From Wangchuck to Another; Bhutan King Abdicates in Favor of Son

GAUHATI, India—The king of Bhutan abdicated last month and said he would transfer power to his 26-year-old son “who is expected to usher in a parliamentary democracy” for the Himalayan country, a news report said.  Last year, King Jigme Singye Wangchuck said that in 2008 he will relinquish his throne in favor of western-educated Crown Prince Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck, “as part of a process of adopting a new constitution which would transform the country from an absolute monarchy to a parliamentary democracy.”  The king assumed the throne in l972 when he was 17, and astonished Bhutanese with the announcement. 

Hmong Tribesmen Surrender in Laos

BAN HA, Xieng Khouang, Laos—A “lingering legacy” of the Vietnam War has surrendered to the communist government here after decades of eluding authorities, the Associated Press reports.  About 400 Hmong hill tribespeople, mostly children, and led by their chieftain Moua Tua Ter, emerged from the jungles last month.  This group follows several others, remnants of a guerrilla army that served a pro-American Lao government before its fall to communists in 1975.  Lao soldiers loaded the Hmong on to military trucks, and said they would be taken to an army camp in the district capital of Phoukout.  Information about the surrender was provided by the U.S.-based Fact Finding Commission, which works on behalf of the Hmong and communicates with them by satellite telephones.

Kazakh Troops Part of Coalition in Iraq

ASTANA, Kazakhstan—Among the peacekeeping forces in Iraq are army engineers from this Central Asian nation.  Their commander, Major Zhanibek Kutzhanov, said he and his troops are “greatly honored to have an opportunity to share our military expertise with soldiers of the Iraqi army,” according to the Kazakhstan News Bulletin, published by the Kazakh embassy in Washington.  Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev has pledged his country’s continued commitment to the Iraq mission, the publication said.  He said his country will support the U.S.-led coalition in Iraq as long as needed in helping secure peace and stability.  “We could argue a lot about why we went in, why we shouldn’t have gone in, but we know that given this situation, we now need to see the thing through to the end.  That is the main thing.” Kazakh soldiers in Iraq have destroyed more than four million pieces of deadly ordnance, purified dozens of sources of water, and trained Iraqi troops in mine disposal and civilians in water purification techniques.  Both U.S. commanders in Iraq and Iraqi officials have praised the Kazakh troops for their service and awarded them medals. 

U.S. Ambassador Opens 21^st Retail Agro Store in Kyrgyzstan

BISHKEK, Kyrgyzstan—Meanwhile, in this neighboring Central Asia republic, the International Finance Development Group (IFDC), headquartered in Muscle Shoals, Alabama, has implemented the Kyrgyzstan Agri-Input Enterprise Development Project (KAED) to develop competitive markets and increase sales of farm inputs, access to credit, and adoption of new farm technology.  The IFDC Report says KAED has generated an estimated $80 million in increased agricultural output over the past five years through farmers’ use of improved agri-inputs and improved farming practices.  “The KAED strategy is based on the premise that transparency and quality of information are the foundations f or enhancing business,” the report said.  At the heart of the KAED strategy was the establishment of the Association of Agri-Businessmen of Kyrgystan (AAK, also known as Jer Azigy, or “Food for the Soil.”  This year, AAK member Abdivaliev Artyk opened the first retail farm store here in the nation’s capital.  The U.S. ambassador to Kyrgyzstan, Marie Yovanovitch, cut the ribbon symbolically opening the store, and noted that while “This is the 21^st agri-input shop AAK has opened, it is not the last.”  Indeed, AAK plans 10 more retail agri-input shops in the country, which would bring the total to 31. 

Tajik, Krygyz Ag Specialists Study U.S. Cotton Farming

DUSHANBE, Tajikistan—And finally from Central Asia, two agricultural specialists from Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan recently completed 11-week internships at IFDC headquarters, where they were sponsored by the Special American Business Internship Training (SABIT) program of the U.S. Department of Commerce.  They are Mrs. Ainagul Nasyrova, an economist and head of the Center for Agricultural Training and Extension in Kyrgyzstan, where she heads a team of 26 professionals; and Mr. Bakhtier Abduvohidov, an agricultural economist and agri-credit specialist from Tajikistan who manages a micro-finance program for a women’s business association.  Cotton is vital to the economies of both countries, so both interns studied how that crop is grown and processed in the U.S.  Dan Waterman, head of the IFDC Training and Workshop Coordination Department, said, “The emerging markets of Central Asia present unique opportunities for U.S. companies and development organizations (and) the SABIT program builds partnerships and provides technical assistance by training Eurasian business leaders in U.S. business practices.” 

