EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS - Tussles over biofuels, trade and even capitalism itself are likely to take centre stage in Lima, Peru on Friday, as European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso and some 60 heads of state from the EU and Latin America and the Carribean (LAC) descend on the Peruvian capital for the fifth EU-LAC summit. Under the protection of some 85,000 soldiers and police who have set up the usual array of roadblocks, traffic detours and zones restricted to local citizens, the leaders are to rattle through what is an ambitious agenda. Although the leaders will focus on two key issues - combating inequality and tackling climate change - poverty, social inclusion, sustainable development, energy and the environment in general are also set for discussion. At the summit, the commission is to announce Euroclima, a €5 million fund for Latin American projects that tack climate change.
BRUSSELS - France, Britain and Germany called on Tuesday for the world to deliver aid to cyclone victims in Myanmar if necessary without the military junta's permission, France's junior minister for human rights said."We have called for the 'responsibility to protect' to be applied in the case of Burma," Rama Yade told reporters as EU development ministers' met to discuss emergency aid for Myanmar, formerly known as Burma. The little-used U.N. principle could allow the delivery of aid without the accord of the government if the military rulers continue to bar foreign aid teams from entering the country. Yade said France, backed by the two other major EU powers, would put the proposal to the U.N. Security Council, but she acknowledged it did not have unanimous support among the 27 EU member states. The European Union development ministers urged Myanmar's military junta on Tuesday to allow "free and unfettered" access for aid workers and take urgent action to allow the free flow of aid, an EU diplomat said. The statement agreed by EU development ministers supported other initiatives that could be taken in the U.N. framework, but stopped short of endorsing France's call for the world to deliver aid without the junta's agreement, diplomats said.
BRUSSELS - France, Britain and Germany called on Tuesday for the world to deliver aid to cyclone victims in Myanmar if necessary without the military junta's permission, France's junior minister for human rights said.
"We have called for the 'responsibility to protect' to be applied in the case of Burma," Rama Yade told reporters as EU development ministers' met to discuss emergency aid for Myanmar, formerly known as Burma. The little-used U.N. principle could allow the delivery of aid without the accord of the government if the military rulers continue to bar foreign aid teams from entering the country. Yade said France, backed by the two other major EU powers, would put the proposal to the U.N. Security Council, but she acknowledged it did not have unanimous support among the 27 EU member states. The European Union development ministers urged Myanmar's military junta on Tuesday to allow "free and unfettered" access for aid workers and take urgent action to allow the free flow of aid, an EU diplomat said. The statement agreed by EU development ministers supported other initiatives that could be taken in the U.N. framework, but stopped short of endorsing France's call for the world to deliver aid without the junta's agreement, diplomats said.
"We have called for the 'responsibility to protect' to be applied in the case of Burma," Rama Yade told reporters as EU development ministers' met to discuss emergency aid for Myanmar, formerly known as Burma.
The little-used U.N. principle could allow the delivery of aid without the accord of the government if the military rulers continue to bar foreign aid teams from entering the country.
Yade said France, backed by the two other major EU powers, would put the proposal to the U.N. Security Council, but she acknowledged it did not have unanimous support among the 27 EU member states.
The European Union development ministers urged Myanmar's military junta on Tuesday to allow "free and unfettered" access for aid workers and take urgent action to allow the free flow of aid, an EU diplomat said.
The statement agreed by EU development ministers supported other initiatives that could be taken in the U.N. framework, but stopped short of endorsing France's call for the world to deliver aid without the junta's agreement, diplomats said.
Myanmar's military rulers appear to be digging in their heels in the face of mounting international pressure to allow more aid into the country. John Holmes, the leading UN humanitarian affairs official, is waiting for visa approval to visit Myanmar so he can urge the military government to open up to a full-scale international relief effort. But a state-run newspaper says Myanmar can rebuild without outside help, even though there is little evidence of that on the ground.
Even so - for all of the horror, Katrina was still a more modest disaster than the one in Burma.
Didn't hear from wchurchill about it again.
The Responsibility to Protect means that no state can hide behind the concept of sovereignty while it conducts-or permits- widespread harm to its population. Nor can states turn a blind eye when these events extend beyond their borders, nor because action does not suit their narrowly-defined national interests.
