Vietnamese president urges military to study modern warfare | Vietnam News
Vietnam News, September, 18 2012
HA NOI (VNS)—
President Truong Tan Sang asked the National Defence Academy to study
global military science, especially modern and hi-tech warfare issues,
to advise the Party, State and the army and benefit its training.
He made this request when speaking at a ceremony to start the new academic year at the Academy in Ha Noi yesterday.
While congratulating the academy's staff and
soldier and officer students on beginning a new school year, Sang also
praised the academy for helping thousands of senior officials of the
Party and State further improve their knowledge of defence and security
matters.
As a dynamically developing region, Southeast
Asia is encountering factors that cause instability, especially sea
disputes between several regional countries, said the President.
He mentioned the hostile forces' acceleration of
the "peaceful evolution" strategy, riots, "self-evolution",
"self-transformation" and their use of the issues of democracy, human
rights, nation and religion to sabotage national independence and
socialism in Viet Nam.
The State leader said that as the country's and
the army's leading defence training and military science research
centre, the Academy needed to further improve the quality of education
and scientific research to produce regular, proficient and
sharp-thinking officers for the country.
Sang also said he believes that the academy will continue to make more contributions to national defence in the future. — VNS
Tuesday, September 18, 2012
Monday, September 17, 2012
Asia Provocateur: A celebration of the life of Thai political prisoner Amphon Pt. 1
Asia Provocateur: A celebration of the life of Thai political prisoner Amphon Pt. 1
On 26th August 2012 Ah Kong’s funeral rites were concluded and he was cremated.
Amphon Tangnoppakul
Born 1 January 1950
Died 8 May 2012
----------------
O Love
Rosmalin Tangnoppakul
--------------
O Love
Is it really sweet
Or does it torment the heart
Love has a hundred wiles
O Love, how it beguiles
Lures us under its spell
[video link to song here]
“Ah Po” asked me to sing the song “O Love” on the day of our wedding, Coronation Day 1968. That day I sang it without microphone; as for Ah Po, he practiced and practiced singing “Lesson Before Matrimony”, but when the time came he still couldn’t sing it.
When we were married I was 17. Ah Po wasn’t even 20 yet. At the time there was a phrase people said that has stayed in my mind ever since: “Their two ages combined isn’t even 40.” When you hear it you immediately know--I’ve never forgotten when we were married just how young we were.
Ever since we had grandchildren, most people called my husband “Ah Kong”{1}, but our children’s friends called him “Tia”{2}. As for me, sometimes I called him Ah Kong like the grandkids, but if it was the two of us I still called him “Po” or “Ah Po”, which was his Chinese nickname. He called me “Ou”.
Ah Po was born 1 January 1950 at Khlong Suan subdistrict, Bang Bo district, Samut Prakan province. Just across the bridge on the other side of a canal was Chachoengsao province.
Ah Po’s ancestors came over from China during his grandfather’s time. That is, his was the generation that came over first. Later on Ah Po’s father came over, and then his mother followed later. Their family had a lot of children, eight in all. Ah Po was the third child. The oldest son but the third child.
As far as I know, when Ah Po’s ancestors first came over they worked at a rice mill. They weren’t the owners, they were just employees. Later, his father opened a coffee shop near the market people call “Khlong Suan 100-Year Market”, and it remained primarily a coffee shop ever since.
As they started to grow up, many of the children moved away to find work, and sent money back home to support their parents. To this day the family coffee shop is still in business--Ah Po’s younger sister took it over. His mother and father are both deceased. His father passed away more than ten years ago, and his mother just passed away while Ah Po was in prison, not long before my own mother passed.
Ah Po completed grade 7 at a Thai school, but he also studied at a Chinese school, as most children of Chinese immigrants in the area did. The Chinese school rotated between houses; you had to bring your own desk. The desks were made of old-style milk crates, pine wood hammered together into a desk you could sit at and carry with you.
Ah Po could speak Chinese because his family mainly used Teochew. His mother and father only spoke Chinese. When he went to Chinese school it was to study reading and writing. Though he spoke Thai since he was small, he didn’t speak it very clearly.
When he first began courting me, he still pronounced “Pepsi” as “Peksi”!
After we got together, Ah Po only spoke Thai. Towards the end he could even speak some Isan{3}. As he spoke less Chinese he may have forgotten some of it, but if he met other Chinese he would have a chance to speak it. He tried to teach the kids and grandkids, but no one was interested.
When Ah Po began working he started in a lumber mill in Chonburi province. Ah Po was 16 or 17. At first he was a hired hand, doing whatever work he was told, like an apprenticeship. Later he practiced driving at the factory until he knew how, and became a driver, delivering the lumber. He was still being paid on a monthly basis, but not much. The pay in those days wasn’t much, but goods were cheap then, too.
When we were first courting Ah Po would buy gold for me; a saleung{4} cost only 100 baht{5}.
