Pushing for Peace in Mindanao

Published on Feb 14, 2013 by Luke Hunt

FAR EAST CORRESPONDENT — Philippine President Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino has made an unprecedented trip into the country’s troubled south in a bid to speed up a tortuously slow peace process. The initiative comes amid an offensive to push out the Abu Sayyaf – the last Islamic militants in the south linked to Al-Qaeda. Read more in The Diplomat. .

BHP Versus PNG

Published on Feb 9, 2013 by Luke Hunt

FAR EAST CORRESPONDENT — From the halls of political power in Port Moresby to the corporate boardroom of BHP Billiton in Melbourne, a battle is emerging over the continued mining for copper and gold at the Ok Tedi Mine in Papua New Guinea’s far western Star Mountains. PNG Prime Minister Peter O’Neill is warning his government might not extend the life of the mine, once licenses expire later this year, unless BHP agrees to some changes to the terms of ownership. O’Neill has also requested assurances over environmental safeguards. Read more in The Diplomat. .

Last Days of a Valley Damned

Published on Feb 8, 2013 by Luke Hunt

FAR EAST CORRESPONDENT — Yong Yim’s voice rises to a high-pitched quiver when she talks about a planned dam in the Areng Valley that would inundate land her family has inhabited for hundreds of years to form what amounts to a giant battery. “Sometimes I am crying, because I will miss my homeland and my ancestors’ farmland,” she says, spitting out chunks of betel nut. The trees and shrubs that flourish in this haven between peaks of the Cardamom Mountains now bear an ominous token: red demarcation ribbons posted by Chinese engineers a few weeks ago. From  May Titthara, David Boyle and Danson Cheong in The Phnom Penh Post. .

War Correspondents Gather

Published on Feb 7, 2013 by Luke Hunt

FAR EAST CORRESPONDENT — Many of the most prominent surviving correspondents who covered Cambodia’s civil war gathered in Phnom Penh on Wednesday for the unveiling of a memorial to the “at least” 37 journalists who perished on Cambodian soil between 1970 and 1975. Buddhist monks performed religious rites and Cambodian information minister Khieu Kanharith arrived to help inaugurate the black stone memorial, which bore the names of correspondents killed in the field. Read more from Faine Greenwood in the Global Post. .

Press Freedom In Asia Slips

Published on Feb 6, 2013 by Luke Hunt

FAR EAST CORRESPONDENT — Nearly half of the twenty countries with the least amount of press freedom in the world are located in the Asia-Pacific, according to Reporters Without Borders’ 2013 World Press Freedom Index. Of the twenty countries making the bottom of the list, nine are located in the Asia-Pacific. In ascending order these countries are: North Korea, Iran, China, Vietnam, Laos, Uzbekistan, Laos, Sri Lanka and Kazakhstan. Read more from Zachery Keck in The Diplomat.   .