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Thai PM meets Myanmar president
Published on 5 October 2011 - 12:17pm

Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra met Myanmar's president on Wednesday during her first visit to the military-dominated country since she took office in August.

Yingluck was received by Thein Sein at his official residence in the capital Naypyidaw, according to a Myanmar government official who did not want to be named. It was unclear what was discussed.

She was not expected to meet pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi during her one-day visit, a second official said.

While Western nations have imposed sanctions on resource-rich Myanmar because of its poor human rights record, Asian neighbours such as Thailand, China and India have forged close economic ties, particularly in oil and gas.

In March, Myanmar's regime handed power to a new government whose ranks are filled with former generals, including Thein Sein, previously the junta prime minister.

Thein Sein has recently shown signs of reaching out to opponents including Suu Kyi, whom he met in August for the first time.

The Nobel Peace Prize winner was released from house arrest last November, shortly after an election marred by complaints of cheating and intimidation.
© ANP/AFP http://www.rnw.nl/english/bulletin/thai-pm-meets-myanmar-president
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In Myanmar, Seize the Moment
By THANT MYINT-U
Published: October 4, 2011

MYANMAR, sandwiched between China and India, is at its most important political watershed since the establishment of army rule in 1962. Over the next few weeks, the Obama administration can make a big difference in determining whether historic reforms under way there will lead to Asia’s newest democratic transition. President Obama should publicly support the changes taking place, and back up those words with actions to end the country’s isolation, before hard-liners who oppose reform are able to push back.

Six months ago it was difficult to be optimistic. Elections had been held but they had been widely condemned as being far from free and fair. And although Myanmar’s aging autocrat, Gen. Than Shwe, retired, the constitutional leadership that replaced his junta included many of the same former generals. Few expected more than minor reforms.

But U Thein Sein, the new president and himself a former general, surprised everyone. In his inaugural address to Parliament, he spoke forcefully of combating poverty, fighting corruption, ending the country’s multiple armed conflicts, and working for political reconciliation. By June, state pensions for nearly a million people, most of them very poor, were increased by as much as a thousandfold, taxes were reduced, and trade cartels were dismantled. The government redrafted banking and foreign investment rules and began revising its foreign exchange rate policy — all of this in consultation with businessmen and academics. That alone was a huge step, because army rulers had long shunned any civilian advice.

Then, on July 19, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, the opposition leader who was released from house arrest last November, was invited to the annual Martyrs’ Day ceremony. The holiday memorializes the 1947 assassination of her father, who is considered the architect of the country’s independence. Thousands of her supporters were permitted to hold their first lawful march in years and several independent newspapers came to life. Mrs. Aung San Suu Kyi’s name, which couldn’t be mentioned in print a year ago, began to appear regularly on the front pages.

By August, Parliament began debating sensitive issues, like the release of political prisoners, and passed laws legalizing microfinance for the rural poor and allowing independent trade unions. All Internet restrictions were soon lifted. On Aug. 18, at a meeting with dozens of independent civic groups, the president called for peace talks with the country’s ethnic-based rebels and invited exiles to return. The next day, he met for over two hours alone with Mrs. Aung San Suu Kyi.

I saw her soon afterward for the first time in over 20 years. She told me that she believed the president was genuine in wanting change and that she hoped we were at the beginning of a new era in Myanmar’s politics.

This past week, we’ve seen previously unimaginable developments. On Friday, following increasing popular agitation, the president halted work on a $3.6 billion hydroelectric dam being built by China on the Irrawaddy River to send power to Chinese provinces next door. This was a victory for Myanmar’s nascent environmental movement and the area’s minority Kachin people. That the president would stop a Chinese-backed project of this magnitude was the clearest sign yet that the country was at a turning point. And many in Myanmar now hope that the government will soon release most or all political prisoners.

But monumental challenges remain — for example, even though the government agreed recently to a cease-fire with the country’s largest ethnic-based militia, deadly clashes continue with smaller militias fighting on behalf of minorities in the mountains to the north and east. It is hard to imagine a successful democratic transition while these longstanding and often brutal little wars continue.

Reformist voices are not the only ones in the new system, and a hard-line pushback is far from inconceivable. So the Obama administration needs to do three things, and do them quickly.

First is to unambiguously voice its support for the reforms under way, while at the same time being patient and refraining from demanding too much too fast. The alternative to what is happening is not a perfect revolution; the alternative is going back to square one.

Second, the administration needs to ensure that the reform efforts receive the technical advice and knowledge they desperately require. After decades of isolation, Myanmar suffers from a dearth of skilled people in every field, from banking to environmental regulation to public health. So the United States should lift all restrictions that limit the United Nations and international financial institutions like the World Bank from offering Myanmar their technical expertise. This is not about giving money, but providing the knowledge needed to conceive and carry out reforms in the best possible way.

Third is to move toward ending trade embargoes against Myanmar. As the country opens up, it should neither become dependent on outside aid, nor become an even more corrupt crony-controlled oligarchy. Responsible trade and investment can play key roles in creating jobs, helping to build a new middle class and hastening democratic change.

