Vietnam Starts Criminal Proceedings Against Gia, Lao Dong Says

 By Bloomberg News

Vietnam has started criminal proceedings against Tran Xuan Gia, former chairman of Asia Commercial Bank, and three other officials for alleged economic mismanagement, Lao Dong newspaper reported on its website today.

Gia and the three former vice-chairmen of the bank, Le Vu Ky, Trinh Kim Quang and Pham Trung Cang, allegedly violated state regulations on economic management, the newspaper said quoting a police investigation unit. The former bank executives are cooperating with the investigation and have been ordered to stay at their residences, according to the report said.

The four individuals were allegedly involved in authorizing ACB employees to deposit funds at 29 different banks to enjoy higher deposit rates than the cap imposed by the central bank, the report said.

ACB, Vietnam’s biggest bank that isn’t owned by the government, said Gia and two deputies approved the deposit of 718 billion dong ($34 million) of the company’s funds at another bank. The board accepted their resignations on Sept. 18, the bank said in a statement Sept 19.

There was no response to calls by Bloomberg News to Gia’s mobile phone. Quang declined to comment when reached on his phone. Cang and Ky could not immediately be contacted for comments. Nguyen Tien Luc, deputy head of the Police Bureau for Crime Prevention, did not answer calls to his mobile phone. Nguyen Thanh Toai, deputy chief executive of ACB, said he had no comment because the executives concerned have left the bank.

Vietnam’s benchmark stock index closed 0.5 percent lower today. ACB lost 1.2 percent.
To contact Bloomberg News staff for this story: Diep Ngoc Pham in Hanoi at dpham5@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: K. Oanh Ha at oha3@bloomberg.net

U.S. call for "cool heads" in China-Japan island dispute goes unheeded

By Andrew Quinn and Paul Eckert | Reuters 

NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton urged China and Japan on Thursday to let "cool heads" prevail in a festering dispute over a cluster of East China Sea islands, but hours later Chinese and Japanese diplomats traded barbs at the United Nations.

Clinton met Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi on the sidelines of this week's U.N. General Assembly meeting in New York and said it was important to ratchet down the quarrel over the islands that has soured ties between Asia's two largest economies, a senior State Department official said.

The uninhabited islets, whose nearby waters are thought to hold potentially rich natural gas reserves, are known as the Diaoyu islands in China and the Senkaku islands in Japan. They have been under Japan's control since 1895.

"The secretary ... again urged that cooler heads prevail, that Japan and China engage in dialogue to calm the waters," the official told reporters.

"We believe that Japan and China have the resources, have the restraint, have the ability to work on this directly and take tensions down, and that is our message to both sides," the official said.

Yang, however, used a portion of China's annual address to the U.N. General Assembly on Thursday night to forcefully restate Beijing's stance that the islands had belonged to China from ancient times and were seized in 1895 after Japan defeated the Qing Dynasty in a war.

Yang also condemned the Japanese government's purchase of the islands earlier this month from their private owner, a step that sparked protests across China and prompted Beijing to curb bilateral trade and tourism.
"The moves taken by Japan are totally illegal and invalid," he said of the purchase, which Tokyo says was done to ease the dispute by preventing the islands' use by Japanese activists.

"They can in no way change the historical fact that Japan stole the Diaoyudao and affiliated islands and that China has sovereignty over them," Yang told the General Assembly. Diaoyudao is what China calls the main island in the cluster.

DUELING CLAIMS AT U.N.
Japan then exercised its right to reply in General Assembly debate, restating Tokyo's position that no sovereignty dispute exists and that Japan began surveying the islands a decade before deciding to incorporate them in 1895, and there exists no evidence that the islands belonged to China.

"It has only been since the 1970s that the government of China and the Taiwanese authorities began making their assertions on territorial sovereignty over the Senkaku Islands," said Kazuo Kodama, Japan's deputy U.N. ambassador.

"Before then they did not express any objections," he added.

Not to be outdone, China's U.N. Ambassador Li Baodong accused the Japanese envoy of "resorting to spurious, fallacious arguments that defy all reason and logic."

"The recent so-called purchase of the islands is nothing different than money laundering," he said, accusing Tokyo of buying stolen property when it acquired the islands this month.

China has declared the islands "sacred territory," and Taiwan has also asserted its own sovereignty over the area.

Clinton was due to meet Japanese Foreign Minister Koichiro Gemba and South Korean Foreign Minister Kim Sung-hwan in a three-way meeting on Friday. Japan and South Korea, two close U.S. allies, have also seen their relationship rocked in recent months by maritime territorial disputes.

In hour-long talks on the sidelines of the United Nations on Tuesday, Japan's Gemba urged China to exercise restraint over the dispute. Japanese diplomats described the meeting as "tense," as Gemba endured a stern lecture from China's Yang.

Yang called on Tokyo to handle the dispute through negotiation, and Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Osamu Fujimura said "it is necessary for both countries to maintain and strengthen bilateral communications and respond to the issue calmly and with a broad perspective in mind."

ESCALATION RISK
Both China and Japan have sent patrol boats in a game of cat-and-mouse in the waters near the disputed islands, raising concerns that an unintended collision or other incident could escalate into a broader clash.
In a further sign of economic fallout from the dispute, Chinese buyers and Japanese sellers of refined copper have postponed agreement on terms for 2013 shipments.

Chinese and Japanese companies failed to reach a deal in talks this week, even though Japanese sellers were willing to cut price premiums by about 10 percent from last year, a Chinese executive familiar with the talks said.

The United States has said repeatedly it takes no position on the sovereignty dispute, but believes it is important for China and Japan to work out their differences peacefully. Washington has repeatedly confirmed, however, that the U.S.-Japan security treaty would apply to the islands in the event of military attack.

In her meeting with Yang, Clinton also touched on territorial disputes in the South China Sea that have set Beijing against a number of its Southeast Asian neighbors, including the Philippines, a close U.S. ally.
China has resisted calls by the United States and some Southeast Asian countries to agree on a multilateral framework to settle the disputes, preferring to engage with each of the other less powerful claimants individually.

The U.S. official said Clinton welcomed moves by China to restart informal meetings with members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, or ASEAN, most recently in Cambodia two weeks ago, as a sign of progress.

"We expect these meetings are going to continue in the lead-up to the East Asia Summit in November," the official said. "This is precisely what the secretary has been advocating, that they restart a dialogue."

Clinton met later with a delegation of ASEAN ministers, who were guardedly upbeat about China's latest moves, a second U.S. official said.

"We are going to have to wait and see over the course of the next several weeks, but we have obviously encouraged the process to grow and deepen," the official told reporters.
(Editing by Todd Eastham and Mohammad Zargham)

Sumner Redstone Donates $700,000 to the Cambodian Children's Fund

28th September 2012

Beverly Hills, California, United States (Business Wire (Business Wire India))

Sumner Redstone today announced a grant of $700,000 to the Cambodian Children's Fund (CCF), a non-profit program that provides a wide range of critical health and educational services to impoverished and abused children in Cambodia's capital city of Phnom Penh. This most recent gift brings Mr. Redstone's total commitment to CCF to $2.7 million. Mr. Redstone's initial $500,000 grant in 2007 established CCF's child rescue center, followed by gifts totaling $1.2 million in 2011. 

The CCF is a community-based program that provides the city's most at-risk children with education, health care, nutrition and a play area, all within a secure environment. The Sumner M. Redstone Center cares for children of all ages and includes a nursery for children under three who are recovering from malnutrition, illness or have unsafe home lives; a day care center for three to six year-olds, many from impoverished and seriously disadvantaged domestic situations; and an education center with classes for children from age six through sixteen, who have no other education opportunities. The Center also houses a food program for the surrounding community children and a medical clinic. 

