Rohingya boat-person dies in Ranong jail

Bangkok, Thailand (Kaladan): A Rohingya, who was among the boat-people died in Ranong jail on June 30 from diarrhea. He was one of the 78 boat-people arrested by Thai authorities while on their way to Malaysia, according to a Rohingya boatpeople watch group.

Rohingya in Ranong Jail

Abdu Salam (21), son of Abu Sofian, hailing from Maung Gri Taung (Sarb Bazar) in Buthidaung Township under Arakan State, died of diarrhea in Ranong jail, the group said.

He was suffering from diarrhea since June 25, and died on June 30, at about 7:30 pm in the immigration office while on the way to a hospital for treatment. Subsequently, his body was sent to the nearby hospital for autopsy. The body was handed over to a nearby mosque for burial by the police, the group further added.

Abdu Salam was buried at the Muslim cemetery on July 2, at around 10 am after his father Abu Sofian’s arrived. His father lives in Maesot in Thailand. The body was put in an ice box till his father’s arrival.

Rohingya Boat people are taking to the police station of Ranong

The 69 Rohingya and 9 Bangladeshis - 66 men and 12 male teenagers - were intercepted on January 27, 2009 by the Thai Navy following an arduous journey across the Andaman Sea amidst claims of abuse by the Burmese Navy en route. A provincial court ordered each of the 66 men to pay a 1,000 Thai baht (about US$29) fine for illegal entry into the kingdom. Those unable to pay had no choice but to serve a five-day prison term on January 28, according to the website of The Nation newspaper.

The 12 teenagers, who were exempt from persecution, are being held at an immigration detention centre, but are expected to be deported with the men.

Rohingya boat people inculding children under custody of Ranong police

Thailand's Supreme Commander Gen. Songkitti Jaggabatara met Burma's Vice Chairman of the ruling State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) and Army Chief Deputy Senior General Muang Aye and discussed about the Rohingya problem, where Gen. Muang Aye accepted Thailand's request to help in the Rohingya issue even though the Rohingya ethnic group is not on the official list of 135 ethnic minorities in Burma, the website said.

The Burmese Foreign Minister told his Thai counterpart at the Asean summit in Thailand that his country might be willing to take back Rohingyas - but only if they were categorized as Bengalis who reside in Burma, not Burmese citizens.

The Rohingya who are in Thailand and Indonesia, refused to go back to Burma without their rights, demanding to be treated equally with other Burmese ethnic groups. Many therefore are languishing as refugees in other countries.

Later, however, the Bangladeshi people were sent back to their country at the initiative of the Bangladesh government.

At present, the 69 Rohingya boat-people are languishing in Ranong jail.

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Regime scheming to cut loose support for Wa

S.H.A.N- Failing to make major ceasefire groups led by the Wa to accept the junta officers run border security force proposal, Burma’s ruling generals are resorting to divide and conquer methods, according to informed sources both on the Chinese and Thai border.

The Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (Kokang) reached a ceasefire pact with the junta on 21 March 1989, the United Wa State Army on 9 May 1989 and the NDAA on 30 June 1989.

On 8 July, yet another visit to Mongla, the headquarters of the National Democratic Alliance Army-Eastern Shan State (NDAA-ESS), was made by Brig-Gen Kyaw Phyoe, Commander of Kengtung-based Triangle Region Command. He was said to have informed the recent acceptance by the National Democratic Army-Kachin (NDAK), a member of the 4-party alliance Peace and Democracy Front (PDF), whose other members include Kokang, Wa and Mongla. “You did not conclude truce with us on the same day,” he was quoted as saying. “Why should you want to make decisions (on our demands) on the same day?”

“Besides, the Wa have a bad reputation as a drug-running organization,” he added. “It would be better if you stayed away from them.”

He then outlined a new schedule for the NDAA:

• Presentation of the group’s inventory by the end of July
• Final summing up by Naypyidaw in August
• Start of re-training and re-organization of the ceasefire forces by Burma Army instructors in September

Sai Leun, the leader of NDAA, replied that he would still have to consult not only his allies but also the troops and the people under his leadership before deciding whether to agree or disagree with Naypyidaw’s new ultimatum.

A Wa source confirmed this morning that there have been no new proposals or visits coming from the generals to Panghsang. “There are reports that they have been doing their own sounding out of the people in Markmang (Metman in Burmese, a Wa majority township southwest of Panghsang under the control of Burma Army since 1980),” he said, “asking them whether they would like to live under the Wa leadership. ‘We have allowed you to do everything you want, like growing poppies, didn’t we? Now you know how people in Panghsang are going through difficult times since the opium ban (in 2005). We don’t think you will prefer the same situation for yourselves.’”

