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Asia in Review

(3/3/2019)

Brought to you by CPG

Dear Reader,

Ahead of the elections in Thailand on Sunday, the third issue of Asia in Review  (AiR) in March 2019 contains not only the usual update on the latest developments in law, politics and international relations in Asia, but also features a collection of images of election posters taken and captioned with English translations of the party’s name and slogan by AiR editorial board member Lasse Schuldt. [CPG election foto collection]

I hope you enjoy an informative reading!

With best regards,

Henning Glaser

Director, German-Southeast Asian Center of Excellence for Public Policy and Good Governance (CPG)

Webpage: www.cpg-online.de, Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CPGTU/

Main Sections

• Law and Politics in East Asia

• Law and Politics in South Asia

• Law and Politics in South East Asia

• International Relations, Geopolitics and Security in Asia

• Background Reading

Law and Politics in East Asia 

China: Government report receives overwhelming approval of National People’s Congress

(dql) China’s two sessions, the 13th National People’s Congress (NPC) and the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), ended last Friday with the government’s work report receiving overwhelming approval by China’s lawmakers, with 2,945 delegates voting in favour, three abstentions and no one opposing it. [South China Morning Post]

With regards of votes of the annual meeting of the NPC, widely viewed as a rubber-stamp chamber, the number of opposing votes is often considered as an indicator of the level of endorsement and popularity for a government leader or a top government agency.

Speaking at a press conference after the conclusion of the NPC session, Premier Li Keqiang announced China’s plan to create 11 million urban jobs in 2019 and highlighted core measures to help the economy stabilise growth, including business tax cuts and deregulation. [The Independent]

China presents numbers of anti-terror campaign in Xinjiang

(dql) According to a White Paper released by China’s State Council, close to 13,000 terrorists have been arrested in Xinjiang since 2014. Besides that, more than 1,500 violent and terrorist gangs have been destroyed, over 2,000 explosive devices seized, almost 31,000 people punished for illegal religious activities, and more than 345,000 copies of illegal religious materials confiscated. The paper stressed that only a small minority of people receive strict penalties, while those influenced by extremist thinking undergo education and training for de-radicalization purposes. [Xinhua, with link to the full paper in English]

The World Uyghur Congress was quick to denounce the paper accusing China of “deliberately distorting the truth” and using the crackdown on terrorism as “a political excuse to suppress Uighurs”. [Reuters]

Earlier last week, the Xinjiang governor reiterated at a meeting during the meeting of the National People’s Congress the government’s criticism of foreign media and organizations painting a false picture of the "camps" and insisted that they are educational training centers comparing them with boarding schools. [New York Times]

China: Xi Jinping calls for tighter ideological grip in schools and universities

(dql) In a latest move to strengthen the rule  of China's Communist Party in society, President Xi Jinping, speaking at a seminar in Beijing to teachers from across the country, called for a tighter ideological grip on university campuses and in schools, demanding teachers to contribute with good courses on political theory and politics to strengthening among students “patriotism”, the “trust in the path of socialism with Chinese characteristics” and “support for the rule of the Chinese Communist Party rule”. [Xinhua, in Chinese]

Xi’s call is to be seen against the background of recent nationwide repressions against a small but vocal student movement led by young Marxist activists at universities in major cities, protesting over growing inequality and corruption in China. [South China Morning Post]

Japan: Cabinet oks revisions of anti-child abuse legislation

(dql) The Abe administration approved amendments to the child abuse prevention law and related legislation banning corporal punishments as a means of disciplining children and requiring child welfare centers to separate staff members in charge of protecting children from those dealing with their guardians.

The Cabinet’s move follows raising demands of the public for more robust measures to prevent child abuse in the wake of the death of a 10-year-old girl who was allegedly killed by her abusive father. [Japan Times]

Taiwan: Former Premier registers for DPP presidential primary

(dql) Former Premier Lai Ching-te, who resigned from his post in the wake of the major defeat of the ruling Democratic Progressive Party's (DPP) in the local elections in November last year, registered Monday to seek the nomination of the DDP as its candidate in the 2020 presidential election, running against President Tsai Ing-wen who recently announced to run for president next year. Lai, former mayor of the southern Taiwanese city of Tainan, is believed to receive strong support in southern Taiwan, a traditional DPP stronghold.

