2012: ‘A really bad year for human rights in Cambodia’

By Clothilde Le Coz, Asian Correspondant.com - Nov 29, 2012

Hun Sen and his supporting agents

“Cambodia has no political prisoners but politicians with criminal acts”. That is what the Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen stated publicly on November 23 during a public speech. Rupert Abbott is the Amnesty international researcher for Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam. On November 18, he published a commentary in the Global Post in which – referring to 71-year-old journalist Mam Sonando – he states “Amnesty International considers him to be a prisoner of conscience, jailed solely for the peaceful exercise of his right to freedom of expression”. Asian Correspondent met him to discuss the state of human rights in Cambodia after the historical visit of US President Obama and the expectations that the ASEAN drew in the country.

What do you think of Prime Minister’s Hun Sen statement on human rights according to which ‘Cambodia is not that bad compared to neighbouring countries‘ ?

There are certainly other countries with serious human rights problems, including Vietnam for example. But Cambodia’s donors might say that Cambodia has received billions of dollars in assistance from foreign taxpayers. And after 20 years of promised reforms, the justice system looks a bit better, but in substance there has been little change.

For example, the control of the courts by political and business elites continues. And we can see these courts persecuting human rights defenders and grassroots groups that have been emerging in the context of land and natural resource conflict and operating outside the usual power structures. This seems to be concerning the Cambodian authorities.

But Cambodia should be proud of its civil society, which is changing, and I think that this is not going unnoticed by the government. Look at what happened at Boeung Kak Lake for example, where we saw a community stand up for itself against a forced eviction and actually achieve concessions from the authorities. These communities are learning from each other; the Boeung Kak community is inspiring others, such as Phnom Penh’s Borei Keila’s community. This is different to an NGO going to community and telling them how to organize. NGOs represent human rights – and therefore principles, while these grassroots groups and community groups represent people.

Do you think Obama’s visit met the expectation of Cambodians?

I am not sure what Cambodians generally expected. Amnesty International – along with most Cambodian human rights groups – was generally pleased since everything that the U.S President said was made public and he was strong on human rights. In hindsight, perhaps it was a shame that more conditions weren’t put on his visit, particularly the immediate release of prisoner of conscience Mam Sonando. Realistically, I think President Obama’s stance was as strong as one could have expected. There is another point to be made. Other leaders in Cambodia for the ASEAN and East Asia Summits – from Japan, Australia and India, which is the biggest democracy in the world – didn’t say much at all about the human rights situation. So Obama’s strong words should be considered in this context also.

Do you think a crackdown on human rights defenders can happen now that the ASEAN and East Asia Summits are over?

2012 has been a really bad year for human rights in Cambodia, especially with regard to land conflict and freedom of expression in that context. There is no doubt the government knows the land problem is serious: there have been public policy shifts to address the problem. The hope is that the government reflects a bit, after the summits, and understands that its reputation is at stake. The human rights situation needs to be improved, with the justice system strengthened, and civil society allowed to contribute to the more equal development of the country.

Of course, the government will not be happy about the negative attention it got around the human rights situation during the first ever visit of a United States president. We hope that the international community won’t start to look away. Elections are coming in nine months, which historically means further restrictions on freedom of expression.

What is your opinion on the culture of the impunity still going on in the country?

Fighting impunity requires reform to the justice system and strengthening the rule of law, so that the courts protect ordinary Cambodians.

This year, we have seen impunity in a number of high profile cases. For example, there was no investigation in to the May killing of a 14-year-old girl during the forced eviction of a community in Kratie province’s Pro Ma village. And the investigation and judicial proceedings around the April killing of environment activist Chut Wutty have been unsatisfactory.

What are your expectations for Cambodia in the future?

We have to hope that those in power institute reforms – including around the land problem and the justice system – that are in the interests of the population, while embracing civil society as a dynamic force to contribute to the fairer development of the country.

If restrictions on freedom of expression persist and the land crisis continues, it is hard to predict exactly what will happen. But we are concerned that we may see some of the government’s gains made over the past 20 years, in terms of economic development and poverty reduction, being undone.
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Mitt Romney and President Obama having lunch Thursday

By Rachel Weiner, The Washington Post - November 28, 2012

CAN HUN SEN AND SAM RAINSY OF CAMBODIA LEARN FROM THIS STYLE OF POLITICS FOR THE SAKE OF KHMER NATION BUILDING?

Mitt Romney and President Obama

Former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney will have lunch Thursday at the White House with President Obama in the private dining room, the White House announced. It will be their first meeting since the election; press will not be allowed.

A Romney aide called the lunch a gracious invitation from the president that the former GOP presidential challenger was glad to accept. Romney is also meeting with former running mate Rep. Paul Ryan while in town Thursday.

Obama promised in his election night victory speech that he would sit down with Romney “to talk about where we can work together to move this country forward.” In a later press conference he elaborated, saying Romney “presented some ideas during the course of the campaign that I actually agree with. So it would be interesting to talk to him about something like that.”

Since election night, Romney has all but disappeared from the public sphere. He has emerged only in photos taken by bystanders who spotted him pumping gas and visiting Disneyland. He has not tweeted since Nov. 10; his recent Facebook messages are about Thanksgiving.

Obama met with Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) in Chicago shortly after McCain lost the 2008 presidential election. That meeting was private, as well, but photographers and a pool reporter were given a few minutes of access.

Obama and McCain pledged after that meeting to “take on government waste and bitter partisanship.” But their relationship quickly turned sour, with the Republican senator later saying he’d been snubbed.
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Khmer Krom relic to seek UNESCO recognition

November 19,2012

O Keo (Oc Eo) Ancient site of Kampuchea Krom

The 450ha Oc Eo (O Keo) relic is located in the area of Sap – Ba The Mountain, Thoai Son district, the Mekong Delta province of An Giang.

This is a well-known relic, first excavated by French archaeologist Louis Malleret in 1944, which is believed to have been a prosperous commercial port of the once-powerful Phu Nam (Funan--origin of Angkorian) kingdom 2,000 years ago.

Artifacts found in this area are clear evidence of an advanced civilisation with developed arts and crafts including jewellery and pottery making.

There were also a system of canals and various temples and tombs built with bricks and stones in this area, which were the combination of ancient civilisations in the region and the local culture.

Source: VietNamNet
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Vietnam's dangerous economic downturn

by Rodion Ebbighausen November 26,2012
Deutsche Welle Online

Vietnam's economy is heading for a crash

A little over a decade ago, Vietnam had a booming economy. An economic crisis and mismanagement on all levels have driven the country to the brink of ruin. It's up to the government to save what's left.

Tuan is a young, educated and ambitious Vietnamese from the city of Hanoi. The country's economic golden days of recent allowed him to set aside a small fortune - at least enough for a house for his family. He had even considered buying a car. As an official working for the regional government, he had a decent income. In addition, he invested in real estate and in a television engineering company.

But his optimism has recently become overshadowed by fear and uncertainty. He has now given up the thought of purchasing an automobile. He is worried he will lose his savings and that the real estate market will collapse.

"I don't know how things will turn out. The national debt is weighing heavy on our country's shoulders. In the end, we all have to bear the brunt."

Real estate prices have fallen by 30 percent. Inflation continues to grow; in October 2012, the inflation rate was seven percent. The Vietnamese stock exchange index HNX is at the lowest point it a year. Ratings agencies such as Moody's and Standard & Poor's have downgraded Vietnamese bonds as "highly speculative."

Dangerous downturn

The country's economic growth has slowed down to between four and five percent. That is not enough to create jobs for the rapidly growing population and the rising number of people entering the job market.

"The slowdown is significant for a regime which couples its legitimacy with economic growth," according to Adam Fforde of Victoria University in Melbourne, Australia.
Fforde estimates that around one million people have lost their jobs within the past two years - a development expected to have implications in a country lacking a social welfare system.

Government rescue?
"I really hope the government finds a solution to the economic troubles," Tuan said, showing cautious optimism.

Vietnam expert Fforde - along with many others - is skeptical about the government's capabilities to find a solution, as it was the government itself who was responsible for a large part of the country's economic trouble in the first place; the "Doi Moi" program, which was introduced in 1986 to politically and economically open up and reform the country, has proved to be not very sustainable.

