NL-Aid » South-east Asia http://www.nl-aid.org NL-Aid is a 'blog and news agency' about foreign aid, development cooperation, international politics in Africa, Asia and Latin America Thu, 06 Dec 2012 10:08:56 +0000 nl hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.4.2 Harry Wu and the Quality of Labor http://www.nl-aid.org/continent/south-east-asia/harry-wu-and-the-quality-of-labor/ http://www.nl-aid.org/continent/south-east-asia/harry-wu-and-the-quality-of-labor/#comments Sat, 13 Oct 2012 11:00:41 +0000 admin http://www.nl-aid.org/?p=13718 Laogai Map.jpgThere has been a great deal of talk about jobs and China in the US presidential campaign this year. One of thethings that has not been addressed is the nature of that employment. There is a considerable difference between jobs done willingly by people treated humanely and forced labor under brutal conditions. Candidate rhetoricemphasizes the number of jobs that have been outsourced, but not the quality of the positions. After all, there are many jobs in the United States that the unemployed could take, but they are unwilling to do so – this is why we have illegal immigration to this country. Refusing work, even under the most unpleasant and dangerous circumstances, is not an option for the people imprisoned in the PRC’s labor camp system, or laogai (literally ‘reform through labor’). Foreign companies willing to work with (or turn a blind eye to) laogai industries are not only giving China an unfair labor advantage, but are encouraging a multitude of human rights abuses. This is an issue no presidential candidate can afford to ignore.

With over a thousand laogai camps estimated throughout China, operating under a myriad of rapidly changing corporate names, it is difficult to track exactly which products are coming from forced labor. Such products are illegal to purchase in the United States, but enforcement is difficult, and the availability of such inexpensive and pliable labor lowers the bar for working standards across the developing world. Over four million people are currently incarcerated in laogai camps, and since the founding of the PRC as many as fifty million have been imprisoned there – many to the end of their lives.

Aspiring politicians seeking to make jobs and China an issue should not just focus on the sheer number of jobs moving abroad, but the nature of them and what can be done to combat labor abuses. Someone who has been doing this for many years is Harry Wu, who will deliver the 2013 Center for Asian Democracy’s annual democracy lecture in January. His work chronicling the laogai includes several books, establishing the Laogai Museum in Washington, D.C., and founding the Laogai Research Foundation, for which he currently serves as Executive Director. Wu introduces people to the nature of life in these camps through the powerful perspective of his own experience. For nearly twenty years, he endured starvation, abuse, and torture with his fellow inmates whose only crimes were possessing a certain political viewpoint or being born into a particular socioeconomic class. Anyone interested in learning more about the real substance of international relations, domestic human rights issues, or the nature of the global economy, should make a point of attending his talk.

AUTHOR: Dr. Jason Abbott
URL: http://profjabbott.blogspot.com
E-MAIL: jason.abbott [at] louisville.edu

]]> http://www.nl-aid.org/continent/south-east-asia/harry-wu-and-the-quality-of-labor/feed/ 0 China: Detention of Shanghai-based human rights defender Ms Mao Hengfeng http://www.nl-aid.org/domain/human-rights/china-detention-of-shanghai-based-human-rights-defender-ms-mao-hengfeng/ http://www.nl-aid.org/domain/human-rights/china-detention-of-shanghai-based-human-rights-defender-ms-mao-hengfeng/#comments Sun, 07 Oct 2012 11:00:15 +0000 admin http://www.nl-aid.org/?p=13612 President Hu Jintao, The State Council General Office, People’s Republic of China

Your Excellency,

I am William Nicholas Gomes, Human Rights Ambassador for Salem-News.com.

I came to know about the situation from .

On 30 September 2012 Shanghai-based human rights defender Ms Mao Hengfeng was detained while petitioning in Beijing. She was apprehended by non-uniformed men and forcibly sent back to Shanghai, where she is being held on suspicion of “gathering a crowd to disturb public order”. Mao Hengfeng is a veteran rights defender and petitioner who has spent periods of time in re-education through labour, prison, psychiatric hospitals and under house arrest as a result of her activism.

