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The Diplomat
2 days ago
- Politics
- The Diplomat
When Are State-owned Companies Not Interfering in the Affairs of Another Country?
There's a darkly waggish 'Family Guy' cutaway called 'Horton Hears Domestic Violence in the Next Apartment and Doesn't Call 911.' (For non-English readers, 'Horton Hears A Who' is a popular children's book by Dr. Seuss.) In the gag, there's clearly a case of wife-beating going on next door, but the eponymous, big-eared elephant sits unmoved, quietly reading a book. As the violence crescendos, he sardonically reflects, 'I'm sure there's two sides to this.' At its worst, this is how the principle of non-interference works. Yes, the regime in the country next door is brutalizing its citizens, but we're just not going to mention it. For all the reports of human rights violations and genocide, there are probably 'two sides' to what's happening. Of course, that's an extreme case, but not an uncommon one. Non-interference is pretty much the only norm that the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) can agree on these days, and even then, it has been considerably eroded in recent months. The prime example came earlier this month, when Cambodia's ruling duopoly of Prime Minister Hun Manet and ex-Prime Minister Hun Sen quite explicitly called for regime change in Bangkok. 'I hope there will be a new prime minister in Thailand,' was just one of the regime-changist comments Hun Sen has made in the past weeks. Hun Manet followed this up by stating that 'We are waiting for someone with real power [in Bangkok], someone with the legitimate authority to open or close border checkpoints.' Thai Vice Foreign Minister Ras Chaleechan was only being slightly hyperbolic when he retorted, 'In nearly six decades since ASEAN's founding, there has never been an instance of one member state so openly aiming to destabilize the government of another member state.' Perhaps it has been done privately, but I haven't seen ASEAN or any other Southeast Asian government publicly rebuke Phnom Penh for violating the region's cardinal principle. Worse, Hun Sen's intervention worked: Thai Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra was suspended on July 1. At the same time, Myanmar's junta is now trying to derail Timor-Leste's accession to ASEAN with claims that Dili has interfered in its affairs by allowing the anti-junta, shadow National Unity Government (NUG) to set up a representative office in Timor-Leste. But consider another example: In April, the state-run Myanma Oil and Gas Enterprise (MOGE), one of the main financiers of Myanmar's military junta, signed an agreement with Thailand's state-run energy group PTT to expand production of an offshore gas field. Thanks to this deal, MOGE will presumably increase its revenue, and the resulting profits will flow to the military junta and its war efforts. I would genuinely like to hear someone disprove how a Thai state-run company doing business with a state-run company run by one side in a civil war is not Thailand interfering in Myanmar's domestic politics. I have long thought that ASEAN making non-interference a higher-level principle was a mistake, as it's not only wildly imprecise but also mostly impossible to adhere to. There's an obvious violation when Cambodian leaders call for regime change in a neighboring country. But is allowing residence to an exiled politician from another country a form of intervention? (Interestingly, Hun Sen has recently accused Bangkok of doing that, despite Hun Sen having done the same with Thaksin Shinawatra years ago.) Most Southeast Asian states have claimed neutrality in the Myanmar civil war, yet almost all have sent ministers to discuss economic and trade relations with the junta's ministers. Subtly, Bangkok has intimated that the Cambodian government and the Myanmar junta's failures to tackle their vast scam industries (one of the root causes of the ongoing Thai-Cambodia border crisis) is a form of intervention in its affairs, given their inaction has resulted in a rise of transnational crimes (most human trafficking and fraud) within Thailand related to their scam industries. And this, Bangkok says, permits Thailand also to intervene, such as by cutting internet access to Myanmar border towns or closing off crossings on the Cambodia border. One could get even 'deeper' and question whether non-interference is even possible. On most occasions, inaction or neutrality supports the status quo, and thus, not intervening is an indirect form of intervention. If I were to walk down the street and see a 6-foot-4 man punching a 5-foot man, would I be maintaining societal peace by ignoring it and allowing the bigger man to continue delivering a beating? Or would I be passively intervening on the side of the bigger man by not trying to stop the attack? Perhaps it depends on whether I could alter the course of events, but that's only apparent after the fact, and the probable outcome should not influence the ethics. Yet we live in a world in which accepting the impossibility would be chaotic, for there would be too many things to intervene in. Instead, it requires some discrimination of importance and values. My point, then, is that one must be prepared to redefine definitions and perceptions of non-interference. If the Thai government were to give money to Myanmar's junta, that would be obvious interference. But wrap it up in a business transaction between two state-run companies, and suddenly it becomes perfectly acceptable. Moreover, tangible interference, such as financial benefits from state-run companies, appears less interventionist than abstract forms, but it shouldn't be the case. Imagine that an ASEAN state came out in direct support of the NUG but merely offered words of encouragement and solidarity. Realistically, that would change nothing on the ground in Myanmar, yet this might be seen as a clear example of interference (as the junta is now alleging against Timor-Leste). Yet Southeast Asia's state-run companies can boost the profits of the junta's businesses, thereby providing hard cash to the junta for its war machine, and nobody bats an eyelid (as in the case of Thailand's state-run firm). As the norm of non-intervention is being eroded, maybe now's a good time for a rethink about whether ASEAN sticks with the lowest-resolution definition, which has become: Don't criticize the sitting government of another country. It cannot merely be the bubble wrap slogan: if you haven't something nice to say, don't say anything at all.