Countering questions whether his move would may cause intra-party divisions, Lai argued that the DPP has a democratic primary process that will not be divisive. He also stressed that his decision to compete in the primary was not based personal reasons, but on support from the party members at grass-root level. [Focus Taiwan][Bloomberg] 

Law and Politics in South Asia 

India: Economists rebuke Modi over alleged distortion of economic numbers; Congress claims BJP has tarnished India’s reputation abroad

(zf) A group of more than 100 economists have released a report this week that deeply criticizes Prime Minister Modi’s government for distorting, omitting, or downplaying certain aspects of India’s economy in the run up to next month’s parliamentary elections. The report especially emphasized that Mr. Modi’s government have likely altered the numbers for political reasons, and mentions several particularly worrisome examples of government meddling, including the replacement of a government critic as chairman of India’s central bank, questionable growth rate numbers, and a delay over the release of official unemployment statistics. It is claimed that the official numbers fail to represent an objective assessment of the national economy. The signatories of the report are from a mix of both Western and Indian-based universities, and includes several well-respected professors in the field, including MIT’s Abhijit Banerjee and Harvard’s Emily Breza. [Al Jazeera]

India’s main opposition, the Indian National Congress Party, took the release of the report as an opportunity to further criticize BJP for alleged corruption and mismanagement of the country. The opposition party’s chief spokesman went as far as to say that Mr. Modi’s government has drastically hurt India’s reputation and credibility on the global stage. He urged voters to reject a party that ‘hides its failures with statistical jugglery.’ While it remains to be seen how voters will respond to accusations such as these in next month’s elections, evidence that suggests statistical tampering is a sign that the ruling party may have insecurities over the current state of the economy as the polls draw near. [Times of India]

India: Modi and prominent BJP leaders launch ‘watchman’ campaign

(zf/jk) Prime Minister Modi and other BJP leaders unveiled a new party campaign this week that looks to portray the ruling party as the ‘watchmen’ of India and its interests. Inherent in such as slogan is the suggestion that Congress (INC) and other opposition parties are failing to look out for the nation’s best interests on some fundamental level. Mr. Modi, who has rarely shied away from nationalistic rhetoric on the campaign trail meant to rally his right-leaning constituency, has often described himself as a watchman of Indian interests and security. In a tweet announcing the campaign, Mr. Modi claimed that India’s watchman (himself) continues to ‘fight corruption, dirt, and social ills,’ and that anyone else who follows suit should also be described as a watchman. In response to the campaign, INC released their own counter-slogan, ‘the watchman is a thief,’ in order to emphasize a claim of BJP engagement with crony capitalism and poor economic policy. [NDTV] [Bloomberg]

With election from 11 April to 19 May on the horizon, there are also increasing worries that BJP’s rule has led to more conflation of religion and politics and that identity politics in general has polarised society. Numbers circulating in the media suggest that hate crimes have gone up significantly since Modi came to office, referencing as much as a 400 per cent increase since 2014 with most crimes occurring in states governed by the BJP. While the victims are predominantly religious minorities, the perpetrators are often Hindu radicals emboldened by Modi’s leadership and his past involvement with the radical RSS (Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh) [BBC] – a fundamentalist religious organization supporting the BJP and Modi with an often extreme Hindu-First policy. [South China Morning Post]

Sri Lanka: Opposition leader Rajapaksa warns government not to “betray” Sri Lanka at the UN