"In 2007, the balance just fell apart," according to Fforde. "In the end, the sad truth came to the fore: the government might not have as much control as it appears and that everything up until now might have just been good luck."

Crisis management criticized

Vietnam - with a strong emphasis on its export market - was hit hard by the international economic crisis of 2007. Decision makers in Hanoi introduced expensive stimulus packages. But a large portion of that money got lost in corruption and mismanagement. All that's left is a huge deficit. Credit institutes are now stuck with up to 15 percent of toxic debt.

Party leadership has closed ranks after months of internal power struggles - a symbol that government has "understood just how serious the situation is," Vietnam expert Jörg Wischermann told DW. For the party leaders, it was first and foremost about securing their own power, then, about dealing with the country's issues.

Fforde sees the solution to Vietnam's current crisis in the development of a middle class. For that, investment would be necessary in the education and health sectors as well as in infrastructure. Reforms in the agrarian sector, which have not been updated since 1986, were also of vital necessity.
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Catalonia Independence from Spain?

by Fiona Ortiz and Braden Phillips
Reuters November 25,2012

WILL THIS BE THE BEST CHOICE FOR KHMER KROM UNDER THE VIETNAM'S CONTROL?

BARCELONA—Separatists in Spain’s Catalonia won regional elections on Sunday but failed to get a resounding mandate for a referendum on independence, which had threatened to pile political uncertainty on top of Spain’s economic woes.

Catalan President Artur Mas, who has implemented unpopular spending cuts, had called an early election to test support for his new drive for independence for Catalonia, a wealthy but financially troubled region in northeastern Spain.

Voters frustrated with the economic crisis and the Spanish tax system, which they claim is unfair to Catalonia, handed almost two-thirds of the 135-seat local parliament to four different separatist parties that all want to hold a referendum on secession from Spain.

But they punished the main separatist group, Mas’s Convergence and Union alliance, or CiU, cutting back its seats to 50 from 62. That will make it difficult for Mas to lead a united drive to hold a referendum in defiance of the constitution and the central government in Madrid.

“Mas clearly made a mistake. He promoted a separatist agenda and the people have told him they want other people to carry out his agenda,” said Jose Ignacio Torreblanca, head of the European Council on Foreign Relations’ Madrid office.

The result will come as a relief for Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy, who is battling a deep recession, 25 per cent unemployment and high borrowing costs.

Mas, surrounded by supporters chanting “independence, independence,” said he would still try to carry out the referendum: “It is more complex, but there is no need to give up on the process.”

Resurgent Catalan separatism had become a major headache for Rajoy, threatening to provoke a constitutional crisis over the legality of a referendum just as he is trying to concentrate on a possible international bailout for Spain.

Catalonia shares some of its tax revenue with the rest of Spain and many Catalans believe their economy would prosper if they could invest more of their taxes at home. The tax issue has revived a long-dormant secessionist spirit in Catalonia.

Mas had tried to ride the separatist wave after hundreds of thousands of people demonstrated in the streets in September, demanding independence for Catalonia, which has its own language and sees itself as distinct from the rest of Spain.

In a speech to supporters on Sunday night, Mas recognized that he had lost ground, and though CiU is still the largest group in the Catalan parliament, he said he would need the support of another party to govern and to pass harsh austerity measures.

“We’ve fallen well short of the majority we had. We’ve been ruling for two years under very tough circumstances,” he said.

Catalonia’s traditional separatist party, the Republican Left, or ERC, won the second biggest presence in the Catalan parliament, with 21 seats. The Socialists took 20 seats. And Rajoy’s centre-right People’s Party won 19.

Catalonia, with 7.5 million people, is more populous than Denmark. Its economy is almost as big as Portugal’s and it generates one-fifth of Spanish gross domestic product.

Catalonia's PROFILE:
Proud of its own identity and language, Catalonia is Spain's richest and most highly industrialised region, but also one of the most independent-minded.

With a distinct history stretching back to the early middle ages, many Catalans think of themselves as a separate nation from the rest of Spain.

This feeling is fed by memories of the Franco dictatorship, which attempted to suppress Catalan identity, and is nowhere more clearly expressed than in the fierce rivalry between FC Barcelona and Real Madrid, Spain's top football clubs.

Building human towers - "castells" - is a Catalan tradition originating in the 18th century

Barcelona: Bustling port, regional capital, economic centre, popular tourist destination

Catalonia's beaches attract tourists from across Europe

A roughly triangular region in Spain's far north-east corner, Catalonia is separated by the Pyrenean mountains from southern France, with which it has close historical ties.

Most of the region's population lives in Barcelona, its vibrant political and economic hub and a popular European travel destination.

Holiday-makers also flock to the Mediterranean beaches of the Costa Brava and Costa Daurada/Dorada, and the Pyrenees are popular with hikers, making tourism an important part of Catalonia's economy.

At a glance

Politics
Catalonia's leader is pushing for a referendum on self-determination; polls show half of Catalans want to break away from Spain. Spain is divided into 17 autonomous communities, with separatist desires strongest in Catalonia and the Basque country Culture: Catalonia's laws require teachers, doctors and public sector workers to use Catalan, an official language along with Spanish Economy: Catalonia is Spain's wealthiest but most indebted region. Harsh austerity measures have boosted separatist sentiment

But it is manufacturing - traditionally textiles, but more recently overtaken in importance by the chemical industry, food-processing, metalworking - that make the region Spain's economic powerhouse, along with a growing service sector.

History
The area first emerged as a distinct entity with the rise of the County of Barcelona to pre-eminence in the 11th century. In the 12th century, the county was incorporated into the Crown of Aragon, helping it to become a major medieval sea power.

Catalonia has been part of Spain since its genesis in the 15th century, when King Ferdinand of Aragon and Queen Isabella of Castile married and united their realms.

Initially retaining its own institutions, the region was ever more tightly integrated into the Spanish state, until the 19th century ushered in a renewed sense of Catalan identity, which flowed into a campaign for political autonomy and even separatism. The period also saw an effort to revive Catalan, long in decline by then, as a language of literature.

When Spain became a republic in 1931, Catalonia was soon given broad autonomy. During the Spanish Civil War, Catalonia was a key Republican stronghold, and the fall of Barcelona to Gen Francisco Franco's right-wing forces in 1939 marked the beginning of the end of Spanish resistance to him.

Under Franco's ultra-conservative rule, autonomy was revoked, Catalan nationalism repressed and use of the Catalan language restricted.

Politics and language
The pendulum swung back with the emergence of a democratic Spain after Franco's death. Catalonia now has is its own parliament and executive - together known as the "Generalitat" in Catalan - with extensive autonomy.

Until recently, few Catalans wanted full independence, but Spain's painful economic crisis has seen a surge in support for separation. Many Catalans believe the affluent region pays more to Madrid than it gets back, and blame much of Spain's debt crisis on the central government.
In 2012, the regional government, led by moderate nationalists, promised to start preparations for a referendum on independence if re-elected. Madrid says it will not accept a pro-independence vote.

The use of Catalan - a language as close to the regional languages of southern France like Occitan as it is to Castilian (Spanish) - has equal status with Castilian and is now actively encouraged in education, official use and the media. However, Castilian predominates in Barcelona, and is still the first language of a narrow majority of Catalans, who are nearly all bilingual.

Variants are also spoken in the region of Valencia to the south, and on the Balearic islands, leading many Catalan nationalists to regard all three regions- as well as the traditionally Catalan-speaking Roussillon region of France - as forming the "Catalan Countries".
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Hun Sen's Wife Disrespected Obama with 'Servants Greetings'

By LYDIA WARREN and DAILY MAIL REPORTER - November 22,2012

Hun Sen's wife greeted President Obama

President Obama's historic first tour of Southeast Asia ended with a questionably disrespectful exchange between the president and Cambodia's first lady, Bun Rany.

Obama became the first ever U.S. president to visit Cambodia earlier this week, when he ended his four-day visit to the region by attending the annual East Asia Summit it was hosting.

Unlike the president's constructive visit to Myanmar, where he met with opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi and praised the country's progress, Obama had made it clear he was only in Cambodia to attend the summit.