Mr. Redstone said, “I have been so inspired by the turnaround in the health and well-being of the children the Cambodian Children’s Fund serves, children from some of the most destitute areas of Cambodia. Over the years the CCF has grown to serve thousands of children, and extended its life changing programs to families and communities as well. I am so proud to support the CCF as it expands to provide even more high risk children with the critical services they need most.” 

Scott Neeson, the founder and executive director of CCF, said, "Mr. Redstone's earlier donations allowed us to bring education, health care and nutrition to hundreds more high risk children. This latest gift provides what is now the most critical need for these young children: the consistency of education and care. After such difficult and turbulent pasts, the promise of longer term care is invaluable. Mr. Redstone's generosity allows us to make such a commitment to these most-deserving of children. His investment in education especially will provide better lives for generations to come." 

The Cambodian Children's Fund was founded in 2004 by Mr. Neeson to aid the most impoverished of Cambodia's children. The CCF's Phnom Penh facility was initially established as a safe house for Cambodia's orphaned, abandoned or abused children, providing secure shelter and nutritional meals within a caring environment. Since then, the CCF has grown to include full education, medical care, vocational training and community outreach services for Cambodia's most impoverished children and their families. With six facilities now operating, CCF's services include maternal care, clean water, a food program, a nursery for the most at-risk newborns and infants, a day care center, a garment training facility and a bakery. CCF also provides a comprehensive educational program for over 1,400 children, including local language reading and writing, multi-level English classes, social studies and math. The Cambodian Children's Fund was recently announced as the recipient of the 2012 Wise Award for innovation in education, the first organization in the region to win such a prize.

Suspect in Y600 mil robbery extradited from Cambodia

TOKYO —A Japanese national, wanted in connection with a 600 million yen robbery in Tokyo last year, was extradited from Cambodia to Japan on Friday.

The National Police Agency (NPA) said that the suspect, who has been named as 45-year-old Kenji Nishizawa, is believed to have been part of a gang that stole 600 million yen in cash from a Tokyo security firm in May 2011. So far, police have arrested more than 20 in connection with the case.

Nishizawa, who had been on an international wanted list, was apprehended by police in Cambodia earlier this month on suspicion of illegally overstaying in the country, the National Police Agency said. He arrived at Haneda airport, accompanied by police.

Police say that of the 600 million yen stolen, around 360 million has not yet been accounted for. It is thought that Nishizawa may have taken some or all of the money with him when he fled to Cambodia in June 2011, TV Asahi reported.

In Obama’s speech, their voices

September 28,2012
 
When President Barack Obama made a landmark speech against modern slavery on Tuesday, many of us in the news media shrugged. It didn’t fit into the political narrative. It wasn’t controversial, so — yawn — it wasn’t really news.

But women like Sina Vann noticed. She’s a friend of mine who was trafficked as a young girl from Vietnam into Cambodian brothels — where she was regularly punished by being locked inside coffins with scorpions and biting ants. Now an anti-trafficking activist with the Somaly Mam Foundation, she sent me an exuberant email (in fractured English, her third language) with a message for Obama: “We are survivors here so proud of you, you are the big president in U.S. and you take action of trafficking. So you give victims from around the world have hope.”

Rachel Lloyd, a survivor of human trafficking who was nearly choked to death by her pimp, felt the same way. Lloyd now runs a superb program in New York City, GEMS, to help American girls escape “the life.” She told me that watching the Obama speech was “one of the most gratifying moments in my 15 years of work on the issue.”

If Rep. Todd Akin’s remarks about “legitimate rape” provoked an uproar, shouldn’t it be incomparably more offensive that millions of human beings are still trafficked in the 21st century? Yet the world often scorns the victims and sees them as criminals: These girls are the lepers of the 21st century.

So bravo to the president for giving a major speech on human trafficking and, crucially, for promising greater resources to fight pimps and support those who escape the streets. Until recently, the Obama White House hasn’t shown strong leadership on human trafficking, but this could be a breakthrough. The test will be whether Obama continues to press the issue.

I’ve been passionate about human trafficking ever since I encountered a village in Cambodia 15 year ago where young girls were locked up, terrified, as their virginity was sold to the highest bidder. It felt just like 19th-century slavery, except that these girls would likely be dead of AIDS or something else by their 20s.

Granted, not all prostitution is coerced. Reasonable people can disagree about what to do in the case of adults who sell sex voluntarily. Put aside that disagreement, for we can agree to place priority on the millions of children and adults compelled to provide sex or other labor.

Prostituted kids are among the most voiceless of the voiceless around the world, and it will make a difference if the White House speaks up for them — and fights for them.

On the India/Nepal border, I once chatted with an Indian policeman who was on the lookout for terrorists and smuggled DVDs but was uninterested in the streams of Nepali girls passing through, destined for the brothels in Mumbai and Calcutta. The policeman explained that the U.S. was pressuring India on movie piracy, so let’s show India and the world that we’re also concerned with enslaved children.

If we tell other countries to free their slaves, we also have to clean up our own act. Contrary to public opinion, the worst of America’s human trafficking arguably doesn’t involve foreign women smuggled into the U.S., but homegrown girls.

It’s a disgrace that police officers and prosecutors routinely go after such teenage girls — often runaways fleeing abuse or other impossible situations — and treat them as criminals, while showing less interest in the pimps who exploited them.

Normally, if a man has sex with a young girl, he risks jail and she gets counseling. But, if she has a pimp who earns $50 from the transaction, then everything changes: The man may get a slap on the wrist and the girl may go to jail. Does that make any sense?

So let’s demand that police and prosecutors go after pimps and johns, while treating the teenagers as victims who need comprehensive social services.

Republicans have done superb work on this issue in the past, but now they’re balking at straightforward reauthorization of the Trafficking Victims Protection Act — landmark legislation against human trafficking. What are they thinking?

One person on the front lines here in the U.S. is Alissa, who has a scar on her cheek from where her former pimp mutilated her with a potato peeler as a warning not to escape. She did get away and now works with prostituted girls in Washington whose average age, she says, is 14. Alissa is her street name; she doesn’t want her real name published because pimps still harass her.

Alissa watched Obama’s speech, and then replayed it four more times. She has always been treated as a “throwaway,” she said, and now she was dazzled that the president was treating the issue as a priority.

Some 150 years after the Emancipation Proclamation, let’s make sure that this isn’t just a speech, but a turning point.



Nicholas D. Kristof is a columnist for The New York Times.

Thailand and Cambodia test single visa

September 28, 2012
by Wanwisa Ngamsangchaikit 

BANGKOK, 28 September 2012: A single visa for Thailand and Cambodia will be the test phase of a wider project that will offer a single visa for five of the ASEAN nations located in the lower Mekong River basin.

Suggestions that Thailand has ducked out of the five country single visa project are incorrect. Reliable industry sources confirmed Thailand and Cambodia were selected to test the system and generate  feedback that will be evaluated and lead to a wider application including other Mekong Region neighbours, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam.

Tourism Council of Thailand vice president, Thanate Vorasaran, told TTR Weekly, Thursday, that a single visa for travel between Thailand and Cambodia was part of an agreement signed in 2007 and was specifically identified as a pilot project.
According to the plan, a tourist obtains a visa at either the embassy of Thailand or Cambodia (first port of call) and the visa is then valid for visits to both countries.

The scheme is irrelevant to nationalities that already have visa-free entry for either Thailand or Cambodia, but it will assist those who would normally need to apply for visas at both embassies before starting their trip to Southeast Asia.

