INTERNATIONAL TUESDAY, AUGUST 30, 2016 Obama heads to Laos - signs of a tilt away from China First US sitting president to visit Laos

VIENTIANE: The secretive communist gov- more closely towards another neighbor, one of the world’s longest rivers, the increasingly seen as a Chinese satellite. cally before 2014, according to figures ernment of Laos, a country with a popula- Vietnam, whose dispute with China over Mekong, aims to become “the battery of “The US strategic interest in Laos is to from China’s Ministry of Commerce and tion of less than 7 million, rarely causes a the South China Sea has pushed it into a Asia” by selling power to its neighbors. see the country be able to exert a certain state-run media. For the United States, ripple on the diplomatic circuit. And yet its deepening alliance with the United States. degree of strategic autonomy because impoverished Laos is not a strong invest- sleepy capital will spring to life next week “The new government is more influenced Shifting policy you don’t want ... (to) have something akin ment draw. “In Laos, we bring 7-8 compa- when global leaders arrive for an Asian by the Vietnamese than the Chinese,” said It is difficult to read policy in Laos to the relationship between China and nies to the table compared with 30-40 summit. Barack Obama will be among a Western diplomat in Southeast Asia.” “It’s because its leaders are so uncommunica- Cambodia,” said Phuong Nguyen of the companies that Vietnam brings. But them, making the last push of his presiden- never too late for a US president to visit.” tive, but Western diplomats have detected Washington-based Center for Strategic China- that’s a totally different ball game,” cy to ‘rebalance’ Washington’s foreign poli- Obama will become the first sitting US some shifts. First, deputy Prime Minister and International Studies think-tank. A said Anthony Nelson, director of the US- cy towards Asia, a strategy widely seen as a president to visit landlocked Laos, where Somsavat Lengsavad - who ran the steer- defense official in Washington did not ASEAN business council. response to China’s economic and military the United States waged a “secret war” ing panel for a $7 billion Chinese rail proj- comment on wider strategic issues but “So there’s no coincidence that the muscle-flexing across the region. The might while fighting in Vietnam, dropping an ect - retired. The project is now believed to described Laos as “an important partner.” A countries with the lowest levels of devel- of Laos’ giant neighbor to the north is hard estimated two million tons of bombs on be on hold because Laos is unhappy with China foreign ministry spokesman said opment, Laos and Cambodia, are the most to miss in Vientiane: wealthy Chinese driv- the country. About 30 percent of the ord- the terms of the deal. Officials of Prime “we welcome any country, including those willing to advocate for China’s position in ing SUVs overtake tuk-tuks sputtering nance failed to explode, leaving a danger- Minister Thongloun Sisoulith’s new gov- inside and outside this region, developing international discussions.” But the Lao are along the roads and Chinese-backed hotels ous and costly legacy. Laos has strategic ernment, many of them educated in constructive relations, as long as these ties closer culturally to Vietnam than they are sprout from noisy construction sites in one importance to both Vietnam and China. Vietnam, have visited Hanoi en masse in are really beneficial to regional peace, sta- to China. Their businesses use Lao lan- of Asia’s most low-rise cities. Vietnam has a long land border with Laos recent weeks, their first foreign trip. At two bility and prosperity.” guage signs and mixed Lao-Vietnamese But diplomats say Obama could be that gives it access to markets in Thailand of the past meetings of the Association of families incorporate local customs, while pushing on an open door in Laos, thanks and beyond. For China, Laos is a key gate- Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), which is Long-term battle Lao-Chinese families tend to be isolated. to a change of government there in April. way to Southeast Asia in its “new Silk currently chaired by Laos, Vientiane has Beijing has invested around $1 billion “We are a bit frustrated with (China). They They say the country’s new leaders appear Road” trade strategy. Laos, which is devel- taken a more nuanced stance on Beijing annually in Laos in 2014 and 2015, a step create their own eco-system,” a Lao busi- ready to tilt away from Beijing and lean oping a series of hydropower plants along than neighboring Cambodia, which is up from the $4.5 billion invested histori- nessman said. — Reuters Maharashtra to give women slum dwellers joint ownership rights

MUMBAI: The Indian state of Maharashtra will Fadnavis last week said Nagpur’s lead may be give women slum dwellers equal ownership applied to slums across the state. rights with men, the first such move by the While Indian law gives women equal own- state where millions live in the very poor neigh- ership rights to land and property, women are borhoods. About 55 slums in the city of Nagpur seldom aware of their rights and are often will be regularized under a plan to recognize denied access, said Shivani Chaudhry, execu- the more than 25,000 families who live there as tive director of advocacy group Housing and legal residents. Each family will be given a land Land Rights Network in India. “We welcome title that gives joint ownership to the man and this move to give joint ownership titles, but woman, a senior official said. “We have given while these rights exist on paper, in reality land titles in the past to slum dwellers, but this women aren’t allowed to access these rights,” time the titles will have the name of the said Chaudhry. woman as well,” said Shrawan Hardikar, com- “These steps need to be accompanied by missioner at the Nagpur municipal corporation. ways to increase women’s awareness of their “We wish to empower women with equal rights and some measure of protection