According to her husband, Mr Wu Xuewei, at approximately 2pm on 30 September, Mao Hengfeng observed that she was under surveillance by two plainclothes men as she waited for a bus at a Beijing bus station. Shortly thereafter, Wu Xuewei told Chinese Human Rights Defenders that he had lost contact with his wife and repeated attempts to contact her by mobile phone were unsuccessful. Previous to this, Mao Hengfeng had been in regular contact with her family to assure them of her well-being, and four days earlier had noticed that she was being followed. On 2 October Wu Xuewei reportedly received the criminal detention notice concerning his wife which informed him that she is being detained on suspicion of “gathering a crowd to disturb public order”.

Wu Xuewei believes the charges against Mao Hengfeng relate to activities carried out by her in January 2012 to commemorate the death of a petitioner who died in a black jail in 2008. It is further believed that she is only now being targeted in an effort to ensure that she will not be in Beijing at the time of the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party, which will convene on 8 November 2012. This event will see the changeover of power at the top of the Communist Party. In advance of this, human rights defenders are being arbitrarily subjected to increased restrictions including detention, house arrest and forced travel.

Mao Hengfeng is a long-term human rights defender who has a history of drawing attention to forced abortions and forced evictions. Following earlier stints in jail and psychiatric hospitals because of her activities, she was sentenced to 18 months re-education through labour in March 2010 for “disturbing public order”. This charge related to a protest she held outside a courthouse in support of fellow human rights defender and Nobel laureate Mr Liu Xiaobo when he was being sentenced to 11 years imprisonment on 25 December 2009. Mao Hengfeng has been repeatedly subjected to abuse while in detention.

I believe that the detention of Mao Hengfeng is directly related to her work in defence of human rights. Given her previous history of abuse while in detention, I am seriously concerned for her physical and psychological integrity.

I urge the authorities in China to:

1. Immediately and unconditionally release Mao Hengfeng as I believe that she is being held solely as a result of her legitimate and peaceful work in defence of human rights;

2. Immediately take all necessary measure to guarantee the physical and psychological safety and integrity of Mao Hengfeng while in detention;

3. Guarantee in all circumstances that human rights defenders in China are able to carry out their legitimate human rights activities without fear of reprisals and free of all restrictions, including judicial harassment.

AUTHOR: William Nicholas Gomes
URL: www.williamgomes.org
E-MAIL: williamgomes.org [at] gmail.com

]]> http://www.nl-aid.org/domain/human-rights/china-detention-of-shanghai-based-human-rights-defender-ms-mao-hengfeng/feed/ 0 From icon to politician. Aung San Suu Kyi’s and the future of Burma http://www.nl-aid.org/continent/south-east-asia/from-icon-to-politician-aung-san-suu-kyis-and-the-future-of-burma/ http://www.nl-aid.org/continent/south-east-asia/from-icon-to-politician-aung-san-suu-kyis-and-the-future-of-burma/#comments Thu, 27 Sep 2012 07:00:35 +0000 admin http://www.nl-aid.org/?p=13496 On September 24th Burmese pro-democracy activist and Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi visited the University of Louisville as a guest of the McConnell Center. I had the enormous honor and privilege both to meet her in person and to sit in on a private question and answer session she had with our McConnell Scholars after her public talk. When we were introduced I informed her that I held the Endowed Chair in Asian Democracy named in her honor. She asked with a note of surprise in her voice “there is a Chair in Asian Democracy?” When I said there indeed was she followed up by saying with a smile “well I could learn something from you then”. Flattered I countered with “I was hoping to learn from you”.

Many adjectives have been used to describe this small, petite woman: inspiring, serene, tranquil. Senator McConnell in his introductory comments stated that her “understated and luminous heroism” made her “the most unlikely of revolutionaries”. That yesterday’s event happened at all is testimony to the remarkable pace of reform in Burma over the past two years. After spending 15 of the past 20 years under house arrest Suu Kyi was released in November 2010 and was subsequently elected to parliament in by-elections this April where she became the official leader of the opposition.
 
