Opium farming surges in northern Myanmar: group

Asian Defense News: BANGKOK – Opium cultivation in Myanmar is increasing rapidly in areas under the control of the military government, an ethnic minority organization said Tuesday.
Myanmar is the world's second-biggest producer of opium, which is the main ingredient in heroin, though it trails Afghanistan by a large margin. The ruling junta has vowed to eliminate the drug.
However, opium cultivation in Shan State the major production area has tripled in certain areas over the past three years in Myanmar, also known as Burma, according to a report by the Palaung Women's Organization. The Palaung are an ethnic minority in the northern state.
Researchers found cultivation in two townships under government control rose from 2,380 acres (964 hectares) in 2007 to 11,230 acres (4,545 hectares) in 2009.
"The number of villages growing opium has tripled from 2006 to 2009," Lway Aye Nang, an executive committee member for the organization, said at a news conference Tuesday in Bangkok.
The areas had been under the authority of the rebel Palaung State Liberation Army, but the insurgent group ceded control in 2005 after laying down its arms.
Soldiers, local officials and pro-government militiamen were profiting by extorting opium farmers, said Palaung researcher Lway Dang Jar. The report said drug addiction in the area was increasing with "devastating" impact.
Critics of the military regime have accused it of abetting or turning a blind eye to the illicit drug trade.
Myanmar officials were not immediately available for comment.
A United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime survey of opium poppy in Myanmar released in December 2009 found cultivation increased to a total of 78,330 acres(31,700 hectares) throughout the country, an 11 per cent rise from 2008.
The U.N. agency would not immediately respond to a request for comment.

*AP - 2 hours 53 minutes ago

Australian PM's nephew fined after racism protest

Asian Defense News: MELBOURNE, Australia – Prime Minister Kevin Rudd's nephew was fined for offensive behavior after dressing in a Ku Klux Klan costume to protest racism at a demonstration outside the Australia Open tennis championship on Tuesday.
Van Thanh Rudd, the son of the prime minister's brother Malcolm Rudd, and another man were protesting a recent spate of violence against Indians in Melbourne when police broke up the demonstration and told them to move along. They were each issued a 234 Australian dollar ($210) ticket for offensive behavior, Victoria state police said.
There has been a highly publicized spate of street violence against Indian students in recent months in Melbourne, Australia's second-largest city. Australian police say that while some attacks on Indians are racially motivated, many are ordinary crimes.
Earlier this month, Australia condemned an Indian newspaper cartoon that depicted an Australian police officer as a member of the Ku Klux Klan. The cartoon, published in New Delhi's Mail Today, satirizes Victoria police for saying there is no evidence the recent stabbing murder of an Indian-born Australian resident in Melbourne was racially motivated.
Van Thanh Rudd told Australian Broadcasting Corp. the protest was also meant to call attention to the plight of asylum seekers who are turned away from Australian shores.
The prime minister's office declined to comment.

*AP - Wednesday, January 27

China sentences four more to death in Xinjiang

Asian Defense News: BEIJING (AFP) - – A court in China's Xinjiang region has sentenced four people to death over deadly riots in July, bringing to 26 the number of those condemned to die for the unrest, a government official said on Tuesday. The verdicts were handed down on Monday by a court in the regional capital Urumqi -- the site of deadly clashes that left nearly 200 dead and over 1,600 injured.
"They were sentenced yesterday by the Urumqi Intermediate Court," a spokesman at the Xinjiang government who gave only his surname, Li, told AFP.
"Four people were sentenced to death, one was sentenced to death with a two-year reprieve and eight others got prison terms of up to life."
A death sentence with a reprieve is normally commuted to life in prison.
The sentences brought to 26 the number of people who have been reported executed or condemned to die over their roles in the unrest, some of the worst ethnic violence in China in decades.
The Xinjiang Daily newspaper said verdicts came in five separate cases with the 13 defendants charged with the "violent crimes of attacking, smashing, looting and burning", a Chinese term that means violent rioting.
The defendants' names provided by the Xinjiang Daily appeared to be Uighur, the Turkic-speaking Muslim minority group that has long complained of Chinese repression.
During the initial eruption of violence on July 5, Uighurs attacked Han Chinese, but in subsequent days mobs of Han roamed the streets seeking revenge.
Uighurs say the violence was sparked when police cracked down harshly on peaceful demonstrations in Urumqi that were held to protest the beating deaths of two Uighur migrant workers at a factory in southern China.
Authorities quickly implemented a clampdown on communications in and out of Xinjiang after the riots, blocking Internet access, text messages and international phone calls.
These restrictions have only just been lifted, although the Internet is still only partly accessible.
China says it faces a serious separatist threat in Xinjiang and has vowed harsh retribution for those found guilty of wrongdoing in the unrest.
State media said earlier this month that funding for public security in Xinjiang would nearly double in 2010.
A budget proposal placed before Xinjiang's legislature called for 2.89 billion yuan (423 million dollars) to be spent on public security, up from 1.54 billion yuan in 2009, the official China Daily reported.
But exiled Uighurs say Beijing exaggerates the separatist threat to justify harsh controls in the strategic western region, which is rich in energy reserves and borders on several central Asian countries.
Earlier this year, authorities also issued orders to step up identity checks and monitor religious activities in Xinjiang in a renewed bid to quash terrorism, separatism and extremism, state media reported.
*AFP - Wednesday, January 27