The president went straight from the airport to a meeting with Prime Minister Hun Sen that White House officials described as tense, with Obama emphasizing his concerns over the Cambodian leader's poor democratic leadership model and the country's worsening human rights abuses.

Then later Obama and Sen changed into traditional silk shirts before settling down for dinner with the other world leaders at the East Asia Summit in Phnom Penh.

Just before dinner, all appeared to be well as Sen formally introduced his wife, Cambodia's First Lady Bun Rany, to the president.

Rany greeted Obama with the traditional ‘sampeah’ greeting -- a pressed-hands gesture that shows respect for a person. Where a person's hands are placed and how deeply they bow during the gesture indicates their level of respect for the person they are greeting.

Rany placed her hands at chest level and tilted the upper half of her body slightly, leading the editorial board at Investor's Business Daily to believe that she was showing disrespect to the president.

''First lady Bun Rany greeted Obama with a traditional "sampeah" pressed-hands greeting reserved for servants, a little dig that was probably lost on him but not to Asians,' the editorial board wrote.

But Angkor tour guide Ratanak Eath says the chest-level sampeah is the traditional greeting in Cambodia between peers.

'People of equal age or rank ought to sampeah each other by placing the [pressed] hands at the chest level,' he said.

The higher the hands are placed and the deeper the bow, the more respect a greeting conveys.

A sampeah at mouth level is reserved for bosses, elders or higher-ranking people. For parents, grandparents or teachers, a sampeah is typically raised to nose level and when saluting the king or monks, the sampeah is raised to eyebrow level.
The highest level for a sampeah is the forehead, which is reserved for God or sacred statues.

According to Investor's Business Daily and a few bloggers, however, Rany's sampeah was only fit for a servant.

Was the first lady getting her own back over the president's harsh words earlier to her husband or did she simply forget that she was shaking hands with the leader of the free world?

During the visit, Obama said the trip should not be seen as an endorsement of Hun Sen and the government he has led since the 1980s, when Ronald Reagan was in power in the White House.

'He highlighted a set of issues that he's concerned about within Cambodia,' Ben Rhodes, a deputy national security adviser to the president, told Reuters.

'In particular, I would say the need for them to move toward elections that are fair and free, the need for an independent election commission associated with those elections, the need to allow for the release of political prisoners and for opposition parties to be able to operate.'

Rhodes, who agreed the talks could 'tense', said Obama had focused all of his comments on human rights and had told Hun Sen that Cambodia has 'much further to go on that set of issues'.

But Hun Sen responded that concerns over human rights were exaggerated and Cambodia had a better record than many countries, U.S. and Cambodian officials said.

There was also a stark difference between the president's welcome in Cambodia and Myanmar, where tens of thousands of people had lined city streets with American flags to cheer his motorcade.

In Phnom Penh, Air Force One landed to a setting sun and only small clusters of Cambodians.

The president's motorcade then drove to the East Asia Summit at the Diamond Island Convention Center, where President Obama met with world leaders including Indonesia's President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, Brunei's Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah and China's Prime Minister Wen Jiabao.

The visit was the last stop on his four-day trip to Southeast Asia that began in Bangkok.

Many Cambodians also credit their leader with helping the country emerge from the horrors of the 1970s Khmer Rouge reign, when systematic genocide left 1.7 million dead.

During their talks, Obama also addressed holding fair elections next year after Hun Sen's critics say they are heavily skewed in favor of his ruling party, a spokesman said.

Hun Sen also reiterated a request to forgive most of the country's debt of more than $370 million to the United States.

Last year, Cambodia offered to repay 30 per cent of the debt, which they said was a compromise as the money was used by a pro-American government in the 1970s to repress its own people.
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Press Freedom in Vietnam Fades from View

Asia Sentinel - November 19,2012

Former BBC Correspondent barred from conference

As Vietnam’s annual East Sea Conference gets underway this week, Bill Hayton, former BBC correspondent in Hanoi, who was invited to attend by the Foreign Ministry’s think tank to attend, has been banned from entry by the Ministry of Public Security.

“Vietnam is a country that bans authors because of what they write,” Hayton wrote in an email. “I know this because it has just happened to me. Two months ago the Diplomatic Academy of Viet Nam invited me to attend its annual East Sea conference. Today, standing at the airport check-in counter at Heathrow Airport, I finally abandoned my efforts to get there.”

Said another attendee to the conference in an email: “Hayton’s exclusion makes sense only when viewed through the 'left hand not knowing what the right hand is doing' lens. This annual workshop, now in its 4th year, is Vietnam's only serious effort to dialogue with international experts on Asian relations about the crisis posed by China's expansionist claims in the South China Sea.”

The previous meetings, the source said, have served Vietnam well, judging from the growing numbers of commentators who no longer see all claimants as equally to blame for the confrontations.

“It could be that the internal security folks worry that cruel things may be said about Vietnam's big neighbor, but there's no special reason why they should fear the words of Bill Hayton any more than those of many other participants.”

Hayton is said to have had a protracted battle with authorities. He is the author of Vietnam: Rising Dragon, published in 2010 by Yale University press, a critical look at the country.

“The only reason the ministry can have for banning me is because it doesn't like the book I published two years ago, 'Vietnam:Rising Dragon, he said in an email to colleagues. “It can be the only reason - I have no contact with dissident organizations, I have never plotted to overthrow the party or the state and I have never committed an offence against Vietnam's immigration laws. Of course, when I was the BBC reporter in Hanoi six years ago, I regularly broke the Press Law - but then every foreign journalist in Vietnam breaks the Press Law, almost every single day. It's impossible to be a foreign journalist in Vietnam without contravening the Law's draconian restrictions.”

It isn’t only because of Hayton’s squabbles with the ministry however. Reporters Without Borders says the country has been steadily slipping down the list of countries where press freedom is threatened. It now ranks 172d in the world, two steps up from China at 174th. The decision to bar Hayton thus appears to be emblematic of the country’s increasingly harsh attitude towards a free press. According to a lengthy September report for the Committee to Protect Journalists by Shawn W. Crispin, the NGO’s Southeast Asia senior representative, the CPJ counts 14 journalists and bloggers locked up by authorities for critical reporting on the government and corruption.

“Vietnam’s Communist Party-dominated government maintains some of the strictest and harshest media controls in all of Asia even as it portrays the nation as having an open economy,” Crispin wrote. “Through economic liberalization measures, beginning with market-oriented reforms in the mid-1980s and culminating in the country’s entry to the World Trade Organization in 2007, national leaders have worked to integrate the country into the global community.”

Despite maintaining a certain degree of openness, including over its communications infrastructure while integrating into the global economy, the CPJ report said, “Authorities are simultaneously striking back against independent journalists and political dissidents who use digital platforms. Rising grassroots resentment of state-backed land-grabbing, perceptions that the government has ceded territory and made unfavorable concessions to China, and, now, signs of an economic slowdown have all been covered critically in independent blogs.”

Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung’s administration has cracked down harshly on dissent, imprisoning scores of political dissidents, religious activists, and independent bloggers, many for their advocacy of multi-party democracy, human rights, and greater government accountability, according to Crispin’s report. The country has now become Asia’s second worst jailer of the press, trailing only China, according to CPJ research.

Authorities have also ramped up Internet surveillance and filtering and applied even more pressure on the long-repressed mainstream media. All of the 80-odd newspapers in circulation across the country are owned and controlled by the government. There are around 80 newspapers in circulation across the country, of which a dozen or so are national in scope.

International journalists work in Vietnam on renewable six-month visas, a system that encourages self-censorship for those keen to maintain their position in the country, the bureau chief of one international news agency who spoke on condition of anonymity told CPJ. After one journalist reported on state repression of political dissidents and independent bloggers, authorities shortened his visa renewal period to three months and required government review of his most recent reporting.

Reporters who parachute in, meanwhile, are required to hire a government-appointed minder for the dong equivalent of US$200 per day, a supervisory arrangement that restricts reporters’ ability to conduct candid interviews with independent sources and limits coverage to major news organizations that can afford to stump up that kind of money.
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Rice farmers unhappy despite Vietnam tops global position

Tuoi Tre - November 8,2012

Vietnam is likely to become the world’s largest rice exporter for the first time this year, but local farmers are not happily embracing the news as they have gained little profit compared to last year’s crops.