Suu Kyi spoke to about 500 people in the University of Louisville’s Comstock Hall where she proceeded to take questions from the audience including from members of the city’s Burmese refugee community. Facing criticism from some members of pro-democracy advocacy groups for not speaking out against the regime, particularly in light of recent ethnic violence in the West of the country and ongoing conflict in the north with Kachin rebels, she warned that no progress was irreversible but added that she had a cautious optimism about the future. She also stated on several occasions that she believed Burma was a country of many peoples, and that she would work to ensure fair citizenship laws that met international norms.
 
She directly addressed the issue of sanctions stating categorically that they should be lifted since “I think it is time that we of our country start carrying on the process of democratization. Sanctions have been a great help to us…but I know that there are still human rights violations in Burma… In the end, it’s we who live in the country who must make sure that these violations come to an end.”
 
In the private session with McConnell Students Suu Kyi revealed showed her sense of humor. One student, referring to comparisons made in Senator McConnell’s speech in which he compared Suu Kyi to Ghandi and Martin Luther King, asked her which of the two she felt she more like. She replied with a smile on her face that she didn’t think of herself as a symbol and that besides she didn’t compare herself with either since “they were men”.
 
While Burma is undergoing a transition from direct military rule Suu Kyi is also undergoing a transition herself. For so long the face of struggle against brutal repression, a symbol of the resistance one person can mount against seemingly insurmountable obstacles, Suu Kyi must now make the transition to a political leader. Unlike her previous role this will be one in which she will have to make messy compromises. It will be one in which she will strike deals that some will find unpalatable. It will be a role in which she will face critics both at home and abroad who will feel she has either gone too far or not far enough, who will critique her for making concessions, and attack her for betraying their principals. This new role is one that she has had little experience in, and while she will surround herself with allies and advisors who can provide wise counsel, ultimately because of who she is and what she represents she will bear the burden and responsibility for the decisions made. Few transitions from authoritarianism are smooth. Few survive without cutting deals with the old regime, whether by granting amnesties to perpetrators of human rights violations, or by forgoing retribution in favor of restorative justice.  Others have made the same journey, Mandela in South Africa, Havel in Czechoslovakia, and their successes and failures provide important lessons from which Suu Kyi can draw. Perhaps those who fear the consequences of ‘The Lady’ getting her hands ‘dirty’ should take heed from this Burmese proverb, “a genuine ruby won’t sink or disappear in the mud”. From my brief moment with this remarkable woman, I believe she is a genuine ‘ruby’.

AUTHOR: Dr. Jason Abbott
URL: http://profjabbott.blogspot.com
E-MAIL: jason.abbott [at] louisville.edu

]]> http://www.nl-aid.org/continent/south-east-asia/from-icon-to-politician-aung-san-suu-kyis-and-the-future-of-burma/feed/ 0 Philippines: Killing of human rights defender Mr Genesis Ambason http://www.nl-aid.org/domain/human-rights/philippines-killing-of-human-rights-defender-mr-genesis-ambason/ http://www.nl-aid.org/domain/human-rights/philippines-killing-of-human-rights-defender-mr-genesis-ambason/#comments Fri, 21 Sep 2012 08:00:15 +0000 admin http://www.nl-aid.org/?p=13439 H.E. Benigno Aquino III, President, Republic of the Philippines

Your Excellency,

I am William Nicholas Gomes, Human Rights Ambassador for Salem-News.com.

I came to know about the situation from Front Line – The International Foundation for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders.

On 13 September 2012, human rights defender Mr Genesis Ambason was killed just outside Sitio Tambo, Barangay Binikalan, San Luis, Agusan del Sur, Mindanao. It is reported that members of the Civilian Armed Forces Geographical Unit (CAFGU) of the 26th Infantry Battalion of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) were responsible for the killing. Genesis Ambason was the Secretary-General of Tagdumahan, a grassroots indigenous organisation that has been campaigning against the entry of large-scale mining ventures into their ancestral domain. He had also campaigned for the release of community members who had reportedly been illegally detained by the military.

On 13 September 2012, Genesis Ambason and several companions were travelling from Barangay Balit to Sitio Tambo when their motorcycle broke down. The driver turned back with the motorcycle and Genesis Ambason, his parents-in-law and two nephews decided to continue their journey on foot. At approximately 8:00 pm, after it had grown dark, they stopped to rest around 200 metres from Sitio Tambo and within sight of the 26th Infantry Battalion military detachment. A few moments later, they heard approaching footsteps and shots were fired at them before they could shine a torch in the direction of the footsteps. Genesis Ambason’s companions fled as shots continued to be fired, but the human rights defender was unable to flee due to being hit by a bullet.

