Asia News Digest
Indonesia Remains Cool to Aussie Security Treaty
Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer's plan to negotiate a new security treaty with Indonesia has been poorly received in Jakarta. Indonesian officials have yet to be formally notified of Downer's plan, which was revealed on television on Oct. 17.
Even though President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono endorsed a defense agreement with Australia during a visit to Melbourne last year, his senior aides either rejected or downplayed the possibility of Indonesia agreeing to such a treaty. The idea also met opposition from Indonesian parliamentarians, who would be asked to endorse a treaty, as well as the foreign affairs department.
Many Indonesians believed Australian foreign policy is tied too closely to that of the Bush Administration, which is viewed widely as being anti-Muslim and unilateralist. Djoko Susilo, a senior member of the parliament's defense and foreign affairs commission, said a security pact with Australia would not be in Indonesia's best interests. "We [the parliament] will oppose this. We don't oppose defense cooperationwe agree to that.
"But we will definitely say no to the security pact, especially when, by this pact, our defense policy becomes subordinate to Australia's, and we will indirectly become a part of a U.S. security pact. You have to understand that John Howard's election victory has made him euphoric, and that he can do anything he wants now as the deputy sheriff of the U.S. for the Southeast Asia region."
India-Vietnam 50-Year Friendship Celebrated
At the 50-year India-Vietnam Friendship celebration in Hanoi on Oct. 17, Vietnamese Foreign Minister Nguyen Dy Nien recounted the bond of friendship struck between Indian Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru and Vietnamese leader Ho Chi Minh, when they met for the first time on Oct. 17, 1954 at Hanoi. As a 19-year-old official in the new Vietnamese Foreign Ministry in 1954, Nguyen Dy Nien recounted seeing "the two leaders coming out of their meeting with broad smiles and arm in arm, they walked out of the room." Nguyen Dy Nien, who maintains that "India is half of my life" and that "India is my second home," earlier at his inaugural speech at the seminar commemorating 50 years of friendship, recited a poem that Uncle Ho had penned in 1942 while in prison. The poem, "To Nehru," in part, was as follows: "You are in jail, I am in prison. Ten thousand miles apart, we have not met. We communicate without words."
Also addressing the seminar from his home was the 93-year-old legendary military hero of Vietnam, Gen. Vo Nguyen Giap. He called for closer economic and cultural ties with India "to match the immense depth and reach of our political relationship." The hero of the Battle of Dien Bien Phu, thanked India for playing an important role in the development of Vietnam's human resources. India was represented by India's External Affairs Minister K. Natwar Singh.
Myanmar PM Praised in Bangkok, Panned in Washington
Myanmar's newly appointed Prime Minister was praised in Bangkok, but denounced in Washington, according to The Nation of Bangkok Oct. 21. General Soe Win, Number 2 in the military regime's State Peace and Development Council (SPDC), was appointed Prime Minister to replace Khin Nyunt, who was sacked as PM and head of Military Intelligence on Oct. 19. State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said that a "credible report" had implicated Soe Win in the attack by a pro-government gang on Aung San Suu Kyi's entourage on May 30, 2003, which left at least six of the opposition party NLD (National League for Democracy) dead, and resulted in Suu Kyi's detainment (and now, house arrest), since then. Boucher said, "I'm not sure exactly where that report came from, but I think we find it to be a report that is worth taking into account."
The totally contrary response in Bangkok (where the announcement of Khin Nyunt's demise was first reported) came from Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, who said there would be no change in Myanmar's relations with the international community.
One concern is that Khin Nyunt was the architect of the ceasefire deals with the ethnic armies, and was engaged in talks with the last unresolved rebellion, the Karen National Union (KNU). If these agreements were to be undermined, recent progress towards regional unity and development would be badly damaged.
Congress Party-Led Coalition Wins in State Elections
India's Congress Party, in alliance with the Maharashatra-based National Congress Party (NCP), has won 139 of the 288 state assembly seats in elections Oct. 16. Although the alliance has not obtained an absolute majority, it is almost a certainty that it would form the government with the help of some independent candidates who got elected. The previous government was also a Congress-NCP alliance.
The victory is significant in light of the fact that Maharashatra, which includes the cities of Mumbai and Pune, is the first major state that went to the polls after the May general elections which brought the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) to power in New Delhi. In other words, the defeat would have had a serious impact on the credibility of the newly formed government in New Delhi.