What we’re seeing today is Myanmar’s best chance in half a century for a better future. America needs to help end Myanmar’s isolation, urgently.

Thant Myint-U, a historian and former United Nations official, is the author of “Where China Meets India: Burma and the New Crossroads of Asia.” http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/05/opinion/myanmar-needs-us-support-for-reform.html?_r=1&partner=rss&emc=rss
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Burma's mooted reforms must be watched closely
Lindsay Murdoch
October 5, 2011
Opinion

It is unrealistic to expect Burma to emerge suddenly from four decades of isolation and misrule to become a modern, competitive and democratic Asian nation. The corrupt generals still in charge of the impoverished nation have too much blood on their hands to give up their authority entirely.

But there are indications they intend to allow at least some change, stirring excitement among Burmese analysts and foreign diplomats. Even if that happens, the outside world should not rush to bring the errant nation back into the fold, past sins forgiven.

In the late '50s and early '60s the Socialist Republic of the Union of Burma was one of south-east Asia's most important commercial and cultural hubs. People from around the region, including Bangkok, would travel to Rangoon, the nation's bustling riverside capital, to shop or dine in fine restaurants.

But in 1962 Ne Win, a highly superstitious nationalist general, seized power in a coup and introduced what he called the ''Burmese way to socialism'', which was based in part on extreme elements of Marxism.

His policies were disastrous for most Burmese, cutting them off from the world, wiping out their savings, plunging them into poverty and triggering a number of ethnic conflicts in border areas.

Corrupt and brutal military generals ruled the country for the following four decades, ignoring the results of elections in 1990 and brutally suppressing uprisings.

But six months ago the generals took off their uniforms, donned civilian clothes and proclaimed a new era of reform under the guise of a civilian government. The outside world remained sceptical because in the past the generals had made promises to appease the United Nations and its Western member nations, only to renege later.

They worried the generals were again faking reform to tighten their stranglehold with the help of Western aid and trade. But, in a flurry of recent activity, pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi, who has spent 15 of the past 21 years under house arrest, has met the country's President, Thein Sein, one of the more moderate former generals, three times.

Bans on websites have been eased. Promises have been made to release prisoners. New labour laws have been drafted.

And in the most notable development, the government on Friday called a halt to work on a $US3.6 billion dam and hydroelectric plant on the Irrawaddy River that was being built in co-operation with China.

Ms Suu Kyi had been among a large number of critics of the project, including environmental and human rights groups. The generals had never before bowed to public pressure. The decision was even more significant because it upset Burma's powerful neighbour, China.

The next test will be whether the government releases all 2000 political prisoners being held in the country's jails, including supporters of Ms Suu Kyi. Western nations, including Australia, have told the generals the release of prisoners, many of whom have been tortured, would be seen internationally as an important step in any reform process.

Analysts warn much of what the government has promised so far lacks legal backing and could be quickly reversed. There are hardliners in government with vested interests to protect who are waiting for the first opportunity to sabotage the reforms, government insiders have publicly said.

Progress should be judged on what is happening across the entire country of 50 million people, not just in the new capital, Naypyidaw. Since the November election fighting has increased in ethnic minority areas, forcing tens of thousands of people from their homes.

Hundreds of prisoners taken from prisons and labour camps are being forced to work as porters in an army offensive against Karen rebels in the east of the country. Human rights groups say the Burmese Army is still committing human rights abuses on a ''massive scale'' in clashes with rebel groups. Fighting has recently spread to some border areas where it had not occurred for 20 years.

The upsurge in violence comes amid $US20 billion of investments in infrastructure projects such as dams and pipelines over the past year alone, much of it from resource-hungry China.

Mr Thein Sein has been lobbying for the end of US and European economic sanctions, promoting the vision of Burma becoming an important regional trade and industrial hub.

He also wants Burma to be given the nod to chair the 10-member Association of South-East Asian Nations in 2014, a role it has previously been denied.

What has become clear is that Mr Thein Sein believes accommodating Ms Suu Kyi in the decision-making will help achieve these goals, no matter how despised she is by some government hardliners. His relationship with her will be critical to Burma's future.

For decades the generals refused to speak to Ms Suu Kyi, the daughter of Burma's independence hero General Aung San, whose National League for Democracy party won 80 per cent of parliamentary seats in the 1990 elections.

But Ms Suu Kyi's views will be pivotal to how the international community reacts to developments in Burma in the coming weeks and months.

ASEAN nations should not endorse Burma's bid to chair their organisation until all political prisoners are released and there is a solid timetable for genuine human rights reforms.

Any easing of international economic sanctions should be tied to specific benchmarks, including guarantees for the future of 140,000 Burmese languishing in camps in Thailand, too afraid to return home.

Ms Suu Kyi believes there is an opportunity for change in the country while remaining cautiously optimistic it will occur.