As of the end of October, Vietnam is still in the leading position, followed by India and Thailand, with local businesses signing contracts to export some 7.6 million tons of rice, according to figures from the Vietnam Food Administration (VFA).

“Vietnam may export a total 7.7 million tons of rice by the end of this year, and will thus surpass India to become the world’s largest exporter,” said VFA chairman Truong Thanh Phong.

This is the highest export volume ever recorded in 20 years, and it is a huge achievement given the reduced rice production and the troubled export market, he evaluated.

Being in the No.1 place will create a reputation and advantages for Vietnam on the world market, and help rake in more foreign currency for the country, commented Doctor Nguyen Van Sanh, head of the Mekong Delta Institute for Research and Development.

However, rice experts and analysts have a different view on the issue.

Vietnam has only been successful in increasing export volumes, while export effectiveness, and most importantly, the income of rice farmers, are not adequately ensured, they said.

Le Van Giau, a farmer in the Mekong Delta province of An Giang, said his income from the 1.7-hectare paddy field this year dropped by 20 percent compared to last year’s crop, as prices have fallen.

But he is still luckier than farmers with smaller rice fields, who have had to take on extra jobs such as fishing or selling fruit to make ends meet.

Low values

The ten-month average export price of Vietnamese rice this year is US$433.7 a ton, some $50 a ton lower than the same period last year.

Domestic rice prices also slumped against soaring input costs, which have gradually lowered farmers’ profits from their paddy fields.

The export values from rice shipments this year are lower than in 2011, and stand far behind those of Thailand and India due to the cheap prices, said Nguyen Minh Nhi, former chairman of the An Giang People’s Committee.

“Therefore, becoming the world’s largest rice exporter doesn’t mean much to farmers, as most of them are still facing poverty and instable incomes,” he said.

The VFA, meanwhile, explained that the reduced exporting prices were a global phenomenon, rather than a case particular to Vietnam.

However Nguyen Dinh Bich, from the Market Research Institute, said there was another cause -- mistaken predictions on the exporting market conducted by VFA.

As of September 2011, VFA began to increase rice exporting prices to keep pace with Thailand, and managed to export at rates equal to the rival a month later, he elaborated.

By the end of last year, the price gap between Vietnam and Thailand was only $20 a ton, rather than the $40 a ton in the first eight months of the year.

However, the rice management agencies have forgotten that there was still another big rival -- India, which was willing to empty their huge unsold stock at a very competitive price, he added.

“In the last months of 2011, Indian rice exporting prices were at some points $100-$119 a ton lower than their Vietnamese counterparts, and it’s understandable why global customers turned their back on Vietnam and switched to India,” he concluded.
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The "ASEAN WAY": Indecision and Infighting

By MARK MCDONALD - IHT News

HONG KONG — Southeast Asian leaders have failed — again — to make any headway on resolving the dangerous territorial disputes over various islands in the South China Sea.

At their regional summit meeting this week, they could not even agree to set up a crisis hotline. Even bitter enemies like North and South Korea have a cross-border hot line — three, in fact.

The meeting of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, or Asean, adjourned amid infighting and acrimony on Tuesday with Cambodia, the host nation, appearing to derail efforts at establishing a maritime code of conduct.

A binding code of conduct has been on the Asean agenda for more than a decade, and the group has blown its 2012 deadline. Riven by factionalism, the group seems to have no clear way forward, despite increasing tensions over several implacable territorial disputes.

The Spratly island group, the Paracel islands and a tiny atoll near the Philippines known as the Scarborough Shoal are claimed by various Asean countries, claims that overlap those of China, which said in June that the islands are “indisputably” Chinese territory.

Although not one of Asean’s 10 members, China counts Cambodia as a key ally and holds tremendous leverage in the region through its economic might, diplomatic clout and an increasingly muscular military.

China has long opposed what is known as an “internationalized” approach to drafting a code of conduct for the South China Sea — that is, any approach that would include the United States. And while Asean dithers on drafting its own overarching code, Beijing prefers to hold bilateral negotiations on its island disputes with each individual claimant.

Asean has never been very efficient at making policy, nor has it been very good at policing its own members, in part because of the so-called “Asean Way,” which prohibits members from interfering in each other’s domestic affairs. Myanmar, for example, after joining Asean in 1997, existed as a thuggish military regime with barely a word of reproach from its fellow members.

The group also requires a unanimous vote on any major decisions. A single dissenter among the group can block an otherwise-unanimous decision — effectively creating a hung jury. Landlocked Laos, therefore, will have just as much say over a maritime code as Vietnam, Malaysia, Indonesia or the Philippines.

Cambodia and its authoritarian prime minister, Hun Sen, are now solidly within Beijing’s political orbit, perhaps cajoled by more than half a billion dollars in Chinese loans, grants and gifts over the past three months. At recent Asean gatherings, Cambodia has appeared to act as a kind of Chinese proxy.
Chinese investment in Cambodia last year approached $2 billion, according to a report by Reuters — twice the combined total invested by fellow Asean countries and 10 times more than the United States.

Security analysts and regional leaders say that nasty maritime standoffs over the contested islands — due in part to a more assertive and far-reaching China — have made a code of conduct more necessary than ever.

A brushing incident at sea, for example, even an inadvertent collision, has the potential to rapidly escalate: One nation’s “bumping” is another’s “ramming.” As one Asean diplomat put it, such situations can get “a little tricky.”

Even so, the various claimants still have no collective way of communicating when such incidents occur. There’s no hotline, for example, to defuse tensions over a conflict at sea, such as the Vietnam-China skirmish over the Spratlys in 1988 in which 70 Vietnamese sailors were killed. And earlier this year a China-Philippines standoff at Scarborough Shoal dramatically raised regional tensions.

At the Asean meeting in Phnom Penh this week, Indonesia proposed the installation of a regional hot line as a practical, real-world safeguard while a formal Asean code of conduct is hashed out.

Marty Natelegawa, the Indonesian foreign minister, said that “in the future, should there be any incident of the type that we had, the ministers should be able to quickly pick up the phone and establish communication.”

Without a hot line, he said, “the risk of misunderstanding and miscalculation is bigger.”

Mr. Natelegawa said he got the general sense from other Asean members that the hot line could be “something important.”

But no action was taken.

That’s the Asean Way.
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ASEAN Human Rights Declaration Doesn’t Meet International Norms

VOA News - November 21st, 2012 at 3:30 am (UTC-4)

The United States is warning that the Association of South East Asian Nations' recently adopted human rights declaration does not meet international standards and could be misused by repressive governments in the region.

Southeast Asian leaders on Sunday adopted the non-binding declaration with the aim of guaranteeing protections for the approximately 600 million people living in the 10-country regional bloc. ASEAN Secretary-General Surin Pitsuwan called the agreement a “major, major development,” saying countries in the region have now committed themselves “to the highest standards.”

But the U.S. State Department said Tuesday it was “deeply concerned” the declaration could “weaken and erode” long-standing principles enshrined in the United Nations's Universal Declaration on Human Rights. State spokesman Victoria Nuland decries what she calls the declaration's use of “'cultural relativism' to suggest that rights in the UDHR do not apply everywhere.”

At issue for many is Article Seven, which suggests that national or regional exceptions to the “realization of human rights” may be necessary on the basis of “political, economic, legal, social, cultural, historical and religious backgrounds.” Rights groups say the clause provides a loophole to authoritarian governments in the region, such as Vietnam or Cambodia, to get around the agreement.

Others are concerned that several basic rights and freedoms are missing from the declaration. A statement by a network of more than 50 human rights groups, including Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, say freedom of association and freedom from forced disappearances are among the most glaring omissions.

The group's statement also laments that the process in drafting the declaration was “dictated by its member states with little meaningful consultation with the vast array of civil society and grassroots organizations” in the region. Civil society groups say, although an ASEAN committee was formed to create initial drafts, these were never released publicly, forcing many people to rely on leaked drafts or rumors.