-------
Translator’s notes
{1} “Ah Kong” is a Teochew Chinese term for “granddad”. The term “Ah” is a prefix used with Chinese names and kinship terms.
{2} “Tia” is a Teochew Chinese term for “dad”.
{3} Isan is the northeastern region of Thailand, where dialects closely related to Lao are spoken.
{4} A saleung is a traditional Thai weight measure for gold and other precious metals, equal to 3.75 grams, or ¼ of a traditional 15-gram baht. Not to be confused with the Thai currency that uses the same unit names. (In colloquial Thai saleung is also used to refer to the 25 satang coin, or ¼ of one-baht coin.)
{5} 100 baht would have been worth around US$5 in the 1960s, or US$35 today after adjusting for inflation.
16 September 2012
Political prisoner Amphon Tangnoppakul (aka Ah Kong), died in a Bangkok prison hospital May 8th 2012. He had been sentenced to a 20year prison term after a Bangkok court decided he couldn’t “prove his innocence” in a case relating to four SMS messages sent to an aide of the then Prime Minister, Abhisit Vejjijva, that were deemed to defame the monarchy.
But Ah Kong was, of course much more than a political prisoner. This former truck driver from the working class Bangkok suburb of Samut Prakan was a dearly loved husband, father and grandfather.
Despite this affection Ah Kong died in terrible circumstances – left alone in pain in a prison hospital, his family and loved ones denied a chance to say their final goodbyes.
On 26th August 2012 Ah Kong’s funeral rites were concluded and he was cremated.
To mark the final stage of his passing, Ah Kong’s wife, Rosmalin (aka Pa Ou) put together a traditional Thai “funeral book” entitled "O Love" to celebrate this kind and gentle man’s life.
I’ve been lucky enough to receive permission from Pa Ou to translate and serialise Ah Kong’s funeral book here on this blog. I didn’t complete the translation myself and wanted to gratefully thank the person who worked very hard to get this English version to me but whom wishes to remain anonymous.
Once the serialisation is complete I will be working with others to place the entire book onto its own website.
As a mark of respect to Pa Ou and the family I would ask anyone who wants to reproduce this text to please ask me first via email (asiaprovocateur@gmail.com) however, everyone is more than welcome to link to the serialisation.
Born 1 January 1950
Died 8 May 2012
----------------
O Love
Rosmalin Tangnoppakul
--------------
O Love
Is it really sweet
Or does it torment the heart
Love has a hundred wiles
O Love, how it beguiles
Lures us under its spell
[video link to song here]
“Ah Po” asked me to sing the song “O Love” on the day of our wedding, Coronation Day 1968. That day I sang it without microphone; as for Ah Po, he practiced and practiced singing “Lesson Before Matrimony”, but when the time came he still couldn’t sing it.
When we were married I was 17. Ah Po wasn’t even 20 yet. At the time there was a phrase people said that has stayed in my mind ever since: “Their two ages combined isn’t even 40.” When you hear it you immediately know--I’ve never forgotten when we were married just how young we were.
Ever since we had grandchildren, most people called my husband “Ah Kong”{1}, but our children’s friends called him “Tia”{2}. As for me, sometimes I called him Ah Kong like the grandkids, but if it was the two of us I still called him “Po” or “Ah Po”, which was his Chinese nickname. He called me “Ou”.
Ah Po was born 1 January 1950 at Khlong Suan subdistrict, Bang Bo district, Samut Prakan province. Just across the bridge on the other side of a canal was Chachoengsao province.
Ah Po’s ancestors came over from China during his grandfather’s time. That is, his was the generation that came over first. Later on Ah Po’s father came over, and then his mother followed later. Their family had a lot of children, eight in all. Ah Po was the third child. The oldest son but the third child.
As far as I know, when Ah Po’s ancestors first came over they worked at a rice mill. They weren’t the owners, they were just employees. Later, his father opened a coffee shop near the market people call “Khlong Suan 100-Year Market”, and it remained primarily a coffee shop ever since.
As they started to grow up, many of the children moved away to find work, and sent money back home to support their parents. To this day the family coffee shop is still in business--Ah Po’s younger sister took it over. His mother and father are both deceased. His father passed away more than ten years ago, and his mother just passed away while Ah Po was in prison, not long before my own mother passed.
Ah Po completed grade 7 at a Thai school, but he also studied at a Chinese school, as most children of Chinese immigrants in the area did. The Chinese school rotated between houses; you had to bring your own desk. The desks were made of old-style milk crates, pine wood hammered together into a desk you could sit at and carry with you.
Ah Po could speak Chinese because his family mainly used Teochew. His mother and father only spoke Chinese. When he went to Chinese school it was to study reading and writing. Though he spoke Thai since he was small, he didn’t speak it very clearly.
When he first began courting me, he still pronounced “Pepsi” as “Peksi”!
After we got together, Ah Po only spoke Thai. Towards the end he could even speak some Isan{3}. As he spoke less Chinese he may have forgotten some of it, but if he met other Chinese he would have a chance to speak it. He tried to teach the kids and grandkids, but no one was interested.
