the EU. The Council statement said that the amendments were intended “to encourage and respond to improvements in governance and progress, in the hope that a greater civilian character of the government will help in developing much needed new policies.” (more…)
Cables Reveal US, Canada in Sync on Burma – The Irrawaddy
May 3rd, 2011
http://www.irrawaddy.org/article.php?art_id=21224&Submit=Submit
With Canada’s Conservatives set to retain power according to preliminary results of the country’s General Election, a series of US diplomatic cables has shed light on aspects of his administration’s foreign policy since it took office in 2006.
Burma comes up in most of the recently-released documents, which were made available to the public a week after the new Burmese Ambassador to Canada had his credentials accepted. On April 19 2011 Canada’s Governor-General David Johnston met U Kyaw Tin, Burma’s first Ambassador to Canada since 2004. The last incumbent, U Win Tin, was recalled to Burma after the arrest and detention of Gen Khin Nyunt and the purging of his intelligence personnel. Canada’s Ambassador in Thailand currently handles his country’s relations with the Burmese Government. (more…)
Thailand-Cambodia border fighting continues – RTÉ World Report
May 1st, 2011
http://www.rte.ie/news/av/2011/0501/worldreport.html#&autoplay=true
At the latest yellowshirt demonstration in Bangkok (Photo: Simon Roughneen)
Artillery fire across remote jungles and ancient temples continued on Friday, along the Thailand-Cambodia border, breaking a tentative ceasefire put in place the day before.
One Thai soldier was killed, bringing the death toll to sixteen since the crossfire started. As has been the case throughout, both sides blame each other for shooting first. (more…)
Burmese royal wedding invite irks activists – The Irrawaddy
April 29th, 2011
http://www.irrawaddy.org/article.php?art_id=21209&Submit=Submit
Although an invitation to the British royal wedding for the Syrian ambassador to the UK was withdrawn, it has emerged that an invitation has been sent to the Burmese delegation in the UK for the April 29 nuptials. Speaking to The Irrawaddy, a UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) press official said that as the wedding of Kate Middleton and Prince William is a family event rather than a formal state occasion, invitations are issued by the families involved. He added that “representatives of countries with which the UK has formal diplomatic relations have been invited.”
Thailand-Cambodia clash deflecting from domestic woes – The Irrawaddy
April 26th, 2011
http://www.irrawaddy.org/article.php?art_id=21175
Claims that both governments are cynically stoking up border dispute to boost popularity by appealing to nationalist sentiment.
Since Friday morning, fighting along the Thai-Cambodia border has left 12 soldiers dead and forced the evacuation of thousands of civilians on both sides of the frontier. This comes two months after four days of fighting left 11 people dead at a separate location along the border.
The latest bout of shelling began at around 6 am on Friday along the border where Thailand’s Surin Province faces Oddar Meanchey in Cambodia. Both sides blame each other for shooting first. Thailand says that Cambodia plans a ground offensive to take control of two temples, while Cambodia claims that its adversary has used chemical weapons and sent fighter aircraft into Cambodia’s airspace. Both sides deny the respective allegations. (more…)
6 soldiers killed in Thailand-Cambodia border clash – Los Angeles Times
April 22nd, 2011
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-thailand-cambodia-20110423,0,2582448.story
Thailand and Cambodia blame each other for the latest in a series of conflicts involving a contested temple. Officers of the two militaries meet to calm the situation after the deaths of three soldiers from each side.
By Simon Roughneen, Los Angeles Times
Reporting from Bangkok, Thailand— Six soldiers were killed Friday, three from each side, in a dawn shootout between Thai and Cambodian troops along their nations’ tense border, officials from both sides said.The clash was the latest in a series of conflicts involving a contested temple and centuries of distrust. (more…)
Any Openings Between the BRICS on Burma? – The Irrawaddy
April 22nd, 2011
http://www.irrawaddy.org/article.php?art_id=21148
Last week’s gathering of the BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa) heads of government in China looks like another landmark in the Asia-tilted re-balancing of global economic power that has gathered pace since the 2008 banking and financial crisis spread from the United States.
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) says that by 2016 the total GDP of the five countries will exceed that of the US. China last year passed Japan to become the world’s second largest economy, while overtaking Germany to become the world’s biggest exporting country. Predictions vary, but depending on how growth numbers in both countries pan out over the coming years, China could overtake the US to become the world’s biggest economy within two decades or less. (more…)
Trying times in Cambodia – Asia Sentinel
April 21st, 2011
http://www.asiasentinel.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=3140&Itemid=170
Hints of a diplomatic tussle behind Cambodia’s troubled tribunal find their way to the country’s best-known Killing Field, which with better management would be a must-see for any visitor.
Skulls of the dead inside the stupa at Cheoung Ek (Photo: Simon Roughneen)
CHEOUNG EK, Cambodia. It has been over three decades since the night-time convoys of trucks bringing the emaciated, the half-dead and the terrified from S-21 jail in Phnom Penh rolled into Choeung Ek, 17 kilometers from the centre of what was then a deserted city, after the Khmer Rouge forced all residents out to rural labour camps. (more…)
US Delay Means Burmese Must Wait on Oil Payment Disclosures – The Irrawaddy
April 19th, 2011
http://www.irrawaddy.org/article.php?art_id=21130
New US rules outlining requirements for oil, gas and mining companies to disclose payments made to foreign governments, including Burma, have been postponed until August at the earliest.
Section 1504 of the Dodd-Frank Wall St. Reform Act, passed in 2010, requires publicly traded companies listed on US stock exchanges to disclose how much they pay foreign governments to acquire drilling and mining rights in the given countries. The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) was scheduled to publish rules governing Section 1504 on April 15, but has now delayed their release.
The SEC rules will likely cover some of the estimated 27 companies invested in Burma’s natural resource sector, possibly including Chevron, China National Offshore Oil Company, Daewoo, PTTEP (Thailand), Total and others. (more…)
