Axis of evil dictatorships sign deal to speed up implementation of economic, trade cooperation

Cambodia, DPRK sign deal to speed up implementation of economic, trade cooperation

July 27, 2011
Xinhua

Cambodia and Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) on Wednesday signed an agreement to boost the implementation of economic and trade cooperation.

The deal was inked between Ouch Borith, secretary of state for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, and Ri Myong San, visiting DPRK's vice-minister of foreign trade, after the first Cambodia-DPRK Joint Commission meeting on economic, trade, scientific and technical cooperation. After the signing ceremony, Ouch Borith told reporters Cambodia and DPRK have signed seven cooperation agreements since 1993.

They include the agreement on economic, trade, cultural and technical cooperation, trade exchange deal, investment protection deal, Memorandum of Understanding on cooperation between Cambodia and DPRK foreign ministries, IT joint committee establishment agreement, cultural exchange cooperation, and water way transportation agreement.

Survey: Singapore ruling party losing credibility

Jul 09, 2011

“A lot of the authoritarian atmosphere is the result of that one man’s mentality.”

SINGAPORE (AP) — Fewer Singaporeans consider the ruling People’s Action Party to be credible after the party’s worst election results since independence, a survey showed Friday.

About 73 percent of those polled agreed or strongly agreed that the PAP is a credible party, down from 87 percent in 2006, according to a survey by the Institute of Policy Studies, a think-tank within the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy at the National University of Singapore.

“The political consciousness of Singaporeans has changed very radically,” said Chua Beng Huat, a sociology professor at NUS. “The PAP will probably continue to be the dominant party for the next twenty years, but we’re moving toward a more normal, democratic culture.”

Nobody is indispensable as the saying goes: A lesson for Hoon Xhen

MP for Tg Pagar Lee Kuan Yew

The GE 2011 Political Demise of Lee Kuan Yew: A Supreme Irony

May 18th, 2011
Temasek Review Emeritus (Singapore)

One of the greatest surprises of GE 2011 was the people’s unequivocal rejection of the PAP style of government. But none could have imagined that the biggest casualty would be Lee Kuan Yew, one of the founders of the PAP, Singapore’s first prime minister and subsequently, de facto Chief despite holding only an advisory role as Minister Mentor.

Indeed, the nations’ shock on 14 May, just a week after the election, at the resignation of MM from the cabinet (together with Mr Goh Chok Tong, Senior Minister) could only be described as seismic in the Singapore political landscape. It reflected the uniquely powerful position of the father of modern Singapore, presumably the only political leader in the world whose name was synonymous with the party he founded, whose name, in turn, was synonymous with the country it rules. The equation  

Lee Kuan Yew = PAP = Singapore 

had scrolled across the collective consciousness of the society for nearly half a century.

He was once compared to the immense banyan tree in whose shade only puny little saplings could grow. He was once the mighty Colossus in whose shadow little people cowered.

Was. Had scrolled. Once. Cowered.

ASEAN idiotic dictators feel the urge to cooperate ... to better oppress their people?

The Four Idiot Amigos Bandidos
Prime Ministers, from left, Thein Sein of Myanmar, Nguyen Tan Dung of Vietnam, Hun Sen of Cambodia, and Bouasone Bouphavanh of Laos, shake hands during an opening ceremony of the 5th Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam summit in the Cambodia's Peace Palace in Phnom Penh on Tuesday. (Photo: AP)

Asean's Poorer Nations Find Need to Cooperate

Kong Sothanarith, VOA Khmer
Phnom Penh Wednesday, 17 November 2010

“We hope that our four countries will strengthen economic cooperation under a principle of equality, for mutual interest, and without mutual interference, to boost growth and reduce gaps of progress.”

The leaders of Burma, Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam met in Phnom Penh on Tuesday, vowing closer ties for economic growth in an integrated Asean economy.

This was the fifth summit between the countries, Asean's least developed.

“We hope that our four countries will strengthen economic cooperation under a principle of equality, for mutual interest, and without mutual interference, to boost growth and reduce gaps of progress,” Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung said following meetings Tuesday.

Laotian Prime Minister Bouason Bouphavanh said the four countries, known collectively as CLMV, could play a major role in the integration of Asean.

“The linking of railway networks, human resources, green power and recyclable power are still crucial priorities in the cooperation of the CLMV,” he said.

Prime Minister Hun Sen said the four nations needed to attract regional development partners, as well as cooperating with institutions like the Asian Development Bank, the Institute of Research for Asean and Southeast Asia and others.