On 14 September, at approximately 6:00 am, the tribal chief of Sitio Tambo discovered Genesis Ambason’s body approximately 130 metres from the military detachment. His corpse had six gunshot wounds, there was dark bruising on his face and chest and he had lost all of his teeth. It is believed that the human rights defender may have been tortured prior to his death.

Artemio Sublidan, commander of the 26th Infantry Battalion, has reportedly stated that the shooting of Genesis Ambason took place during an armed encounter with elements of the New People’s Army. The witnesses to the shooting now fear for their lives. Furthermore, at the time of the killing the human rights defender was wearing a money belt containing 18,000 pesos in cash (approximately EUR 333), and the CAFGU has reportedly refused to return it to Genesis Ambason’s family.

Local human rights organisations have previously complained that the elements of the AFP which were deployed to San Luis prioritised the protection of large-scale mining ventures. This has reportedly led to the violent suppression of those leading the efforts of the local indigenous communities to have these ventures removed from their ancestral territory.

On 28 September 2009, Mr Aladino ‘Datu Mansubaybay’ Badbaran, then Chairperson of Tagdumahan, was assassinated by unidentified individuals believed to form part of a paramilitary group.

I condemn the killing of Genesis Ambason, and believe that it was directly motivated by his peaceful and legitimate activities in the defence of human rights. In light of the reported pronouncements made by elements of the AFP claiming that the killing took place during an armed encounter, I am seriously concerned for the physical and psychological integrity of the individuals that were with Genesis Ambason at the time of the attack.

I urge the authorities in the Philippines to:

1. Carry out an immediate, thorough and impartial investigation into the killing of human rights defender Genesis Ambason, with a view to publishing the results and bringing those responsible to justice in accordance with international standards;

2. Take all necessary measures to guarantee the physical and psychological integrity and security of Genesis Ambason’s family, particularly those that were with him at the time of the attack;

3. Guarantee in all circumstances that all human rights defenders in the Philippines are able to carry out their legitimate human rights activities without fear of reprisals and free of all restrictions including judicial harassment.

AUTHOR: William Nicholas Gomes
URL: www.williamgomes.org
E-MAIL: williamgomes.org [at] gmail.com

]]> http://www.nl-aid.org/domain/human-rights/philippines-killing-of-human-rights-defender-mr-genesis-ambason/feed/ 0 Aung San Suu Kyi’s U.S visit: A Personal View http://www.nl-aid.org/discovery/opinion/aung-san-suu-kyis-u-s-visit-a-personal-view/ http://www.nl-aid.org/discovery/opinion/aung-san-suu-kyis-u-s-visit-a-personal-view/#comments Wed, 19 Sep 2012 11:00:01 +0000 admin http://www.nl-aid.org/?p=13416 I first became aware of the brutal nature of the regime in Burma and the story of Aung San Suu Kyi during the mid 1990s. Suu Kyi had been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1991 and five years later the award-winning journalist and filmmaker John Pilger released the film Inside Burma: Land of Fear that documented in particular the country’s use of slave labor. At that time I was in the process of completing my doctoral dissertation on economic development in Southeast Asia and, while I was both concerned and interested in the situation in Burma, it was largely in ways peripheral to my studies, Suu Kyi’s face an image on a T-shirt and the subject of a U2 song (“Walk On”).

My interest in democratization came when, in the course of my continuing research in Southeast Asia, the region was hit by the 1997-98 Asian financial crisis. In the maelstrom that followed, mass demonstrations both forced the resignation of General Suharto after 31 years in Indonesia, and provoked a political stand-off in Malaysia between the country’s long-serving Prime Minister Mahathir and his former deputy Anwar Ibrahim. Watching events unfold, my work slowly moved away from questions of economic management to analyze and explain why reform succeeded in one country but not in another.