But responsibility to protect also entails responsibility to protect from social chaos:
Have France, Germany and Britain thought through what "imposing aid" on Myanmar might mean?
It seems like a simple moral decision: help the survivors of the cyclone. But liberating Iraq from an Arab Stalin also seemed simple and moral. (And it might have been, had we planned for the aftermath.) Sending in marines and sailors is the easy part; but make no mistake, the very act of our invasion could land us with the responsibility for fixing Burma afterward. <...> Because a humanitarian invasion could ultimately lead to the regime's collapse, we would have to accept significant responsibility for the aftermath. And just as the collapse of the Berlin Wall was not supposed to lead to ethnic cleansing in Yugoslavia, and the liberation of Iraq from Saddam Hussein was not supposed to lead to civil war, the fall of the junta would not be meant to lead to the collapse of the Burmese state. But it might. Aid at the Point of a Gun - New York Times
<...>
Because a humanitarian invasion could ultimately lead to the regime's collapse, we would have to accept significant responsibility for the aftermath. And just as the collapse of the Berlin Wall was not supposed to lead to ethnic cleansing in Yugoslavia, and the liberation of Iraq from Saddam Hussein was not supposed to lead to civil war, the fall of the junta would not be meant to lead to the collapse of the Burmese state. But it might.
Aid at the Point of a Gun - New York Times
On the other hand,
By just threatening intervention, the United States puts pressure on Beijing, New Delhi and Bangkok to, in turn, pressure the Burmese generals to open their country to a full-fledged foreign relief effort. We could do a lot of good merely by holding out the possibility of an invasion.
Guardian - Naomi Klein - In the wake of catastrophe comes the whiff of unrest
The cyclone, meanwhile, has presented the junta with one last, vast business opportunity: by blocking aid from reaching the highly fertile Irrawaddy delta, hundreds of thousands of mostly ethnic Karen rice farmers are being sentenced to death. According to Farmaner, "that land can be handed over to the generals' business cronies". This isn't incompetence, or even madness. It's laissez-faire ethnic cleansing.
Chinese authorities are expecting the toll from the 7.9-magnitude earthquake that struck Sichuan province this week to rise above 50,000, state media says. Officials have confirmed 20,000 deaths four days after the quake and believe another 25,000 people could be buried under the rubble in the towns and villages across the worst-hit region in China's southwest as hopes of finding survivors diminish by the hour. "The deaths are estimated to be over 50,000," state television said, citing figures from the national quake relief headquarters. Half the epicentre town of Yingxiu, where corpses are lined along the river, has been flattened and 90 per cent of the buildings remaining look unsafe. Bai Licheng, a Communist party official, warned that epidemics could break out if bodies were not buried soon, saying body bad were urgently needed.
Chinese authorities are expecting the toll from the 7.9-magnitude earthquake that struck Sichuan province this week to rise above 50,000, state media says.
Officials have confirmed 20,000 deaths four days after the quake and believe another 25,000 people could be buried under the rubble in the towns and villages across the worst-hit region in China's southwest as hopes of finding survivors diminish by the hour.
"The deaths are estimated to be over 50,000," state television said, citing figures from the national quake relief headquarters.
Half the epicentre town of Yingxiu, where corpses are lined along the river, has been flattened and 90 per cent of the buildings remaining look unsafe.
Bai Licheng, a Communist party official, warned that epidemics could break out if bodies were not buried soon, saying body bad were urgently needed.
China's main centers for designing, making and storing nuclear arms lie in the shattered earthquake zone, leading Western experts to look for signs of any damage that might allow radioactivity to escape. A senior federal official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the delicacy of the issue, said the United States was using spy satellites and other means to try to monitor the sprawling nuclear plants. "There appear to be no immediate concerns," the official said. <...> "From what I know, they're a really brilliant people and I think they do things the right way," said Danny B. Stillman, a former director of intelligence at Los Alamos National Laboratory and an expert on the Chinese nuclear program because of extensive travels in the 1990s to its secretive sites and bases.
A senior federal official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the delicacy of the issue, said the United States was using spy satellites and other means to try to monitor the sprawling nuclear plants. "There appear to be no immediate concerns," the official said. <...>
"From what I know, they're a really brilliant people and I think they do things the right way," said Danny B. Stillman, a former director of intelligence at Los Alamos National Laboratory and an expert on the Chinese nuclear program because of extensive travels in the 1990s to its secretive sites and bases.
