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ေတာ္လွန္ေရးသီခ်င္းမ်ား(Politics Song)
Saturday, 30 July 2011
Friday, 29 July 2011
News & Articles on Burma
Friday, 29 July, 2011
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Armed groups urge Suu Kyi mediation
By DVB
Published: 29 July 2011
A number of the targets of a letter sent yesterday by Aung San Suu Kyi that urged a nationwide ceasefire after months of heavy fighting in Burma say the calls are timely and welcome.
The opposition leader also offered to play a negotiating role between the Burmese government and multiple ethnic armies currently engaged in conflict in the country’s border regions.
La Nan, joint-secretary of Kachin Independence Organisation, whose armed wing the Kachin Independence Army, has been battling Burmese forces in the country’s north since early June, said that Suu Kyi’s message carried “great potential”.
“We have redistributed the letter to our leaders and are to hold a discussion prior to responding after everyone has read it,” he said.
Also included in the letter was the Karen National Union (KNU), the New Mon State Party (NMSP) and the Shan State Army (SSA), as well as Burmese President Thein Sein. As of today, no mention has been made of it in state media, the normal means by which the government communicates with the public.
The KNU’s deputy chairman, David Thackrabaw, was also enthusiastic about the letter. “We are mutual here and we accept [Suu Kyi’s call for] peaceful resolution to the conflicts – our door is always open.”
He added that the Nobel laureate should also urge support from the UN and ASEAN, given that various meetings and negotiations with the government towards an end to the fighting had so far failed. “So [this time] we might have to meet in a third party country.”
Suu Kyi’s offer of mediation is the first time she has mooted her possible role in bringing an end to the fighting, which has resulted in tens of thousands of people being displaced.
Nai Hongsa, general secretary of New Mon State Party, said a mediating role for the opposition icon could prove very beneficial. While the group “wants to have peace in the country” he said, “there are difficulties for us to meet and negotiate with each other so we actually need a middle person”.
Khin Maung Swe, leader of the National Democratic Force party, questioned whether Suu Kyi had discussed the matter during talks last week with the government’s labour minister, Aung Kyi, of which details have been vague.
Refusals from a multitude of armed ethnic groups to become government-controlled Border Guard Forces have led to parts of Burma’s northern and eastern border regions being engulfed in violence.
http://www.dvb.no/news/armed-groups-urge-suu-kyi-mediation/16783
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Tay Za’s Bank Launches e-Banking
By WAI MOE Friday, July 29, 2011
Tycoon Tay Za’s Asia Green Development Bank (AGD) has launched on Wednesday an online telephone bill payment service on behalf of the Ministry of Telecommunications, Post & Telegraphs, according to sources at the bank in Rangoon.
In doing so, AGD becomes the first firm in Burma to offer online banking, also known as “e-banking.”
An official who spoke to The Irrawaddy on condition of anonymity, said the service charge for an online transaction to pay a telephone bill is 500 kyat [US $0.60], and added that the bank is working to extend its e-banking service to ATM machines and debit cards in the near future.
“We are still working on providing various other services in e-banking, but the telephone bill payment service is a start, and it allows a for an online service that is faster than before,” he said.
The official launch of the online service was marked by a sponsored event held at the Myanmar Information and Communication Technology Park in Rangoon on Wednesday.
AGD's e-banking service narrowly pips state-run bank Myanma Economic Bank, which also launched its own online telephone payment service in this week.
Since Burma has less Internet users than almost every other country in the region, the e-banking system has no guarantee of success.
According to a report by Freedom House, Burma’s Internet penetration is just one percent of the 53.4 million population while Burmese authorities still block many blogs, political websites and exile media websites.
In May, certain tycoons with close connections to the ruling elite were given permission to set up private banks. Tay Za formed the Asia Green Development Bank, and Zaw Zaw of the Max Myanmar group founded the Ayeyarwady Bank.
The IGE Group of Companies, run by Nay Aung and Pyi Aung, the sons of former minister Aung Thaung, who is now a leading light in the ruling Union Solidarity and Development Party, founded the Amara United Bank; Chit Khaing of Eden Group formed the Myanma Leading Bank.
According to businessmen in Rangoon, the Myanma Leading Bank is currently popular among customers for good service. It has hired former staffers of the Asia Wealth Bank which was closed down by the authorities after a money laundering scandal in 2003.
Burma's financial authorities have recently introduced an online banking network system in six banks: Yoma Bank, Myanmar Citizen Bank, Tun Foundation Bank, Myawaddy Bank, Myanmar Industrial Development Bank and Myanmar Foreign Trade Bank.
The banking network is under the operational supervision of two national IT companies: the Myanmar Information Technology Co, owned by Aung Soe Tha, the son of former minister Soe Tha; and Global Net, run by Toe Naing Mann, a son of Lower House Speaker ex-Gen Shwe Mann.
Four years after a 1988 military coup, Burma's rulers vowed to introduce a “free market economy” in the country, including permission to establish private banks.
From 1992 to 1997, at least 20 banks were founded, according to data from the Central Bank of Myanmar. Among them, the Asia Wealth Bank, Myanmar May Flowers Bank and Kanbawza Bank are arguably the best known.
However, Burma’s private banks were hit by a crisis in 2003 when Finance and Revenue Minister Khin Maung Thein was forced to retire, and rumors spread that certain notes were to be demonetized.
The bank crisis led to the US Department of Treasury to announce a blacklist of the Myanmar May Flower Bank and the Asia Wealth Bank on Nov. 19, 2003, citing “primary money laundering concerns.”
Irrawaddy reporter Yan Pai contributed reporting to this story. http://www.irrawaddy.org/article.php?art_id=21800
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Italian-Thai Co Workers Flee Burma Conflict
By SAW YAN NAING Friday, July 29, 2011
Some 50 workers of the Italian-Thai Development Company (ITD) have fled from Burma to the Thai side of the border to escape fighting between Burmese government troops and Karen rebels that broke out near their work site on Thursday, according to various sources.
ITD, Thailand’s largest construction firm, is contracted to build the Kanchanaburi-Tavoy Highway, linking the western Thai town of Kanchanaburi with the Burmese coastal town of Tavoy [Dawei] as part of the multi-billion-dollar Dawei Development Project.
Local residents in Kanchanaburi said that the workers, most of whom are Thai and Karen, are now sheltering in a makeshift camp on the Thai side of the border in Kanchanaburi Province. They left all their equipment and many personal effects behind as they abandoned the site in haste.
No company workers have been reported killed or wounded in the crossfire, but sources said the construction camp was hit by artillery shells.
At least six Burmese government soldiers were killed during the fighting, said Karen villagers who had also fled to the Thai-Burmese border for safety.
Hostilities broke out close to the worker's accommodations and the construction site known as Base 1, as Burmese government forces came under surprise attack from the Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA) Brigade 4, according to a report by the Thailand-based Karen News.
The construction camp is located near a government military base at Ah Leh Satone on the Thai-Burmese border.
An official from KNLA Brigade 4 told The Irrawaddy on Friday that a unit of KNLA soldiers from Battalion 10 ambushed government troops on patrol. The Karen guerrillas also burned down a temporary Burmese outpost along the Kanchanaburi-Tavoy highway.
ITD's construction project at the Dawei Development Project was approved in March last year by the Burmese military government. The US $60 billion project includes a deep-sea port, a giant industrial zone, roads, railways, transmission lines, and oil and gas pipelines.
In early July, ITD workers on the Kanchanaburi-Tavoy Highway project were prevented from working by KNLA troops.
The KNLA has warned that construction should be stopped after local villagers complained that the mega-project would have a severe negative impact on the local population and the environment. Displaced villagers also said that they have not been compensated for the loss of their land. http://www.irrawaddy.org/article.php?art_id=21799
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EC chairman urges all political parties to oppose Western sanctions
Wednesday, 27 July 2011 21:21 Phanida
Chiang Mai (Mizzima) – Union Election Commission (UEC) chairman Tin Aye urged all 37 registered political parties to take part in working for the lifting of sanctions imposed on Burma by foreign countries at a meeting held in Naypyitaw on Wednesday.
He said that the sanctions did not have an impact on the government and its business associates but they harmed common people, said Democratic Party (Myanmar) (DPM) chairman Thu Wei.
According to Thu Wei, Tin Aye said these sanctions are hurdles and obstacles to the economic development of the country. Tin Aye said Western countries imposed these sanctions, noting that while some said that it affected government and businessmen only, this was not true.
Union Election Commission chairman Tin Aye
Union Election Commission chairman Tin Aye. Photo: Mizzima
The UEC chairman told the political parties to follow the electoral laws and rules enacted in early March 2010. He said political parties would be dissolved if they accept members of exile-based unlawful associations.
Each political party delegate was allowed two minutes to comment during the meeting. In the presentations, a Shan Nationalities Democratic Party (SNDP) delegate proposed that ethnic party representatives be involved in peace talks with armed ethnic groups that are fighting government troops, Rakhine Nationality Development Party (RNDP) Chairman Dr. Aye Maung said.
"The delegate proposed the inclusion of all ethnic parties in these peace talks but the UEC chairman said that the election commission could not do it and told them to present the issue to Parliament,” Aye Maung said. The proposal was endorsed by ethnic parties of the Chin, Inn, Phalon Sawaw and Rakhine.
Aye Maung said the commission chairman told the delegates about his military career, joining the army when he was 18, and he told them not to drive wedges and sow dissension in the armed forces.
“Tin Aye said in general that the armed conflicts were being handled in accordance with the Constitution, but they want peace too. They have the will to restore peace but only in negotiations, and the 2008 Constitution clearly stipulates there must be a sole army in the country,” Aye Maung said.
Former Lieutenant General Tin Aye served as chairman of Myanmar Economic Holdings Ltd. (MEHL), whose resources went toward funding the army during the rule of the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC). He is also a member of the Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP). He became chairman of the UEC on February 17 after being nominated by President Thein Sein.
Aye Maung suggested that more meetings be held and delegates should have more time to present their views.
The 10-party Friends of Democracy presented a paper to the UEC which discussed weaknesses and rampant vote rigging in the past election. This group includes the NDF, Democracy and Peace Party, Union Democracy Party and ethnic political parties representing Karen, Shan, Mon, Chin and Rakhine.
“In our joint paper we said the electoral laws and rules in the last general election were violated. We urged them to avoid these malpractices and to remedy them. And we urged them not to take absentee votes and to conduct vote counting only in the presence of the vote observers. He said that he had already read the paper and promised to make changes,” Aye Maung said.
Domestic private media were not allowed to cover the meeting, but state-run media were present. Delegates said that private media should also be allowed to attend.
The UEC said nothing about the date of the upcoming by-election and constituencies, Thu Wei said.
Delegates from 36 parties attended the meeting. The Union Democracy Party led by Thein Tin Aung was not present. http://www.mizzima.com/news/inside-burma/5686-ec-chairman-urges-all-political-parties-to-oppose-western-sanctions.html
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Highest US diplomat in Burma to retire
Wednesday, 27 July 2011 20:04 Aye Lae
Chiang Mai (Mizzima) – The highest US diplomat in Burma, Charge d'Affaires Ad Interim Larry Dinger, will retire in August after completing a three-year tenure, the US embassy in Rangoon said.
Dinger, 65, is a strong supporter of US sanctions, and he is known for closely following the affairs of the Burmese pro-democracy opposition parties.
Highest US diplomat in Rangoon, Larry Dinger, left, with US Senator John McCain to retire in August. Photo: Mizzima
Highest US diplomat in Rangoon, Larry Dinger, left, with US Senator John McCain to retire in August. Photo: Mizzima
“Since he will be 65 years old in August, he will retire in accord with Foreign Service regulations.” a Rangoon embassy spokesman told Mizzima.
The United States downgraded its ambassador in Burma to a charge d'affaires in response to the human rights violations of the Burmese military, which governed the country until early this year when an elected Parliament took office.
Dinger is an expert on the Burmese democracy struggle and is well known by opposition groups.
Nyan Win, a spokesman for the National League for Democracy, said Dinger was “friendly and frank with us.”
National Democratic Force (NDF) leader Khin Maung Swe said, “I met him as soon as I was released from prison.” Dinger was tough on imposing US sanctions against Burma, he said.
“His opinion is that it will not be easy to lift these US sanctions because they cannot do anything as long as the political prisoners are behind bars,” he said.