When Ah Po began working he started in a lumber mill in Chonburi province. Ah Po was 16 or 17. At first he was a hired hand, doing whatever work he was told, like an apprenticeship. Later he practiced driving at the factory until he knew how, and became a driver, delivering the lumber. He was still being paid on a monthly basis, but not much. The pay in those days wasn’t much, but goods were cheap then, too.
When we were first courting Ah Po would buy gold for me; a saleung{4} cost only 100 baht{5}.
-------
Translator’s notes
{1} “Ah Kong” is a Teochew Chinese term for “granddad”. The term “Ah” is a prefix used with Chinese names and kinship terms.
{2} “Tia” is a Teochew Chinese term for “dad”.
{3} Isan is the northeastern region of Thailand, where dialects closely related to Lao are spoken.
{4} A saleung is a traditional Thai weight measure for gold and other precious metals, equal to 3.75 grams, or ¼ of a traditional 15-gram baht. Not to be confused with the Thai currency that uses the same unit names. (In colloquial Thai saleung is also used to refer to the 25 satang coin, or ¼ of one-baht coin.)
{5} 100 baht would have been worth around US$5 in the 1960s, or US$35 today after adjusting for inflation.
Saturday, September 15, 2012
Both sides blamed for violence on Thailand's May 19, 2010 crackdown | Prachatai English
Both sides blamed for violence on Thailand's May 19, 2010 crackdown | Prachatai English
Pravit Rojanaphruk, The Natio, September 14, 2012
Commission says 'men in black' may have got cooperation from red shirts
The long-awaited final report from the Truth for Reconciliation Commission of Thailand (TRCT) on the 2010 crackdown, which was obtained in advance by The Nation, shows that the so-called "men in black" had received cooperation from red-shirt guards. It also said that security officers eventually used live bullets, deployed snipers and were likely responsible for the six deaths at Wat Pathumwanaram on May 19, 2010.
The 515-page report appeared to hold both sides responsible for the 90-plus deaths and said the clashes on April 10, 2010, where more than 20 people were killed including Army Colonel Romklao Thuwatham, were seminal in creating a climate of animosity between the red shirts and the Army. The report is scheduled to be made public next week.
The men in black and April 10, 2010
"Both [sides] believe they were victims. The operation by the 'men in black' were very instrumental in creating and elevating the violence with the aim of provoking the Army to use weapons against protesters and wanting to exact the loss of lives," page 184 of the report read.
The TRCT explained that after the night of April 10, 2010, the Centre for the Resolution of Emergency Situation (CRES) had started using the term "terrorist" and had permitted security officials to use live bullets for self-defence. Abhisit Vejjajiva's government created the commission with chairman Kanit na Nakorn personally chosen by the premier.
When Colonel Romklao was unexpectedly attacked and killed by a bomb and some senior officers injured, "it led to the confusing and out-of-control use of weapons by soldiers", the report said. It added that soldiers then used rifles and fired "many" live bullets in the direction of the red-shirt protesters. "Many protesters died from bullet wounds," the report stated, without explicitly linking the deaths to soldiers.
The report links at least one of the "men in black" to Army Maj-General Khattiya "Seh Daeng" Sawasdipol, who would later end up being shot down by an unknown sharp shooter on May 13. The report does not reveal the name of the "man in black" believed to be a close aide of Khattiya. On pages 163 and 164, the report says that somebody saw a group of men in black step out of a white van at 7pm on April 10 near the Democracy Monument only to be "surrounded" and escorted by red-shirt guards toward the direction of the deadly confrontation. The guards "barred people from taking photos and some protesters shouted 'a helping hand is here', but were later prevented from speaking".
The report failed to shed light on who might have killed Reuters photographer Hiroyuki Muramoto that night, but it did point out that the first death on April 10 had taken place in front of the Education Ministry when a red-shirt protester was killed by a bullet from an unknown assailant. This was well before the men in black showed up.
Death of Maj-General Khattiya
The TRCT report said that Khattiya, a key red-shirt ally, was shot in the head by a "high-velocity" but unspecified gun on the night of May 13 with bullets that "probably" came from the Silom Plaza Building, which was "under the control of the authorities since April 18".
Six deaths at Wat Pathumwannaram
After Khattiya was killed, violence escalated on both sides and the TRCT report noted a photograph taken by Agence France-Presse, showing what was later examined by weapon experts to be the shell of a live bullet flying out of a soldier's rifle aiming his gun toward protesters. The report noted on page 208 that security officers shot live bullets from both rifles and handguns.
On May 19, at around 10.50am, the report said that clashes occurred between soldiers and armed men in black who were holed up inside Lumpini Park and stated that some protesters may have been killed when bullets were fired from the park.
