Lifting Myanmar sanctions now would be mistake: U.S.
By Paul Eckert, Asia Correspondent – Wed Sep 30, 5:46 pm ET
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The United States believes it would be a mistake to lift sanctions against Myanmar at the beginning of a dialogue with that country's military junta, the top U.S. diplomat for Asia said on Wednesday.
Following a U.S. policy review on Myanmar, the Obama administration said this week it would pursue deeper engagement with Myanmar's military rulers to try to spur democratic reform but would not ease sanctions for now.
"Lifting or easing sanctions at the outset of a dialogue without meaningful progress on our concerns would be a mistake," Assistant Secretary of State Kurt Campbell told a U.S. Senate panel.
Campbell met U Thaung, Myanmar's minister of science, technology and labor, in New York on Tuesday for what he described as "substantive talks for several hours." His meeting was the highest-level contact with Myanmar, formerly known as Burma, in nine years.
"We laid out very clearly our views and I stressed to U Thaung that this is an opportunity for Burma, if it is ready to move forward," he told a Senate Foreign Relations subcommittee hearing.
No schedule or venue was set for future bilateral meetings, Campbell added.
A U.S. official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the Myanmar officials "have shown interest in improving relations with us, reaching out to us."
Washington has gradually tightened sanctions on the generals who rule the country to try to force them to hold talks with ethnic minorities and with Nobel laureate and opposition party leader Aung San Suu Kyi.
Democratic Senator Jim Webb, who visited Myanmar last month and met junta leader Than Shwe as well as Suu Kyi, said the cutting of all commercial ties had eroded U.S. influence and placed the country under China's sphere of influence.
"We limit the opportunities to push for positive change because we do not talk directly to the generals in charge," said Webb, chairman of the subcommittee.
NORTH KOREA TIES WORRISOME
Several academic experts echoed Webb and urged Washington to boost contacts and aid to Myanmar.
The sanctions were "hugely counter-productive in reducing Western influence, reinforcing isolationist tendencies, constraining moves toward market reforms and decimating the position of the Burmese professional, managerial and entrepreneurial classes," said Thant Myint-U of Singapore's Institute of Southeast Asian Studies.
Human rights activists and democracy campaigners from Myanmar have called for stepped-up pressure on the military leadership.
"Without having benchmarks and specific guidelines to improve human rights, we fear that the current engagement will end up promoting business interests rather than human rights," T. Kumar, Amnesty International advocacy director for international issues, told reporters.
Myanmar plans next year to hold its first election in two decades, which the junta says will bring an end to almost five decades of unbroken military rule. Many analysts say the generals have rigged the process in order to keep power.
The United States had discussed its Myanmar policy shift with Japan and planned to expand dialogue with China and India, neighbors of Myanmar with significant trading relations with the Southeast Asian country, he said.
Campbell would visit China, one of the junta's main supporters, to discuss Myanmar, in about two weeks, he said.
One key concern of the United States was Myanmar's suspected military relationship with North Korea, which is under a battery of U.N. sanctions that ban nations from trading weapons and nuclear and other sensitive technologies with Pyongyang.
"We have seen some steps between North Korea and Burma that concern us, both the provision of small arms and other military equipment, and there are some signs that that cooperation has extended into areas that would be prohibited," Campbell told the hearing.
By Paul Eckert, Asia Correspondent – Wed Sep 30, 5:46 pm ET
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The United States believes it would be a mistake to lift sanctions against Myanmar at the beginning of a dialogue with that country's military junta, the top U.S. diplomat for Asia said on Wednesday.
Following a U.S. policy review on Myanmar, the Obama administration said this week it would pursue deeper engagement with Myanmar's military rulers to try to spur democratic reform but would not ease sanctions for now.
"Lifting or easing sanctions at the outset of a dialogue without meaningful progress on our concerns would be a mistake," Assistant Secretary of State Kurt Campbell told a U.S. Senate panel.
Campbell met U Thaung, Myanmar's minister of science, technology and labor, in New York on Tuesday for what he described as "substantive talks for several hours." His meeting was the highest-level contact with Myanmar, formerly known as Burma, in nine years.
"We laid out very clearly our views and I stressed to U Thaung that this is an opportunity for Burma, if it is ready to move forward," he told a Senate Foreign Relations subcommittee hearing.
No schedule or venue was set for future bilateral meetings, Campbell added.
A U.S. official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the Myanmar officials "have shown interest in improving relations with us, reaching out to us."
Washington has gradually tightened sanctions on the generals who rule the country to try to force them to hold talks with ethnic minorities and with Nobel laureate and opposition party leader Aung San Suu Kyi.
Democratic Senator Jim Webb, who visited Myanmar last month and met junta leader Than Shwe as well as Suu Kyi, said the cutting of all commercial ties had eroded U.S. influence and placed the country under China's sphere of influence.
"We limit the opportunities to push for positive change because we do not talk directly to the generals in charge," said Webb, chairman of the subcommittee.
NORTH KOREA TIES WORRISOME
Several academic experts echoed Webb and urged Washington to boost contacts and aid to Myanmar.
The sanctions were "hugely counter-productive in reducing Western influence, reinforcing isolationist tendencies, constraining moves toward market reforms and decimating the position of the Burmese professional, managerial and entrepreneurial classes," said Thant Myint-U of Singapore's Institute of Southeast Asian Studies.
Human rights activists and democracy campaigners from Myanmar have called for stepped-up pressure on the military leadership.
"Without having benchmarks and specific guidelines to improve human rights, we fear that the current engagement will end up promoting business interests rather than human rights," T. Kumar, Amnesty International advocacy director for international issues, told reporters.
Myanmar plans next year to hold its first election in two decades, which the junta says will bring an end to almost five decades of unbroken military rule. Many analysts say the generals have rigged the process in order to keep power.
The United States had discussed its Myanmar policy shift with Japan and planned to expand dialogue with China and India, neighbors of Myanmar with significant trading relations with the Southeast Asian country, he said.
Campbell would visit China, one of the junta's main supporters, to discuss Myanmar, in about two weeks, he said.
One key concern of the United States was Myanmar's suspected military relationship with North Korea, which is under a battery of U.N. sanctions that ban nations from trading weapons and nuclear and other sensitive technologies with Pyongyang.
"We have seen some steps between North Korea and Burma that concern us, both the provision of small arms and other military equipment, and there are some signs that that cooperation has extended into areas that would be prohibited," Campbell told the hearing.
***********************************************************
US: talks with Myanmar won't replace sanctions
By FOSTER KLUG, Associated Press Writer – Wed Sep 30, 5:09 pm ET
WASHINGTON (AP) – The Obama administration said Wednesday it will not relax harsh sanctions against military-run Myanmar even as it pursues a new policy of direct talks with the Southeast Asian nation's generals.
Assistant Secretary of State Kurt Campbell, the top U.S. diplomat for East Asia, told the Senate Foreign Relations Asia subcommittee that lifting sanctions as the administration attempts to start a dialogue, without Myanmar making any democratic changes, would be a mistake.
The panel's Democratic chairman, Virginia Sen. Jim Webb, called for a better approach to the way the United States deals with Myanmar.
A U.S. policy of isolation, Webb told Campbell, limits opportunities to push the generals for change, hurts America's ability to reach out to Myanmar's people and destroys business ties between the countries.
Webb, who recently made a rare, highly publicized visit to meet with top officials in Myanmar, has said that ever-tightening U.S. sanctions have been counterproductive, that while the generals have become entrenched, China has established a strong business and diplomatic foothold in Myanmar. The country, also called Burma, has been ruled by the military since 1962.
"The situation we face with Burma is an example of what can happen when we seek to isolate a country from the rest of the world, but the rest of the world does not follow," Webb, a Vietnam War veteran with a long-standing interest in Asia, said.
The Obama administration's decision to engage in direct high-level talks with the junta is a sharp break with the former Bush administration's policy of shunning Myanmar to protest repeated crackdowns on activists.
Campbell dismissed the argument that all sanctions should be lifted because they hurt Myanmar's people without pressuring the government. Recent U.S. sanctions, he said, have targeted the military leadership and state-owned companies — not the people.
Campbell, who met Tuesday with Myanmar officials in New York, said he has been asked since that meeting: "What are you going to do when these talks fail?"
He urged skeptics to give engagement a chance to succeed, saying the United States expects a "long, slow and step-by-step process." No second round of talks has yet been scheduled, he said.
The State Department said the last time a U.S. official at Campbell's level met with Myanmar officials was in 2000.
As Campbell and Webb talked, a group of Buddhist monks and Myanmar activists gathered in the Senate hearing room in what activists said was a show of protest against Webb's comments on Myanmar.
Webb traveled to Myanmar last month and met with junta leader Than Shwe and with detained pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi (pronounced ahng sahn soo chee). He has since faced criticism by dissident groups and conservatives who argue that his trip validated a violent junta accused of massive abuses against its people.
The United States traditionally has relied heavily on tough sanctions meant to force Myanmar's generals to respect human rights and release imprisoned political activists.
Those sanctions are widely supported among both senior Democratic and Republican U.S. lawmakers.
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said in a statement that Myanmar must meet two requirements before the United States should even consider moving away from sanctions: all political prisoners, including Suu Kyi, should be released, and free and fair elections must take place in 2010.
By FOSTER KLUG, Associated Press Writer – Wed Sep 30, 5:09 pm ET
WASHINGTON (AP) – The Obama administration said Wednesday it will not relax harsh sanctions against military-run Myanmar even as it pursues a new policy of direct talks with the Southeast Asian nation's generals.
Assistant Secretary of State Kurt Campbell, the top U.S. diplomat for East Asia, told the Senate Foreign Relations Asia subcommittee that lifting sanctions as the administration attempts to start a dialogue, without Myanmar making any democratic changes, would be a mistake.
The panel's Democratic chairman, Virginia Sen. Jim Webb, called for a better approach to the way the United States deals with Myanmar.
A U.S. policy of isolation, Webb told Campbell, limits opportunities to push the generals for change, hurts America's ability to reach out to Myanmar's people and destroys business ties between the countries.
Webb, who recently made a rare, highly publicized visit to meet with top officials in Myanmar, has said that ever-tightening U.S. sanctions have been counterproductive, that while the generals have become entrenched, China has established a strong business and diplomatic foothold in Myanmar. The country, also called Burma, has been ruled by the military since 1962.
"The situation we face with Burma is an example of what can happen when we seek to isolate a country from the rest of the world, but the rest of the world does not follow," Webb, a Vietnam War veteran with a long-standing interest in Asia, said.
The Obama administration's decision to engage in direct high-level talks with the junta is a sharp break with the former Bush administration's policy of shunning Myanmar to protest repeated crackdowns on activists.
Campbell dismissed the argument that all sanctions should be lifted because they hurt Myanmar's people without pressuring the government. Recent U.S. sanctions, he said, have targeted the military leadership and state-owned companies — not the people.
Campbell, who met Tuesday with Myanmar officials in New York, said he has been asked since that meeting: "What are you going to do when these talks fail?"
He urged skeptics to give engagement a chance to succeed, saying the United States expects a "long, slow and step-by-step process." No second round of talks has yet been scheduled, he said.
The State Department said the last time a U.S. official at Campbell's level met with Myanmar officials was in 2000.
As Campbell and Webb talked, a group of Buddhist monks and Myanmar activists gathered in the Senate hearing room in what activists said was a show of protest against Webb's comments on Myanmar.
Webb traveled to Myanmar last month and met with junta leader Than Shwe and with detained pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi (pronounced ahng sahn soo chee). He has since faced criticism by dissident groups and conservatives who argue that his trip validated a violent junta accused of massive abuses against its people.
The United States traditionally has relied heavily on tough sanctions meant to force Myanmar's generals to respect human rights and release imprisoned political activists.
Those sanctions are widely supported among both senior Democratic and Republican U.S. lawmakers.
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said in a statement that Myanmar must meet two requirements before the United States should even consider moving away from sanctions: all political prisoners, including Suu Kyi, should be released, and free and fair elections must take place in 2010.