“Once the project is launched, it will make it more convenient for tourists to travel between two countries if they need to apply for visas for both countries.… however tourists have to pay a fee that covers entry into both countries.,” Mr Thanate explained.

No decision has been made on the mechanics or processing for the much wider single visa covering all five countries of the lower Mekong River basin.

There has been talk of a visa covering four countries known as CLMV (Laos, Cambodia, Myanmar and Vietnam). But the wider project that remains on the table also involves Thailand.
For the CLMV single visa, Mr Thanate said everyone would have to wait to see the outcome of the Thai-Cambodia project first.

“Although Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam tourism ministries made a statement to launch CLMV single visa earlier this month, it was just a declaration in terms of words and not based on the actual realities that exist.”

“Therefore, it was decided that the bilateral agreement on a single visa between Thailand and Cambodia was the first step and that would be the test case for further study.”

CLMV tourism ministers made the statement during a report on the outcome of their First Meeting of CLMV Tourism Ministers, 14 September, on the sidelines of the 8th International Travel Expo in Ho Chi Minh City.

One of the decisions was to invite Thailand to rejoin the group with the Minister of Tourism and Sports attending the next round of ministerial meetings in Ho Chi Minh City next year. Ministers of  Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam had their first joint meeting in 2011 and last month, in Ho Chi Minh City, Myanmar’s minister joined to extend the group to CLMV

“Those four countries will have to see how the single visa between Thailand and Cambodia goes and will assess the results for the first two countries before proceeding to the next level.

“The Thai-Cambodia single visa is only waiting for the governments to give the green light. It should be implemented by the end of this year,” he added.

Under the umbrella of ACMECS, the five countries — Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam and Myanmar have already agreed in principle on a single visa. It was initiated in 2005, under the concept known as “Five Countries, One Destination” and continues to be in a preparatory stage.

Comments that Thailand would lose valuable visa revenue if it joined the scheme are meaningless as most tourists already enjoy visa free entry to Thailand. Visa fee revenue hardly covers the administration costs involved.

However, as a founding member of the Five Countries, One Destination accord, if visitors were making Thailand the first port of call, Thai embassies could be used to process a visa covering the other four countries even if the traveller did not require a visa for Thailand. The single visa fee would be split between the countries that require a visa, while the issuing country would get an administration fee.

Revenue earned from visas is nominal and declining as countries add more nationalities to their visa-free list. What the single visa achieves is the convenience of a one-stop shop that saves the Mekong Region traveller time and expense linked to visiting more than one embassy.

Security rather than visa revenue is the main concern that is slowing the process at government level. Each country has its own priorities, watch lists and nationalities that are subject to a higher level of scrutiny.

The five countries allow visa-free entry for certain nationalities, but the lists differ by country and this complicates the single visa process.

Thailand allows as many as 45 nationalities visa-free entry. Vietnam is adding nations to its visa-free entry list, while Myanmar has the strictest policy requiring visas by all nationalities. Laos and Cambodia are both freeing up their visa requirements.

But all the five nations are worried about terrorism . Security issues have heightened in recent years and this gives Immigration Bureaus ammunition to call for stricter visa rules or voice objections to schemes that make entry easier.

Thailand’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs confirmed that Thai-Cambodia single visa has been processed, but needs the green light from both governments before it can be implemented even in a test phase. That green light has not blinked.

DENR executive to head ASEAN Centre for Biodiversity

A September 27, 2012, press release from the Department of Environment and Natural Resources

A top official of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) was recently appointed to head the ASEAN Centre of Biodiversity (ACB) in concurrent capacity.

The appointment of DENR Undersecretary for Field Operations Demetrio L. Ignacio as acting executive director for ACB was approved by the ACB Governing Board during its 14^th Meeting held on 26-29 August 2012 in Siem Reap, Cambodia.

In a press statement released by ACB, as acting executive director, Ignacio shall provide policy guidance and operational supervision to ACB until the appointment of a new executive director. The recruitment process is being supervised by the ASEAN Secretariat.

Ignacio is the ASEAN Senior Official on the Environment for the Philippines and a member of the ACB Governing Board. He has been head of many Philippine delegations to multilateral environmental agreements; presiding officer of the Pollution Adjudication Board and the National Water Resources Board; and supervising official for the water sector and international affairs. Before joining the DENR, he worked at the Philippines’ Presidential Management Staff.

He graduated from the University of the Philippines, Diliman, and took up postgraduate studies at the University of Manchester in England, U.S. Department of Agriculture in Washington D.C., and Australian Administrative Staff College in Melbourne. He has received various awards and recognitions, which include the Presidential Medal of Merit in 1998 for his exemplary performance, leadership and integrity.

denr.gov.ph

Cambodia: Will justice be served for the millions killed by the Khmer Rouge?

September 27, 2012 

Cambodia killings

Heng Sinith/AP Cambodian Meo Soknen, 13, stands inside a small shrine full of human bones and skulls, all victims of the Khmer Rouge, near her home in the Kandal Steung district of Kandal province, Cambodia.

