Johnny Blades on Indonesia's reaction to global pressure on the West Papua issue:
It was no surprise that the man who led the delegation to London was Indonesia's Political and Security minister Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan.
Mr Luhut has been fronting international representations on Papua for President Joko Widodo, including the recent visits to PNG and Fiji to drum up support for Indonesia's MSG plans.
As a former commander of Indonesia's Kopassus special military forces, Mr Luhut was a key player in state efforts to prevent East Timor becoming independent in the turbulent months of 1999.
Now, as Indonesia's government scrambles to counter international focus on West Papua, he has emerged as a champion of human rights.
Mr Luhut has been overseeing the creation of a new "integrated team" including human rights commissionaires and police to investigate at least a dozen high-priority historic rights cases in Papua as identified by the Widodo government.
Various Papuan provincial government and civil society figures are doubtful that the team is independent.http://www.radionz.co.nz/international/pacific-news/307672/gloves-come-off-as-jakarta-confronts-papua-rights
Michael Kohn on the landslide opposition victory in Mongolia's parliamentary election, and how it was rooted in economic concerns:
The election was largely billed as referendum on the $12 billion economy, after growth tumbled from more than 17 percent in 2011 to just 2.3 percent last year. While much of that decline can be attributed to a slowdown in China and weak prices for Mongolia’s major exports of coal and copper, voters also blame the government for missteps and rising debt. The MPP had also called on voters to reject the DP’s spending plan, which doubled external debt in four years.
Democratic Party chief Enkhbold Zandaakhuu and Prime Minister Saikhanbileg Chimed were among several DP leaders who failed to win their own constituencies. The Mongolian togrog weakened as much as 1.7 percent, the most since August 2014, to 1,985 per U.S. dollar.
SIDEBAR: Rio Tinto likely boosted by election result; plus they're withdrawing from PNG.
Sarah Lohscheider on how the Kuril Islands have become a proxy diplomatic conflict for larger issues between Russia and Japan:
The islands are strategically important to Russia because they guarantee safe access through the Sea of Okhotsk to the Pacific Ocean for the Russian Navy. Russia’s military presence also serves to strengthen its involvement in East Asian affairs – although this probably does little to assuage Putin’s fear of fading Russian influence in the Pacific in light of Chinese and U.S. strength. On the other side of the dispute, the Japanese people, especially conservatives in Hokkaido, are emotionally attached to the islands and resource-starved Japan could certainly use the resource-rich Exclusive Economic Zone surrounding the islands.
Given these entrenched positions, the dispute is at a deadlock. Abe’s intentions of engaging in peace talks with Russia “with a new approach, free of any past ideas” is effectively dead on arrival. The militarization of the islands by Russia only cements the status quo and the deadlock in the conflict. For Western observers, there are two concerns that make it worthwhile to follow this relatively minor island dispute: the potential for increased Russian military strength in the Pacific, and the implications for Japan’s continued support of Western sanctions against Russia – particularly relevant given the EU’s extension of sanctions for another year.
Reuters on Formosa Ha Tinh owning up on Vietnam's #ToiChonCa fish kill controversy:
The spill sparked public outrage across Vietnam and three successive weekends of protests, with demonstrators venting their fury at both Formosa and the government, accusing them of a cover-up.
Formosa had apologized and would provide US$500 million in compensation for those affected by the disaster, Dung said.
“Violations in the construction and testing operations of the plant are the causes for serious environmental pollution, killing a massive amount of fish,” Dung told a packed news conference. “Formosa has admitted responsibility for the fish deaths in four central provinces and committed to publicly apologize for causing severe environmental incidents.”
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