The four countries need to consolidate cooperation to boost trade and investment, facilitate commerce and create markets along respective borders, he said.

Burmese Prime Minister Thein Sein said greater links between the countries would not only encourage businesses and tourism, but would also bring their citizens closer together.

Cambodia is hosting three summits over Tuesday and Wednesday: the CMLV, the Cambodia-Laos-Vietnam, and the Ayeyawady-Chao Praya-Mekong Economic Cooperation Strategy.

On Tuesday, leaders signed an agreement to form preferential policies and to develop the triangle of 10 provinces connecting Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam. Cambodia signed an air agreement with Laos. Burma, also called Myanmar, was congratulated on elections held earlier this month.

Cambodia: The confluent of Southeast Asia dictators

Southeast Asia dictators (from left to right): Sone, Sein, Dung and Xen

Myanmar PM to attend regional summits in Cambodia

November 12, 2010
Xinhua

Myanmar Prime Minister U Thein Sein will attend the 5th CLMV (Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Vietnam) Summit and the 4th ACMECS ( Ayeyawaddy-Chaophraya-Mekong Economic Cooperation Strategy) Summit to be held in Cambodia's capital of Phnom Penh, an official announcement from Nay Pyi Taw said Friday without specifying the date of his attendance .

Thein Sein is invited by his Cambodian counterpart Hun Sen for the attendance.

CLMV are the lesser-developed countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). Myanmar, along with Laos, joined the regional grouping in July 1997.

Aimed at strengthening friendship among CLMV countries, uplifting good neighboring spirit, ensuring cooperation among member countries, holding culture exchange, enhancing cultural preservation and boosting tourism sector through cultural cooperation, ministers of culture and fine arts of CLMV held a roundtable in Myanmar's new capital of Nay Pyi Taw in January this year, vowing to maintain cultural connectivity among CLMV member countries in a Nay Pyi Taw Declaration-2010.

The declaration called for preservation of cultural heritage in the member countries, prevention against illegal trading of cultural heritage through borders, establishment of sister cities among the member countries and promotion of tourism industry.

Meanwhile, in November 2003, four countries -- Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Thailand held their first ACMECS summit in Myanmar's ancient city of Bagan, laying down ACMECS program which provides for cooperation in five main strategic areas of agriculture, industry, trade and investment, transport, tourist and human resources development.

Vietnam joined the ACMECS in 2004.

In May 2007, ACMECS foreign ministers met in Myanmar's Mandalay, pledging to work for greater competitiveness, narrower economic disparity and promoting socio-economic development in the subregion.

Calling for realization of their 2003 Bagan Declaration efficiently and effectively, the foreign ministers also expressed their desire to strengthen the aims and objectives of the declaration and work for attaining prosperity in the subregion through enhanced solidarity, mutual respect, goods neighborliness and active cooperation among the member countries.

Would a Khmer Rouge killer be qualified as an intellectual ASEAN leader?

Comrade Hun Xen was a former cadre of the Khmer Rouge regime known for killing almost 2 million Cambodians (Photo: Reuters)

New intellectual leader emerges for ASEAN

Monday, June 28, 2010
By Kavi Chongkittavorn
The Nation

The dramatic departure of Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd last week and the resignation of Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatomaya earlier have effectively unplugged their nascent plans of constructing a new regional architecture. ASEAN, therefore, is the direct beneficiary of their downfall.

For nearly two years, ASEAN leaders were dragged into the debates unprepared and did several rounds of soul-searching. Member states found themselves united and at odds with one another examining national interest that has broader regional contexts. They ended up with a new mantra, known as the ASEAN Centrality.

Without the constant pushing of the two powerful dialogue countries, the question remains whether ASEAN should go slow or move forward full throttle to gain a consensus as early as possible on the new regional architecture. If the past is any judge, ASEAN tends to move quicker and consolidate faster with external pressure or crisis looming large.

Apparently, majority of ASEAN members would go for the latter approach as discussions were held already in quite comprehensive ways. Minor divergent views still need to be ironed out before a consensus can be reached. At the next ASEAN ministerial meeting in Hanoi, which is only three weeks away, the new regional architecture issue will top the agenda. The decision will subsequently reflect on the statement of 17th ASEAN summit.

To do that, ASEAN has to bridge their perceptions over the role of major powers, their pros and cons as well as formats that the grouping wishes to see them fit in. Without fanfare, Singapore Prime Miniser Lee Hsien Loong presented the ASEAN-plus-eight plan at the last summit in April. The U.S. and Russia will be invited to join the grouping's major dialogue partners including China, Japan, South Korea, India, New Zealand and Australia. The ASEAN-plus-eight summit will take place when the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Leaders Meeting meet in an Asian country.