Heard anything about Tibet recently ?? No, neither have I ? keep to the Fen Causeway
Wow, Helen, I really have to disagree with you on this one. You're saying that the Chinese government is happy to have the heat taken off them about Tibet and to be given a chance to look like heroes, even at the cost of probably 50,000 lives (okay, fine, not all of them were Han, but still)?
No, sorry, you are far too cynical. You mistake Hu Jintao and Wen Jiabao for the likes of Mao, Stalin, or Hussein. Sure, they are making the best of the situation in order to come out looking as competent and caring as possible. What choice do they have? And they are doing a remarkably good job of it. But from what I understand, they initially sent out a blanket order to all news agencies to stay away from the earthquake zone (except for agencies that were directly controlled by the government) -- an order which was totally blown off.
And when they realized that they could not control the media situation, they threw everything they had to make the rescue effort look as good as possible.
While the rescue effort has been conducted relatively well under the circumstances (especially in comparison to how the snow storm fiasco earlier this year was dealt with, not to mention Katrina), there have been some criticisms that have already reared their heads but are being tabled for now to handle the immediate crisis. There is potential for a lot of anger to explode after this initial critical period of finding, feeding and sheltering survivors, stabilizing the injured, and preventing epidemics. As a guy I know in Chengdu put it, the Chinese have a saying:
秋後算賬 Qiū hòu suàn zhàng: "After the harvest, we'll get the numbers straight."
No, the government was already making the Tibet issue recede quietly, by discreetly reengaging (even if only for show) representatives of the Dalai Lama, and clamping down on the nationalist, anti-Tibetan, xenophobic rhetoric in the media and on the net.
The Chinese central cadres are not as sociopathic as your cynicism implies them to be. I wouldn't even accuse Bush of considering 9/11 "manna from Heaven", no matter how much it improved his popularity. A language is a dialect with an army and navy.
You must remember I come from the country where a senior advisor to the Government, Jo Moore, suggested that 9/11/2001 was a "good day to bury bad news" and that departments should find all the rotten stuff and let it out that day. That's the difference between us and elites. Whilst we mere plebs were reeling from shock and horror, they were planning and calculating for advantage. It would actually be insulting to the Chinese govt to suggest they are less capable than the British. keep to the Fen Causeway
The U.S. is holding more Iraqis in prison than ever before -- 24,700 -- and is expanding its facilities to accommodate another 10,000, according to a new report. In addition to those detained by the U.S., its Iraqi government partner is holding 26,000 Iraqis in jail, bringing the combined number of Iraqi prisoners to almost 51,000. Given previous reports of torture and murder of inmates both in U.S. and Iraqi custody, it comes as no surprise the report descirbes conditions in the prisons as grim. "U.S. forces are holding nearly all of these persons indefinitely, without an arrest warrant, without charge, and with no opportunity for those held to defend themselves in a trial," writes Ciara Gilmartin, the Security Council Program Coordinator at Global Policy Forum(GPF), of New York City, which compiled the information.
The U.S. is holding more Iraqis in prison than ever before -- 24,700 -- and is expanding its facilities to accommodate another 10,000, according to a new report.
In addition to those detained by the U.S., its Iraqi government partner is holding 26,000 Iraqis in jail, bringing the combined number of Iraqi prisoners to almost 51,000.
Given previous reports of torture and murder of inmates both in U.S. and Iraqi custody, it comes as no surprise the report descirbes conditions in the prisons as grim.
"U.S. forces are holding nearly all of these persons indefinitely, without an arrest warrant, without charge, and with no opportunity for those held to defend themselves in a trial," writes Ciara Gilmartin, the Security Council Program Coordinator at Global Policy Forum(GPF), of New York City, which compiled the information.
A little late, but still timely.
When internet users were further queried about their trust in different kinds of online content, they overwhelmingly said that they trusted information on government websites more than any other kind of online information. Three-quarters of respondents deemed reliable most or all the information on government websites, compared with 46% for pages from established media, 28% for results from search engines, 11% for content on bulletin boards and in advertisements, 4% for information from individuals' web pages, and 3% for postings in chat rooms. In addition, an overwhelming 93% of internet users said they considered much of internet content to be unsuitable for children.