Markmang has been designated by the junta-approved constitution as one of the six townships in the Wa Self-Administered Region.

According to sources on the Thai-Burma border, both Thai and local, the Burma Army has also been urging the UWSA’s 171st Military Region with 5 “divisions” commanded by Wei Xuegang to make a separate decision and accept the transformation into a junta militia. The resulting confusion had led to an emergency meeting of Wa officers at Hwe Aw, the base of the 171st, 21 miles north of the Chiangmai border on 8 July. “They debated late into the night and departed only on the next morning,” said a source close to the Wa. “It seems that they have decided to remain under Panghsang (the Wa capital on the Sino-Burma border) at least throughout 2009.”

Failing to move the ceasefire armies to surrender, Naypyidaw, in April, had proposed that they instead transform themselves into 326 strong Border Guard Forces, ostensibly commanded by ceasefire officers but actually run by 30-Burma Army officers to be attached to each unit.

READ MORE---> Regime scheming to cut loose support for Wa...

LAWLESS China shuts the door on diplomats

By Michael Sainsbury and Mark Dodd
The Australian

CHINA has rebuffed the Rudd government and may force Australian officials to wait a further month for a second visit to detained Rio Tinto iron ore executive Stern Hu.

As senior Australian ministers warned that China risked damaging its international trade relations over Mr Hu's arrest, reports emerged that Rio Tinto was seeking as much as $9 billion in compensation for breach of contracts from Chinese steel mills.

Foreign Minister Stephen Smith yesterday criticised Chinese efforts to communicate with the Rudd government over the Hu case.

"We would have preferred that much of the information we have gleaned would have come from Chinese officials in the usual and normal diplomatic way, rather than it coming from the public statements of the spokesperson from the Ministry for Foreign Affairs and from an official Chinese government website detailing the advice of the Shanghai Bureau of State Security," Mr Smith said.

Chinese-born Mr Hu, the head of Rio Tinto's iron ore operations in China, and three other senior company officials were arrested in Shanghai by secret police and have been detained for a week without charge or legal representation.

Chinese officials have accused Mr Hu of espionage and stealing state secrets, sparking the most serious diplomatic challenge faced by the Rudd government since it came to office in November 2007.

It is now clear that the allegations against Mr Hu and his colleagues are directly related to prolonged and unresolved negotiations over benchmark prices for iron ore being sold by Australian miners to Chinese steel mills.

Chinese media reports said Rio - and possibly its one-time rival and new joint venture partner BHP Billiton - had been approaching Chinese steel mills in the past month, seeking compensation for broken contracts after the steel makers allegedly reneged on promises to buy certain volumes of iron ore.

"From the middle of June, Rio visited Chinese mills one by one, asking for compensation for contracts which were not fulfilled due to the financial crisis," the 21st Century Business Herald quoted an unnamed senior steel executive as saying.

"Rio calculated that they lost $5 billion in iron ore, and $4bn in shipments in the previous eight months due to the fact that Chinese mills postponed or even cancelled ships."

A Rio spokesperson declined to comment.

Mr Smith played down hopes of an early release for Mr Hu, warning that he was preparing for the "long haul".

"I am deliberately and advisedly making the point that under Chinese law and Chinese practice, Mr Hu is now subject to those processes," he said.

The month-long wait for another consular visit comes after Trade Minister Simon Crean, visiting Shanghai on Saturday, was granted access only to a mid-level official, Sha Hailin, the deputy secretary-general of the Shanghai government, to express his "strong concern" about the Hu case.

Mr Smith, asked if Mr Hu's detention could scare off foreign investors in China, said Beijing needed to "think very carefully about what implications, if any, it has for the international business community and the international investment community's view of China".

"I think one of the issues for the Chinese government to contemplate is the extent to which the circumstances of this case will cause the international business community any cause for concern," the Foreign Minister said.

The opposition continued to attack the government's response to Mr Hu's detention.
Opposition foreign affairs spokeswoman Julie Bishop said China had effectively "snubbed" Australia.

She accused Mr Smith of failing to act decisively with the Chinese and said he was now being treated with disrespect by Beijing.

"The government ministers must get personally involved and not just leave this to the bureaucrats and say that this is just a consular matter," she said.

Mr Smith defended the government's handling of the Hu case, saying it continued to press Chinese authorities for more information in a "firm but appropriately diplomatic way". The Foreign Minister admitted he had not called his Chinese counterpart, Yang Jiechi, but might do so in the future.

