Myanmar criticized over sentencing of Suu Kyi

AFP, BRUSSELS
Wednesday, Aug 12, 2009, Page 1

Criticism poured in for Myanmar yesterday over the sentencing of Aung San Suu Kyi as the EU promised more sanctions and one of its key regional partners called for the democracy icon's immediate release.

After the authorities ordered the Nobel laureate to remain under house arrest for a further 18 months following a trial in Yangon, protesters rallied outside Myanmar's diplomatic missions to denounce the outcome.

With the sentence effectively ruling out any possibility of the 64-year-old standing in polls next year, there were immediate calls for a hardening of sanctions against the military rulers who prevented Suu Kyi from taking power after her party won elections in 1990.

“The EU will respond with additional targeted measures against those responsible for the verdict,” the EU's Swedish presidency said in a statement on behalf of the 27-nation bloc.

European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso said Suu Kyi's continued detention is “unjustified and unacceptable on all accounts.”

An EU source said a “written procedure” had been launched to beef up the sanctions which will be able to come into force on Friday, as long as there is no opposition from the bloc's members.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy said any new EU sanctions had to hit the junta where it hurt.

The new measures “must in particular target the resources that they directly profit from, in the wood and ruby sector,” a statement from his office said.

British Prime Minister Gordon Brown said he was “saddened and angry” at the verdict in the “sham trial.”

Brown said her “monstrous” prosecution, designed to stop her from taking part in next year's planned elections, meant the poll would have no legitimacy.

He said it was time an arms embargo was slapped on the junta by the UN Security Council, whose permanent members include Myanmar's traditional ally China.

Criticism was more muted closer to home, but Malaysia's foreign minister said Suu Kyi should be released immediately and called for an urgent meeting of the ASEAN.

“We were hoping that the junta will release her unconditionally and will hold an election to enable Suu Kyi and other political detainees to participate in that election,” Anifah Aman said.

Fellow ASEAN member Indonesia also expressed concern, with the foreign ministry saying it was “very disappointed” at the verdict.

ASEAN last month rejected US calls to expel Myanmar and opposed sanctions on Myanmar.

Australia also called for tougher sanctions, expressing “dismay” at the conviction and urging the junta to release Suu Kyi.

Survivors tell of narrow escapes from landslides
　

By Huang Ming-yu, Hsieh Yin-chung, and Tsai Tsung-hsun
STAFF REPORTERS, Chiayi
Wednesday, Aug 12, 2009, Page 2

“I thought it was an earthquake. I rushed out of the house with my daughter in my arms. The house was washed into the center of the rice field, but my older brother was gone.”— Hsieh Kun-nan, resident of Liukuei Township

Rescuers who reached mountainous areas in Chiayi County on Monday brought back traumatic stories of close escapes and casualties.

Deng Chung-jung (鄧鐘榮), a 63-year-old man who had been reported as missing, survived the mudslides that wiped out his house.

Deng, who was still shaking as he recalled his brush with death, said he and his family ran out of his house after hearing a thunderous sound.

His brother Deng Shun-ming (鄧順明), 66, was carrying their 86-year-old mother Deng Tang Chun-lan (鄧湯春蘭) on his back when mud overcame them, Deng Chung-jung said.

Deng Chung-jung said he tried to call for emergency help from his neighbor’s house, but the reception was too poor to communicate.

Deng Chung-jung returned to his home to look for his mother and brother. His brother was later found dead, while his mother remains missing.

In Kaohsiung County, a resident of Liukuei Township (六龜) narrowly escaped a landslide.

“I thought it was an earthquake. I rushed out of the house with my daughter in my arms. The house was washed into the center of the rice field, but my older brother was gone,” said Hsieh Kun-nan (謝坤南).

The house was destroyed.

His brother’s house was also wiped out by a mudslide.

Two hours later, a local rescue team removed the debris and found Hsieh’s brother, Hsieh Kun-feng (謝坤鋒), still alive.

Hsieh Kun-feng had been buried under two walls and was lying with shattered glass centimeters away from his face.