''This is the kind of thing I could never have done [previously], so we are making progress, but we need more,'' she said in a recent video-link to a conference in New York. http://www.nationaltimes.com.au/opinion/politics/burmas-mooted-reforms-must-be-watched-closely-20111004-1l767.html
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The Myitsone Dam Decision in Burma
Posted: 10/4/11 03:18 PM ET
David Scott Mathieson
Burma Researcher, Human Rights Watch

Burmese President Thein Sein burnished his perception as a reformist last week by suspending one of the country's largest -- and potentially most destructive -- foreign investment projects. The Myitsone hydro-electric dam, the largest of seven dams to be constructed by the Beijing-controlled China Power Investment Corporation, would have flooded an area of more than 700 square kilometers, and displaced tens of thousands of villagers in northern Kachin State, close to the state capital of Myitkina. Several thousand have already been displaced by the first dam, built to provide the electricity for the larger ones in the series.

The dam project, affecting the Irrawaddy River, Burma's largest, was fast becoming one of the country's most contentious national issues. Its suspension goes against decades of state-directed resource grabs for Burma's neighbors and energy companies: logging, fisheries, oil and gas, and mining concessions sold off to China, Thailand, India, and other Asian and Western corporations.

The past few weeks did see some uncharacteristically open debate on the dam project in Burma, including public dissension from senior ministers. While some in Burma's parliament called for the project to be reviewed, the Electric Power Minister U Zaw Win, prior to the president's announcement, insisted: "we will not back down just because environmental groups are against it ... we will not back down now in fact we are to go ahead." Democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi joined prominent artists and writers at an art exhibition about the Irrawaddy River, and the regulated Burmese media debated it. There has not been open discussion and high-level disagreement, at least not publicly, on an issue like this in Burma for a long time.

It's less clear that the suspension represents Thein Sein's newfound support for the environment or a more open society. Kachin environmental groups and community leaders in the dam areas and others have done exemplary work in documenting the project and its effects on Kachin State, which has encouraged more overt community activism in recent years. A recently leaked 900-page environmental impact survey on the dam project, produced by Burmese and Chinese government experts, was damning in saying the project was ill-advised. And it didn't help matters that the Myitsone dam site is situated just 100 kilometers from a major earthquake fault line.

The breakdown of the 17-year ceasefire with the Kachin Independence Organization in June was another headache for the government. The dam project had become a flashpoint for the renewal of armed conflict between the Burmese army and ethnic Kachin rebels that has so far displaced more than 30,000 civilians.

Many important questions remain: Is the Myitsone project on its way to being cancelled or is the government just waiting for the outrage to die down? Will the local community have a role in future discussions about the project, such as whether the mega damn at Myitsone will be reworked into a number of smaller dams? Did the Chinese agree to the suspension, and was it a temporary trade-off because China wants to ensure the strategically more important oil and gas pipelines? The answers to these questions are not just crucial for environmental protection and foreign investment in Burma, but for whether the Burmese government's claims of being more open and accountable are for real.

Meanwhile, there are more than enough energy projects in Burma that have potentially disastrous community and environmental and human rights impacts: the hydro dams on the Salween River, including the pipelines, massive Chinese agri-business ventures in the north that involve land-grabbing and semi-feudal working conditions, the Dawei (Tavoy) port project and industrial park in southern Burma, and the Kaladan River and road project being pursued by Indian firms in western Burma. Add to this the widespread practice of the Burmese military to seize land for their own business interests, or to hand over to military connected companies, and there are more than enough abusive practices that adversely affect both ethnic minorities in conflict areas and the general population. These and many more environmental and human rights abuses have been well documented by community groups for several years.

Overall, people in Burma should be heartened by the suspension of the dam project. It is tempting to believe it signals a significant shift in the autocratic, plunder-and-profit mentality of the Burmese authorities. But it is doubtful. If it does lead to more open community discussion of development projects, and more regulation and oversight, it is a good thing, but don't expect the government's rapacious commercial practices to reform in a major way anytime soon. If the Myitsone decision is to have far-reaching consequences for sustainable development in Burma, it is up to Burma's leaders to ensure that their decisions about business are about people too.

David Scott Mathieson is a Senior Researcher in the Asia Division of Human Rights Watch. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/david-scott-mathieson/the-myitsone-dam-decision_b_992964.html
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The Diplomat
Burma Bamboozles China
By Luke Hunt
October 5, 2011

Burma is becoming ever more baffling. Its decision to bite the usually friendly hand of Beijing by ditching plans to construct a massive dam flies in the face of everything the ruling elite had stood for in recent decades.

The Sunday Bangkok Post best summed up the prevailing mood at the weekend, writing: ‘It’s hard to tell what exactly is happening with our neighbours at the moment – and academics, journalists and professional Burma watchers seem just as bamboozled as the rest of us. Are we seeing real change under the newly “elected” civilian government, or is it the old wolf slipping seamlessly into sheep’s clothing?’

To be fair to Burma’s leadership, President Thein Sein has pushed his country in directions few would have thought possible prior to last November’s poll, which was widely condemned as a sham in the West.

