The dead found in Maguindanao Province

Since election violence in the Philippines began, approximately 57 people have been killed.  At least 22 of these dead were kidnapped lawyers, journalists, and relatives of local politicians.   President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo declared a state of emergency on Tuesday in  the two Southern provinces of Maguindanao and Sultan Kudarat.   Both are located on the war torn island of Mindanao, a place that is a frequent topic of this blog.   Filipino troops have found 46 bodies in a pit in  Maguindanao Province alone.

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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.

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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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