Asian Correspondent - Kachin rebels shot down government’s copter as Burma Army continues war
By Zin Linn Jan 07, 2012 1:41AM UTC
Officials from the Kachin Independence Organization’s armed wing have confirmed that on January 4 their fighters shot down a Burmese army transport helicopter in northern Kachin State, Kachin News Group said Friday.
The pilot of the Russian-built helicopter died in the smash, after crash landing in a paddy field near Sinlum Bum village in N’Mawk (Momauk) Township, said Zau Seng a Kachin Independence Army (KIA) officer stationed on the front line.
As said by Zau Seng, after KIA fighters fired their small arms at the helicopter, it was severely damaged and also failed attempt to drop off supplies at a government military-base near Mu Bum Mountain.
The transport helicopter started on generating smoke after repeatedly hit by machine gun fire from troops from the KIA’s 3rd Brigade, quoting eyewitnesses’ report Kachin News Group said. The helicopter crashed several miles away from the Mu Bum base during a visible retreat to its home base in Manmaw.
The remains of the helicopter were discovered the following day by local villagers.
Fighting between the KIA and government forces has continued unabated for nearly seven months, despite President Thein Sein has instructed the army to cease the Kachin offensive on December 10. Then, a question comes out that why does the commander-in-chief Gen. Min Aung Hlaing turn a deaf ear to the president. Is it a trick played by president and the army boss? Or, is the band of soldiers against the president’s reform plan?
In his message to the 64th Anniversary Independence Day, President Thein Sein says: “Unity and cooperation of the entire national people are instrumental to building the Republic of the Union of Myanmar into a modern, developed democratic nation. If national solidarity disintegrated, the goal of democracy could not be achieved.”
While President is saying to amity and unison among the ethnic groups on 4 January Independence Day, his armed forces have been fighting fiercely against the Kachin Independence Organization in the Kachin State up to date. It is inconsistent terminology of the president since the regime has been launching war against the Kachin rebels in full swing.
Although Burma’s military-backed government has kept quiet to release the number of Burmese soldiers killed in action during the Kachin offensive, KIA sources say the Burmese army has sustained its worst losses in more than two decades. Some experienced Burmese military observers have supported a claim that the Burma Army’s Generals take no notice of the safety of their own badly trained recruit soldiers.
The latest series of armed clashes in Kachin state have prompted observers to believe that the futile war in the border regions may not be preventable.
The Thein Sein government seems to be uninterested ending hostilities upon Kachin Independence organization. So, it is obvious the government is not heading toward democratic system. As an alternative, it attempts to get hold of the Kachin State wickedly.
In a recent interview with The Associated Press, opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi made a comment Thursday: “I am concerned about how much support there is in the military for changes. In the end that’s the most important factor, how far the military are prepared to cooperate with reform principles.”
Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi said addressing the country’s long-lasting ethnic conflicts is predictable the more fundamental issue in due course, since there is not ethnic unification it will be very hard for all to build up a strong democracy.
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Myanmar's Suu Kyi, UK's Hague in tune on sanctions
By Martin Petty | Reuters – 5 hrs ago
YANGON (Reuters) - British Foreign Secretary William Hague and Myanmar's pro-democracy leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, set out similar conditions for the lifting of sanctions imposed on the country under the previous military regime at an historic meeting on Friday.
Western countries are cautiously renewing ties with the civilian government in place since last March and Hague, in the former Burma for a two-day visit, has set out four conditions for the easing of sanctions.
Those are the release of hundreds of political detainees, an end to human rights abuses by the army, an effort to resolve ethnic conflicts and the holding of free and fair elections.
Asked at a news conference what she wanted to see before sanctions should be lifted, Suu Kyi referred to what Hague, standing beside her, had said the day before.
"All political prisoners should be released and there should be all efforts made to put an end to all ethnic conflict within our country. Certainly we would want to see free and fair by-elections," she said.
At a later news conference at the end of his visit, Hague was asked how quickly he wanted his conditions met.
"My view is they should be completed as soon as possible. It's important to bear in mind the European Union makes an important decision on sanctions in April this year," he said.
The EU reviews sanctions each year. Last April, after the transition to a civilian government, it lifted travel bans and asset freezes affecting a number of top government officials.
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Myanmar Special Report: http://link.reuters.com/jaz65s
Graphic factbox on Myanmar: http://link.reuters.com/dyf65s
Timeline on Aung San Suu Kyi: http://link.reuters.com/cyf65s
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Hague and Suu Kyi spoke to the media on the lawn of her lakeside home, where she spent years under house arrest until her release days after a general election in November 2010.
Scores of journalists were in attendance, photographers and television crews scrambling to get shots of them as they strolled around the grounds after their talks.
"I hope we're at a stage where we can say a long-held dream now has a chance of being realized, but there's so much work to be done. The long darkness in which the people of this country have lived may be coming to an end," Hague said.
He is the first foreign minister from the former colonial power to visit Myanmar since 1955. The army seized power in a 1962 coup and remains the country's most powerful institution.
BALANCING ACT
The new civilian administration quickly embarked on political and economic reforms last year, to the surprise of many, given the number of former junta officials in its ranks.
Other developed countries are cautiously seeking to engage with Myanmar's new rulers, keen to improve living conditions in the country but also to let their companies invest in its rich natural resources, which are already being exploited by Asian countries such as China, Thailand and India.
Two Yangon-based sources said on Friday Myanmar had awarded 10 onshore oil and gas blocks to eight firms in its biggest energy tender in years and was offering nine offshore blocks.
The winning firms were mostly from Asia, the sources, with direct knowledge of the deals, told Reuters.
At his closing news conference, Hague stressed that political and economic reform went hand in hand.
"It's essential for the economic future that the political process for democracy is maintained and completed. Only then will there be an economic relationship with the European Union and United States and only then will foreign investors have the confidence to invest here," he said.
Hague is in a tricky situation, wanting to encourage the reformers led by President Thein Sein but liable to face criticism at home if he seems to be cozying up to former junta members, including Thein Sein, still pulling the strings.
"I think they're sincere, particularly the president," Hague said earlier.
"The risk of how foreign governments engage with this is that we assume it's all done and forget that this is only part way through," he added. "We must not relax our efforts prematurely. That's the risk we must guard against."
Suu Kyi, the daughter of the leader of the campaign for independence from Britain, is important because of her influence at home and abroad.
Analysts and diplomats say that if she withdrew her long-standing support for sanctions, that would make it easier for Britain and others to scale down the embargoes.
Suu Kyi has shown a willingness to compromise and plans to run for parliament in by-elections on April 1.
The new government may be happy to see her there: Suu Kyi and her party will give the assembly more legitimacy but it will still be controlled by an army-dominated party plus military representatives who have a quarter of the seats.
The authorities formally registered her National League for Democracy (NLD) as an authorized party on Thursday.
Hague met members of the former junta now running the nominally civilian administration in the capital, Naypyitaw, on Thursday, urging them to release all remaining political prisoners and ensure the by-elections were fair.
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton made a landmark visit to Myanmar late last year, seeking the same reforms and offering similar concessions.
On Thursday, the European Union said it planned to open a representative office in the main city, Yangon.
Britain expressed guarded optimism after the release of 230 political prisoners last October but as many as 600 may remain behind bars.
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Exclusive - Myanmar awards onshore oil, gas blocks
KUALA LUMPUR | Fri Jan 6, 2012 10:27am GMT
(Reuters) - Myanmar awarded 10 onshore oil and gas blocks to eight firms in its biggest energy tender in years and is now offering nine offshore blocks, two Yangon-based sources with direct knowledge of the deals told Reuters on Friday.
The winning firms were mostly from Asia, including Malaysia's Petronas PETR.UL and Thailand's PTT Exploration and Production PTTE.BK, as western firms have shied away from the country.
Myanmar has been moving fast to implement political reforms and attract investment, drawing praise from western nations but no easing of sanctions that analysts say may see oil majors miss out on opportunities.
The political opening has gathered pace since the tender closed on August 23, and could see bids from further afield for the next round, with one of the sources saying Japanese firms had shown an interest.
Myanmar, whose gas reserves are a tenth of Australia's, failed to strike deals on the remaining 8 blocks as these were not seen as lucrative, said the sources, who could not be
identified as they are not authorised to speak to the media.
The Ministry of Energy and state owned Myanma Oil and Gas Enterprise are now offering nine offshore blocks, of which five are deepwater.
No details were available on the bidders for the offshore blocks.
"The Myanmar Ministry of Energy has asked for proposals. Some oil and gas companies have come for the data presentations. There has been a lot more interest in the deepwater blocks coming from the Japanese," said the first source.
Japanese Trade Minister Yukio Edano visits Myanmar on January 12-14 with a business delegation that includes the president of Japan's top refiner JX Nippon Oil & Energy and representatives of trading houses Marubeni (8002.T), Mitsui & Co (8031.T) and Itochu (8001.T), among others.
A trade ministry official said the trip would promote cooperation in the energy and mining field, including pushing for investment in oil and natural gas in Myanmar.
Myanmar's proven gas reserves at 11.8 trillion cubic feet at end-2010, or 0.2 percent of the world's total according to the BP Statistical review, have drawn interest from China and India where resilient economic growth is fueling energy demand.
Southeast Asian countries are also facing rising demand to use cleaner-burning gas for power generation.
SOUTHEAST ASIA LEADS THE RACE
Countries in Southeast Asia bagged the bulk of the awards, led by Petronas and PTT winning two blocks each.
Petronas officials were not immediately available for comment.
Little known Indonesian firm PT ITSTECH Resources Asia won the rights to explore one block.
Interest from major, state linked Chinese players was lukewarm, paving the way for lesser-known Tianjin New Highland and Hong Kong-listed EPI Holding (0689.HK) to secure a block each, the sources said.
With limited interest from the usually aggressive Chinese resource firms, India's Jubilant Energy also bagged one production sharing block.
The sources said Switzerland-based Geopetrol International Holdings Inc secured the rights for a marginal oil field. Russian-linked CIS Nobel Oil Company also won a production sharing contract for one oil and gas field.
OIL AND GAS GOODWILL
Myanmar's aggressive oil and gas pitch to investors comes as western diplomats hold talks with pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi, whose political participation is now key for a civilian government hoping to end economic sanctions.
These trade embargoes were put in place over the past two decades due to the country's poor human rights record under the military junta, leaving the resource rich country poverty stricken.
After Myanmar's generals installed a new civilian government last year that initiated talks with Suu Kyi, released political prisoners and reached out to armed ethnic groups, hopes for an unwinding of sanctions have grown. On Friday, British Foreign Secretary William Hague met separately with Myanmar's government and Suu Kyi, seeking the same reforms and offering similar concessions as U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton did late last year.
"Myanmar is opening up its country and its oil and gas sector almost in unison with Clinton leading the way," said Victor Shum, an oil consultant at Purvin & Gertz in Singapore.
"Many western oil majors may take a wait and see approach with this due to the sanctions but in doing so, they could miss the boat," he added.
The second Yangon-based source said in the event of still weak interest from western and also Chinese oil companies for the deepwater and shallow blocks, Myanmar could fall back on investment from southeast Asian countries.
"If the Association of Southeast Asian Nations can have trust in Myanmar by giving it chairmanship (of the regional grouping), Myanmar can get their support for developing its oil and gas industry," said the source, referring to the 10-member bloc.
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Britain's Hague says Myanmar needs more reforms
By GRANT PECK | AP – 6 hrs ago
YANGON, Myanmar (AP) — British Foreign Secretary William Hague cautioned Friday while visiting Myanmar that foreign supporters of democracy must not slacken pressure on its military-backed government while reforms remain incomplete.
Hague is the first British foreign secretary to visit Myanmar in more than 50 years, following counterparts including U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton late last year, as nations try to nuture ties to the country and encourage its reforms.
Hague said after a meeting with Aung San Suu Kyi, head of the country's democracy movement, that while reforms undertaken by elected President Thein Sein raise hopes that democracy and freedom are within reach, the measures taken so far are insufficient.
"I hope we are at a stage where we can say that a long-held dream now has a chance of being realized," he said, but added much more must be done.