Andrew Livingstone
Staff Reporter
The four-stripe general looked down at Kunthear Thorng and asked the boy to leave with him.
“I said ‘to where?’ and he said ‘far away from here,’” Thorng said. “I looked at him and I said no. I couldn’t run away from home because my father was still there.”
In 1974, Cambodia’s U.S.-backed Lon Nol government was losing a civil war against Pol Pot’s Khmer Rouge. Thorng was 12 years old when the Khmer Rouge came to the military compound he lived in with his father, stepmother and five step siblings to arrest them.
The general knew what the future held for the war-torn Southeast Asian nation, but Thorng couldn’t bear to leave his father, a high-ranking commander in the Lon Nol government, unsure what would his fate would be.
But just a few days later he ran and never looked back.
Throng’s entire family was dragged from the compound to the killing fields and mercilessly executed.
“If I hadn’t run away I would’ve been killed. It was a decision that changed my whole life.”
More than 30 years since the fall of the Khmer Rouge, who massacred approximately 2 million people between 1975 and 1979, the three men widely considered to be the only remaining architects of what is considered one of the worst acts of genocide in modern times are finally facing their accusers.
Nuon Chea, trusted deputy to Pot; head of state, Khieu Samphan, 80, and Ieng Sary, 86, the ex-foreign minister, are on trial for genocide, crimes against humanity and grave breaches under the Geneva Conventions.
The often-delayed trial began in June 2011. Case 002 was then broken into a series of separate trials to address different sections of the indictment. The first of those began on Nov. 21 last year and focused on the forced movement of the population from Phnom Penh and related crimes against humanity. It also considers the roles of the accused in relation to regime policies relevant to all charges, which will provide the foundation to examine the remaining charges in future trials.
The prospect of justice for the nearly 2 million killed and millions more affected by the massacres is the closest it’s ever been, but Thorng, who came to Canada as a refugee in 1983 and became a citizen in 1986, isn’t optimistic.
“It’s been dragging on too long and everyone is pointing fingers at one another and not willing to take responsibility for what happened,” he said. “It’s frustrating for me, as a victim.
“For me, they aren’t going to be convicted in their lifetime. Closure will be hard to find. For the millions who survived it, including myself, where is the justice in what happened?”
With the remaining leaders of the regime in their eighties — the others, including Pol Pot, all died before they could be tried in the UN-backed war crimes court — Cambodians wanting closure through convictions may never get it.
Take the case of Ieng Thirith.
Considered the ‘First Lady’ of the Khmer Rouge and the fourth person charged, Thirith, 80, was released from prison last week after doctors determined she was unfit to stand trial. Suffering from degenerative mental illness, likely Alzheimer’s disease, the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC) upheld an initial decision from November 2011 to release her.
While she won’t stand trial, the charges against her haven’t been dropped, in the event her mental health improves to the court’s satisfaction.
Led by Pot, the Khmer Rouge captured Phnom Penh on April 17, 1975 removing the Lon Nol government after a five-year civil war waged at the same time as the Vietnam War, leaving the Southeast Asian country ravaged.
The U.S. involvement in Cambodia has gone largely unreported, despite eight years of bombing within the nation. Between 1965 and 1973, U.S. forces dropped more than 2.75 million tons of explosives during 230,516 air raids on 113,716 sites, many in and around the nation’s capital.
Until its fall in 1979, the Khmer Rouge killed some 2 million people, either by starvation, torture or murder, nearly a quarter of the country’s population.
Whether the multi-million dollar, war crimes tribunal will see the former leaders convicted remains to be seen. The only Khmer Rouge leader to be convicted in 33 years, former S-21 prison head Kaing Guek Eav (Duch), 69, was given a sentence of life in prison in February this year.
He has appealed the ruling.
On a research trip to Cambodia, Dr. Carla Rose Shapiro, research associate at the Asian Institute of Munk School of Global Affairs at the University of Toronto, said opinions of the trials are mixed and people wonder if the financial cost of the trials, which exceeds $100 million, is worth it.
“Some people are generally circumspect about the process,” said Shapiro, curator of an exhibit at the Royal Ontario Museum that focuses on prisoner photos titled Observance and Memorial: Photographs from S-21, Cambodia.
Some 16,000 people were taken to the prison as traitors. Only 23 survived.
Plagued for years by delays, lack of funding, controversy over government interference and its hardline stance against further investigations, the tribunal is running out of time.
“The most senior leaders are escaping (persecution) by dying of natural causes,” Shapiro said. “The trials have been starting, stopping, delayed. This is a complex legal construct that’s not easily accessible.
“Some people were saying ‘we’re spending millions and for what?’”
The Khmer’s goal of an agrarian-utopian society was meant to erase all classes, she said, but it didn’t go as planned. “Crops failed and people began to starve. They didn’t blame their policies, they labelled everyone as traitors.”
“They (the photos) document the . . . dehumanization and destruction that ran amok during the reign of the Khmer Rouge,” added Shapiro.
Cambodians, like Throng, are tired of the long judicial process and just want justice served and to move on. Many Cambodians, he said, don’t like to talk about what happened out of fear.
“A lot of people don’t want to talk about it because they fear the current government, he said of top officials currently in power who were members of the Khmer Rouge. “It’s very hard for people to voice their opinions or even to speak out on what’s going on.”
Throng and other Cambodians may get what they want: to see the old leaders die. But without convictions from the war crimes tribunal, will it be the same?
Dr. Stuart Hendin, a human rights expert and professor at the University of Ottawa, said even if the remaining three on trial die before they are convicted, the fact they face the allegations should be enough.
“The problem is there will be no closure but at least what happens is there is identification of the perpetrator and that should come with some great satisfaction,” he said.
In the case of Thirith following through with the trial, despite her illness, would provide little closure, he added. “The person who is at trial has to be able to appreciate the nature of the proceedings and if they don’t appreciate what is happening, does it even serve a purpose?”

Vietnam's CEOs Meet Dalai Lama

2012-09-26
RFA

Tibet's religious leader urges 'positive human values,' says communism's influence is declining.

Photo courtesy of the Dalai Lama's office.

The Dalai Lama (L) meets with the Vietnamese group, Sept. 26, 2012.

Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama met Wednesday with Vietnamese business executives, answering questions on topics ranging from family happiness to tensions between Vietnam and China in the South China Sea, according to Tibet’s India-based government in exile.

In his meeting with the Vietnamese CEO's Club, the Dalai Lama also joked about Buddhism and communism and the raising of children, saying he is “too old” at 76 to start a family now,  the Central Tibetan Administration (CTA) said on its website.

Speaking on the sidelines of a gathering of Tibetan exiles called in the Indian hill-town of Dharamsala to discuss the ongoing crisis in Tibet, the exiled spiritual leader also said that it is not necessary to be religious to live by positive human values, the CTA said.

“The solution is not to become more religious, but to develop a warm heart,” the Dalai Lama said.

Asked by a mother of three children about how to make life easier for them than it had been for her at their age, the Dalai Lama joked that he had no experience of bringing up children and was too old to start now.

He said he has learned from friends that children need affection and that they need those who give it to be “constant and steady.”

Communism 'in decline'

A Vietnamese participant posing a question to the Dalai Lama.

The Dalai Lama admitted to an attraction to Marxist economics but made clear his strong opposition to Leninist-style controls on human life and thought, saying that he had recently compared Buddhism and communism as he spoke to a group of visiting Chinese.

“The Tibetan spirit comes from Buddhism which is a more than 2500-year-old tradition in which interest is growing, your system, Chinese communism, is based on ideas that are barely 200 years old and whose influence is declining.”

A Vietnamese man, citing tensions between Vietnam and China over territorial claims in the South China Sea, said many Vietnamese would like to invite the Dalai Lama to go to one of the disputed islands to establish a monastery or temple.

The spiritual leader declined, saying, “Actually, I don’t especially favour constructing a monastery or temple, I’d prefer to see an academic centre of learning instead, somewhere that could be a focus for the study of Buddhist philosophy, Daoism and secular ethics. “

“And if such a center can be set up, it might be better in Saigon or Hanoi than on one of these islands.”

Pointing to the example of Tibetans struggling for justice and opposing Chinese actions in Tibet, the Dalai Lama stressed the need to abandon anger and hatred when working to overcome “obstructions” put in one’s way.

Challenge to humanity

The meeting was held as more than 400 Tibetan delegates from 26 countries began a second day of meetings in Dharamsala held to discuss ways to address the ongoing crisis in Tibet following the self-immolation of 51 Tibetans to date in protest against Chinese rule.

In a February letter to the Dalai Lama, a high-ranking Buddhist leader detained by Vietnam’s communist government called China’s crackdown in Tibetan areas “a challenge to all humanity.”

Citing the self-immolations of Buddhist monks during the Vietnam War, Thich Quang Do, patriarch of the outlawed Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam, called the fiery form of protest a “tragic and extreme act.”

“But there are moments when this ultimate gesture, that of offering one’s own body as a torch of compassion to dissipate darkness and ignorance, is the only possible recourse,” the 83-year-old religious leader said in his letter.

“The Buddhists of Vietnam stand beside you in this nonviolent movement for religious freedom and human rights. For without human rights, human beings can never fully and freely exist.”

Tibetan groups say the wave of self-immolation protests will continue until the underlying human rights and other problems in Tibetan-populated areas are addressed by Chinese authorities.

Reported by Richard Finney.

PRESS DIGEST - Vietnam newspapers - Sept 27

HANOI, Sept 27, 2012
 

HANOI, Sept 27 (Reuters) - These are some of the leading stories in the official Vietnamese press on Thursday. Reuters has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy.

FINANCIAL NEWS:
THANH NIEN
- The Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange said it will delist shares of Ben Tre Forestry and Aquaproduct Import and Export Co if the firm cannot settle its losses by the year's end. The company made losses of 240.65 billion dong ($11.5 million) at the end of the first half, exceeding its equity of 150 billion dong.

ECONOMIC AND GENERAL NEWS:
VIETNAM NEWS
- Red tape is still a big problem for overseas Vietnamese investors in the country, said Bui Dinh Dinh, general secretary of the Business Association of Overseas Vietnamese.