"I'll make a judgment about it if and when it becomes appropriate for me to raise this matter with my counterpart so will the Prime Minister and the Prime Minister made that clear last week," Mr Smith said.

In their first meeting with Mr Hu on Friday, Australian consular officials said the iron ore salesman was in good health.

China's 21st Century Business Herald reported that the evidence against Mr Hu included "an interior meeting memorandum provided by China Iron and Steel Association personnel".

Another source revealed that a senior executive at state-owned Shougong Steel, Tan Yixin, provided production information to Mr Hu.

Other Chinese news reports said executives from a raft of major steel mills across China, as well as executives from the CISA, which has been conducting the discussions, have been hauled in for questioning by authorities. As well as Shougang, Laigang and Jigang mills in Shandong, Baosteel in Shanghai and other mills in Hebei and Liaoning provinces are rumoured to be under investigation.

A senior executive of Baosteel, China's biggest steelmaker, has been reported to have been taken by police for interrogation. It has also been reported that the manager in charge of shipment at a large mill in Shandong as well as the executive of a large trader were also taken for interrogation.

Last year's iron ore contracts were struck at record prices of about $US90 a tonne, a 40 per cent lift on the previous year. China has been demanding a cut of between 40 and 45 per cent but Rio and BHP have insisted on a discount of only 33 per cent - the same agreed by Japanese and South Korean mills in May. The pricing of iron ore, the biggest input to the steel making process, has long been a delicate issue with China, which now consumes half of the iron ore mined each year and more than 60 per cent of seaborne volumes, which mainly come from Australia and Brazil.

Rio's iron ore chief Sam Walsh said at the weekend that the company remained surprised and concerned over the detention of its employees.

The company had still not been told by Chinese authorities of any charges against the employees.

Chinese lawyers who spoke to The Australian on the condition of anonymity said that, as no specific evidence against Mr Hu had yet been provided, it was not easy to judge what jail term he might face if found guilty. "Six months to 15 years, it depends on the evidence," one said. (JEG's: and if there is no evidence will there be a DASSK's casse here? without evidence will Mr Hu be charged?)

Additional reporting: Debbie Guest

READ MORE---> LAWLESS China shuts the door on diplomats...

President backed Rio spy probe

By John Garnaut
SMH-Herald Correspondent in Beijing

THE Chinese President, Hu Jintao, personally endorsed the Ministry of State Security investigation into Rio Tinto that led to the detention of the Australian iron ore executive, Stern Hu, and three staff, Chinese Government sources say.

The investigation appears to be part of a big realignment of how China manages its economy, with spy and security agencies promoted to top strategy-making bodies.

The ministry and the Public Security Bureau have significant new roles - the former focusing more on international economic dealings and the latter on domestic political unrest that might flow from economic instability.

The Communist Party's nine-member standing committee, led by the President, has also taken more control over economic decisions at the expense of the State Council, led by the Premier, Wen Jiabao, Chinese economic advisers say.

The sources, who say they are familiar with details of the Rio Tinto case that have not been made public, say the inquiry began before Rio Tinto broke off its $US19.5 billion ($25 billion) investment deal with Chinalco and joined iron ore production forces with BHP Billiton on June 5.

"This is certainly not 'revenge' for the Chinalco deal not going through," said a Chinese Government source. "It is part of a considered, all-of-government response to the general resources question that was made after considering the likely international response."

The collapse of the Chinalco deal was immediately followed by the establishment of a high-level, all-of-government group that will assess the political and economic risks of big outbound investment deals. The outbound investment assessment group, which features vice-minister level representatives of security agencies, is yet to be given a name and no details have been made public.

"That unfortunate ending to the Chinalco-Rio deal was a kind of wake-up call for policymakers that the external environment can be much more complicated than just managing trade relations," said Huang Yiping, a professor of economics at Peking University and Citigroup's former chief Asia economist.

"The group of people who will be managing these policies will be much more diverse … there will be security people and [political] risk managers, and I think more policy uncertainties."

The Australian Government declined to comment last night on the revelation that President Hu had endorsed Mr Hu's arrest.

Australian officials in Canberra and Beijing will seek more details from Chinese authorities today about the circumstances of his arrest eight days ago. He is accused of bribery and undermining China's economic security.

The Foreign Affairs Minister, Stephen Smith, said:

"China needs to think very carefully what implications, if any, this has for the international business community and the international network's view of China."

The elevation of Chinese economic policy to a top national security concern began late last year with the collapse of the Shanghai and Shenzhen sharemarkets, the weakening of the real estate market and difficulties with manufacturing exports in coastal regions. The process accelerated with the full onset of the financial crisis since September.