Britain and other nations instituted political and economic sanctions against Myanmar — also called Burma — because of repression by the previous military regime, and these pressures should not yet be lifted while political prisoners are still being held, Hague said.
Thein Sein's government, which came to power last year after elections in 2010, has released about 200 political prisoners, legalized labor unions and eased some restrictions on freedom of expression. However, it still holds some 600 to 1,700 political activists, some on long prison sentences, and critics fear that liberalization and conducted dialogue with Suu Kyi's democracy movement are minimal gestures aimed at appeasement.
Suu Kyi and her National League for Democracy party, however, have virtually endorsed the reform process by rejoining mainstream electoral politics after years of resistance to military rule.
The NLD won 1990 elections but the ruling junta detained Suu Kyi and other NLD figures for years and refused to allow parliament to be seated. Myanmar did not hold another election until November 2010, and the rules set by the military perpetuated its dominance in parliament and government. The NLD boycotted that election and was delisted as a result, but it was reinstated by the government Thursday, in time to run candidates in a by-election on April 1.
Hague, who met Thursday with Thein Sein, said he supported the president's reform efforts so far, but said much more needs to be done.
"It is not possible to say a country is free and democratic while people are still in prison on grounds of their political beliefs," he said, adding that such prisoners must be released before Britain supports a lifting of European Union restrictions against Myanmar.
Other areas of Britain's concern are improved humanitarian access to areas of ethnic conflict — the government is currently engaged in a brutal fight with the Kachin ethnic minority in the country's remote north — and openly free and fair by-elections.
"The risk is that we assume it's all done and forget that this is only part way through," Hague said, adding, "It's very important that we do not relax the pressure prematurely."
Suu Kyi, speaking alongside Hague after their meeting, said he reflected her movement's themes and aspirations exactly.
"In order to realize our dreams we have to work very hard indeed," she said, adding "We will work very hard and we are sure our friends will be with us at our side and together we will succeed in fulfilling the dreams of the people of Burma."
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Hague calls for new Myanmar era
By Hla Hla Htay | AFP – 3 hrs ago
William Hague called on Friday for "much more" work to be done in Myanmar before sanctions could be lifted, but he ended a historic visit saying the nation may be "on the cusp of a new era".
Hague, the first foreign minister of Myanmar's former colonial power to visit in over 50 years, saw democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi for formal talks Friday, and met top government members and ethnic leaders during his trip.
Before departing Yangon, he praised the reformist steps that have been made since the nominally civilian administration took power in March and said he was "encouraged" by a government pledge to release all political prisoners.
"My message is that if the country continues on this promising path, as we hope it will, we are ready to offer a new relationship based on friendship and partnership," he told reporters.
But he warned "much more needs to be done" if restrictive European Union measures were to be lifted.
"It is not possible to say a country is free and democratic while people are still in prison on the grounds of their political beliefs," he said.
Hague also called for free and fair by-elections in April and improved humanitarian access to ethnic conflict areas, where he urged meaningful dialogue with armed groups.
"It is very important that we do not relax the pressures prematurely," he said.
The EU and the United States both impose economic sanctions on Myanmar over its human rights record, including the imprisonment of hundreds of political prisoners.
After meeting Suu Kyi, Hague described himself as a "great admirer" of the Nobel peace laureate and her struggles for freedom and democracy in Myanmar, which celebrated 64 years of independence from British rule this week.
"Today it may again stand on the cusp of a new era," he said.
Myanmar has played host to a series of top international envoys in recent months after controversial 2010 elections heralded the end of decades of direct military rule.
Suu Kyi, who has grown cautiously positive about Myanmar's future recently, said she expected to live to see a "full democratic election" in Myanmar, in comments to the BBC Thursday before a dinner meeting with Hague.
After meeting with him again on Friday, she echoed Hague's calls for further reforms in her country and said she looked forward to the time when Britain and Myanmar's relationship becomes "mutually beneficial".
The Nobel laureate is on course to run in April 1 by-elections after her National League for Democracy (NLD) was officially allowed to register as a political party on Thursday.
Suu Kyi, who was freed from seven straight years of house arrest days after the November 2010 election, could be propelled into parliament by the upcoming poll, although the majority held by the army and ruling military-backed party will not be threatened.
Since taking office last year Thein Sein -- himself a former junta general -- has surprised observers by holding talks with Suu Kyi, suspending an unpopular Chinese-backed dam project and indicating a desire to reach out to the international community.
Some political prisoners have also been released but the government this week caused disappointment when it announced reduced jail terms for inmates but failed to issue a much-anticipated amnesty for detained dissidents.
Hague's trip, the first by a European Union foreign minister since the new government took power, is the latest round of international diplomacy aimed at urging on the budding reforms.
It follows that of US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who met Thein Sein and Suu Kyi during a trip to Myanmar at the end of last year.
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EU to open office in Myanmar
AFP – 21 hrs ago
The European Union will open an office in Myanmar's main city Yangon to manage aid programmes and play a "political role", the spokesman of the bloc's top diplomat Catherine Ashton said Thursday.
"We have agreed with the authorities in Myanmar to open a representative office in Yangon," Michael Mann told AFP.
"It will not be an EU delegation. It will be responsible for management of aid programmes but it will also have a political role," he said, adding that the office "will be managed by the EU delegation in Thailand and will open as soon as it is administratively possible".
The United States and European countries have imposed economic sanctions on Myanmar over its human rights record, including the imprisonment of about 2,000 political detainees, about 200 of whom were freed last month.
The EU has launched a "substantial review" of its policy towards Myanmar, Ashton said in November after the government allowed the party of democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi to re-register as a political party.
Suu Kyi has now been allowed to contest by-elections on April 1.
The 66-year-old opposition leader could enter parliament for the first time if she goes ahead with plans to contest the by-elections.
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Washington Post - British foreign secretary says Myanmar reforms are cause for hope, but not yet enough
By Associated Press, Updated: Friday, January 6, 3:27 AM
YANGON, Myanmar — British Foreign Secretary William Hague cautioned Friday while visiting Myanmar that foreign supporters of democracy must not slacken pressure on its military-backed government while reforms remain incomplete.
Hague is the first British foreign secretary to visit Myanmar in more than 50 years, following counterparts including U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton late last year, as nations try to nuture ties to the country and encourage its reforms.
Hague said after a meeting with Aung San Suu Kyi, head of the country’s democracy movement, that while reforms undertaken by elected President Thein Sein raise hopes that democracy and freedom are within reach, the measures taken so far are insufficient.
“I hope we are at a stage where we can say that a long-held dream now has a chance of being realized,” he said, but added much more must be done.
Britain and other nations instituted political and economic sanctions against Myanmar — also called Burma — because of repression by the previous military regime, and these pressures should not yet be lifted while political prisoners are still being held, Hague said.
Thein Sein’s government, which came to power last year after elections in 2010, has released about 200 political prisoners, legalized labor unions and eased some restrictions on freedom of expression. However, it still holds some 600 to 1,700 political activists, some on long prison sentences, and critics fear that liberalization and conducted dialogue with Suu Kyi’s democracy movement are minimal gestures aimed at appeasement.
Suu Kyi and her National League for Democracy party, however, have virtually endorsed the reform process by rejoining mainstream electoral politics after years of resistance to military rule.
The NLD won 1990 elections but the ruling junta detained Suu Kyi and other NLD figures for years and refused to allow parliament to be seated. Myanmar did not hold another election until November 2010, and the rules set by the military perpetuated its dominance in parliament and government. The NLD boycotted that election and was delisted as a result, but it was reinstated by the government Thursday, in time to run candidates in a by-election on April 1.
Hague, who met Thursday with Thein Sein, said he supported the president’s reform efforts so far, but said much more needs to be done.
“It is not possible to say a country is free and democratic while people are still in prison on grounds of their political beliefs,” he said, adding that such prisoners must be released before Britain supports a lifting of European Union restrictions against Myanmar.
Other areas of Britain’s concern are improved humanitarian access to areas of ethnic conflict — the government is currently engaged in a brutal fight with the Kachin ethnic minority in the country’s remote north — and openly free and fair by-elections.
“The risk is that we assume it’s all done and forget that this is only part way through,” Hague said, adding, “It’s very important that we do not relax the pressure prematurely.”
Suu Kyi, speaking alongside Hague after their meeting, said he reflected her movement’s themes and aspirations exactly.
“In order to realize our dreams we have to work very hard indeed,” she said, adding “We will work very hard and we are sure our friends will be with us at our side and together we will succeed in fulfilling the dreams of the people of Burma.”
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The Telegraph - Burma: William Hague raises prospects of sanctions being lifted by April
William Hague has held out the prospect of European Union sanctions against Burma being lifted in April if its release political prisoners and proves its democratic reforms are genuine.
By Dean Nelson, Rangoon
4:50PM GMT 06 Jan 2012
After meeting the country's democracy movement leader Aung Sang Suu Kyi, Mr Hague urged President Thein Sein to complete prisoner releases before the European Union's Foreign Affairs Council decides whether to renew sanctions at its meeting in April.
British officials later told The Daily Telegraph they believed the Burmese government could meet the conditions before the meeting is held. Mr Hague has asked his counterpart, foreign minister Wunna Maung Lwi, to visit Brussels ahead of the committee's review.
Earlier on Friday the Foreign Secretary welcomed President Thein Sein's "irreversible" political reforms but warned he had not yet done enough and needed to end delays in releasing political prisoner releases.
"Our role is to continue to urge the release of political prisoners, the holding of free and fair elections on April 1st and the granting of free humanitarian access to conflict areas.
All the ministers affirmed that they will release political prisoners. I urge them to do so quickly. The world is watching now and making up its mind now about events in this country. It's important to proceed without delay. The EU makes its decision in April, so the government here will want to bear that in mind," he said.
If Burma does continue down "this promising path" Britain is ready to "offer a new relationship based on friendship and partnership," he said.
Standing alongside Miss Suu Kyi, he spoke of Burma's "great potential," and described it as a "source of so much prosperity in the future." Throughout the day he sought to raise the government's hopes of an end to sanctions while warning them the reforms announced and the just over 200 political prisoners released so far are not enough.
"It is important that we don't relax the pressure prematurely and are clear on what we want the government here to do for us to change our policies It's not possible to say a country is fair and democratic while people are still in prison on the grounds of their political beliefs. It is vital for them to be released if restrictive EU measures are to be removed," he said.
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1/06/2012 @ 5:28AM
Forbes - Why Myanmar's One Percent May Hold Key To Economic Takeoff
Myanmar (Burma) is seeing a constant flow of VIPs keen to monitor the changes unfolding there. Hillary Clinton dropped by in December, to great fanfare. Last week it was fund manager George Soros, a tireless funder of civil society activism. This week it was the turn of William Hague, foreign secretary of Britain, the former colonial power and a hardliner within European circles on maintaining Myanmar sanctions. Hague met government officials, made encouraging noises on the pace of reforms, and enjoyed the obligatory photo session with Aung San Suu Kyi. Her diary is increasingly full these days, and not only with VIPs. Her party is contesting by-elections due to be held on April 1, and hopes are high that Ms Suu Kyi will soon be sitting in parliament, which is stuffed with active and retired army officers.
So much for politics. What about the economic prospects for Southeast Asia’s poorest nation? Myanmar appears to be on the radar of international investors. Standard Chartered Banks is eyeing a return once Western sanctions are lifted, which its CEO for Asia predicted would happen this year. Thai banks are also planning to open representative offices, and a $8 billion Thai-led deep-sea port project may be gathering steam. But much of Myanmar’s economy remains opaque to outsiders. A new paper by Stuart Larkin, a former UK-based fund manager provides some clues. The paper was recently posted [pdf] on networkmyanmar.org and makes for engrossing reading on the backdrop to Myanmar’s dysfunctional governance. Larkin is a researcher based in Yangon who has worked for Malaysian billionaire Robert Kuok‘s investment arm, as well as the UN and other multilateral agencies. His paper examines the policy choices facing the new government. Simply put, Myanmar has to reform an uncompetitive hybrid economy in such a way that its dominant business families – the One Percent – become a force for broader economic growth, rather than a rent-seeking deadweight.