US diplomatic cables published on the Wikileaks web site included an e-mail by Dinger called “Commencing talks with Burmese generals.” The e-mail said the military establishment is a xenophobic, top-down bureaucracy with a goal of maintaining national unity. Dinger said the top brass want to be respected in the international community and among their people.
During his tenure, Dinger hosted high-level US political leaders including senators Jim Webb and John McCain and US Deputy Undersecretary of State Joseph Yung. Dinger graduated from Macalester College, Harvard Law School and the National War College. http://www.mizzima.com/news/inside-burma/5685-highest-us-diplomat-in-burma-to-retire.html
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Activists Condemn India's Arm Deal with Burma
by Nava Thakuria
July 28, 2011
The Burmese exiles living in India and their sympathizers had recently came to the street of India's national capital to lodge a stronger protest against the government for supplying arms and ammunitions to the semi-military Burmese government at Naypyidaw.
Expressing resentment at New Delhi's continued military relationship with Naypyidaw, hundreds of pro-democracy activists and various Indian civil society groups demonstrated in New Delhi on July 22, 2011 arguing that 'supplying arms to the most brutal military dictatorship may have grave consequences to millions of innocent lives'. It may be mentioned that the Indian government had recently supplied 52 military trucks load of arms and ammunition to the Burmese government. India maintained its strategic and military relationship with the Burmese regime even after receiving brickbats from the international
community.
"It is hurting and awful that the Government of India has breached its democratic principles by supplying arms and ammunitions to the Burmese military rulers, which are identified as the world's most notorious military regime. The consequence will be the victimization of innocent Burmese citizens who have been yearning for justice, peace and democracy for many decades," said M Kim, a young Burmese exile living
in India.
"Systematic human rights abuses and criminal hostilities against the ethnic groups, political activists, journalists and civilians have been committed without a halt by Burma's Army even after the installation of a so-called civilian type government. It is a fact that over 2,200 political prisoners in Burma are still detained in
jails," he added.
The demonstrators also sent a memorandum to Indian Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh urging him to renew New Delhi's support the Burmese people's movement for restoration of peace and democracy in Burma. Till the early nineties, Indian government supported the democratic movement led by Daw Aung San Suu Kyi. But later it changed the course and started engaging the then military regime named State Peace and Development Council for various bi-lateral relationships.
"We believe that India is a nation founded on sound democratic principles and time and again India has proven to uphold the principles of constitutionally elected governments. Further as a nation committed to playing an important, if not pivotal role in maintaining peace in the region, it is unbecoming of a responsible nation to supply arms to countries known for abusing military power," states the memorandum, which was signed by nearly hundred Indian civil society groups and individuals with many Burmese organizations.
"While other big neighbours (of Burma) are silently urging for negotiation between the authorities and ethnic groups, New Delhi has continued its arm supply to the infamous regime," said Dr Tint Swe, the chairman of Burma Centre Delhi, a pro-democracy forum. Speaking to the author from New Delhi, Dr Swe asserted that "democracy and human rights activists in Burma have been imprisoned, intimidated, tortured and many of them are put to death and it is observed by none other
than the United Nations and the international community that the advocators for democracy, justice, peace and human rights in Burma have been regularly castigated". So we are apprehensive that those arms will only be used against the pro-democracy activities and ethnic minorities like Kachin, Shan and Karen in eastern Burma, added Dr Swe. In a separate memorandum to the Indian Premier, the Burmese pro-democracy groups urged New Delhi 'to immediately halt the supply
of military aids to Burma's dictatorship' and 'to review India's foreign policy on Burma by focusing on long-term interests, development and stability, prosperity and peace in the region'.
'Systematic human rights abuses and criminal hostilities against ethnic groups, political activists, journalists and civilians have been committed by Burmese Army even after the installation of a so-called civilian government at Naypyidaw,' the memorandum pointed out.
'India's national interest will be served only if a real democratic regime is established in its eastern neighbour,' argued the memorandum which was endorsed by the Women League of Burma, All Burma Students Democratic Front, Arakan Liberation Party, All Burma Democratic Lusei Women Organization, Chin Human Rights Organization, Chin Student Union, Kuki Women Human Rights Organization, Kachin National Organization, Matu Youth Organization, Zomi Women Union and others,
adding that 'supporting the democratic movement in Burma will thus be beneficial for the largest democracy in the globe as well.' http://www.weeklyblitz.net/1607/activists-condemn-india-arm-deal-with-burma
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Burma: President Thein Sein ought to accept Suu Kyi’s call for peace talk
Fri, 2011-07-29 02:05 — editor
Article
By - Zin Linn
Burma’s democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi made an appeal on Thursday for political talk and an urgent ceasefire between major ethnic rebel groups – Kachin Independence Organization, Karen National Union, New Mon State Party, Shan State Army – and government troops. She highlights the nation as ‘Republic of Union of Burma’ since the country was made up of various ethnicities on the same soil.
In her open letter dispatched to the country’s military-backed new President Thein Sein, Suu Kyi offered to act as a mediator between the government and the ethnic rebels, and said the constant fighting has been damaging the national reconciliation which is so important for the nation that composed mainly of ethnic population.
The open letter pointed out that the prevailing ethnic hostility can spread out into the neighboring counties. It said that currently there are armed conflicts between Burma Army and the ethnic armed groups especially in Kachin, Shan, Karen and Mon states.
“National reconciliation cannot be accomplished by using military might. If stakeholders used the gun to solve out the disagreement, it will make disadvantage for all sides. To establish an authentic national unity, that will make safe the future of the Union, can only be accomplished through political dialogue,” the open letter says.
Burma Army continues to attack the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) on irregular intervals since 9 June. The 9-June armed conflict at Sang Gang lasted for three days and nights. The attack prompted the KIO to declare war against the Burmese government since its troops invaded Kachin controlled areas.
The KIO has offered to end warfare if the government will initiate talks for a nationwide ceasefire. Unfortunately, Burmese government authorities did not positively respond to a recent e-mail regarding this subject, according to La Nang, a spokesman for the Kachin Independence Organization (KIO).
Burma’s 64-year-old Panglong Agreement has been ignored by the successive Burmese regimes. The said agreement has also been ignored by the current President Thein Sein government. The Panglong Agreement was signed on Feb. 12, 1947, between General Aung San and leaders of the Chin, Kachin and Shan ethnic groups guaranteeing a genuine federal union of Burma.
This is not the first time Aung San Suu Kyi calls for peace. Last month, the National League for Democracy (NLD) led by Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi released a statement dated June 20 calling both government and KIO to stop heavy fighting immediately in order to protect people’s lives and properties. It also called for peaceful talks between stakeholders to settle down the decade-long political crisis of the country.
The NLD led by Suu Kyi has long been in opposition with the existing authorities who have run the country since a 1962 coup. Her latest comments are likely to enrage the new nominally civilian government, despite signs of a thawing of ties.
Suu Kyi has called for a “Second Pinlong Agreement”, between the government and ethnic groups. The said agreement is still standing as a key question for over 60 years.
In last December, Burmese junta’s two mouthpiece newspapers criticized dissident politicians who believe genuine national reconciliation and support Aung San Suu Kyi. Burma’s military rulers dismissed the actions of democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi, who tries to revive the spirit of Panglong Agreement providing self-reliance to ethnic nationalities, as a “cheap political stunt”.
“If someone truly wants to engage in politics with the aim of supporting the state’s interest, one should proceed plainly, officially and candidly within the structure of the constitution,” the article said.
On the contrary, Suu Kyi and her party NLD, which has been officially shut down by the authorities, have pushed for a “second Panlong Agreement,” with the backing of some key ethnic groups that oppose the regime’s 2008 constitution.
The idea of Panglong Agreement is no longer suitable to the current country’s situation and is even a threat to peace and stability, the commentaries in the state-owned papers said. It even mocked people suggesting an online conference using the Internet.
Burma’s military-backed government has optimism with 7 Nov. election last year that it will bring all ethnicities together as a union. However it has produced the opposite consequence. Key ethnic armed organizations opposed the 2008 constitution and November’s ballot results as sham and farce.
Some political analysts believe releasing over 2,000 political prisoners and stopping the aggressive wars on ethnic people are the most important topics to be addressed by the new ‘Thein Sein government’.
Releasing political prisoners and calling peace to armed ethnic groups would provide evidence to the international community that government is genuine on bringing about political change and embracing real democratic values.
If President Thein Sein is sincere and clever enough, he should start a bold step to accept Aung San Suu Kyi’s call for nationwide peace talk that alone will not only lift the economic sanctions, but also catapult his government toward the ASEAN chair. Refusal of this excellent opportunity may lead the government and the nation into another political crisis similar to the Arab Spring-like protest.
- Asian Tribune - http://www.asiantribune.com/news/2011/07/28/burma-president-thein-sein-ought-accept-suu-kyi%E2%80%99s-call-peace-talk
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EC Chief Says NLD Threatened Junta with 'Nuremburg-style' Trial
By BA KAUNG Friday, July 29, 2011
Power was not transferred to Burma's main opposition party, the National League for Democracy (NLD), when it won a landslide victory in an election two decades ago because the party allegedly threatened the country's military leaders with a Nuremberg-style war tribunal, according to the head of the Union Election Commission (EC).
On Wednesday, EC chief ex-Gen Tin Aye told officials of political parties that took part in last year's election that the NLD, led by Aung San Suu Kyi, was not given power following the 1990 election because the party had threatened to bring the then military leaders before a war tribunal.
Tin Aye was apparently referring to a comment by late NLD leader Kyi Maung, who said in early July 1990, about a month after the 1990 election that “here in Burma, we do not need any Nuremberg-style tribunal” when he was asked by a foreign journalist if the NLD would require putting the military on trial for past crimes.
A Buddhist monk looks at a poster of Aung San Suu Kyi at the NLD's Rangoon headquarters on June 18, 2011, a day before her 66th birthday. (Photo: AP)
Although Kyi Maung did not say that the military leaders would be tried if NLD party was allowed to form a government, the mere mention of a war tribunal angered the ruling generals, who had Kyi Maung arrested and sentenced to 17 years in prison.
The official reason the military leaders did not hand over power in 1990 was that the regime said the election was only intended to chose representatives to a committee to draft a new national constitution.
Just before last year's parliamentary election, which the NLD boycotted, the former military regime officially nullified the 1990 election results.
In response to Tin Aye's remarks, NLD spokesman Nyan Win said on Friday that the late NLD leader Kyi Maung never said that there would be a war tribunal.
More recently, however, the NLD has expressed support for a United Nations Commission of Inquiry into crimes against humanity and war crimes in Burma proposed by the UN human rights special rapporteur on Burma, Thomas Quintana.
The NLD was officially dissolved last year for refusing to take part in the election. Suu Kyi reportedly discussed the legal status of the party during her meeting with a senior Burmese minister on Monday. http://www.irrawaddy.org/article.php?art_id=21796
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Gunmen Kill Three in Kyaukme Attack
By SAI ZOM HSENG Friday, July 29, 2011
Three people were killed and three others injured during an attack by unknown gunmen at a customs checkpoint in Kyaukme, northern Shan State, early Friday morning.
According to local residents, the incident occurred at 4:45 am, when around 10 armed men opened fire at the checkpoint. Two men and one woman were killed immediately, sources said.
One of the two male victims was a retired soldier working as a motorbike taxi driver. A local source said that the gunmen appeared to to be deliberately targeting the civilians.
The three who were wounded in the attack were said to be in serious condition at Kyaukme hospital.
The Shan State Army, an ethnic armed group operating in the area, denied responsibility for the attack, saying it has a policy of not harming civilians.
Police in Kyaukme declined to provide any information when contacted by The Irrawaddy.
Meanwhile, a small clash broke out between the Burmese Army and SSA in Nong Amm, a village in Kyaukme Township. Five Burmese Army soldiers were injured in the clash and taken to the military hospital in Pyin Oo Lwin.
Kyaukme was the scene of another incident on July 12, when four local people were injured by a bomb blast.