As for the six killed at Wat Pathumwannaram on the evening of May 19 after demonstrators had been dispersed, TRCT said that on May 19, some 4,000 people had entered the temple, which had been declared a sanctuary area. A sign stating temple's sanctuary status had been posted since May 17, after peace advocates had managed to have the government agree to the idea. The report noted an eyewitness account saying men in black had been spotted inside the temple compound on May 15.
The report noted that: "At around 6pm [of May 19, 2010] seven soldiers were deployed on the first floor of [BTS] Skytrain track in front of Wat Pathumwannaram and five [soldiers] at the Siam Centre BTS Station. All of them were armed with M16 rifles and live bullets.
"It was discovered that officers aimed at and shot in the direction of Wat Pathumwannaram.
On the first-floor Skytrain track, two .223 bullet shells were discovered and they had been fired from the same gun.
What's more, a senior monk at the temple said he had seen a number of soldiers on the Skytrain track and had heard my gunshots fired around the front of the temple at dusk.
"It is highly likely that this was the cause of the deaths and injuries around Wat Pathumwananram," the report concluded, adding that one soldier told the TRCT that he had fired into the temple because there was an armed man in black on a tree inside the temple.
An M16 was later discovered inside the temple, the report added.
Pravit Rojanaphruk, The Natio, September 14, 2012
Commission says 'men in black' may have got cooperation from red shirts
The long-awaited final report from the Truth for Reconciliation Commission of Thailand (TRCT) on the 2010 crackdown, which was obtained in advance by The Nation, shows that the so-called "men in black" had received cooperation from red-shirt guards. It also said that security officers eventually used live bullets, deployed snipers and were likely responsible for the six deaths at Wat Pathumwanaram on May 19, 2010.
The 515-page report appeared to hold both sides responsible for the 90-plus deaths and said the clashes on April 10, 2010, where more than 20 people were killed including Army Colonel Romklao Thuwatham, were seminal in creating a climate of animosity between the red shirts and the Army. The report is scheduled to be made public next week.
The men in black and April 10, 2010
"Both [sides] believe they were victims. The operation by the 'men in black' were very instrumental in creating and elevating the violence with the aim of provoking the Army to use weapons against protesters and wanting to exact the loss of lives," page 184 of the report read.
The TRCT explained that after the night of April 10, 2010, the Centre for the Resolution of Emergency Situation (CRES) had started using the term "terrorist" and had permitted security officials to use live bullets for self-defence. Abhisit Vejjajiva's government created the commission with chairman Kanit na Nakorn personally chosen by the premier.
When Colonel Romklao was unexpectedly attacked and killed by a bomb and some senior officers injured, "it led to the confusing and out-of-control use of weapons by soldiers", the report said. It added that soldiers then used rifles and fired "many" live bullets in the direction of the red-shirt protesters. "Many protesters died from bullet wounds," the report stated, without explicitly linking the deaths to soldiers.
The report links at least one of the "men in black" to Army Maj-General Khattiya "Seh Daeng" Sawasdipol, who would later end up being shot down by an unknown sharp shooter on May 13. The report does not reveal the name of the "man in black" believed to be a close aide of Khattiya. On pages 163 and 164, the report says that somebody saw a group of men in black step out of a white van at 7pm on April 10 near the Democracy Monument only to be "surrounded" and escorted by red-shirt guards toward the direction of the deadly confrontation. The guards "barred people from taking photos and some protesters shouted 'a helping hand is here', but were later prevented from speaking".
The report failed to shed light on who might have killed Reuters photographer Hiroyuki Muramoto that night, but it did point out that the first death on April 10 had taken place in front of the Education Ministry when a red-shirt protester was killed by a bullet from an unknown assailant. This was well before the men in black showed up.
Death of Maj-General Khattiya
The TRCT report said that Khattiya, a key red-shirt ally, was shot in the head by a "high-velocity" but unspecified gun on the night of May 13 with bullets that "probably" came from the Silom Plaza Building, which was "under the control of the authorities since April 18".
Six deaths at Wat Pathumwannaram
After Khattiya was killed, violence escalated on both sides and the TRCT report noted a photograph taken by Agence France-Presse, showing what was later examined by weapon experts to be the shell of a live bullet flying out of a soldier's rifle aiming his gun toward protesters. The report noted on page 208 that security officers shot live bullets from both rifles and handguns.
On May 19, at around 10.50am, the report said that clashes occurred between soldiers and armed men in black who were holed up inside Lumpini Park and stated that some protesters may have been killed when bullets were fired from the park.
As for the six killed at Wat Pathumwannaram on the evening of May 19 after demonstrators had been dispersed, TRCT said that on May 19, some 4,000 people had entered the temple, which had been declared a sanctuary area. A sign stating temple's sanctuary status had been posted since May 17, after peace advocates had managed to have the government agree to the idea. The report noted an eyewitness account saying men in black had been spotted inside the temple compound on May 15.