The partial economic reform and reversals since 1988 created a hybrid economy which is not socialist, mixed economy nor market oriented. Clear demarcation lines between State and non-State actors are absent and there is a wide array of players involved in industrial activities: these include SEEs, military holding companies, other semi-government organizations such as semi-government banks, rent seekers in the ministries (including inside the MOD), three ministries directly involved in industry (Ministries of Industry I and II and the Ministry of Myanma Industrial Development), the business leaders who head up the largest family-run conglomerates who enjoy privileged access to the ruling class (the Biz- 15), small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs), and foreign investors.
Larkin warns that economic growth alone isn’t enough to rescue Myanmar from its current morass. One ongoing risk is the ‘resource curse’, as foreign investors buy up the country’s natural resources while an overpriced currency, lack of export knowhow and shoddy infrastructure drive away manufacturers. The result could be a form of de-industrialisation. To some extent, this is already happening. Nearly 60% of exports are made up of natural gas, timber and precious gems. Garment factories are limping along. Last year, a record $20 billion in foreign investment was pledged. To put this in perspective, Larkin notes that Myanmar’s annual GDP is estimated to be only $32 billion.
The optimistic scenario, as outlined in the paper, is the emergence of an export-oriented SME sector that is aligned with the needs of Asia-based manufacturers. Myanmar has resources, cheap labor and is at a crossroads between China, India and the rest of Southeast Asia. This scenario offers a bonanza for the ‘Biz-15′, the so-called cronies who got rich under previous juntas and stand to benefit from industrialisation.
Rapid industrial development hinges on the Biz-15 aligning their interests with SMEs since they stand to vastly increase their fortunes by building and operating the modern infrastructure essential for a competitive and dynamic SME-populated manufacturing exports sector, and also by facilitating “anchor” FDI from MNCs. Such fortunes, commensurate with those in the region, would be justified if the Biz-15 can raise the rate of progressive change acceptable to their political patrons so Myanmar’s 60mn population can all prosper.
Larkin admits that there is plenty that can go wrong, starting with the vested interests in government, military and state-run enterprises. But he sees the Biz-15, some of whom are under Western sanctions, as being in a position to bring their military patrons around to the idea of deregulation, stronger institutions and the rule of law as the way forward. This is quite a change from the mindset of the past, which favoured import substitution, case-by-case approval of investments and arbitrary rule changes. Yet Larkin makes the argument that this is a win-win for the cronies.
If the Biz-15 want to make the really big money they are going to have to promote as well as adjust to the new era. The really big fortunes of the next 10-15 years in Myanmar are going to be made by those of the Biz-15 with the capabilities to (i) build, own and operate (BOO) the key modern infrastructure that makes a flourishing export sector populated by SMEs dynamic and internationally competitive and (ii) be able to guide in some of the world’s most powerful MNCs into Myanmar to make “anchor investments” which facilitate backward supply linkages to SMEs to support their export platforms. Also, for (i), the big winners amongst the Biz-15 will be those sophisticated enough to tap international sources of project finance commensurate with the new requisite scale of operations. Those members of the Biz-15 uninterested or unable to make the transition face the risk of being marginalized by fast moving events.
Critics might argue that the old cronies should get out of the way and allow real entrepreneurs to take up the reins. After all, their main talent was keeping the generals happy, not providing a competitive service or product. Myanmar has a large and diverse diaspora, which was a crucial ingredient in the revival of Vietnam’s post-socialist economy. As long as the entrenched families dominate the economy, it’s harder to see why exiles would return and risk their savings. Larkin would argue, however, that the opportunities for new entrepreneurs depend on modern infrastructure being in place, and you can hardly rely on the government to provide these facilities. This means an ongoing role for the business elite, particularly if they can access global capital (enter Standard Chartered).
In his policy recommendations Larkin also offers a word of caution for Myanmar’s one percent.
Biz-15 members should never forget that their prosperity takes place within a social context. Just as the Wall Street and City bankers in the world economy are discovering, actions have consequences and the abuse of wealth and position is only tolerated by society to a finite degree.
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January 06, 2012
VOA News - Britain to Maintain Sanctions Until Burma Frees Political Prisoners
Daniel Schearf | Bangkok
British Foreign Secretary William Hague, on a visit to Burma, says European Union economic sanctions will not change until authorities release all political prisoners. The top British diplomat made the comments after holding separate meetings with democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi and Burma’s military-backed leaders.
Hague held talks Friday morning with Burma’s opposition and Aung San Suu Kyi at her lakeside home in Rangoon. Hague’s visit is the first in more than 50 years by the former colonial power’s top diplomat.
Following the meeting, the British foreign secretary told reporters it was an exciting time in Burma as there was a real chance for democracy in the country after decades of military rule.
He voiced support for the government’s reform efforts, including opening a dialogue with Aung San Suu Kyi, loosening its iron grip on the media, allowing labor unions, and releasing some political prisoners.
But, Hague said much more needs to be done, in particular, giving freedom to all remaining political prisoners, estimated to be in the hundreds. He acknowledged widespread disappointment this week with the government’s Independence Day amnesty, which saw only about 30 such prisoners released.
“It is not possible to say a country is free and democratic while people are still in prison on grounds of their political beliefs. And, so it is vital for such prisoners to be released if European Union restrictive measures are to be changed,” Hague said.
The EU and United States limit diplomatic relations, trade and investments with Burma because of the military’s violent suppression of democracy movements. But expectations are growing that those restrictions could soon be relaxed.
The EU announced Thursday it would open a representative office in Burma to manage humanitarian aid programs and facilitate political dialogue.
Hague met the same day with leaders of the government, including President Thein Sein, who promised all political prisoners would be released without giving a timetable.
His government is also allowing Aung San Suu Kyi and her National League for Democracy to contest by-elections in April after being sidelined from the historic 2010 election. The Nobel Prize winner told reporters Friday her goals were clear.
“All political prisoners should be released and there should be all efforts made to put an end to ethnic conflict within our country," she said. "And, certainly we would like to see free and fair by-elections. And, I must add I would like to see the NLD winning very well in those elections.”
Aung San Suu Kyi was under house arrest for most of the past two decades for challenging military rule and was banned from contesting office.
She was released just days after the 2010 election. Her NLD won Burma’s previous election in 1990 but the military refused to give up power.
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6 Jan, 2012, 05.50PM IST, Reuters
The Economic Times - Auto Expo 2012: Tata Motors keen to expand operations in Myanmar
NEW DELHI: India's Tata Motors is looking to expand operations in Myanmar by assembling and selling buses and light commercial vehicles there, the head of its Indian operations said.
Tata currently operates a truck assembly plant in Myanmar, but is now looking at a larger presence in the South East Asian nation as it moves quickly to implement political reforms and attract investments.
"At the moment we are assembling the larger commercial vehicles...we can look at buses and probably the smaller commercial vehicles," P.M. Telang, managing director of Tata Motors' India operations, told reporters.
The political opening has accelerated since last year when Myanmar's generals installed a new civilian government, released political prisoners and reached out to armed ethnic groups, but economic sanctions are yet to be lifted.
Tata Motors, whose range of cars extends from the ultra-cheap Nano, to British luxury brands Jaguar and Land Rover, is also looking at the potential for manufacturing cars in Thailand, Indonesia and Myanmar, Telang said.
The automaker sells its vehicles in Asia, Europe, Africa and South America.
Car sales have slowed down in its home country, hurt by rising finance rates and rising input costs. India's car sales, which grew 30 per cent in the year ended March 2011, are expected to be flat in the current financial year.
Tata Motors posted a wider than expected fall in September quarter earnings due to high interest costs and exchange rate fluctuations.
The company has earmarked 30 billion rupees ($568 million) as capital expenditure for the financial year beginning on April 1, Telang said, almost similar to the current fiscal year's levels.
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The Guardian - Burma's prisons should not be off limits to international monitors
It's still unclear how many are held for peacefully expressing their views, but their release is essential for inclusive politics
Elaine Pearson - guardian.co.uk, Friday 6 January 2012 08.11 EST
Opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi and her party the National League for Democracy will participate in upcoming byelections in Burma this April. A presidential aide claims the NLD may one day rule the government. This could be a historic moment, but only if the country's remaining political prisoners are free and can participate.
Currently in Burma, William Hague, the British foreign secretary, has expressed "hope to see the release of all remaining political prisoners". But while the Burmese government has spoken about releasing them, it continues to disappoint by holding more than a thousand political prisoners behind bars.
An October 2010 amnesty saw only about 220 released, including famed comedian Zargana. One year ago, Zargana languished in a remote prison for criticising the government's response to Cyclone Nargis. A year later, he's visiting Thailand and Cambodia to promote his new film festival and is quoted on the front page of the English-language edition of the Myanmar Times.
But a much-anticipated 2 January presidential clemency order was a disappointment. It reduced prison sentences for common criminals, resulting in the release of only about a dozen political prisoners. For those sentenced to lengthy prison terms like monk leader U Gambira, activist Min Ko Naing and members of the 88 Generation Students group, their sentences were simply cut to 30 years.
Exactly how many political prisoners remain behind bars has become a major bone of contention. The government claims that before the October releases there were 526 "national security" detainees, now leaving only 300. But this leaves out many known prisoners. Hague's challenge is to persuade the government to publicly account for all remaining political
prisoners.
Run for almost 50 years by a military junta, Burma has long been notorious for holding political prisoners. Open opposition to the government resulted in long, swift sentences under cruel conditions. Perhaps only 300 people are imprisoned under specific charges, but it's still unclear which laws the Burmese government is talking about. And many more remain jailed on trumped-up politically motivated criminal charges.
Journalist Hla Hla Win, for instance, was arrested in 2009 while interviewing monks. She was sentenced to seven years for using an unregistered motorbike, then another 20 for uploading data to the internet that was "damaging to the security of the military regime". Monks participating in the 2007 protests were charged with insulting religion, and others have been charged with illegally holding foreign currency, possessing electronic equipment without a license, and immigration violations.
The Thai-based Assistance Association of Political Prisoners of Burma is composed of former Burmese political prisoners who have tracked individual cases for more than a decade. It estimates there are more than 1,500 political prisoners. The US state department has a list of around 1,100, but does not rule out that the true number is higher. The NLD has produced a partial list of 591 political prisoners, based on information gathered from NLD lawyers, social workers and local party officials.
Given the closed nature of Burma's legal system, the lack of a free press, and unsophisticated communications in one of Asia's poorest countries – particularly in remote ethnic areas affected by conflict – each of these lists probably omits significant numbers of people being held for peaceful expression of their political views. For years Burma's prisons have been off-limits to any independent monitoring mechanism.
Hague should call on the Burmese government to allow an independent international body to identify each prisoner and determine whether the person is imprisoned on political grounds. While some have said the new National Human Rights Commission could perform this role, it has yet to establish its independence and lacks capacity and experience. Hague should make clear that any new detentions on political grounds will call into question the government's commitment to change.
After his release, Zargana summed up the feelings of many in Burma when he said: "I am not pleased to see what they are doing. They are doing it bit by bit. We are like the hostages captured by the Somali pirates. It's like how much ransom money can you pay to secure the release of these hostages?"
The Burmese government needs to show the world that it sees imprisoned activists as part of the country's future, not hostages to be parleyed as evidence of the sincerity of their touted reforms. The full and unconditional release of all political prisoners is an essential step toward an inclusive political process.
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ASIAONE - Grenade attacks hit Mekong in Myanmar
AFP Friday, Jan 06, 2012
BANGKOK - An unidentified rebel group fired grenades targeting Myanmar soldiers on the Mekong river near the border with Thailand, but missed their target, Thai police said Friday.
The grenades landed early Wednesday near the patrol boat, which was accompanying four Chinese cargo ships that had docked at a pier in Tachileik district in eastern Shan state, Police Colonel Atthawoot Onsub said.
"It was an attack which I think they aimed at the Myanmar patrol boat. The unknown rebel group fired grenades... the grenades missed the target," the marine police chief in northern Thailand told AFP.
The incident happened near the so-called "Golden Triangle" area, notorious for drugs smuggling.
Chinese state media said last month that Beijing had deployed more than 300 armed police to patrol the Mekong river in boats in collaboration with Myanmar, Thailand and Laos after a deadly attack in October.