The Burmese Army's Military Operations Command No 1 is based in Kyaukme, which is located near Seinkyaw, the previous headquarters of the SSA. http://www.irrawaddy.org/article.php?art_id=21797
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At a critical juncture, Burma’s government needs a Plan B
By ANDREW MCKENNA
Published: 29 July 2011
US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton stated last week in Denpasar, Indonesia, that “[Burma] has reached a critical juncture.” While Clinton was referring to releasing political prisoners and opening up dialogue with pro-democracy activists and ethnic minorities, her statement was also unintentionally applicable to another, equally pressing matter: the Burmese military’s relations with China.
Despite all official communiques to the contrary, the People’s Republic of China and the military government of Burma are chafing under their mutual tight embrace. American cables from WikiLeaks revealed Chinese exasperation with Burmese foot-dragging in opening up to the rest of the world. Former US Chargé d’Affaires Shari Villarosa, after dining with Chinese ambassador Guan Mu, revealed in a January 2008 cable entitled “China Fed Up”, that Beijing had been pushing the regime for talks with the pro-democracy movement but had received push-back from its senior generals.
Villarosa also reported, as a consequence of the Burmese military’s unwillingness to improve living standards for the masses, that the Chinese were concerned about a potential mass uprising that could imperil its business interests in Burma. “The Chinese [stated they] can no longer rely on the generals to protect their interests here,” wrote Villarosa, “and recognise the need to broker some solution that keeps the peace.”
An article last month in The Economist entitled “Myanmar: Chinese takeaway kitchen” also stated that China harshly criticised the Burmese junta for not properly protecting the Kokang, an ethnically Han Chinese minority in Burma, after 37,000 people fled to China during an ethnic insurgency.
The weariness is not limited to Beijing: Naypyidaw and the rest of Burma has been equally irritated with the results of close Chinese-Burmese relations. According to The Economist, while massive Chinese immigration into the northern provinces and China’s ostentatious display of wealth in an impoverished country has been met with the chagrin of Burmese people, Burmese military leaders are equally annoyed with China’s cavalier policies of coercing military officials into granting it access to Burma’s infrastructure.
Along with the WikiLeaks revelations of the Chinese pressuring Burmese officials to include the pro-democracy movement in democratisation talks, Burmese military officials would have, as The Economist stated, “a deep-seated suspicion of its powerful northern neighbour” over these outstanding “neuralgic” issues.
In the light of this simmering animus, why hasn’t there been a more definitive split? Chinese Ambassador Guan Mu, in his meeting with Shari Villarosa, cited two hindrances to restarting dialogue with the pro-democracy movement: the ruling clique’s anxiety over “losing power and [losing its] economic interests.”
Guan further speculated that if “the senior generals could be offered assurances that they would not ‘lose their lives’ and could keep their economic interests, they might be more amenable to ceding power gradually.”
His conclusion is revealing as it delineates the top two concerns of the Burmese ruling clique. But the question is, if the Burmese military continues to cede power to the Chinese, will the army’s clout and its ability to keep hold of the lifestyle to which it is accustomed disappear? The Burmese government is divided primarily on how it answers this question.
Ultimately, in the Burmese government, there are those who view power as the primary vehicle to a continuation of their lifestyle, and those who feel money will do a better job at this. The deciding factors of where government officials and other people of influence would fall is not apparent. A government official with extensive business connections in China may be willing to sacrifice his side business in the name of protecting his influence in Burma, while those without any connection to China may see Chinese opportunities as the only way to financially advance expeditiously.
There are three scenarios, the first being that factions would struggle in a figurative bloodbath until one triumphs. A second, that would see slow series’ of movements away from China (two steps forward, one step back), is far more likely of the two scenarios that differ from the status quo. The last scenario, which is the received wisdom of Burma observers, is the continuation of the special relationship between Naypyidaw and Beijing, despite mutual irritation.
The dance between those in the military who covet money above all and those who covet power above all, not the struggle between the military and the moribund pro-democracy movement or the terminally weak ethnic separatists, will be what dictates Burma’s path in the near future. While Burma is not looking to remove itself from its special relationship with Beijing quite yet, the option to leave its Chinese alliance has been explored in the case if China should ever become too demanding, too meddlesome or too cavalier. There are no good options. A suitable partner needs to be willing to listen to the military government, willing to trade on a massive scale with a Burmese establishment rife with conflict of interest, and not a pariah state.
The main problem with a Burmese exit from its alliance with China is the lack of a way forward without China keeping the military-backed government afloat. A clear path that doesn’t rely on the extensive Chinese support that the Burmese military now enjoys must replace all that would be lost.
Burma may then need to explore alternatives to China, and the one country, whose potential will be explored in the next article, that it has shown willingness to do this with lies well outside of Burma’s immediate neighbourhood.
http://www.dvb.no/analysis/at-a-critical-juncture-burmas-government-needs-a-plan-b/16787
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BANGKOK POST
Crowd trouble ends Burma-Oman game
Published: 29/07/2011 at 12:32 PM
Online news: Asia
A 2014 World Cup qualifier between Burma and Oman was abandoned after home fans in the Rangoon stadium pelted the pitch with rocks, shoes and water bottles, according to a government official.
This file photo shows Myanmar football fans watching a match at a National Stadium in Yangon. A 2014 World Cup qualifier between Myanmar and Oman was abandoned on Thursday after home fans in the Yangon stadium pelted the pitch with rocks, shoes and water bottles, according to a government official.
A member of the Oman coaching team suffered a head injury as the Burma fans went on the rampage after Oman took a 2-0 lead in the game on Thursday, the Burma official told AFP.
"The match was stopped after the first 39 minutes because security forces lost control of the Burma football fans," he said, adding that about 30,000 supporters were at the ground in total.
The identity of the injured man could not immediately be confirmed.
A statement on the website of world footballing body FIFA confirmed the match was "brought to a sudden close" after "local supporters hurled objects repeatedly onto the field".
"The final status of the match will be confirmed by the relevant body in due course," FIFA said.
Oman won the previous round 2-0.
The Burma official said some of the fans sang the national anthem as they threw objects onto the pitch. "The Oman goal keeper dared not to stay on the ground."
A witness to the violence said some players may also have been hit.
Trouble started at the Tuwana stadium after Oman went 2-0 up with a penalty.
Burma Football Federation (MFF) chief Zaw Zaw and members of the Oman team tried to negotiate a way for the match to continue, a second Burma government official said.
"FIFA didn't accept the situation and decided to stop the game completely," he told AFP.
The MFF could not be reached for comment.
Football is the most popular sport by far in Burma.
The country, which has a new nominally civilian government after nearly 50 years of army rule, has made efforts to become more internationally active.
It is set to host the SEA Games, a Southeast Asian sporting tournament, in 2013. http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/asia/249371/crowd-trouble-ends-burma-oman-game
ခ်င္းျပည္နယ္ကို အိႏိၵယ က ေဒၚလာ ၂ သန္း ကူညီ
2011-07-29
မႏၱေလးၿမိဳ ့မွာ အေျခစုိက္တဲ့ အိႏိၵယ ေကာင္စစ္၀န္႐ုံးးက ခ်င္းျပည္နယ္ ဖြံ႔ၿဖိဳးေရးအတြက္ ေငြေၾကး အကူအညီ ေဒၚလာ ၂ သန္း ကူညီဖို႔ ကတိ ေပးခဲ့ေၾကာင္း သိရပါတယ္။
အိႏိၵယေကာင္စစ္၀န္ Dr. Mohan Sethi နဲ႔ အဖြဲ႔ဟာ ဟားခါးၿမိဳ ့ကို ေရာက္ရွိၿပီး ခ်င္းျပည္နယ္ အစိုးရအဖြဲ ့၀င္ေတြနဲ႔ တိုက္႐ုိက္ ေဆြးေႏြးခဲ့တယ္လို႔ ဟားခါးၿမိဳ ့ခံတဦး က RFA ကို ေျပာပါတယ္။
“၂၇ ရက္ေန႔မွာ အိႏၵိယသံ႐ုံးက တာ၀န္ရွိသူေတြ ဟားခါးကုိ ေရာက္တယ္။ ခ်င္းျပည္နယ္ ဖြံ႔ၿဖိဳးေရး အတြက္ ေဒၚလာ ၂ သန္း လွဴဒါန္းမယ္လုိ႔ ေျပာတယ္။ ျပည္နယ္အစုိးရ အဖြဲ႔၀င္ေတြရယ္၊ ရပ္မိရပ္ဘ ေတြရယ္ကုိေခၚတယ္။ ရပ္မိရပ္ဘ ဆုိတာကလည္း ေကာ္မရွင္အဖြဲ႔၀င္တုိ႔ ၾကံ႕ခုိင္ဖြံ႔ၿဖိဳးေရး အဖြဲ႔၀င္တုိ႔ပါ။ ေက်းဇူးတင္ေၾကာင္း ေျပာခုိင္းတယ္။ ေငြကုိ လိုတယ္ေနရာမွာ သုံးမယ္လုိ႔ ျပည္နယ္အစုိးရက ေျပာတယ္။ ဘယ္ေနရာမွာ သုံးမယ္ဆုိတာ အစည္းအေ၀းတက္သူေတြက မသိဘူး”
အဲဒီ ေငြအကူအညီေတြကို ဘယ္အခ်ိန္မွာ စတင္ေပးမယ္။ ဖြံ႔ၿဖိဳးတုိးတက္မႈအတြက္ ဘယ္က႑ ေတြကို ေပးမယ္ဆိုတာကို အေသးစိတ္ေျပာဆိုတာ မရွိဘူးလိုဆိုပါတယ္။
အိႏိၵယႏိုင္ငံဟာ ျမန္မာႏိုင္ငံနဲ႔ နယ္စပ္ ကုန္သြယ္ေရး အမွတ္(၂)ျဖစ္တဲ့ ခ်င္းျပည္နယ္ အတြင္းပိုင္းက တီးတိန္ၿမိဳ႕ နဲ႔ နယ္စပ္ဂိတ္စခန္း တည္ရွိရာ ရိခြပ္သာရြာ ကို ရာသီမေရြးသြားႏိုင္တဲ့ ကားလမ္း ေဖာက္လုပ္ ေပးဖို႔ လည္း ေလ့လာမူေတြလုပ္ေဆာင္ေနပါတယ္။
အခုေပးမယ့္ ေငြေၾကးအကူအညီထဲမွာ အဲဒီကားလမ္းေဖာက္လုပ္ေရး စီမံကိန္းအတြက္ ပါမပါဆိုတာ မသိရွိရေသးပါဘူး။
ကမၻာေပၚမွာ အဆင္းရဲဆုံး ႏိုင္ငံေတြထဲမွာပါ၀င္တဲ့ ျမန္မာႏိုင္ငံက တိုင္းနဲ႔ျပည္နယ္ေတြ အထဲမွာ ခ်င္းျပည္နယ္ဟာ အဆင္းရဲဆုံး ျဖစ္တယ္လို႔ ကုလသမဂၢ ဖြံ႔ၿဖိဳးေရး အစီအစဥ္ UNDP က ၿပီးခဲ့တဲ့လက ထုတ္ျပန္ ခဲ့ပါတယ္။
Copyright © 1998-2011 Radio Free Asia. All rights reserved.
Sunday, 24 July 2011
Self-professed Burmese political assassin in Australia
ကိုယ္တိုင္ က်ဴးလြန္ခဲ့ေသာ စစ္ရာဇ၀တ္မႈမ်ားကို စစ္ေထာက္လွမ္းေရးေဟာင္း ဦးထူးထူးဟန္က ၀န္ခံျခင္း (႐ုပ္သံ)
Htoo Htoo Han admits war crimes in Burma
News & Articles on Burma
Sunday, 24 July, 2011
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Burma must start a true talk, not a ploy
By Zin Linn Jul 24, 2011 10:30PM UTC
Pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi will meet with Labour Minister Aung Kyi, the first rare meeting between the Nobel laureate and the new army-backed government, quoting an official Reuters News said on Sunday.
At the behest of namesake Burma civilian government, Burma’s Nobel laureate would meet on Monday with Labour Minister Aung Kyi, who stands for the ruling generals in earlier talks with the democracy icon.
However, the Burmese government has warned pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi and her National League for Democracy (NLD) to end “illegal activities”, including its agitation and opposition to the newly elected legislative body.
A letter signed by the Home Minister and send to Suu Kyi’s party in June said the NLD had been officially dissolved in September last year. Because, the NLD preferred to boycott election held in last November while Suu Kyi and two thousands political prisoners were in prison.