"It probably reflects that Chinese leaders are much more worried about the economy than everybody else," said Michael Pettis, professor of finance at Peking University's Guanghua School of Management.

The economy has stabilised with Beijing's huge fiscal and monetary stimulus policy, and many believe the economy will hit the Government's growth target in gross domestic product of 8 per cent this year.

Many economists believe a sustainable recovery requires Beijing to loosen rather than tighten controls.

The top-level support for the Rio inquiry makes it even more unlikely the Shanghai State Security Bureau will reverse its decision to detain Mr Hu and his Chinese citizen colleagues, Liu Caikui, Wang Yong and Ge Minqiang.

In Australia the Opposition said Mr Hu's detention deserved a more serious response.

"He's being taken by the Chinese secret police, and there are accusations of espionage," the foreign affairs spokeswoman, Julie Bishop, told ABC TV.

"That elevates this matter to a Beijing-to-Canberra issue."

Mr Smith rejected Opposition suggestions the case could be resolved by a phone call to Chinese leaders from him or the Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd.

with Brendan Nicholson and AAP

READ MORE---> President backed Rio spy probe...

Beijing ramps up the humiliation

By Greg Sheridan, Foreign Editor
The Australian

IF Rio Tinto executive Stern Hu is not released from a Chinese prison soon, the pressure on Foreign Minister Stephen Smith and Kevin Rudd to intervene directly with their counterparts will become irresistible.

If it reaches that stage, their intervention will probably be ineffective, and that would be even more humiliating.

Trade Minister Simon Crean has made representations on Hu's behalf, but was given a mid-level official to deal with. The Chinese seem determined to continue to humiliate Canberra.

The bottom line is clear - if Hu is not released, our relationship with China is shattered and the Rudd government will be profoundly embarrassed and seen to have no influence in Beijing.

So far, there is nothing to criticise in the Rudd government's response. It is doing everything it can and understands the grotesque injustice done to Hu, the intimidation China is trying to exert on Australia and the high stakes involved.

Prime ministerial and foreign minister calls are cards Canberra will need to play eventually, but it is reasonable to extend some tactical flexibility to the Rudd government.

However, there is also nothing wrong in Malcolm Turnbull's energetic prosecution of the issue.
Only if the broad Australian civil society demonstrates its shock and anger at China's crude tactics of intimidation is there a chance that cooler heads in Beijing might see the damage these outrageous actions are doing to China's reputation internationally, as well as its interests in Australia.

Indeed, in its own way, and within only the limits of formal diplomatic constraints, the Rudd government was itself making maximum efforts yesterday to put pressure on the Chinese authorities along these lines.

Both Smith and Assistant Treasurer Chris Bowen tellingly said that China would harm its reputation among international companies, and discourage foreign businessmen from working there, through its actions in the Hu matter.

These comments can only be based on the presumption, which is shared by every reasonable observer, that the charges against Hu are completely ridiculous, and completely political.

It is important, analytically, not to get caught up in the proceduralism of the Chinese legal system. There is no rule of law in China. The Chinese have made it clear they can regard any commercial matter as a matter of their national interest, and any negotiation involving it therefore as involving Chinese state secrets.

Under this system, they can intervene legally in any business deal they do not like and imprison anyone they choose.

The decision to imprison Hu was a political decision and therefore the decision to release him must occur at the political level.

Eventually the Prime Minister and Smith must secure this result. It is extremely discouraging that Smith commented that "we may be in for the long haul".

There is always a bureaucratic temptation to sacrifice the individual for the sake of stability in any bilateral relationship.

To do so in this case would be to accept China's right to arbitrarily punish any Australian involved in a business deal that China Inc does not like. It would permanently and radically tilt the playing field against Australia in any future business negotiation if the Australian side is always to labour under the fear of arbitrary imprisonment in China.

If this is the case, then the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade should issue a travel warning pointing out to Australian businessmen that they face the danger of arbitrary arrest and lengthy detention in China if they, their company or even the Australian government displease the Chinese.

Certainly that commentary in the press which has equated Hu's case with Schapelle Corby's is utterly inane, an example of the breathtaking naivety and provincialism of which Australians are capable. The airport police in Bali were pursuing no government agenda and consular access was granted to Corby straight away.

Apart from the fact there is nothing in Hu's character to suggest criminal espionage as a sideline, it is inconceivable that after Rio had earned China Inc's fury for rejecting the Chinalco partial takeover bid, and in the middle of the tense iron ore price negotiations, the No2 Rio man in China would choose this time to run a criminal operation courting a lengthy jail term at best.