Fast forward eight years. I had moved to the School of Oriental and African Studies where Suu Kyi herself had been studying for a PhD when she returned to Burma during the student uprising in 1988 that would see her assume the mantle of democracy activist. Within the space of the 12 months I was at SOAS, Southeast Asia was catapulted into the global media spotlight first by the coup in Thailand and then by the uprising in Burma led by the country’s Buddhist monks. Both events brought with them numerous opportunities for comment both on the TV news as well as radio for which I was lucky to be in the proverbial right place at the right time. By now, though my own work was firmly focused on questions of democratic transition and while I continued to primarily specialize on Malaysia, the media work I had done on Thailand and Burma meant that I was more cognizant of the historical backgrounds of both those countries. I had also become personally inspired by Aung San Suu Kyi’s story having read her Letters from Burma and Freedom from Fear as well as several of the biographies that have been written.

Less than a year after moving to the SOAS, I saw a job listing in The Chronicle of Higher Education for the Aung San Suu Kyi Endowed Chair in Asian Democracy at the University of Louisville and decided to apply for the post. The rest as they say is history. I can honestly say that at no point in my own personal journey did I ever expect that one day I would have the opportunity to meet ‘The Lady’ (as she is affectionately known in Burma) nor that Burma would have begun the dramatic changes we have seen in the past year and a half. It is rare, as an academic that in the cloistered halls of university campuses, that you actually witness the events and get to meet directly the people about whom you derive causal explanations for change. That I will is both an honor and a privilege.

AUTHOR: Dr. Jason Abbott
URL: http://profjabbott.blogspot.com
E-MAIL: jason.abbott [at] louisville.edu

]]> http://www.nl-aid.org/discovery/opinion/aung-san-suu-kyis-u-s-visit-a-personal-view/feed/ 0 First Batched of EMB-134 Super Tucano Arrived http://www.nl-aid.org/continent/south-east-asia/first-batched-of-emb-134-super-tucano-arrived/ http://www.nl-aid.org/continent/south-east-asia/first-batched-of-emb-134-super-tucano-arrived/#comments Mon, 17 Sep 2012 11:00:48 +0000 admin http://www.nl-aid.org/?p=13403

A-29 Super Tucano of the Colombian Air Force

About half of a year the purchase contract signed between Indonesia government with Brazillian aircraft manufacture, Embraer to order for 16 of turbobrop trainner, EMB-134 Super Tucano. The first 4 aircraft has landed at Halim PErdana Kusuma AFB, Jakarta on saturday afternoon September, 1st. EMB-134 will replace the aging Rockwell made trainer aircraft, OV-10 F aricraft serving the Indonesia Air Force for this past decade.

The planes landed 2 hours late behind the schedule. Final approach is Abdulrahman Saleh AFB, Malang, Eastern Java. This trainer planes will be served at 21 air squadron. Took off at sunday, September, 2nd from Halim Perdana Kusuma AFB. The air force Chief will perform the acceptance ceremonial in September 17th at Abdulrahman Saleh AFB, Malang, Eastern JAva.

The ferry flight was leaded by Capt. Carlos Alberto and took off from Embraer manufacture factory Gavião Peixoto at San Jose dos Campos, Brazil. Total flight hour record log was 54 hours and 35 minutes via 12 countries or 14 air base around the globe before landed in Indonesia. They are Cape Verde, Spain, Morroco, Italy, Greece Egypt, Qatar, Oman, India, Thailand before made final approach in Indonesia.

With Drop tanks under the wing board pylon, the plane could travel 2,855 km or about 7,5 hours flight without refueling. It could maintain flying altitude at 35,000 feet with 320 knots of speed or 580 km/h.

AUTHOR: Ricky
URL: http://semoa.wordpress.com
E-MAIL: ricky_flanker [at] yahoo.com

]]> http://www.nl-aid.org/continent/south-east-asia/first-batched-of-emb-134-super-tucano-arrived/feed/ 0 Where’s ‘Waldo’? The Internet and the Mysterious Case of the Missing Vice President of China http://www.nl-aid.org/continent/south-east-asia/wheres-waldo-the-internet-and-the-mysterious-case-of-the-missing-vice-president-of-china/ http://www.nl-aid.org/continent/south-east-asia/wheres-waldo-the-internet-and-the-mysterious-case-of-the-missing-vice-president-of-china/#comments Fri, 14 Sep 2012 09:00:48 +0000 admin http://www.nl-aid.org/?p=13372

Where’s Waldo (Xi Jingping)

Vice President Xi Jingping, the man presumed to be China’s next president, is missing. He has not been seen since the first of September when he addressed the Central Party School in Beijing. Planned meetings with Hillary Clinton and the prime ministers of Singapore and Denmark have been canceled. The absence has aroused such interest probably because it comes so close before the 18th Party Congress at which it is presumed that President Hu will hand the role over to Mr. Xi.