The report noted that: "At around 6pm [of May 19, 2010] seven soldiers were deployed on the first floor of [BTS] Skytrain track in front of Wat Pathumwannaram and five [soldiers] at the Siam Centre BTS Station. All of them were armed with M16 rifles and live bullets.
"It was discovered that officers aimed at and shot in the direction of Wat Pathumwannaram.
On the first-floor Skytrain track, two .223 bullet shells were discovered and they had been fired from the same gun.
What's more, a senior monk at the temple said he had seen a number of soldiers on the Skytrain track and had heard my gunshots fired around the front of the temple at dusk.
"It is highly likely that this was the cause of the deaths and injuries around Wat Pathumwananram," the report concluded, adding that one soldier told the TRCT that he had fired into the temple because there was an armed man in black on a tree inside the temple.
An M16 was later discovered inside the temple, the report added.
Friday, September 14, 2012
2 Filipino soldiers killed in Davao del Norte firefight
2 soldiers killed in Davao del Norte firefight
Frances Mangosing, INQUIRER.net, September 14th, 2012
MANILA, Philippines—Two soldiers were killed in a firefight between government troops and communist rebels in Davao del Norte Thursday afternoon, the military said.
The troops from the 60th Infantry Battalion were conducting security patrol when they encountered about 50 members of the New People’s Army in Dagohoy village in Talaingod town, said Colonel Lysander Suerte, commander of the Army’s 1003rd Brigade.
Killed were First Lieutenant Alvin Quedding, 28 of Nueva Ecija and Private First Class Alfe Caballes, 30 from Davao del Norte.
The soldiers responded to reports of armed men sighted in the area when they chanced upon the rebels.
“The assault was a mere ‘show off’ to project might after the public’s call echoed to surrender the suspects who threw grenade in Fatima village in Paquibato District which injured 48 civilians,” Suerte said.
Frances Mangosing, INQUIRER.net, September 14th, 2012
Photo taken from google maps
The troops from the 60th Infantry Battalion were conducting security patrol when they encountered about 50 members of the New People’s Army in Dagohoy village in Talaingod town, said Colonel Lysander Suerte, commander of the Army’s 1003rd Brigade.
Killed were First Lieutenant Alvin Quedding, 28 of Nueva Ecija and Private First Class Alfe Caballes, 30 from Davao del Norte.
The soldiers responded to reports of armed men sighted in the area when they chanced upon the rebels.
“The assault was a mere ‘show off’ to project might after the public’s call echoed to surrender the suspects who threw grenade in Fatima village in Paquibato District which injured 48 civilians,” Suerte said.
Thursday, September 13, 2012
West Philippine Sea name affirms sovereignty over its territories–DFA | Philippine Dialy Inquirer
West Philippine Sea name affirms sovereignty over its territories–DFA
Fat Reyes, INQUIRER.net, September 13th, 2012
MANILA, Philippines – The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said Thursday that the formal naming of the West Philippine Sea from the South China Sea affirmed the country’s “sovereign rights” over its territories, saying it showed that the country had the power to designate names over areas which we consider as “indisputably ours.”
“The naming of the West Philippine Sea is actually an exercise of sovereign jurisdiction which allows us the inherent power and right to designate names over the maritime areas that we consider indisputably ours,” Raul Hernandez, DFA spokesman, said in an interview with reporters.
President Benigno Aquino III on September 5 signed an order renaming South China Sea waters within the country’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ) West Philippine Sea.
The order said that these areas included the Luzon Sea as well as the waters around, within and adjacent to the Kalayaan Island Group and Bajo de Masinloc, also known as Scarborough Shoal.
Hernandez said that the DFA would be submitting, at an appropriate time, a copy of the Administrative Order (AO), together with official maps showing the West Philippine Sea, to the United Nations to “inform them and have the West Philippine Sea included in international maps.”
“When the charts and the maps are ready and all documentations have been done, we will submit this to the UN and other relevant international organizations to inform them, the idea is to inform them and have the West Philippine Sea included in the international maps,” Hernandez said.
“When we deposit the copy of the AO together with the official map of the Philippines we expect them to include it in the international maps that will be issued by relevant international organizations,” he added.
Asked whether this action would provoke tensions because of countries’ overlapping claims over territories and would affect plans for a proposed Code of Conduct in the territories, Hernandez said that he saw no conflict as the Philippines was only “focused on what is ours.”
Hernandez clarified that the Philippines, unlike China, only claimed portions of the area as identified by the baselines law.
Asked whether the DFA had heard of any protests to the Philippine action of renaming the area, Hernandez said that he had not received any reports.
However, Taiwan’s Central News Agency had reported that Taiwan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a statement late Wednesday saying it did not recognize the move by the Philippines.
The report quoted the ministry as saying that ”whether from the perspective of history, geography or international law, the Spratly Islands, the Paracel Islands, the Macclesfield Bank and the Pratas Islands as well as their surrounding waters, sea beds and subsoil, are all inherent parts of the territory of the Republic of China.”