This format, Singapore believes, would enable a U.S. president to attend an ASEAN-led summit. That has been the focus of the debate as ASEAN realizes the importance of a U.S. presidential attendance. But a question can be raised for instance if South Korea is hosting the APEC meeting, will the host provide the hospitality for all delegates from Cambodia, Laos and Burma? Certainly, this issue could be solved if they join APEC later this year in Yokohama. ASEAN will certainly push hard for such aim.

On the other hand, in mid-January this year, Indonesia floated the idea of an expanded East Asia Summit (EAS). The leaders' forum, founded in Kuala Lumpur in 2005, discuss strategic and transnational issues. It is an existing ASEAN-led forum. The U.S. and Russia would be invited to join.

Russia has been consistent in wanting to join EAS while the U.S. has expressed interest but without any clear action. Recently, Canada and EU indicated a similar interest.

At the May meeting in Hoi An, ASEAN senior officials found it extremely difficult to choose either formula for the inclusion of the world's two superpowers. The ASEAN chair, Vietnam, Indonesia and Laos prefer the expanded EAS. Singapore and Cambodia strongly back the ASEAN plus eight along with potential support from Philippines and Burma. Thailand, Brunei and Malaysia need additional information to come up with their positions.

When the foreign ministers meet in Hanoi next month, these positions would certainly shift and change. A consensus would have to be reached eventually. Strong posturing and lobbying are visible from Singapore and Indonesia over their favorite formulas. In fact, their differences are minimal. Fear of losing the influence of ASEAN and its centrality is greater in the ASEAN plus eight. With the U.S. and Russia, an expanded EAS would help forge common views on global issues with the fulcrum in ASEAN. There were often cited justifications for or lack of support.

In the past, Singapore has been the uncontested intellectual leader of ASEAN providing new ideas related to economic and security matters to reinvent and make ASEAN relevant to the global community. The ASEAN Regional Forum and Asia Europe Meeting are such hallmarks. It used to be a given that Singapore's proposed plans would eventually morph into ASEAN plans.

This time, however, there is a new regional environment with democratic Indonesia. It has come up with many bold and liberal ideas of its own regarding ASEAN. Indonesia played crucial parts in pushing for the drafting of a charter and security community in ASEAN. Gone were the days when it used to be ridiculed as the grouping's smallest denominator, now it has become its biggest denominator that can inspire the rest of ASEAN. Jakarta's growing confidence in its own democratic development has already transferred to diplomacy towards ASEAN and major powers. Indonesian civil society groups, the region's largest, have been the most active in ASEAN in pushing for people-oriented agenda including human rights and climate changes.

Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa has repeatedly stressed the importance of ASEAN in Indonesian foreign policy in his interview with the author at the end of last year. Indonesia switching the ASEAN chair with Brunei for next year was another testimony. The move aims to achieve twin objectives of regional and global leadership. With the ASEAN chair next year, Indonesia has ample time to devote all the energy to host the G-20 and APEC summits in 2013. To become the Brussels of the East is no longer far-fetched.

In the end, the role of potential intellectual leader in ASEAN as perceived by fellow ASEAN members would be a decisive factor to swing the decision on either option. Thailand will use this benchmark as one of the criteria for its decision.

Asia's daughters put dictators on notice

September 02, 2009
By Gaffar Peang-Meth
Guest Commentary
UPI Asia Online

Washington, DC, United States, — In one respect, August was not a good month for Asia’s daughters.

It began with the death of the Philippines’ first female president, Corazon Aquino, 76, after a yearlong battle against colon cancer. Then came the Aug. 4 municipal court verdict finding Cambodian legislator Mu Sochua guilty of defaming Premier Hun Sen, because she sued him for 13 cents for defaming her in his nationally broadcast speech.

On Aug. 11th, Burma’s iconic leader Aung San Suu Kyi, 64, was sentenced to another 18 months of house arrest because American John Yettaw of Missouri swam across a lake, supposedly guarded by junta troops, and stayed two nights in her house without her permission.

In another respect, August put Asian dictators on notice.

In February 1986, inexperienced Aquino, a “plain housewife,” mother of four daughters and one son, whose husband was assassinated in 1983 for opposing Ferdinand Marcos, led the People Power Revolution that brought over 2 million Filipino civilians and political, military and religious leaders to the streets to confront with prayers and flowers Marcos’ military loyalists, backed by tanks and armored vehicles. Marcos fled to Hawaii. Aquino became Asia’s first female president.

