Rohingya woman and her child

This blog has spoken about the situation with the Myanmar minority group, the Rohingya before.  Colby Pacheco has a more detailed piece at OpinionAsia.com on the not oft spoke about conflict on the 200 mile long eastern Burmese (Myanmar) border with Bangladesh.    In the last several months, Bangladesh and the Burmese junta, also known as the  State Peace and Development Council (SPDC),  have been at odds over a fence being constructed by the Burmese regime and the ethnic cleansing of Rohingya refugees from the Rakhine state, which is causing a refugee problem as far away as Indonesia.   Bangladesh has been accused of treating these refugees quite harshly and forcefully repatriating them to Mayanmar where they are  victimized all over again.   This is a case of human ping-ponog.   Still, there are thought to be over 200,000 Rohingya in Bangladesh.  The junta refuses to recognize Rohingya as citizens of Myanmar and it appears that Bangladesh is tied of extending legitimate refugee status to them.

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Pablo Martinez Monsivais / AP

APEC -  Gregory Clark, over at Japan Times, argues that APEC (Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation) is an obsolete framework that was never very affective in the first place.  If one agrees with him or not, he gives a good background on the history of various political-economic groupings in East-Southeast Asian region since the Cold War.

Obama’s Trip to Asia:  While on his first presidential trip to Asia, Barack Obama stated in Tokyo:

“The United States does not seek to contain China, nor does a deeper relationship with China mean a weakening of our bilateral alliances,” Obama said.

“On the contrary, the rise of a strong, prosperous China can be a source of strength for the community of nations,” he said.

If you believe that I have an igloo in Iraq to sell you! The Obama Administration wants a China it can work with and control for reasons discussed previously on this blog.

During his trip Obama will also focus on the Trans-Pacific Partnership - a free trade agreement among Chile, New Zealand, Singapore and Brunei, despite the current global economic climate being more conducive to nationalist protectionism.  The agreement is considered as the foundation for a launch pad  for a full 021-member APEC free trade zone.

Mr. Obama also assured APEC members that the United States would “strive to consume less, save more and restructure its economy”; however, he also asked Asian nations stimulate their own domestic economies and become less dependent on American consumption.

Barack Obama’s visit to the APEC summit was the first time a U.S. president sat in a room with all ASEAN member-state leaders.  President Obama even met with Myanmar Prime Minister Thein Sein but failed to get a statement regarding the release of political prisoners mentioned in a joint ASEAN communiqué.  The White House is claiming they never expected the Burmese junta to accept such a statement.

Philippines -  On Hillary Clinton’s recent trip to the Philippines, she reiterated the Obama Administrations support for the Philippines in its typhoon recovery and its conflict with Muslim separatist in the southern part of the archipelago.   She also rejected calls by some Filipino Senators to amend the Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA).  The agreement allows for some 600 troops stationed in the country as military advisers.  Many opposed to the agreement believe that American soldiers are violating it by actively participating in military offensives on Filipino territory.

Uniter Wa State Army

Cambodia and Thailand -  Thailand recalled its ambassador from Cambodia on November 5th over former Thai PM and wanted fugitive, Thaksin Shinawatra’s appointment as economic adviser to  Cambodian PM Hun Sen.   A few weeks back there were rumors that Shinawatra would be allowed to move to Cambodia, but the Cambodian government denied this after Thai complaints.  It seems they have reversed their position (publicly).  The main source of Thai government objections are as stated previously on this blog:

…Thaksin has  been in communication with factions loyal to him, known collectively as the Red Shirts (National United Front of Democracy Against Dictatorship (UDD)), which have been responsible for several paralyzing mass public protests in Bangkok and other areas.

Incensed, Bangkok, seeing this as Cambodia interference in its internal affairs,  has threatened to re-evaluate various agreements between the two nations.  Then again, Hun Sen has refused to honor the bilateral agreement that Cambodia has with Thailand to extradite wanted criminals.  It is also rumored that after Shinawatra’s arrival in Cambodia on November 12th, he will meet with a “Red Shirt” group on the Thai-Cambodian border, if true this confirms Thai government fears.

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Philippines:   China and the Philippines signed two major agreements last week.   The first agreement, the Joint Action Plan for Strategic Cooperation,  is a bilateral relations road map for the next five years.  The second, the Philippines-China Consular Agreement, is the first consular agreement that the Philippines has negotiated with another nation.  This agreement includes notification of detention of Filipino nationals, and a framework for repatriation disputes.   Some future goals include strengthening political, economic and tourism exchanges between the the countries.  They also wish to cooperate on territorial disputes in the South China Sea.