Rapprochement with pro-democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi appears to be going well since she was released from prison almost a year ago. Naypyidaw has also promised the UN General Assembly it will release more political prisoners. The United States, Britain, Australia, the European Union, the United Nations and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations have all indicated they will engage the civilian government in an attempt to win real reforms. Burma for its part desperately wants to hold the ASEAN chair in 2014.

Now, Thein Sein has gone much further, saying construction of a controversial hydroelectric dam has been suspended because it’s not wanted by the people. The Chinese, who were building the $3.6 billion Myitsone Dam, are upset, and Beijing has urged Burma to reconsider.

Disputes between the pair are rare. But this time, one Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman went so far as to say that relevant countries must ‘guarantee the lawful and legitimate rights and interests of Chinese companies.’

Opposition to damming the Irrawaddy River in the country’s northeast had been low key, not unusual in Burma. It was to be built by China Power Investment Corp. which would sell on the bulk of the electricity produced back home, where the motherland is still undergoing rapid industrialization.

Thousands of villagers were to be displaced in an area that’s prone to earthquakes and routine clashes between the Burmese military and Kachin rebels.

An area the size of Singapore was to be submerged. Small street protests and a letter from Suu Kyi urging the dam’s construction be suspended had been sent out, but no one really believed Thien Sein would act.

His decision is tantalizing to observers, and has had some speculating that the winds of change might really be blowing through Burma.

If Thein Sein’s announcement marks a genuine shift in policy, including toward China, then the country really could be on the right path. But it’s still very early days. Few observers would be surprised if, as The Sunday Bangkok Post noted, the recent reforms prove to be little more than a proverbial wolf in sheep’s clothing. http://the-diplomat.com/asean-beat/2011/10/05/burma-bamboozles-china/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+the-diplomat+%28The+Diplomat+RSS%29
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JAKARTA GLOBE
What Made Burma Shelve the Chinese Megadam? Hint: It Wasn’t Public Opinion
Bertil Lintner | October 05, 2011

At a time when Asian countries are increasingly worried about China’s growing assertiveness, Burma’s rejection of a huge Chinese hydroelectric dam project has raised new questions: Is this a rare victory for civil society in a repressive country? Or does it indicate an internal dispute over the country’s dependence on China?

Regardless of the answers to these questions, the public dispute over a close ally’s project marks a new stage in the Burma-China relationship.

On Sept. 30, Burma’s new president, Thein Sein, sent a statement to the country’s Parliament announcing that a joint venture with China to build a megadam in Burma’s far north had been suspended because “it was contrary to the will of the people.” The $3.6 billion Myitsone Dam would have been world’s 15th tallest and submerged 766 square kilometers of forestland, an area bigger than Singapore.

It’s unclear if Chinese counterparts were consulted before the decision was made public. Burma has depended on its powerful northern neighbor for trade, political support and arms since the West shunned the Burmese regime following massacres of pro-democracy demonstrators in 1988.

Public opinion may have played its part. Under the 2006 deal, 90 percent of power generated from Myitsone would have gone to China. Anger over environmental destruction galvanized people against the regime in a way the country had not seen for years. The dam was a dagger in the heart of the Kachins, the area’s predominant ethnic minority. Pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi threw her support behind the anti-dam movement. Many made their voices heard over Facebook — a new tool for anti-regime activists.

People inside Burma can’t protest openly, but “Save the Irrawaddy” meetings have been held in Rangoon. Burmese exiles have staged anti-Chinese demonstrations outside Burmese and Chinese embassies abroad. Anti-Chinese sentiment is growing in Burma, especially in northern Kachin state, where Chinese influence is the strongest. According to reports, many Chinese nationals working there have fled to their home country following the outbreak of hostilities between the Kachin Independence Army and government forces.

Despite all that, however, the Burmese regime has never cared enough about public opinion to let it impact something as monumental as this. More likely, dissatisfaction within the armed forces over China’s growing influence in the country was the real reason for suspending the dam project.

The relationship between Burma and its northern neighbor has historically been strained. After Gen. Ne Win staged a coup in 1962 against a Burmese government that had long maintained a cordial relationship with Beijing, the Chinese prepared for all-out support of the insurgent Communist Party of Burma. Anti-Chinese riots in Rangoon in 1967 — orchestrated, ironically, by domestic military authorities to deflect public anger over a deteriorating economy — provided an excuse for the Chinese to intervene. On New Year’s Day 1968, armed CPB units entered northeastern Burma from China’s Yunnan province. In the next decade, China poured more aid into the CPB effort than any other communist movement outside of Indochina.

Mao’s death in 1976,however, and the subsequent return to power of pragmatist Deng Xiaoping marked the beginning of the end to massive Chinese aid for the CPB. Supporting revolutionary movements in the region was no longer in Beijing’s interest. Still, China coveted Burma’s forests, rich mineral and natural gas deposits and hydroelectric potential.