Renowned as an advocate of democracy, peace, women’s empowerment and religious piety, Aquino replaced military rule with democracy. Her People Power inspired millions in Burma, Indonesia and Thailand. With her death Asia lost a daughter, but memories of her success put dictators on notice.

Cambodia’s Mu Sochua, a petite 55-year-old woman with three daughters, was a refugee in the San Francisco Bay Area during Pol Pot’s murderous rule that took 1.7 million lives, including her parents. With an undergraduate degree from San Francisco State University, a master’s at the University of California, Berkeley, and an honorary doctorate in law from Canada’s Guelph University, she left the United States in 1981 to work in refugee camps along the Khmer-Thai border, where she met her husband. She returned to Phnom Penh in 1989 and gave her all to advancing women’s rights.

In 2005, Sochua was one of 1,000 women proposed for the Nobel Peace Prize, and was a recipient of a Vital Voices’ Global Leadership Award for Human Rights and Anti-Human Trafficking.

In a society governed by an autocratic system that brooks no dissent from its citizens, those who challenge Samdech Decho (his title) Hun Sen must offer public apology or suffer the consequences. Sochua campaigned in opposition to the regime in power, and though civil in her discourse, was defamed by Hun Sen.

She sued him; he countersued her, claiming her suit was a form of defamation. The guilty verdict against her included an order that she pay US$2,500 in fines to the state, and $2,000 in compensation to Sen, for defaming “the long-serving premier when she tried to sue him.” Sochua expressed sorrow at the unjust outcome and said she will appeal.

At a ceremony distributing diplomas at the University of Law and Economics on Aug. 12, Sen addressed graduates, “I am the prime minister … I have an army … Let’s make clear to one another, under my order only two hours are needed to take over Phnom Penh; just try me!” In an apparent reference to Sochua, he said, “This type of woman can’t represent women.” He added, “You are not Aung San Suu Kyi.”

A day earlier Suu Kyi, who has been under house arrest for 14 of the past 20 years, was given an extended 18 months’ house arrest to prevent her participation in the 2010 elections.

In 1990, while she was under house arrest, Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy won 392 out of 485 seats in the parliamentary elections. The opposing military junta threw out the result.

Her father, Aung San, Burma’s hero, was assassinated when she was 2 years old. She said her mother taught her never to hate, not even those who killed her father. Before she married British scholar Michael Aris in 1972, she asked him, “Should my people need me, would you help me to do my duty by them?” Aris agreed.

As she returned from England to care for her sick mother in 1988, millions marched in the streets to demand free and fair elections and an end to military rule. The military rulers responded on Aug. 8, 1988, by shooting down thousands. The “Massacre of 8-8-88” became Burma’s killing field.

On Aug. 26 of that year, Suu Kyi addressed half a million people at Rangoon’s Shwedagon Pagoda, calling for a democratic government. In September, she helped form the NLD and became its secretary general.

In her words, “I could not, as my father’s daughter, remain indifferent to all that was going on.”

In July 1989 the junta put her under house arrest until July 1995, only to arrest her again and again. Behind a guarded fence Suu Kyi reads, listens to news, meditates and kept herself busy in the house.

Suu Kyi has never stopped fighting for her peoples’ civil rights, despite the junta’s vow to “crush all dangers threatening the state.” Suu Kyi once said, “Fear is very much a habit … People are conditioned to be frightened.” She recalled growing up as a child “afraid of the dark” – a coward, she said. But in April 1989 she walked in the middle of the road in the Irrawady Delta toward an army unit ordered to shoot her and her friends, when an army major intervened and spared her life.

Suu Kyi is now again under house arrest. World leaders again express anger. On Aug. 13, the Asian Human Rights Commission issued a statement: “Moral anger can serve a useful purpose where it generates meaningful resolve and leads to action to produce results, but where it is all that there is, again and again, it can have the opposite effect, sapping and demoralizing the very people whom it should bolster.”

It urged the global community to develop “some sense both of the role that the entire infrastructure of state plays in protecting the army’s hold on power, and of the role that the rest of the world needs to play in addressing that hold, rather than merely making statements of condemnation every time that the regime affronts global sensibilities and violates international law.”

Perhaps it will turn out that August was not a bad month after all. It may jolt men of conscience to action.
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(Dr. Gaffar Peang-Meth is retired from the University of Guam, where he taught political science for 13 years. He currently lives in the United States. He can be contacted at peangmeth@gmail.com. Copyright Gaffar Peang-Meth.)