 
Naturally, rumors and conspiracy theories abound.  These seem primarily focused on the possibility of a back injury, possibly sustained while swimming or playing soccer, or perhaps a mild heart attack. Wilder theories include assassination attempts, car accidents or imprisonment, possibly at the hands of supporters of fallen leader, Bo Xilai. Russian President Vladimir Putin further stirred the pot by stating that a Asia Pacific Economic Co-operation meeting would be delayed because President Hu needed to attend to an important but unspecified domestic issue.

On one hand, it is surprising that China’s top leadership still has not learned the value of transparency. Kellee Tsai, a political scientist at John Hopkins University, was quoted as saying that the silence was “even more reckless than controlling the message.” Over time, if China’s top leaders did open up, there might be less speculation and their announcements might come to be greeted with less suspicion. Yet, at the same time, if US President Obama were suddenly to vanish and cancel several high-level meetings, would the situation look all that different? Naturally, the White House would make some kind of announcement. But speculation would likely arise anyway, just as the announcement that Obama’s speech at the Democratic National Convention was moved inside because of the weather sparked theories that the real reason for the move was the fear that they could not fill the larger stadium.
 
Whether the truth is a pulled muscle or something more sinister, it seems unlikely that any announcement or appearance could completely staunch the chatter. Perhaps the real lesson for Chinese leaders then, is that they need to learn to accept some healthy speculation and even wild conspiracy theories with good nature. Unfortunately, but unsurprisingly, the decision seems to have gone the other way, with censors apparently doing their best to restrict internet chatter about Mr. Xi’s absence.  Attempts to search for Mr. Xi on Chinese micro-blogs have been blocked and while a search for Mr. Xi on Google News produces a multitude of articles about his disappearance, the Chinese search engine Baidu turns up stories about the speech at the Central Party School. While there really is not much to say about Vice President Xi’s absence, China’s censors seem determined not to let people say it.

AUTHOR: Dr. Jason Abbott
URL: http://profjabbott.blogspot.com
E-MAIL: jason.abbott [at] louisville.edu

 

]]> http://www.nl-aid.org/continent/south-east-asia/wheres-waldo-the-internet-and-the-mysterious-case-of-the-missing-vice-president-of-china/feed/ 0 China and the Growth of Global Wind Power http://www.nl-aid.org/continent/south-east-asia/china-and-the-growth-of-global-wind-power/ http://www.nl-aid.org/continent/south-east-asia/china-and-the-growth-of-global-wind-power/#comments Thu, 13 Sep 2012 11:00:31 +0000 admin http://www.nl-aid.org/?p=13362 China is now the global leader in the rapidly growing wind energy sector. The International Wind Energy Development (IWED) report predicts that the wind power market, is expected to grow from $96.4 billion in 2011 to $161.2 billion in 2015. By 2020, wind power expected to supply almost 10 percent (9.1 percent) of the world’s power needs. The report predicts an average global growth rate of 15.5 percent a year for new annual installations through 2015, which would result in a total global capacity of 513.6 GW by 2015. The report also predicts an average annual growth rate of 11.5 percent from 2016 to 2020, which would bring world capacity to almost 1,000 GW by 2020.

In 2012 China surpassed the US and is now the world’s leading nation in terms of installed wind power generating capacity. In six years China has installed more than 50,000 MW of wind power generating capacity. This represents an annual growth rate of 87 percent for the last six years.

In 2011, China generated 70.6 terrawatt hours (TWh) of wind power, a 96 percent increase. In 2010 the 600,000 workers of the wind industry put up a new wind turbine every 30 minutes – one in three of those turbines was erected in China.