That sentiment was echoed by the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay in a statement on Monday. But Pillay and others still hold out hope that the ASEAN declaration could eventually conform to international norms. In her statement, Pillay pointed to the evolution of other regional human rights systems, saying she was “confident this will be the same for ASEAN.”
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Obama Scolds Cambodia on Human Rights

By LAURA MECKLER - November 20,2012
The Wall Street Journal

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia—President Barack Obama used a bilateral meeting with Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen to criticize this country's human-rights record, suggesting the leader look to Myanmar, a liberalizing former military dictatorship, for inspiration on reform.

Ahead of the meeting Monday night, White House officials said Mr. Obama never would have met with Mr. Hun Sen or have visited Cambodia were the country not hosting the Association of Southeast Asian Nations meetings, which the U.S. is attending. Mr. Obama arrived here directly from Myanmar, where he had celebrated human-rights improvements.

The 60-year-old prime minister, a former commander in the Khmer Rouge, has ruled Cambodia since 1985. He held on to power with his Cambodian People's Party through violence and intimidation, most notably in the 1997 coup that eliminated his royalist rivals from power. He faces re-election to another five-year term in a 2013 poll against an opposition that is struggling to unify.

New York-based Human Rights Watch said in a report last week that more than 300 people had been killed in politically motivated attacks since 1991, when a United Nations-brokered agreement ended a civil war, but that not a single case had resulted in a credible investigation and conviction. The organization called on Mr. Obama to use his trip to Cambodia to publicly demand reforms and end official impunity.

White House deputy national security adviser Ben Rhodes later agreed with a characterization of meeting as "tense," and said that the president spent most of the meeting on human-rights issues.

"He began by expressing that his trip to Burma demonstrated the positive benefits that flow from countries moving down the path of political reform and increasing respect for human rights," Mr. Rhodes said.

Mr. Obama pointed to a need for fair and free elections in Cambodia and for the release of political prisoners. He highlighted the case of a radio broadcaster sentenced to prison for something said during a program, Mr. Rhodes said. "He said that those types of issues are an impediment to the United States and Cambodia developing a deeper bilateral relationship," he said.

Afterward, President Obama joined other regional leaders for the U.S-Asean summit in a nearby room, where Mr. Hun Sen's long opening remarks included congratulations to Mr. Obama for winning re-election.

John Sifton of Human Rights Watch said he was disappointed that the White House didn't make a more public statement about human-rights abuses, either by Mr. Obama himself or one of his top national security aides.

"Of course we welcome that the president raised human-rights issues with Hun Sen in the bilateral. But the optics here are actually more important," he said. "The Cambodian people need to hear directly from Obama that the United States is not happy with Hun Sen's record on human rights."
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Tenth out of ten (ASEAN: A Mix Bag of Democrats, Communists, and Dictators?)

by The Economist - November 17, 2012

A few days at centre stage for Hun Sen, Cambodia’s dictator, may not be entirely welcome.

THE ten-member Association of South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN) is used to fending off “interference” by the West in the internal affairs of some of its members. In recent years the human-rights record of the regime in Myanmar has been the tenderest of these sore spots. But as ASEAN’s leaders gather in Phnom Penh, capital of Cambodia, for their annual summit between November 18th and 20th, Myanmar, liberalising and opening up, finds itself flavour of the month in the West. Instead, it is the host country that is now the butt of more criticism.

Since Cambodia joined ASEAN in 1999, Phnom Penh has grown from a quaint backwater into a bustling city. The economy, thanks in part to garment exports, is growing at a steady 6% a year. Hun Sen, Cambodia’s prime minister, has a lot to show off at the East Asia summit, held alongside ASEAN’s get-together, and drawing Barack Obama and other world leaders. It caps Cambodia’s year in ASEAN’s rotating chair, and Phnom Penh is being spruced up. Beggars and hawkers are being moved, anyone thinking of a street protest has been told to think again, and eight people were detained on November 15th when they protested on a roof instead with a picture of Mr Obama and a message reading “SOS”. NGOs had to cancel planned events as venues withdrew. But Mr Hun Sen’s reputation does not scrub up quite so easily.

ASEAN is still smarting from the debacle of its annual security forum and foreign ministers’ meeting in Phnom Penh in July. For the first time its members could not agree on a joint communiqué. The Philippines and Vietnam wanted references to their disputes with China in the South China Sea. Cambodia, apparently at China’s behest, objected. Mr Hun Sen, it was felt, was now in the pocket of China, which in September announced $500m in soft loans to Cambodia. The row drags on. Cambodia’s ambassador to the Philippines had to be withdrawn from Manila after carrying it on in the press and is yet to be replaced. This is Cambodia’s second serious falling out with one of ASEAN’s “core” founder members. Last year Cambodia and Thailand lobbed shells at each others’ troops over a disputed bit of their border.

For human-rights critics, the summits offer a chance to remind the world of Mr Hun Sen’s ruthless record. A former Khmer Rouge, he emerged in the Vietnamese-backed regime that rebuilt Cambodia from the ruins left by the Pol Pot terror of 1975-79. In 1985 he became prime minister of a one-party state on the Vietnamese communist model. After the Paris peace agreements of 1991, the United Nations tried to plant a multiparty democracy in this infertile soil. Ever since, Mr Hun Sen has seemed to be trying to hoe away its traces, like so many weeds. Having lost the first election, in 1993, he muscled his way into a power-sharing deal. Sharing power, however, is not Mr Hun Sen’s style, and in 1997 he staged a coup.

Most of the villages, where four-fifths of Cambodia’s 14m people live, have schools bearing his name, along with offices of his Cambodian People’s Party (CPP). The CPP is almost as dominant as in the one-party days, and has made Mr Hun Sen Asia’s longest-serving leader. The party controls most of the media and it harasses the opposition, whose leading figure, Sam Rainsy, facing 11 years in jail on various dubious charges, has exiled himself.

A new report by Human Rights Watch, a New York-based campaign group, calculates that since 1991 more than 300 people have been killed in political attacks. The CPP has easily won elections, even without stuffing ballot boxes. The opposition, now called the National Rescue Party, a recent merger of the Sam Rainsy Party (SRP) and another, has threatened to boycott the next vote in July 2013 unless Mr Rainsy can compete (unlikely: he has been stripped of his vote) and if the election commission is not given independence. In fact, opposition members suggest a boycott would be very much a last resort.

Some analysts blame the looming election for a recent crackdown. Mam Sonando, a well-known journalist critical of Mr Hun Sen, was last month sentenced to 20 years in prison, for leading an “insurrection” in April, for which 13 women had also been jailed. The alleged uprising was actually a protest against a land grab, in which a 14-year-old girl was shot dead by the authorities.

Land grabs—or the enforcement of “economic land concessions”—are the other big human-rights concern clouding Mr Hun Sen’s day in the sun. In principle a sensible idea to bring economies of scale to the countryside by selling farmland, these have become a nightmare of abusive, uncompensated eviction. Protests have been violently suppressed and activists murdered. A moratorium on land concessions has been in force since May, as a land-titling exercise is undertaken. Yet concerned NGOs and businessmen alike see this as a sham. Evictions continue on concessions deemed already in the approval process.

Everything but fair

In late October a dozen American congressmen wrote to Mr Obama urging him to take Mr Hun Sen to task in Phnom Penh. The European Parliament is calling for an end to the land concessions and a release of political prisoners. A campaign to remove Cambodia’s “everything but arms” duty-free access to the EU is gathering steam. A particular target is “blood sugar”—Cambodian sugarcane allegedly produced on grabbed land. Myanmar is in the process of regaining these tariff privileges. When it does, it could be a big competitor to Cambodia’s garment industry.

Mr Hun Sen must find all this terribly unjust. In terms of its infrastructure, regulation and political stability, Cambodia is far better placed to receive foreign investment than is Myanmar. And it is free of the hideous ethnic cleansing seen in Myanmar’s Rakhine state last month. Other ASEAN countries—Brunei, Laos, Vietnam—flout democratic principles with, apparently, far less opprobrium. Yet that is the lesson Mr Hun Sen has spent three decades drumming into Cambodia’s opposition: life is unfair.
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Public Call For Nguyen Tan Dung to Resign

RFA - By November 14, 2012

The first public call for the Vietnamese Prime Minister to quit kicks up a parliamentary storm.