***********************************************************
US hopeful from first talks with Myanmar
by Shaun Tandon – Wed Sep 30, 10:34 pm ET
WASHINGTON (AFP) – A senior US official said he was hopeful after the highest-level talks with Myanmar in nearly a decade but warned against lifting sanctions until the junta moves on democracy.
Kurt Campbell, the assistant secretary of state for Asian affairs, met Tuesday with a delegation from Myanmar in New York one day after he unveiled a new blueprint of engaging the longtime pariah state.
"There were certainly no breakthroughs, but a very clear determination that dialogue was possible on the side of Burma," Campbell, using Myanmar's old name, said as he testified before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
He said that the US side laid out clear demands for the regime, including freeing political prisoners such as democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi, the Nobel laureate who has spent most of the past two decades under house arrest.
"Lifting or easing sanctions at the outset of a dialogue without meaningful progress on our concerns would be a mistake," Campbell said.
Campbell called on the junta to engage in a dialogue with the opposition and restive ethnic groups and warned that any insincere attempt "would get virtually no international support or recognition."
Wednesday's hearing was called by Senator Jim Webb, who in August paid an unprecedented visit to Myanmar to meet both with top junta leader Than Shwe and Aung San Suu Kyi.
Webb, a gruff author and former combat Marine, is the leading advocate in Congress of engaging Myanmar. He often points to the example of Vietnam, saying that the easing of US sanctions helped open up the communist state.
In a silent protest, monks poured into the Senate hearing room along with dozens of critics of the Myanmar regime wearing bright green shirts that read, "Burma is not Vietnam."
Webb said that while the United States had "honorable" motives in isolating Myanmar, it was merely losing leverage as neighboring nations -- particularly China -- are keen to do business with Myanmar.
"The situation we face with Burma is an example of what can happen when we seek to isolate a country from the rest of world, but the rest of the world does not follow," Webb said.
David Williams, a professor at Indiana University, told the hearing it would be a mistake to relax sanctions without seeing progress.
"If the US opens dialogue with the regime, it must demand that the regime simultaneously open dialogue with its own citizens," Williams said.
"And let us speak plainly: if we try to compete with China for influence over a military autocracy, we will always be at a disadvantage because there are some things we just won't do," he said.
President Barack Obama's administration has made dialogue a signature policy, saying it is open to talks with staunch US foes such as Iran and Cuba.
The State Department said Campbell's meetings Tuesday were the highest-level interaction between the administration and the junta since September 2000 under the Bill Clinton administration.
State Department spokesman Philip Crowley said Campbell and his deputy Scot Marciel also raised US concerns about Myanmar's "relationship with North Korea" as well as "our proliferation concerns associated with that."
During a visit to Thailand in July, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said the communist state could be sharing atomic technology with military-ruled Myanmar, posing a major threat to the region.
Crowley, the assistant secretary for public affairs, described the two-hour encounter Tuesday in the Waldorf Astoria hotel as "a cautious beginning and an initial meeting."
He added that "time and patience" will be required as both sides pursue further talks.
by Shaun Tandon – Wed Sep 30, 10:34 pm ET
WASHINGTON (AFP) – A senior US official said he was hopeful after the highest-level talks with Myanmar in nearly a decade but warned against lifting sanctions until the junta moves on democracy.
Kurt Campbell, the assistant secretary of state for Asian affairs, met Tuesday with a delegation from Myanmar in New York one day after he unveiled a new blueprint of engaging the longtime pariah state.
"There were certainly no breakthroughs, but a very clear determination that dialogue was possible on the side of Burma," Campbell, using Myanmar's old name, said as he testified before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
He said that the US side laid out clear demands for the regime, including freeing political prisoners such as democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi, the Nobel laureate who has spent most of the past two decades under house arrest.
"Lifting or easing sanctions at the outset of a dialogue without meaningful progress on our concerns would be a mistake," Campbell said.
Campbell called on the junta to engage in a dialogue with the opposition and restive ethnic groups and warned that any insincere attempt "would get virtually no international support or recognition."
Wednesday's hearing was called by Senator Jim Webb, who in August paid an unprecedented visit to Myanmar to meet both with top junta leader Than Shwe and Aung San Suu Kyi.
Webb, a gruff author and former combat Marine, is the leading advocate in Congress of engaging Myanmar. He often points to the example of Vietnam, saying that the easing of US sanctions helped open up the communist state.
In a silent protest, monks poured into the Senate hearing room along with dozens of critics of the Myanmar regime wearing bright green shirts that read, "Burma is not Vietnam."
Webb said that while the United States had "honorable" motives in isolating Myanmar, it was merely losing leverage as neighboring nations -- particularly China -- are keen to do business with Myanmar.
"The situation we face with Burma is an example of what can happen when we seek to isolate a country from the rest of world, but the rest of the world does not follow," Webb said.
David Williams, a professor at Indiana University, told the hearing it would be a mistake to relax sanctions without seeing progress.
"If the US opens dialogue with the regime, it must demand that the regime simultaneously open dialogue with its own citizens," Williams said.
"And let us speak plainly: if we try to compete with China for influence over a military autocracy, we will always be at a disadvantage because there are some things we just won't do," he said.
President Barack Obama's administration has made dialogue a signature policy, saying it is open to talks with staunch US foes such as Iran and Cuba.
The State Department said Campbell's meetings Tuesday were the highest-level interaction between the administration and the junta since September 2000 under the Bill Clinton administration.
State Department spokesman Philip Crowley said Campbell and his deputy Scot Marciel also raised US concerns about Myanmar's "relationship with North Korea" as well as "our proliferation concerns associated with that."
During a visit to Thailand in July, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said the communist state could be sharing atomic technology with military-ruled Myanmar, posing a major threat to the region.
Crowley, the assistant secretary for public affairs, described the two-hour encounter Tuesday in the Waldorf Astoria hotel as "a cautious beginning and an initial meeting."
He added that "time and patience" will be required as both sides pursue further talks.
***********************************************************
Suu Kyi lawyers hopeful for Myanmar appeal
Thu Oct 1, 8:36 am ET
YANGON (AFP) – Lawyers for Myanmar opposition icon Aung San Suu Kyi said Thursday they were "hoping for the best" as they braced for a court ruling on the Nobel laureate's appeal against her extended house arrest.
Judges are set to announce on Friday whether they will uphold the pro-democracy leader's conviction over an incident in which an American man swam uninvited to her house, earning her an extra 18 months in detention.
"Of course we are hoping for the best," said Nyan Win, her lawyer and spokesman for her National League for Democracy (NLD) party.
"We have prepared what we need. The result will depend on the court and we are hoping for the immediate release of Daw Suu," he told AFP. Daw is a term of respect in Myanmar.
The military-ruled country faces intense international pressure to free Suu Kyi, especially from the United States, which Wednesday held the highest-level talks with Myanmar in nearly a decade.
The Obama administration's decision to re-engage with Myanmar comes after years of stalemate proved unproductive but Washington has warned against lifting sanctions until the junta moves on democracy.
"Lifting or easing sanctions at the outset of a dialogue without meaningful progress on our concerns would be a mistake," said Kurt Campbell, the US assistant secretary of state for Asian affairs, who met the Myanmar delegation.
He said the US side laid out clear demands for the regime, including freeing political prisoners such as Suu Kyi.
But a western diplomat based in Bangkok, speaking to AFP on condition of anonymity, doubted this would affect the appeal.
"Everybody has big expectations but it's not going to result in immediate action. They are not going to give away their best asset so easily after one meeting -- I highly doubt it," the diplomat said.
"My personal guess is they will delay it or refuse (the appeal). I don't think we'll get any big news tomorrow. It's not really been a topic of great attention," the diplomat added.
Suu Kyi has spent most of the past two decades under house arrest. Her NLD won the country's last elections in 1990, which the ruling generals refused to acknowledge, leading the US and European Union to impose sanctions on Myanmar.
Her extended house arrest now keeps Suu Kyi off the scene for elections promised by the regime for 2010, adding to widespread criticism that the polls are a sham designed to legitimise the junta's grip on power.
In August a court at Yangon's notorious Insein prison originally sentenced the frail 64-year-old to three years' hard labour but junta chief Than Shwe reduced that to 18 months house arrest.
Two female assistants living with Suu Kyi received the same sentence and have also appealed.
John Yettaw, the eccentric American who triggered the debacle by swimming to her lakeside mansion in May, was sentenced to seven years' hard labour but the regime freed him following a visit by US Senator Jim Webb.
In September the junta released a batch of political activists as part of an amnesty for more than 7,000 prisoners.
Thu Oct 1, 8:36 am ET
YANGON (AFP) – Lawyers for Myanmar opposition icon Aung San Suu Kyi said Thursday they were "hoping for the best" as they braced for a court ruling on the Nobel laureate's appeal against her extended house arrest.
Judges are set to announce on Friday whether they will uphold the pro-democracy leader's conviction over an incident in which an American man swam uninvited to her house, earning her an extra 18 months in detention.
"Of course we are hoping for the best," said Nyan Win, her lawyer and spokesman for her National League for Democracy (NLD) party.
"We have prepared what we need. The result will depend on the court and we are hoping for the immediate release of Daw Suu," he told AFP. Daw is a term of respect in Myanmar.
The military-ruled country faces intense international pressure to free Suu Kyi, especially from the United States, which Wednesday held the highest-level talks with Myanmar in nearly a decade.
The Obama administration's decision to re-engage with Myanmar comes after years of stalemate proved unproductive but Washington has warned against lifting sanctions until the junta moves on democracy.
"Lifting or easing sanctions at the outset of a dialogue without meaningful progress on our concerns would be a mistake," said Kurt Campbell, the US assistant secretary of state for Asian affairs, who met the Myanmar delegation.
He said the US side laid out clear demands for the regime, including freeing political prisoners such as Suu Kyi.
But a western diplomat based in Bangkok, speaking to AFP on condition of anonymity, doubted this would affect the appeal.
"Everybody has big expectations but it's not going to result in immediate action. They are not going to give away their best asset so easily after one meeting -- I highly doubt it," the diplomat said.
"My personal guess is they will delay it or refuse (the appeal). I don't think we'll get any big news tomorrow. It's not really been a topic of great attention," the diplomat added.
Suu Kyi has spent most of the past two decades under house arrest. Her NLD won the country's last elections in 1990, which the ruling generals refused to acknowledge, leading the US and European Union to impose sanctions on Myanmar.
Her extended house arrest now keeps Suu Kyi off the scene for elections promised by the regime for 2010, adding to widespread criticism that the polls are a sham designed to legitimise the junta's grip on power.
In August a court at Yangon's notorious Insein prison originally sentenced the frail 64-year-old to three years' hard labour but junta chief Than Shwe reduced that to 18 months house arrest.
Two female assistants living with Suu Kyi received the same sentence and have also appealed.
John Yettaw, the eccentric American who triggered the debacle by swimming to her lakeside mansion in May, was sentenced to seven years' hard labour but the regime freed him following a visit by US Senator Jim Webb.
In September the junta released a batch of political activists as part of an amnesty for more than 7,000 prisoners.
***********************************************************
U.S. Opens Talks With Myanmar Military Junta to Push Democracy
By Indira A.R. Lakshmanan
Oct 1 (Bloomberg) -- The U.S. is overhauling its policy on Myanmar by starting direct talks with the military junta in a bid to promote democratic changes that years of sanctions haven’t achieved, a State Department official said yesterday.
“Through a direct dialogue, we will be able to test the intentions of the Burmese leadership,” Kurt Campbell, the assistant secretary of state for East Asia, told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee in Washington. The U.S. government still calls the country by its former name, Burma.
Campbell said sanctions will remain in place and “the way forward will be clearly tied to concrete actions” on democracy, human rights and U.S. concerns about military ties and possible nuclear links with North Korea.
Campbell and Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Scot Marciel met Sept. 29 in New York with a delegation headed by U Thaung, Myanmar’s minister for science and technology, and Than Swe, the country’s permanent representative to the United Nations.
It was the first “meeting of this kind in many, many years. And so I think it’s, from our standpoint, the opening stage of an interaction,” State Department spokesman Philip J. Crowley told reporters yesterday in Washington.