Thirteen Chinese sailors were killed on a section of the river south of China's border, raising concerns in Beijing for the safety of crews and cargoes sailing south through the area.
The Mekong flows through China's southwestern province of Yunnan into Southeast Asia, serving as a major trade route through several countries including Cambodia and Vietnam.
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New Kerala - Chinese cargo ships attacked on Mekong river
Beijing, Jan 6: Four Chinese ships and a Myanmar patrol boat came under attack by an unidentified armed group on the Mekong river early Wednesday near a port in Myanmar, the People's Daily reported Friday.
According to Thailand's water police, the attackers fired two rockets, one of which missed the cargo ships and plunged into the river while the other exploded near the Myanmar patrol boat.
Though the four Chinese cargo ships, including an oil vessel, escaped the rocket fire, the attack has sparked a new wave of concerns over the safety of shipping through the Mekong river, the People's Daily report added.
Thirteen Chinese sailors were killed Oct 5 when two Chinese cargo vessels were attacked in the Thai section of the river, known for drug and arms trafficking and other cross-border crimes, the Shanghai Daily added.
Mekong river, which passes through China, Burma, Laos, Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam, at over 4,000 km is the world's tenth longest and Asia's seventh longest river.
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January 06, 2012.
Le Monde Diplomatique - Burma returns to market
Six years ago the colonial-built Strand Road in Rangoon was scheduled to become a historic district down by the river. Right now, it’s an improvised boardwalk, a place of construction and modest fun. Next year, it’ll be a multi-lane export superhighway. As it goes, so does Burma
by Elizabeth Rush
Along the Rangoon River, where tigers and elephants once roamed, two 12-year-old boys dig through heaps of brick and debris, looking for metal to sell. “Money,” says one, thrusting a fistful of antique reinforcing bar at me. The other stoops to the ground and hits the ReBar with a small hammer, breaking apart the mortar that once held the slender rod in its place. Almost overnight, a colonial-era wall, dividing the river from the city, was demolished. Those who need money the most have come to pick through the rubble at dawn.
When the Myanmar Port Authority announced unprecedented dredging of the Rangoon River in early 2011, a contract to widen the Strand Road quickly followed. It was a vital link connecting timber farmed upcountry to waterways that carry the wood away, and has long facilitated the export of this precious resource. The road was built by the British nearly 150 years ago, and is the city grid’s southern anchor — a line laid down along a faraway river to make “order” seem part of nature. It was the last land stop for the colony’s exotic exports.
Today, the road is too old and too narrow to bear the weight of Burma’s predicted export upswing. Thus the multi-million-dollar upgrade, adding as many as 10 additional lanes in high-traffic areas.
Soon the number of boats docking in Rangoon (now Yangon) will treble. Individual cargo limits will rise from 15,000 tons to 35,000 tons of deadweight per vessel. With the dredging, the port of Rangoon, the link between upper Burma and the lower Irrawaddy regions, will become vital once again. In the 1920s and 1930s Rangoon was the second busiest immigration port in the world, trailing only New York City. Indian, Bengali, Armenian and European workers and merchants arrived in astounding numbers, hoping to make their fortunes in Burma. Parochial schools popped up overnight like a healthy fungus. Department stores opened. Stained glass and hand pressed ceramic tiles were imported, wrought iron lifts installed. But unlike New York, Rangoon fell into the boom and bust cycle that defines so many of the 20th century’s great cities.
Burma’s new plans
Britain pulled out, the economy faltered, and a military dictatorship attempted to reassemble only what the threat of violence could unite. History shrugged and turned away. In 2010 a scanty 297,000 tourists arrived at Rangoon International Airport. The actual number of people emigrating is negligible. Today, Burma is the poorest country in South Asia. But if the new Strand Road tells us anything it’s this: Burma is making plans to re-enter the international arena.
Six years ago, when the Rangoon City Development Committee (YCDC) released their strategic development plan, they earmarked the Strand Road as a heritage and conservation zone. The development plan suggested relocating the majority of port functions south to Thilawa (25km outside of the city), turning Rangoon’s reclaimed waterfront into a pedestrian promenade, and refurbishing the historic buildings lining the northern side of the road.
When asked how the road could go from being a historic district to an export superhighway, the then director of building for the YCDC answered strategically: “The Strand Road is now only for, how shall I put it, transport… we hope it helps facilitate growth for medium and heavy industry.”
Already the road is flanked by billboards — for Max Cola, New Zealand Milk Powder, Samsung, Herbal Shampoo, and Gold Roast Coffee Mix — targeting Burma’s growing middle class. The number of teenagers with income enough to purchase Rancid T-shirts is on the rise. But somewhere beyond the seductive power of plastic tchotchkes and imported television programmes, Burma’s future waits.
Asia World Co Ltd, a conglomerate through which a surprising percentage of Chinese investment enters the country — with projects from the Sino-Burmese oil and gas pipeline to the recently halted Myitsone dam, and a deep-sea port in Kyaukpyu — paid for the Strand’s extension. Over 40% of Rangoon’s container trade moves through Asia World wharves. A wider Strand means an accelerated flow of commodities through the Port of Rangoon and an exponential rise in Asia World’s profits. With a fivefold increase in freight handling predicted, Asia World (run by Steven Law, perhaps the second wealthiest man in the country) stands to make an absurd amount of money.
’These changes don’t touch the people’
Despite intermittent attempts to deny the connection, Rangoon’s residents know Asia World is managing the road’s expansion. Public opinion about the project is unanimously nonchalant. Even though it’s uncommon that any aspect of the infrastructure is overhauled, no one exhibits pride over this rare blip on Rangoon’s municipal radar. A librarian, U Zaw Win, said of the expansion: “These changes really don’t touch the people, they are all about foreign money and we don’t see much of it.”
While the road receives extraordinary attention, little is done to update the sporadic electricity supply or the century old sewage system. Every day young boys — wearing soccer shorts and nothing else — unclog the roadside troughs by hand. Mounds of black muck affront the passers-by until another municipal worker, pushing a wheelbarrow, comes to cart it away. Half a block to the south, water is hosed over the fresh concrete on the new Strand Road, making the mixture set faster than if it were left alone.
The offloading of this postage-stamp-sized country’s material wealth is no news. What comes from Burma’s soil — rubies, gold, copper, opium, teak — has long been lusted after overseas. But the rate at which these materials leave is rising. Over the last two decades, the junta slowly implemented an open-market policy, leading to a tenfold increase in trade. Capital from China, Korea, India, and many Asean (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) countries flooded in and Burma’s resources flowed out.
But if investment is the word of the day, then courting it from all corners of the globe has driven recent, progressive social changes. In November 2010 Burma held its first public election in nearly two decades. The process was hardly democratic — Aung San Suu Kyi, representative of the historic opposition and Nobel peace prize laureate, was banned from participating, and rumours circulated about the ballots being rigged. Yet in 2011 parliament met, and to everyone’s surprise those “elected” acted as accountable to those whose votes they had won. More shocking, journalists were allowed to sit in on the second round of proceedings in August.
Starting to level things
In September 2011 the government instigated a “cash for clunkers” plan. Turn in a car built over 40 years ago and receive a voucher halving the exorbitant import taxes that make a new car unattainable for most. It may not seem democratic, but it begins to level things. Owning a car built after 1971 is no longer a privilege reserved only for those with the extraordinary wealth that comes from government favouritism. Six thousand prisoners were recently released, some of them political dissidents. And President U Thein Sein halted the controversial Myitsone Dam project. The reason? Damming the sacred Irrawaddy River “is contrary to the will of the people”.
Some understand the recent developments as representative of the new president’s unabashed desire to display his power; others see the dollar signs flashing in the ex-general-turned-politician’s eyes. Intellectuals rejoice over relative — if untested — freedom from fear for political dissidents, while most display a reserved casualness about whole affair. It will take more than a few fast drops in a bucket to make people hopeful after 20 years of military rule. Their inner lives, their expectations, their hopes for their families and their futures: these the people of Burma have long kept in check so that they might not be disappointed every day. These are the worlds few are willing to hand over without a real and lasting transformation.
If Burma is positioning itself to attract investment from areas of the world that have long supported sanctions, who will reap the potential benefits? Who besides the cronies who bought over 80% of the state’s assets in a fire-sale auction on the eve of the 2010 elections — everything from ice factories to petrol stations; besides Tay Zaw and his Htoo group (property development, shipping, mining, hotels and tourism), and Stephen Law and Asia World, and Chevron (one of the few US corporations operating in Burma despite sanctions); and besides the Korean and Chinese developers erecting condominiums in Rangoon with relative, break-neck speed. Might the West again begin to make a buck in this far corner of the globe?
According to The New York Times, Caterpillar, the US-owned bellwether of potential international investment, met members of Burma’s trade bureau last summer to discuss business opportunities. The IMF last autumn concluded a fortnight’s mission to Burma, investigating exchange rate policies and international payment and transfer protocols. As Burma re-enters the world, it will slowly disentangle itself from historical appearances. Soon this country will no longer seem so remote and so brutal. Let us consider the possibility that with our increased investment the people of Burma might not only be guaranteed a decent wage and imported soda, but a livelihood, once the teak is felled and the rubies set in gold.
In Rangoon, construction of the Strand Road slowed with the monsoon season. In the evening, the half-finished road filled with impromptu soccer games and the chatter of couples strolling. Electricity flickered on and off, televisions were rolled outside, generators whirred, and people gathered at small plastic tables to drink tea, eat fried gourds and watch Korean soaps. The city perched on the edge of the unknown. When the road is finished, the improvised boardwalk will close. The patter of bare soles on concrete will be replaced with the rumble of eighteen-wheelers.
“Teak,” says Moe War Than, a Burmese intellectual: “the money reaped from its shipping was once the driving force behind colonisation. Today it is the same old problem, but with a new ruling party.”
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Arts | 06.01.2012
Deutsche Welle - Burmese artists walk a thin line between art and politics
Comfortably, the Burmese censor leans back in his cinema seat - pot-bellied and slightly sleepy after the filling lunch the producer paid for him. Suddenly he stares at the screen, wide-eyed he yells: "Ban that scene! Remove it! That makes the State look undignified. If people from abroad see it, they will think that beggars exist in Myanmar." "Everybody knows there are beggars in Myanmar," another censor replies. The former responds: "They can exist in real life, but not in this movie!"
"Ban that scene!" by director Htun Zaw Win is an astonishing work of art. In only 18 minutes the film puts censors on and accuses them of corruption. That is probably why the film won the audience award at the Art of Freedom Film Festival, which took place in Yangon in the first week of January. More than 50 films were shown – without having passed the censors beforehand. And that is probably the biggest surprise.
Forced labour for a joke
For decades the Burmese military reigned ruthlessly over the people of Myanmar. Every song, book or work of art had to be approved by censors. Those who criticised the government could be arrested, tortured and severely punished.
That is exactly what happened to the Moustache Brothers, a comedic trio from Mandalay, a city in central Myanmar: In 1996 the three comedians performed at a rally for opposition politician Aung San Suu Kyi. Shortly thereafter, two of the three disappeared for years in labour camps in the countryside. Since their release the Moustache Brothers are no longer allowed to put on public shows.
Instead, they perform for a couple of tourists in a Mandalay garage every night; marked by age and grief – but undaunted nonetheless. "My 85-year-old mother," Lu Maw, one of the "Brothers" yells in his rattling, "sits outside our garage every night, watching out for our secret service. And when she sees them, she whistles." Then she whistles. The tourists laugh.
Old government, new shape
However, the new government – installed after controversial elections in November 2010 – tries to appear more democratic. On a few occasions, it has released political prisoners, among them popular comedian Zaganar. It has also slackened censorship laws and has invited opposition politician Aung San Suu Kyi to hold talks with President Thein Sein. Myanmar seems to be opening up.
Nonetheless, Lu Maw remains sceptical. "You see this bottle of Mandalay Beer. Now I put a new label on it. Johnny Walker Red, for example," he says. "But, you know, inside it is still the same old beer, not Whiskey. It is the same with Burma: New bottle, old content."