of rights to property as men. Especially for the these rights. Implementation also needs to be poorest of the poor who live in slums, land monitored to ensure women are really able to and property are a means of security,” he told access these rights,” she said. India ranked 59 the Thomson Reuters Foundation. Hundreds of 128 countries in the International Property of millions of people live in slums in Indian Rights Index 2016. The index measures factors cities because they cannot afford to buy or including the legal and political environment, rent a home. They are often migrant workers physical property rights and intellectual prop- who move in search of better economic erty rights. India fared particularly badly in opportunities. Many live in shacks with no areas such as gender equality that measured running water or toilets, under the constant women’s access to land and to bank loans for threat of eviction or displacement. property, as well as inheritance rights for wid- Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra ows and daughters. — Reuters

HANGZHOU: Clay figures made by a female artist Wu Xiaoli (front role from right) feature US President Barack Obama, Chinese President Xi Jinping, Russian President Vladimir Putin, and other G20 leaders is on display at a shop in Hangzhou in east China’s Zhejiang province. China will host the G20 Summit in Hangzhou on Sept 4-5. — AP China President reshuffles key party posts ahead of congress Xi places his men in key positions

BEIJING: Chinese President Xi Jinping has Hunan, Du Jiahao had assumed the party’s top violence in a region with a large ethnic minority reshuffled three top provincial-level Communist job, Xinhua said. Both Chen and Du worked with Muslim population. The current party boss, Party posts as he seeks to place his men in key Xi when he ran China’s commercial capital, Zhang Chunxian, is expected to move to Beijing positions ahead of a once-every-five-years con- Shanghai, as its Communist Party chief for a year to take over a senior role in a party building com- KATHMANDU: Indira Adhikari (left) and Suman Adhikari are seen at their home in gress next year, and more new appointments are in 2007, according to their resumes. “Xi is close to mittee that Xi is overseeing as part of his efforts Kathmandu, Nepal. The mother and son have very little hope of getting justice for likely soon. The party congress, expected to be both of them due to their time together in to instill greater discipline in the corruption- Muktinath Adhikari, who was dragged out of a classroom he was teaching, tied to a held next autumn, will see Xi further cement his Shanghai,” a source with ties to the leadership racked party, the source added. Xinhua said tree and riddled with bullets by alleged Maoists for refusing to part with a portion of hold on power by appointing close allies into told Reuters, speaking on condition of anonymity. Zhang would be given another post, but did not his salary to fuel their rebellion. — AP the party’s ruling inner core, the 25-member Tibet, considered one of the country’s most say what. A second source said the governor in Politburo and the seven-member Politburo politically sensitive positions due to periodic Shanxi, a coal-rich northern province beset by Survivors of Nepal’s insurgency Standing Committee. anti-Chinese unrest in the devoutly Buddhist corruption scandals, would move to Beijing to Xi, who doubles as Communist Party and mil- Himalayan region, also has a new party chief, take over as transport minister. fear crimes will go unpunished itary chief, is ranked No 1 in the Standing named by Xinhua as Wu Yingjie. Wu has spent Li Xiaopeng is the son of former premier Li Committee - the apex of power in China. The almost his entire career in Tibet, according to his Peng, who was deeply involved in the military KATHMANDU: The image of the teacher’s bers admit they have neither the time nor the year leading up to that will focus on Xi appoint- official resume, having previously served as a crackdown on student-led demonstrations for body tied to a tree and riddled with bullets manpower to investigate the more than 53,000 ing more new people into major provincial party deputy governor and propaganda chief, among democracy around Beijing’s Tiananmen Square still haunts his son 14 years later. Communist complaints alleging human rights violations and government positions, sources with ties to other roles. Wu, like his predecessor Chen in 1989. The second source said Xi ally Lou militants allegedly dragged the Nepalese man unless the government extends its mission. the leadership say. In a brief dispatch on Sunday, Quanguo, belongs to China’s majority Han Yangsheng, currently a deputy party boss in from the class he was teaching and then killed None of the cases have been resolved so far. the official Xinhua news agency named two Chinese ethnic group. China says its rule has Shanxi, would be named acting provincial gov- him for refusing to give part of his salary to “In the time we have left, I don’t think we people with whom Xi had previously worked as brought prosperity and stability to Tibet, reject- ernor, pending approval by the local legislature. fund their bloody rebellion. Suman Adhikari will be able to deal with even a fraction of the the new party chiefs in the strategically located ing claims from Tibetan exiles and rights groups Xi and Lou worked together when Xi was party has little hope he will get justice for his number of cases we have in our hands,” com- southwestern province of Yunnan and the popu- of widespread repression. boss in the eastern province of Zhejiang from father’s death - not with the same Maoist missioner Madhavi Bhatta told The Associated lous southern province of Hunan. The provincial Xinhua said on Monday that Chen would 2003 until early 2007. The State Council fighters-turned-politicians controlling the Press. They also have asked the government party chief outranks the governor. move to Xinjiang as its party boss, another unruly Information