The sides discussed the status of political prisoners including pro-democracy activist Aung San Suu Kyi, a Nobel Peace Prize-winner, and nuclear proliferation connected with Myanmar’s relationship with North Korea.
Senator John McCain said yesterday the military regime should have made concessions before any conversation was held with the U.S. “I’m always a little nervous about enhancing the prestige of rogue regimes such as the junta that has oppressed the Burmese people and kept” Suu Kyi under house arrest, said McCain, an Arizona Republican.
Suu Kyi’s Detention
The military has ruled Myanmar since 1962. Suu Kyi, 64, has been under detention for 14 of the past 20 years. Though her NLD party won the country’s last elections in 1990, the regime didn’t recognize the result.
Suu Kyi was recently sentenced to an additional 18 months in detention, which would bar her from participating in elections scheduled for next year.
Noting that the U.S. hasn’t had an ambassador to Myanmar since 1992, Senator Jim Webb, a Virginia Democrat who chaired yesterday’s Foreign Relations Committee hearing, praised the administration’s change of policy. “We limit the opportunities to push for positive change because we do not talk to the generals in charge,” Webb said.
Webb visited Myanmar in August, meeting with Suu Kyi and winning the release of an imprisoned American who swam uninvited to Suu Kyi’s Yangon home in May and stayed for two days.
Yettaw Case
Suu Kyi was found guilty by the military junta of breaching a detention order by letting John Yettaw stay in her home. Authorities commuted her three-year hard-labor sentence to the 18 additional months of house arrest.
Webb was the first high-ranking U.S. official to meet with the top leader of the country’s military junta, Senior General Than Shwe.
Campbell said the administration’s policy review recognized that conditions in Myanmar “were deplorable and that neither isolation nor engagement, when implemented alone, had succeeded in improving those conditions.”
In a speech to the UN on Sept. 28, Myanmar’s Prime Minister Thein Sein demanded an end to U.S. and European Union sanctions against his government. Democracy can’t be “imposed,” he said.
By Indira A.R. Lakshmanan
Oct 1 (Bloomberg) -- The U.S. is overhauling its policy on Myanmar by starting direct talks with the military junta in a bid to promote democratic changes that years of sanctions haven’t achieved, a State Department official said yesterday.
“Through a direct dialogue, we will be able to test the intentions of the Burmese leadership,” Kurt Campbell, the assistant secretary of state for East Asia, told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee in Washington. The U.S. government still calls the country by its former name, Burma.
Campbell said sanctions will remain in place and “the way forward will be clearly tied to concrete actions” on democracy, human rights and U.S. concerns about military ties and possible nuclear links with North Korea.
Campbell and Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Scot Marciel met Sept. 29 in New York with a delegation headed by U Thaung, Myanmar’s minister for science and technology, and Than Swe, the country’s permanent representative to the United Nations.
It was the first “meeting of this kind in many, many years. And so I think it’s, from our standpoint, the opening stage of an interaction,” State Department spokesman Philip J. Crowley told reporters yesterday in Washington.
The sides discussed the status of political prisoners including pro-democracy activist Aung San Suu Kyi, a Nobel Peace Prize-winner, and nuclear proliferation connected with Myanmar’s relationship with North Korea.
Senator John McCain said yesterday the military regime should have made concessions before any conversation was held with the U.S. “I’m always a little nervous about enhancing the prestige of rogue regimes such as the junta that has oppressed the Burmese people and kept” Suu Kyi under house arrest, said McCain, an Arizona Republican.
Suu Kyi’s Detention
The military has ruled Myanmar since 1962. Suu Kyi, 64, has been under detention for 14 of the past 20 years. Though her NLD party won the country’s last elections in 1990, the regime didn’t recognize the result.
Suu Kyi was recently sentenced to an additional 18 months in detention, which would bar her from participating in elections scheduled for next year.
Noting that the U.S. hasn’t had an ambassador to Myanmar since 1992, Senator Jim Webb, a Virginia Democrat who chaired yesterday’s Foreign Relations Committee hearing, praised the administration’s change of policy. “We limit the opportunities to push for positive change because we do not talk to the generals in charge,” Webb said.
Webb visited Myanmar in August, meeting with Suu Kyi and winning the release of an imprisoned American who swam uninvited to Suu Kyi’s Yangon home in May and stayed for two days.
Yettaw Case
Suu Kyi was found guilty by the military junta of breaching a detention order by letting John Yettaw stay in her home. Authorities commuted her three-year hard-labor sentence to the 18 additional months of house arrest.
Webb was the first high-ranking U.S. official to meet with the top leader of the country’s military junta, Senior General Than Shwe.
Campbell said the administration’s policy review recognized that conditions in Myanmar “were deplorable and that neither isolation nor engagement, when implemented alone, had succeeded in improving those conditions.”
In a speech to the UN on Sept. 28, Myanmar’s Prime Minister Thein Sein demanded an end to U.S. and European Union sanctions against his government. Democracy can’t be “imposed,” he said.
***********************************************************
New York Times - Myanmar Drug Trade Surges Along Thai Border
By THOMAS FULLER
Published: September 30, 2009
DOI CHANG MOOB, THAILAND — For more than half a century heroin has been carried over the jungle-shrouded hills here, the first leg of a journey that delivers the drugs to cities as far off as Sydney and Vancouver, Canada. But anti-narcotics officials are rubbing their eyes at the spectacle they are now witnessing: a flood of heroin and methamphetamines is spilling across from Myanmar as traffickers slash their inventories in a panicked sell-off.
“It’s a clearance sale,” said Pornthep Eamprapai, director of the northern branch of the Thai Office of Narcotics Control, who has nearly three decades of experience tracking illicit drugs from Myanmar. “Some dealers at the border are buying on credit. They don’t even need to pay in cash. This is the first time I’ve seen this.”
Heroin seizures by the police in northern Thailand have increased more than 2,100 percent from last year: in the 10 months to August, the authorities seized 1,268 kilograms, or 2,795 pounds, of heroin, up from 57 kilograms a year earlier, according to the Office of Narcotics Control.
The main reason for the rise in trafficking, officials say, is the deteriorating political situation in the northernmost regions of Myanmar. Ahead of the introduction of a new constitution next year, Myanmar’s military government is cracking down on armed ethnic groups arrayed along the borders with Thailand, Laos and China. The ethnic groups, many of which have a long history of producing a range of illicit drugs, are steeling themselves for battle with the Myanmar junta and rushing to convert their stocks of heroin and methamphetamines into cash to buy weapons.
“Various traffickers are liquidating their stockpiles,” said Pamela Brown, an agent for the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration based in Chiang Mai, Thailand. “They are trying to get large shipments of heroin out, and some have been successful.”
The ethnic groups are obscure to most outsiders — the Wa, Kachin and Shan, among them — but the fate of these groups is crucial to the future of the world’s heroin supply, experts say.
In the rugged northern hills of Myanmar, manufacturing drugs is sometimes the only reliable way to generate cash.
The standoff in northern Myanmar between ethnic groups and the central government is an anomaly in modern Asia, a throwback to much more unstable times. The Wa and Kachin have large, well-equipped armies and administrations akin to the small kingdoms that existed in Asia before European colonial powers introduced the concept of the nation state.
Now, in a desperate bid to protect their fiefdoms, the ethnic groups are casting a wide net for more weapons, according to Col. Peeranate Katetem, the deputy commander of a Thai special anti-narcotic unit based in the northern Thai city of Chiang Rai. Three months ago, he received a call from a Wa representative who said he was looking to spend about $25 million to purchase M-16 assault rifles and “anything capable of exploding.” Colonel Peeranate said the group appeared eager to barter heroin for the weapons. He said he declined to help.
The Myanmar junta and its proxies beat back ethnic Karen rebels in June and attacked and defeated an ethnic-Chinese group, the Kokang, in August. This has left the leadership of other ethnic groups wondering if they are next.
The Golden Triangle, as this region is known, was once the world’s pre-eminent source of heroin. In recent years, it has produced around 5 percent of the world’s supply of the drug, eclipsed by Afghanistan, which now produces the lion’s share.
That could change, experts warn, if Myanmar’s dormant civil war re-ignites.
“The drug trade would flourish,” said Ko-Lin Chin, a criminologist at Rutgers University and author of a book on the Golden Triangle published this year. Mr. Chin believes the planting of opium poppies, now suppressed in many areas, could resume on a wider scale. “They would flood the world with opium.”
Heroin, which is refined from opium, typically travels through Thailand, Laos and Vietnam and ends up in Australia, Japan, Malaysia and Taiwan, anti-narcotic agents say.
Heroin is also directly exported to China, where use of the drug increased dramatically in the 1990s, creating a huge new market for traffickers. The heroin sold in the United States mostly comes from Colombia, according to U.S. officials.
Stopping drug traffickers is particularly difficult along Myanmar’s borders, which are mountainous and criss-crossed by jungle footpaths. The Thai military has about 1,500 troops dedicated to the interdiction of narcotics along the northern stretch of border with Myanmar, but it says it needs better equipment, including night vision goggles.
Trafficking in recent years has become atomized: Drug runners once crossed the border in heavily armed groups of a dozen men. “Now it’s like a small parade of ants,” Colonel Peeranate said. “They disperse to different points.”
At the Doi Chang Moob military outpost here, Second Lt. Rungrot Lobbamrung says he goes to sleep knowing that the hills below his sleeping quarters will be humming with traffickers nearly every night.
He and his team of 23 soldiers set ambushes for traffickers, analyze footprints along remote paths and cultivate intelligence sources among the hill tribes that populate the area. They are paid bonuses for the drugs they seize. But Lieutenant Rungrot guesses that they catch only a small fraction of the drug traffic.
So far this year, he has stopped 14 traffickers, compared with 5 last year.
The monetary temptations for traffickers are great: Small-time traffickers, often teenagers, can buy a fingernail-size bag of heroin for about $1.50 on the Myanmar side of the border, trek a few hours and sell it for up to $30 on the Thai side, Lieutenant Rungrot said.
Anti-narcotics officials say ethnic groups appear to be stocking large quantities of drugs near the Thai border and sending a series of smaller packages across.
The Myanmar military, which in the past has sometimes turned a blind eye to trafficking because it benefited its allies or was profitable for certain military officers, now has added incentive to crack down on the drug trade: the prospect of meeting ethnic groups equipped with drug-financed weapons on the battlefield.
Anti-narcotics officials based in Thailand say the Myanmar authorities have reported enormous drug seizures in recent months, including one in August of 760 kilograms. Several million methamphetamine pills were also seized in the Myanmar border town of Tachilek.
“There was nothing on that scale last year,” said Leik Boonwaat, the representative of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime based in Laos. “This year has been quite unusual.”
Also, in what would be a major shift in the global heroin trade, Thai anti-narcotics officials say they have become aware of a new heroin trafficking route that may help to explain the increase in heroin coming through the Golden Triangle.
Low-grade heroin produced in Afghanistan is being shipped through Pakistan and India to the area controlled by the Wa in northern Myanmar, where it is further refined and re-exported.
This possible link between the world’s two largest heroin producing regions — Afghanistan and Myanmar — combines the vast scale of Afghan poppy fields with the distribution networks and technological expertise of the Wa, whose chemists are renowned for producing high-quality heroin.
In recent years the Wa have been concerned about their international image, especially in light of an indictment four years ago of eight Wa leaders by a U.S. court that described the Wa army as “a criminal narcotics trafficking organization.” Under pressure from China, the Wa banned farmers in their territory from cultivating opium. (It is now principally grown in adjacent territories controlled by other groups.)But the concern about public relations could quickly dissipate in crisis, Mr. Chin said. “If there’s war, nobody cares about a good international reputation,” he said. “Survival will take over.”
By THOMAS FULLER
Published: September 30, 2009
DOI CHANG MOOB, THAILAND — For more than half a century heroin has been carried over the jungle-shrouded hills here, the first leg of a journey that delivers the drugs to cities as far off as Sydney and Vancouver, Canada. But anti-narcotics officials are rubbing their eyes at the spectacle they are now witnessing: a flood of heroin and methamphetamines is spilling across from Myanmar as traffickers slash their inventories in a panicked sell-off.