(Left) Duong Trung Quoc, (Right) Nguyen Tan Dung

Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung faced an unprecedented call for his resignation on the floor of parliament Wednesday as a lawmaker challenged him to take greater responsibility for mistakes in handling the troubled economy of the one-party communist state.

In a daring challenge to the prime minister that was aired on TV, Duong Trung Quoc, one of few representatives in the National Assembly not affiliated with the ruling Vietnamese Communist Party, said the people demanded more than an apology for the government’s failings.

Quoc suggested that by quitting, Dung could help the country move toward a “culture of resignation” that holds politicians more accountable to the people.

“Are you willing to start the government’s progress towards a culture of resignation, in order to break away step by step from the apologies?” Quoc asked the prime minister, who had escaped punishment at a party meeting last month over a string of scandals involving state-run firms that have tainted the country's leadership.




Quoc’s statement was believed to the first public call for Dung’s resignation by a member of the National Assembly.

Dung responded that he was serving as prime minister according to the wishes of the party and the assembly, implying he would not resign.

“Under the direct leadership and management of the Party, during the last 51 years
[that I’ve been a member of the Vietnamese Communist Party] I have never asked for any positions. On the other hand, I have never denied any service that the party assigned to me,” he said.

Dung’s second five-year term was approved by the communist-controlled parliament in July 2011.

“The party has decided to volunteer me for the post of prime minister and to continue with the task of prime minister that was assigned by the Central Committee and the assembly voted for,” he said.

“I’m willing to accept and willing to fulfill earnestly any decision of the party, the Central Committee, and the Assembly.”

Admitting mistakes

In a National Assembly session last month, Dung admitted that he had failed to effectively lead the country’s economy out of turmoil amid a spate of corporate scandals and inefficient management of major state-run firms.

He said he had made “mistakes” in his leadership that blackened the country’s reputation, vowing to work harder to amend official shortcomings.

He specifically pointed to the failure to address scandals such as the near-collapse of state-owned shipbuilder Vinashin in 2010 under a debt of about U.S. $4.5 billion and for sparking investor concerns over the management of the country’s other government-run firms.

Following public outcry over the shipbuilder, the government had admitted that Dung had played a role in allowing the mismanagement of state-owned firms including Vinashin, but said the "shortcomings and mistakes" were not serious enough to warrant disciplinary action.

Reactions

The back-and-forth between Dung and Quoc provoked enthusiastic response among those who saw it on TV or online in Vietnam, where political debate is restricted.

Mai Thai Linh, former vice president of the Da Lat City People Committee in southeastern Vietnam, said he thought the prime minister’s response that he served in accordance with the party’s wishes was a reflection of how much the Vietnamese Communist Party dominates the country’s politics.

“All such positions [like that of prime minister] have been decided by the party’s congress. That’s why the people have no impact on the leadership machinery and that machinery has no accountability to the people,” he told RFA’s Vietnamese service.
“It’s the basic problem of the communist regime. The decision of who takes what positions can no way be made by the people.”

“The National Assembly only does one thing: formalize what has been set up by the party,” he said.

Another commentator, Professor Tuong Lai, former Head of Vietnam Institute of Sociology Science, said that because the prime minister serves the party, any movement toward greater accountability in Vietnam’s political system would require a revamp of the entire system.

“The prime minister would stay wherever the party put him and would quit if the party told him to quit,” he said.

“[So] I think the issue is not to the replacement of the prime minister, the head of the assembly, or head of state, but the replacement of the whole system, the whole regime.”

Reported by RFA’s Vietnamese service. Translated by Viet Long. Written in English by Rachel Vandenbrink.
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Obama Will Not Shy Away From Human Rights on Asia Tour

VOA News - November 16, 2012

White House officials are assuring critics that President Barack Obama will not ignore human rights concerns during his upcoming visit to Southeast Asia.

President Obama leaves Saturday for a three-day tour of Cambodia, Thailand and Burma. It is his first foreign trip since being re-elected, underscoring the importance of the administration's new focus on the region.

A highlight of the trip will be Obama's brief stop in Burma, the first ever visit by a U.S. president to the former military-ruled state.

Some rights groups object to the visit, including Human Rights Watch researcher Matthew Smith. He said the president should wait until more reforms are made.

"The risk of Obama visiting now, is that in effect, his presence alone will confer a certain amount of approval on the current government, which continues to violate human rights in a very serious way," he said.

Smith said he is most concerned that Burma has not yet released all of its political prisoners and has not intervened to stop the violence against minority Rohingya Muslims in western Rakhine state.

But national security adviser Tom Donilon says the trip will provide an opportunity for Obama to put pressure on Burmese President Thein Sein and others who may be reluctant to more reform.

"The president's visit this time reflects his conviction that engagement is the best way to encourage Burmese authorities to further action," Donilon explained."There is a lot more to be done, and we are not going to miss this moment, in terms of our opportunity to push this along and to try to lock in as much reform and lock in this path forward as best we can."

Since Burma's military rulers stepped aside last year, its new nominally civilian government has released some political prisoners, opened talks with ethnic rebels, and allowed opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi to enter parliament.

The changes come as the U.S. is expanding ties across the region as part of its "pivot" toward Asia.

But Danny Russel, a top Asia adviser in the White House, cautions against viewing President Obama's visit as a "victory celebration," saying the trip will be an effective tool for convincing Burmese leaders who are reluctant to reform.

Aides also say Obama will raise concerns about Cambodia's long-standing human rights abuses when he attends a meeting of regional leaders in Phnom Penh.

Samantha Power, a White House official in charge of human rights issues, says the president will urge Prime Minister Hun Sen to hold free and fair elections and end land seizures, among other issues.

This week, Human Rights Watch warned that Prime Minister Hun Sen, who has been in power for 27 years, will interpret Obama's visit as an endorsement and deepen his sense of inviolability if Obama does not speak out forcefully.

The New York-based group also wants President Obama to bring up human rights concerns with long-time U.S. ally Thailand. The rights watchdog says there are concerns about Thailand's continued restriction of free speech under lese majesties laws, military abuses against insurgents in the south, and inadequate protection of the country's large refugee population.
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ASEAN Summit and it's heavy, fragile baggage

by Simon Tay 04:45 AM Nov 12, 2012

Leaders will arrive in Phnom Penh this week for the summit of the Association of South-east Asian Nations (ASEAN). The group of 10 has emerged to convene key dialogues for the wider Asia-Pacific and the summit takes place amid global economic uncertainties and regional tensions.

ASEAN leaders will find their bags packed full of expectations and must carry and unpack their burdens with care. Can positive steps be taken?

Fresh from winning his second term, American President Barack Obama will be present, alongside Chinese leaders going through their own and very different transition. The summit will be a first place to guess about the future for the world's most important bilateral relationship.

During campaigning, voters bemoaned the loss of jobs and Mr Obama wagged a finger at Beijing's practices. It remains to be seen if he will use ASEAN's summit as an informal opportunity to shift to a more positive note.

The President will then go to Myanmar, a country until recently closeted and controversial because of human rights. This will further the Obama administration's pivot towards Asia, but those who suspect an American containment strategy will be watching closely.

BEIJING'S AMBITIONS

The summit will also evidence Beijing's attitudes. At the Party Congress, outgoing leader Hu Jintao underlined China's ambition to become a maritime power.

This comes when territorial claims at sea are hot-button issues, not only with Tokyo but also in the South China Sea with a number of South-east Asian states.

The latter disputes marred the ASEAN Ministerial Meeting in July, which ended without an agreed statement for the first time in its history. That was attributed to sensitivities about how to describe disputed claims.

At the upcoming summit, the rival and unresolved claims cannot be wholly ignored. Yet, if discussion is unbalanced, differences can be further inflamed.

This brings Cambodia into sharp focus as the host. When the July meeting broke down, many blamed Beijing's influence. Cambodia and China have denied this in various ways but a second test of intention and ability will come at the summit.

Cambodia must be expected to discharge its responsibility to ASEAN as a whole. The country, after all, hosts this summit on the group's behalf and not as a national prerogative.

As for China, it has always officially supported ASEAN's central role and should not divide and weaken the group.

IS GROUP STRONG ENOUGH?