The 30 June state-owned newspaper raised the issue in a commentary under the caption of “Right to make choice still in the hand” by a ghost-writer.
In one paragraph, the commentary says, “From the point of law, NLD is defunct. The Union Election Commission issued Announcement (18/2010) dated 9-4-2010 reminding the 10 political parties that still met Article 25 of Political Parties Registration Law at that time that they could apply within 60 days for continued existence as political parties. However, only five of them did so. It is common knowledge that the five political parties did not include NLD.”
It also underscored that the NLD has been removed from the list of political parties and has been dissolved according to Announcement 97/2010 dated 14-9-2010 by the Union Election Commission.
The home minister’s letter also spotlighted that the government was deeply worried that if Aung San Suu Kyi makes political tours to rural parts of the country, there may be anarchy and unrest, as experienced by prior incidents in 2003.
It is not known whether the meeting will be a flexible gesture in stance by the latest government, which is led by members of the junta that controlled the country for decades. The ex-generals in this government were strongly opposed to Suu Kyi and her party, the National League for Democracy (NLD).
A government official, who asked not to be named, told Reuters the meeting would take place early Monday afternoon at a state guesthouse close to Suu Kyi’s residence. In his former part as liaison officer for the junta, Aung Kyi met Suu Kyi 10 times while she was under house arrest.
According to one NLD spokesman, the party has had no knowledge of the meeting, but welcomed the government’s move to engage with Aung San Suu Kyi.
In frequent media interviews, Suu Kyi expressed her aspiration to hold talk with the new government to press for some changes to help people of Burma. The government did not act in response.
Meanwhile, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Friday called on Thein Sein government to free political prisoners, address non-proliferation concerns and start a dialogue with pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi. Clinton, speaking at a regional security forum of the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) in Bali, said Burma (Myanmar) was a major challenge to the regional group and would have to be addressed.
Aung Kyi is regarded as a moderate minister in military-dominated government, and this will be his first meeting with the democracy icon as labour minister in the new government.
Analysts say it is expected Burma’s rulers are aware of Suu Kyi’s influence on the international community and realize her involvement as a necessity to do away with Western sanctions since 1988.
Some analysts also concerns about the meeting on Monday as they have experienced in the past that the consecutive military regimes typically arrange such show to mislead the international community. http://asiancorrespondent.com/60777/burma-must-start-a-true-talk-not-a-ploy/
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SSA Ethical Stand against Burma Army Barbarian Acts
Sunday, 24 July 2011 18:00
By: Sai Wansai
Maj Gen Pang Fa, general secretary of the Shan State Progress Party (SSPP) and Commander of the Shan State Army (SSA) “North”, issued a directive on 19 July prohibiting his troops from emulating the Burma Army which he said was ordered on 14 July “to kill every man and rape every woman in the war zone.” On the contrary, Shan troops were told:
Not to kill people from any nationality
Not to commit human rights abuse on people from any nationality
Not to take any property belonging to the people without payment
To avoid becoming a burden for the people
Brigade 1, led by Maj Gen Pang Fa, is the strongest of the SSA-North's three brigades, with an estimated 3,000 troops. The former cease-fire group's other two brigades, 3 and 7, have joined a Border Guard Force (BGF) under Burmese military command, but Brigade 1 refused to accede to the plan and have been fighting a defensive war since last four months.
By doling out such orders, Maj Gen Pang Fa is literally trying to show the people in general that the Shan resistance fighters are on a much higher moral or ethical ground than the intruding Burma Army.
While the Burma Army has been trying to portray the recent ethnic conflict as being horizontal or wider racial conflict of one ethnic group going all out to eliminate the other, similar to Rwanda, the real nature of conflict is a top-down, vertical one, which means that the Burmese government military apparatus is ruthlessly oppressing a chosen ethnic group, through genocide and using rape as a weapon of war.
In other words, the non-Burman ethnic groups are not against the Burman or Bama and there have been no racial hatred or conflict, but are only fighting a defensive war against the Burma Army onslaught, to restore their rights of self-determination, human rights, equality and democracy.
In contrast, the troopers of Burma Army have been indoctrinated to believe that the non-Burman ethnic groups are sworn enemies and they are allowed to lay waste in their areas of operation, which could be translated “to kill, rape, loot and burn”.
According to Myo Myint, in the documentary video titled “Burma Soldiers”, released early this year, commanders were said to have “brainwashed” the soldiers into committing gruesome attacks like torching homes to the ground and using unarmed villagers as human shields. On top of that the soldiers were told that “the ethnic armies and the democracy protestors are enemies of the state [and] killing them is your duty,”
In the same vein, as the recent SSA directive, one could read the civilized treatment of the Kachin Independence Army fighters on Burma Army’s prisoners of war in Kachin State, where the Burma Army offensive is in full swing.
To sum up, the Burma Army’s calculation of igniting a full fledge racial conflict like in Rwanda is not working for the ethnic resistance armies are not walking into the trap to fuel the tension. As the saying goes, “One couldn’t make noise by clapping with one hand.” Instead they are revealing the real nature of Burma Army’s top brass evil intention by making an ethically, correct moral stand for all to see.
But whether the Burma Army will become humane and refrain from using this ancient doctrine of incentive to benefit from the spoils of war is the question only the Burmese generals can answer.
The author is General Secretary of the exiled Shan Democratic Union.
http://www.shanland.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=3874:ssa-ethical-stand-against-burma-army-barbarian-acts&catid=opinions&Itemid=308
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Myanmar opposition leader to meet government liaison officer
Jul 24, 2011, 4:26 GMT
Yangon - Myanmar opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi was scheduled to meet this week with the government's chief liaison officer for the first time since it took power, sources said Sunday.
Labour Minister Aung Kyi, who was the chief liaison officer between Suu Kyi and the previous military junta that ruled Myanmar, was scheduled to meet with the Nobel laureate on Monday, government sources said.
'He continues to carry out the role of liaison minister in the new government' said the official, who requested anonymity.
It would be the first such meeting between Aung Kyi and Suu Kyi since the new government took power in April this year.
Yangon-based local and foreign media were invited by the information ministry to be present at the meeting in Yangon, but Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy (NLD) opposition party said they had not been informed of the pending talks.
'We do not know about this,' said Nyan Win, an NLD executive.
Suu Kyi, who was released from a seven-year house detention term on November 13, met with Aung Kyi at least ten times during her incarceration, but the talks did not lead to any breakthroughs in Myanmar's political impasse.
Western powers have urged the new government to open a dialogue with Suu Kyi to tackle Myanmar's ongoing problems that continue to earn it pariah status among democracies.
Suu Kyi's NLD won an earlier general election in 1990 but was denied power by the military for two decades. The stage-managed November 7 polls has brought to power a pro-military regime that is unlikely to push through democratic and economic reforms, which are deemed crucial to Myanmar's acceptance by the world community.
Among other issues, western leaders have demanded that the new government release an estimated 2,100 political prisoners and open a dialogue with Suu Kyi if they wish to see economic sanctions against the country eased.
http://www.monstersandcritics.com/news/asiapacific/news/article_1652845.php/Myanmar-opposition-leader-to-meet-government-liaison-officer
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Refugee admits to secret military past
Jessica Marszalek
July 24, 2011 - 12:49PM
AAP
A Brisbane refugee has come forward to confess to his secret military past, saying he caused the deaths of up to 50 people in Burma.
Moon Hsar, 44, says he worked as a secret agent for the Burmese military from within the Karen revolutionary army between 1984 and 1987, having been seduced by its power and wealth.
He claims it was his job to incite conflict between his own Karen people and other ethnic groups by rumour-mongering and blaming innocent parties for others' deeds.
Advertisement: Story continues below
He would also pass intelligence back to the junta via the animal trade.
"There was a lot of fighting. Three years is a long time," he told AAP through an interpreter.
"Forty to 50 people (died) because of me, because of order from military government.
"I feel guilty, very guilty. I feel like they use me as a knife to kill my own people."
It is the second time in two weeks a former junta functionary has come forward to clear his conscience.
Australian citizen Htoo Htoo Han last week confessed to executing 24 anti-government protesters and student leaders as an officer in Burmese intelligence from 1988.
Mr Han, who came to Australia as a refugee in 1996 and has since been involved in campaigns aimed at highlighting human rights abuses in Burma, said he was also indirectly involved in at least 100 other murders.
He said nine others from his group were now lived in Australia.
He is now being investigated by the Australian Federal Police and wants to go to jail for his crimes.
Mr Hsar, a father of five, said while his own situation was unrelated to that of Mr Han, he too wanted to get the secrets plaguing him off his chest.
The low-ranking sergeant said he stopped working for the military when he saw soldiers punishing a Karen-controlled village in about 1987.
"The army come in, they rape the women, everything, I see this woman being raped ... I very, very angry so I cut it off," Mr Hsar said through the interpreter.
"They kill really all woman, children, they kill them all."
An Australian citizen, Mr Hsar came to Australia five years ago after leaving the Karen army in 1998 and staying at a refugee camp on the Thai-Burma border.
He indicated there may be more like him living in Australia, now willing to confess their pasts after reading Han's story.
© 2011 AAP http://news.smh.com.au/breaking-news-national/refugee-admits-to-secret-military-past-20110724-1huxh.html
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STRAITS TIMES: Jul 24, 2011
Second Myanmar refugee admits to killings
SYDNEY - A SECOND refugee from Myanmar now living in Australia has admitted to being involved in killings in his homeland, saying he was responsible for the deaths of 40 or 50 people, a report said on Sunday.
The 44-year-old man told Australian news agency AAP through an interpreter that he had acted as an undercover agent for the military between 1984 and 1987, giving them intelligence on ethnic Karen fighters.
'Forty to 50 people (died) because of me, because of orders from military government,' he said.
'I feel guilty, very guilty. I feel like they use me as a knife to kill my own people.'
The admission is the second in a fortnight to the Australian media from someone claiming to be a former Myanmar military operative.
It follows statements from another long-time Australian resident and citizen originally from Myanmar that he shot dead 24 anti-government protesters in his former homeland in the late 1980s. -- AFP
----------------------------------------------
Refugee admits to secret military past
Jessica Marszalek
July 24, 2011 - 12:49PM
AAP
A Brisbane refugee has come forward to confess to his secret military past, saying he caused the deaths of up to 50 people in Burma.
Moon Hsar, 44, says he worked as a secret agent for the Burmese military from within the Karen revolutionary army between 1984 and 1987, having been seduced by its power and wealth.
He claims it was his job to incite conflict between his own Karen people and other ethnic groups by rumour-mongering and blaming innocent parties for others' deeds.
Advertisement: Story continues below
He would also pass intelligence back to the junta via the animal trade.
"There was a lot of fighting. Three years is a long time," he told AAP through an interpreter.
"Forty to 50 people (died) because of me, because of order from military government.
"I feel guilty, very guilty. I feel like they use me as a knife to kill my own people."
It is the second time in two weeks a former junta functionary has come forward to clear his conscience.
Australian citizen Htoo Htoo Han last week confessed to executing 24 anti-government protesters and student leaders as an officer in Burmese intelligence from 1988.
Mr Han, who came to Australia as a refugee in 1996 and has since been involved in campaigns aimed at highlighting human rights abuses in Burma, said he was also indirectly involved in at least 100 other murders.
He said nine others from his group were now lived in Australia.
He is now being investigated by the Australian Federal Police and wants to go to jail for his crimes.
Mr Hsar, a father of five, said while his own situation was unrelated to that of Mr Han, he too wanted to get the secrets plaguing him off his chest.
The low-ranking sergeant said he stopped working for the military when he saw soldiers punishing a Karen-controlled village in about 1987.
"The army come in, they rape the women, everything, I see this woman being raped ... I very, very angry so I cut it off," Mr Hsar said through the interpreter.
"They kill really all woman, children, they kill them all."
An Australian citizen, Mr Hsar came to Australia five years ago after leaving the Karen army in 1998 and staying at a refugee camp on the Thai-Burma border.
He indicated there may be more like him living in Australia, now willing to confess their pasts after reading Han's story.
© 2011 AAP http://news.theage.com.au/breaking-news-national/refugee-admits-to-secret-military-past-20110724-1huxh.html
-----------------------------------
Clinton urges Indonesia to be role model for democratic transition in Myanmar
By Associated Press, Updated: Sunday, July 24, 3:52 PM
BALI, Indonesia — U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton is urging Indonesia to promote democracy in Myanmar and countries in the Middle East and North Africa in the throes of upheaval. She says its successful transition from dictatorship and status as a vibrant Muslim-majority democracy make it an ideal role model for both Myanmar and the Arab world.