“It’s a clearance sale,” said Pornthep Eamprapai, director of the northern branch of the Thai Office of Narcotics Control, who has nearly three decades of experience tracking illicit drugs from Myanmar. “Some dealers at the border are buying on credit. They don’t even need to pay in cash. This is the first time I’ve seen this.”
Heroin seizures by the police in northern Thailand have increased more than 2,100 percent from last year: in the 10 months to August, the authorities seized 1,268 kilograms, or 2,795 pounds, of heroin, up from 57 kilograms a year earlier, according to the Office of Narcotics Control.
The main reason for the rise in trafficking, officials say, is the deteriorating political situation in the northernmost regions of Myanmar. Ahead of the introduction of a new constitution next year, Myanmar’s military government is cracking down on armed ethnic groups arrayed along the borders with Thailand, Laos and China. The ethnic groups, many of which have a long history of producing a range of illicit drugs, are steeling themselves for battle with the Myanmar junta and rushing to convert their stocks of heroin and methamphetamines into cash to buy weapons.
“Various traffickers are liquidating their stockpiles,” said Pamela Brown, an agent for the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration based in Chiang Mai, Thailand. “They are trying to get large shipments of heroin out, and some have been successful.”
The ethnic groups are obscure to most outsiders — the Wa, Kachin and Shan, among them — but the fate of these groups is crucial to the future of the world’s heroin supply, experts say.
In the rugged northern hills of Myanmar, manufacturing drugs is sometimes the only reliable way to generate cash.
The standoff in northern Myanmar between ethnic groups and the central government is an anomaly in modern Asia, a throwback to much more unstable times. The Wa and Kachin have large, well-equipped armies and administrations akin to the small kingdoms that existed in Asia before European colonial powers introduced the concept of the nation state.
Now, in a desperate bid to protect their fiefdoms, the ethnic groups are casting a wide net for more weapons, according to Col. Peeranate Katetem, the deputy commander of a Thai special anti-narcotic unit based in the northern Thai city of Chiang Rai. Three months ago, he received a call from a Wa representative who said he was looking to spend about $25 million to purchase M-16 assault rifles and “anything capable of exploding.” Colonel Peeranate said the group appeared eager to barter heroin for the weapons. He said he declined to help.
The Myanmar junta and its proxies beat back ethnic Karen rebels in June and attacked and defeated an ethnic-Chinese group, the Kokang, in August. This has left the leadership of other ethnic groups wondering if they are next.
The Golden Triangle, as this region is known, was once the world’s pre-eminent source of heroin. In recent years, it has produced around 5 percent of the world’s supply of the drug, eclipsed by Afghanistan, which now produces the lion’s share.
That could change, experts warn, if Myanmar’s dormant civil war re-ignites.
“The drug trade would flourish,” said Ko-Lin Chin, a criminologist at Rutgers University and author of a book on the Golden Triangle published this year. Mr. Chin believes the planting of opium poppies, now suppressed in many areas, could resume on a wider scale. “They would flood the world with opium.”
Heroin, which is refined from opium, typically travels through Thailand, Laos and Vietnam and ends up in Australia, Japan, Malaysia and Taiwan, anti-narcotic agents say.
Heroin is also directly exported to China, where use of the drug increased dramatically in the 1990s, creating a huge new market for traffickers. The heroin sold in the United States mostly comes from Colombia, according to U.S. officials.
Stopping drug traffickers is particularly difficult along Myanmar’s borders, which are mountainous and criss-crossed by jungle footpaths. The Thai military has about 1,500 troops dedicated to the interdiction of narcotics along the northern stretch of border with Myanmar, but it says it needs better equipment, including night vision goggles.
Trafficking in recent years has become atomized: Drug runners once crossed the border in heavily armed groups of a dozen men. “Now it’s like a small parade of ants,” Colonel Peeranate said. “They disperse to different points.”
At the Doi Chang Moob military outpost here, Second Lt. Rungrot Lobbamrung says he goes to sleep knowing that the hills below his sleeping quarters will be humming with traffickers nearly every night.
He and his team of 23 soldiers set ambushes for traffickers, analyze footprints along remote paths and cultivate intelligence sources among the hill tribes that populate the area. They are paid bonuses for the drugs they seize. But Lieutenant Rungrot guesses that they catch only a small fraction of the drug traffic.
So far this year, he has stopped 14 traffickers, compared with 5 last year.
The monetary temptations for traffickers are great: Small-time traffickers, often teenagers, can buy a fingernail-size bag of heroin for about $1.50 on the Myanmar side of the border, trek a few hours and sell it for up to $30 on the Thai side, Lieutenant Rungrot said.
Anti-narcotics officials say ethnic groups appear to be stocking large quantities of drugs near the Thai border and sending a series of smaller packages across.
The Myanmar military, which in the past has sometimes turned a blind eye to trafficking because it benefited its allies or was profitable for certain military officers, now has added incentive to crack down on the drug trade: the prospect of meeting ethnic groups equipped with drug-financed weapons on the battlefield.
Anti-narcotics officials based in Thailand say the Myanmar authorities have reported enormous drug seizures in recent months, including one in August of 760 kilograms. Several million methamphetamine pills were also seized in the Myanmar border town of Tachilek.
“There was nothing on that scale last year,” said Leik Boonwaat, the representative of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime based in Laos. “This year has been quite unusual.”
Also, in what would be a major shift in the global heroin trade, Thai anti-narcotics officials say they have become aware of a new heroin trafficking route that may help to explain the increase in heroin coming through the Golden Triangle.
Low-grade heroin produced in Afghanistan is being shipped through Pakistan and India to the area controlled by the Wa in northern Myanmar, where it is further refined and re-exported.
This possible link between the world’s two largest heroin producing regions — Afghanistan and Myanmar — combines the vast scale of Afghan poppy fields with the distribution networks and technological expertise of the Wa, whose chemists are renowned for producing high-quality heroin.
In recent years the Wa have been concerned about their international image, especially in light of an indictment four years ago of eight Wa leaders by a U.S. court that described the Wa army as “a criminal narcotics trafficking organization.” Under pressure from China, the Wa banned farmers in their territory from cultivating opium. (It is now principally grown in adjacent territories controlled by other groups.)But the concern about public relations could quickly dissipate in crisis, Mr. Chin said. “If there’s war, nobody cares about a good international reputation,” he said. “Survival will take over.”
***********************************************************
Oct 2, 2009
Asia Times Online - China warily watches US-Myanmar detente
By Larry Jagan
BANGKOK - The border dispute between two close allies, China and Myanmar, has now been compounded by concerns over the junta's future relations with the United States, which this week announced a policy shift towards engagement with the military junta.
The past few weeks have seen a flurry of diplomatic activity between the two states, with Beijing even issuing some unusually forthright criticism of its Southeast Asian neighbor. Unrest on their common border led to a mass exodus of more than 30,000 refugees in late August, and fears of a renewed civil war in the area, have alarmed Beijing.
China's officials are also now worried by the Myanmar military regime's interest in developing closer ties with the US, which has strong economic and financial sanctions in place against the junta.
"Beijing has been taken aback by the [Myanmar] junta's cavalier approach to their normally strong relationship," said Win Min, a Burmese academic based at Chiang Mai University in northern Thailand. "But it is likely to prove to be a hiccup rather than a major shift in relations."
Last weekend a government-controlled provincial television channel, based in Kunming - the capital of Yunnan province, which borders northern Myanmar - broadcast a Chinese government announcement advising all Chinese citizens in eastern Myanmar to return home quickly.
This came on the heels of a formal complaint from China to Myanmar days earlier over the way Chinese citizens living in a border region had been treated during recent clashes between an ethnic Kokang militia and Myanmar troops in August.
In a statement issued last week, China's Foreign Ministry said the recent conflict with the Kokang, in a northeastern Myanmar region bordering China, had "harmed the rights and interests of Chinese citizens living there". The Myanmar government should make sure similar incidents do not happen again, the statement said.
Myanmar insists that peace has been restored to the area in question, and most of the refugees who fled to China had returned. But there are still thousands seeking refuge across the border, and not just from the Kokang areas according to residents living in China along the border with Myanmar.
Along the border, people have fled into China for fear of renewed fighting between other ethnic rebel groups, especially the Kachin and the Wa, two of Myanmar's larger armed groups, according to Indian entrepreneurs who travel along this area to do business.
"Everyone fears that the 20-year-old ceasefire agreements have been torn up by the Myanmar generals and a return to fighting is imminent," said a Kachin student living in the Chinese border town of Ruili.
"At the moment, it does not look as though the [Myanmar] army is about to attack any of the other ethnic rebel groups that have ceasefire agreements, though there is a lot of posturing going on," said Win Min. "There is no doubt that the regime means to have all the ethnic rebel armies disarm before next year's elections and become part of the border guards under the control of the [Myanmar] army."
Earlier this year the junta sought the assistance of the former intelligence chief and prime minister, General Khin Nyunt, who was deposed in October 2004 on corruption charges and is now under house arrest in Yangon, to help negotiate with these rebel groups, especially the Wa.
Khin Nyunt had masterminded these ceasefire agreements some 20 years ago and was believed to still hold the trust of many of the ethnic leaders. He accepted the junta's request on condition that his men - some 300 military intelligence officers who were jailed in the aftermath of Khin Nyunt's fall - be freed.
The government refused to accept that condition and apparently turned to the Chinese who have extremely close relations with the key ethnic groups along the border - the Kachin, Kokang and Wa. The Chinese reluctance to help, some say, angered Myanmar's military leadership.
It is now increasingly evident that a significant rift exists between the two countries that could have crucial implications for the region. It is also likely to impact any approach that the international community may take to encourage the military regime to introduce real political change.
The implications of this growing divergence could also have significant effects on the border region, as most of the ethnic groups in this area have long-standing ceasefire agreements with the Myanmar junta. They also have traditionally close ties with the Chinese authorities. Economically and culturally, the area is in many ways closer to China than the Myanmar regime.
Thousands of Chinese businessmen and workers have migrated into northern Shan state over the last decade, seeking employment and economic opportunities. Many of these ethnic leaders go to Chinese hospitals across the border for medical treatment and send their children to school in China. The Chinese language and even the Chinese currency - the renminbi or yuan - are used throughout the Kokang and Wa areas in Myanmar's northern Shan state.
Anything which forces Beijing to choose between their ethnic brothers inside Myanmar - the Kokang are ethnically Chinese and the Wa are a Chinese ethnic minority - and the country's central government will bring into sharp focus the real nature of the Myanmar-China axis.
Beijing is now more worried about Myanmar's longer-term allegiance. The junta has been China's key ally and strategic partner in Southeast Asia in recent years. So the current overtures between the US and Myanmar have dismayed China's leaders, who remain suspicious of the US interest in re-engaging with the region and increasing its influence.
"China will react with measured nervousness to this unwelcome encroachment into [Myanmar]," said Justin Wintle, a British expert on Myanmar and biographer of opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi.
Beijing's current concerns stem from the unstable basis of their bilateral relationship. "We are not real friends, as [we are] with Thailand, for example," said a senior Chinese government official who spoke to IPS on condition of anonymity. "It's a Machiavellian relationship: we are in it for what we can get out of it, and they are also in it, for what they can get out of it," he said.
Thus, it is a relationship that could shift easily, said Chinese diplomats. "But it is not likely to become antagonistic anytime soon," said Win Min. "[Myanmar] is far too economically dependent on China for the government to really consider ditching Beijing as its main ally."
More than 90% of foreign direct investment in Myanmar last year was Chinese. While the Western-led sanctions remain in place, that is unlikely to change for some time under the terms of the US's new engagement gambit. The sanctions, of course, now more than ever have rankled with the regime.
"Sanctions are being employed as a political tool against Myanmar and we consider them unjust," Myanmar's Prime Minister General Thein Sein told the United Nations General Assembly in New York in late September.
Myanmar's interest in a dialogue with the US is motivated by the regime's main concerns: to have sanctions lifted, for international humanitarian and development assistance to flow into the country and to attract foreign investment.