On its part, ASEAN must continue to work on the long to-do list arising from the agenda to create an ASEAN community by end-2015. This concerns not only matters of politics but also fostering economic integration and better social and cultural understanding.

The summit will include the launch of an ASEAN institute for peace and reconciliation, and a human rights declaration. Also expect recommendations to strengthen the group's secretariat, when Thailand's charismatic Surin Pitsuwan ends his term as Secretary-General and gives way to Vietnam's Deputy Foreign Minister Le Luong Minh.

These and other aspects of the intra-ASEAN agenda intertwine with its wider role. ASEAN's community project is a key pillar for the wider region and vice-versa. This sets the context for another new initiative expected at the summit.

Talks are expected to begin for a Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) to link ASEAN to six Asian partners - the big three of North-east Asia as well as India, Australia and New Zealand. Potentially, RCEP will bring together more than three billion people, with a combined gross domestic product over US$17 trillion (S$20.8 trillion).

This all-Asian effort is especially significant as Beijing has felt pointedly excluded from the ongoing and American-led negotiations on a Trans Pacific Partnership. Having ASEAN at the hub of RCEP underlines the group's significance to others in Asia.

It is not, however, to be assumed that ASEAN will be strong enough to carry the burden of so many diverse interests for its own members and the wider region.

Other countries will hopefully show empathy and support for the many different interests that will be brought to Phnom Penh.

Only then can ASEAN leaders unpack a heavy and sometimes awkward Summit agenda, and ensure items are delivered - and not broken on the way.

Simon Tay is Chairman of the Singapore Institute of International Affairs and teaches international law at the Faculty of Law, National University of Singapore. He is the author of Asia Alone: The Dangerous Post Crisis Divide from America.
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World ‘Poorest president’ donates 90% of his salary

How's this as a man of the people: The president of Uruguay, José Mujica, has earned a nickname, "el presidente mas pobre" (translation: "poorest president").

The 77-year-old recently admitted to the Spanish newspaper El Mundo that he donates almost all of his presidential salary, making him the poorest, or, as Univision pointed out, most generous president, in the world.

El presidente explained he receives $12,500 a month but keeps only $1,250. The public servant told the newspaper, "I do fine with that amount; I have to do fine because there are many Uruguayans who live with much less."

He and his wife—a senator who also donates part of her salary—live in a farmhouse in Montevideo. His biggest expense is his Volkswagen Beetle, valued at $1,945.

Perhaps not surprisingly, under the former guerrilla fighter, who was elected in 2010 as a member of the left-wing coalition, the Broad Front, the country has become known for being one of the least corrupt on the continent.

Mujica has no bank accounts and no debt, and he enjoys one thing money can't buy: the companionship of his dog, Manuela.

The Uruguayan is not the first president to donate his salary. U.S. President John F. Kennedy, who came from wealth, donated his salary when in office, as did President Herbert Hoover. Hoover, who grew up poor, decided to never accept money for public service, so he could not be accused of corruption.
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China: Present and Future?

By Elizabeth C. Economy November 10, 2012

Xi Jinping (front) to replace Hu Jintao (back) as Chinese President

Now that the U.S. presidential election has concluded, the world’s attention is turning to China. November 8 marked the opening of the 18th Party Congress, China’s version of a political convention at which all the top Communist Party leaders will be announced. While we won’t be treated to the sight of hundreds of millions of Chinese turning out at their local schools and senior citizen centers to vote—although the American Embassy in Beijing did host an invitation-only mock U.S. election for Chinese citizens—the suspense is almost as great. True, we already know that Xi Jinping will be the next president and Li Keqiang the next Premier, but we don’t know who will occupy the other five to seven seats within the top-level Standing Committee of the Politburo. For that, we will have to wait. The Communist Party is savvy enough to know that once the leadership lineup is revealed, no one will pay much attention to the rest of the week-long Congress. No matter what Xinhua says, the world is not waiting for an elucidation of the country’s cultural policies.

While we sit and wait, I thought it might be interesting to think not only about the future but also a bit about the past—namely what is President Hu Jintao leaving behind for President-elect Xi Jinping. Not surprisingly, Hu’s legacy is mixed, captured best perhaps by the Chinese word weiji—which combines the characters for both danger and opportunity. Navigating a path forward will require that Xi address at least the following “dangers” and “opportunities.”

The Not-So-Great Communicator: One of the most distinguishing features of Hu Jintao’s presidency was his almost complete lack of presence. Hu avoided the press and sent Premier Wen Jiabao to manage any crisis that required a personal touch. (Wen earned the affectionate moniker “Grandpa Wen” because of his responses to the people’s suffering during earthquakes, floods, and health crises.) Even Hu’s political slogans failed to excite: Who in or outside China understands “scientific development” or believes China is a “harmonious society” in the midst of a “peaceful rise.” The bar couldn’t be lower for Xi to assume the mantle of the Great Communicator.

Trains, planes, and automobiles: If Hu’s interpersonal skills left something to be desired, he nonetheless presided over one of history’s great economic transformations. During his tenure, per capita GDP in China jumped from roughly $1200 to $5400; per capita car ownership increased from 15 per 1000 people to around 80 per 1000 people in 2011; China now boasts the largest high speed rail and expressway systems in the world; and the country has transformed from serving as one of the world’s largest recipients of World Bank loans to loaning more money to the rest of the world than anyone else, the World Bank included. On the face of it, Xi Jinping could not have asked for a better legacy…or could he?

A Chinese people on the move: The Chinese people can’t vote at the ballot box, but they do vote with their feet. The wealthiest flee the country. During Hu’s tenure, fully 27 percent of Chinese with at least $15 million in assets have emigrated and another 47 percent are considering it. They cite the quality of the educational system, the environment, health care, food safety and protection of assets as the drivers behind their desire to leave. The poorest Chinese, citing the same exact challenges, take to the streets to protest; and those protests now total more than 180,000 annually. Maslow’s hierarchy of needs has officially arrived in China.

A mandate for reform: The stasis in political and economic reform achieved during ten years of Hu-Wen rule, would seemingly be a boon to Xi: after all anything he does will be better than the nothing that was. Unfortunately for Xi, the Chinese people already appear to have an idea of what they want. A Global Times survey released just in time for the Party Congress reveals that 80 percent of Chinese advocates political reform; and more than 70 percent says Beijing needs to tackle healthcare, pensions, and social security in the next five years. What do people want most from political reform? According to the survey, they want more power to oversee the government for themselves and for the media. Nothing in Xi’s background suggests that this would be his top reform priority, but unless he wants to preside over more social unrest, more capital flight, and more brain drain, he might want to listen.

Backyard bully: One of the great surprises in recent years has been the unraveling of Chinese foreign policy. After more than a decade of earning kudos for a relatively sophisticated and nuanced approach to the rest of the world, China has become the backyard bully of the Asia-Pacific. It is a problem largely of China’s own making, and includes: serious, occasionally violent, conflicts with the Philippines, Vietnam, and Japan; disaffection in Canberra and Singapore; and a new degree of unpredictability in relations with previously stalwart supporters Burma/Myanmar and North Korea. Dialing all this back won’t be easy, particularly in the context of a newly revitalized U.S. presence in the region. Still, some nice words and a renewed willingness to share might get Beijing an invitation to play again.

In an interview he gave in 2000, Xi Jinping stated, “When you have just taken over a new job you will also want to set your own agenda in the first year. But it must be on the foundations of your predecessor. It is like a relay race. You have to receive the baton properly and then yourself run it to the goal.” The foundations laid by Hu are somewhat shaky, and we don’t know what Xi will see as his goal. But it sounds as though we won’t have long to wait before we know what it is and how he plans to get there.

Elizabeth C. Economy is C.V. Starr Senior Fellow and Director for Asia Studies at the Council on Foreign Relations. She is an expert on Chinese domestic and foreign policy and U.S.-China relations and author of the award-winning book, 'The River Runs Black: The Environmental Challenge to China's Future.' She blogs at Asia Unbound, where this piece originally appeared.
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China and America’s Economic Challenge

By James Parker November 8, 2012

In the United States, the world’s largest economy, President Obama has secured a second term as leader of the country. In China, the second largest economy, by this time next week new leaders will likely have been confirmed as well. In both cases, the new leaders will officially begin their terms in 2013, even if Obama has the luxury of being already on the job. The end of the leadership “contests” in both countries sees the end of a struggle for power which at times got pretty tough.