The Chinese government projects that China’s wind generating capacity would be more than 100,000 MW in 2015 and 200,000 MW in 2020. The IWED report in 2010 predicted that China could create up to 230 GW of wind power capacity by 2030. By 2030, the market could be three times bigger than today, representing an investment of more than a quarter trillion dollars. This means a new turbine will be erected every seven minutes.

Despite this exceptional growth, the power grid is one of the China’s major weaknesses. To address this problem the country needs to fast track construction of trans-regional power grids.

AUTHOR: Richard Matthews
URL: http://www.thegreenmarketoracle.com
E-MAIL: smallbusinessconsultants [at] gmail.com

 

]]> http://www.nl-aid.org/continent/south-east-asia/china-and-the-growth-of-global-wind-power/feed/ 0 Vietnam: Immediately release of 17 Vietnamese social activists and bloggers and the withdrawal of all charges http://www.nl-aid.org/continent/south-east-asia/vietnam-immediately-release-of-17-vietnamese-social-activists-and-bloggers-and-the-withdrawal-of-all-charges/ http://www.nl-aid.org/continent/south-east-asia/vietnam-immediately-release-of-17-vietnamese-social-activists-and-bloggers-and-the-withdrawal-of-all-charges/#comments Thu, 30 Aug 2012 09:00:52 +0000 admin http://www.nl-aid.org/?p=13186

Nguyễn Tấn Dũng

Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung, Socialist Republic of Vietnam

Re: Vietnam: Immediately release of 17 Vietnamese social activists and bloggers and the withdrawal of all charges

Dear Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung,

I am William Nicholas Gomes, Human Rights Ambassador for Salem-News.com.

I have been informed by Human Rights watch regarding seventeen Vietnamese social activists, including bloggers and citizen journalists have been in jail for up to a year.

I came to know about the situation from a joint letter written by HRW and other human rights organizations requesting the Immediate Release of 17 Vietnamese Social Activists and Bloggers.

I do agree on the with their demand, individually I add my voice on the raised concern expressed on the letter.

Most have not even been brought to trial. These seventeen individuals have been arbitrarily detained because of their work as citizen journalists, environmental advocates, anti-corruption crusaders and human rights defenders.

Over the last year, the international human rights community has gotten to know their names: Dang Xuan Dieu, Ho Duc Hoa, Paulus Le Van Son, Nguyen Van Duyet, Nong Hung Anh, Nguyen Van Oai, Chu Manh Son, Dau Van Duong, Tran Huu Duc, Nguyen Xuan Anh, Ho Van Oanh, Thai Van Dung, Tran Minh Nhat, Ta Phong Tan, Tran Vu Anh Binh, Nguyen Dinh Cuong, and Hoang Phong.

These individuals have simply sought to exercise their rights to freedom of expression, freedom of assembly and association guaranteed under international law. What they have in common is a passion for social justice, religious freedom, and involvement in the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer.

Unfortunately, they have been detained pursuant to vague, ill-defined statutes under the Vietnamese penal code: Article 79, which effectively restricts freedom of association and Article 88, which essentially limits freedom of speech. The recent petition filed by Stanford Law School’s Allen Weiner to the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention argued very well that their continued detention violates international law.

On March 12, 2012 nine international NGOs (ACAT France, Access, ARTICLE 19, Electronic Frontier Foundation, Front Line Defenders, Index On Censorship, Media Defence South East Asia, Media Legal Defence Initiative, Southeast Asian Press Alliance) sent you a letter which called for their immediate release and access to legal counsel. Since then, their situation has not improved but rather worsened: Four of these activists have been unjustly sentenced to prison terms and the remainder are being held without access to a lawyer. Blogger Paulus Le Son was transferred to Hoa Lo jail in Hanoi which is known for its harsh prison conditions. Another citizen journalist, Dang Xuan Dieu, has not been allowed a single family visitation over the last year.

I respectfully remind you of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam’s obligations under international law to protect the rights of its citizens when it ratified the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.

These rights are also protected under the Universal Declaration of Human Rights which is a matter customary international law. Therefore, freedom of association, freedom of speech and the right to a fair trial are basic rights which should be protected under Vietnam’s legal system and not unjustifiably curtailed.