"Though generals are certainly unhappy about being too dependent on one supporter, and will be trying to balance Chinese influence with better relations with the US as well as other countries, like ASEAN [Association of Southeast Asian Nations] and India. They will not be looking to cut the umbilical cord with China in the near future," said Win Min.
China will watch with growing concern any further US overtures to Myanmar. China's extensive economic, trade and military involvement in Myanmar gives the junta the upper hand, rather than making them more subservient to Beijing. The issue now is how far the junta leaders will go in flexing their muscles.
Asia Times Online - China warily watches US-Myanmar detente
By Larry Jagan
BANGKOK - The border dispute between two close allies, China and Myanmar, has now been compounded by concerns over the junta's future relations with the United States, which this week announced a policy shift towards engagement with the military junta.
The past few weeks have seen a flurry of diplomatic activity between the two states, with Beijing even issuing some unusually forthright criticism of its Southeast Asian neighbor. Unrest on their common border led to a mass exodus of more than 30,000 refugees in late August, and fears of a renewed civil war in the area, have alarmed Beijing.
China's officials are also now worried by the Myanmar military regime's interest in developing closer ties with the US, which has strong economic and financial sanctions in place against the junta.
"Beijing has been taken aback by the [Myanmar] junta's cavalier approach to their normally strong relationship," said Win Min, a Burmese academic based at Chiang Mai University in northern Thailand. "But it is likely to prove to be a hiccup rather than a major shift in relations."
Last weekend a government-controlled provincial television channel, based in Kunming - the capital of Yunnan province, which borders northern Myanmar - broadcast a Chinese government announcement advising all Chinese citizens in eastern Myanmar to return home quickly.
This came on the heels of a formal complaint from China to Myanmar days earlier over the way Chinese citizens living in a border region had been treated during recent clashes between an ethnic Kokang militia and Myanmar troops in August.
In a statement issued last week, China's Foreign Ministry said the recent conflict with the Kokang, in a northeastern Myanmar region bordering China, had "harmed the rights and interests of Chinese citizens living there". The Myanmar government should make sure similar incidents do not happen again, the statement said.
Myanmar insists that peace has been restored to the area in question, and most of the refugees who fled to China had returned. But there are still thousands seeking refuge across the border, and not just from the Kokang areas according to residents living in China along the border with Myanmar.
Along the border, people have fled into China for fear of renewed fighting between other ethnic rebel groups, especially the Kachin and the Wa, two of Myanmar's larger armed groups, according to Indian entrepreneurs who travel along this area to do business.
"Everyone fears that the 20-year-old ceasefire agreements have been torn up by the Myanmar generals and a return to fighting is imminent," said a Kachin student living in the Chinese border town of Ruili.
"At the moment, it does not look as though the [Myanmar] army is about to attack any of the other ethnic rebel groups that have ceasefire agreements, though there is a lot of posturing going on," said Win Min. "There is no doubt that the regime means to have all the ethnic rebel armies disarm before next year's elections and become part of the border guards under the control of the [Myanmar] army."
Earlier this year the junta sought the assistance of the former intelligence chief and prime minister, General Khin Nyunt, who was deposed in October 2004 on corruption charges and is now under house arrest in Yangon, to help negotiate with these rebel groups, especially the Wa.
Khin Nyunt had masterminded these ceasefire agreements some 20 years ago and was believed to still hold the trust of many of the ethnic leaders. He accepted the junta's request on condition that his men - some 300 military intelligence officers who were jailed in the aftermath of Khin Nyunt's fall - be freed.
The government refused to accept that condition and apparently turned to the Chinese who have extremely close relations with the key ethnic groups along the border - the Kachin, Kokang and Wa. The Chinese reluctance to help, some say, angered Myanmar's military leadership.
It is now increasingly evident that a significant rift exists between the two countries that could have crucial implications for the region. It is also likely to impact any approach that the international community may take to encourage the military regime to introduce real political change.
The implications of this growing divergence could also have significant effects on the border region, as most of the ethnic groups in this area have long-standing ceasefire agreements with the Myanmar junta. They also have traditionally close ties with the Chinese authorities. Economically and culturally, the area is in many ways closer to China than the Myanmar regime.
Thousands of Chinese businessmen and workers have migrated into northern Shan state over the last decade, seeking employment and economic opportunities. Many of these ethnic leaders go to Chinese hospitals across the border for medical treatment and send their children to school in China. The Chinese language and even the Chinese currency - the renminbi or yuan - are used throughout the Kokang and Wa areas in Myanmar's northern Shan state.
Anything which forces Beijing to choose between their ethnic brothers inside Myanmar - the Kokang are ethnically Chinese and the Wa are a Chinese ethnic minority - and the country's central government will bring into sharp focus the real nature of the Myanmar-China axis.
Beijing is now more worried about Myanmar's longer-term allegiance. The junta has been China's key ally and strategic partner in Southeast Asia in recent years. So the current overtures between the US and Myanmar have dismayed China's leaders, who remain suspicious of the US interest in re-engaging with the region and increasing its influence.
"China will react with measured nervousness to this unwelcome encroachment into [Myanmar]," said Justin Wintle, a British expert on Myanmar and biographer of opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi.
Beijing's current concerns stem from the unstable basis of their bilateral relationship. "We are not real friends, as [we are] with Thailand, for example," said a senior Chinese government official who spoke to IPS on condition of anonymity. "It's a Machiavellian relationship: we are in it for what we can get out of it, and they are also in it, for what they can get out of it," he said.
Thus, it is a relationship that could shift easily, said Chinese diplomats. "But it is not likely to become antagonistic anytime soon," said Win Min. "[Myanmar] is far too economically dependent on China for the government to really consider ditching Beijing as its main ally."
More than 90% of foreign direct investment in Myanmar last year was Chinese. While the Western-led sanctions remain in place, that is unlikely to change for some time under the terms of the US's new engagement gambit. The sanctions, of course, now more than ever have rankled with the regime.
"Sanctions are being employed as a political tool against Myanmar and we consider them unjust," Myanmar's Prime Minister General Thein Sein told the United Nations General Assembly in New York in late September.
Myanmar's interest in a dialogue with the US is motivated by the regime's main concerns: to have sanctions lifted, for international humanitarian and development assistance to flow into the country and to attract foreign investment.
"Though generals are certainly unhappy about being too dependent on one supporter, and will be trying to balance Chinese influence with better relations with the US as well as other countries, like ASEAN [Association of Southeast Asian Nations] and India. They will not be looking to cut the umbilical cord with China in the near future," said Win Min.
China will watch with growing concern any further US overtures to Myanmar. China's extensive economic, trade and military involvement in Myanmar gives the junta the upper hand, rather than making them more subservient to Beijing. The issue now is how far the junta leaders will go in flexing their muscles.
***********************************************************
Baltimore Sun - Talking with these guys may be a waste of breath
Kathleen Parker
October 1, 2009
In keeping with his campaign promise to talk to America's enemies without precondition, President Barack Obama plans to turn his charms on Myanmar's military junta.
Slowly, we're beginning to understand what hope and change were all about. Translation: Sure hope this change works.
It may be too soon to pass judgment on Mr. Obama's new foreign policy strategy, but early returns on his gamble that talking is the best cure are less than reassuring. Each time Mr. Obama extends a hand to one of the world's anti-American despots, he is rewarded with an insult (Venezuela's Hugo Chavez) or, perhaps, a missile display (North Korea and Iran).
Mr. Obama inarguably was elected in part as a reaction to George W. Bush's big-dawgness. A new American archetype, Mr. Obama is the anti-macho man, a new-age intellectual who defeated the old-guard warrior. Whether he can win with his wits in the larger theater remains to be seen, but watching could be painful.
The shift in policy toward Myanmar, for instance, was announced Monday following the annual theater of the absurd, aka the United Nations General Assembly. Mr. Obama spoke eloquently there about the need for cooperation as the world tackles global problems, hitting his familiar theme of responsibility. All countries - not just the U.S. - have a role to play in combating crises around the world, he told the happy gathering of superpowers, banana republics, dictatorships and terrorist states.
Mr. Obama was followed by Libyan dictator Moammar Kadafi, with whom Mr. Obama shook hands at a dinner in July. It isn't helpful that Mr. Kadafi just weeks ago hosted a welcome-home celebration for the 1988 Lockerbie bomber-terrorist, who killed 270 people. But Mr. Kadafi's 96-minute diatribe - which included questioning the assassination of John F. Kennedy and expressing sympathy for the Taliban - was a prolonged assault on sane people everywhere.
In the midst of such charades, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's emerging Dirty Harry persona is oddly reassuring. She has become Mr. Obama's bad cop. On Myanmar (formerly known as Burma), she has promised to remain tough and continue sanctions pending credible democratic reforms. But, she has added dutifully, sanctions alone haven't gotten us very far.
Surely, talking is worth a shot. Or is it?
In the previous administration, the conventional wisdom was that talking to bad actors lent legitimacy where none was deserved. President George W. Bush, for instance, ignored Mr. Chavez, believing that acknowledgment was empowerment.
Mr. Chavez responded by referring to Bush as the devil no fewer than eight times during his 2006 U.N. address. This year, Mr. Chavez complimented but also chided Mr. Obama for saying one thing and doing another. There may be two Obamas, he said. And more than a few Americans thought he might have a point.
One Obama is loquacious and inspiring. The other seems somewhat removed from threatening realities and people who don't share our appreciation for visionary rhetoric. Some folks simply aren't talk-able. Some nations just aren't that into us.
Mr. Chavez and Iran's Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, brothers in their own declared "axis of unity," are cases in point. They're building financial partnerships that may make sanctions irrelevant, and have promised each other military support and cooperation.
While in New York last week, Mr. Chavez appeared on "Larry King Live." The former altar boy said he loves Jesus, Walt Whitman and Charles Bronson, and that he loves to sing. He isn't power hungry, as some claim, nor is he mining uranium for Mr. Ahmadinejad, as suggested in a report last December by the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.
He, alas, has been misunderstood.
And Iran? Just days before Mr. Obama and five other leaders are scheduled to meet in Geneva today to discuss Iran's nuclear ambitions, the Islamic Republic test-fired long-range missiles.
In the new era of talk diplomacy, we might call that a pre-emptive strike - a nonverbal gesture worth a million moot words. Then again, there's always hope.
Kathleen Parker's column appears regularly in The Baltimore Sun. Her e-mail is kathleenparker@washpost.com.
Kathleen Parker
October 1, 2009
In keeping with his campaign promise to talk to America's enemies without precondition, President Barack Obama plans to turn his charms on Myanmar's military junta.
Slowly, we're beginning to understand what hope and change were all about. Translation: Sure hope this change works.
It may be too soon to pass judgment on Mr. Obama's new foreign policy strategy, but early returns on his gamble that talking is the best cure are less than reassuring. Each time Mr. Obama extends a hand to one of the world's anti-American despots, he is rewarded with an insult (Venezuela's Hugo Chavez) or, perhaps, a missile display (North Korea and Iran).
Mr. Obama inarguably was elected in part as a reaction to George W. Bush's big-dawgness. A new American archetype, Mr. Obama is the anti-macho man, a new-age intellectual who defeated the old-guard warrior. Whether he can win with his wits in the larger theater remains to be seen, but watching could be painful.
The shift in policy toward Myanmar, for instance, was announced Monday following the annual theater of the absurd, aka the United Nations General Assembly. Mr. Obama spoke eloquently there about the need for cooperation as the world tackles global problems, hitting his familiar theme of responsibility. All countries - not just the U.S. - have a role to play in combating crises around the world, he told the happy gathering of superpowers, banana republics, dictatorships and terrorist states.
Mr. Obama was followed by Libyan dictator Moammar Kadafi, with whom Mr. Obama shook hands at a dinner in July. It isn't helpful that Mr. Kadafi just weeks ago hosted a welcome-home celebration for the 1988 Lockerbie bomber-terrorist, who killed 270 people. But Mr. Kadafi's 96-minute diatribe - which included questioning the assassination of John F. Kennedy and expressing sympathy for the Taliban - was a prolonged assault on sane people everywhere.