(jk) Opposition leader Mahinda Rajapaksa stated that the UN Human Rights Commissioner’s latest report on Sri Lanka begs the question whether Sri Lanka remains a sovereign nation and he criticized the government’s intention to co-sponsor another resolution against Sri Lanka at the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC). According to Rajapaksa, the government has announced that they will again co-sponsor a resolution re-affirming previous resolutions which “committed the government to among other things, setting up a hybrid war crimes court with the participation of foreign judges, prosecutors and investigators and to removing by administrative means, individuals in the armed forces suspected of human rights violations even if there is insufficient evidence to charge them in courts.” [Adaderana] He would like to see Sri Lanka stop co-sponsoring resolutions against itself as it did in 2015, as well as rejecting allegations made in previous UNHRC reports. Last week President Sirisena already questioned pledges his country had made to investigate war-time atrocities, saying he did not want to "re-open old wounds". [AiR 2/3] The 40th session of the UNHRC is currently underway in Geneva and a report on Sri Lanka will be submitted later this week.

Maldives: Parts of ruling coalition breaks with Soli over parliamentary polls

(jk) The Jumhooree Party (JP), one in the four-party ruling coalition headed by President Solih’s Maldivian Democratic Party, has declared support for predecessor Abdulla Yameen’s Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM) and People's National Congress (PNC) nominees in some 32 constituencies in the upcoming parliamentary elections. In turn, the PPM-PNC coalition would back the nominees of JP for 37 seats. The deal applies to constituencies in which JP and PPM-PNC do not face each other. The deal is being criticised as the government does not wish any part of their coalition to support any allies of former President Yameen who is currently in prison.  JP itself is not fully behind the move, as a number of high-ranking JP politicians including the country’s Vice-President, Transport Minister, Tourism Minister and Environment Minister have declared allegiance to President Solih. [Maldives Independent 1, Maldives Independent 2]

Law and Politics in Southeast Asia 

Indonesia: Key political ally of president Jokowi arrested on corruption charges

(ls) The Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK), Indonesia’s anti-corruption agency, detained the chief of a political party backing President Joko Widodo’s bid for a second term, just weeks before the nation goes to the polls. The suspect is the Chairman of the United Development Party, an Islamic party which is among the 10 parties backing Widodo’s bid for re-election in the April 17 election. [Bloomberg]

Indonesia: Anti-terrorism operations on the rise

(ls) The wife of an arrested Indonesian militant detonated a bomb that killed herself and her children on Wednesday in North Sumatra inside a house besieged by the police including the Detachment 88 anti terror squad. Figures from the Indonesian police showed that last year Detachment 88 killed or detained 396 militants, a record number and a sharp jump from the 176 in 2017. In May last year, a family of six carried out suicide bombings at three churches in Surabaya in Indonesia’s East Java province during Sunday mass, killing 13 people. [Straits Times]

Malaysia: Umno MPs switch sides, bringing Pakatan Harapan closer to two-thirds majority

(ls) Eight former Sabah Umno leaders have been officially accepted into Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (PPBM), one of the four member parties of the ruling Pakatan Harapan (PH) alliance. The group comprises four federal MPs, two senators and two Sabah assemblymen. Together with 10 more seats from its two Sabah allied parties, PH now has 139 federal MPs, which is just nine short of the 148 MPs needed to form a two-thirds supermajority which would enable the government to amend the federal Constitution. Prime Minister Mahatir has said that he wants to limit the tenure of the Prime Minister and chief ministers to two terms. [Straits Times]

Malaysia to limit the use of the death penalty

(ls) The Malaysian government announced that it will seek to scrap the mandatory death penalty for 11 offences, including for committing acts of terrorism. The other offences cover murder, hostage-taking, organized crime, offences against the constitutional monarch and the use of firearms. The plan is to replace the mandatory death penalty with the death penalty on the court’s discretion. As of October last year, there were 1,279 people on death row in Malaysia, the majority of them for drug trafficking offences, which are not covered by the current plans. [Straits Times]

At the same time, the Human Rights Commission of Malaysia (Suhakam) criticized the government’s delay to abolishing the death penalty, the repeal of the Peaceful Assembly Act 2012 and the Sedition Act 1948. Suhakam said it was also disappointed by the government’s failure to ratify the International Convention on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination. [Free Malaysia Today]