TUOI TRE
- Truong Dinh Anh has resigned as the chief executive officer of FPT Corp due to discrepency in planning and developing strategy for the firm, FPT said. The firm has also appointed Chairman Truong Gia Binh to take over Anh's post.

- A project to upgrade Phu Quoc airport to handle international flights is expected to be completed in November, Vietnam Airport Corp said.

THANH NIEN
- Vietnam and India will boost bilateral ties, particularly in the defense industry and staff training, the two sides said during Deputy Defense Minister Nguyen Chi Vinh's visit to India.

THOI BAO KINH TE VIETNAM
- Vietnam's consumer price index will likely rise 8-9 percent this year, economist Tran Du Lich said.
($1=20,850 dong) (Reporting by Hanoi Newsroom; Editing by Sunil Na

U.S. to ease ban on imports from Myanmar

By Steven Lee Myers and Rick Gladstone
New York Timestwincities.com

Posted:   09/26/2012

September 27, 2012 2:34 AM GMT

The United States announced Wednesday, Sept. 26, that it would begin to ease a longstanding ban on imports from Myanmar, one of the last major economic sanctions on the country, because of the advances made by its military-led government in moving toward a more democratic system.

The announcement was made by Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton during a meeting in New York with Thein Sein, a former general who is now president of Myanmar. He has been directing the gradual transition away from a two-decade-long era of dictatorship and isolation that had driven the country to near economic collapse and dysfunction.

"We have watched as you and your government have continued the steady process of reform," Clinton, who has been ensconced in meetings with world leaders gathered for the U.N. General Assembly, told Thein Sein at the Mark Hotel in New York.

"And we have been pleased to respond to specific steps that recognize the government's efforts and encourage other reforms."

Thein Sein, who was making his first visit to the United States to attend the General Assembly, responded: "The people of Myanmar are very pleased with the easing of economic sanctions by the United States. We are very grateful for the actions of the United States." He presented Clinton with a large envelope containing a letter to President Barack Obama.

It was Clinton's third meeting with Thein Sein. The first was on her trip to Myanmar last December, and they met again at a meeting of the Association of South East Asian Nations in Cambodia in July.

The U.S. had already lifted its ban on American investment in Myanmar, and just last week it removed Thein Sein from a blacklist of sanctioned individuals.

The pressure for further easing of sanctions also came from Aung San Suu Kyi, the Myanmar opposition leader and former political prisoner, who said during a visit to Washington last week that she favored moves toward normalization of commercial relations.

Political experts said the easing of the restriction on imports from Myanmar was significant for that country, which is mineral-rich but desperately impoverished. Formerly known as Burma, it was once prosperous and self-sufficient.

"The timing of this announcement is a big win for Thein Sein," said Suzanne DiMaggio, the Asia Society's vice president for global policy programs.

"He will return from his first visit to the U.S. as Myanmar's president with a major boost to his reform agenda. It's a 'concrete deliverable' that will go a long way toward muffling critics and hard-liners at home."

Philippine Foreign Policy: In Pursuit of a Just and Enduring Peace

PHILIPPINE FOREIGN POLICY:

IN PURSUIT OF A JUST AND ENDURING PEACE

H.E. ALBERT F. DEL ROSARIO

Secretary of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of the Philippines

Philippine Conference

Washington DC, 26 September 2012

Dr. John Hamre, President of the CSIS

Our good friends Asst Secretary Kurt Campbell and Asst Secretary Mark Lippert,

Secretary Cesar Purisima,

Secretary Lilia de Lima,

Ambassador Joey Cuisia,

Distinguished guests,

Ladies and gentlemen,

Let me begin by expressing my warmest thanks to the CSIS and the US Philippines Society for jointly organizing this inaugural Philippine Conference. We believe that your initiative signals that American attention is once again moving out east, towards the Western Pacific and the maritime margins of eastern Asia.

The geo-strategists would present this as part of the new U.S. strategic pivot to Asia. Business leaders would argue that such a shift is logical, given the increasing geo-economic weight of East Asia.  We, however, prefer to see this as America's coming home. The United States has been a Pacific power with vital interests in Asia for more than a century. And we, in the Philippines, certainly welcome this rediscovery of your Eastern connections.

May we also say that America's renewed regard for the Asia-Pacific is met by a rising Philippines. Under the visionary and determined leadership of H.E. President Benigno S, Aquino, III, the Philippines has embarked on a new era of reform and reinvigoration that touches all fields.

President Aquino has inaugurated a national strategy of competitiveness and inclusive growth, enshrined in his Social Contract with the Filipino People.  His efforts are already earning dividends. The Aquino Administration is fighting corruption. It is cleaning out the government. Good governance is now the main organizing principle. More people than ever before are included in economic development through directed social support intervention measures and intensified job generation. At this juncture, let me just emphasize that good governance and transparency are being translated into good economics.  And the Philippines' economic numbers will speak for themselves, as our government economic managers I am sure will tell you.

Early fruits are ready for harvest. The country remains stable in macroeconomic terms. Business confidence in the Philippines is rising. The horizon for investment is bright.

This is reflected in our foreign relations, where the Philippines follows a policy of reaching out to all who seek partnership with us in all fields.

We pursue a confident policy of openness, engagement and partnership in a world of deep economic uncertainty, an unclear security environment and intense globalization.  We aim to meet this world in terms of three action areas: safeguarding our national security; enhancing national development through economic diplomacy; and protecting the rights and welfare of every Filipino overseas.

In order to attain these goals, with respect to our immediate regions in Southeast Asia, East Asia and the Western Pacific, we believe that dialogue and cooperation to maintain broad and enduring stability is essential for the continued pursuit of growth and development. Without such stability, our individual and collective endeavors to improve the lives of our people may be severely compromised.

The Philippines, therefore, is active in efforts to erect the political, security and economic architecture for the emerging world of the 21^st Century. Towards this end, the Philippines has been continuously active in ASEAN, in ASEAN's dialogue relationships, in the ARF, and in EAS. In 2015, the Philippine will host the 2015 APEC Summit.

As regards, regional security, the Philippines has been supportive of confidence-building and even preventive diplomacy within the context of the ARF. We joined with our ASEAN partners in crafting the Code of Conduct in the South China Sea, which China agreed to subsequently join. We have utilized ASEAN's dialogue relationships to deepen engagement and mutually beneficial linkages in many non-security areas that enhance the general atmosphere of regional amity and cooperation.

Clearly, however, these prudential measures have not been sufficient.  The tensions generated in and near the West Philippine Sea (WPS) are stark reminders of the work that still has to be done by many of us.

There is a wise saying that good fences make good neighbors. Drawing this to heart, the Philippines has been taking steps to build a minimum credible defense posture sufficient to defend the nation's boundaries and sovereignty at sea.  Our posture is and will remain entirely defensive in this regard.

Our foreign policy is also focused on the promotion and attainment of economic security through the mobilization of external resources for economic advancement and social development. Our economic diplomacy program firmly supports President Aquino's goal of poverty alleviation and the creation of employment through good governance.

Development and poverty alleviation are our most urgent nation-building priorities today. Foreign policy has to incorporate this. When we were appointed as Secretary of Foreign Affairs, we immediately directed a renewed economic diplomacy drive to increase exports, raise investment, expand tourism, upgrade technology and create more jobs at home.

