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 ...
Thailand wades through worst flooding in decades – Christian Science Monitor
October 12th, 2011
Thailand’s floodwaters have already killed 269 people and submerged some 3.4 million acres of farmland to the north. And Bangkok’s estimated 12 million residents are bracing for another storm.
- Women fill sandbags along canal in Rangsit, Bangkok (Photo: Simon Roughneen)
Bangkok, Thailand. Shoveling sand into canvas bags, Thawatchai Siithundoin wipes the sweat from his brow and looks up at the darkening late afternoon sky.
“If it rains again, that canal will fill my house,” he says, pointing to the water lapping the roadside about four yards behind him in the northern Bangkok suburb of Rangsit. (more…)
Burma in the crosshairs as US, China & India Jostle for Asian Influence – The Irrawaddy
October 11th, 2011
Kurt Campbell speaks at Chulalongkorn University in Bangkok on Monday (Photo: Simon Roughneen)
http://www.irrawaddy.org/article.php?art_id=22236
BANGKOK—Discussing what he described as early stages of change in Burma, a senior US diplomat on Monday promised his country “will match their steps with comparable steps,” as expectations grow that Burma will release some of the country’s almost-2,000 political prisoners in the coming days.
Burma’s new National Human Rights Commission published an open letter on Tuesday, in which it “humbly requests the President, as a reflection of his magnanimity, to grant amnesty to those prisoners and release them from the prison.”
If the release happens, the US is likely to relax or end some of the economic sanctions levied against senior Burmese officials and business cronies.
Commenting on Burma’s recent decision to suspend operations at the US $3.6 billion Chinese-built Myitsone Dam in war-wracked Kachin State, Assistant Secretary of State Kurt Campbell said this development is one of several that “demand closer attention,” confirming that the US is “looking forward in the course of the next several weeks to continuing a dialogue that has really stepped up in recent months.”
Campbell termed the recent discussions between Burmese President Thein Sein and opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi as “very consequential,” and described the president as “a serious interlocutor.” (more…)
Thailand floods: Bangkok braced after old capital swamped – The Diplomat
October 10th, 2011
Flooding in Thailand has already claimed at least 250 lives. With Bangkok under threat, things could get worse.
http://the-diplomat.com/2011/10/10/inside-the-thailand-flood-zone/
AYUTTHAYA, Thailand – “I was scared, worried. I still am, but thanks to these helpers I have my Sililak safe”. Thanarat ‘Yui’ Panomai went from furrowed-brow anxiety to beaming smile in the time it took for the South 21 rescue team to wade through chest-high water to rescue her five year old daughter, trapped upstairs by an overnight rush of water into previously-dry sections of the city.
With neck-high water in places, boats are needed to get around (Photo: Simon Roughneen)
Flooding in Thailand has killed over 250 people, cut off roadways and forced some multinational corporations to shut down operations. 60 out of Thailand’s 77 provinces have been affected, and on Sunday night Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra said that residents of capital Bangkok residents should prepare for potential flooding. (more…)
MSF Thailand pullout affects healthcare inside Burma – The Irrawaddy
October 7th, 2011
http://www.irrawaddy.org/article.php?art_id=22221
View from the Thai side of the Mae Sot-Myawaddy border bridge, June 2011 (Photo: Simon Roughneen)
BANGKOK – Médecins Sans Frontières’ (MSF) decision to end its Thailand operation will hamper medics who cross from Thailand into war-torn areas of Burma where people have little or no access to medical treatment.
Denis Penoy, the organisation’s head in Thailand, told The Irrawaddy that MSF has a long history of working with mobile medical teams along the border, notably the Mon National Health Council based in Sangkhlaburi, across the border from Three Pagodas Pass inside Burma.
The Mon medics were supported by MSF in carrying out anti-malarial work inside Mon State, which Nai Hong Sar, head of the New Mon State Party (NSMP), described to The Irrawaddy as “very important for our people, as malaria was so much reduced, and otherwise it was hard to get medical treatment”. (more…)
Talking about the weather? Thai PM visits Burma – The Irrawaddy
October 5th, 2011
http://www.irrawaddy.org/article.php?art_id=22196
BANGKOK – Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra will today visit meet Burma’s first civilian head of Government in five decades, but will pass up the chance to meet possibly Asia’s best-known female political figure, Aung San Suu Kyi.
“The first reason for the trip is to introduce herself as the first Prime Minister of Thailand”, said spokesperson Titima Chaiseng.