In meetings with senior Indonesian officials on Sunday in Bali, Clinton said the country’s recent history “provides an example for a transition to civilian rule and building strong democratic institutions.” She said Indonesia has made significant strides toward democracy and shown that Islam and democracy can co-exist.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/middle-east/clinton-urges-indonesia-to-be-role-model-for-democratic-transition-in-myanmar-middle-east/2011/07/24/gIQA36PPWI_story.html
BURMA RELATED NEWS
BURMA RELATED NEWS - JULY 23, 2011
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Suu Kyi to meet Myanmar minister
By Soe Than Win | AFP News – 2 hours 20 minutes ago
Myanmar's democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi will meet a minister on Monday in her first dialogue with the country's new civilian leadership, a government official told AFP on Saturday.
Suu Kyi has frequently called for dialogue with the government since her release from house arrest just days after last year's November elections, which were marred by claims of cheating and the exclusion of her party.
"Aung San Suu Kyi and Aung Kyi will meet at Sein Lei Kan Tha state guest house on Monday afternoon. It will be the first meeting between them after the new government was formed," a Myanmar government official told AFP, without elaborating.
Aung Kyi, who is currently Myanmar's labour minister, was in charge of relations between the military junta and Suu Kyi under Myanmar's previous regime.
The pair -- who are not related -- have met on several occasions, including in late 2009 when the Nobel Peace Prize winner was still under house arrest.
Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy (NLD) were unable to confirm the meeting on Saturday.
"We have not been told anything yet," spokesman Nyan Win told AFP.
Journalists have been invited to cover some parts of the meeting, but will not be present during the talks themselves.
Suu Kyi has this month tested the boundaries of her freedom, with her first visit outside Yangon and, after her return, leading hundreds of supporters in memorials for her father, Myanmar's independence hero General Aung San.
News of the talks comes on the same day that US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton urged Myanmar's rulers to make "concrete, measurable progress" towards meeting the international community's demands for reform.
In an address to foreign ministers at an Asian security forum in Indonesia, Clinton suggested first steps should include "meaningful and inclusive dialogue" with the opposition and the release of more than 2,000 political prisoners.
The US House of Representatives on Wednesday approved a renewal of sanctions on Myanmar, first passed in 2003 in response to alleged rights violations and failure to adopt democratic reforms.
Suu Kyi's party, which won a landslide election victory two decades ago that was never recognised by the junta, was disbanded by the military rulers last year because it boycotted the latest vote, saying the rules were unfair.
*****************************************************
Canada begins engagement with Myanmar, but rules out early end to sanctions
By The Canadian Press | The Canadian Press – 1 hour 58 minutes ago
TORONTO - Canada has begun a strategic engagement with Myanmar that includes an exchange of ambassadors, but Ottawa has no plans to lift the economic sanctions imposed against the country anytime soon, Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird said Saturday.
Baird, speaking from Bali, Indonesia, where he attended a regional security forum this week, said the "limited engagement" was focused exclusively on human rights.
He said he raised the issue during a meeting with Myanmar's foreign minister in Bali and that he had urged the government to release thousands of political prisoners from jail.
Canada imposed economic sanctions against Myanmar, also known as Burma, in 2007 because of its complete disregard for human rights.
Myanmar held elections late last year, officially handing power to a civilian administration after a half-century of military rule.
Pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi was released from house arrest. But many see the changes as cosmetic and believe the army will continue to hold sway.
"I underlined the significance concern that the government of Canada and Canadians have with Aung San Suu Kyi's ability to be mobile in the country and highlighted the ongoing concerns about her safety and her security," Baird said.
The minister also held talks with his Australian and New Zealand counterparts.
The three foreign ministers reaffirmed the long-standing relations between their countries and committed to enhanced co-operation across the full range of international challenges.
"I raised the human rights situations in Burma and North Korea with my counterparts," Baird said.
"We also looked at human smuggling and illegal migration and reaffirmed that we remain committed to combatting these and other abuses of our respective immigration systems."
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Thailand's army says 3rd helicopter crashes near Myanmar border this month; 3 dead
By The Associated Press | The Canadian Press – 7 minutes ago
BANGKOK - A third Thai military helicopter has crashed near the country's forested border with Myanmar in just over a week, killing three soldiers Sunday and bringing the toll from all three accidents to 17.
Defence Ministry spokesman Col. Thanathit Sawang told The Associated Press that the Bell 212 chopper went down during a mission to retrieve bodies from an earlier crash on Tuesday.
Weather conditions were normal at the time, and initial indications were that an instrument in the chopper's tail which controlled aircraft movement malfunctioned, Thanathit said.
Two military pilots and two mechanics were on board, he said, and one survived.
Thai television stations broadcast images of the smoking helicopter in flames and reported that villagers took the survivor to a hospital in Kaeng Krachan district, where a densely forested national park is located.
Two other Thai military helicopters crashed in bad weather the same over the last eight days.
The first crash, of a Huey chopper on July 16, killed five troops. Then on Tuesday, a Black Hawk helicopter sent to retrieve bodies went down in the same remote area, killing eight soldiers and one television cameraman.
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India invites Myanmar's Suu Kyi
By Indo Asian News Service | IANS – 2 hours 59 minutes ago
New Delhi, July 23 (IANS) The government has invited Myanmar's pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi to visit India.
The invitation was extended to Suu Kyi, a Nobel Peace Prize winner, when Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao met her at her villa in Yangon last month. The meeting lasted for an hour.
'I hope she comes to India. She spoke warmly of India,' said a government source familiar with the discussions between Rao and Suu Kyi, who was recently freed from several years of house arrest.
This was the first high-level Indian contact with Myanmar's pro-democracy icon and Nobel laureate Suu Kyi, who studied in the Lady Shri Ram College in Delhi.
At the end of the meeting, both expressed a desire for the bilateral relationship to blossom and grow, sources said.
Rao had accompanied External Affairs Minister S.M. Krishna on a three-day visit to Myanmar in June.
Amid criticism by some western countries that India was not doing enough to push the cause of democracy in Myanmar, the sources defended India's pursuit of its economic and strategic interests in that neighbouring country.
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The Age - Refugee admits to secret military past
Jessica Marszalek
July 24, 2011 - 12:49PM
AAP
A Brisbane refugee has come forward to confess to his secret military past, saying he caused the deaths of up to 50 people in Burma.
Moon Hsar, 44, says he worked as a secret agent for the Burmese military from within the Karen revolutionary army between 1984 and 1987, having been seduced by its power and wealth.
He claims it was his job to incite conflict between his own Karen people and other ethnic groups by rumour-mongering and blaming innocent parties for others' deeds.
He would also pass intelligence back to the junta via the animal trade.
"There was a lot of fighting. Three years is a long time," he told AAP through an interpreter.
"Forty to 50 people (died) because of me, because of order from military government.
"I feel guilty, very guilty. I feel like they use me as a knife to kill my own people."
It is the second time in two weeks a former junta functionary has come forward to clear his conscience.
Australian citizen Htoo Htoo Han last week confessed to executing 24 anti-government protesters and student leaders as an officer in Burmese intelligence from 1988.
Mr Han, who came to Australia as a refugee in 1996 and has since been involved in campaigns aimed at highlighting human rights abuses in Burma, said he was also indirectly involved in at least 100 other murders.
He said nine others from his group were now lived in Australia.
He is now being investigated by the Australian Federal Police and wants to go to jail for his crimes.
Mr Hsar, a father of five, said while his own situation was unrelated to that of Mr Han, he too wanted to get the secrets plaguing him off his chest.
The low-ranking sergeant said he stopped working for the military when he saw soldiers punishing a Karen-controlled village in about 1987.
"The army come in, they rape the women, everything, I see this woman being raped ... I very, very angry so I cut it off," Mr Hsar said through the interpreter.
"They kill really all woman, children, they kill them all."
An Australian citizen, Mr Hsar came to Australia five years ago after leaving the Karen army in 1998 and staying at a refugee camp on the Thai-Burma border.
He indicated there may be more like him living in Australia, now willing to confess their pasts after reading Han's story.
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Channel NewsAsia - Clinton says Myanmar at 'critical juncture'
Posted: 23 July 2011 1127 hrs
NUSA DUA, Indonesia - Myanmar is at a "critical juncture" between a genuine civilian government and a military regime dressed up as a democracy, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Saturday.
In an address to foreign ministers at an Asian security forum in Indonesia, Clinton said the country's rulers had to make "concrete, measurable progress" towards meeting the international community's demands for reform.
"The country has reached a critical juncture," Clinton said in prepared remarks.
"The authorities in Naypyidaw can differentiate themselves from the predecessor military regime by showing that they are indeed a 'new, civilian government'... Or they can continue the path they are on."
She said the Myanmar government could make a start by "releasing unconditionally" more than 2,000 political prisoners and conducting "meaningful and inclusive dialogue" with the opposition and ethnic minorities.
Clinton also said Myanmar must respect and adhere to its "nonproliferation obligations", a reference to US fears that it is cooperating with North Korea on a nuclear weapons programme.
The US House of Representatives on Wednesday approved a renewal of sanctions on Myanmar first passed in 2003 in response to alleged rights violations and failure to adopt democratic reforms.
The annual legislation bans the import of goods from Myanmar, including lucrative gems, and restricts visas issued to government officials in the country earlier known as Burma.
President Barack Obama earlier in May extended a separate set of sanctions that bar US investment in Myanmar.
Myanmar democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi won a landslide election victory two decades ago that was never recognised by the then military regime.
Her party was was disbanded by the military rulers last year because it boycotted an election in November that was dismissed by many as a sham designed to perpetuate military control under the guise of democracy.
The military's political proxies claimed an overwhelming victory in the poll, which was marred by widespread complaints of cheating and intimidation.
Nobel Peace Prize winner Suu Kyi was freed by the military from seven years of house arrest last November, but the government has warned her to stay out of politics.
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Asian Correspondent - AIPMC urges ASEAN to review Burma issue cautiously
By Zin Linn Jul 23, 2011 9:17PM UTC
The ASEAN Inter-Parliamentary Myanmar Caucus (AIPMC) released a press statement yesterday on Current Military Offensive and Rights Abuse by the Myanmar or Burma Army in Ethnic Areas -Monitor recent rape cases, reject Myanmar’s bid to chair ASEAN and cut financial lifelines for despots, AIPMC urges ASEAN.
The AIPMC highlighted about atrocities against civilians during Burma Army offensives against ethnic armed groups in Shan State and Kachin State. It also denounced Burmese soldiers’ sexual violence against women and girls, including gang-rape by order of high level officials.
The statement continues revealing warfare in North and Eastern Burma which has been worsening since last year’s election. Almost two-decade long ceasefire with the Shan State Army-North (SSA-N) and the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) have already been broken by the Burma Army.
According to Shan community based organizations, the statement says, 65 battles have taken place in Shan State over the last three weeks and now thousands people are displaced inside northern Shan State.
In Kachin State, more than 16,000 refugees fled to China from escalating fighting across ten townships since early June, according to the Kachin Women’s Association Thailand (KWAT). In both areas, Burmese soldiers committed systematic sexual violence against women and girls, quoting local sources AIPMC said.
AIPMC also underlined the main cause of the combating in those ethnic areas. The ongoing battles are closely linked to the Burmese government’s economic interests in the resource rich ethnic areas, including hydropower dams on the Salween and Irrawaddy Rivers and trans-national oil and gas pipelines across northern Shan State, the statement criticizes.
It needs to clear out resistance forces and seize control of these areas to proceed with these projects. AIPMC pointed out that Burma has had no mechanism prepared to watch the impact of such projects for local people. Instead, they have taken control over ethnic areas and get rid of ethnic armed groups, rather than seeking a solution to essential political problems in the country.
Severe human rights violations have already occurred concerning these projects, including forced labor, land confiscations, torture, murder and rapes, causing an influx of refugees to neighboring countries, AIPMC said.
“Only the military rulers of Myanmar and their business cronies will benefit from these projects, which are built on the lives, blood and tear of ordinary civilians”, said Kraisak Choonhavan, AIPMC Senior Advisor in Thailand.