We are re-tooling the Philippine Foreign Service to be the overseas arm of our economic diplomacy drive.  In the 21^st Century, the business of diplomacy must include business promotion in the public interest. We have also made sure that officers of the Department of Foreign Affairs have the right tools for this economic diplomacy effort. We have entered into a formal partnership with the Asian Institute of Management to ensure proper training for our Ambassadors, Career Ministers and even the Honorary Consuls Generals. Believing that systematic inputs will ultimately result in positive outputs, we have set input targets and are closely monitoring the performance of our Posts.

Migration is another major front that must engage Philippine foreign policy. The Philippines is one of the largest source nations of migrants in the world today. Some 9 million Filipinos, around 10 percent of our total population, live or work overseas.  They make tremendous contributions to the well-being and economic health not only of the Philippines but more so of their host countries.  For this reason, the Philippines' basic strategy is to cooperate with host nations and with international organizations so that shared responsibilities to care for all migrants are respected and fulfilled.

We have often told the story of how, within hours of being sworn in as Secretary of Foreign Affairs, we were off to Libya on the first of several trips to repatriate our people affected by the Arab Spring. In a break with the tradition that the Foreign Secretary first visits the countries were we have the closest relations, my first official travel was to where our countrymen were in the greatest danger.

Since then, we have repatriated over 11,000 Filipinos from many countries including Egypt, Libya, Yemen, Syria, Japan and New Zealand, either due to civil strife or natural disasters.  While many countries have closed their Embassies in Damascus because of the deteriorating situation in Syria, we have increased our presence there primarily to extend protection to our workers and facilitate their repatriation.

But in our quest for just and enduring peace, we must consider certain specific commitments that reinforce our efforts and give further substance to our results. Let me now discuss some of these.

First, is the Philippine commitment to principle. The Philippine constitution states clearly that "the State shall pursue an independent foreign policy."  Some have taken this to mean an arms-length approach to interaction with the external sphere and an inward-looking development strategy

Yet there is for me no inherent contradiction between our regional and global integration thrusts and the faithful implementation of an independent foreign policy.   Our national interest is best served by being in and not apart from this world, by sitting at the conclaves of nations drafting global rules rather than standing outside.

Thus we encourage the increased contacts, communication and trade, and interaction among our people. We are part of the emerging community that is ASEAN, a long standing ally of the US, and close partners of our neighbors in the region. In multilateral fora, we stand with our partners in the Group of 77 and in the Non-Aligned Movement. But as we nurture our traditional alliances and forge new partnerships, we continue to pursue a path that is uniquely ours.

As the first democracy in all of Asia, the Philippines has deeply rooted democratic values, and the protection and promotion of these values are evident in our relations with other nations. In the conduct of our diplomacy, we stand for the observance of the rule of law, and for the preservation of democracy and its institutions.

As a Charter Member of the United Nations, the Philippines vigorously promoted all decolonization efforts and staunchly stood with the rest of the Global South to champion the cause of development.

In the region, we sought to make ASEAN a stronger entity by promoting its centrality in our shared security concerns.  More importantly, we were a major advocate in establishing the ASEAN Charter, with a vision of making ASEAN a rules-based organization capable of strengthening norms and rules of good behavior, for the region and the Asia-Pacific as a whole.

Second, is the Philippine commitment to peace. Our Constitution enshrines the renunciation of war as an instrument of national policy, and we have been active contributors to the cause of peace.  Hundreds of men and women from our Armed Forces and National Police have served in UN mission areas since the first Filipino peacekeepers were deployed 50 years ago in the Congo. There are presently 922 military and police personnel serving as military observers, staff officers, police officers and members of formed contingents in Cote d'Ivoire, Darfur, the Golan Heights, Haiti, Kashmir, Liberia, South Sudan and Timor-Leste.

Our work in the area of non proliferation is another evidence of our country's dedication to the cause of peace. We are among the original ASEAN members behind the SEANWFZ [shawn fez], and we have been unceasing in our efforts to get the P-5 onboard this regional initiative. As Chair of the 2010 NPT Review Conference, we succeeded in rallying the parties behind a landmark outcome document, specifically a 64-point Action Plan, which spells out concrete steps to be taken towards disarmament.

Third, is the Philippine commitment to the People. As we mentioned earlier, the presence of millions of Filipinos all over the world has enriched the fabric of our diplomacy. Earlier this year, the Philippines deposited in Geneva its instruments of ratification for the Maritime Labor Convention and the Decent Work for Domestic Workers. Our ratification will bring these two key international instruments that protect millions of migrants into force and effect next year.

The Philippines is an original member of the UN Human Rights Council and has acceded to eight of the major international human rights treaties. Last month, the Philippines' second Universal Periodic Review (UPR) report was adopted by consensus in the Human Rights Council. This manifest the world's good regard for human rights in the Philippines, and inspires us to seek more improvements from ourselves and for our region and the world in cooperation with our partners.

Yet beyond looking after the welfare of our own people, we are equally zealous in the promotion of human rights, human security and human dignity.

In ASEAN, the Philippines has led many key people-centered initiatives. We have been at the forefront in the ASEAN Inter-Governmental Commission on Human Rights, the ASEAN Commission for the Promotion and Protection of the Rights of Women and Children, the draft ASEAN Convention on Trafficking in Persons and an envisaged ASEAN Declaration on Human Rights.

We have also made it our priority to send a judge to the International Criminal Court, a token of our ardent desire to actively participate in ending impunity, and ensuring that perpetrators of the most serious crimes against humanity are brought to justice.

Fourth, the Philippine commitment to progress. Traditional Philippine diplomacy came out of the Cold War with all that it implies.  Since then, Philippine foreign policy has evolved to include not just new partnerships, but also new avenues for engagement and cooperation.  The emergence of new transnational issues, such as disaster risk reduction, pandemics, drugs and human trafficking have compelled us to reach out to our neighbors and collaborate in addressing these common threats.

As part of our progressive and forward looking policy, we have also pioneered innovative interchanges for greater international understanding, such as in interreligious and intercultural dialogue.  We have these dialogues within the United Nations and at the regional level.

These principles also drive the revitalization of our relations with the US. Sixty one years after we codified our alliance under the Mutual Defense Treaty, the United States remains our only treaty ally and one of only two strategic allies. The U.S. is our largest source of official development assistance in terms of grants, our second largest trading partner, our second largest in terms of inward tourism, and our third largest source of direct investments.  The US is also home to the largest population of Filipinos living outside our country.

In the context of the present regional challenges, our good friend Ernie Bower has described US and Philippine interests as "having converged to create an alignment of interests that has reinvigorated the alliance."[1]

We may at times disagree, indeed, as do all allies or even members of the same family.  Yet at all times, though we do disagree, we stay together on the fundamental questions because of our shared history and values that continue to animate our respective national visions of who we are and where we should go as peoples.  Ours are democratic, open and liberal societies.  We have traditions of free speech, inclusiveness and egalitarianism that set us apart from so many others.  This is the cement of an alliance that can endure many crises.

Of course, we have friendships with other countries that have their own special characteristics. We have long-standing ties with China, and extensive historical people-to-people links. The President's family for example, traces their roots to an ancestor from Fujian province in China.  China is our third largest trading partner, and investments from both sides remain robust.

Undoubtedly, we are at a very challenging period in our relations, but as we have said before, the issue in the West Philippine Sea does not constitute the sum total of our relations with China. While we are working to strengthen other areas of the bilateral relations, we will not hesitate to speak out to protect our legitimate national interests.

In ASEAN, we have also successfully managed bilateral differences using these principles and we remain on track towards the goal of building an ASEAN Community in 2015.