Yahoo
14-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
'Mississippi Musk': State auditor's MOGE report finds $400M in government waste
EXCLUSIVE: On Monday, Mississippi state auditor Shad White will release a compilation of audits conducted by his office that tabulated a collective $400 million in waste over the course of his tenure. "In the last few weeks, we've jokingly started calling ourselves MOGE, the Mississippi Office of Government Efficiency, like Elon Musk's DOGE," White told Fox News Digital, referring to Musk's Department of Government Efficiency under the Trump administration. "We approach our work with the same attention to every penny as DOGE, and I'm happy to be Mississippi's Musk," White said. While the auditor's office cannot cut any of the wasteful spending, it alerts state lawmakers to what it discovers. Cost Cutting: 2 States Aim To Eliminate Personal Income Taxes "We've been working on this project really for the last couple of years. And what's encouraging right now is that President Trump and Elon Musk are doing DOGE, which has raised public awareness about the amount of fraud, waste and abuse in government," White said in his exclusive interview. Read On The Fox News App "So, people are starting to look closely at what we've uncovered. In our time in the state auditor's office, my team and I have uncovered about $400 million worth of waste." That figure will be broken down in an 800-page report, which White will make public later Monday. He said that Medicaid is a major issue, in that tens of millions of dollars in subsidies are going to income-ineligible Mississippians. One state agency was spending nearly $6,000 each on televisions, which the similarly bloated feds pay about $2,000 for similar tech, he said. Reeves Rallies Around Proposal To Cut Ms Income Tax "So, if you think the federal government is inefficient, I promise you, your state governments around the country are likely even less efficient," he said. Asked about slashing wasteful spending in DEI and elsewhere, White said that even in a red state like the Magnolia State, there is a lot to be discovered and trimmed down. "[W]hen you dig into what they're doing with all of this staff time and all of these resources, they were doing things like holding microaggression training sessions for engineers — I don't know why we need to do that. They were handing out grants for social justice yoga for preschoolers. Just crazy stuff," he said, as $11 million in taxpayer funding has gone to DEI at colleges alone. In the Magnolia State, 20% of people live below the poverty line, so efficient spending of federal and other public funds is paramount, White said. Millions of misspent dollars came from welfare appropriations, including approved community gardens that were never built, or nonprofits who pledged to use funding to help the poor but instead padded executive salaries. "We found dollars supposed to be going to poor folks going to pay for sponsorship of beauty pageants," he added. "Really, I think the big-picture point here is, this kind of waste happens at every level of government. And now that DOJ is taking the lead and showing the country how much fraud, waste and abuse there is, it's really incumbent on every single state government to take a look at their own house and make sure that that fraud, waste, and abuse isn't happening in state government, too." State auditor roles vary statutorily from state-to-state. When asked whether White has worked with neighboring officials or if other Deep South states have collaborated on regional DOGE-type initiatives, White said that some states like Alabama have auditor roles with more limited statutory powers than his in Jackson. But he said that Oklahoma auditor Cindy Byrd is working on a similar endeavor to uncover government waste in the Sooner State. "We [state auditors] are in conversation with one another — and whether it's your state auditor or a key state legislator or the governor, really, every state needs to be starting a DOGE." Fox News Digital reached out to Reeves for comment on White's past work in identifying waste, fraud and article source: 'Mississippi Musk': State auditor's MOGE report finds $400M in government waste
Fox News
14-04-2025
- Business
- Fox News
'Mississippi Musk': State auditor's MOGE report finds $400M in government waste
EXCLUSIVE: On Monday, Mississippi state auditor Shad White will release a compilation of audits conducted by his office that tabulated a collective $400 million in waste over the course of his tenure. "In the last few weeks, we've jokingly started calling ourselves MOGE, the Mississippi Office of Government Efficiency, like Elon Musk's DOGE," White told Fox News Digital, referring to Musk's Department of Government Efficiency under the Trump administration. "We approach our work with the same attention to every penny as DOGE, and I'm happy to be Mississippi's Musk," White said. While the auditor's office cannot cut any of the wasteful spending, it alerts state lawmakers to what it discovers. "We've been working on this project really for the last couple of years. And what's encouraging right now is that President Trump and Elon Musk are doing DOGE, which has raised public awareness about the amount of fraud, waste and abuse in government," White said in his exclusive interview. "So, people are starting to