Myanmar: Yangon Stock Exchange set to expand

(ls) The Yangon Stock Exchange stock exchange is expected to liberalize stock trading within this year. Currently, it is Asia’s tiniest bourse. Home to only five companies, it updates prices just four times a day. Until now, only domestic investors were allowed to trade. But soon, it should be possible for foreigners to participate too. Last year, parliament passed a new Companies Law that says foreign investors can own as much as 35 percent of local firms. In two stages, possibly within this year, the bourse will welcome foreigners based in Myanmar, followed by overseas institutional investors. [Bloomberg]

Philippines officially leaves International Criminal Court

(ls/zf) Within two weeks after Malaysia became the 124th country to join the International Criminal Court (ICC), the Philippines have officially left the institution. The Philippine government had notified the United Nations Secretary General of its withdrawal last year, but it takes a full 12 months to become effective, barring any new developments in the process. This week the Philippine Supreme Court shut the door on any reversal on president Rodrigo Duterte’s decision by refusing to overrule his directive. [New York Times]

With that said, there is little evidence that the withdraw announcement has been a broadly popular move. Indeed, it has been widely condemned by a diverse set of players and institutions, including those who represent both domestic and international interests. Internationally, some organizations urged the U.N. Human Rights Council to intervene in order to keep a spotlight on any suspected abuses and extrajudicial killings that might occur under the guise of anti-drug crackdowns. [Rappler]

The ICC is the only permanent international body with the proper resources, institutional capacity, and clout to investigate such allegations. It had been in the process of making preliminary investigations into claims of crimes against humanity against Duterte and his administration in the run up to the decision. [Amnesty International] [Al Jazeera]

In a CPG video special, Lasse Schuldt and Phongchisanu Sakkiettibutra discuss current issues related to the International Criminal Court in Southeast Asia and beyond. [YouTube]

Philippines: Rodrigo Duterte announces “Narco List” including several political rivals

(ls) Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte on Thursday publicly named 46 government officials, including three congressmen, he said are involved in illegal drugs, and added that criminal investigations against them are underway. The officials have so far not been found guilty by court verdicts, but Duterte cited his “trust in government agencies”. Coincidentally, many of the officials, including 33 mayors, eight vice mayors and three members of the House of Representatives, are running in mid-term elections in May. Since Duterte became president in 2016, between 5,000 to 20,000 people have been subject to extrajudicial killings in a “war on drugs”. [South China Morning Post]

Philippines: Senate to investigate water shortages in Manila

(zf) The Philippine Senate is set to investigate severe water shortages that have affected large swaths of Manila and a nearby province. A spokesman for a local water company that is in charge of regulating water-usage in the areas claimed over six million people will be affected until the return of the rainy season in May and June, which should refill water reservoirs. Under current plans, water will be turned off for these populations for six hours each day in order to make attempts to save and properly distribute a weakened supply across the affected areas. As the companies which run the water supply are sanctioned by the government, many residents have laid the blame on official mismanagement. [South China Morning Post] [Bloomberg]

Thailand: High turnout expected in 24 March elections; Prayut not disqualified as prime ministerial candidate

(ls) Ahead of Thailand’s 24 March parliamentary election, early voting has started already. More than 2.3 million people are expected to vote before the official poll date. [Bangkok Post 1]

More than 51 million people are eligible to vote in the election this coming Sunday. In a recent poll, nearly 97% of respondents said they intended to vote. All opinion polls conducted in the past month have consistently reported that at least 90% of respondents intend to vote in the country’s first election in nearly eight years. In the last successfully completed general election in 2011, voter turnout was 75%. That compared with 85.4% in 2007. [Bangkok Post 2]

Meanwhile, the Ombudsman, one of Thailand’s constitutional organizations, explained that Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha is qualified to run as prime ministerial candidate as he did not fit the description of a “state servant”, which would disqualify him, as laid out in a previous Constitutional Court ruling. The ruling described state servants as being either appointed or elected, working full-time with the authorities under the law, being under the supervision of the government and receiving money in return for their services. However, according to the Ombudsman, Prayut had been appointed outside the law, and his appointment was the product of a temporary power seizure. The case is also under review by the Election Commission. [The Nation]

For a collection of images of election posters taken and captioned with English translations of the party’s name and slogan by AiR editorial board member Lasse Schuldt, see [CPG election foto collection].