Whether or not the changes will last, jazz guitarist Zeck is not so sure. "For us, it is very difficult to understand what is happening. We cannot assess reliable information. Therefore we cannot predict what is going to happen. But it is obvious that people need change," Zeck explains.
Criticism is lurking everywhere
Like every musician, 32-year-old Zeck files his song texts with the censorship board. His songs are philosophical. They deal with love, the search of oneself and one’s place in this world. They do not have much to do with politics. But even he was censored once - when he used the word "sword" in one of his texts. According to the censors the choice of words sounded too dangerous.
But not only words are considered a threat; even paintings are black-listed by the authorities. "There are many rules for the modern artists. That is why some people do not dare to paint what they really want to paint," 73-year-old painter and collector U Maung Maung Thein explains.
He points at one of his paintings depicting pagodas against a sunset. Thein is a landscapist, an impressionist. With that kind of art, he has never really had much to fear. "In other countries in this world, artists are free to paint whatever they want. Even in China the artists have a little chance to be free – and that is a very strict country. But this is not possible in Myanmar."
Testing the limits
Burmese artists walk a fine line when expressing themselves through art. Like in many other countries, the art scene in Myanmar flourished or withered depending on the political situation, the extent of exchange with other cultures and facilitation of the arts. Nowadays, democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi seems to embody the latter.
According to her, "Artists help to create more beauty in this world. To open our eyes to aspects of our life that otherwise we may not have noticed. This is why artists are important. To imprison them for their beliefs and for their ideas is to make our world more narrow."
Last fall, the politician asked Burmese musicians to write more political songs. In the last few decades, bands mostly borrowed Western melodies, and added to them their own lyrics. Now the country has its own pop and rock scene slowly emerging. Painters and filmmakers have started to stretch the boundaries of their freedom – as displayed at the Art of Freedom Film Festival, for which Aung San Suu Kyi delivered the opening speech.
"We want to test the limits of the state," Min Htin Ko Ko Gyi, one of the organisers of the festival, explained in an interview. For now, the limits for artists are still quite strict. But that has just begun to change.
Author: Monika Griebeler
Editor: Sarah Berning
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People's Daily Online - Senior U.S. diplomat to visit Myanmar on human trafficking
(Xinhua) 08:59, January 06, 2012
WASHINGTON, Jan. 5 (Xinhua) -- A senior U.S. diplomat will visit Myanmar next week to assess the human trafficking situation there, the State Department said in a statement on Thursday.
Luis CdeBaca, U.S. Ambassador at Large to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons, will travel to Myanmar from next Monday to Wednesday to "assess the human trafficking situation firsthand and to explore opportunities to strengthen the government's anti- trafficking efforts," said the statement.
While in Nay Pyi Taw, Myanmar's capital, CdeBaca will join Derek Mitchell, U.S. Special Representative and Policy Coordinator for Myanmar, in meetings with officials to discuss recent steps to address transnational sex trafficking and improve labor conditions for workers, according to the statement.
The statement said CdeBaca will then travel to Rangoon to meet with nongovernmental organizations, international organizations, and the new Human Rights Commission.
Relations between the United States and Myanmar have showed signs of improvement recently. Hillary Clinton became the first U. S. secretary of state ever to visit Myanmar in more than 50 years, as the Obama administration saw "flickers of progress" in the Southeast Asian nation.
The new government in Myanmar, which took office on March 30, 2011, has been pushing for political and economic reforms in the country, including amnesty for prisoners.
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MYANMAR: Rice harvests lost in Kachin conflict zones
KACHIN STATE, 6 January 2012 (IRIN) - The annual harvest season in Myanmar's northern Kachin State has come and gone but much of the rice crop has not been harvested or was never planted after fighting between government forces and the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) erupted on 9 June 2011 after a 17-year ceasefire was broken.
Traditionally, farmers transfer their rice seedlings in June with harvests in November and December before the winter sets in.
"This year's harvest was next year's investment, but now we have nothing for the future. We will have to cross the mountains and scavenge for wild vegetables so that we will have something to eat," says Kot Nan, 35.
"When the conflict started we were planting rice but the soldiers came into our village so we couldn't plant," the mother-of-two told IRIN at the main camp for internally displaced people (IDPs) outside Laiza, a border town between Myanmar and China.
There are more than 40,000 IDPs in Kachin State, local aid groups say, including an estimated 20,000 in camps around Laiza, controlled by the political wing of the KIA, the Kachin Independence Organization.
For many Kachin families, farming is the primary source of livelihood, with rice being the main crop, along with sugar cane and corn.
Impact
Bill Davies, a researcher with Physicians for Human Rights (PHR), says the food security issue is of major concern.
"The fighting starting when they were preparing the seedlings so some of them put the seeds right into the paddy in the hope that they would grow and others planted a lot later, which decreases the yield."
Davies led a fact-finding mission for PHR in the border areas of Kachin state last September, visiting six camps and four shelters for IDPs.
The group's findings were released in a report on 30 November.
"Not being able to plant 100 percent of their fields, planting it late, and also not transplanting it at the right time were the three main problems. A lot of people are worried that they were going to have a smaller crop yield than normal," Davies said.
Sporadic fighting has also restricted travel for civilians, including those farmers who were able to plant but could not return to their fields to tend their crops.
And while there are no official figures yet on the area's overall harvest shortfall for 2011, the impact on the population is already evident.
At a relief line in one of the main refugee camps near Laiza, 24-year-old Moo Pan breastfeeds her baby girl as she waits for food rations - almost seven months after fighting first erupted.
"We were forced to leave our village and we can't go back because government forces have taken over our houses and land," she said.
Compounding matters are reports that the Burmese army is regularly pillaging food and supplies from civilians in the area, a key finding of the PHR study.
With local supplies diminishing and the ability of local aid groups to provide assistance on the decline, the situation on the ground underscores the importance of further outside aid.
According to Human Rights Watch (HRW) at the end of December, the tens of thousands now displaced are in "great need of humanitarian assistance".
Access
But getting into the most-affected areas will only be the first step, Marcus Prior, spokesman for World Food Programme (WFP) Asia, told IRIN on 5 January.
"Even with improved access, WFP will need funding to provide the kind of assistance we think may be necessary in Kachin," he explained.
"Our operations across the country are facing significant shortfalls - right now WFP only has funds to guarantee food deliveries into February."
The UN food agency is able to reach about 15,000 of the displaced in Kachin State, but hopes that following a recent humanitarian convoy across the conflict line, the next convoy will include WFP food, Marcus said.
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China Daily - China takes frank, open stand on Myanmar issue
Updated: 2012-01-06 16:31
(peopledaily.com.cn)
As a friendly neighbor of Myanmar, China treasures the bilateral relationship very much and always pays attention to the changes of Myanmar's situation. China supports Myanmar to walk on the development road which accords with its national conditions, and China thinks highly of the efforts made by Myanmar to promote its domestic political reconciliations and improve its relationships with other countries.
China suggests that international communities should offer constructive assistances for Myanmar and create an easy environment for the country to promote its national reconciliations and realize the democracy and development. Facts of past years have proved that sanctions and oppressions will solve nothing.
A noticeable thing is that some Westerners link some changes of Myanmar with China factors and even say China is responsible for the changes.
A stable and prosperous Myanmar accords with the fundamental interests of its people and is good for promoting the regional development and the integration of the Association of the Southeast Asian Nations.
China hopes that Myanmar has a stable political situation, develops its economy and makes social progresses. China is also willing to see that Myanmar strengthens its ties with Western countries including the United States.
In some Western media's opinion, China is strengthening its investment in Myanmar by taking the "opportunity" that the West is taking sanctions against Myanmar, because China is afraid that it may be pushed aside if Myanmar's external environment is improved.
This viewpoint is completely ridiculous. Pursuing an independent foreign policy of peace, China does not need to ask the West's permission to develop its relationships with its neighbors, and does not need the so-called “opportunity.”
Chinese enterprises' investments in Myanmar actually alleviate the difficulty of Myanmar's economic operation and bring practical benefits to Myanmar's common people under the sanctions. When Chinese enterprises are carrying out constructions of projects in Myanmar, they always pay attention to the interests of the local people, actively repay the society and timely pay compensation funds.
They have not only provided many job opportunities for local people, but also have helped them build schools and villages houses. It is a normal thing that China pays attention to the legal and just rights and interests of the Chinese enterprises.
Myanmar's positive changes have strengthened its ability of attracting foreign investments. Currently, many multinational corporations are actively planning to invest in Myanmar. Maybe they will turn into competitors to the Chinese enterprises which have entered and are about to enter Myanmar.
But, Myanmar's improved investment environment is also a good thing for the Chinese enterprises. The Chinese enterprises are capable of competing with the enterprises of other countries in Myanmar under a fair and reasonable condition.
Regarding the Myanmar issue, China's standpoint is constructive and responsible but not selfish.
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Friday, January 06, 2012, Safar 11, 1433
Pakistan Observer - Iran, Myanmar core to India’s interests
Geopolitical notes from India
M D Nalapat
Aung San Suu Kyi is loved in India, a country that she knows very well, having studied in one of the most prestigious colleges in Delhi, Lady Sri Ram College, after having studied at the city’s Jesus & Mary School. Her classmates still keep in touch with her, a process that has become much easier after the relaxation of Martial Law recently, and the withdrawal of the Myanmar military to the barracks. However, unlike the US and the EU, which have for decades imposed severe economic and political sanctions on her country, successive governments in India have continued to develop relations with the military in Myanmar, even during the period when they monopolised power. A few - notably former Defense Minister George Fernandes - have been opposed to such engagement, and have wanted India to join the list of countries that have cut off Myanmar. For a while, this was done. However, wiser counsel finally prevailed, and it was accepted that Myanmar was too important a country to be ignored, the way it was by faraway countries in North America and Europe.
Interestingly, while the NATO bloc had the closest of ties with Pakistan during the periods when the country was wholly under military rule - as when Pervez Musharraf was in office - the excuse of “military rule” was used to snap ties to Rangoon. While the NATO powers incessantly talk about “rules”, the fact is that such restrictions apply only to other countries and not to them. Thus, Pakistan and Myanmar have been treated differently, as have Bahrain and Syria. While in the former, crackdowns have been ignored (barring a few weak expressions of concern),in the latter case, efforts for the Kaddafy-style removal of Bashar Al-Assad are under way. Indeed, NATO seems to have launched an undeclared war on the Shia. In Iraq, the US in particular has been consistently demanding that concessions be given to the Sunni population of that country,a consideration not shown to the Shia population in several GCC countries where they form significant minorities (and in the case of Bahrain, the majority). While the Sunni rulers of Bahrain are given full backing, despite the fact that their branch forms a minority in the country, NATO points to the fact that Sunnis are in a majority in Syria when demanding that Bashar Al-Assad (who is Shia) step down.
The antipathy being shown by NATO to the Shia across the Gulf region is repeating the 1982 mistake made by Ariel Sharon in Lebanon, when he used the Israeli Defense Forces to support Maronite Christian militias against the Shia. Several thousands of Shia were killed in the fighting that followed the IDF intervention, and the anger this has caused has made Israel the only country in the world that is a target of Shia extremists. The demonisation of Iran, the move against Bashar, the pressure on Nouri Al-Maliki, the ignoring of majority rights in Bahrain, are all adding up to a situation where Shia extremists may broaden their attack from just Israel to countries within the NATO alliance. Of course, this would come as a relief for Israel, in that it would no longer be the only target of such forces. As for India, while the country is a friend of Israel (with External Affairs Minister S M Krishna visiting Tel Aviv) and is getting closer to NATO, there is no question of joining that alliance in its strategy of taking on the Shia. There is a huge Shia population in India, that has been distinguished for its peaceful orientation and its moderate culture (in sync with the true spirit of Islam), and any linkage with NATO’s ongoing war against the Shia would create a Second Front in the War on Terror within India, the First Front being comprised of extremists among the Wahabbi population who have since the 1980s taken up arms against the state. Friendly relations with Iran is crucial to India’s interests, as that country is the only land bridge between India and Central Asia,because of NATO ally Pakistan refusing to give access to Indian produce across its territory. Further, Iran is a major supplier of crude oil to India, and is besides a major civilisational partner. For all these reasons, there is no question of adopting an anti-Iran policy,despite pressure on Delhi to do so.Similarly,Myanmar is India’s land bridge to the rest of ASEAN, and promises to be an important supplier of natural resources. There are substantial civilisational linkages between the peoples of the two countries, which is why it would be absurd to join NATO in seeking to block access to Myanmar. NATO has very little civilisational linkage with Myanmar, which is why it is far easier for that alliance to impose a policy of quarantine, motivated by the fact that NATO-based oil companies have not been given concessions in Myanmar, the way they have secured for themselves in other parts of the globe. The root of all NATO policy is economic, although this is covered up by talk of “human rights” and “modern values”. Now that several countries in the alliance are in a desperate economic situation, they are seeking concessions across the globe, are not hesitant to use military leverage to secure such advantages, as has been demonstrated in Iraq.