The current civil war comes on top of an already critical political situation in Burma. There has been no meaningful political progress since the elections. Besides, 2,000 political prisoners continue to languish in notorious prisons of Burma.
“We call on the Myanmar Army to immediately end rights abuses, particularly the systematic use of rape as a weapon to suppress ethnic women and to urgently engage in peace talks with ethnic armed groups”, said Eva Kusuma Sundari, Member of Indonesian Parliament and President of the AIPMC.
“The challenge is on ASEAN to live up to its responsibilities to protect the people of Myanmar. A meeting between the ASEAN Foreign Ministerial Meeting and the UN is needed to stop this human rights crisis and its negative impacts on neighboring countries and regional stability. The international community should press upon ASEAN the urgency of such a meeting”, she emphasizes.
AIPMC calls on the ASEAN Intergovernmental Commission on Human Rights (AICHR) to monitor these rape cases closely, and ASEAN and its member states must turn down Burma’s application to be the bloc’s chair in 2014, until and unless the government takes genuine steps towards ending human rights violations in the country.
Hence, AIPMC warns that ASEAN members states need paying attention to the repeated calls by the UN Special Rapporteur on human rights in Burma (Myanmar), Tomas Ojea Quintana, for the creation of a UN-mandated Commission of Inquiry (CoI) in Burma.
It also reminds that prodemocracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi has already supported CoI and altogether sixteen countries have already endorsed the establishment of such a CoI.
Finally, AIPMC calls Thailand and other investors to reassess their investments in Burma and discontinue financial lifelines that keep brutal and self-serving despots in power.
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Associated Press
Forbes - US takes hardline on North Korea, South China Sea
By MATTHEW LEE and ROBIN McDOWELL , 07.23.11, 01:46 AM EDT
BALI, Indonesia -- Tentative steps by North and South Korea to repair relations are not enough to warrant a return to multination nuclear disarmament talks, the Obama administration said at an Asian security conference Saturday, where it also took a tough line on resolving heightened tensions in the South China Sea.
Declaring the United States a "resident power" with vital strategic interests throughout the Asia-Pacific, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said North Korea must do more to improve ties with the South before Washington will consider resuming six-party talks aimed at getting Pyongyang to abandon nuclear weapons in return for concessions.
In addition, Clinton laid out specific guidelines for the peaceful settlement of competing territorial claims by China and its Southeast Asian neighbors in the South China Sea, where she said such disputes are threatening the peace and security that has driven the region's economic growth and prosperity.
Also on the agenda at Saturday's talks on the Indonesian resort island of Bali was Myanmar, which Clinton said has reached a "critical juncture."
The new civilian government, which took over late last year after a half-century of military rule, needs to make "concrete, measurable progress" in bringing about democratic reforms if it wants to win the confidence of the international community.
That includes releasing more than 2,000 political prisoners and holding meaningful dialogue with its political opponents.
The meeting opened with a buzz, with South Korea's foreign minister, Kim Sung-hwan, and the North's Pak Ui Chun walking casually into the conference hall together.
A day before, their countries' top nuclear negotiators met for the first time since nuclear disarmament talks collapsed three years ago, opening the door for dialogue and a potential return, eventually, to more negotiations between the two Koreas, the U.S., China, Japan and Russia.
Clinton told diplomats from 26 other Asian and European countries that she was encouraged to see the change.
"But we remain firm that in order for six-party talks to resume, North Korea must take steps to improve North-South relations," she said. "North Korea continues to present a critical proliferation challenge to the international community and to threaten regional stability with its provocative actions."
Since the last round of talks, North Korea has conducted a second nuclear test and revealed a uranium enrichment facility that could give it another way to make atomic bombs.
Recent North Korean threats against Seoul's conservative government include a vow to retaliate over South Korean soldiers' use of pictures of the ruling North Korean family for target practice.
Ahead of the conference, China and its Southeast Asian neighbors also agreed to a preliminary plan to resolve territorial disputes in the potentially resource-rich South China Sea.
China claims the sea - of tremendous strategic importance to everyone because one-third of the world's shipping transits through it - in its entirety. The Philippines, Vietnam, Taiwan, Brunei and Malaysia loudly disagree.
There have been several flare-ups in the waterway in recent months, with Beijing usually accused of being the instigator.
Clinton urged all parties to show restraint and to comply with international law "and resolve their disputes through peaceful means." It's vital, she said, that they work together.
As a starting point, the U.S. wants all nations to map out their claims in terms consistent with customary international law, a senior U.S. official said on condition he not be named, adding that many of the claims seem to be "exaggerated."
North Korea's newly appointed envoy, Ri Yong Ho, meanwhile, said Friday that he and his South Korean counterpart, Wi Sung-lac, agreed during their meeting to work together to quickly restart nuclear talks.
Wi, who described the talks as "productive" and "helpful," confirmed the agreement and said he and Ri would continue their efforts.
North Korea stands to get badly needed aid and other concessions if it returns to the talks and has indicated in recent months that it may be ready.
North Korea's main ally, China, has been pressing for a speedy resumption of the talks. The U.S. and other countries have held out, saying that meaningful North-South dialogue must occur first. A senior U.S. official welcomed Friday's meeting but said it remains to be seen if the rapprochement is enough to warrant a return to the table.
The official, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss closed-door diplomacy, said Clinton and the foreign ministers of Japan and South Korea would meet in Bali on Saturday to assess the situation and plot a way forward. The official would not predict if a decision on resuming the six-party talks would be made at the meeting.
In a meeting with Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi, Clinton affirmed "our mutual desire for peace and stability on the Korean peninsula" but offered no hint on whether the U.S. would agree to resume the nuclear talks.
Yang, however, signaled China's intense interest in getting things back on track. "Anything we can do together to promote better atmosphere and good dialogue among the parties concerned and to work together to restart the six-party talks would be in the best interests of peace, stability and security of the region," he said.
The disarmament talks have been stalled since 2008, when North Korea walked out to protest international criticism of a prohibited long-range rocket launch. Tensions between the North and South have remained high ever since.
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New Kerala - North East militants outfits shifting bases to Myanmar
Agartala, Jul 23 : With strong stand of Sheikh Hasina government in Bangladesh against northeastern militants, the banned outfits of the region planned to shift the base to Myanmar from Bangladesh, confessed self-style 'external affairs chief' of National Liberation Front of Tripura (NLFT) Utpal Debbarma.
Crime Investigation Department (CID) of Tripura police here today said, quoting the confessional statement, northeastern militant organisations had recently floated United Front under NSCN (K) to carry out terror operation across the region.
According to report, United Front had been getting direct patronage of Inter Service Intelligence of Pakistan (ISI) and ISI representatives were attended their meeting and assured them to extend support to carry out insurgency in northeast.
Utpal was arrested early this month from Tripura-Mizoram border on the day he entered the state from Bangladesh and given 10 days police custody. He was sent for additional four days of police custody yesterday when he was again produced in the court.
The man revealed at present they have a stock of series of AK 56 rifles, 32000 live cartage, 15 LMG, 30 MMG and one air crack gun.
Meanwhile, the kidnapped eight tribals including two CPI(M) leaders of remote Debendra Karbaripara in Dhalai district of North Tripura were still traceless.
Police said the militants sent a ransom notice to East Chawmanu village council Chief Shanti Ranjan Chakma yesterday and had mentioned a phone number for further correspondent. The militants informed the abducted persons had been shifted to hide outs across the border.
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CNN - Which country requires the most education?
PUERTO RICO
July 22, 2011
When it comes to mandatory education, two countries stand apart from the rest of the world.
In Puerto Rico and Venezuela, children are required to attend school for 14 years. That's longer than any other country by at least one year, according to the most recent data from UNESCO.
Five countries -- Anguilla, Belgium, Germany, the Netherlands and Turks and Caicos Islands -- require 13 years of education. The United States is among a large group of countries that requires 12 years.
Nobody starts a child sooner than Venezuela, which begins by age 3. Puerto Rico starts two years later and ends at 18, which is tied for the highest "ending age" along with Belgium, Germany and Uzbekistan.
At the other end of the spectrum are Bangladesh, Equatorial Guinea, Laos, Myanmar and Pakistan, which require only five years of education, according to UNESCO. By age 9, children in Myanmar and Pakistan are already finishing up their legal obligation for school.
Among all of the countries in the table, the average amount of compulsory education is nine years, starting by age 6 and ending near 14.
More Country Comparisons: Who's got the highest (and lowest) unemployment rates?
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Grand Island Independent - Workshop gives insight into Karen culture
By Kay Kemmet
kay.kemmet@theindependent.com
Published: Thursday, July 14, 2011 9:32 AM CDT
Karen people do not ask, "How are you?" Helena Asherin, a Karen refugee from Burma, said this is because they aren't doing well very often.
But hopefully that is changing.
More than 60 percent of Nebraska's refugee population are from Burma, according to Karen Parde, refugee program coordinator for the Nebraska Health Department, and many are members of the tribal group Karen.
While Grand Island hasn't had many refugees from Burma, almost 30 have moved here in the past month. The majority are Karen. To promote education about the new ethnic group in Grand Island, the Multicultural Coalition hosted a workshop about the Karen Wednesday.
"The Karen people are just wonderful people," said Parde. She presented the workshop, but also brought three Karen refugees with her from Omaha. There were two sessions at 1:30 and 5:30 p.m. at the Workforce Development Building in Grand Island. About 30 local people attended the 1:30 session.
Asherin works with the Omaha Public Schools and translates for the Karen refugees there. Omaha has the largest Karen population, and Lincoln comes in second in Nebraska.
"I think most of the people in the U.S. don't know much about the Karen," said Asherin, who moved to the U.S. four years ago from a refugee camp in Thailand.
She said that Karen people came to the U.S. for the same reason all immigrants come here: They wanted a better life. But with a refugee community, the motives are different. Most would like to still live in their home nation, according to Parde, but were forced to leave for many different reasons.
For the Karen, 50 years of constant fighting between the Burmese government and Karen nationals led to unsafe conditions. Asherin showed a video of interviews with Karen refugees.
In the video, some discussed the nomadic lifestyle the Karen people live in the jungle. They are constantly running from gunfire and searching for food. If they tried to grow crops -- the Karen mostly eat rice -- the Burmese would open fire on them.
Because of these conditions, almost 40,000 have immigrated to the United States, according to Asherin. But before immigrating here, they lived in Thailand in refugee camps.
"We hope this is going to be the last country (we live in)," Asherin said.
She lived in one of those camps, and talked about how their homes, which were more like shacks, were so close together that they could hear their neighbors' conversations. She said that one time a neighbor began singing a song in his home, but couldn't remember the next part, so her brother started singing. But he couldn't remember the ending, so another neighbor finished the song from another home.
In addition to difficult backgrounds, the Karen also have a unique culture.
Because the Karen were mostly farmers in Burma, many get their first job when they move to the United States. They also have never paid a bill. Asherin said many try to pay bills right away, because they are worried about being late.
They also do not shake hands, and men and women do not hold hands in public.
They have strict rules about marriage. Unmarried women and men are expected to abstain, and aren't allowed to openly date. Once a couple marries, they are expected to stay together.
Asherin is married to an American man, and she said that her mother used to cry every night. Her mother was worried that because the divorce rates in the U.S. are so high, the marriage wouldn't last. But Asherin said her marriage is working out, and she has a young son.
"They want to learn American culture while maintaining there own," Parde said.
It's also acceptable for teachers and parents to use violence to discipline children in their country, according to Asherin.
The Karen people are shy and quiet, she said. They also do not ask questions because teachers and doctors are well respected and expected to fully inform.
Asherin said that most Burmese refugees are Christian, but some are Buddhist and a small portion are Muslim.
They speak Karen and many speak Burmese. In the group that came to Grand Island, many understand English, but only a few speak fluently, said Carlos Barcenas, Multicultural Coalition director.
With a large population of Burmese refugees in Omaha and Lincoln, Parde said more could come to Grand Island.
With language and cultural barriers, Asherin said the new refugees will need help.
Barcenas is working to help the Grand Island Karen refugees find rental homes because they still are living in hotels after working at JBS Swift for four weeks.
In addition to help and community support, Asherin said, they want to be treated normally.
"They want to learn American culture, and they want you to understand them," Parde said.