In the midst of such charades, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's emerging Dirty Harry persona is oddly reassuring. She has become Mr. Obama's bad cop. On Myanmar (formerly known as Burma), she has promised to remain tough and continue sanctions pending credible democratic reforms. But, she has added dutifully, sanctions alone haven't gotten us very far.
Surely, talking is worth a shot. Or is it?
In the previous administration, the conventional wisdom was that talking to bad actors lent legitimacy where none was deserved. President George W. Bush, for instance, ignored Mr. Chavez, believing that acknowledgment was empowerment.
Mr. Chavez responded by referring to Bush as the devil no fewer than eight times during his 2006 U.N. address. This year, Mr. Chavez complimented but also chided Mr. Obama for saying one thing and doing another. There may be two Obamas, he said. And more than a few Americans thought he might have a point.
One Obama is loquacious and inspiring. The other seems somewhat removed from threatening realities and people who don't share our appreciation for visionary rhetoric. Some folks simply aren't talk-able. Some nations just aren't that into us.
Mr. Chavez and Iran's Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, brothers in their own declared "axis of unity," are cases in point. They're building financial partnerships that may make sanctions irrelevant, and have promised each other military support and cooperation.
While in New York last week, Mr. Chavez appeared on "Larry King Live." The former altar boy said he loves Jesus, Walt Whitman and Charles Bronson, and that he loves to sing. He isn't power hungry, as some claim, nor is he mining uranium for Mr. Ahmadinejad, as suggested in a report last December by the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.
He, alas, has been misunderstood.
And Iran? Just days before Mr. Obama and five other leaders are scheduled to meet in Geneva today to discuss Iran's nuclear ambitions, the Islamic Republic test-fired long-range missiles.
In the new era of talk diplomacy, we might call that a pre-emptive strike - a nonverbal gesture worth a million moot words. Then again, there's always hope.
Kathleen Parker's column appears regularly in The Baltimore Sun. Her e-mail is kathleenparker@washpost.com.
***********************************************************
Seattle Times - UN takes on sexual violence in war zones
The U.N. Security Council unanimously adopted a resolution Wednesday condemning sexual violence in war zones, with U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton presiding and appealing for global action to end the scourge.
By MATTHEW LEE, Associated Press Writer
UNITED NATIONS — The U.N. Security Council unanimously adopted a resolution Wednesday condemning sexual violence in war zones, with U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton presiding and appealing for global action to end the scourge.
The U.S.-sponsored measure, passed by a 15-0 vote, creates a special United Nations envoy to coordinate efforts to combat the use of rape as a weapon of war and directs U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to dispatch a team of experts to advise governments on how best to prosecute offenders.
"It is time for all of us to assume our responsibility to go beyond condemning this behavior to taking concrete steps to end it, to make it socially unacceptable, to recognize it is not cultural, it is criminal," Clinton told the council. "We must act now to end this crisis."
Drawing on her experiences from a trip last month to the wartorn eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, where she met numerous victims of rape and other sexual abuse, Clinton said the United Nations had a special obligation to protect women and children who she said are "war's most vulnerable and violated victims."
"The dehumanizing nature of sexual violence doesn't just harm a single individual or a single family or even a single village or a single group," she said. "It shreds the fabric that weaves us together as human beings."
President Barack Obama applauded the U.N. and its member states "for standing together to confront these despicable acts."
"Today, the United States joins with the international community in sending a simple and unequivocal message: violence against women and children will not be tolerated and must be stopped," he said in a statement issued by the White House.
Obama pledged that his administration "will continue to support the right of all women and girls to live free from fear, and to realize their full potential."
Although the situation is now perhaps most acute in Congo, where an epidemic of rape and other abuses claim an average of 36 women and girl victims a day, rampant sexual violence has also been seen in other conflict zones in Africa, Asia and Europe - from Bosnia to Myanmar.
During the 1994 genocide in Rwanda, up to half a million women were raped. Some 60,000 victims were reported during the Balkan conflicts in the 1990s and in Sierra Leone, incidents of war-related sexual violence from 1991 to 2001 numbered about 64,000.
Many of the perpetrators remain unpunished.
The resolution adopted Wednesday says that "ending impunity is essential if a society in conflict or recovering from conflict is to come to terms with past abuses committed against civilians affected by armed conflict and to prevent future such abuses."
In addition to the appointment of a special representative and team of experts, the U.N. resolution calls for the inclusion of women's protection advisers within U.N. peacekeeping missions and the deployment of large numbers of women police and military personnel.
The U.N. Security Council unanimously adopted a resolution Wednesday condemning sexual violence in war zones, with U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton presiding and appealing for global action to end the scourge.
By MATTHEW LEE, Associated Press Writer
UNITED NATIONS — The U.N. Security Council unanimously adopted a resolution Wednesday condemning sexual violence in war zones, with U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton presiding and appealing for global action to end the scourge.
The U.S.-sponsored measure, passed by a 15-0 vote, creates a special United Nations envoy to coordinate efforts to combat the use of rape as a weapon of war and directs U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to dispatch a team of experts to advise governments on how best to prosecute offenders.
"It is time for all of us to assume our responsibility to go beyond condemning this behavior to taking concrete steps to end it, to make it socially unacceptable, to recognize it is not cultural, it is criminal," Clinton told the council. "We must act now to end this crisis."
Drawing on her experiences from a trip last month to the wartorn eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, where she met numerous victims of rape and other sexual abuse, Clinton said the United Nations had a special obligation to protect women and children who she said are "war's most vulnerable and violated victims."
"The dehumanizing nature of sexual violence doesn't just harm a single individual or a single family or even a single village or a single group," she said. "It shreds the fabric that weaves us together as human beings."
President Barack Obama applauded the U.N. and its member states "for standing together to confront these despicable acts."
"Today, the United States joins with the international community in sending a simple and unequivocal message: violence against women and children will not be tolerated and must be stopped," he said in a statement issued by the White House.
Obama pledged that his administration "will continue to support the right of all women and girls to live free from fear, and to realize their full potential."
Although the situation is now perhaps most acute in Congo, where an epidemic of rape and other abuses claim an average of 36 women and girl victims a day, rampant sexual violence has also been seen in other conflict zones in Africa, Asia and Europe - from Bosnia to Myanmar.
During the 1994 genocide in Rwanda, up to half a million women were raped. Some 60,000 victims were reported during the Balkan conflicts in the 1990s and in Sierra Leone, incidents of war-related sexual violence from 1991 to 2001 numbered about 64,000.
Many of the perpetrators remain unpunished.
The resolution adopted Wednesday says that "ending impunity is essential if a society in conflict or recovering from conflict is to come to terms with past abuses committed against civilians affected by armed conflict and to prevent future such abuses."
In addition to the appointment of a special representative and team of experts, the U.N. resolution calls for the inclusion of women's protection advisers within U.N. peacekeeping missions and the deployment of large numbers of women police and military personnel.
***********************************************************
Published: September 30,2009
NewsBlaze - Eleven out of DVB's 80 Journalists Inside Myanmar are Women
By V. Radhika, Womens Feature Service
The image was stark in its defiance: A serene-faced monk raising an upturned alms bowl, indicating his brotherhood's refusal to accept offerings from Myanmar's military junta - a significant gesture in this tiny Buddhist country. This and subsequent images of the monks-led demonstration, quickly dubbed the Saffron Rebellion in September 2007, were beamed out to the world by an intrepid team of journalists working with Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB), who put themselves at great personal risk to capture the events through their hidden cameras.
The movement was brutally suppressed by the regime, which also arrested some DVB reporters. But the Norway-based network - run by expatriate Burmese - and its journalists continue to tell Myanmar's story. Whether it was that September 2007 demonstration, the disquieting aftermath of Cyclone Nargis in May 2008, Aung San Suu Kyi's trial that has now resulted in an 18 months extension of her house arrest due to "violation" arising from a trespass incident, or scores of other stories that impact ordinary Burmese life, they are professionally recorded and made available to the world.
Founded in 1992, the DVB, a non-profit media organisation, broadcasts news in English and Burmese via radio, satellite television and the Internet. The courage and tenacity of DVB's team in chronicling events in Myanmar is the subject of Anders Ostergarda's documentary 'Burma VJ: Reporting from a Closed Country'. Having won almost 20 international awards, 'Burma VJ' - which was screened at Toronto's Hot Docs documentary festival this May - is now playing in Toronto theatres. Present at the Hot Docs was 'Burma VJ's' key subject and the narrator, known only as Joshua. His identity remains a secret for safety reasons.
The 27-year-old started his career in a government newspaper but disillusionment set in almost instantly. Said the soft-spoken reporter, "There were so many limitations that one could hardly work as a reporter, particularly one who wanted to speak the truth." It was this desire to represent the true story of Myanmar that led him to DVB and Joshua became among the first of DVB's TV camerapersons and journalists in Myanmar.
Although DVB began broadcasting into Myanmar via shortwave radio from July 1992, it was only from 2005 that it began satellite telecasts into the country. "We did not know how it (TV programming) would turn out when we recruited journalists like Joshua. We just had to try and we were lucky that these youngsters were willing to take the risk," said Khin Maung Win, DVB's Deputy Executive Editor, who was also present at the festival in Toronto.
Joshua, who was trained (in technical aspects of TV reporting) on the Thailand-Myanmar border, was under no illusion about the danger his chosen vocation posed in a totalitarian regime that brooked no dissent. And if truth had to be told it could only be done with the aid of clandestine cameras. Not that Joshua was never scared. In fact, the documentary opens with his words: "When I pick up the camera, maybe my hands are shaking. But after shooting for a while, it is okay. I have only my subject in my mind."
It is this single-minded focus on the subject that keeps his camera rolling. A lot of people have cameras in their hands but the real test is to film incidents as they unfold, he said, in an interview given shortly after the screening at Hot Docs. That is what he did when he filmed a small street protest, a precursor to the monks-led demonstration that swept the country following the regime's decision to lift fuel subsidies, causing fuel prices to shoot up 500 per cent overnight.
Shooting this street protest, however, exposed Joshua to the attention of Myanmar's military junta. He fled the country to escape arrest. Soon after, the monks took to the streets and the public, with large numbers of students, began joining the monks in their demonstrations. From a safe house in Thailand, Joshua coordinated the efforts of his colleagues back home in filming the protests and ensuring that the footage reaches DVB's Oslo office.
Ostergaard's film is a docudrama, a mélange of actual footage and dramatic reenactments. In fact, 'Burma VJ' has been criticised for being pitched as a documentary even though a substantial part of the film is a reenactment. But there is no dispute about the facts as they are shown in the film or the dangers journalists and activists face in the line of duty. And that is what strikes a chord with viewers.
"Reaching out to a large viewership: that is what we at DVB are striving for", says Joshua. Though disconsolate at being away from Mynamar as the Saffron Rebellion unfolded, he says his safe house in Thailand opened a window to the outside world. "In the beginning when I had to move out I felt very upset and that I could not go on. I felt I was not a journalist anymore, but then being away also enabled me to see things in a wider perspective. When you are a reporter on the field you focus only on your story but when you are in an office you see the bigger picture. I could give inputs to my colleagues on the field so that we could make better stories."
He added, "When you see the result, you are satisfied and feel you have completed the job well."
It is this desire to do a good job in telling the story of Myanmar to the outside world that motivates people like Joshua to reach out to DVB. And their numbers are growing. "When I started out with DVB I was the youngest reporter. Now I have become among the senior-most in the group," Joshua said breaking into a soft smile. He went on, "After the monks demonstration people could see what we can do, so a lot of young educated youth are contacting us with a desire to work with us."
Among the interested youngsters are a lot of women. Win said, "Earlier it was the men who took the risk of participating in demonstrations/working in the media. Women (wives, daughters and sisters) provided background support. But now women are very outspoken. When men are arrested they become campaigners and now when we recruit we have more young women coming forward."
Eleven out of DVB's 80 journalists inside Myanmar are women. Win
Emphasised that they are the same as men, meaning they play all journalistic roles required of them. "And some women even have more responsibilities than men have. In the beginning, our reporters inside Burma were mainly men, but since Saffron Revolution in 2007, we could recruit more women," said Win.