After the bloody 1988 suppression of a pro-democracy movement in Burma, Sino-Burmese relations grew by leaps and bounds. By 1991, apart from supplying Burma with vast quantities of military hardware, the Chinese had sent experts to assist in a series of infrastructure projects.

More recently, China has provided Burma with low-interest loans, and Chinese investment in the sanctions-hit economy is substantial. This is particularly true of the energy sector. For example, an agreement on a gas pipeline from the Bay of Bengal will be supplemented with an oil pipeline designed to allow Chinese ships carrying Middle Eastern oil to skirt the congested and pirate-ridden Malacca Strait.

This heavy dependence has led to consternation among many Burmese military leaders. They have not forgotten yesterday’s battles against the China-backed CPB, nor their comrades who were killed by Chinese arms. Aung Lynn Htut, a former intelligence officer who sought political asylum in the United States in 2005, drew on such memories in a September commentary for The Irrawaddy, a Burmese exile newsmagazine run out of Thailand.

China has called for “talks” after Thein Sein’s proclamation, but skeptics point out that a 2009 internal report by the China Power Investment Corporation, the company behind the dam, had already called for the project to be scrapped, saying its size was unnecessary. China still has contracts to build six other megadams in Burma.

That Thein Sein dared to make his such a public pronouncement reveals a wrinkle in Sino-Burmese relations, and it signals a possible return for Burma to its former policy of strict neutrality and non-alignment.

Some academic observers assert that Beijing’s influence has been exaggerated. China, according to author Andrew Selth, “has not been as successful in winning Burma’s confidence as often is reported.” The source of Burma’s arms supply offers evidence: Although China has provided Burma with up to $1.6 billion worth of military hardware since 1989, the regime has recently turned to Russia, Ukraine and North Korea.

Instead of democratizing the country, Burma’s new government seems to have chosen to play “the China card,” an attempt to win the support of the West. An unsigned opinion piece in The Bangkok Post, written by a Burmese government official, reportedly approved at the highest level in Naypyidaw, lays out its position: “We do not want our country to become a satellite state of the Chinese government. However, Western countries should not force us into a corner where we have no option but to increasingly rely on China.”

In this context, “force” means insistence on genuine democratic reforms. From the Burmese regime’s point of view, improved relations with the West could be accomplished simply by playing up the Chinese threat, with the hope of diminishing Western criticism of the regime.

But the regime has time and again stressed that how the country is governed is an internal matter. The West must decide if it will play along.

YaleGlobal

Bertil Lintner is a Swedish journalist based in Thailand and the author of “Blood Brothers: The Criminal Underworld of Asia.” http://www.thejakartaglobe.com/opinion/what-made-burma-shelve-the-chinese-megadam-hint-it-wasnt-public-opinion/469582
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Suu Kyi: Tutu, Mandela 'inspire Burma's quest for peace'
KATHARINE CHILD JOHANNESBURG, SOUTH AFRICA - Oct 05 2011 07:45

Nobel Laureate Aung San Suu Kyi says the people of Burma seeking peace and reconciliation have been inspired by SA's great men: Nelson Mandela and Desmond Tutu.

It didn't matter that Nobel Laureate and Burma pro-democracy activist Aung San Suu Kyi was speaking from Burma in a prerecorded video; when she finished addressing the auditorium at the University of Johannesburg on Tuesday night, the audience rose to their feet and applauded her.

"The peoples of Burma want peace, they want freedom, they want security, they want reconciliation. All these you have taught us we can achieve through courage and endeavour. We look up to your great men -- Nelson Mandela and Desmond Tutu".

Suu Kyi's message was broadcast at a university graduation ceremony when she awarded an honorary doctorate on Tuesday night. The university said they chose to honour her because of her "revolutionary journey to bring democratic change to Myanmar, formally known as Burma".

Suu Kyi was awarded a Nobel Peace Prize in 1991 for her activism in peacefully protesting against the military junta that has led Burma with an iron first since the sixties. When Suu Kyi returned from living overseas to Burma in 1988 to see her ill mother, she started to lead pro-democracy protests against the military government.

Suu Kyi's party, the National League for Democracy, won elections two years later but the military remained in control. Suu Kyi was kept under house arrest where she has spent 15 of the past 22 years.

She was released in November last year but told a group of activists and academics via a live-video link-up at UJ on Monday night that 1 300 political prisoners remain behind bars.

She said that she believed the widely published figure of about 2 000 Burmese political prisoners was not accurate and that she had heard the revised figure was lower. She said she hoped some prisoners would be released in the coming weeks but would have to wait and see.

"But even if there is one single political prisoner in the country, it is too many" she said. "One of the most important [pieces of] evidence of genuine democracy is that there should no political prisoners."