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Business Standard India - N Chandra Mohan: Corporate India looks eastwards to Asean
N Chandra Mohan / July 24, 2011, 0:39 IST
India’s free trade agreement with Asean has spurred a globalising drive by India Inc, and the region has emerged as a significant destination for India’s outward investment.
India’s free trade agreement (FTA) with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean), which kicked off in January 2010, is perhaps the country’s most important trade
agreement, because it is integral to its “look east” policy of integration with Asia. The 10-member Asean’s combined GDP of $1.5 trillion is similar to India’s GDP of $1.2 trillion.
This FTA is already resulting in substantial two-way trade. India, too, can benefit from the services trade, once the agreement is in place. But the best news so far is that it has
spurred the globalising drive of India Inc in an effort to benefit from the prosperity of this region.
Considering its nascent stage — this FTA is not fully in place, as only eight of Asean’s 10 members have ratified it — the uptrend in bilateral trade is extremely encouraging. Two-way trade volumes can easily touch $70 billion by 2012, up from $50 billion in 2010-11. Shedding its earlier ambivalence towards bilaterals like this FTA — thanks to the persisting domestic handicap of inverted duty structures, among other reasons — the more positive development is that India Inc is exhibiting greater self-confidence to engage with the region through foreign direct investments (FDI) since the agreement kicked in.
Asean, in fact, has emerged as a significant destination for India’s outward FDI, amounting to $12 billion, or 27 per cent of overall investments of $43.9 billion, in 2010-11. During the first two months of the current financial year, this regional grouping absorbed 21 per cent of India’s outward investments of $5 billion. On a year-on-year basis, India Inc’s investment forays in Asean doubled to $1 billion during April-May 2011, from $542 million in April-May 2010. These investments are in joint ventures and wholly owned subsidiaries, according to the latest month-wise numbers released by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI).
Within Asean, the overwhelming favourite destination for Indian investors is the city-state of Singapore with its open trading and business environment. Singapore alone accounts for 98 per cent and 92 per cent of India’s FDI to Asean in 2010-11 and April-May 2011 respectively. Much smaller amounts went to Vietnam ($76 million), Malaysia ($75 million), Philippines ($32.4 million), Indonesia ($29.4 million), Thailand ($9.6 million) and Laos ($2 million) during 2010-11. The same pattern continued in April-May 2011 as well, as these countries accounted for 8 per cent of India’s FDI to Asean.
To be sure, India Inc’s significant investments in Singapore since the India-Asean FTA took effect — which amount to one-fifth of India’s outbound FDI so far this year — does include big-ticket FDI by companies like Reliance Communications, Tata Steel and Lanco Infratech Ltd. But there is a notable contribution made by small- and medium-sized companies as well. The fact that India’s investments in the city-state grew by 69 per cent in April 2011 and 114 per cent in May 2011 on a year-on-year basis indicates that they have acquired critical mass to accelerate further in the future.
India Inc certainly can engage with this regional grouping more intensively, as the conditions for doing business there are not very different from back home. Constraints due to the paucity of strategic information to penetrate each other’s market therefore might not appear very different in India and Asean. India’s lowly ranking at 134 out of 183 countries this year is only a tad better than Cambodia (147), Philippines (148), Laos (171) and Myanmar. At the other end, Singapore leads the way, followed by Thailand (19), Malaysia (21), Vietnam (78), Brunei (112) and Indonesia (121).
Vietnam does business better than India! To be sure, setting up a new business there takes 44 days. Business spends 941 hours each year filing taxes. By contrast, in India it takes 29 days to start a new business while business spends 258 hours filing taxes. But to get an electricity connection, it takes fewer procedures (five) but more time (142 days) to get it there, when compared to seven procedures and 67 days to get it in India, according to the World Bank. Indonesia’s problems regarding legal uncertainties, corruption, inflexible labour laws and appalling roads, seaports and infrastructure are akin to those in India.
A far bigger problem for India Inc’s ambitions, however, is the presence of a vast overseas Chinese Diaspora that provides a strategic advantage to China. There are over 20 million of them living in this region, and their networks serve as a valuable bridge for China’s integration with Asia. Forty families, mostly overseas Chinese, dominate the economies of Southeast Asia and create formidable barriers of entry for Indian businessmen who want to penetrate Asean. They are hardy competitors and are mostly medium-size in scale. They have acquired big stakes in China’s booming economy.
India Inc must come to terms with this formidable rival if it is to set up outposts for business in Asean. Managers must better understand the competitive implications arising from this economic dominance in the region by overseas Chinese businessmen. They must make up for the paucity of strategic business information in the region by relying on the Indian Diaspora, including alliances with the Bhumiputras or local non-Chinese elites in Malaysia and Indonesia, who resent the dominance of the overseas Chinese. Ultimately, India must fall back on its historic association with Asean to succeed.
The upshot is that India’s FTA with Asean is beginning to rock’n’roll. The uptrend in bilateral trade and rising FDI are worthy of note. India’s comprehensive economic cooperation agreement with Malaysia is already operational and is bound to result in greater FDI. The country’s market opening pacts with Indonesia and Thailand will also see more ambitious forays by India Inc. Plans by Indian infrastructure companies to invest $3-5 billion to build airports in Bali and Java exemplify a growing self-confidence to engage with a $1.5 trillion entity. All of this would receive a further boost with the government’s plans to appoint a dedicated ambassador to Asean based in Jakarta to further India’s drive to integrate with this booming regional grouping.
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MorungExpress - 60-hour Pallel bandh stifles border trade from Myanmar
Imphal, July 23 (NNN): At least two vehicles were viciously attacked and damaged allegedly by bandh supporters along the Imphal-Moreh stretch of National Highway 39 today. A 60-hour chakka bandh has been imposed beginning 6 am today by several organizations from Pallel led by Youth Volunteers Association in protest against state government transport department move to prohibit renewal of contract permit to passenger Tata Wingers plying between Imphal and Pallel.
At about 8:30 am today, suspected bandh supporters viciously attacked and damaged a passenger auto rickshaw bearing registration no MN 04 B 7219 and a private Maruti (A-Star) bearing registration no MN 01 W 9903.
The 60-hour chakka bandh has been imposed in protest against the state government’s noncooperation on the demand of ten different organizations from Pallel area, including Kuki Students’ Organization, Pallel, Maring Students’ Union, Pallel, Winger Drivers’ Association, Pallel Bazar Board, and village chiefs of Pallel etc.
Pallel is located between the capital of Manipur and the trading border town of Moreh, approximately 50 km from Imphal. It is an important transit point for businesses.
The bandh severely constraint vehicular movements on the Imphal-Moreh stretch of National Highway 39, bringing business along the international border to a complete halt as businessmen could not travel along the highway.
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Kansas City Star - US praises Laos for pause in Mekong dam project
By ROBIN McDOWELL
Associated Press Posted on Fri, Jul. 22, 2011 10:46 AM
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton praised Laos as taking a "forward-leaning position" after the tiny, landlocked nation said it had no immediate plans to resume work on a dam across the Mekong River, a senior U.S. official said.
The dam - a multibillion-dollar, 1,260-megawatt hydroelectric project - would be the first across the river as it meanders through Myanmar, Laos, Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam. China has dammed its upper reaches, but the 3,000-mile (4,900-kilometer) river otherwise runs free.
Opponents say construction in Laos could open the way for 10 more dams downstream. That could affect the lives of hundreds of millions of people.
"This is a serious issue for all the countries that share the Mekong River," Clinton said at a meeting of ministers from affected nations Friday.
"Because if any of you build a dam, all of you will feel the consequences in environmental degradation, challenges to food security and impacts on communities."
Laos announced in May that it would defer building the $3.5 billion Xayaburi dam until an expert review was done. Hydropower is one of Laos' few major resources, and the country had hoped revenue from the dam would spur economic and social development.
It said Friday the suspension would continue, said Kurt Campbell, the top U.S. diplomat for Asia, quoting Clinton and others as welcoming the "forward-leaning" decision.
Laos has said the dam would not significantly impact the Mekong mainstream, but activists, scientists and officials in other countries say it would cause irreversible damage.
They say it would disrupt fish migrations, block nutrients for downstream farming and even foul Vietnam's rice bowl by slowing the river's speed and allowing saltwater to creep into the Mekong River Delta.
"I want to urge all parties to pause on any considerations to build new dams until we are able to do a better assessment of the likely consequences," Clinton said.
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The Telegraph - Delhi revives link with Suu Kyi
OUR SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT
New Delhi, July 23: India’s foreign secretary Nirupama Rao met Aung San Suu Kyi in the first high-level contact with the Myanmarese pro-democracy leader in years, government sources confirmed today.
Rao, who was in Yangon on June 22 as part of foreign minister S.M. Krishna’s delegation, met Suu Kyi in her villa a day after her birthday and “had a long conversation free of tension”, the sources said.
Since presenting Suu Kyi with the Jawaharlal Nehru Award for International Understanding in 1992, New Delhi has moved away from being her solid political backer to a low-key but studied engagement with Myanmar’s junta. For much of the time in the intervening years, Suu Kyi was under house arrest before being freed in November last year.
In these years, India had increased its ties Myanmar, especially in defence co-operation, much to the consternation of the West that has imposed sanctions on the country.
The sources said Rao, during her meeting with Suu Kyi, emphasised that India had a long border with Myanmar and had its own interests. Though they did not elucidate, these are concerns over Northeast rebels who move across the border for shelter and support.
India was also closely watching the deep engagement that the Chinese had in Myanmar. Rao found a patient audience in Suu Kyi, the sources said.
Myanmar’s government restricts foreigners’ access to Suu Kyi even though she is not under house arrest.
The foreign secretary is understood to have told Suu Kyi she hoped the Myanmarese opposition leader would be able to visit India. Suu Kyi, a Nobel laureate, is an alumnus of Lady Shri Ram College in New Delhi.
The foreign secretary was “warmly received” by Suu Kyi. Rao found that Suu Kyi is a “very people-oriented person” who was keeping in touch with youth not only in her own country but also abroad.
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INTERVIEW
The Irrawaddy - We Hope the Last Kachin Alive Continues to be Kachin
Friday, July 22, 2011
The Rev. Pungga Ja Li is a local Kachin historian and the author of several books on Kachin customs and culture. He is now living in Laiza, a town in Kachin State near the Chinese border that is under the control of the Kachin Independence Army (KIA), which is currently engaged in renewed fighting with Burmese government troops in the north of Burma. In this interview, conducted by The Irrawaddy reporter Ba Kaung in Laiza in early July, Pungga Ja Li reflects on the Kachin leaders’ decision to join with the Burmese majority a year before Burma gained its independence from British rule in 1948, and shares his views on the current armed clashes and the future of the Kachin people.
Question: How do you view the renewed conflict in Kachin State?
Answer: Apparently, this is a cloudy period for all of us. But this is good in a sense that many Kachins now remember God. Many, including the KIO leaders, are now saying prayers, and we are becoming more united within us. We are now praying for God's support, but he sometimes can be cruel for the sake of our maturity.
Q: Here in Laiza, there is talk that the Kachin made a mistake in joining with the Burmese majority when their leaders signed the Panglong Agreement. What is your opinion on this?
A: Many Kachin leaders in those days disagreed with Panglong, except Sama Duwa Sinwa Nawng and Zauring. The Kachin leaders wanted to stay under British rule for five more years and only afterward wanted to establish the Kachin State as an independent state. But since his own grandfather was killed by the British soldiers, Sama Duwa did not want to deal with the British any longer—he even slapped the ground and said that if he made a mistake, he would get struck by lightning from the heavens. That's how he won the trust of fellow Kachin leaders and signed the Panglong Agreement. Otherwise, we would have been on our own all along and would never have had anything to do with the Burmese. We have lived under our rule—the rule of Duwas. But even if we made a mistake, the Panglong Agreement itself is a good treaty, I think, with all the guarantees for us though they never materialized into realities.
Q: Do Kachins feel betrayed by Aung San, who organized the Panglong Conference? What is your personal view of his daughter, Aung San Suu Kyi?
A: I don't know what Aung San would have treated us to if he had lived. But he came to us for Burma's independence and years ago his daughter came to us again for Burma's democracy. I think Suu Kyi is a good leader, but when it comes to our affairs, she would only walk away with another Noble Prize but would never be able to come to our help.