In addition, the Congress-NCP alliance held the Bharatiya Janata Party-Shiv Sena alliance to 118 seats, indicating that the BJP is still losing ground. It also ensures more credibility to Mrs. Sonia Gandhi's leadership of the Congress Party.
Philippines: People Bear Bulk of 'Pain Package'
Jose Salceda, chairman of the Philippines House economic affairs committee, said Oct. 19 that increased taxes and higher electricity prices will gouge P135 billion (about $2.5 billion) from the population to meet the emergency debt payments pledged by the government of President Gloria Arroyo. Another P31 billion ($.5 billion) will come from budget cuts and cuts in money sent to the regions.
Sounding very much like Felix Rohaytn's pain prescriptions for America, Salceda, who is working closely with the government in imposing the new austerity measures, said: "The pain package is well spread, with the higher-income classes taking bigger hits as a percentage of their income. The tax package was mostly progressive, except for the value-added tax which is slightly regressive," he said. The tax burden "will principally be borne by the mass middle classhouseholds with annual incomes above P60,000 ($1100)since, in reality, there are very few rich families."
China Signs $15-Billion Iron Ore Deal with Australia
China is on a buying spree of mineral resources, and is now preparing to buy Canada's Noranda Mines from Edper Holdings, a Bronfman operation, and has signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Clive Palmer's Minerology and International Metals in Australia, The Australian reported Oct. 21. If his MOU evolves into a contract, Palmer will provide ore to China's Wuhan Iron and Steel Corporation5 million tons of concentrated ore and 7 million tons of pellets each year for the next 25 years. If successful, it will rank with Australia's biggest export contract, the US$25-billion North West Shelf gas deal with China.
The ambitious project requires the development of a mine at the George Palmer ore body in the northwest. A port, iron-ore concentrator, and pellet factory would also need to be built, costing $1.8 billion. Speaking from Shanghai, Palmer was confident the deal would become reality. "The Chinese will provide all the equity we need, and we'll obviously have some normal bank debt." The deal has the approval of the West Australian government, and has cleared all environmental hurdles, as the mining leases were issued before the Native Title Act.
Tamil Tigers Reject Sri Lanka Government Peace Proposal
The rebel-terrorists of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) have rejected the Sri Lankan government's latest proposal to revive stalled peace talks, the Khaleej Times reported from Colombo Oct. 18. Tamil Tigers spokesman and leader of its political wing, S.P. Thamilselvan, who is currently visiting Europe, told the BBC that the LTTE would open talks only on the basis of the self-rule plan they unveiled in October 2003, seeking an "interim Self-Governing Authority (SGA) in the north and northeast of Sri Lanka. Thamilselvan also made it clear that the Tigers are not willing to negotiate on their basic premises.
There is no doubt that viewpoints of both sides are hardening. The Tigers have used the 18-month ceasefire to rearm themselves. In Colombo, the government's main coalition partner, the Marxist Janatha Vimukti Peramuna (JVP), opposes any territorial concession to the LTTE. JVP is also strongly supported by the Buddhist Sangha, run by hardline Buddhist monks.
As a result of these developments, it is likely that violence will break open on the island soon. The situation is being watched carefully by New Delhi, a key factor in the peace talks. Sri Lankan opposition leader and former Prime Minister Ranil Wickramasinghe, who would like the peace process to begin, was in New Delhi in mid-October.
UN: Myanmar Opium Output Greatly Reduced in 2004
According to the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) annual survey, released Oct. 12, opium cultivation in Myanmar dropped 29% in 2004, compared to 2003, continuing a steady decline that began nearly a decade ago. The Myanmar Opium Survey 2004 reveals that opium cultivation this season is estimated at 44,200 hectares, representing a cumulative decline of 73% when compared to the 163,000 hectares in 1996. Meanwhile, opium production for 2004 totalled 370 tons, a 54% reduction over the previous year.
About 260,000 households, mostly in remote, mountainous, and isolated areas, were involved in opium cultivation, often the sole source of income, the UN survey says. However, the average income of non-opium-producing households is 30% higher than that of opium-producing households. The executive director of the UNODC, Antonio Maria Costa, said that opium is a last resort for farmers confronting hunger and poverty. "If we do not provide the basic human needs of farmers in Myanmar, they will never escape the vicious circle of poverty and opium cultivation. The opium communities will remain vulnerable to human rights abuses, human trafficking, and forced relocation."
The survey also indicates the average farm-gate price of opium has increased by 80% over last year to $234 per kilo, up from $130 in 2003, reflecting the reduced opium production this season.
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