The events that transpired in Cambodia during the Ministerial Meetings in July were described by some as a success for those who want to break ASEAN solidarity. We would like to view these events as tests to ASEAN unity, and believe that by intensifying dialogue, we can learn from these experiences and come out stronger. After all, as President Aquino said in remarks he delivered to the diplomatic corps in the Philippines earlier this year,  in a world where the challenges of today may compel nations to look inwards, there is need for the community of nations to work together in amity and in peace.[2]

Nonetheless, the West Philippine Sea remains focus of concern for the Philippines, for the region and for international community.  The WPS is naturally a core national interest of the Philippines.  As we have maintained many times before, a rules-based approach is the only legitimate and viable way to address the WPS issue.

To implement a rules-based approach, the Philippines has formulated a comprehensive foreign policy approach which is composed of three tracks: the political, the diplomatic and the legal.

For the political track, our objective is to transform the area into a Zone of Peace, Freedom, Friendship and Cooperation (ZoPFF/C). We want to establish an actionable framework to define, clarify, and segregate, in accordance with the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), the disputed and non-disputed areas of the West Philippine Sea.  This would pave the way for feasible cooperation between ASEAN and China in the medium-term.

For the diplomatic track, we continue to keep channels of discussions with China open. Last month, we travelled to Beijing where we had the occasion to meet with my counterpart, Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi. This shows that high-level contact is being maintained.

For the legal track, we continue to study and evaluate the possible availment of the dispute settlement mechanisms under UNCLOS.

Given the many interests involved, furthermore, the Philippines maintains the utility of submitting maritime disputes in the region, including the WPS, to multilateral discussions in appropriate fora, in accordance with international law, specifically UNCLOS. These parameters have the full support of many countries including the United States, Australia, Japan, the European Union, the Republic of Korea, New Zealand, and our various ASEAN neighbors.

Finally, because the region's maritime disputes can have global implications, we also feel it is important for the broader public to understand what is happening. Public discussions, such as what we are having today, are important for this purpose.

But let me make it clear: our foreign policy does not seek to isolate one country, nor even force the resolution of a dispute.  Our core interest lies in being able to contribute to ensuring that the global security and economic system is based firmly on the rule of law. We are firmly committed to helping build an international system that will be just and fair to all states, regardless of economic size or power.

We have no doubt that this perspective has broad support in the United States. As a naval power, a maritime nation and a global business center, the United States has a vested interest in the long-term peace and stability of the region.

We welcome recent US statements on the South China Sea.  America's counsel is always valued, especially if it helps calm the situation, just as America's presence is important to maintain the regional balance.

Ladies and gentlemen,

Let us not be prisoners of the old history of conflict in our region. With clear vision and firm resolve, we can imbibe the spirit of a new age of dialogue and cooperation to contain and resolve our differences.  The countries of the region and the United States all have the same interest in our region's continued growth and prosperity, which must be protected from uncertainties and instability.

In that noble endeavor, we are happy to note that the Philippines and the United States can build on their long-standing record of friendship and make new contributions for the common interest of peace and security for all in our region.

Thank you very much.

---

[1] Ernest Bower and Prashanth Parameswaran, "President Aquino's US Visit will Cap Revitalization of Alliance", CSIS Critical Questions, 4 June 2012

[2] President Bengino S. Aquino, remarks at the Vin D'honneur, 12 June 2012

WHO Urges Countries To Meet Health-Related MDGs

27 Sept, 2012
pacific.scoop

Press Release – World Health Organisation
WHO News Release WHO Urges Countries To Meet Health-Related MDGs HANOI, 26 September 2012 —”With the deadline for attainment of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) only three years away, wide disparities between and within countries need …WHO News Release

WHO Urges Countries To Meet Health-Related MDGs

HANOI, 26 September 2012—”With the deadline for attainment of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) only three years away, wide disparities between and within countries need to be urgently addressed if the goals are to truly benefit vulnerable populations,” World Health Organization (WHO) Regional Director for the Western Pacific Dr Shin Young-soo said today.

“Unless urgent action is taken, we will likely fall short in some areas, especially in reducing maternal and child mortality and improving maternal health,” Dr Shin told the WHO Regional Committee for the Western Pacific in Hanoi, convened to review WHO’s work in the Region. “The battle must continue.”

The under-five mortality rate has dropped by 60% in the Region, from 48 deaths per 1000 in 1990 to 19 per 1000 in 2010. However, six countries still account for an estimated 97% of the under-five deaths—Cambodia, China, the Lao People Democratic Republic, Papua New Guinea, the Philippines and Viet Nam.

Disparities in child mortality also persist within countries. In Cambodia, for example, the overall under-five mortality rate is 54 per 1000 live births. However, it ranges from 18 per 1000 live births for areas with the highest socioeconomic status to 118 per 1000 live births among the poor.

Urban versus rural disparities also exist, such as in the Philippines, where the under-five mortality rate is 28 per 1000 live births in urban areas and 46 per 1000 in rural areas.

Despite a decreasing trend in maternal mortality in most countries and areas in the Western Pacific, large disparities and inequalities exist both between and within countries. In low-income countries, such as the Lao People’s Democratic Republic, the maternal mortality ratio (MMR) is 470 per 100 000 live births – far higher than in middle-income countries, such as Malaysia, where the ratio is 29 per 100 000, and Viet Nam with 59 per 100 000. The MMRs in Cambodia and Papua New Guinea also remain high at 250 and 230 per 100 000 live births, respectively.

In the Region, the HIV epidemic has shown signs of stabilizing with increased coverage of preventive interventions for most-at-risk populations. However, only 43% of those who need treatment for HIV have access to antiretroviral drugs. Access to treatment still needs to be scaled up, particularly in low- and middle-income countries.

Lack of universal access to health care is also a pressing issue, with high costs and direct out-of-pocket payments putting health care beyond the reach of many people in the Region. Other barriers include weak health systems and widening health inequities. Also, countries need more reliable civil registration and vital statistics systems to better monitor the burden of diseases and properly target health interventions.

“Universal coverage needs to be improved to enable people to have access to good-quality services without being financially strapped,” said Dr Shin. “Particular attention should be given to underserved groups. Failure to act now will further widen health inequities.”
ENDS

Laos’ last chance to save last 6 river dolphins

27 September 2012

Gland, Switzerland – A tiny population of six river dolphins, isolated in a deep pool in the Mekong River on the border between Laos and Cambodia, will not survive long unless Laos takes urgent action to ban gillnet fishing in the dolphin’s range on their side of the border, warns WWF.

According to a new WWF report, Last chance for dolphins in Laos, more than 30 river dolphins have died since 1991 in and around the trans-boundary pool, with gillnets set by local fishers identified as the main cause. From January to April this year, WWF recorded over 100 separate gillnets in and around the deep pool area and as many as 188 on one occasion.

Cambodia recently enacted a law banning gillnet fishing in the entire pool and nearby areas on their side of the border. In Laos gillnet fishing is banned only in the deepest areas of the pool on their side of the border. While the dolphins are known to reside in the 1km² trans-boundary pool in the dry season they range more widely in the surrounding 5km² area in the wet season.

“Six river dolphins are swimming the gauntlet every day as they risk entanglement and death in the many floating walls of nets,” said Gerry Ryan, Technical Advisor with WWF-Cambodia and author of the report. “Laos must immediately ban gillnets from the entire trans-boundary pool area on their side of the border, throughout the whole year, or face losing the country’s last river dolphins.”

Freshwater Irrawaddy dolphins are critically endangered in the Mekong River, where their numbers have dwindled to around 85 individuals restricted to a 190km stretch of the Mekong mainstream between southern Laos and north-east Cambodia.