Although disappointed that the 2007 movement was as brutally crushed as the one that unraveled on the streets in 1988, Joshua and Win draw their inspiration not only from the fact that a lot of youngsters are coming forward to become journalists but that ordinary people are seeking them out to tell their stories.
As Joshua put it, "Earlier the sight of cameras would scare people away now they come looking for us because they can see that our stories are making an impact. That is what motivates us."
Incidentally, Joshua has since returned clandestinely to Myanmar a few times.
Womens Feature Service covers developmental, political, social and economic issues in India and around the globe. To get these articles for your publication, contact WFS at the www.wfsnews.org website.
NewsBlaze - Eleven out of DVB's 80 Journalists Inside Myanmar are Women
By V. Radhika, Womens Feature Service
The image was stark in its defiance: A serene-faced monk raising an upturned alms bowl, indicating his brotherhood's refusal to accept offerings from Myanmar's military junta - a significant gesture in this tiny Buddhist country. This and subsequent images of the monks-led demonstration, quickly dubbed the Saffron Rebellion in September 2007, were beamed out to the world by an intrepid team of journalists working with Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB), who put themselves at great personal risk to capture the events through their hidden cameras.
The movement was brutally suppressed by the regime, which also arrested some DVB reporters. But the Norway-based network - run by expatriate Burmese - and its journalists continue to tell Myanmar's story. Whether it was that September 2007 demonstration, the disquieting aftermath of Cyclone Nargis in May 2008, Aung San Suu Kyi's trial that has now resulted in an 18 months extension of her house arrest due to "violation" arising from a trespass incident, or scores of other stories that impact ordinary Burmese life, they are professionally recorded and made available to the world.
Founded in 1992, the DVB, a non-profit media organisation, broadcasts news in English and Burmese via radio, satellite television and the Internet. The courage and tenacity of DVB's team in chronicling events in Myanmar is the subject of Anders Ostergarda's documentary 'Burma VJ: Reporting from a Closed Country'. Having won almost 20 international awards, 'Burma VJ' - which was screened at Toronto's Hot Docs documentary festival this May - is now playing in Toronto theatres. Present at the Hot Docs was 'Burma VJ's' key subject and the narrator, known only as Joshua. His identity remains a secret for safety reasons.
The 27-year-old started his career in a government newspaper but disillusionment set in almost instantly. Said the soft-spoken reporter, "There were so many limitations that one could hardly work as a reporter, particularly one who wanted to speak the truth." It was this desire to represent the true story of Myanmar that led him to DVB and Joshua became among the first of DVB's TV camerapersons and journalists in Myanmar.
Although DVB began broadcasting into Myanmar via shortwave radio from July 1992, it was only from 2005 that it began satellite telecasts into the country. "We did not know how it (TV programming) would turn out when we recruited journalists like Joshua. We just had to try and we were lucky that these youngsters were willing to take the risk," said Khin Maung Win, DVB's Deputy Executive Editor, who was also present at the festival in Toronto.
Joshua, who was trained (in technical aspects of TV reporting) on the Thailand-Myanmar border, was under no illusion about the danger his chosen vocation posed in a totalitarian regime that brooked no dissent. And if truth had to be told it could only be done with the aid of clandestine cameras. Not that Joshua was never scared. In fact, the documentary opens with his words: "When I pick up the camera, maybe my hands are shaking. But after shooting for a while, it is okay. I have only my subject in my mind."
It is this single-minded focus on the subject that keeps his camera rolling. A lot of people have cameras in their hands but the real test is to film incidents as they unfold, he said, in an interview given shortly after the screening at Hot Docs. That is what he did when he filmed a small street protest, a precursor to the monks-led demonstration that swept the country following the regime's decision to lift fuel subsidies, causing fuel prices to shoot up 500 per cent overnight.
Shooting this street protest, however, exposed Joshua to the attention of Myanmar's military junta. He fled the country to escape arrest. Soon after, the monks took to the streets and the public, with large numbers of students, began joining the monks in their demonstrations. From a safe house in Thailand, Joshua coordinated the efforts of his colleagues back home in filming the protests and ensuring that the footage reaches DVB's Oslo office.
Ostergaard's film is a docudrama, a mélange of actual footage and dramatic reenactments. In fact, 'Burma VJ' has been criticised for being pitched as a documentary even though a substantial part of the film is a reenactment. But there is no dispute about the facts as they are shown in the film or the dangers journalists and activists face in the line of duty. And that is what strikes a chord with viewers.
"Reaching out to a large viewership: that is what we at DVB are striving for", says Joshua. Though disconsolate at being away from Mynamar as the Saffron Rebellion unfolded, he says his safe house in Thailand opened a window to the outside world. "In the beginning when I had to move out I felt very upset and that I could not go on. I felt I was not a journalist anymore, but then being away also enabled me to see things in a wider perspective. When you are a reporter on the field you focus only on your story but when you are in an office you see the bigger picture. I could give inputs to my colleagues on the field so that we could make better stories."
He added, "When you see the result, you are satisfied and feel you have completed the job well."
It is this desire to do a good job in telling the story of Myanmar to the outside world that motivates people like Joshua to reach out to DVB. And their numbers are growing. "When I started out with DVB I was the youngest reporter. Now I have become among the senior-most in the group," Joshua said breaking into a soft smile. He went on, "After the monks demonstration people could see what we can do, so a lot of young educated youth are contacting us with a desire to work with us."
Among the interested youngsters are a lot of women. Win said, "Earlier it was the men who took the risk of participating in demonstrations/working in the media. Women (wives, daughters and sisters) provided background support. But now women are very outspoken. When men are arrested they become campaigners and now when we recruit we have more young women coming forward."
Eleven out of DVB's 80 journalists inside Myanmar are women. Win
Emphasised that they are the same as men, meaning they play all journalistic roles required of them. "And some women even have more responsibilities than men have. In the beginning, our reporters inside Burma were mainly men, but since Saffron Revolution in 2007, we could recruit more women," said Win.
Although disappointed that the 2007 movement was as brutally crushed as the one that unraveled on the streets in 1988, Joshua and Win draw their inspiration not only from the fact that a lot of youngsters are coming forward to become journalists but that ordinary people are seeking them out to tell their stories.
As Joshua put it, "Earlier the sight of cameras would scare people away now they come looking for us because they can see that our stories are making an impact. That is what motivates us."
Incidentally, Joshua has since returned clandestinely to Myanmar a few times.
Womens Feature Service covers developmental, political, social and economic issues in India and around the globe. To get these articles for your publication, contact WFS at the www.wfsnews.org website.
***********************************************************
Relief Web - Views of Minister of Foreign Affairs of Thailand on the latest development regarding Myanmar
Source: Royal Thai Goverment
Date: 30 Sep 2009
Thailand congratulates the United Nations Secretary General for his initiative and successful organization of the 2nd High Level Meeting of the Group of Friends (GoF) of the UNSG on Myanmar, which was held on 23 September 2009 at the UN Headquarters in New York. The outcome of the meeting reflected an emerging consensus among the participants that, in addition to other approaches, more engagement with Myanmar is needed.
Thailand therefore wishes to reaffirm its full commitment to supporting the role of the UNSG's good offices in Myanmar.
In this connection, Thailand also welcomes the review of the United States' policy towards Myanmar, as previewed by US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton during the GoF Meeting, and subsequently announced by US Assistant Secretary of State Kurt Campbell on 28 September 2009, which aimed to ensure Myanmar's smooth transition towards democracy and participation as a responsible member of the international community.
Thailand and ASEAN have consistently used an engagement approach with Myanmar, for the benefit of Myanmar and her people as a whole. In this regard, Thailand stands ready to work closely with ASEAN, the US, the UN and other stakeholders to engage with Myanmar in a constructive and concerted manner to ensure substantive political development in Myanmar.
Thailand sincerely hopes that Myanmar will continue to move forward in the right direction, as expressed by the Myanmar Prime Minister during the 64th session of the United Nations General Assembly on 28 September 2009, and take steps to hold free and fair elections that will include the participation of all parties concerned. Such a development will help bring about stability and prosperity to the region as a whole.
The release of prisoners, including some political prisoners, on 17 September 2009 by the Myanmar authorities can be considered to be a positive step in the right direction towards a democratic society. However, more action is needed in order to create an environment conducive to achieving a political system with full participation, as well as the sustainable long-term socio-economic development of Myanmar.
Thailand urges the international community to provide Myanmar with humanitarian and development assistance. The Tripartite Core Group (TCG) has greatly contributed to helping the people of Myanmar and the areas affected by Cyclone Nargis. Nonetheless, the Post Nargis Recovery and Preparedness Plan (PONREPP) is in urgent need of more financial mobilization. In the long run, the best practices of the TCG could prove to be a practical basis for Myanmar's sustainable development.
Source: Royal Thai Goverment
Date: 30 Sep 2009
Thailand congratulates the United Nations Secretary General for his initiative and successful organization of the 2nd High Level Meeting of the Group of Friends (GoF) of the UNSG on Myanmar, which was held on 23 September 2009 at the UN Headquarters in New York. The outcome of the meeting reflected an emerging consensus among the participants that, in addition to other approaches, more engagement with Myanmar is needed.
Thailand therefore wishes to reaffirm its full commitment to supporting the role of the UNSG's good offices in Myanmar.
In this connection, Thailand also welcomes the review of the United States' policy towards Myanmar, as previewed by US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton during the GoF Meeting, and subsequently announced by US Assistant Secretary of State Kurt Campbell on 28 September 2009, which aimed to ensure Myanmar's smooth transition towards democracy and participation as a responsible member of the international community.
Thailand and ASEAN have consistently used an engagement approach with Myanmar, for the benefit of Myanmar and her people as a whole. In this regard, Thailand stands ready to work closely with ASEAN, the US, the UN and other stakeholders to engage with Myanmar in a constructive and concerted manner to ensure substantive political development in Myanmar.
Thailand sincerely hopes that Myanmar will continue to move forward in the right direction, as expressed by the Myanmar Prime Minister during the 64th session of the United Nations General Assembly on 28 September 2009, and take steps to hold free and fair elections that will include the participation of all parties concerned. Such a development will help bring about stability and prosperity to the region as a whole.
The release of prisoners, including some political prisoners, on 17 September 2009 by the Myanmar authorities can be considered to be a positive step in the right direction towards a democratic society. However, more action is needed in order to create an environment conducive to achieving a political system with full participation, as well as the sustainable long-term socio-economic development of Myanmar.
Thailand urges the international community to provide Myanmar with humanitarian and development assistance. The Tripartite Core Group (TCG) has greatly contributed to helping the people of Myanmar and the areas affected by Cyclone Nargis. Nonetheless, the Post Nargis Recovery and Preparedness Plan (PONREPP) is in urgent need of more financial mobilization. In the long run, the best practices of the TCG could prove to be a practical basis for Myanmar's sustainable development.
***********************************************************
iafrica - Zuma to 'help' Myanmar
Thu, 01 Oct 2009 16:59
Myanmar can learn from South Africa's experience of resolving her political problems, President Jacob Zuma said on Thursday.
Accepting letters of credence from Myanmar ambassador to South Africa, U Tin oo Lwin, Zuma said South Africa had political problems similar to those experienced in Myanmar.
"Our relationship will help you to found a solution to your political problems," he said.
Myanmar opposition icon Aung San Suu Kyi has been under house arrest for two decades and her party won the election in 1990, which the ruling generals refused to acknowledge.
He said Myanmar has enjoyed cordial relations with South Africa since the establishment of the diplomatic relations between the two countries.
United State ambassador Donald Gips who also presented his letters to Zuma, said SA's peaceful changeover from apartheid to a true multiracial democracy was one of the greatest miracles.
"The United States and the world needs SA to succeed in realising its promise, building a nation where all share in prosperity of their country."
He said the US wanted to see SA as a country where jobs are plentiful, HIV is tamed, where quality education and health care are available to all, and crime is defeated.
Accepting his credence letter Zuma said the US and SA have good relations and praised the Americans for their efforts to develop Africa.
