Sabah Conflict Garners Election Interest

Published on Apr 22, 2013 by Luke Hunt

FAR EAST CORRESPONDENT — The ongoing conflict in Sabah has generated interest in the Philippines for Malaysia’s upcoming general elections. Both Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak and Philippine President Benigno Aquino have questioned the timing of the Sabah incursion in March, as both countries are in the middle of crucial general elections. Read more from Channel News Asia. .

Vietnam Deploys ‘Old Ladies’

Published on Apr 22, 2013 by Luke Hunt

FAR EAST CORRESPONDENT — Vietnamese authorities seeking to stop a well-known democracy activist from meeting an American diplomat last weekend deployed an unusual weapon — a group of elderly ladies. The women blocked the road leading to the dissident’s house, preventing a U.S. Embassy vehicle from reaching the house. The vehicle was supposed to take the dissident to a downtown hotel to meet with Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Dan Baer, who was trying to get first-hand accounts from activists and the families of those imprisoned inside the one-party, authoritarian country. Read more from Fox News. .

Preah Vihear and the Jungle Lines

Published on Apr 20, 2013 by Luke Hunt

FAR EAST CORRESPONDENT — In the dusty frontier town of Sra Em, 27 kilometers from the Thai border and the disputed Preah Vihear Temple area, the sense of Cambodian nationalism is perhaps more palpable than anywhere else in the country. In the many restaurants and beer gardens that line the town’s two roads, off-duty soldiers drink to chants of “Preah Vihear! Kampuchea!” Army camouflage is en vogue, with caps, vests and other military attire donned proudly by the town’s residents. Read more from Kevin Ponniah in The Diplomat. .

Cambodia fires back at Thailand

Published on Apr 19, 2013 by Luke Hunt

FAR EAST CORRESPONDENT — Cambodia argued hard against Thailand’s evidence regarding Phnom Penh’s acceptance of the barbed-wire fence ordered to be put up by the Thai cabinet around Preah Vihear after the 1962 International Court of Justice ruling, and described the claim that Cambodia falsified maps as groundless. Read more from The Bangkok Post.   .

Laos US$5 Billion Loan Approved

Published on Apr 19, 2013 by Luke Hunt

FAR EAST CORRESPONDENT — A U.S. $5 billion dollar loan for construction of a rail link across southern Laos between Thailand and Vietnam has reportedly been approved. The loan is worth more than half of Laos’ total Gross Domestic Product. New Zealand group Rich Banco Berhad has apparently approved the loan to Malaysian-based Giant Consolidated, which will build the 220-kilometer track linking the two borders. However, details surrounding the deal, the bank and its relationship with the Malaysian group are sketchy at best. Read more from Luke Hunt in The Diplomat. .