Eminent Thai ambassador Virachai Plasai dies

(ls) Virachai Plasai, a veteran diplomat best known for his role in the contentious Preah Vihear temple case, has died in the United States at age 58. Virachai was named to head the Thai legal team in the dispute with Cambodia over the Phrea Vihear temple, where ownership had been contested for decades. Virachai lead a team of foreign lawyers to deliver oral arguments in the case at the International Court of Justice (ICJ). The court ruled in November 2013 that while Cambodia had territorial sovereignty over the temple, the two countries needed to negotiate further to determine other issues related to boundaries. [Bangkok Post]

International Relations, Geopolitics and Security in Asia

China-USA relations: Washington’s reserved reaction on Beijing’s new Foreign Investment Law

(dql) China's National People's Congress last week endorsed China’s much-anticipated new Foreign Investment Law replacing three foreign capital laws – the Law on Sino-Foreign Equity Joint Ventures, the Law on Sino-Foreign Contractual Joint Ventures and the Law on Foreign-Capital Enterprises – which were passed between 1979 and 1990 in the early years of China’s process of reform and opening up. Addressing specific issues the USA has been complaining about, the new law, set to come into force on 1 January 2020, prohibits the forced transfer of technology from foreign-invested businesses in China and steps up protection of intellectual property [CNBC]

While Beijing hailed the law as "a fundamental law in lifting China toward a new stage of high-level opening up in the new era” [Xinhua], Washington cautioned against too much euphoria over the law with regards to a resolution of the US-Chinese trade war. While acknowledging that the law is “encouraging” as White House National Economic Council Director Larry Kudlow cautioned that “there are still issues to be resolved, particularly with how the U.S. will enforce any commitments China makes”. [Politico]

China-USA relations: Strategic competition with China (and Russia) prioritized in US Defense Budget proposal for 2020

(dql) Within the Fiscal Year 2020 Budget proposal of the U.S. Government [White House] of 4.6 trillion USD, submitted last week to Congress, President Trump has requested a budget of 718 billion USD for the Department of Defense, a 33 billion or 5% increase compared with 2019. The proposed defense spending “enhances the military’s readiness and lethality, prioritizing strategic competition with China and Russia” while it “also sustains efforts to deter and counter rogue regimes such as North Korea and Iran, defeat terrorist threats, and consolidate gains in Iraq and Afghanistan through a resource-sustainable approach”.

Acting Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan, whose focus has been China since taking over from James Mattis in January, stated in his testimony before Senate Armed Services Committee that "China is aggressively modernizing its military, systematically stealing science and technology, and seeking military advantage through a strategy of military-civil fusion” and highlighted three major structural changes in the budget, including space force, hypersonic weapons and cyber warfare to which 14.1 billion USD, 2.6 billion USD and 9.6 billion USD are requested respectively. [CBS]

Meanwhile, earlier this month, China announced a 7.5% increase in its projected defence spending over last year, with spending on sustaining, growing, and modernising its military totalling 177.54 billion USD. [The Diplomat]

China: City building in South China Sea

(dql) Defying stern criticism from the US last week, China has announced plans to push forward with the development of a new “island city” in the disputed waters of the South China Sea, of which observers believe it would allow the People's Liberation Army Navy, coast guard and the maritime militia to further expand presence in the South China Sea, if it comes along with further basing infrastructure and logistics nodes. [Newsweek]

The announcement comes after two American B-52 strategic bombers, capable of carrying nuclear weapons, last week flew over the disputed South China Sea area for a second time in 10 days and further fuels tensions between China and the US. [CNN]

For an account on China’s readiness to go to war over the South China Sea see [National Interest].