I believe Vietnam as a country would benefit from greater respect for the civil liberties of its citizens and Vietnamese society would be richer with the contributions of all its citizens. I urgently call on your government to withdraw all the charges against those who are held pending trial and for those who have been sentenced to be unconditionally exonerated.

AUTHOR: William Nicholas Gomes
URL: www.williamgomes.org
E-MAIL: williamgomes.org [at] gmail.com

 

]]> http://www.nl-aid.org/continent/south-east-asia/vietnam-immediately-release-of-17-vietnamese-social-activists-and-bloggers-and-the-withdrawal-of-all-charges/feed/ 0 From Mao suits to Polo Shirts http://www.nl-aid.org/continent/south-east-asia/from-mao-suits-to-polo-shirts/ http://www.nl-aid.org/continent/south-east-asia/from-mao-suits-to-polo-shirts/#comments Wed, 29 Aug 2012 10:00:40 +0000 admin http://www.nl-aid.org/?p=13180 Recently, while reading an unofficial report on the proceedings of the trial of Gu Kailai, I noticed something that has long fascinated me about modern China. Those following the news may have seen that Gu, the wife of fallen Communist chief Bo Xilai, has just received a suspended death sentence for poisoning a British businessman. Yet it was not legal improprieties that caught my attention, these seemed about par for the course of a Chinese criminal trial. Instead, it was another facet of contemporary Chinese culture that attracted my attention, the ubiquity of the polo shirt. The report included pictures of Zhang Xiaojun, Gu’s alleged co-conspirator, and prominent Beijing attorney Shen Zhigeng (who despite allegedly being Gu’s first choice to represent her was only allowed to attend as an observer), both sporting polo shirts. Compare this to any American courtroom and the difference is stark (even Michael Jackson wore suits to his trials).

The Polo Shirt (originally called a tennis shirt), has come to dominate China nearly as completely as the Mao-suit (originally called a Sun Yat-Sen suit) did. True, the highest echelons of China’s leaders don suits and ties for photo ops. But, the polo shirt, along with its illegitimate cousin, the short sleeve dress shirt, dominates among all other strata of white collar workers. They are in evidence even in colder months, when they may be covered by a suit jacket and long sleeve versions also feature prominently. Unfortunately, the polo shirts favored in China often lack the monochromatic simplicity of more traditional western equivalents (see pictures). Many contain dizzy arrays of colors and/or over-sized logos.
 
Yet, much of China is sweltering in August and the wearing of climatically appropriate clothes should certainly be encouraged. By contrast, the Japanese government has an ongoing campaign to persuade Japanese men to shed their dark wool suits during the summer months.  
 
The polo shirt has become so central to officials’ wardrobes that it may even act as a de facto currency. A couple years ago, this blogger heard a story from a foreigner trying to start a small business in Beijing. In order to smooth over his relationship with local authorities, his connection helped him provide a “gift” to the local police. Specifically, he was advised to offer two extra-large (sizes run small in China and beer-guts are standard issue for mid-level officials) polo shirts from any one of five prestigious brands and not to cost less than 1,000 RMB (at that time approximately $127). Already amused, the foreign entrepreneur was staggered when he was politely informed that an upscale shop did not stock any polo shirts under 2,000 RMB. 
 
The adoption of the polo shirt could be interpreted as a rejection of Communist Mao suits in favor of an article of clothing that is consummately capitalist in its showcasing of logos. Without a doubt, it is an example of a Chinese twist on conspicuous consumption. Instead of expensive tailored suits, designer ties and glittering cuff links, nouveau riche Chinese seem content to purchase ever pricier polo shirts. Partially, this may be because it is easier for novice capitalists to recognize logos on polo shirt than subtler hints of opulence, such as fine Italian wool and expert tailoring. Yet, even if Gu’s co-defendant had opted for the finest 3-piece Mohair blend that Savile Row had to offer, the guilty verdict was probably a forgone conclusion.

AUTHOR: Dr. Jason Abbott
URL: http://profjabbott.blogspot.com
E-MAIL: jason.abbott [at] louisville.edu

 

]]> http://www.nl-aid.org/continent/south-east-asia/from-mao-suits-to-polo-shirts/feed/ 0