State Violence in East Asia
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State Violence in East Asia STATE VIOLENCE IN EAST ASIA Edited by N. Ganesan and Sung Chull Kim Copyright © 2013 by The University Press of Kentucky Scholarly publisher for the Commonwealth, serving Bellarmine University, Berea College, Centre College of Kentucky, Eastern Kentucky University, The Filson Historical Society, Georgetown College, Kentucky Historical Society, Kentucky State University, Morehead State University, Murray State University, Northern Kentucky University, Transylvania University, University of Kentucky, University of Louisville, and Western Kentucky University. All rights reserved. Editorial and Sales Offices: The University Press of Kentucky 663 South Limestone Street, Lexington, Kentucky 40508-4008 www.kentuckypress.com 17 16 15 14 13 5 4 3 2 1 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data State violence in East Asia / edited by N. Ganesan and Sung Chull Kim. p. cm. -- (Asia in the new millennium) Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-0-8131-3679-0 (alk. paper) — ISBN 978-0-8131-3680-6 (pdf) — ISBN 978-0-8131-4061-2 (epub) 1. Political violence—East Asia. 2. Political violence—Southeast Asia. 3. State-sponsored terrorism—East Asia. 4. State-sponsored terrorism— Southeast Asia. I. Ganesan, N. (Narayanan), 1958- II. Kim, Sung Chull, 1956- III. Series: Asia in the new millennium. HN720.5.Z9S73 2013 322.4’2095—dc23 2012043601 This book is printed on acid-free paper meeting the requirements of the American National Standard for Permanence in Paper for Printed Library Materials. Manufactured in the United States of America. Member of the Association of American University Presses Contents Note on Romanization vii Abbreviations ix Introduction: Conceiving State Violence, Justice, and Transition in East Asia 1 Sung Chull Kim and N. Ganesan 1. Interpreting State Violence in Asian Settings 19 Vince Boudreau 2. From the Streets to the National Assembly: Democratic Transition and Demands for Truth about Kwangju in South Korea 47 Namhee Lee 3. Unsettled State Violence in Japan: The Okinawa Incident 75 Hayashi Hirofumi 4. Popular Views of State Violence in China: The Tiananmen Incident 105 Jeffrey N. Wasserstrom and Kate Merkel-Hess 5. Mass Atrocities in Cambodia under the Khmer Rouge Reign of Terror 129 Sorpong Peou 6. Counterrevolutionary Violence in Indonesia 159 Douglas Kammen 7. Getting Away with Murder in Thailand: State Violence and Impunity in Phatthalung 185 Tyrell Haberkorn 8. The End of an Illusion: The Mendiola Massacre and Political Transition in Post-Marcos Philippines 209 Rommel A. Curaming 9. The Four-Eights Democratic Movement and Political Repression in Myanmar 231 Kyaw Yin Hlaing Conclusion: Comparing State Violence and Reconciliation across East Asia 257 N. Ganesan and Sung Chull Kim Acknowledgments 279 List of Contributors 281 Index 285 Note on Romanization In romanization of Korean sources and Korean names, the McCune- Reischauer system is used; exceptions are some already commonly used spellings. In the Japanese case, the Hepburn system is adopted. In the Chinese case, the Pinyin system is adopted. Following the traditions of these countries, the family name appears first with the given name fol- lowing; however, the spellings of personal names that appear in works in English are cited as in the originals. For the Indonesian case, the spelling of personal names, organiza- tions, and publications prevalent at the time under discussion is retained. Sukarno’s name was spelled with a u, but Soeharto’s name was officially spelled with the older oe. In the Thai case, the guidelines of the Royal Institute, outlined in “Principles of Romanization for Thai Script by Tran- scription Method,” have been followed. The only exceptions to this are the names of individuals; if there is already a romanized name in use, that one is used in lieu of imposing the Royal Institute guidelines. In the Burmese case, all political groups have official names in both English and Burmese, so their official names are adopted. For personal names, the method used by the government media is followed. Abbreviations AFP Armed Forces of the Philippines (Philippines) ASEAN Association of Southeast Asian Nations Baperki Badan Permusyawaratan Kewarganegaraan (Consultative Body for Indonesian Citizenship) BCP Burma Communist Party BLDP Buddhist Liberal Democratic Party (Cambodia) BSPP Burma Socialist Program Party BTI Barisan Tani Indonesia (Indonesian Peasants’ Front) CAC Cabinet Action Committee (Philippines) CCP Chinese Communist Party CGDK Coalition Government of Democratic Kampuchea CMC Citizens’ Mendiola Commission (Philippines) CPK Communist Party of Kampuchea CPP Cambodian People’s Party CPT Communist Party of Thailand CRPP Committee Representing People’s