Q: Do you regret the KIA's ceasefire with the government in 1994, given that it has not produced any political results for the Kachin.
A: In 1994, we hoped to hold discussions with the government officials for a political solution. But as you know, those discussions were more about chatting over drinks and meals—those discussions were never meaningful enough. On the other hand, the Kachins forgot to prepare the military side. Many forgot gun-shooting lessons. Only now, they are all alert again. They did not really know their enemy well.
Q: Do you think the KIA should sign another ceasefire agreement with the government at this point? What about calls for independence?
Meaningful discussions must come with the ceasefire, which will result in self-autonomy which has long been our demand. There are some talks about this call for independence within the leadership of the KIO. We have long wanted to walk towards that direction. Even if all of us are killed by the government army in consequence of that, we'd hope that the last Kachin who remains alive continues to be a Kachin, not a Burmese. But one thing that restrains us from moving in this direction is that our elders decided to stay with the Burmese—this agreement we should not break, I think.
Q: How strong is anti-Burmese sentiment among the Kachin people?
A: When we refer to the Burmese, by that we mean a group of leaders, not the Burmese population. But in terms of culture, we have been slowly engulfed by the Burmese ways. Culturally, we have been forced to become bankrupt under the Burmese rule. We are now left with the Burmese culture only. Our culture has been lost over time.
When you become bankrupt, you start borrowing the culture of others, which is Burmese in this case. Burmese culture is good for the Burmese of course. If I were Burmese, I might like such an idea that the minority groups in Burma are forced to assimilate with the Burmese majority and get rid of their identities. But the problem is we are not Burmese, and the majority don't seem to understand that our culture has its own values. For example, the crossing over the Irrawaddy River in Kachin State's capital of Myitkyina has long been called as Ninggawn Hkrai Wa among us, but when a bridge was built by the Burmese government, it was named Bala Min Htin, the name of a Burmese hero, which does not make sense to our Kachins.
Q: Didn't you face the same sort of cultural imposition under the British rule?
A: Of course, we have become Christians when coming into contact with Western missionary groups. But our previous faith in animism has many things in common with Christianity. Only after we have lived under the Burmese rule, our own style of ruling with Duwas has disappeared and then we lost our state.
But the disappearance of Duwas must also be blamed on our own Kachin leaders as well. Those leaders, as you see, also run away at the sound of gunfire. There were many Duwas up until 1961, when the KIA is founded. It was wrong that those Duwas did not become part of the KIA leadership. We are now left with culture only, which means everything to us. Culture represents our identity as a people and it is our religion too. We are trying to promote our own culture.
Q: What is the future of the Kachin people as a whole?
A: Before we can successfully resist the rule of the government, we have to fight with layers of its proxies. For example, some proxies will be Rawang, Lashi, etc., which are the smaller ethnics in our Kachin State too. Whether we like it or not, we will be forced to fight with those proxies. Until we have fought them off, we will not be able to hit the target. But one sure thing is we should no longer take the injustices lying down and we should stand up for our rights.
Q: There is talk that the KIA will be able fight a successful guerrilla war with the government troops should any political talks fail to take place. How do you think this would play out?
A: Yes, it is true. When the Burmese government troops came in, they needed trucks and porters who would carry the weapons in the jungle. But for us, we don't need them. We only need to provide a packet meal and a lighter to our soldiers, who would then be ready to fight with the government soldiers. In terms of weaponry, we are quite inferior. But we only regret that we have not taken good strongholds like those of the UWSA (United Wa State Army, the largest ethnic armed group in the east of Burma). There are very good places to build such strongholds in our Kachin State, which we have not prepared for war due to our ignorance.
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The Irrawaddy - Chiang Mai Office of Ethnic Armed Groups Shut Down
By LAWI WENG Friday, July 22, 2011
The Chiang Mai, Thailand office of the United Nationalities Federal Council (UNFC), a 12 member association of Burma’s ethnic armed groups, has been shut down after Thai authorities ordered it closed in early July.
“A dozen Thai officials came to our office while we were having lunch. They included police, immigration and military intelligence,” said an ethnic Mon leader who is a UNFC official.
“They ordered us to shut down the office, and we have been closed since then.”
“We believed that pressure came from the Burmese government,” he said. “We were almost arrested when the authorities were at the office. Fortunately, we called some military intelligence officers who we knew, and then they did not make trouble for us.”
In the almost twenty days the office has been closed, the ethnic leaders have been forced to stay at an alternate base, according to another source.
Previously, the ethnic armed leaders from the Kachin Independent Organization (KIO) and the New Mon State Party (NMSP) worked mostly at the office, while leaders from the other ethnic groups were based along the border. Together, they were attempting to develop a plan for a future federal army.
The UNFC is an umbrella group of Burmese ethnic armed groups, which include major ethnic armed groups such as the Karen National Union, the KIO, the Karenni National Progressive Party, the NMSP, the Shan State Army and the Chin National Front.
The UNFC was formed early this year and the office was set up afterward.
The ethnic armed leaders said that it is difficult for them to travel in Thailand while the new government is being set up.
Early in May, Thailand's National Security Council banned a Burmese pro-democracy event in Chiang Mai following a complaint from Naypyidaw, according to Burmese pro-democracy activists.
Other Burmese events in Chiang Mai, including a celebration of Aung San Suu Kyi's birthday on June 19, have also been banned by the Thai authorities.
Burmese exile groups have enjoyed relative freedom in Chiang Mai in recent years, but there was reported harassment and repression under the administration of former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra in the early 2000s.
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The Irrawaddy - Clinton Calls Burma to Free Political Prisoners
By ROBIN McDOWELL / AP WRITER Friday, July 22, 2011
BALI, Indonesia — US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton says Burma will lose the trust of the international community unless it releases its political prisoners and opens dialogue with the opposition.
She also called on the government to address growing concerns about weapons proliferation.
Burma held elections late last year, officially handing power to a civilian administration after a half-century of military rule and releasing pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi from house arrest.
But many say the changes are cosmetic and the army still holds sway.
"We look to the government to unconditionally release the more than 2,000 political prisoners who continue to languish in prison," Clinton told representatives from 10 Southeast Asian nations gathering in Indonesia.
Burma, also known as Myanmar, should also conduct meaningful and inclusive dialogue with the political opposition and ethnic minorities, she said.
Last year, US officials said a North Korean ship, suspected of carrying weapons or missile heads, was intercepted as it headed to Burma.
That raised fears the country has nuclear ambitions.
Clinton called on the government to "address growing concerns on non-proliferation by committing to respect and adhere to relevant UN Security Council Resolutions."
"The choice is clear," she said. "They can take these steps and gain back the confidence of their people and the trust of the international community. Or they can continue down the path they've been on."
Clinton also signaled subtle disapproval of efforts by Burma to assume Asean's chairmanship in 2014, as is now being discussed.
"We trust that Asean members will gauge whether a potential chair can advance the organization's credibility and leadership role in the region," she said.
The Obama administration has sought to engage Burma to improve conditions, but the policy has produced little concrete results and has not eased sanctions on the country.
Burma came under military rule in 1962 and has brutally suppressed political dissent since then. Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy swept 1990 elections but was barred from taking power.
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Big turnout for NLD classes on political science
Friday, 22 July 2011 15:24 Ko Pauk
New Delhi (Mizzima) – More than 100 people attended the first of a seven-day schedule of political science classes on Friday morning at the National League for Democracy (NLD) headquarters in Bahan Township in Rangoon.
Professor Brendam Howe from Ewha Woman’s University in Korea gave a lecture on human development and security. The names of other visiting professors were not made available.
A student, Myo Yan Naung Thein, who is attending from the Bayda Institute, told Mizzima that other professors’ names who were previously disclosed had to withdraw their classes so perhaps the NLD was being cautious this time.
Classes will continue until July 28. NLD members from regions and states and 33 students from the Bayda Institute will attend the classes.
“There are 70 registered students. Also unregistered students listened to the lectures,” Myo Yan Naung Thein said.
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Government troops moving closer to Laiza; heavy shelling in area
Friday, 22 July 2011 19:32 Phanida
Chiang Mai (Mizzima) – A Burmese government artillery unit fired more than 20 shells on Thursday at the Kachin Independence Organization (KIO) headquarters in Laiza, said party secretary La Nan.
The firing took place from 9 to 11 p.m. The artillery unit was based in Dawphoneyan sub-township, 25 miles from Laiza, he said.
“I think they were 81 mm and 76 mm mortars,” he told Mizzima. There was no report on causalities.
KIA Battalion 24 is stationed east of Dawphoneyan, he said.
The KIO dynamited two bridges on the Myitkyina-Bhamo road between Dawphoneyan and Nwanlan villages on Thursday. One of the bridges was the Bailey bridge.
“We exploded a bridge between Dawphoneyan and Khala villages and another bridge upstream near Nwamlan village. Then the government retaliated with artillery fire. One of the bridges was not destroyed,” an officer told Mizzima.
The government’s artillery fire could be in retaliation for destroying the bridges, he said. The KIO also destroyed a 30-foot concrete bridge on the Pa Mwe River between Gayaran and Kazu villages in Waingmaw Township on Wednesday night.
La Nan said that the KIO destroyed the bridges because of a government troop buildup with convoys from Bhamo and Myitkyina in recent days.
“We got confirmation of military convoys coming to Laiza. So we destroyed these bridges,” he said.
The KIO said government solders were injured in an exchange of fire between government Battalion 228 and government soldiers wearing KIO uniforms on Wednesday, which left three dead and seven wounded.
“Wearing enemy uniforms in war time is a wicked tactic. They are cunning and dishonest. And also it is a coward’s act,” said La Nang. He said government troops in KIO uniforms questioned and beat people on the Bhamo highway in June.
Meanwhile, the Chinese Red Cross from Yinjiang County, Yunnan Province, has donated medicine to be used for the estimated 16,000 war refugees displaced by the fighting, said a KIO health department official.
“They have provided [the KIO] with a regular supply of medicine for infectious diseases such as malaria and influenza. Now the group has given medicine for our war refugees too,” the official said. Refugees are suffering from dysentery, colds, eyesores, skin diseases and other ailments.
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DVB News - Asian alarm at deadly hepatitis spread
By FRANCIS WADE
Published: 22 July 2011
More than five million people in South and Southeast Asia will die from viral hepatitis over the next decade as experts warn of a rampant epidemic that has already taken more lives than malaria, dengue and HIV/AIDS combined in the past 10 years.
The crisis is compounded by lack of awareness about the disease and the increasing resistance of drugs, the World Health Organisation (WHO) says. More than 130 million people from 11 Asian countries carry hepatitis B and C, out of a total of 520 million globally.
A statement released by WHO today said that “[s]eemingly healthy people may be infected, and can continue to spread the infection”, while chronic hepatitis B and C are “among the leading causes of preventable deaths” in Bangladesh, Bhutan, Burma, East Timor, India, Indonesia, Maldives, Nepal, North Korea, Sri Lanka and Thailand.
“These viruses are 30 times more prevalent than HIV in [these countries]. However, due to the asymptomatic nature of these infections, about 60 percent of infected individuals remain unaware that they are infected, until they show symptoms of cirrhosis or a type of liver cancer called hepatocellular carcinoma; this may take over 20 years.”
It added that more than half of the total deaths attributed to hepatitis E, which can be contracted by eating or drinking contaminated for or water, occur in this region.
The majority of these 11 countries suffer from regular and acute health crises, with rates of HIV/AIDS in Thailand among the highest in the world, and Burma and North Korea subjected to some of the world’s lowest government healthcare spending.
A revamped government budget announced in Burma earlier this year allocated less than three percent of total annual spending to healthcare and education combined. In contrast, regional spending averages at 10 percent. Hospitals are woefully undernourished, and infectious diseases borne in Burma are carried to neighbouring countries by the thousands of migrants that cross the border each year.
Up to date information on hepatitis however is scarce. Vismita Gupta-Smith, from the WHO’s regional office in India, said that the lack of public awareness meant the organisation was struggling to find accurate data for each country in the region.
“We’re asking national governments to give us all their data and advocating that monitoring [of the spread of hepatitis] should be strengthened,” she said. “We want disease to be on the radar for the general public so that people can go and test themselves.”
To boost awareness the WHO has set 28 July as the first World Hepatitis Day, Gupta-Smith said.
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