The Thai PM is scheduled to meet the Burma President, former General and junta Prime Minister Thein Sein, with Foreign Minister Surapong Tovichakchaikul and Deputy PM Yongyuth Wichaidit also participating in the PMs first official visit to Thailand’s energy-rich neighbour. (more…)
Myanmar buys time with dam block – Asia Times
October 3rd, 2011
http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Southeast_Asia/MJ04Ae01.html
BANGKOK – China has reacted coolly to Myanmar’s surprise suspension of a controversial US$3.6 billion hydropower dam project it backed in the country’s war-torn Kachin State. Hitherto cautious observers have greeted the stoppage as the first tangible reform move undertaken by the Myanmar’s six-month-old, nominally civilian government led by former general Thein Sein.
According to the government, work on the controversial Myitsone dam will be suspended “according to the desire of the people. The announcement followed an upsurge in popular opposition to the project, where certain members of the old military elite and Aung San Suu Kyi-led political opposition found rare common cause. The project threatened the headwaters of the Irrawaddy River, the cradle of Burmese civilization. (more…)
6 reasons to visit East Timor – CNNGo
October 1st, 2011
http://www.cnngo.com/explorations/life/reasons-visit-east-timor-414416
Yes, really. The country also known as Timor-Leste is not a popular destination — but it should be. Here’s why.
Enjoy stunning sunsets by the sea in Timor-Leste (Photo: Simon Roughneen)
Diving, whale-watching, trekking, biking, great scenery, stunning mountain driving, and beautiful white-sand beaches. East Timor is one of the world’s unsung tourism destinations. Tourist numbers are low compared with other places in the region, perhaps put off by the country’s politically-unsettled and impoverished image, which contributes to a dearth of flights into the country, which in turn drives prices up and inhibits visitor numbers, which in turn keeps flight prices high, which in turn … you get the idea. (more…)
Myanmar calls surprise halt to controversial China-backed dam – Los Angeles Times
September 30th, 2011
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-myanmar-dam-20111001,0,6135163.story
Critics led by pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi have argued that the dam would hurt the ecology of the Irrawaddy River, displace at least 10,000 people and submerge culturally important sites.
By Mark Magnier and Simon Roughneen, Los Angeles Times, October 1, 2011
Reporting from New Delhi and Bangkok, Thailand— Myanmar’s president ordered a halt Friday to work on a controversial $3.6-billion hydroelectric dam backed by China, a rare concession to the political opposition and public displeasure.
President Thein Sein said in a statement read out on his behalf in parliament that the Myitsone dam project in the northern state of Kachin should be terminated because it is “against the will of the people.”
The reversal — if in fact it proves to be one, given Myanmar’s often opaque governance — seemed somewhat surprising in a country where leaders have for decades paid limited attention to the public’s concerns. (more…)
Burma and Bangladesh await March maritime boundary ruling – The Irrawaddy
September 30th, 2011
http://www.irrawaddy.org/article.php?art_id=22175
BANGKOK—Burma and Bangladesh will have to wait until March 2012 for a verdict on their disputed maritime boundary, in a case that could facilitate both sides in acquiring new gas and oil supplies in the energy-rich Bay of Bengal.
Amid a background of stalled bilateral negotiations and sometimes acrimonious relations, hearings ran from Sept 8 -24 at the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (ITLOS) in Hamburg, Germany. (more…)
Timor-Leste: Goodbye conflict, welcome development? – The Diplomat
September 29th, 2011
http://the-diplomat.com/2011/09/29/aid-and-independence/
‘Goodbye conflict, welcome development’ runs the panglossian banner on the Timor-Leste Finance Ministry website, and after centuries of sleepy Portuguese colonialism followed by a quarter-century of scorched-earth Indonesian occupation that killed an estimated 1/4 – 1/3 of the population, the Timorese are due an option on optimism as much as anyone else.
Chinese-built Ministry of Defence building in Dili. Chinese aid to to Timor-Leste is difficult to measure, but appears to take the form of high-profile building projects such as this, employing mostly Chinese labour (Photo: Simon Roughneen)
Making the slogan a reality is a different story, however, and independent Timor-Leste started from a low base, with most of the country’s infrastructure obliterated by the departing occupiers and their local militia proxies, after Timor-Leste voted for secession in 1999.
After a receiving an estimated US$6-8 billion in foreign assistance since 1999 and around the same in petroleum revenues since the mid-2000s, the numbers by themselves suggest Timor-Leste should be well-placed to make that leap the Finance Ministry aspires to. (more…)