China-EU relations: Brussels releases 10-point plan to balance China economic ties

(dql) Last week, the European Commission released a 10-point plan [European Commission] aimed to protect the European Union better in trade relations with China, in particular against what Brussels sees as unfair competition from Chinese state-subsidized take-overs and state-subsidized companies. China’s trade surplus in goods with the European Union was at 200.4 billion USD in 2017.

Europe, for whom China is the second-biggest export market after the United States, has also been increasingly frustrated over slowness of China’s opening of its economy, a swell of Chinese takeovers in critical EU sectors and U.S. pressure to shun China over espionage concerns.

The 10-point plan include trade, climate, WTO-reforms, Iran cooperation and a common EU approach to the security of 5G networks and screening of foreign direct investment and is set to be discussed and endorsed by EU leaders at a summit in Brussels on 21-22 March. [Reuters] [euobserver]

China and Italy to sign Belt and Road agreement this week

(dql) Reflecting China’s growing influence in Europe, China and Italy are expected to sign a preliminary agreement in the frame of the Belt and Road initiative (BRI) in Rome during President Xi’s state visit this week. Italy will become the 124th nation to sign on join the inititaive, but it will be the first in the Group of Seven, in defiance of loud warnings from the U.S. against such a move. Among the other European Union states, Croatia, Czech Republic, Hungary, Greece, Malta, Poland and Portugal have signed memorandums on the BRI with China. [Bloomberg]

Japan: Advancing military capabilities to counter China

(dql) According to diplomatic sources, Japan and the US are working towards developing a new radar system for Aegis-equipped US Navy ships aimed at improving defense capabilities to counter new weapons, including the hypersonic missiles being developed by China and Russia. The new radar system will provide 360-degree surveillance on warships and the AN/SPY-6, an upgraded radar system suitable for detecting high-altitude threats, is scheduled to be delivered in 2020. Currently in use is the AN/SPQ-9B system which detects and tracks low-flying threats, with a traditional rotating radar making blind spots unavoidable. [Japan Times]

In a related development, Japan’s Defense Ministry announced plans to develop a longer-range air-to-ship cruise missile, believed to be directed against Chinese naval vessels' advanced capabilities. The plan involves extending the range of Japan's supersonic ASM-3 air-to-ship missiles from currently less than 200 km to over 400 km to be able to defend a chain of outlying islands in the southwest. [Mainichi]

South Korea-Cambodia relations: Deepening economic ties

(dql) South Korean President Moon Jae-in and Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen agreed on expanding both countries’ economic cooperation in various areas during the former’s state visit to Cambodia last week, including trade and investment, agriculture, finance, infrastructure, industry and development. The two leaders also pledged to join efforts to establish peace on the Korean Peninsula and in the region as well as improve South Korea's relations with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations. [Yonhap]

UN Security Council vote on sanctioning Pakistani militant again vetoed by China

(jk) Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) is the Pakistan-based militant group that had claimed responsibility for the suicide bombing back in February which ignited renewed tensions between Pakistan and India. [AiR 4/2, AiR 1/3] The group’s primary goal is to separate Kashmir from India and there are allegations- especially from India - that it is at least tacitly supported by forces linked to the government of Pakistan.