No Democracy, No Freedom. No Human Rights
Suu Kyi's first cousin, Dr Sein Win, flew from the United States to accept the honorary degree on her behalf. It is believed that Suu Kyi does not leave Burma for fear she will not be allowed back into the country. http://mg.co.za/article/2011-10-05-suu-kyi-tutu-mandela-inspire-burmas-quest-for-peace/
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Talking about the Weather? Thai PM Visits Burma Today
By SIMON ROUGHNEEN Wednesday, October 5, 2011

BANGKOK — Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra visits Burma today and meet the country's first civilian head of government in five decades, but passes up the chance to meet possibly Asia's best-known female political figure, Aung San Suu Kyi.

The Thai PM is scheduled to meet the Burmese president, former general and junta prime minister Thein Sein, on her first official visit to Thailand's energy-rich neighbor and major trading partner. She is accompanied by Deputy Prime Minister Yongyuth Wichaidit and Foreign Minister Surapong Tovichakchaikul.

“The first reason for the trip is to introduce herself as the prime minister of Thailand,” said Thai government spokesperson Titima Chaiseng.

Trade, investment and business links are high on the agenda, said Titima. Among the subjects to be discussed is the multibillion-dollar Dawei/Tavoy “megaport” and highway project being developed by Italian-Thai Development Co., which will create a Chinese-style special economic zone on Burma's southeastern coast.

The Karen National Liberation Army, an ethnic armed group active in the area, says that it is preventing work from continuing on the project until the Burmese government conducts consultations with local residents and carries out an environmental impact assessment.

Thailand is Burma’s second largest foreign investor behind China, according to figures released by Burma’s Ministry of National Planning and Development in 2010.

According to the Thai PM's office, Yingluck will spend approximately twelve hours in Burma's capital Naypidaw, departing Bangkok at 1 pm on Wednesday and returning to Thailand “around midnight.”

Spokesperson Titima would not say whether the political situation in Burma will be discussed, but mentioned that “Thailand appreciated the democratic development in Myanmar [Burma].”

Speaking by telephone from Rangoon, Ohn Myint, a spokesperson for Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy (NLD), told The Irrawaddy that “if the Thai prime minister wants to know the real situation in Burma, she needs to meet with the opposition, she needs to meet with the ethnic groups, and she should talk to Daw Aung San Suu Kyi.”

Despite recent pledges on reform, including a surprise decision to suspend the Chinese-funded Myitsone dam in Kachin State, fighting in ethnic minority areas of Burma continues, and there are almost 2,000 political prisoners in jail.

Kraisak Choonhavan, a former MP from Thailand's opposition Democrat Party and a vocal critic of Burma's military rulers, said, “I do not think the current Thai government cares or even knows about human rights violations in the ethnic areas of Burma.”

“I fear the trip will be all about re-establishing the scandalous style of Thaksin's relations with the regime,” said Kraisak, referring to allegations that former Thai PM Thaksin Shinawatra—Yingluck's brother—forged inappropriate commercial links with the Burmese military rulers.

Nicholas Farrelly, a Southeast Asia-focused academic at Australian National University, said the Thai delegation is unlikely to raise political or human rights issues with the Burmese government.

“They understand that every country in Southeast Asia has its own problems on that score,” he said.

With Thailand's government pledging a renewed “war on drugs,” the growing narcotics trade along the porous Thail-Burmese border will also be up for discussion, but the prime minister's spokesperson could not say whether other important bilateral issues—such as the closure of the “Friendship Bridge” linking Mae Sot in Thailand with the Burmese town of Myawaddy, or the future of around 140,000 Burmese refugees in camps along the border—will be on the agenda. She did say, however, that refurbishment of the Mae Sot-Myawaddy bridge will be mentioned, hinting that the bridge could be re-opened soon.

Closure of the border has not only hurt trade between the two countries, but also worsened the plight of the two to three million Burmese migrant workers in Thailand. Routinely subjected to trafficking and extortion and now forced to enter Thailand through unofficial channels, migrants are more vulnerable than ever to abuse, say experts.

Andy Hall, a migrant worker rights expert at Mahidol University in Bangkok, said that both sides “need to work together to solve the serious and pressing problems both countries are facing managing migration and combating trafficking.”

Hall told The Irrawaddy that it would be beneficial if the Thai PM suggested that the Burmese authorities open more migrant verification centers in Thailand to facilitate the hundreds of thousands of Burmese migrants who have yet to register themselves legally in Thailand, a process that first requires the prior acquisition of official Burmese papers.

It is unclear whether such specifics will be discussed today, however, or whether the finer points will await meetings between the relevant ministers from both countries.

However, according to spokesperson Titima, a highlight of the visit will be the Thai government's presentation of meteorological instruments worth 40 million baht (US $1.3 million) to its Burmese counterpart.
http://www.irrawaddy.org/article.php?art_id=22196
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US Remains Tough on Burma Sanctions
By LALIT K JHA Wednesday, October 5, 2011

WASHINGTON—Although encouraged by the recent steps taken by the new Burmese government, the United States on Tuesday said that Burma needs to do more before the Obama administration can consider lifting economic sanctions.

“We are encouraged by some of the progress that we’ve seen in Burma, but we think that more needs to be done,” a US State Department spokesperson, Victoria Nuland, told reporters at her daily news conference.