While the US and several other countries in the NATO bloc can do without oil from the Gulf,neither India nor China has such a luxury. Higher oil prices will slow down both economies. Indeed, the high price of oil that is being caused by speculators operating from the US and the EU have already brought oil prices to a level at least 40% higher than what market conditions mandate. Lower prices would make China and India more competitive, so there is a method in the apparent NATO madness of boosting tensions with Iran so that oil prices will rise. While initially a lot of the extra cash will go to the coffers of the GCC countries, the NATO allies know that they will be able to sell them tens of billions of dollars of defense equipment, thereby bringing back the money to NATO shores. Indeed, precisely because of US tensions with Iran, Saudi Arabia has been made to spend more than $30 billion this year on just military aircraft from the US. As the experience of the Shah of Iran shows, the spending of huge amounts on arms purchases does not promote stability within a country. Only a contented populace can achieve such a result, and this is possible only by spending money on social services rather than weaponry that is very unlikely to ever get used in conflict situations.
Apart from the GCC, another major purchaser of arms from abroad is India, which sources its purchases from the US, Russia, France and Israel. This year, the country will spend more than $26 billion on arms purchases, whereas with half that money, it could have developed a robust domestic defense production industry. Of course, this would mean giving the private sector in India the right to enter the field of defense production, something that international lobbies and their many agents within India have been preventing to this date. So powerful are these lobbies that scientists in India who come up with breakthroughs in technology are ignored if not harassed, thereby forcing them to go abroad to continue their work. Today, India has become a graveyard for domestic talent, so all-pervasive is the culture of “Buy Foreign” in the country, a culture that has accelerated in recent years because of the propensity of politicians and officials to build up illegal assets not in domestic currency (where discovery is more likely) but in foreign currency. Each year, tens of billions of dollars get piled up abroad by policymakers in India, who are expert at tweaking the rules and specifications so as to favour designated foreign suppliers.
Over the past few years, these foreign suppliers have ensured that Indian companies will no longer challenge them in global markets. While other governments (notably China, the EU and the US) help their own companies to face foreign competition, India’s policymakers help foreign companies enter India, rather than the other way about. While they constantly push for lower import duties, they oppose lower domestic taxes or lower rates of interest. As in South America during the 1970s,the situation in India is that the system has become geared to the protection of foreign over domestic interests. Given this, it may be only a matter of time before India joins the NATO bloc and conforms its policies to those of NATO vis-a-vis Iran and Myanmar, despite the fact that such a stance would be totally contrary to the national interest. But so long as money flows in such abundance to shady destinations abroad, why should policymakers care? Charity not only begins, but ends, at home.
The writer is Vice-Chair, Manipal Advanced Research Group, UNESCO Peace Chair & Professor of Geopolitics, Manipal University, Haryana State, India.
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January 5, 2012 11:01 pm
The Financial Times - Over to Myanmar
A rose by any other name might smell as sweet. But what should we call things we do not find quite so fragrant? For more than 20 years, the Financial Times has stuck with the name Burma even though the government that has long brutalised that country has called it Myanmar since 1989. Now, we are altering our policy. From Friday, we will refer to Myanmar by its official name.
Why and why now? The arguments are not clear cut. But on balance, there are several reasons for making the switch.
First, the term Burma has become increasingly loaded. Used on our news pages, it strongly implies we do not approve of the government in power. On our editorial pages, we are perfectly at liberty to criticise a government, that even after tentative steps towards reform, lacks legitimacy. But in the rest of the paper, the term undermines our objectivity.
Second, the name Myanmar has gained growing international acceptance. It is used by the United Nations, by the Association of South-East Asian Nations (which Myanmar will chair in 2014) and even by Amnesty International. True, the US and the UK, among others, still use Burma. Yet even some long-time campaigners for democracy find it increasingly awkward to use the old name.
Third, Myanmar is not some crackpot invention. It, or a derivative, has been used to describe people around the Irrawaddy valley for 1,000 years. A few hundred years ago, the colloquial form, Bama, appeared, and was adopted by the British because they found it easier to pronounce. For many, Burma carries a colonial tinge. Finally, many of the country’s non-Burmans, a third of the population, regard Myanmar as more inclusive. It smacks less of domination by a majority ethnic group.
The question of timing is trickier. Some newspapers, when they saw the brutality of the regime, regretted changing to Myanmar so quickly after 1989. But Myanmar has gradually become standard, especially inside the country itself. Increasingly, the question is: why do we still call it Burma?
It could be pointed out that we do not always follow local usage. We feel no obligation to use Nippon or Deutschland, even if we have changed from Persia to Iran, from Peking to Beijing and from Bombay to Mumbai. The Myanmar/Burma debate, however, has become politicised. Both terms, admittedly, carry baggage but on balance, we believe that Myanmar is now the less loaded. We adopt it on the grounds of neutrality.
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Asian Tribune - CSW Welcomes Foreign Secretary’s Call For Release Of Political Prisoners
Sat, 2012-01-07 01:33 — editor
London, 07 January, (Asiantribune,com): As the Foreign Secretary William Hague concludes his visit to Burma today, Christian Solidarity Worldwide welcomes his assessment that although there is “momentum for change” in Burma, that “much more is needed to be done” before EU sanctions are lifted.
Mr. Hague told reporters, "It is not possible to say a country is free and democratic while people are still in prison on the grounds of their political beliefs. It is vital that they be released if [sanctions] are to be removed."
During his two-day visit, the Foreign Secretary met with government officials, Aung San Suu Kyi and representatives of ethnic political parties which are not banned by the government.
CSW wrote to Mr Hague ahead of his visit, the first by such a senior British official since 1955, requesting him to use the opportunity to “urge the regime to stop attacking ethnic people, declare a nationwide ceasefire, release all political prisoners, and engage further in a meaningful process of dialogue with the ethnic nationalities and the democracy movement led by Aung San Suu Kyi”. These steps “must be priority benchmarks of progress”.
The letter highlighted specific incidents of rape, forced labor, torture, killings and attacks on churches in Kachin State, as well as the continued detention of Buddhist monks, including U Gambira, one of the leaders of the 2007 pro-democracy protests, and continuing discrimination against the Muslim Rohingya.
CSW's East Asia Team Leader Benedict Rogers said, "William Hague's visit to Burma was an historic opportunity to deliver a clear message to the regime, that if they introduce genuine, substantial and long-lasting reforms, end the systematic and widespread violations of human rights, especially the attacks on ethnic civilians, and release all political prisoners, the international community will be ready to respond positively. Until that happens, pressure must be maintained, while encouraging every step towards reform and welcoming every indication of progress. That is absolutely the right message to deliver at this crucial and potentially very exciting time for Burma. The Burmese government's words about reform are very welcome, but they must be matched by action."
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The Irrawaddy - COMMENTARY: Are There Cracks in Thein Sein's Cabinet?
By AUNG ZAW Friday, January 6, 2012
This week’s release of just a handful of political prisoners bitterly disappointed many in Burma. Dissidents saw the move as proof that Naypyidaw had not changed—that the so-called “reforms” were all a facade. The public vented its collective anger on social media and in emails to each other.
The main target of their vitriol was of course the president, Thein Sein, and the other high-ranking officials who had—over the past weeks and months—gone out on a limb to promise that political opponents would soon be freed from prison.
But when criticism spread to opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi for her perceived role as an accomplice, The Lady herself had to react quickly to urge everyone to keep a cool head and to remind the gloomy public that the president alone could not enact reforms single-handedly.
A senior official close to the president confirmed the sentiment by disclosing that the decision to release just over 30 activists was the result of an ongoing power struggle between Thein Sein and the hardliners.
In an interview with The Associated Press, Suu Kyi cautioned against too much faith in the current changes, and said that Burma’s long-ruling military still wields enormous power despite the veneer of democracy provided by the elections.
“I am concerned about how much support there is in the military for change,” she said. “In the end, that’s the most important factor—how far the military are prepared to cooperate with the principles of reform.”
Analysts inside the country pointed to the powerful National Defense Security Council (NDSC) and to Snr-Gen Than Shwe, the retired dictator who may continue to exercise influence from behind the scenes.
“As long as Than Shwe is alive, don’t expect any genuine change in this country,” said an outspoken editor in Rangoon who, on this occasion, requested anonymity.
High-ranking officials have leaked the fact that recent NDSC meetings have been peppered with discord, and that the political prisoners issue is one of its most divisive.
Chairing the meetings is the president, Thein Sein, a former military general, but one who is reputed to be honest and sincere. Even skeptics admit that he is arguably the least corrupt of the top-ranking officers, and the general with the cleanest hands when it comes to the blood of past human rights abuses.
The Council is comprised of 11 senior government leaders, 10 of whom were previously military generals. The team includes the two vice-presidents, the commander-in-chief and deputy commander-in-chief of the armed forces, and the ministers of defense, home affairs, foreign affairs and border affairs. The speakers of both Houses are also members of the NDSC, and on occasion Information Minister Kyaw Hsan is invited to sit in as an observer.
Together the NDSC represents the inner circle of government in Burma; its members hold sway over all the highest priority matters, including national security, economy, and the pace of democratic reform.
Aides claim that the president usually makes the final decision on any particular issue, but that he is an attentive listener and prefers to hear competing angles before he commits himself.
However, it also appears that military hardliners still hold the power to overrule any decision. First vice-president, Tin Aung Myint Oo, is renowned as a battle-hardened general, but is also reputedly one of the most corrupt officials, loyal to Than Shwe, and always ready to stamp down on any dovishness at the NDSC and to maintain the status quo.
The hawks in the Council argue that releasing prominent dissidents will endanger national stability. It won’t. And Thein Sein, who served in the armed forces since 1968, knows that.
Inside sources say that Thein Sein faces mounting challenges to his authority—a suggestion he appeared more than willing to share with Western diplomats.
One story goes that when the president saw the news report published in both The Irrawaddy and the Bangkok Post that suggested that Tin Aung Myint Oo was constantly undermining him and was perhaps positioning himself in the driving seat for a military coup, he simply asked his staff to bring him extra copies of the news article. He then pinned a short note to the clippings and sent them over to the vice-president's office.
But still some observers deny the existence of the hardliners. They want to play ball and so they prefer to believe that the government is just playing the time-tested old game of Good Cop, Bad Cop. They say Naypyidaw has developed this strategy to frighten and cajole the international community, and to justify itself when it needs to stall.
That's why, of course, Thein Sein’s allies were so comfortable to disseminate word that they were involved in a daily power struggle with the hardliners, and that the possibility of a coup loomed large unless they were supported 100 percent down the line.
Insiders have also disclosed that since the visit of US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to Burma, the hardline faction has been neutralized and has faded into the background.
That does not preclude the fact that they could always come back.
But this too is no secret. Remarking on the process of reform in Burma, Suu Kyi recently told AP: “I wouldn’t say that there are many dangers, but I wouldn’t say that it is unstoppable either. I think there are obstacles, and there are some dangers that we have to look out for.”
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The Irrawaddy - Ending Kachin Conflict ‘Important’: Suu Kyi
By SAW YAN NAING Friday, January 6, 2012
Amid escalating hostilities in Kachin State in which another major rebel base was overrun by government troops, Burma’s prominent democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi reiterated the importance of ending the conflict in northern Burma.