In addition, an overwhelming 93% of internet users said they considered much of internet content to be unsuitable for children.
but...
According to CNNIC estimates, there were 137 million Chinese internet users at the end of 2006, 165 million by mid-2007, and a whopping 210 million by the beginning of 2008. <...> Findings in the 2007 survey show that although only 26% of respondents consider online content to be reliable, about 95% of Chinese believe they can learn new things by going online. <...> CNNIC [China Internet Network Information Center] reported that one quarter of Chinese internet users write blogs, and many more take part in online discussions. Although the West may be most familiar with reports about political blogs in China, most Chinese bloggers -- like most American bloggers -- are actually keeping diaries of personal thoughts or daily lives and writing about hobbies and pets, about entertainers and pop culture. The internet represents an original chance for ordinary people to be heard or to connect with others around the country as never before.
Findings in the 2007 survey show that although only 26% of respondents consider online content to be reliable, about 95% of Chinese believe they can learn new things by going online. <...>
CNNIC [China Internet Network Information Center] reported that one quarter of Chinese internet users write blogs, and many more take part in online discussions. Although the West may be most familiar with reports about political blogs in China, most Chinese bloggers -- like most American bloggers -- are actually keeping diaries of personal thoughts or daily lives and writing about hobbies and pets, about entertainers and pop culture. The internet represents an original chance for ordinary people to be heard or to connect with others around the country as never before.
Most Chinese Say They Approve of Government Internet Control
Most Chinese - from a survey which deliberately excludes individuals whose opinions the Chinese government doesn't like - say they approve of government Internet control.
Fun.
Not sure I follow. I might have missed something in the report, but I didn't see anything to suggest that people were excluded from the survey based on their opinions:
Guo Liang, deputy director of the Research Center for Social Development, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, who directed the study and authored the report, describes the interview process as follows: "The survey started with: `Hello, I am conducting a survey sponsored by the Research Center for Social Development of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. This is a confidential random survey and your response will remain anonymous.' The respondents should know they were being questioned by pollsters working for an independent survey company." He also notes that while CASS is not a government agency, it is funded by the government although this particular study was funded by the Markle Foundation, located in New York, and that more than 90% of CASS reports are not "official reports."
As required of all public-opinion polling in China, either the survey or the surveyors must be approved by the government, and some topics that Westerners might have liked to see addressed directly, such as censorship, were not.
It's worryingly vague on the precise details of who was asked and who wasn't. 'Random' here doesn't exclude 'picked from pre-approved lists.'
The fact that this survey is claiming that the Chinese support censorship when it hasn't 'addressed directly' the topic doesn't fill me with confidence about its accuracy.
Yes, I saw that. The text I quoted was the footnote to the first sentence in that paragraph. I thought it pretty clearly indicated that survey respondents were perfect strangers, i.e. not pre-selected.
I think you are speculating too much. You do see people doing surveys on the streets here, at least in Shanghai and Hangzhou. I could totally see this survey being done in that way. How would you pre-approve pedestrians? Or do you think the Chinese authorities went through the trouble of generating a list of phone numbers whose owners would answer in a politically acceptable manner?
Also, the statement that "most Chinese say they approve of internet control and management" is a global summary of the survey responses. No question was phrased in exactly that way. Based on what the actual questions were, I think the statement is rather exaggerated and even misleading.
After all, how do Internet users in Western countries feel about Internet control on the following?
87% of internet users would control or manage pornography; 86% violent content; 83% spam or junk mail; 66% advertisements; 64% slander against individuals.
You're assuming it was a face to face survey. The methodology in the full paper says that in fact it was a phone survey.
It does say they were randomly selected. But the sample size of 2000 seems on the small side if you're trying to represent five cities across all age groups and use patterns. Especially when around a third of the sample weren't Internet users.
And there were no questions about censorship, only about 'controlling' specific kinds of traffic.
I can accept this wasn't a pre-approved list, although obviously pre-approved lists do exist, which limits the usefulness of surveys which use them.
I'm not so convinced that the study proves anything much, because if you want make a claim about censorship, it doesn't seem a stretch to require a survey to ask explicit questions about censorship.
The fact that that wasn't possible here is - of course - a kind of censorship itself.