Asked about this, Hernandez said that he had not received reports but that the country did not maintain diplomatic relations with Taiwan because of the One China Policy which says that diplomatic ties were maintained with Beijing while only economic ties were kept with Taipei.
China, Philippines, Brunei, Malaysia, Vietnam, and Taiwan claim all or parts of the West Philippine Sea.
Asked whether the move to rename strengthens our claim to the areas, Hernandez said that the basis of our claims in the areas was effective occupation and jurisdiction based on public international law and as provided for by UNCLOS.
“This just affirms what is actually already declared as ours,” Hernandez said.
Fat Reyes, INQUIRER.net, September 13th, 2012
MANILA, Philippines – The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said Thursday that the formal naming of the West Philippine Sea from the South China Sea affirmed the country’s “sovereign rights” over its territories, saying it showed that the country had the power to designate names over areas which we consider as “indisputably ours.”
“The naming of the West Philippine Sea is actually an exercise of sovereign jurisdiction which allows us the inherent power and right to designate names over the maritime areas that we consider indisputably ours,” Raul Hernandez, DFA spokesman, said in an interview with reporters.
President Benigno Aquino III on September 5 signed an order renaming South China Sea waters within the country’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ) West Philippine Sea.
The order said that these areas included the Luzon Sea as well as the waters around, within and adjacent to the Kalayaan Island Group and Bajo de Masinloc, also known as Scarborough Shoal.
Hernandez said that the DFA would be submitting, at an appropriate time, a copy of the Administrative Order (AO), together with official maps showing the West Philippine Sea, to the United Nations to “inform them and have the West Philippine Sea included in international maps.”
“When the charts and the maps are ready and all documentations have been done, we will submit this to the UN and other relevant international organizations to inform them, the idea is to inform them and have the West Philippine Sea included in the international maps,” Hernandez said.
“When we deposit the copy of the AO together with the official map of the Philippines we expect them to include it in the international maps that will be issued by relevant international organizations,” he added.
Asked whether this action would provoke tensions because of countries’ overlapping claims over territories and would affect plans for a proposed Code of Conduct in the territories, Hernandez said that he saw no conflict as the Philippines was only “focused on what is ours.”
Hernandez clarified that the Philippines, unlike China, only claimed portions of the area as identified by the baselines law.
Asked whether the DFA had heard of any protests to the Philippine action of renaming the area, Hernandez said that he had not received any reports.
However, Taiwan’s Central News Agency had reported that Taiwan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a statement late Wednesday saying it did not recognize the move by the Philippines.
The report quoted the ministry as saying that ”whether from the perspective of history, geography or international law, the Spratly Islands, the Paracel Islands, the Macclesfield Bank and the Pratas Islands as well as their surrounding waters, sea beds and subsoil, are all inherent parts of the territory of the Republic of China.”
Asked about this, Hernandez said that he had not received reports but that the country did not maintain diplomatic relations with Taiwan because of the One China Policy which says that diplomatic ties were maintained with Beijing while only economic ties were kept with Taipei.
China, Philippines, Brunei, Malaysia, Vietnam, and Taiwan claim all or parts of the West Philippine Sea.
Asked whether the move to rename strengthens our claim to the areas, Hernandez said that the basis of our claims in the areas was effective occupation and jurisdiction based on public international law and as provided for by UNCLOS.
“This just affirms what is actually already declared as ours,” Hernandez said.
Monday, September 10, 2012
Whistle-blowing NGO in Malaysia to be Charged | Asia Sentinel
Whistle-blowing NGO in Malaysia to be Charged | Asia Sentinel
John Berthelsen, 10 September 2012
When the going gets tough, UMNO jails the whistleblowers
Suaram, the human rights NGO that hired French lawyers to investigate bribes and kickbacks surrounding Malaysia’s controversial purchase of French submarines, will be charged for violations of the country’s Companies Act sometime during the next two weeks, Domestic Trade and Consumerism Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob said Saturday, according to the state-owned Bernama news service.
Some 66 Malaysia-based NGOs are expected to give a press conference tomorrow at 11 am expressing their support for Suaram, an acronym for Suara Rakyat Malaysia, or Voice of the Malaysian People.
Suaram in 2009 asked a French investigative law firm headed by William Bourdon in 2009 to look into what appeared to be huge bribes and kickbacks paid to Malaysian politicians by the French state-owned defense company DCN and its subsidiaries for the 2002 purchase of two submarines and the lease of a third.
The probe resulted in a raid on DCN’s headquarters and other company offices that exposed nearly 150 million euros in questionable funds paid to a close friend of then-defense minister Najib Tun Razak, now Malaysia’s prime minister. The documents indicated that the bribes had been paid with the full knowledge of Alain Juppe, the French foreign minister, Mahathir Mohamad, then the prime minister of Malaysia, and Najib, who had negotiated the purchase. The evidence detailed a host of other sleazy dealings.