An ambulance that took Hsieh Kun-feng to a nearby clinic had to make a detour because the Liukuei Bridge had collapsed, Hsieh Kun-nan said.

But they were unable to find any medical help when they arrived, while the roads to nearby Cishan Township (旗山) were cut off, Hsieh Kun-nan said.

Hsieh Kun-nan said that although he lost his house and car, he and his brother were happy to be alive.

“Surviving is what really matters,” he said.
　

Control Yuan chief blames government
　

FURIOUS: Wang Chien-shien said government agencies’ disregard for suggestions to improve disaster prevention measures made him so angry he wanted to ‘kill’ someone
　

By Shih Hsiu-chuan
STAFF REPORTER
Wednesday, Aug 12, 2009, Page 3
　

The government failed to learn from previous disasters and failed to improve inadequate flood prevention measures, Control Yuan President Wang Chien-shien (王建煊) said yesterday as he ordered Control Yuan members to launch an investigation into government accountability in the wake of Typhoon Morakot.

Wang said the Control Yuan would hold off on subpoenaing government officials for the moment to avoid obstructing disaster relief efforts.

He said the government failed to address problems and learn from the suggestions on disaster prevention measures that the Control Yuan had presented several times in the past.

Wang said he was deeply saddened by the tragedy.

“I was so angry that I wanted to scold and kill people, but I didn’t know who to blame. I believe Taiwanese are also feeling disheartened and indignant,” he said.

The Control Yuan last week issued corrective measures to 14 government agencies for their handling of Typhoon Kalmaegi last year, while similar warnings had been issued to government agencies in each of the previous three Control Yuan terms.

Wang said that a significant amount of heartache could have been prevented if the government had paid more attention.

“We will not allow the power of the Control Yuan to be disregarded. The Control Yuan will impeach the heads of government institutions who failed to improve the problems highlighted by the Control Yuan’s corrective measures,” Wang said.

He said government agencies’ defiance of corrective measures issued by the Control Yuan was more serious than corruption.

“The Control Yuan is entitled to impeach heads of government agencies repeatedly until they step down, and to keep impeaching their successors until problems are resolved,” Wang added.

Control Yuan Vice President Chen Jinn-lih (陳進利) will work with the heads of the four sitting Control Yuan committees to decide how to examine the government’s responsibility for losses suffered as a result of inadequate disaster prevention measures.

Nobel laureate urges UN chief Ban to visit Tehran
　

ABUSES: The opposition said 69 people were killed in the post-election unrest, and some protesters, both male and female, had been raped while in detention

REUTERS , SEOUL AND TEHRAN
Wednesday, Aug 12, 2009, Page 6

Iranian Nobel Peace laureate Shirin Ebadi yesterday called on the UN chief to visit Iran to receive a first-hand account of human rights abuses and warned against sanctions because they would hurt the Iranian people.

Iran’s June 12 election, which secured hardline President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s re-election, plunged Iran into its biggest internal crisis since the 1979 Islamic revolution, exposed deepening divisions in its ruling elite and set off a wave of protests that left 26 people dead.

“I ask UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to visit Iran,” Ebadi told reporters in Seoul, where she picked up a local peace prize. “He must speak to the families whose members have been arrested or killed.”

Ebadi contends that more than 100 people have been killed.

Ebadi, Iran’s most famous human rights lawyer, was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2003 and has called for UN observers to scrutinize a fresh vote in Iran. Her influence in Iran is seen as limited, analysts said.

In an attempt to uproot the opposition, Iran began two mass trials of more than 100 people, including prominent figures, a French woman and two Iranians working for the British and French embassies in Tehran.

It charged them with spying and assisting a Western plot to overthrow the clerical rule. The US and its European allies have rejected the trials as a “show,” while Ebadi said they were “ridiculous” and must be stopped.

“The trials show that the administration is weak. These mass trials are not in line with the laws of Islam,” she said through a translator.