Office, which doubles as the party’s Himalayan country’s government. to revise the rules for investigating, for exam- In Yunnan, bordering Myanmar, Laos and part of the country, due to what the government spokesman’s office, did not respond to a request Despite international pressure and govern- ple, to include torture as a listed crime and to Vietnam, Chen Hao replaced Li Jiheng, while in says is a concerted Islamist-backed campaign of for comment. — Reuters ment promises, including by the Communist extend the six-month statute of limitations on Party of Nepal (Maoist Center) themselves, rape so that decades-old assault allegations Adhikari and thousands of other conflict vic- can be considered. The committee can only Watchdog calls out India for tims are still waiting for information about recommend prosecution for government loved ones who were among the 17,000 killed lawyers to pursue; it cannot take such action or hundreds who disappeared during the on its own. decade-long insurgency demanding an end failing to protect journalists to the country’s now-defunct monarchy. “The ‘Victims of crimes’ Maoists want everyone to forgive and forget The Maoists have pledged they will not NEW DELHI: India is failing to help and protect jour- hurt India’s democracy, and pressing Parliament to reports on corruption scandals made for atten- whatever happened during the conflict, but seek amnesty and would help bring justice for nalists who are facing violent threats or attacks for pass a nationwide law ensuring journalists’ safety. tion-grabbing headlines, those same corruption that is not acceptable to us,” said 40-year-old “victims of crimes outside of war rules,” their work, an international watchdog agency said The Committee to Protect Journalists blamed investigations tended to end abruptly if an Adhikari, who works for a Kathmandu-based according to spokeswoman Pampha Bhusal. yesterday, noting a pattern of resistance in investi- successive Indian governments and local officials involved journalist was killed. “No government in charity that works with the deaf. “We will not suppress these cases but will gating crimes targeting reporters. The Committee to for doing little to address a problem that has exist- India has been an ardent champion of press free- Earlier this month, Maoist leader Pushpa resolve them,” she said. “We are going to Protect Journalists counted 27 journalists killed for ed for decades. It noted that while newspaper dom,” the report said. — AP Kamal Dahal became Nepal’s prime minister, resolve all these issues on the basis of interna- their work since 1992, and noted that it was still leading the poor and politically fractious tional norms and human rights and the peace investigating more than two dozen cases to deter- country’s ninth coalition government in 10 agreement we signed.” Victims and rights mine whether those journalists’ deaths were also years. His ascent to the top elected position groups expressed doubt about the Maoists’ work-related. Most at risk are small-town journalists completed the Maoist’s political rehabilitation sincerity. In one of their recent pushes for a investigating corruption, rather than journalists in started in 2006 when they signed a UN-bro- general amnesty, the Maoists in May forced big cities like New Delhi or Mumbai. kered peace accord to end their guerrilla cam- then-Prime Minister Khadga Prasad Oli to sign The New York-based watchdog said in a report paign against authorities. Meanwhile, Nepal is an agreement saying the government would released yesterday that it could find only one case still beset by ethnic conflict and protests “immediately initiate the process to withdraw in 10 years in India in which a suspect was prosecut- against its new constitution, and coping from or give clemency on insurgency-era cases and ed and convicted for killing a journalist, but that the widespread damage caused by earthquakes other politically-motivated cases filed on vari- suspect was later released on appeal. “Perpetrators that killed thousands last year. ous occasions.” are seldom arrested,” said Sujata Madhok, a mem- And former Maoist parliament member Bal ber of the watchdog. “The torturously slow Indian Truth and Reconciliation Krishna Dhugel was convicted in 2010 of a judicial system, together with corruption in the For victims of the old insurgency, the 1998 murder, but Maoist pressure and a pend- police force and the criminalization of politics, Maoists’ rise was nothing to celebrate. Those ing clemency request have ensured he remains makes it possible to literally get away with murder.” hoping for resolution from a newly assembled free despite a Supreme Court order this year The watchdog’s findings are supported by Truth and Reconciliation Committee fear the not to grant him amnesty. Analysts said the another report, released in 2015 by India’s own Maoists will seek to sweep away post-conflict Maoists would have trouble pushing for a blan- media watchdog, the Press Council of India. That cases by delaying investigations, ignoring ket amnesty. They do not have the necessary report found that even though the country’s demo- advice to prosecute or even legislating for a parliamentary majority to vote such an cratic institutions and independent judiciary were MUMBAI: Indian journalists hold placards during a protest against attack on journalists in general amnesty that would absolve all crimes. amnesty into law, and even the suggestion strong, people who killed journalists were getting Mumbai. The Committee to Protect Journalists counted 27 journalists killed for their work With the committee’s mandate expiring in could upset their coalition partners and under- away with impunity. “The situation is truly alarming,” since 1992, and noted it was still investigating more than two dozen cases to determine if February next year, some of its 100 staff mem- mine the stability of their government. — AP the Press Council said, warning that the trend could those journalists’ deaths were also work related. — AP