Some 133 documents listing the alleged criminal dealings were obtained independently by Asia Sentinel and posted here on June 25 on the Internet. Two Asia Sentinel stories detailed the allegations against French and Malaysian officials.
Suaram, accused of being “Anwar’s NGO” because of the presence of opposition members of its board of directors, has come under unprecedented attack by pro-government bloggers, party-owned newspaper and UMNO lawmakers who questioned its status as an NGO rather than a company and accused it of receiving foreign funds.
“Yes, they are going to try to charge us,” Suaram Director Cynthia Gabriel said in a telephone interview Sunday. We have no details yet, the first charge will probably be in a couple of days, we will see what happens.”
Gabriel said the first charge apparently involves allegations of money-laundering, although she said the NGO had voluntarily opened its books to investigators and that she felt there had been no wrongdoing.
Malaysia’s government-owned newspapers have blared headlines that Suaram received funds from the German government, and indicated that that the German ambassador would be called in and asked for an explanation.
The Chinese probably hold the record for jailing those who point out corruption, violation of environmental laws and other shortcomings. But Malaysia could be catching up. The Barisan Nasional has a considerable history of going after whistle-blowers who expose wrongdoing by government officials, and particularly of leaders of the United Malays National Organization.
The most recent were Rafizi Ramli, the strategy chief for the opposition Parti Keadilan Rakyat party, and Johan Mohamad, a former Public Bank clerk, for explosive details of an equally embarrassing scandal involving Malaysia’s National Feedlot Corporation, controlled by the husband of Shahrizat Abdul Jalil, the head of the women’s wing of UMNO. Te scandal has more recently become known as Cowgate, in which it squandered millions of ringgit on personal trips, fancy cars, condominiums in Singapore and Kuala Lumpur and largely failed in its mission to establish an operation to slaughter tens of thousands of cattle annually following Islamic religious practices.
Government officials raided Rafizi’s home in a predawn raid and charged him on Aug. 1 with violating the Banking and Financial Securities Act.
Rafizi also made public Treasury Ministry documents allegedly showing that a consortium headed by a close friend of Najib Tun Razak delivered the winning bid for a RM1 billion light rail expansion project, accusing Najib of interfering in the bid process to swing the contract to the engineering company.
Another whistleblower who had his career ruined because he dared to take on UMNO cronies was Ramli Yusuff, the director of Malaysia's Commercial Crime Investigation Department, who filed a report concerning the looting of MAS, the country’s flag airline.
"Tan Sri Tajudin Ramli was in control of MAS from 1994 to 2001. When he left MAS in 2001, MAS had accumulated losses in excess of RM8 billion (US$2.54 billion). Many projects were made under very suspicious circumstances," Ramli wrote in his report, indicating a wide range of abuses by Tajudin’s family, who were deeply involved in setting up shell companies to siphon off money from MAS ancillary operations.
But instead of preferring charges against Tajudin, the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) went after the inspecting officer, Ramli Yusuff for allegedly not declaring his assets, for misusing a police airplane, and abusing his power as a police officer, all of which were convincingly refuted.
Ramli wasn't the only one to be hauled before the courts. His lawyer, Rosli Dahlan, who was also the lawyer for the airline itself, prepared Ramli's defense against the criminal charges only to be arrested on charges of collaborating with Ramli. At one point, on a pretext that Rosli had mishandled a letter from the MACC, police officers invaded Rosli's office, arrested and handcuffed him, then kept him in a cell overnight, refusing him medical treatment for injuries to his wrists from the handcuffs. They also refused his request to file a report against the arresting officers.
Rosli went to a court especially created to handle MACC cases, only to have the case fizzle out when a prosecutor announced that neither Rosli nor Ramli had been charged for corruption, having been summarily acquitted without having to put on a defense.
Probably the most egregious case occurred in 1995 when Lim Guan Eng, then a Melaka politician, was charged with sedition and jailed for 18 months for pointing out on the floor of Parliament that Mohamed Khir Toyo, then the Melaka chief minister, was involved in the statutory rape of a 15-year-old schoolgirl. The girl’s grandmother appealed to Lim for help after the family had no access to her for eight days. When the affair became known, the alleged rape victim was jailed as well. Lim, now the chief minister for the state of Penang, lost his MP status and was barred from standing in the next election.
John Berthelsen, 10 September 2012
When the going gets tough, UMNO jails the whistleblowers
Suaram, the human rights NGO that hired French lawyers to investigate bribes and kickbacks surrounding Malaysia’s controversial purchase of French submarines, will be charged for violations of the country’s Companies Act sometime during the next two weeks, Domestic Trade and Consumerism Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob said Saturday, according to the state-owned Bernama news service.
Some 66 Malaysia-based NGOs are expected to give a press conference tomorrow at 11 am expressing their support for Suaram, an acronym for Suara Rakyat Malaysia, or Voice of the Malaysian People.