Meanwhile, an ally of Iranian opposition leader Mirhossein Mousavi said 69 people were killed in the post-election unrest, the Sarmayeh daily said yesterday.

“The names of 69 people who were killed in post-election unrest ... were submitted to parliament for investigation. The report also included the names of about 220 detainees,” Alireza Hosseini Beheshti said.

Judiciary spokesman Alireza Jamshidi said yesterday that more than 4,000 protesters had been arrested nationwide since the vote.

“But 3,700 of them were released in the first week after their arrest,” Jamshidi told a news conference.

Among those still in prison are senior pro-reform politicians, journalists, activists and lawyers.

Parliament speaker Ali Larijani said parliament would carefully review cases of the detainees and those killed in the post-election unrest, the Etemad-e melli newspaper reported yesterday.

Defeated presidential candidate Mehdi Karoubi on Sunday said on his Web site that some protesters, both male and female, had been raped while in detention and that he had written to the head of a powerful arbitration body calling for an investigation.

“Such claims [of rape and abuse of detainees] will be investigated by parliament,” Larijani said.

Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei ordered a prison’s closure last month, citing a “lack of necessary standards” to preserve prisoners’ rights, and police chief Esmail Ahmadi-Moghaddam said some of the protesters held at the Kahrizak detention center had been tortured.

A president far from his people

Wednesday, Aug 12, 2009, Page 8

As hundreds of people wait for news of missing loved ones and hundreds of thousands mourn the damage to their towns, homes, shops and fields, solace is needed as urgently as relief efforts. But victims of Typhoon Morakot looking to President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) for that solace will be disappointed.

Ma’s visit to areas ravaged by the storm was intended to instill confidence that the government is aware of the extent of the devastation and will not abandon communities to their fate. But Ma was visibly irritated and impatient with villagers who spoke to him. Grief-stricken residents were likely left feeling the president was as distant as ever, even when at arm’s length. Rather than consolation, Ma communicated aloofness.

Nor were his comments on the roles of central and local governments appropriate or helpful. Ma said on Monday that local governments bore full responsibility for the relief effort, while the central government would help only if local authorities could not handle the situation. In this way, the government would ensure that it used funds “reasonably and efficiently,” he said.

While excessive government spending has been a hot topic in past weeks, a disaster in which hundreds of people are feared missing is hardly the occasion to talk about governmental division of labor.

If Ma learned any lessons from the extensive flooding in the south last year, he did not learn them well. The president came under fire last summer for not visiting areas devastated by torrential rains in June. At the time, the Presidential Office brushed off the criticism, saying Ma would not visit “out of respect for the Constitution” because “disaster relief and visits fall under the authority of the Executive Yuan.”

This time there was no mention of “honoring” the Constitution. Ma was quick to head to the front lines of the disaster, but did such a poor job of displaying sympathy that he made Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao (溫家寶) look like a man of the people for his cameo performance after the Sichuan quake.

In times of disaster, the role of central and local governments is twofold: to ensure swift aid and to offer comfort and hope in the face of tragedy and trauma. Failing to perform either of these functions can have long-lasting political implications.

Former US president George W. Bush’s cold response after Hurricane Katrina was more than a blunder: It betrayed indifference and isolation from human suffering, a disturbing quality in a head of state. For many in the US, Bush’s apathy was unforgivable, and the concern he voiced later could not repair his image.

If Ma’s actions in the aftermath of Morakot are deemed inadequate by voters, his mistakes now could cost his party down the line. Long after the floodwaters have receded, the gradual process of reconstruction will serve as a reminder for those unhappy with Ma and his administration’s response to the disaster. Washed-out bridges, damaged roads and ruined crops will not be remedied in one electoral cycle.

The disappointment over Ma’s response could be compounded by frustration over leaders and government agencies dodging responsibility for the disaster and relief efforts.

Like last summer, the Presidential Office was quick to say relief and reconstruction efforts were not its job. Ma also criticized local governments for acting too slowly. The Cabinet, meanwhile, said it would not engage in a blame game with local governments at a time of crisis. It then proceeded to do just that by saying local governments bore responsibility for evacuating people in time — and hence for the death toll.

