APSNet Semi-Weekly Bulletin, February 2, 2009

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APSNet 2 February 2009

  1. China’s $12bn Asset Swoop on Miner Rio Tinto
  2. Russia-NATO Agree on Afghan Routes
  3. More Troops Not the Answer in Afghanistan
  4. Indonesia: The Bakrie Business
  5. East Timor: Freedom (Of Speech) Fighter
  6. Indonesia: Illegal Fishing by Foreigners ‘Unmanageable’
  7. Indonesia: Muhammadiyah Ready to Help Rohingyas

1. China’s $12bn Asset Swoop on Miner Rio Tinto, Matt Chambers, Australian, 2009-02-02

The rumoured $US8 billion ($12.5 billion) Chinalco deal could give the [Chinese] state-owned aluminium company a strategic foothold in the nation’s valuable iron ore, coal and aluminium assets. The deal would be one of China’s biggest strategic overseas investments outside the financial sector.

2. Russia-NATO Agree on Afghan Routes, Moscow News, 2009-01-30

Ties between NATO and Russia have been restored as a joint council of NATO members and a Russian envoy met in Brussels. They suggested that the two sides shared a pivotal bargaining point strong enough to positively impact their relations as a whole: an alternative transit route into Afghanistan. Both Russian and NATO officials have confirmed that an offer of alternative transit to Afghanistan was in effect.

3. More Troops Not the Answer in Afghanistan, Amin Saikal, WA Today, 2009-01-29

The best way to create a clean, efficient and effective government is to reform the system altogether. The strong presidential system has not worked. Given the mosaic nature of the Afghan society, it is imperative to change to a decentralised parliamentary system, where a prime minister with a parliamentary majority would head the government under a figurehead president.

4. The Bakrie Business, Angus Grigg, AFR Magazine*, February 2009

Perhaps Bakrie’s greatest contradiction is being Minister for People’s Welfare, while being widely held responsible for a great deal of misery. Bakri is said to have used his position, networks and influence to shirk responsibility for a giant mudflow in East Java. Experts believe that Bakri may eventually be held responsible, but getting him to pay will be another matter.
* Subscription only.

5. Freedom (Of Speech) Fighter, Tom Hyland, Age, 2009-02-01

East Timorese journalist Jose Belo faces the prospect of being sent back to the prison where he was brutalised by his country’s Indonesian occupiers. What’s landed him in trouble is an article published by his paper, alleging ministerial corruption in granting government tenders. He has been prosecuted under the laws of Indonesia, the former occupiers who once persecuted Belo and his compatriots. East Timor’s own penal code has yet to be enacted.

6. Illegal Fishing by Foreigners ‘Unmanageable’, Fidelis E. Satriastanti, Jakarta Globe, 2009-01-01

The agent system established in the 1980s has made the control of illegal fishing in Indonesia unmanageable, senior fishing industry identity Bambang Suboko has said. He said foreign vessels were the behind the increase in illegal fishing in the country, as they used Indonesian agents as partners, which enabled them to catch fish here as if they were Indonesian vessels.

7. Muhammadiyah Ready to Help Rohingyas, Jakarta Post, 2009-02-01

Muhammadiyah is urging Jakarta to take a “wise” approach when dealing with Muslim refugees from Myanmar, saying Indonesia’s second largest Islamic organization is ready to help them if the government fails to do so.

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