One of the most important lessons to come out of this mess is the absolute shattering of the myth that Chinese government-owned commercial entities are not part of China Inc. In their actions against Hu, the Chinese authorities have explicitly said that commercial matters are matters of national security for China and that commercial information can be regarded as a state secret whenever China likes, and foreign executives can be imprisoned at will. The implications for Chinese conduct of investments in Australia is clear.

The Foreign Investment Review Board, perhaps at the direction of the Rudd government, needs to factor this information in to all future decisions about proposed Chinese strategic investments in Australia.

READ MORE---> Beijing ramps up the humiliation...

Chinese President behind Stern Hu 'spy' probe (Burmese a must read)

By staff writers - NEWS.com.au

Arrested ... Australian Rio Tinto executive Stern Hu will be unable to see Aussie consular staff for another 30 days / Supplied

* President Hu Jintao behind investigation
* Rudd Government rebuffed over Rio exec
* The Australian: Beijing ups the humiliation

CHINESE Government sources say President Hu Jintao personally endorsed the Ministry of State Security investigation into Rio Tinto that led to the detention of Australian iron ore executive Stern Hu and three staff.

The investigation appears to be part of a big realignment of how China manages its economy, with spy and security agencies promoted to top strategy-making bodies, The Sydney Morning Herald reports.

The sources, who say they are familiar with details of the Rio Tinto case that have not been made public, say the inquiry began before Rio Tinto broke off its $US19.5 billion ($24.89 billion) Investment deal with Chinalco and joined iron ore production forces with BHP Billiton on June 5.

The revelation comes as The Australian reports China has rebuffed the Rudd Government and may force Australian officials to wait a further month for a second visit to Mr Hu.

Senior Australian ministers have warned that China risked damaging its international trade relations over Mr Hu's arrest, with new reports emerged that Rio Tinto was seeking as much as $9 billion in compensation for breach of contracts from Chinese steel mills.

Foreign Minister Stephen Smith yesterday criticised Chinese efforts to communicate with the Rudd Government over the Hu case.

"We would have preferred that much of the information we have gleaned would have come from Chinese officials in the usual and normal diplomatic way, rather than it coming from the public statements of the spokesperson from the Ministry for Foreign Affairs and from an official Chinese Government website detailing the advice of the Shanghai Bureau of State Security," Mr Smith said.

Chinese-born Mr Hu, the head of Rio Tinto's iron ore operations in China, and three other senior company officials were arrested in Shanghai by secret police and have been detained for a week without charge or legal representation.

Chinese officials have accused Mr Hu of espionage and stealing state secrets, sparking the most serious diplomatic challenge faced by the Rudd Government since it came to office in November 2007.

Arrest 'not revenge'

"This (arrest) is certainly not 'revenge' for the Chinalco deal not going through," The Sydney Morning Herald quoted a Chinese government source as saying.

"It is part of a considered, all-of-government response to the general resources question that was made after considering the likely international response.''

The Australian Government declined to comment yesterday night on the allegation that President Hu had endorsed Mr Hu's arrest.

Australian officials in Canberra and Beijing will seek more details from Chinese authorities today about the circumstances of his arrest eight days ago. He is accused of bribery and undermining China's economic security.

The elevation of Chinese economic policy to a top national security concern began late last year with the collapse of the Shanghai and Shenzhen sharemarkets, the weakening of the real estate market and difficulties with manufacturing exports in coastal regions.

Rio Tinto wanted compensation

Meanwhile, Chinese media reports said Rio Tinto - and possibly its one-time rival and new joint venture partner BHP Billiton - had been approaching Chinese steel mills in the past month, seeking compensation of up to $8 billion for broken contracts after the steel-makers allegedly reneged on promises to buy certain volumes of iron ore.

A Rio Tinto spokesperson declined to comment.

Mr Smith played down hopes of an early release for Mr Hu, warning that he was preparing for the "long haul".

The Opposition continued to attack the Government's response to Mr Hu's detention.

Opposition foreign affairs spokeswoman Julie Bishop said China had effectively "snubbed" Australia.

Mr Smith defended the Government's handling of the Hu case, saying it continued to press Chinese authorities for more information in a "firm but appropriately diplomatic way".

In their first meeting with Mr Hu on Friday, Australian consular officials said the iron ore salesman was in good health.

Read more: China Shuts the door on diplomats

READ MORE---> Chinese President behind Stern Hu 'spy' probe (Burmese a must read)...