Car bomb wounds 6 near US base in Afghan capital

Asian Defense News: KABUL – A Taliban suicide car bomber struck near a military base in Afghanistan's capital Tuesday, wounding at least six people, Afghan and NATO officials said.
The militant group claimed responsibility for the attack in a text message to The Associated Press from a phone number commonly used by the insurgent group. The target was an international military convoy, the extremist group said.
An AP reporter at the scene saw the wreckage of a vehicle from afar. U.S. soldiers had blocked off access to the site right outside Camp Phoenix, an American base inside Kabul.
The attacker was driving a minibus laden with explosives that wounded at least six Afghan civilians when it went off, said Jamil Jumbish, the head of Afghanistan's criminal investigation unit. Jumbish said he had no reports of deaths but added that he did not know if there were any casualties among NATO forces.
NATO forces confirmed an explosion about 5 p.m. local time outside the main gate of Camp Phoenix. A statement issued by the international military coalition said initial reports indicated it was a vehicle-born bomb but did not give further details.
Lt. Nico Melendez, a NATO spokesman, said he did not yet have reports of injuries.
The strike follows on a bold attack last week by Taliban militants on government buildings in the heart of Kabul. The Jan. 18 attack paralyzed the city for hours and left five civilians and Afghan security forces dead, along with the seven assailants.
*AP - Wednesday, January 27

Moderate quake hits southern Sumatra

Asian Defense News: New Delhi ~ A 5.4 magnitude earthquake rocked southern Sumatra Island of Indonesia today, official sources said.
According to India Meteorological Department, there were no immediate reports of damage or casualty from the quake, which was epicentred at 00.1 degrees south Latitude and 99.3 degrees east Longitude.
The tremor struck the Island at about 1223 hrs (IST), the IMD said.

Travellers preferred South Korean airport overall

Asian Defense News: The South Korea International Airport at Incheon has been named the world's best terminal.US magazine, Global Traveler, gave Incheon airport, which is just west of Seoul, the annual "Best Airport in the World" award in New York.
The runner-up was Changi Airport of Singapore, with Schiphol in Amsterdam and Hong Kong's Chek Lap Kok ranking third and fourth respectively.
The winner was chosen through a survey of the magazines subscribers worldwide.25,000 readers took part in the survey.

Some Chinese milk tests positive for toxic chemical

Asian Defense News: Melamine-tainted dairy products have been taken off the shelves of convenience stores in southern China.
Even though it has been more than a year since hundreds of thousands of children became sick or died from tainted milk, the Chinese government has decided to remove the product after health inspectors found some cartons of milk, dating from early 2009, positive for melamine.
Milk in and around the province of Guizhou has been affected by the recall and includes products from three companies, Shandong Zibo Lusaier Dairy, Liaoning Tieling Wuzhou Food and Laoting Kaida Refrigeration.
Melamine in milk can cause kidney stones and kidney failure
The ingredient had originally been added to the milk to trick inspectors who were testing for protein.
Both melamine and protein are high in nitrogen.