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Japanese PM Hatoyama and Chinese President Hu Jintao

SE Asia:  The NY Times has an article discussing East and Southeast Asian economic integration.  Thai prime minister, Abhisit Vejjajiva, believes that the regions should be looking for a new growth model, one that is less reliant on the consumption of Western nations.  This would mean increasing domestic demand and increasing aid between Asian nations.    Both Japan and China have put forth vague regional economic bloc outlines, that Japan has compared to the European Union, however; it is doubtful that there would be open borders, easy movement of labor, common security police, or a binding extra-national political authority.

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Hun Sen and Thaksin Shinawatra

Cambodia - In a never ending quest to irritate his larger neighbor, Thailand,  Cambodia’s Prime Minister, Hun Sen, is considering allowing former Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra to move there.   Despite the fact he is wanted on criminal charges in Thailand, ranging from tax evasion to treason.  Thaksin was deposed in a bloodless 2006 coup after many in the Thai military and Royal Court believed him to be a corrupt demagogue.   Since then, Thaksin has  been in communication with factions loyal to him, known collectively as the Red Shirts (National United Front of Democracy Against Dictatorship (UDD)), which have been responsible for several paralyzing mass public protests in Bangkok and other areas.   There are rumors that Hun Sen had already built a house for Shinawatra.  In response, the Thai government has said it will immediately seek extradition if Thaksin is allowed to stay in the country.

General Chavalit told reporters that he made a one-day visit to Phnom Penh at the invitation of the Cambodian prime minister.
“Hun Sen feels Thaksin is not fairly treated, politically,” he said.
“Despite having contributed to the country, he has no place to stay. Hun Sen is in pain even though he is not a Thai.
“So he feels the need to make it publicly known he and Thaksin have always been friends.”

All I can say is - WOW!

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Rohingya Refugees

Thailand - A Thai HIV Vaccine trial, led by Dr. Supachai Rerks-Ngarm of the Department of Disease Control of the Thai Ministry’s Public Health Department, was successful in that it provided coverage to a small percentage of participants, which is better than any previous trial.

A combination vaccine, using strains of HIV common in Thailand, was tested on more than 16,000 Thai men and women aged 18 to 30 years old, who were HIV-negative.

Half of the overall test group received the doses, while the other 8,000 people in the trial received a placebo. All the participants were given condoms and counseling for three years. The test found that those given the vaccine showed a 31 percent lower risk of infection than the others.

There is not yet consensus in the scientific community as to what the results mean and what should be done next.

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The United States:  Republican Senator Dick Lugar is calling for the U.S. to create a free trade agreement with ASEAN.    Lugar stated that sanctions on Myanmar should not negatively America’s economic relationship with the rest of the region.  Further:

“China, India, Australia, New Zealand and South Korea have already finalized FTAs with Asean and are sharpening a competitive edge over the U.S. in Southeast Asia,” Lugar said. “The United States should proceed to develop a comprehensive strategy toward engaging ASEAN in serious FTA discussions.

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A lot of international attention has focused on North Korea and Iranian nuclear programs.  However, Mark Fitzpatrick has an interesting article in the Japan Times concerning nuclear proliferation in Southeast Asia, specifically as it applies to rumors surrounding Myanmar’s nuclear ambitions.  This blog has previously discussed Burmese defectors’ claims that the junta was developing nuclear weapons technology in collaboration with North Korean.  While Fitzpatrick believes nations in the region should be able to have access to safe nuclear energy, they should also be transparent and follow the protocols of the Southeast Asian Nuclear-Weapon-Free Zone Treaty (Bangkok Treaty).  In the case of Myanmar, he recommends ASEAN member states take stronger action than with other member states:  1) watch them carefully, 2) try to influence them to adhere to the  IAEA Additional Protocol and amend the Small Quantities Protocol (SQP) to Myanmar’s safeguards agreement, 3) Create a contingency plan in case that Myanmar is trying to acquire a nuclear arsenal or selling nuclear material to a rogue regime or non-state actor.

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Jose Luis Guterres

Asia - U.S. President Barack Obama will make his first trip to East and Southeast Asia in November.  During his 8 day trip, beginning on Nov. 11, Obama will visit Japan, Singapore, China, and South Korea - in that order.  He will focus his speeches on the global economic crisis and global security.  He will spend most of the trip at the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation forum (APEC) summit in Singapore.  While there, he will meet with ASEAN leaders , including which is rumored to include Myanmar’s military junta.  Myanmar is  a country that the Obama Administration has shown recent interest in engaging for strategic reasons.  There will be additional focus paid to the North Korean nuclear issue, energy, and climate change.

East Timor - More stories of corruption in Timor Leste.  A report leaked from the East Timor’s Ombudsman’s office recommends the prosecutor general’s office open an investigation into the accusation that  Deputy PM Jose Luis Guterres gave his wife, Ana Maria Valerio, a job as counsel to the UN ambassador  and overcompensated her for the position.  This occurred in  New York in 2006; at the time, Guterres was foreign minister.  The current Foreign Minister Zacarias Albano da Costa was also mentioned as an accomplice.

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