Speaking to The Associated Press in Rangoon on Thursday, Suu Kyi said, “The Kachin situation is important now because of the hostilities and the fate of the refugees and the local people.”
Suu Kyi went on to say that the armed conflict is also representative of relations between the government and ethnic nationalities all over the country, a problem that should be resolved by a political settlement.
Suu Kyi said that resolving the country’s long-running ethnic conflicts is likely the most important issue over time, because “unless there is ethnic harmony, it will be very difficult for us to build up a strong democracy.”
The country’s sizable ethnic minorities have for decades struggled for greater autonomy, leading to cycles of brutal counterinsurgency.
La Nan, a spokesperson for the rebel Kachin Independence Organization (KIO), told The Irrawaddy that government troops has overrun another major Kachin military base on Jan. 4 after several days of bombardments, and aided by military helicopters which carried munitions and supplies high into the mountainous terrain.
The KIO troops abandoned their base as they couldn’t resist any longer the heavy mortar shelling, said La Nan.
With the reinforcement of battalions from its Light Infantry Division 88, the Burmese army had been attacking the KIO base since Dec. 21, he added.
The government troops also seized a major base belonging to the KIO’s Brigade 4 in late December. The base—located in Mong Tong Township in northern Shan State—is considered strategic as it lies in the path of the trans-Burma oil and gas pipeline.
Despite a government peace delegation’s plans to hold peace talks with KIO leaders later this month, hostilities on the ground are escalating, said KIO sources. On Dec. 10, President Thein Sein ordered his commanders in the region to put an end to hostilities, an order which appears to have been disregarded.
The conflict between Burmese government troops and the KIO broke out in June after a series of incidents and rising tensions in the region. The conflict has since forced more than 45,000 civilians to be displaced.
The KIO spokesperson said that more than 160 clashes between government forces and Kachin troops were recorded by the KIO for the month of December—more than 90 of which broke out after the presidential order on Dec. 10.
Although the previous military regime concluded ceasefires with many of the ethnic groups, the pacts have been precarious and some of the larger guerrilla armies never joined them.
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The Irrawaddy - Suu Kyi Reassures 88 Generation Families
By LINN THANT Friday, January 6, 2012
Seeking to reassure the families of political prisoners still behind bars, Burma's pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi said on Thursday that the country's military-backed government has committed to a time frame for their release and she remains confident it will be honored.
Suu Kyi made the remarks at a meeting with relatives of nine 88 Generation student group leaders still serving lengthy sentences despite a series of amnesties that has seen the release of hundreds of political prisoners since last year, including a clemency ordered by President Thein Sein earlier this week to mark Burma's Independence Day.
San Lin, the brother of 88 Generation leader Nyan Lin, who is serving a 65-year sentence in Lashio Prison in Shan State, said that Suu Kyi told the relatives of imprisoned activists that the government has not yet completed the process of releasing prisoners.
However, she did not elaborate on when they could expect to see their loved ones freed, he added.
To mark Burma's 64th Independence Day on Jan. 4, the government released 6,656 prisoners, of whom around 30 were political detainees close to completing their sentences.
There are believed to be between 600 and 1,500 political prisoners still in detention.
According to Aung Aung Tun, the brother of prominent student leader Ko Ko Gyi, who is serving a 65-year sentence in Mong Set Prison in Shan State, Suu Kyi suggested that the delay in releasing more prisoners could be due to a conflict between the government and the military.
It was the second time this week that Suu Kyi has sought to allay fears that the pace of reforms initiated
last year is slowing, raising questions about Thein Sein's willingness or ability to follow through on promises of more changes to come.
“I have confidence in the president's influence, as I frankly expressed some time ago,” she said on Wednesday. “But please keep it firmly in mind that one person alone cannot enact reforms.”
Suu Kyi said recently that her priorities in 2012 would be to help end Burma's ethnic conflicts, implement the rule of law in Burma and amend undemocratic elements in the 2008 Constitution.
Restoring the rule of law is very important in terms of resolving the issue of political prisoners, she said, because without it, anyone can be arrested at any time.
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The Irrawaddy - 'China Has No Selfish Interests in Burma': Editorial
By PATRICK BOEHLER Friday, January 6, 2012
China is not opposed to the tentative democratic reforms in neighboring Burma and has no worries about its economic interests in the country being affected by possible Western investments poised to enter the Burmese economy along with these changes, according to an editorial in a state-run newspaper.
“It is worth noting that some Westerners use the changes happening in Burma to play up the China factor, even stating that China was against those changes,” said an editorial in the Chinese government mouthpiece People's Daily published on Thursday.
The idea that China opposes reforms in Burma is “nonsense,” the editorial said, stating that China “doesn't need any special circumstances” to compete successfully against Western companies.
“In the eyes of some Western media, China is using opportunities created by the Western sanctions to invest heavily in Burma, and is worried about being crowded out once the [investment] climate has improved,” it added.
The editorial was a direct reaction to arguments by Western advocates of greater engagement with the Burmese government that US-led Western economic sanctions against Burma have resulted in China gaining enormous influence in the country.
Now that Burma's quasi-civilian government has made tentative political and economic reforms, the Western governments have signaled that they want greater engagement with Burma and are ready to lift economic sanctions once they see more substantive democratic changes in the country.
This will pave the way for the Western companies to invest in resource-rich Burma, whose leaders increasingly show signs of attempting to counterbalance their political and economic dependence on China by improving relations with the West.
If this scenario plays out, the Chinese companies don't need to worry about an influx of Western investment because they are “capable of competing under equal conditions with companies from any nation,” according to the editorial.
China “welcomes the increasing contact between Burma and Western countries, including the United States,” and “sees the direction the Burmese government is pushing domestic politics and its improvement of foreign relations as positive," it goes on to say.
China “has no selfish interests in the Burma issue,” the editorial concluded.
According to Cheng Xiaohe, an associate professor in international relations at Renmin University in Beijing, the article “seeks to send a message that the democratic reform in Burma has become unavoidable and China could live with it and may help to facilitate the democratic process.”
But, he warned, “Some Chinese still see the coming of Western companies to Burma from a zero-sum-game perspective.”
For Zha Daojiong, an energy specialist at Peking University in Beijing, the timing of the publication was related to the British Foreign Secretary William Hague’s trip to Burma. His visit, which concluded on Friday, was the first by a British foreign secretary in half a century.
But for the leading analyst, the focus of Sino-Burmese relations is the security of border areas.
“Maintaining peace and stability at the shared border areas is more important than anything else,” Zha told The Irrawaddy on Friday.
“After the Myitsone dam flap, another shooting incident across the border with Yunnan by Burmese troops will increase calls in Chinese society for getting tough with the Burmese government,” he added, referring to the surprise suspension of a Chinese-backed dam project in northern Burma's Kachin State last September.
The editorial came a day after Luo Zhaohui, the head of the Chinese Foreign Ministry's Department of Asian Affairs, joined a rare online debate on the People’s Daily website.
He said the Burmese government's sudden decision to halt the US $3.6 billion Myitsone project “set off alarm bells” for Chinese diplomats.
China, he said, “will increase its political support and diplomatic protection for [Chinese] companies, provide timely guidance to companies and strengthen consular protection to safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of [Chinese] companies.”
When Forbes China published its first global investment risk list for Chinese companies last week, it ranked Burma 162nd out of 177 countries, behind North Korea, Cote d'Ivoire and Pakistan.
The editorial and Luo’s statement come at the end of a year of great changes in Burma, and great changes in Burma’s relationship with China.
The construction of the Myitsone dam on the Irrawaddy River by a Chinese company was suspended after concerns about its social and environmental impact resulted in a growing popular movement opposed to the project.
Despite friction around the Myitsone controversy, however, government relations continue to be close.
Days before US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton made her historic visit to Burma at the beginning of December, Burma's army chief Gen Min Aung Hlaing visited China, meeting with Vice President Xi Jinping and his Chinese counterparts.
Xi, who has been groomed to become the next chairman of the Chinese Communist Party later this year, visited Burma later in December.
His visit coincided with the Greater Mekong Sub-Region summit hosted by Burma in Naypyidaw. Chinese elder statesman Dai Bingguo attended the summit, a regional alternative to the US-led Lower Mekong Initiative, which excludes China.
China has for decades been a staunch ally of the Burmese military government and has reaped great economic benefits from that loyalty with its internationally isolated neighbor.
Chinese companies have pledged more than $12.3 billion in investments in the fiscal year of 2010, more than any other country, according to Chinese figures.
Chinese investments in Burma have traditionally focused on mining and the energy sector, including electricity generation, oil and gas production and the construction of major oil and natural gas pipelines from the western Burmese seaport of Kyaukpyu to China's Yunnan Province.
The pipelines are expected be completed in 2013 and will carry 22 million tons of crude oil and 12 billion cubic meters of natural gas per year from the Bay of Bengal to China's energy-hungry Southwestern regions, including Chongqing.
Last week, a new road and railway bridge crossing the Irrawaddy was officially opened by Vice President Tin Aung Myint Oo in Pakokku. It had been built by a consortium of three Chinese companies.
According to Chinese figures, bilateral trade reached $4.4 billion in 2010, a increase of 53.2 percent compared to the previous year.
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Food shortage threatens Kachin refugees
Friday, 06 January 2012 18:16 Mizzima News
(Mizzima) – A rice shortage is compounding the plight of Kachin refugees, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said on Friday.
The annual harvest season in northern Kachin State has come and gone but much of the rice crop has not been harvested or was never planted because of the renewed fighting, the UN group said on its website.
Traditionally, farmers transfer their rice seedlings in June with harvests in November and December before the winter sets in.
"This year's harvest was next year's investment, but now we have nothing for the future. We will have to cross the mountains and scavenge for wild vegetables so that we will have something to eat," said Kot Nan, 35.
"When the conflict started we were planting rice but the soldiers came into our village so we couldn't plant," said the mother-of-two told at the main camp for internally displaced people (IDPs) outside Laiza.
There are more than 40,000 IDPs in Kachin State, local aid groups say, including an estimated 20,000 in camps around Laiza, controlled by the political wing of the KIO.
For many Kachin families, farming is the primary source of livelihood, with rice being the main crop, along with sugar cane and corn.
Bill Davies, a researcher with Physicians for Human Rights (PHR), was quoted on the UN website that the food security issue is of major concern.
Davies led a fact-finding mission for PHR in the border areas of Kachin State last September, visiting six camps and four shelters for IDPs.
But getting into the most-affected areas will only be the first step, said Marcus Prior, a spokesman for the World Food Programme (WFP) Asia.
"Even with improved access, WFP will need funding to provide the kind of assistance we think may be necessary in Kachin," he said. "Our operations across the country are facing significant shortfalls – right now WFP only has funds to guarantee food deliveries into February."
The UN food agency is able to reach about 15,000 of the displaced in Kachin State, but hopes that following a recent humanitarian convoy across the conflict line, the next convoy will include WFP food, Marcus said.
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Mizzima News - ‘They kicked me a lot, and my tooth fell out’
Friday, 06 January 2012 12:39 Kyaw Kha
(Interview) – Colonel Saw Lwin (aka) Htay Aung, the joint-secretary of the Kayan New Land Party (KNLP), was freed under the recent presidential commutation order. He was held in Obo Prison in Mandalay. In 2007, Colonel Saw Lwin was arrested after the seizure of illegal weapons and goods and sentenced to 10 years in prison. Mizzima correspondent Kyaw Kha talks to him about the events leading to his arrest, and his views on peace talks and the new political atmosphere.
Question: Please tell us your age and position.
Answer: I’m 59 years old. I’m a joint secretary of the Kayan New Land Party. Regarding military rank, I’m a Colonel.
Q: How did your release come about, and did you have to sign any agreements?
A: I was released under the commutation. Even without the commutation, I would have been released from prison in the next year. None of us needed to sign pledges. But one thing I want to say is that there are many political prisoners in Obo Prison. They have not been released.
Q: Why were you arrested and sentenced to prison?
A: In brief, in Yamethin, there was a company operating a gold mine, which had a relationship with our party. The party central committee assigned me the task of inspecting the company, so I went to Yamethin. The night I arrived, the authorities led by the Yamethin Peace and Development Council chairman Ye Kyaw Khine arrested me. They arrested 11 people including me.