This past week, the UN Security Council voted on whether to designate JeM’s leader as a terrorist under the UNSC resolution concerning ISIL (Da'esh), Al-Qaida, and associated individuals, groups, undertakings, and entities. [UNSC] While the group itself is already designated as such, the JeM’s leader has thus far escaped this fate which would mean a travel ban, an arms embargo and the freezing of assets. This was the fourth time over the past ten years that such a vote was held, and just like on the previous three occasions, the vote was rejected due to a veto by the People’s Republic of China to the disappointment of India. [Times Of India, The Statesman] The proposal was brought forward by the US, the UK and France. China, referring to Pakistan as its “iron brother”, has become Pakistan’s largest weapons supplier of increasingly sophisticated weaponry. According to Stockholm’s SIPRI, data shows that from 2008-18, China has supplied weapons worth over $6.4 billion, followed by the US at $2.5 billion. [Economic Times India]

Maldives to install radar systems it received from India this year

(jk) Just before the two-day visit of the Indian Minister of External Affairs to the Maldives commenced on Sunday, the Maldives Military said that the installation of 10 radar systems gifted by the Indian government to protect its exclusive economic zone (EEZ) will be completed within the end of this year. [Avas 1, Avas 2] India and the Maldives had already signed a cooperation agreement to that extent in 2016, but former President Yameen refused to allow the installation of Indian radars. At the same press conference where the above statement was made, a spokesman has also said that around 50 Indian soldiers are stationed in the Maldives alongside two helicopters that were previously gifted by the Indian government. Previously, it had only been said that around 30 technical staff maintaining an individual helicopter were in the country at any given time. [Avas 3]

India and U.S. agree to nuclear power plant construction plan

(zf) The United States and India have announced a partnership this week to increase cooperation on civil nuclear energy. The deal, announced in Washington after several days of negotiations, details a joint plan to construct six new nuclear power plants in India over the next several years. The two countries have been in negotiations over proposed expansion of India’s nuclear power capabilities for over a decade, with a major sticking point being a piece of Indian liability law that might have conferred the costs and blame of potential accidents on the sites’ construction company, as opposed to local operators. The announcement should be seen as another step towards the implementation of India’s national plan to triple its nuclear power capabilities by 2024 in order to help reduce consumption of fossil fuels. A similar deal was struck with Russia last year toward this same goal. [Al Jazeera]

India and Myanmar engage in joint military operations on border to disrupt terror camps

(zf) It has been confirmed this week that India has been participating in joint military operations with Myanmar to disrupt and destroy terror camps along their shared northernmost border areas. Reporting has detailed operations that took place in late February and early March, and which may be still ongoing. While some reports have suggested a cross border operation by Indian forces into Burmese territory, officials maintain that no incursions into international territory took place and that India’s main concern was keeping the rebel factions off domestic soil. It is claimed that the strikes destroyed 12 rebel outposts, and had been primarily directed by the Burmese army with Indian help both strategically and in the supply of weapons. Besides rebel incursions, another concern in the region were the group’s potential disruptions of an infrastructure plan known as the Kaladan Project, which looks to increase connectivity between Kolkata and Sittwe, Myanmar by way of both land and water-based transport systems. The main catalyst for the operation, therefore, seems to be increased hostile activity by a local rebel group known as the Arakan Army, which exists on an ideology of national separatism from Myanmar-proper, and were seen as a threat to Indian construction workers at Kaladan. [Economic Times] [Times of India] [Hindustan Times]

Malaysian court releases Indonesian woman charged with killing Kim Jong-nam – Vietnamese suspect stays in custody

(ls) In an unexpected decision, a Malaysian court has dropped the case against one of two women charged with the murder of Kim Jong-nam, the estranged brother of the North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, in Kuala Lumpur airport in February 2017. The Indonesian national Siti Aisyah was released from custody and flew home to Indonesia after the decision. Prosecutors, who had withdrawn the charges, did not give any reason for the retreat in their case against Siti. However, the court rejected her lawyer’s request for a full acquittal, as it said that the trial had already established a prima facie case and she could be recalled if fresh evidence emerged. [The Guardian]

Malaysia’s attorney-general on Thursday rejected Vietnam’s request to free the second suspect, the Vietnamese Doan Thi Huong, and a court set April 1 for her trial to resume. Vietnam’s foreign ministry said it regretted the Malaysian court’s decision not to immediately free Huong. Indonesia’s government said Siti’s release was the result of its continual high-level lobbying. [Reuters]

The women were accused of smearing the toxic nerve agent VX on his face as he waited to board a flight to Macau. He died within 20 minutes. Defense lawyers have maintained the women were pawns in an assassination orchestrated by North Korean agents. Kim Jong Nam was living in exile in Macau before the killing, having fled his homeland after his half-brother Kim Jong Un became North Korea’s leader in 2011 following their father’s death.