The US government is continuing that dialogue with the Burmese government, she said referring to the two recent rounds of talks with the visiting Burmese foreign minister in New York and Washington.

During those meeting, the Burmese officials reportedly urged the State Department to lift US sanctions.

Meanwhile, speaking on the Senate floor, a prominent US senator noted recent developments in Burma, and said he hoped that a time would come when sanctions would not be needed against Burma.

“I am hopeful that the time will soon come when sanctions against the Burmese government will no longer be needed—that like South Africa in the early 1990s, the people of Burma will be able to free themselves from their own government,” Senator Mitch McConnell said.

Referring to a recent letter written by the Burmese Deputy Chief of Mission in Washington, who sought political asylum, McConnell said the letter to the US Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, indicated that the Burmese junta appears to maintain an iron grip on its people, and continues to carry out a foreign policy that is inimical to US interests.

“The United States must continue to deny this regime the legitimacy it craves by continuing sanctions, and these sanctions must remain in place until true democratic reform comes to the people of Burma,” he said.

Speaking on the Senate floor a week after the Senate passed a bill to extend sanctions against Burma by another year, McConnell said this overwhelming bipartisan support for sanctioning the junta reflects the clear view of the US Senate that the purportedly “new” Burmese regime that took office earlier this year so far appears little different from the “old” regime.

“The casual observer could be excused for thinking that things have changed dramatically for the better in Burma over the past year,” he said. “After all, elections were held last fall, a new regime took office earlier this year, and Aung San Suu Kyi was freed. However, as our experience with Burma has taught us, things there usually require a closer look.”

The “new regime,” he said, appears to be essentially the junta with only the thinnest democratic veneer. The Burmese Constitution, which places great power in the hands of the military, cannot be amended without the blessing of the armed forces. Furthermore, those in Parliament are limited in how they can criticize the regime.

“The only legitimately good news was Suu Kyi’s release,” McConnell said. “Yet the extent of her freedom to travel remains an open question. Moreover, despite her release, nearly 2,000 other political prisoners remain behind bars in Burma. They are no better off than before. Neither are the hundreds of thousands of refugees and displaced persons who are without a home due to the repressive policies of the junta.” http://www.irrawaddy.org/article.php?art_id=22194
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Burma: Soldiers perish without cause in Kachin frontline
By Zin Linn Oct 05, 2011 11:57PM UTC

Political analysts and observers have been deeply concerned about widespread war in Kachin State. People are disappointing with the Thein Sein government for breaking every promise with the ethnic ceasefire groups.

KIA officials repeatedly said the civil war will spread across Kachin and Shan states if the government starts a war with the KIO. The latest series of armed clashes in Kachin state have prompted observers to think that intentional warfare in the border regions may not be avoidable.

The government’s wrong step of handling the Kachin topic seems to be pushing the nation into an abysmal gorge of tragedies. New military offensives of Burma Army on the Kachin, Karen and Shan armed groups will steer the nation into a ruthless poverty trap.

The National League for Democracy (NLD) led by Aung San Suu Kyi released a statement dated June 20 calling for both the government and the 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 the decade-long political crisis of the country.

An open letter dated July-28 released by Burma’s pro-democracy leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, remarkably called for a cessation of hostilities between the Burmese government led by President Thein Sein, and ethnic armed groups, including the KIO, Karen National Union (KNU), New Mon State Party (NMSP) and the Shan State Army (SSA).

However, the government turns a deaf ear to public calling for peace-talks with Kachin ethnic group.

Although government troops have suffered heavy casualties, the decision-makers are still dragging their feet to stop the useless confrontation. They have no sympathy for their fallen soldiers.

Ongoing civil war in Kachin State has been intensifying in various fronts. On Tuesday, Burma armed forces expended their offensive in central Kachin State. The fighting took place around Ja Ing Yang Village, near Sinbo, in central Kachin State.

The People’s Army soldiers under the KIA’s 3rd Brigade in eastern Kachin, geared up for self-protective warfare. During fighting against the People’s Army under the KIA, several government soldiers died in action, referring local residents Kachin News Group said Wednesday.

As the momentum increases in the civil war in Burma’s northern Kachin State, about 40 Burma Army’s soldiers were killed in a single day, the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) source in the war zone confirmed on Tuesday.

According to one KIA officer in the frontline, there were no KIA casualties in Tuesday-battle.

Skirmishing between government troops and Kachin people’s armed forces has been taking place daily in different areas in the Shadan Pa Valley, close to Ja Ing Yang, according to local inhabitants.

As said by KIA officials in Laiza, since the last week of September, hundreds of government troops have arrived in those areas likely to launch a new offensive against the KIA headquarters at Laiza.

The KIA strongholds at Laiza – Alen Bum, Laisin Bum, Hpalap Bum and Mai Ja Yang – in eastern Kachin State is in conjunction with the Chinese border. It is situated approximately 25 miles west of the current battle-sites.