Obama has already been dealing with a sluggish post crisis-economy, and China’s incoming president and prime minister have also already been battling economic difficulties in their current roles in government. For both countries, whilst by this time next week the political-leadership struggles may be over, from an economic and financial standpoint, the real challenges are yet to come.

For the United States, the most pressing issue is the impending “fiscal cliff”. This is the term used to describe an automatic package of tax increases and spending cuts with a combined value of appx. U.S. $600 billion. Time is tight with only weeks before the deadline on 1st January 2013. Without a deal to either increase the U.S. government debt ceiling, or an extension of the deadline, the U.S. will almost certainly fall into a double dip recession in 2013.

The Republicans have lost the presidential election, and have some pretty hard soul searching to do as to why. Their control in the House of Representatives and ongoing ability to complicate matters in the Senate makes them extremely relevant though, especially since they can effectively kill any attempt to push the fiscal cliff further down the road.

China’s new leaders, face an equally daunting task. Whilst China’s growth rates still far outshine that of the U.S., the economy is facing structural issues which will take years, and a lot of political capital to resolve. The investment heavy growth model is unsustainable, even if one more burst of investment stimulus may be tempting to a new president and prime minister looking to consolidate their power next year.

China’s rebalancing must require households to get a larger share of the economic pie, allowing consumption to take over as a growth engine rather than debt-backed investment which is increasingly misallocating capital. The main challenge for the incoming leaders if they are serious about rebalancing is going to be overcoming the opposition of “entrenched interests” as key policies are reversed. These interests include those linked to state owned enterprises, the export industries, any employers relying on cheap labour, and any firms addicted to what is effectively “subsidized” credit.

If the U.S. tumbles over its fiscal cliff, the outlook for China will become that much harder. A double dip U.S. recession will further batter China’s export markets (pain which will also be felt by countries in China’s manufacturing supply chains) and rebalancing for Beijing will be much harder in the resulting dismal international environment.

One bit of good news for emerging markets is that Chairman of the U.S. Federal Reserve Ben Bernanke, whose looser monetary policies at the Fed have maintained a comfortable international liquidity situation, is now set to keep his job (whereas Romney had promised to remove him). In addition, with the fiscal cliff line up now unchanged, it is more likely than before that Bernanke will have to offset a fiscal rooted slowdown next year with even more monetary accommodation. Generally speaking, abundant liquidity in developed markets is positive for emerging market performance.

Hence neither the U.S. election result, nor the solidifying next week of China’s generational leadership transition will fully eliminate market uncertainties about two of the biggest economic issues facing the world today – China’s rebalancing and the U.S. Fiscal Cliff.

Source: The Diplomat.com
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Cambodia trying to reassert ownership of potentially looted cultural artifacts

Published 08 November, 2012 11:06:00 PRI's The World

There's a legal battle brewing over who has the rights to own towering statues from Cambodia's 10the century Khmer empire. The United States recently seized several, on behalf of the Cambodian government, but there's a court case brewing over just who should own these impressive statues.

“Imagine how effective this massive guardian figure must have been when it originally protected a major temple in Cambodia,” the Norton Simon Museum’s audio guide intones. “There’s a look of menace on the guardian’s square face with its rolling eyes and arched eyebrows, curling mustache and stylized beard. Add the figure’s thick neck, broad shoulders, and solid body, and it’s clear that he’s someone to be reckoned with.”

It is indeed.

The five-foot-tall statue the guide is describing was carved during a burst of creativity in the 10th century, in what is today Cambodia — at the time it was part of the Khmer empire. A new king had come to power, moved the capital to a place called Koh Ker, and launched a temple-building spree.

The statues that adorned the temples pushed already advanced Khmer artistry to new heights.

“They weren’t just creating large, monumental figures, they were creating figures that have extremely refined carving details,” Helen Ibbitson Jessup said of the Koh Ker craftsmen.

Jessup is an expert on Khmer art and founder of the non-profit Friends of Khmer Culture.

“The muscular tension — the power–is so vividly expressed by the sculptor. It’s extraordinarily dynamic statuary,” she said.

Now, the Norton Simon statue, a companion piece at Sotheby’s auction house in New York, and two other related ones at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, are caught up in an international tug-of-war.

The skirmish heated up in April, when the U.S. government, at Cambodia’s request, moved to seize the Sotheby’s statue, saying it was likely looted. Cambodia then made similar claims about the other statues.

One difficulty that’s playing out right now in the Sotheby’s case is that it’s just not clear what laws apply.

“The cultural property law field is really a patchwork of different kinds of law,” said Rick St. Hilaire, a cultural heritage lawyer who’s been watching the Sotheby’s case closely. “It’s not a body of law that a law student would easily find in a case book.”

St. Hilaire thinks the case could have big implications.

“How is this going to unfold? How is the law going to be impacted? How is policy going to be impacted? The outcome might very well dictate whatever policy might be embarked on in the future,” he said.

Sotheby’s, Norton Simon and the Met declined to comment for this story. In June, a Met spokesman told The New York Times that, in the 80s when these statues were given to the museum, there weren’t clear rules on accepting such antiquities.

Jessup says others argue that when major museums preserve and display such statues, it serves a greater public good.

“That preservation of antiquities from other countries is a great service that the museums of the West offer, that it shares the civilizations of other nations to a very wide audience and on a very meticulously well-preserved basis,” Jessup says, summarizing this argument.

In court hearings, Sotheby’s lawyers have wondered why the Cambodian government is only now expressing interest in these statues, some of which have been on display for more than 30 years.

Jessup says one reason is that, for much of that time, Cambodia has been fighting — or recovering from — a devastating civil war. They’ve just recently started to take stock of their cultural heritage.

Chen Chanratana, who publishes a magazine and website devoted to Khmer culture, recently finished his doctoral dissertation on Koh Ker. He says that recovering works like these statues, and incorporating their stories into the broader Cambodian story, is part of his country’s rebuilding process.

“We can create the new story, or the history, about Cambodia. And we can see our ancestors have a lot of culture, have a lot of treasure in the past. And we have to learn about that, we have to know about that,” he said.

In the next few weeks, the judge will rule on a Sotheby’s motion to dismiss the case.
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Worst flooding in a decade in Mekong Delta

by SGGP Friday, Nov 09, 2012,

Flooding of Prek Russey (Can Tho) city

Although the flood season this year has not been as severe as previous years, in urban areas in the Mekong Delta such as in Can Tho(Prek Russey) City and Soc Trang(Khleang) and Vinh Long (Long Hor) Provinces, high tide flooding has been the worst in a decade.

The annual flood season is gradually abating in the Mekong Delta. According to scientists, floodwater levels this year were 1.3-1.6m lower than last year and 0.9-1.1m lower than average levels in last several years.

However, high tide inundated tens of streets and alleys in inner city areas in Can Tho City, with some places under 0.5m of water.

In Soc Trang Province, high tide from Hau River breached nearly 600m of dyke and embankment sections in Cu Lao Dung District, causing damage of billions of dong. Flood waters even flowed over Highway 1A in Ke Sach District.

Tens of thousands of houses were submerged along Highways 1A and 61 in Hau Giang and Soc Trang Provinces.

Explaining the worst flooding of the decade, Ky Quang Vinh, head of the Climate Change Office in Can Tho City, said that the City is located in the low lying areas of the Mekong Delta.

For the last 30 years, the sea level has risen an average 3cm a year, which has affected Can Tho City. Besides land depression has occurred from excessive underground water exploitation and rapid urbanization.

Mr. Vinh said that the Mekong Delta needs an overall plan to cope with escalating and inevitable climate change. Authorized organs should update the map and revise sea level heights across all localities of Can Tho City.

Pham Van Nhon, former deputy director of the Department of Construction and former head of the Planning and Architecture Institute in Can Tho City, said that the City is located over an ancient river bed, located 45-50m below the present ground surface.

Such porous soil faces depression, which has escalated in pace with increase in underground water exploitation and rapid growth in infrastructure and urban construction.
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