At the least, Ma’s half-hearted visit to the south will further erode his dire approval ratings. At worst, his comments and those of leaders passing the buck will leave disaster victims feeling forsaken and wondering whether the help they need will come.

Ma’s ‘diplomatic truce’ is poison

Wednesday, Aug 12, 2009, Page 8

Since President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) took office last year, 17 members of the US House of Representatives and two governors — but no senators — have visited Taiwan. Yet senators are leading political figures, and considering that several presidents were at one time senators, inviting them to visit and learn about Taiwan has always been a focus of diplomatic efforts.

Ma’s government has done poorly in this regard. One possibility is that the US is suspicious of the government’s pro-China stance, making senators hesitant to visit. Another possibility is that the government is not interested in bolstering ties with the US and has therefore not invited senators to come.

Ma has proposed a “diplomatic truce” to promote cross-strait peace talks and end the diplomatic competition between the two sides of the Taiwan Strait. Taiwan’s sovereignty is now in a “diplomatic coma.”

For more than a year, the government has distanced itself from friends and treated a China that wants to annex it as a good friend. Its policies can be summed up with the slogan: “Cross-strait relations transcend all else.” Thus the government fails to distinguish between friend and foe. This is key to the nation’s sovereignty crisis.

In addition to the US, the government has distanced itself from Japan despite Tokyo’s friendly policies toward Taiwan and concern for Taiwan’s security.

The government has echoed Beijing by insisting on sovereignty over the Diaoyutai islands. When Japanese Representative to Taiwan Masaki Saito said in May that Taiwan’s status was undetermined, he meant to make clear that Taiwanese sovereignty is not in China’s hands. Yet Ma and Minister of Foreign Affairs Francisco Ou (歐鴻鍊) have punished Saito by refusing to meet him since then, thus damaging Taiwan’s traditional friendship with Tokyo.

The government seems to harbor a historical hatred of Japan, but its negative attitude is very different from the public’s.

Ma is nevertheless not afraid of offending Japan or disregarding public opinion because Beijing is behind him.

Ma reserves his warmth for China. When Chinese envoy Chen Yunlin (陳雲林) visited in November, his administration oppressed protesters and banned them from displaying the national flag and playing Taiwanese songs. This, to curry favor with his Chinese guest.

Taiwan also obtained Chinese approval through murky channels to participate in the World Health Assembly (WHA) as an observer under the name “Chinese Taipei.” The arrangement implies Taiwan is subject to China’s control and requires Beijing’s approval for participation in international organizations and activities.

Kaohsiung Mayor Chen Chu (陳菊) says Beijing was opposed to Ma attending the World Games, yet Ma praised Beijing’s “goodwill” in connection with the event.

Ma does not value Taiwan’s allies. He claims he has put an end to “cash diplomacy,” yet China is continuing the practice.

The Presidential Office and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs have said they do not mind if Taiwan’s allies pursue interaction with China, but that dual recognition would be unacceptable.

The government seems not to mind if its diplomatic allies switch recognition to China and is uninterested in seeking dual recognition.

Ma’s “diplomatic truce” is likely to drive away all of Taiwan’s diplomatic allies. As China’s international blockade tightens, Taiwan will eventually become a special administrative region of China.

Ma’s “diplomatic truce” is harmful to Taiwan and its people, yet Ma favors it, because by belittling Taiwanese sovereignty in the international community and catering to the “one China” principle, Ma hopes China will offer rewards as he opens up cross-strait economic links. That would help Ma improve his poor performance.

Ma knows that China’s “united front” strategy includes economic links that are sugarcoated poison. He knows that Taiwan’s fate after taking this medicine will be gradual economic and political paralysis leading to annexation by China without resistance.

The “diplomatic truce” and “eventual unification” are two sides of the same coin. The benefits of cross-strait detente cannot be measured without weighing the risk of ultimate unification.