The Burma Army is heightening its offensives against the KIA strongholds, since Shadan Pa and Ja Ing Yang are situated at strategic positions, KIA officials said. The fighting continues in the two areas, natives in the war zone said. There are casualties in daily basic.

The President of Burma should take into consideration that all the fallen soldiers – Burmese or Kachin – are citizens of this nation as well as manpower resources of the underdeveloped country. If the new president and the government truly want to reconstruct the country into a democratic and developed society, all the wars with respective ethnic rebels including KIO/KIA must be immediately stopped.

If President Thein Sein has genuine inspiration of poverty alleviation, he must stop all forms of civil conflict that make the country underprivileged in the region. Most analysts agree that allowing civil war and saying poverty alleviation looks like an impractical guiding principle.

So, it is really important for the president to end the civil war, especially war against Kachin. By doing so, president has to show the country is on the right reform path and can gain trust domestically and internationally. http://asiancorrespondent.com/66572/burma-soldiers-perish-without-cause-in-kachin-frontline/
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Burma: Kachin Conflict Escalates As Talk Of Change Grows
Wed, 2011-10-05 00:27 — editor
London, 05 October, (Asiantribune.com):

Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW) is deeply concerned by reports of a deteriorating humanitarian situation in Kachin State, Burma. Information received by CSW from Kachin sources indicate an escalation in the Burma Army’s offensive against Kachin civilians, at a time when the regime in Burma is talking about peace and national reconciliation. Over 20,000 Kachin civilians have been displaced as a result.

In the past two months, the Burma Army has repeatedly attacked Kachin villages. Civilians have been taken for forced labor, raped, tortured and killed. At the same time, Burma’s new President, Thein Sein, has met democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi, called for peace talks with ethnic nationalities, and responded to popular opinion by suspending plans for a major dam project at Myitsone, Kachin State, and worth over £2 billion.

On 20 August, Burma Army soldiers stationed in Je-U village, Man Si Township fired mortars at Nam Gau village. The village school teacher’s house was hit by a mortar shell, while the teacher, Mai Awng, was tutoring students inside. A six year-old child, Hpaula Htu, was killed and four people injured, including the teacher, her seven year-old daughter and two children, aged seven and six.

On 16 September, soldiers from Light Infantry Unit 387 arrested 12 Kachin villagers aged between 14 and 70, from Namhpathka village, Momauk Township, ten miles from a hydropower project at Taping. The villagers, accused of supporting the Kachin Independence Army (KIA), were tied with ropes, detained at the army base and severely tortured, before being released on 19 September.

On 21 September, Mr Tam Gam and his wife Roi Lam Ja Ngai, both aged 24, were seriously injured by landmines on a Roman Catholic prayer mountain near Jahtuzup, Phakant Township, while they were gathering bamboo. Rou Lam Ja Ngai’s right leg was blown off below the knees and her left leg was seriously injured. Her husband was injured in his face and chin.

These reports have been confirmed by the Kachin Independence Organisation (KIO), along with reports of increasing battles between soldiers of the Burma Army and the KIA. In June, the regime launched a new offensive against the Kachin, ending a 17-year ceasefire. According to the Kachin Relief Action Network for IDPs and Refugees (RANIR), at least 21,298 villagers have been displaced by the new conflict.

On 26 September, the Chairman of the KIO’s Central Committee, Lanyaw Zawng Hra, wrote to UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, calling for international help to end the conflict in Burma. “The civil war …, which is based on ethnic conflict, directly affects the regional development and stability of the neighbouring countries as well. Therefore KIO is humbly calling for all stakeholders and international communities, such as United Nations, ASEAN, and our bordering countries, to help us find a solution towards ending our civil war and finally achieving national reconciliation.”

CSW’s East Asia Team Leader, Benedict Rogers, said: “The escalation in attacks in Kachin State is in marked contrast to the regime’s rhetoric about peace, and the signs of change that may be seen in other aspects of Burmese politics. We warmly welcome the talks between the regime and Aung San Suu Kyi, President Thein Sein’s recent decision to abandon the Myitsone dam in the face of public opinion, his offer of peace talks with the ethnic nationalities and the prospect of a general amnesty for political prisoners. We encourage President Thein Sein to continue on this path and, if there is substantial change, the international community must be prepared to respond positively and proportionately. However, if the regime is genuine, it much match rhetoric with action, end the horrific human rights violations in the ethnic areas and declare a nationwide ceasefire. We urge the military to stop its attacks on Kachin civilians, end its campaign of terror in all ethnic states, and engage in a meaningful dialogue with the ethnic nationalities to bring an end to decades of war and suffering in Burma. We also call on the international community to provide urgently needed humanitarian assistance to the tens of thousands of Kachin displaced along Burma’s border with China. There is much talk now about an opportunity for change in Burma. It is time to seize that opportunity, and turn it into an opportunity for peace, reconciliation and rebuilding.”

- Asian Tribune - http://www.asiantribune.com/news/2011/10/04/burma-kachin-conflict-escalates-talk-change-grows