When they ransacked our place, they found two pistols and a Point 22 gun that we used to protect ourselves against robbers. They also found some chemicals used for producing gold. They had a grudge against me and beat me and arrested us.
Thirty-six hours after we were arrested, they passed the highest sentences in accordance with the former commander’s order. We didn’t have the right to defend ourselves. Another thing is that when the judge delivered the verdict against us, the judge did not make a balanced judgment; he just read a small piece of paper that contained the drafted verdict.
Q: The highest sentence? What do you mean?
A: Violation of section 19/f [having illegal weapons] can be sentenced up to three years in prison. We were sentenced to three years in prison under that act. Another thing is that violation of section 51 and section 53 of the Export-Import Act can be sentenced to at most seven years in prison. In Burma, most of the violators of that Act are usually sentenced to just three or four months; at most one year. But we were sentenced to [another] seven years in prison [under this act].
Q: When you were arrested, did they torture you?
A: When I was arrested, the township Peace and Development Council chairman Ye Kyaw Khine said that he was a township chief who had a close relationship with General Khin Maung Than and General Myint Hlaing, and he could do anything he liked.
They roped my hands to my back, and then they pushed to make me fall down. Then with their military boots, they trod on my face. They kicked me a lot, and my tooth fell out.
He [Ye Kyaw Khine] said that he was appointed township chief three months ago, but he did not get any bribes from our gold mine company. He said that we were disrespectful, and he tortured me. At that time, he was drunk. He tortured only me. He did not torture the other people.
Q: Were all of the 11 people [who were arrested] directly related to the case?
A: In fact, the affair regarding the weapons and chemicals, only our company’s official, Major Kyaw Lwin and Major Ye Aung, bear responsibility. Only they were related with that affair. The two of them signed the search warrant that the weapons and chemicals were related to only them. The remaining nine people were not related with the case. But, all of the 11 people were sentenced. Major Ye Aung died of depression in prison one year after he was arrested.
Q: You could read news journals in prison. What is your opinion of the new government’s actions?
A: To speak frankly, we need to seriously watch them. We will be able to trust it, only if bigger changes are brought about.
Q: What bigger changes? What do you mean?
A: I mean that for instance, talking about amnesty, the government needs to release all political prisoners unconditionally. Similarly, many prisoners who were sentenced via unfair legislation need to be released. The affairs regarding amending the Constitution need to be conducted as soon as possible for the sake of people. Talking about combating corruption, it must be combated effectively and we need transparency.
Q: Some armed groups are still holding peace talks with the government while other groups have agreed to cease-fires. We hear that your KNLP will hold peace talks.
A: It’s been only a short time since I was released, so I haven’t discussed that [with my party]. I will return to Loikaw and meet with the central committee. Honestly, we did not sign any cease-fire agreement with the government [in the past]. Although we urged the government to sign a cease-fire agreement, the government said there was no need to sign because we were gentlemen.
But later the government deceived people by saying that we had agreed to things that we did not agree to. The two points we agreed to were to stop fighting and to cooperate in regional development work.
In my opinion, to achieve genuine peace, under our country’s political circumstances, we need a genuine multi-party democratic system. Similarly, we need to build a genuine Union. The peace we establish must be peace that is widely accepted by the people. Otherwise, it cannot be a lasting peace.
Q: Now you are free. What are your plans?
A: Or country has not achieved democracy and the peace that our people want, so as a joint secretary of the Kayan New Land Party, I’ll try to achieve that. Aung San Suu Kyi was released from her house arrest while we were in prison. I would like to meet with her.
Q: Now it’s the 64th anniversary of Burma’s Independence Day [January 4]. Do you think that the people of Burma have enjoyed any peace and freedom since we achieved independence?
A: Since the day Burma got independence, the people of Burma have not enjoyed the taste of independence [or freedom]. Our country lacks peace. We lost our human rights. We don’t have democracy. The citizens are below the poverty line. Now, it’s time to end these problems. I hope that all citizens will actively try to solve these problems.
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CNF signs cease-fire agreement
Friday, 06 January 2012 21:06 Phanida
Chiang Mai (Mizzima) – The Chin National Front (CNF) – which fought for 23 years – signed a cease-fire agreement with a Burmese government peace team led by Railway Minister Aung Min on Friday.
After two-days of talks, the five-point agreement was signed in Hakha, the China State capital.
Chin Cheng, who facilitated the talks, told Mizzima: “The CNF military area was designated in Tiddim and Matupi but it will be renegotiated. I am satisfied and elated with the agreement.”
CNF liaison offices will be opened in Matupi, Thangtalan and Tiddim in the south, north and middle of Chin State, respectively.
The 10-member CNF delegation was led by Joint General- Secretary Dr. Sui Khar. The Union-level group was led by Railway Minister Aung Min and team members included Forestry Minister Win Tun, state level Peace and Stability Committee member and state government Border and Security Minister Colonel Zaw Min Oo, strategic command commander Lieutenant Colonel Ko Ko Gyi and five state government cabinet members.
The agreement included safe passage in each other’s territory with prior notice and joint cooperation in state development work.
The Chin State branch chairman of the National League for Democracy party, Ban Lian, told Mizzima that political issues have cause ethnic armed groups to fight the government for 60 years, and face-to-face negotiation was the best way to resolve such issues.
“Politics must be talked out in this way,” he said. “Even a world war was stopped at last by signing an agreement otherwise it could never end and fighting would continue. There are armed groups because of political issues. Political issues must be resolved at the conference table.”
The two sides first met on November 19, 2011, in Mae Sai, Thailand, for preliminary discussions.
Meanwhile, the Chinland Guardian said an elaborate dinner was planned for Friday evening where both sides will share a meal with cabinet members of the Chin State government, members of the Chin State Parliament, invited elders and dignitaries from Hakha, Thantlang and Falam towns, in addition to chief civil servants from all state-level departments.
The two-day peace talks were held in the capital amidst public euphoria which saw a historic welcome for the CNF peace delegation on Thursday in Thantlang and Hakha towns, where thousands of people clad in traditional dresses packed the streets to greet the ten-member negotiating team.
“We have been regularly ‘required’ to greet state officials during their visits to town on countless occasions but this time we came out on the street on our own account. People said, ‘We even greet Burmese officials, why not our own heroes?'," said an elderly woman in Hakha.
The CNF delegation is due to depart Hakha on Saturday and is scheduled to stay overnight in Thantlang town before heading back to the Indian border.
The CNF was formed in May 1988 to fight for the self-determination rights of ethnic people and it then formed the Chin National Army (CNA). It is based on the Indo-Burma border. At least 70 CNF soldiers died in action in the fighting between 1988 and 2012, a source close to the CNF said. After 2003, fighting ceased with government troops. The CNF is one of the organizations that opposed the 2008 Constitution. It is the fourth armed group to reach a cease-fire agreement with the government in recent negotiations.
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DVB News - UK says microfinance key to Burma’s growth
By FRANCIS WADE
Published: 6 January 2012
Britain will commit a sizeable portion of its aid to Burma over the next four years towards spurring microfinance initiatives in the country’s rural regions, where the absence of credit has fuelled endemic poverty.
Expansion of the sector has been targeted as a key priority of both foreign donors and the Burmese government, which enacted a microfinance law late last year that grants a greater number of organisations permission to kick-start schemes. The decision is expected to be made official today following British Foreign Secretary William Hague’s visit to Burma.
“One of main obstacles to growth in rural areas [in Burma] is the lack of credit,” Paul Whittingham, head of the UK’s Department for International Development (DFID) office in Rangoon, told DVB.
“There has been a lot of attention focused on this issue – when [economist Professor Joseph] Stiglitz arrived in 2009, while the IMF also identified it. There is also consensus among Burmese, including Aung San Suu Kyi and the government, that this is an area where quick investment can have a quick impact.”
Burma was ranked 149 out of 187 countries in last year’s Human Development Index, the lowest among Asia-Pacific states. Since the enactment of western sanctions in the mid 1990s, it has also received less aid than any country in Southeast Asia. But a shift is underway among donor countries, particularly in the EU, to change that.
The UK last year committed £185 million ($US290 million) in aid to Burma over a four-year period, making it the largest bilateral donor to the country. With Burmese highly distrustful of the country’s corrupt and inefficient banking system, the normal route to obtaining credit, Britain thinks the allocation of £10 million to establish microfinance schemes in the border regions will see quick improvements.
Poverty levels in the country’s rural regions, particularly in Karen state in the east, far surpass those of inland urban populations. The peripheral populated by ethnic minority groups, many of which have been beset by decades of conflict, have long been neglected by the government, with infrastructure such as roads left poorly maintained, and schools and hospitals woefully undernourished.
Part of the reason for Burma receiving scant aid over the past decade has been rampant corruption among officials, which gained notoriety after it emerged that large sums of money destined for victims of Cyclone Nargis in 2008 were siphoned into the pockets of government authorities.
That remains a concern, Whittingham says, but the Nargis debacle prompted the British government to bolster safeguards over aid being channelled into the country. “We have very strict firewalls and remain very vigilant about where the money is going – we can track very closely where each pound of our aid ends up.”
The environment for foreign aid workers has also improved from a time when heavy restrictions were placed on their movement, he says. Non-governmental organisations have expanded in number and are now able to hold capacity-building workshops for Burmese.
But problems over access to conflict zones remains a key area of concern, particularly in northern Kachin state where the government has largely blocked aid workers from visiting the majority of the 50,000 refugees who have fled fighting since June last year.
“Access is still not as good as it needs to be,” says Whittingham. “It’s absolutely critical that all sides of conflict abide by humanitarian principles, which include neutrality of aid and full access [for aid workers] to all sides and citizens of this conflict.”
Hague yesterday called on the government to allow “unfettered humanitarian access” to the Kachin, who are among more than half a million people displaced by conflict in Burma’s border regions.
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Friday, 6 January 2012
DVB News - Army readies for large-scale Kachin assault
By AYE NAI
Published: 6 January 2012
Several boats carrying Burmese troops have been seen arriving in the Kachin state town of Bhamo in recent days, adding to fresh deployments of soldiers to the frontline in lieu of an offensive against Kachin rebels.
Fighting has continued into the new year despite orders from President Thein Sein in December for the army not to launch attacks on the Kachin Independence Army (KIA). La Nan, the group’s spokesperson, said that six clashes broke out on Tuesday alone.
Troop presence has “visibly increased”, he continued, claiming that around 600 soldiers had been mobilised some 20 miles from the KIA’s headquarters in Laiza, on the border with China.
The continuing military build up points to an apparent split between the government and army, which is headed by the hawkish Min Aung Hlaing. Both he and Thein Sein were high-ranking figures in the former ruling junta, but since he took office the president has taken a more moderate path in his attempt to appease international critics.
Sceptics of the reform programme point to the ongoing fighting in Kachin state as a signal that the proclaimed intentions of the Thein Sein administration are not shared across the board. As yet little is known of what fallout will result from the army’s apparent refusal to accede to the president’s demands.
After months of stalling, the government has however allowed tentative access to some of the 50,000 refugees displaced by the fighting, a UN convoy arriving in Laiza in December to distribute aid.
British Foreign Secretary William Hague, who is currently in Burma on an historic two-day visit, pledged to provide aid to the Kachin refugees, and reportedly offered British assistance in mediating a ceasefire between the two sides.
Several attempts at brokering a truce have occurred since fighting began in June last year, but so far have seen little success. La Nan said the KIA was “ready for political talks when there is a chance” and that fighting would steadily ease as negotiations progress.
“It wouldn’t be right to abandon dialogue just because clashes are ongoing. Our idea is to just focus on the talks, which are important.”
The government has also approached the Chin National Front (CNF) in northwestern Burma for peace talks, although little is known of the discussions. The CNF took up arms after the 1988 uprising, and last year joined the United Nationalities Federal Council, an umbrella group of ethnic armies.
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ေတာ္လွန္ေရးသီခ်င္းမ်ား(Politics Song)
Saturday, 7 January 2012
BURMA RELATED NEWS - JANUARY 06, 2012
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