Travel Newsletter Asks if China is Spying on Tourists

GUANGDONG—The Chinese government “may have unwittingly walked into a firestorm of protests from the hotel and travel industry following (its) latest directive to all hotels in Guangdong province,” writes Y. Sulaiman in eTurboNews, the newsletter of the Global Travel Industry.   “According to the latest provincial regulation on management of hotels and security,” Sulaiman wrote, “all hotels and inn houses in the province have been directed to install the new police-supplied security management system, the first in the country.”  The Guangdong Provincial Bureau of Public Security has justified the move by claiming the province has the highest crime rate in the country.  But, the reporter said, “the new ruling may yet open the door for critics of the Chinese government’s restrictive policy,” who claim it is making a trial run to keep a tight lid on movement of guests coming for the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing.

U.S. Cancer Center Opens Office in Singapore

SINGAPORE—The Tennessee-based cancer center West Clinic has expanded to this Southeast Asian country, we learn from Singapore, the newsletter of the country’s Washington embassy.  The comprehensive West Clinic Excellence Cancer Centre, a joint venture with the multi-disciplinary medical center Excellence Healthcare, will provide “world-class U.S.-based medical treatment to cancer patients in Southeast Asia by U.S. physicians and nurses,” the publication said.  It also has state-of-the-art imaging technologies.  The West Clinic medical director is Dr. Steven Tucker, a prostate cancer specialist with the Angeles Clinic & Research Institute in Santa Monica, California.  Dr. Tucker said Singapore’s Ministry of Health “has demonstrated its commitment to deliver outstanding medical care, promote health and reduce illness…We are pleased to partner with Excellence Healthcare, an outstanding subspecialty medical center.”  Singapore also said West Clinic plans to recruit physicians from the U.S. and Singapore, and local nurses, over the next three to five years for its site here and others throughout Southeast Asia.

Univ. of Md. Team Helps Thai Village with Water System

BAAN BO MAI, Thailand—This farming village in northern Chiang Mai province near the border with Myanmar (Burma) is now home for more than 200 Lahu Hill Tribe people who are stateless refugees from that neighboring country.  About 30 children live in an orphanage in the village, which gets it water from an agricultural pipeline; it is not fit for human consumption.  Recently, some students, an engineer and an engineering professor from the University of Maryland came here to survey conditions and spent five months designing a project to meet the village’s water needs.  They completed the project with the help of some of the villagers, installing pipeline, surveying a route for more pipeline and talked with the villagers about building and maintaining a sand filter system for waster purification.  The next, and last, phase of the project will begin this month when the team plans to lay the remaining pipeline, install filtration systems and stainless steel water tanks and show the villagers how to maintain the system.

German Hits Chinese Official for Remarks about Dalai Lama

BERLIN—A member of the German parliament and chairman of the parliament’s Tibet Inter-Group has said that the Dalai Lama’s approach of reconciliation and peaceful dialogue is an “opportunity China should seize.”  Holger Haibach, in a letter to the Germany weekly Der Spiegel, in response to an interview with Zhang Qingli , Party Secretary of the “Tibet Autonomous Region,” said Zhang’s words were “detrimental to his country.”  Zhang had made derogatory statements against the Dalai Lama in the interview.  Mr. Haibach also is Vice Chairman of the German Parliament’s Committee on Human Rights and Humanitarian Aid.  The Tibet Inter-Group of the German Bundestag is an informal group of parliamentarian and senior staff members of the German Bundestag.  The group has introduced several declarations on tie Tibet issue.  Haibach wrote: “With his politics of reconciliation and peaceful dialogue, the Dalai Lama (has presented a great opportunity) for China and she should seize it.  To denounce him as a betrayer to his fatherland is…not acceptable.  Zhang is detrimental to his country, if he denounces the Dalai Lama and disregards the rights of the Tibetans.”