As many as 40 - 50 dolphins are believed to have once used the trans-boundary pool, with numbers falling to around 25 in the 1990s. The six dolphins inhabiting the trans-boundary pool are now believed to be an isolated sub-population, and do not move further up or down Mekong mainstem.

While dolphin numbers are shrinking, dolphin-watching tourism to the area is booming. Last year about 20,000 tourists are estimated to have visited the trans-boundary dolphins, with dolphin-watching tours from one of the two main sites in Laos more than doubling since 2008. In Cambodia, visitors to one of the two main dolphin-watching sites have increased nearly thirty-fold since 2005.

“Dolphins are a major tourist attraction and contributor to growth,” said Ryan. “Dolphin-watching tourism brings in much needed income to local communities that otherwise rely heavily on fisheries for subsistence and income. It is clear that saving the dolphins also means smart development.”

The river dolphins not only bring tangible livelihood benefits, they are also an important indicator of the health and effective management of the freshwater ecosystem, and their decline in numbers may reflect a declining trend in the broader ecosystem, which is heavily relied on by local communities.

“The loss of the river dolphins would not only greatly diminish Laos’ biodiversity, it would suggest a potentially devastating decline in the health of the entire river ecosystem, and likely declines in other species too,” said Ryan. “If Laos loses its remaining river dolphins it risks losing so much more.”

While gillnets represent the most immediate threat to the survival of the six dolphins, coordinated cross-border action is also needed to end illegal fishing and the use of explosives in the area, regulate boat traffic transiting the deep pool, and cancel the proposed large concrete pier and ramp at Anlung Cheuteal, one of Cambodia’s main sites for dolphin-watching.

“The pressures on this tiny population of river dolphins are immense, but as long as they survive there is hope,” said Ryan. “Urgent and strict protection efforts are needed to keep hope for the survival of this elusive icon of the Mekong River alive, without it hope will fade very fast.”

Analysis presented in the WWF report predicts that small group of river dolphins will be effectively extirpated within 20 years, and none are expected to remain after 2037—though this could happen much sooner. While the sex of the remaining dolphins is unknown, mating observed earlier this year shows that both males and females remain, and that if protected, the group may recover.



For further information:

Chris Chaplin, Media Manager, WWF International, +86 13911747472, cchaplin@wwf.sg

Sarah Bladen, Communications Director, WWF-Greater Mekong, mob: +84 1224 223 760 sarah.bladen@wwfgreatermekong.org

Cambodia proud of close ties with China: Deputy PM

PHNOM PENH, Sept. 26 (Xinhua) -- Cambodia is very proud of excellent relationship with China and believes that the ties will be further enhanced in the future, Cambodian Deputy Prime Minister Sok An, Minister in charge of the Council of Ministers, said Wednesday evening.

"Our two governments and peoples are very proud that our relation has been strengthened and upgraded to the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership of Cooperation in recent years," he said during the celebration of the 63rd Anniversary of the Founding of the People's Republic of China (Oct.1, 1949- Oct 1, 2012).

The event was attended by some 300 people, including Cambodian senior government officials, foreign diplomats, Chinese businessmen and Chinese residing in Cambodia.

"I'm strongly confident that the long lasting bond of friendship between our countries and peoples, which has been enhanced and expanded through our 54 years of diplomatic relation, will be crucially important for our future generations," he added.

Speaking at the event, Chinese Ambassador to Cambodia Pan Guangxue highly spoke on close relationship between China and Cambodia in politics, trade, investment, education and culture.

He said the ties have been constantly strengthened and expanded through the exchange of visits by the two countries' top leaders.

"China is ready to make joint effort with Cambodia and provide mutual support in order to strengthen traditional friendship and deepen cooperation between the two countries," the ambassador said.

He also stressed China's stance, saying that the country would continue to firmly stick to the path of peaceful development as well as its commitment to safeguarding world peace and common development for common prosperity.

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Obama warns U.S. will ‘do what we must’ on Iran

President Barack Obama addresses the 67th United Nations General Assembly at the U.N. headquarters in New York, …

By Olivier Knox, Yahoo! News 

NEW YORK—Exactly six weeks before Election Day, President Barack Obama stood on the world stage Tuesday and warned Iran that the United States will "do what we must" to stop Tehran from getting a nuclear weapon.

In what could be his last speech to the annual U.N. General Assembly, Obama also told Arab Spring countries groping their way uncertainly toward democracy that they have a friend—and a role model—in America. But, he said, they must battle the forces of intolerance and extremism threatening what should be "a season of progress."

"The United States of America will always stand up for these aspirations, for our own people, and all across the world. That was our founding purpose," he said.

The president, under fire from Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney for his handling of Iran's atomic ambitions, dedicated part of his 30-minute address to warning the Islamic republic that he cannot live with a nuclear-armed Tehran.

"Make no mistake: a nuclear-armed Iran is not a challenge that can be contained," Obama said.

"It would threaten the elimination of Israel, the security of Gulf nations, and the stability of the global economy. It risks triggering a nuclear-arms race in the region, and the unraveling of the non-proliferation treaty," Obama continued. "That's why the United States will do what we must to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon."

The president's stern comments closely echoed his past warnings, and stopped short of drawing the clear "red line" Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has sought from Washington.

(Romney has at times taken a tougher stance. In a July speech in Jerusalem, he declared that "Iran's pursuit of nuclear weapons capability presents an intolerable threat to Israel, to America, and to the world." The key word there was "capability"—not an actual nuclear weapon, but the ability to build one. That lined the Republican up more closely with Netanyahu.)

Obama denounced an anti-Islam video on the Internet that has partly fueled violent demonstrations throughout the Muslim world, calling the film "crude and disgusting." But he explained that he could not simply ban it—and scolded those who denounce anti-Muslim speech but stay quiet when the target is Christianity.

"The future must not belong to those who slander the prophet of Islam. But to be credible, those who condemn that slander must also condemn the hate we see in the images of Jesus Christ that are desecrated, churches are destroyed, or the Holocaust is denied," he said, in an apparent reference to Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

"It is time to marginalize those who, even when not resorting to violence, use hatred of America, or the West, or Israel as the central organizing principle of politics," Obama said. "For that only gives cover, and sometimes makes an excuse, for those who resort to violence."

Obama noted that freedom of speech means he can condemn, but not ban, the video. "As president of our country, and commander-in-chief of our military, I accept that people are going to call me awful things every day," he said, drawing laughter from the audience of dignitaries. "And I will always defend their right to do so." And he invited the Muslim world to draw inspiration from America's protections for freedom of speech and religion.

"We do so because in a diverse society, efforts to restrict speech can become a tool to silence critics, or oppress minorities," he said. "We do so because given the power of faith in our lives, and the passion that religious differences can inflame, the strongest weapon against hateful speech is not repression, it is more speech—the voices of tolerance that rally against bigotry and blasphemy, and lift up the values of understanding and mutual respect."

Obama also paid tribute to the slain U.S. ambassador to Libya, Chris Stevens, killed along with three colleagues in what his administration has designated a terrorist attack on the anniversary of 9/11.

Stevens "embodied the best of America," the president said. "Today, we must reaffirm that our future will be determined by people like Chris Stevens, and not by his killers."

Obama also delivered the kind of vigorous defense of his foreign policy that would not be out of place in his stump speech.

"The war in Iraq is over, American troops have come home. We have begun a transition in Afghanistan, and America and our allies will end our war on schedule in 2014," he said. "Al Qaeda has been weakened and Osama bin Laden is no more."

Images of anti-American riots—and the dramatic assault on the U.S. compound in Benghazi, Libya—have helped degrade Obama's once-imposing advantage over Romney on foreign policy.