05-22-2014, 10:25 AM
SHOULD BRUNEI BE SHUNNED?
A group of lawmakers wants the United States to press Brunei to revoke Islamic criminal laws that they say jeopardize human rights under threat of being kicked out of Pacific free trade talks.
The United States and Brunei are members of a proposed 12-nation trade pact, the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP)*, that seeks to establish common standards on issues from labor to intellectual property and cut tariffs on traded goods.
Democratic Representative Mark Pocan of Wisconsin is circulating a draft letter on Capitol Hill that his office says 20 other lawmakers have pledged to sign, mainly other House Democrats. The letter will be open for signatures until mid-June.
"The United States must make it clear that we will not tolerate such abuses," says the draft. It is addressed to Secretary of State John Kerry and U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman and says the United States should use its position as the world's largest economy to push against discrimination and abuses.
"(We) urge you to insist that Brunei address these human rights violations as a condition of the United States participating with them in any further Trans-Pacific Partnership trade negotiations," the draft letter said.
"Protecting fundamental human rights is a cornerstone of American values. American trade policy should also promote human rights, not reinforce bad actions by nations like Brunei," Representative Pocan said.
Full story: http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/05/2...A520140521
(*TPP nations: Australia, Brunei Darussalam, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, United States, Vietnam)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Sultan of Brunei has most assuredly already weighed the pros and cons of implementing Sharia Law formally, including international backlash, IMO. I understand the outcry on human-rights grounds, but don't believe that the Sultan is gonna reverse his position, even if cutting Brunei from the TPP was a serious possibility (IMO, it won't happen).
One of the reasons that the Sultan has stated for implementing Sharia Law is to protect the country from outside influences (I wonder if he's afraid that Brunei will be another target of insurgents like the Qaeda-linked ones in Syria and Nigeria).
Anyway, should western and Pacific Rim countries cut off ties/trade and investment with other countries when we don't like their domestic policies? Considering that domestic policies change with the times and leaders -- it could mean a lot of back and forth, cutting off and then trying to re-establish relations. If so, should the US be concerned about the same -- the US is considered barbaric by some of our trade partners in terms of allowing abortion, being the country with the highest percentage of its population incarcerated, still exercising the death penalty in many states, etc...
Will be interesting to see if these US lawmakers' appeals go anywhere.
A group of lawmakers wants the United States to press Brunei to revoke Islamic criminal laws that they say jeopardize human rights under threat of being kicked out of Pacific free trade talks.
The United States and Brunei are members of a proposed 12-nation trade pact, the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP)*, that seeks to establish common standards on issues from labor to intellectual property and cut tariffs on traded goods.
Democratic Representative Mark Pocan of Wisconsin is circulating a draft letter on Capitol Hill that his office says 20 other lawmakers have pledged to sign, mainly other House Democrats. The letter will be open for signatures until mid-June.
"The United States must make it clear that we will not tolerate such abuses," says the draft. It is addressed to Secretary of State John Kerry and U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman and says the United States should use its position as the world's largest economy to push against discrimination and abuses.
"(We) urge you to insist that Brunei address these human rights violations as a condition of the United States participating with them in any further Trans-Pacific Partnership trade negotiations," the draft letter said.
"Protecting fundamental human rights is a cornerstone of American values. American trade policy should also promote human rights, not reinforce bad actions by nations like Brunei," Representative Pocan said.
Full story: http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/05/2...A520140521
(*TPP nations: Australia, Brunei Darussalam, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, United States, Vietnam)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Sultan of Brunei has most assuredly already weighed the pros and cons of implementing Sharia Law formally, including international backlash, IMO. I understand the outcry on human-rights grounds, but don't believe that the Sultan is gonna reverse his position, even if cutting Brunei from the TPP was a serious possibility (IMO, it won't happen).
One of the reasons that the Sultan has stated for implementing Sharia Law is to protect the country from outside influences (I wonder if he's afraid that Brunei will be another target of insurgents like the Qaeda-linked ones in Syria and Nigeria).
Anyway, should western and Pacific Rim countries cut off ties/trade and investment with other countries when we don't like their domestic policies? Considering that domestic policies change with the times and leaders -- it could mean a lot of back and forth, cutting off and then trying to re-establish relations. If so, should the US be concerned about the same -- the US is considered barbaric by some of our trade partners in terms of allowing abortion, being the country with the highest percentage of its population incarcerated, still exercising the death penalty in many states, etc...
Will be interesting to see if these US lawmakers' appeals go anywhere.