Suaram in 2009 asked a French investigative law firm headed by William Bourdon in 2009 to look into what appeared to be huge bribes and kickbacks paid to Malaysian politicians by the French state-owned defense company DCN and its subsidiaries for the 2002 purchase of two submarines and the lease of a third.
The probe resulted in a raid on DCN’s headquarters and other company offices that exposed nearly 150 million euros in questionable funds paid to a close friend of then-defense minister Najib Tun Razak, now Malaysia’s prime minister. The documents indicated that the bribes had been paid with the full knowledge of Alain Juppe, the French foreign minister, Mahathir Mohamad, then the prime minister of Malaysia, and Najib, who had negotiated the purchase. The evidence detailed a host of other sleazy dealings.
Some 133 documents listing the alleged criminal dealings were obtained independently by Asia Sentinel and posted here on June 25 on the Internet. Two Asia Sentinel stories detailed the allegations against French and Malaysian officials.
Suaram, accused of being “Anwar’s NGO” because of the presence of opposition members of its board of directors, has come under unprecedented attack by pro-government bloggers, party-owned newspaper and UMNO lawmakers who questioned its status as an NGO rather than a company and accused it of receiving foreign funds.
“Yes, they are going to try to charge us,” Suaram Director Cynthia Gabriel said in a telephone interview Sunday. We have no details yet, the first charge will probably be in a couple of days, we will see what happens.”
Gabriel said the first charge apparently involves allegations of money-laundering, although she said the NGO had voluntarily opened its books to investigators and that she felt there had been no wrongdoing.
Malaysia’s government-owned newspapers have blared headlines that Suaram received funds from the German government, and indicated that that the German ambassador would be called in and asked for an explanation.
The Chinese probably hold the record for jailing those who point out corruption, violation of environmental laws and other shortcomings. But Malaysia could be catching up. The Barisan Nasional has a considerable history of going after whistle-blowers who expose wrongdoing by government officials, and particularly of leaders of the United Malays National Organization.
The most recent were Rafizi Ramli, the strategy chief for the opposition Parti Keadilan Rakyat party, and Johan Mohamad, a former Public Bank clerk, for explosive details of an equally embarrassing scandal involving Malaysia’s National Feedlot Corporation, controlled by the husband of Shahrizat Abdul Jalil, the head of the women’s wing of UMNO. Te scandal has more recently become known as Cowgate, in which it squandered millions of ringgit on personal trips, fancy cars, condominiums in Singapore and Kuala Lumpur and largely failed in its mission to establish an operation to slaughter tens of thousands of cattle annually following Islamic religious practices.
Government officials raided Rafizi’s home in a predawn raid and charged him on Aug. 1 with violating the Banking and Financial Securities Act.
Rafizi also made public Treasury Ministry documents allegedly showing that a consortium headed by a close friend of Najib Tun Razak delivered the winning bid for a RM1 billion light rail expansion project, accusing Najib of interfering in the bid process to swing the contract to the engineering company.
Another whistleblower who had his career ruined because he dared to take on UMNO cronies was Ramli Yusuff, the director of Malaysia's Commercial Crime Investigation Department, who filed a report concerning the looting of MAS, the country’s flag airline.
"Tan Sri Tajudin Ramli was in control of MAS from 1994 to 2001. When he left MAS in 2001, MAS had accumulated losses in excess of RM8 billion (US$2.54 billion). Many projects were made under very suspicious circumstances," Ramli wrote in his report, indicating a wide range of abuses by Tajudin’s family, who were deeply involved in setting up shell companies to siphon off money from MAS ancillary operations.
But instead of preferring charges against Tajudin, the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) went after the inspecting officer, Ramli Yusuff for allegedly not declaring his assets, for misusing a police airplane, and abusing his power as a police officer, all of which were convincingly refuted.
Ramli wasn't the only one to be hauled before the courts. His lawyer, Rosli Dahlan, who was also the lawyer for the airline itself, prepared Ramli's defense against the criminal charges only to be arrested on charges of collaborating with Ramli. At one point, on a pretext that Rosli had mishandled a letter from the MACC, police officers invaded Rosli's office, arrested and handcuffed him, then kept him in a cell overnight, refusing him medical treatment for injuries to his wrists from the handcuffs. They also refused his request to file a report against the arresting officers.
Rosli went to a court especially created to handle MACC cases, only to have the case fizzle out when a prosecutor announced that neither Rosli nor Ramli had been charged for corruption, having been summarily acquitted without having to put on a defense.
Probably the most egregious case occurred in 1995 when Lim Guan Eng, then a Melaka politician, was charged with sedition and jailed for 18 months for pointing out on the floor of Parliament that Mohamed Khir Toyo, then the Melaka chief minister, was involved in the statutory rape of a 15-year-old schoolgirl. The girl’s grandmother appealed to Lim for help after the family had no access to her for eight days. When the affair became known, the alleged rape victim was jailed as well. Lim, now the chief minister for the state of Penang, lost his MP status and was barred from standing in the next election.
Saturday, September 8, 2012
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