Parliament (Myanmar) CSOC Communist Suppression Operations Command (Thailand) DLP Democratic Liberal Party (Korea) ECCC Extraordinary Chambers in the Court of Cambodia EDSA Epifanio de los Santos Avenue (Philippines) FUNCINPEC Front Uni National pour un Cambodge Indépendant, Neutrale, Pacifique, et Coopératif (National United Front for an Independent, Neutral, Peaceful, and Cooperative Cambodia) IATFAR Inter-Agency Task Force on Agrarian Reform (Philippines) IPKI Ikatan Pendukung Kemerdekaan Indonesia (League of Upholders of Indonesian Independence) ISOC Internal Security Operations Command (Thailand) x Abbreviations KCIA Korean Central Intelligence Agency KMP Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas (Farmers Movement of the Philippines) KNU Karen National Union (Myanmar) Komnas HAM Komisi Nasional Hak Asasi Manusia (Indonesian National Commission on Human Rights) KOTI Supreme Operations Command (Indonesia) KPNLF Khmer People’s National Liberation Front MPRS Majelis Permusyawaratan Rakyat Sementara (People’s Consultative Assembly) (Indonesia) NBI National Bureau of Investigation (Philippines) NDF National Democratic Front (Myanmar) NHK Nippon Hoso Kyokai (Japan Broadcasting Corporation) NLD National League for Democracy (Myanmar) NPA New People’s Army (Philippines) NSCT National Student Center of Thailand NSL National Security Law (Korea) NU Nahdlatul Ulama (Indonesia) NUP National Union Party (Myanmar) PKI Partai Komunis Indonesia (Indonesian Communist Party) PNI Partai Nasional Indonesia (Indonesian National Party) PRRI Pemerintahan Revolusioner Republik Indonesia RIT Rangoon Institute of Technology RPKAD Resimen Para Komando Angkatan Darat (Kostrad and Army Para Commando Regiment) (Indonesia) SLORC State Law and Order Restoration Council (Myanmar) SNLD Shan National League for Democracy (Myanmar) SOC State of Cambodia SPDC State Peace and Development Council (Myanmar) SPT Socialist Party of Thailand SWC Special Warfare Command (Korea) TRC Truth and Reconciliation Committee (South Africa) UF United Front against Dictatorship (Thailand) UNTAC United Nations Transitional Authority in Cambodia USCAR United States Civil Administration of the Ryukyu Islands (Japan) Abbreviations xi USDA Union Solidarity and Development Association (Myanmar) USDP Union Solidarity and Development Party (Myanmar) VOA Voice of America Introduction Conceiving State Violence, Justice, and Transition in East Asia Sung Chull Kim and N. Ganesan The collaborative research presented in this volume is about the dark side of political history in East Asian countries. It deals with the worst cases of state violence in East Asia, most of which were underresearched for different reasons. The eight cases examined in this comparative study include the Japanese military’s killing of Okinawans (1945), the Indone- sian counterrevolutionary massacre (1965–1968), the Phatthalung Red Drum incident in Thailand (1972–1975), the Khmer Rouge’s mass killings in Cambodia (1975–1978), the Kwangju incident in Korea (1980), the Mendiola Bridge incident in the Philippines (1987), the suppression of the democratic movement in Myanmar (1988), and the Tiananmen incident in China (1989). The cases chosen here are representative in illustrating victimization of the people by military or authoritarian regimes during the Cold War. (The Okinawan case occurred during the wartime period, but narratives about it were long suppressed because of the Cold War divide.) The cases show that state violence derived from a sense of threat among the ruling elite, who believed that there was a strong conflation between state and regime security. In all cases, the modality of violence was basically exemplary and demonstrative as lessons to challengers, even if combined with an instrumental element in varying degrees. This volume does not include cases of violence targeting specific ethnic 2 sung CHULL KIM and N. GANESAN minorities. Although such ethnic violence might be another important research topic, particularly in the multiethnic Southeast Asian context, the state violence examined in this volume targeted regime challengers in general rather than specific ethnic groups. Since the Cold War period, most countries dealt with in this volume have not been considered globally significant in the political, economic, and cultural realms. For this reason, most cases of state violence in these countries, unlike in Eastern European and Latin American countries, have not received proper public and international attention.1 Calling attention to a situation that has been ignored for decades, this volume intends to investigate these cases with a measure of empirical rigor. It aims to not only identify the nature of state violence but to analyze the relationship between state violence and the legitimacy of the existent regime and those coming