look closely at what we've uncovered. In our time in the state auditor's office, my team and I have uncovered about $400 million worth of waste." That figure will be broken down in an 800-page report, which White will make public later Monday. He said that Medicaid is a major issue, in that tens of millions of dollars in subsidies are going to income-ineligible Mississippians. One state agency was spending nearly $6,000 each on televisions, which the similarly bloated feds pay about $2,000 for similar tech, he said. "So, if you think the federal government is inefficient, I promise you, your state governments around the country are likely even less efficient," he said. Asked about slashing wasteful spending in DEI and elsewhere, White said that even in a red state like the Magnolia State, there is a lot to be discovered and trimmed down. "[W]hen you dig into what they're doing with all of this staff time and all of these resources, they were doing things like holding microaggression training sessions for engineers — I don't know why we need to do that. They were handing out grants for social justice yoga for preschoolers. Just crazy stuff," he said, as $11 million in taxpayer funding has gone to DEI at colleges alone. In the Magnolia State, 20% of people live below the poverty line, so efficient spending of federal and other public funds is paramount, White said. Millions of misspent dollars came from welfare appropriations, including approved community gardens that were never built, or nonprofits who pledged to use funding to help the poor but instead padded executive salaries. "We found dollars supposed to be going to poor folks going to pay for sponsorship of beauty pageants," he added. "Really, I think the big-picture point here is, this kind of waste happens at every level of government. And now that DOJ is taking the lead and showing the country how much fraud, waste and abuse there is, it's really incumbent on every single state government to take a look at their own house and make sure that that fraud, waste, and abuse isn't happening in state government, too." State auditor roles vary statutorily from state-to-state. When asked whether White has worked with neighboring officials or if other Deep South states have collaborated on regional DOGE-type initiatives, White said that some states like Alabama have auditor roles with more limited statutory powers than his in Jackson. But he said that Oklahoma auditor Cindy Byrd is working on a similar endeavor to uncover government waste in the Sooner State. "We [state auditors] are in conversation with one another — and whether it's your state auditor or a key state legislator or the governor, really, every state needs to be starting a DOGE." Fox News Digital reached out to Reeves for comment on White's past work in identifying waste, fraud and abuse.
Reuters
06-02-2025
- Business
- Reuters
Interra says oil contract with Myanmar was signed prior to junta seizing power
Feb 6 (Reuters) - Singapore-listed petroleum explorer Interra Resources ( opens new tab said late on Thursday a production-sharing contract between its subsidiary and an entity controlled by the Myanmar government was extended years before the current ruling military seized power in the country in 2021. The statement was in response to a query by the Singapore Exchange a week after activist group Justice for Myanmar alleged in a report, opens new tab that Interra had "helped supply the junta" with over two million barrels of oil and "fuelled its ongoing war crimes". "The current IPRCs (improved petroleum recovery contracts) were obtained and extended under the civilian government and prior to the military coup in 2021," Interra said. Interra requested a trading suspension for its shares before Thursday's market opening, and is seeking legal counsel about its compliance with foreign laws. It will request the suspension be lifted once it gets clarity over its compliance, it said. Myanmar has been in turmoil since early 2021 when its military overthrew the elected civilian government of Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, triggering pro-democracy protests that morphed into a widening armed rebellion that has taken over swathes of the country. Interra holds a participating interest of about 60% in Goldpetrol Joint Operating Company (GJOC), according to its website. GJOC operates two of the onshore producing oil fields in Chauk and Yenangyaung in central Myanmar. GJOC secured the production-sharing contract for oil exploration and production with Myanma Oil and Gas Enterprise (MOGE), Myanmar's state oil and gas enterprise, in late 1996, which was then extended for 11 years in April 2017. GJOC continues to operate in the Southeast Asian nation under the terms of the IPRCs, which have remained unchanged since the coup in 2021, Interra said. "The company has no control over or power to dictate how the MOGE distributes or uses the oil that is produced by GJOC," the company said, calling the activist group's claims "sensationalisation". "The report therefore contains untrue allegations that GJOC is 'favouring the junta,' 'has long enjoyed a close relationship with the Myanmar military' or that GJOC signed the contracts with the 'previous military junta'," it said. MOGE was sanctioned by the United States and the European Union, opens new tab after the coup. here.