Singapore and Malaysia set to resolve maritime boundary dispute

(ls) Singapore and Malaysia on Thursday said they had resolved to begin negotiations over a disputed maritime boundary, an issue that put the neighbors’ relations under pressure in recent months. Singapore’s Vivian Balakrishnan and his Malaysian counterpart Saifuddin Abdullah said both nations had agreed to suspend the implementation of their overlapping port limits for now. Moreover, no government vessels will anchor in the area, commercial activities will be suspended and no new ones authorized. The two countries are also at odds over two other issues, which are the price Singapore pays Malaysia for fresh water, and the city state’s management of a small section of Malaysian airspace. [South China Morning Post]

U.S. bank Goldman Sachs facing criminal charges related to 1MDB scandal in Malaysia

(ls) A Malaysian court set a new pretrial hearing date for the criminal case against Goldman Sachs Group Inc. relating to the state investment fund 1MDB. The June 24 hearing will give prosecutors more time to serve summons against two of three Goldman Sachs units at the center of the allegations. At a hearing in Kuala Lumpur on Monday, only the U.S. firm’s Singapore unit was a respondent. [Bloomberg]

Three units of the U.S. investment bank Goldman Sachs and two former employees face criminal charges in Malaysia relating to their role in raising $6.5 billion for the scandal-plagued state investment fund 1MDB. Malaysia alleges that Goldman misled investors in three bond sales it arranged for 1MDB while knowing the money raised would be misappropriated. The charges under the Capital Markets and Services Act 2007 carry fines for businesses and jail terms of up to 10 years and fines for individuals. [Washington Post]

EU phases out palm oil, sparking criticism from Malaysia

(ls) The European Commission on Wednesday concluded that palm oil should be phased out from transport fuel due to environmental concerns, sparking a backlash from Malaysia, a top producer of the vegetable oil. The Commission said that 45 percent of the expansion of palm oil production since 2008 led to destruction of forests, wetlands or peatlands, resulting in more greenhouse gases. That compared to 8 percent for soybeans and 1 percent for sunflowers and rapeseed. Malaysia’s primary industries minister Teresa Kok criticized the decision, saying it’s based “on the politics of protectionism” and warning of retaliatory actions against European exports should the law be adopted. [CNBC]

Background Reading

Indonesia’s ‘Red scare’ revived ahead of elections

(ls) Ahead of April’s national elections, the Indonesian police is currently engaged in raiding bookshops and confiscating books suspected of having communist content. These actions have reminded some of the 1960s, when more than half a million leftists were massacred across the Southeast Asian nation, a bloody spectacle that ushered in the long rule of dictator Suharto, whose fervent anti-communist stance remains decades on. In 2017, declassified US diplomatic documents revealed that a communist-fearing White House was well aware of the bloody purges, which one diplomat described as a “widespread slaughter”. [Straits Times]

The role of the Catholic Church in Philippine politics

(ls) Whereas today, the Catholic Church in the Philippines is rather clear about its role in politics – bishops and priests have the moral duty to speak, but they should leave partisan politics to the laity – there have been times in Philippine history, when the Catholic hierarchy flexed political muscles. Rappler takes an exciting look at the past and present role of the Church in Philippine politics. [Rappler]

The Assassination of Benazir Bhutto

(jk) “The Assassination” is a 10-part podcast from the BBC World Service about the death of former Prime Minister of Pakistan Benazir Bhutto who was killed in a suicide-bomb attack in December 2007. It traces the assassination and investigation into it and asks why – more than ten years after the murder – there have not yet been any charges or convictions in the case. [BBC]

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