"I engage with President [Barack] Obama on a number of times discussing the development of Africa," Zuma said with a broad smile.
Zuma also received credence letter from Nicola Brewer, British high commissioner, who said the United Kingdom and SA were fortunate to be linked by strong ties of history, trade and family, and the two countries were sporting nations.
Others were Radu Gabriel Safta, ambassador to Romania, Tharit Charungvat ambassador to Thailand, Adele Dion, high commissioner Canada, Ignatius Karegesa ambassador Rwanda, Tiina Myllyntausta, ambassador Finland, and Spyridon Theocharopoulos, ambassador Greece.
Thu, 01 Oct 2009 16:59
Myanmar can learn from South Africa's experience of resolving her political problems, President Jacob Zuma said on Thursday.
Accepting letters of credence from Myanmar ambassador to South Africa, U Tin oo Lwin, Zuma said South Africa had political problems similar to those experienced in Myanmar.
"Our relationship will help you to found a solution to your political problems," he said.
Myanmar opposition icon Aung San Suu Kyi has been under house arrest for two decades and her party won the election in 1990, which the ruling generals refused to acknowledge.
He said Myanmar has enjoyed cordial relations with South Africa since the establishment of the diplomatic relations between the two countries.
United State ambassador Donald Gips who also presented his letters to Zuma, said SA's peaceful changeover from apartheid to a true multiracial democracy was one of the greatest miracles.
"The United States and the world needs SA to succeed in realising its promise, building a nation where all share in prosperity of their country."
He said the US wanted to see SA as a country where jobs are plentiful, HIV is tamed, where quality education and health care are available to all, and crime is defeated.
Accepting his credence letter Zuma said the US and SA have good relations and praised the Americans for their efforts to develop Africa.
"I engage with President [Barack] Obama on a number of times discussing the development of Africa," Zuma said with a broad smile.
Zuma also received credence letter from Nicola Brewer, British high commissioner, who said the United Kingdom and SA were fortunate to be linked by strong ties of history, trade and family, and the two countries were sporting nations.
Others were Radu Gabriel Safta, ambassador to Romania, Tharit Charungvat ambassador to Thailand, Adele Dion, high commissioner Canada, Ignatius Karegesa ambassador Rwanda, Tiina Myllyntausta, ambassador Finland, and Spyridon Theocharopoulos, ambassador Greece.
***********************************************************
The Boston Globe - Human rights: Don’t go wobbly on Burma’s junta
October 1, 2009
When Senator John F. Kerry chairs a Foreign Relations Committee hearing today on violence against women, he will have a chance to shine a bright light on human rights abuses that are all too common in all too many places. One place in particular where women are subjected to widespread rape and violence by soldiers is Burma under its ruthless military junta. Kerry should seize this opportunity to caution the Obama administration against the naive assumption that dialogue with the Burmese generals may dissuade them from committing sickening acts of cruelty.
Kerry would do well to draw on a recent report from the International Human Rights Clinic at Harvard Law School. Citing United Nations documentation of the systemic use of rape as a weapon of war against ethnic minority women in Burma, the report calls for a UN Commission of Inquiry for crimes against humanity committed by the junta’s forces.
The administration, after a long policy review, said this week it will maintain existing sanctions on the junta at the same time as it pursues engagement. That’s fine - unless dialogue leads to the lifting of sanctions while Burma’s soldiers and officers go on raping the minority women of Burma.
October 1, 2009
When Senator John F. Kerry chairs a Foreign Relations Committee hearing today on violence against women, he will have a chance to shine a bright light on human rights abuses that are all too common in all too many places. One place in particular where women are subjected to widespread rape and violence by soldiers is Burma under its ruthless military junta. Kerry should seize this opportunity to caution the Obama administration against the naive assumption that dialogue with the Burmese generals may dissuade them from committing sickening acts of cruelty.
Kerry would do well to draw on a recent report from the International Human Rights Clinic at Harvard Law School. Citing United Nations documentation of the systemic use of rape as a weapon of war against ethnic minority women in Burma, the report calls for a UN Commission of Inquiry for crimes against humanity committed by the junta’s forces.
The administration, after a long policy review, said this week it will maintain existing sanctions on the junta at the same time as it pursues engagement. That’s fine - unless dialogue leads to the lifting of sanctions while Burma’s soldiers and officers go on raping the minority women of Burma.
***********************************************************
The Irrawaddy - Chinese Authorities Seek Damages from Junta
By KO HTWE, Thursday, October 1, 2009
Local authorities in Lincang, a region in southwestern China bordering Burma, have demanded 280 million yuan (US $41 million) in compensation from the Burmese regime for loss of property incurred during a junta offensive in Kokang in late August.
According to a source based on the Sino-Burmese border, officials from Lincang want the regime to pay for damage done to Chinese-owned businesses in Laogai, the Kokang capital.
The Burmese authorities responded by asking their Chinese counterparts to provide a detailed list of damaged property. They added that they would only compensate businesses operating legally in Burma.
In a statement issued on Sept. 26, China’s Foreign Ministry urged the Burmese junta to ensure the security of Chinese citizens living near the conflict area and to avoid any further clashes.
Burma’s ambassador to China, Thein Lwin, told China News Service on Sept. 29 that the Kokang region was peaceful again, and that he had “sympathy” for residents’ losses caused by the clashes.
In March 1989, the Kokang became one of the first ethnic armed groups to sign a cease-fire agreement with the Burmese regime.
By KO HTWE, Thursday, October 1, 2009
Local authorities in Lincang, a region in southwestern China bordering Burma, have demanded 280 million yuan (US $41 million) in compensation from the Burmese regime for loss of property incurred during a junta offensive in Kokang in late August.
According to a source based on the Sino-Burmese border, officials from Lincang want the regime to pay for damage done to Chinese-owned businesses in Laogai, the Kokang capital.
The Burmese authorities responded by asking their Chinese counterparts to provide a detailed list of damaged property. They added that they would only compensate businesses operating legally in Burma.
In a statement issued on Sept. 26, China’s Foreign Ministry urged the Burmese junta to ensure the security of Chinese citizens living near the conflict area and to avoid any further clashes.
Burma’s ambassador to China, Thein Lwin, told China News Service on Sept. 29 that the Kokang region was peaceful again, and that he had “sympathy” for residents’ losses caused by the clashes.
In March 1989, the Kokang became one of the first ethnic armed groups to sign a cease-fire agreement with the Burmese regime.
***********************************************************
The Irrawaddy - Burmese Women Welcome UN Resolution
By SAW YAN NAING, Thursday, October 1, 2009
The Women’s League of Burma (WLB) says it welcomes the resolution adopted unanimously by the UN Security Council on Wednesday criticizing sexual violence in war zones in Africa, Europe and Asia.
WLB is a Thailand-based nongovernmental organization comprised of 12 Burmese ethnic women’s groups.
The joint general-secretary of the WLB, Tin Tin Nyo, said, “It is urgently needed that action is taken effectively against perpetrators who commit crimes against women and children in armed conflict zones.”
The US-led initiative, passed by a 15-0 vote, includes the creation of a UN special envoy to coordinate efforts in the fight against the use of rape as a weapon of war, and directs UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to dispatch a team of experts to advise governments on how best to prosecute offenders, according to an Associated Press (AP) report.
Thousands of ethnic women in eastern Burma have been targeted for decades by Burmese government troops for human rights abuses, including torture, rape, sexual abuse and murder, according to women’s rights and human rights groups.
The government soldiers use systematic rape against ethnic women as a weapon and as a strategy to terrorize the ethnic peoples, said the groups.
According to a report titled “State of Terror,” released by the Karen Women’s Organisation in 2007, more than 4,000 cases of abuse, rape, murder, torture and forced labor by the Burmese regime’s forces had been recorded in recent years in about 200 Karen villages. Many of the human rights violations occurred from late 2005 through 2006.
Another ethnic women’s group, Shan Women’s Action Network, released a report titled “License to Rape” in 2002, which documented over 600 rapes and sexual assaults committed by Burmese troops in Shan State over six years.
“It is time for all of us to assume our responsibility to go beyond condemning this behavior to taking concrete steps to end it, to make it socially unacceptable, to recognize it is not cultural, it is criminal,” said the presiding chairperson at the meeting, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, according to AP.
“We must act now to end this crisis,” she added.
Recently, international and regional rights groups, such as the International Federation for Human Rights, Altsean-Burma, and Burma Lawyers’ Council, have urged the European Union to support the establishment of a UN Security Council Commission of Inquiry into crimes against humanity and war crimes committed in Burma.
Since 1997, the Burmese regime has destroyed over 3,000 villages and displaced over half a million civilians in eastern Burma, according to the Thailand Burma Border Consortium, an umbrella organization responsible for the distribution of aid at the Thai-Burmese border.
Karen groups claim that since 1949 there have been many unreported abuses, displacements and destroyed villages in Karen State alone. Many cases of abuse among internally displaced persons in eastern Burma go unreported, they said.
By SAW YAN NAING, Thursday, October 1, 2009
The Women’s League of Burma (WLB) says it welcomes the resolution adopted unanimously by the UN Security Council on Wednesday criticizing sexual violence in war zones in Africa, Europe and Asia.
WLB is a Thailand-based nongovernmental organization comprised of 12 Burmese ethnic women’s groups.
The joint general-secretary of the WLB, Tin Tin Nyo, said, “It is urgently needed that action is taken effectively against perpetrators who commit crimes against women and children in armed conflict zones.”
The US-led initiative, passed by a 15-0 vote, includes the creation of a UN special envoy to coordinate efforts in the fight against the use of rape as a weapon of war, and directs UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to dispatch a team of experts to advise governments on how best to prosecute offenders, according to an Associated Press (AP) report.
Thousands of ethnic women in eastern Burma have been targeted for decades by Burmese government troops for human rights abuses, including torture, rape, sexual abuse and murder, according to women’s rights and human rights groups.
The government soldiers use systematic rape against ethnic women as a weapon and as a strategy to terrorize the ethnic peoples, said the groups.
According to a report titled “State of Terror,” released by the Karen Women’s Organisation in 2007, more than 4,000 cases of abuse, rape, murder, torture and forced labor by the Burmese regime’s forces had been recorded in recent years in about 200 Karen villages. Many of the human rights violations occurred from late 2005 through 2006.
Another ethnic women’s group, Shan Women’s Action Network, released a report titled “License to Rape” in 2002, which documented over 600 rapes and sexual assaults committed by Burmese troops in Shan State over six years.
“It is time for all of us to assume our responsibility to go beyond condemning this behavior to taking concrete steps to end it, to make it socially unacceptable, to recognize it is not cultural, it is criminal,” said the presiding chairperson at the meeting, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, according to AP.
“We must act now to end this crisis,” she added.
Recently, international and regional rights groups, such as the International Federation for Human Rights, Altsean-Burma, and Burma Lawyers’ Council, have urged the European Union to support the establishment of a UN Security Council Commission of Inquiry into crimes against humanity and war crimes committed in Burma.
Since 1997, the Burmese regime has destroyed over 3,000 villages and displaced over half a million civilians in eastern Burma, according to the Thailand Burma Border Consortium, an umbrella organization responsible for the distribution of aid at the Thai-Burmese border.
Karen groups claim that since 1949 there have been many unreported abuses, displacements and destroyed villages in Karen State alone. Many cases of abuse among internally displaced persons in eastern Burma go unreported, they said.
***********************************************************
Testimony by experts at US-Burma relations hearing
by Mungpi
Thursday, 01 October 2009 20:45
New Delhi (Mizzima) – The fall out of US-Burma relations will not be judged by the number of meetings but by the progress made in terms of human rights and democracy, and sanctions will not be lifted unless progress is made in these areas, a top US official said on Wednesday.
Kurt Campbell, Assistant Secretary of State, in his testimony at a Congressional hearing on Burma hosted by Senator James Webb, said engagement with the Burmese junta will supplement rather than replace sanctions.
“Lifting or easing sanctions at the outset of a dialogue without meaningful progress on our concerns would be a mistake,” Campbell explained to the committee of the new US policy on Burma.
The policy review, which started seven months ago, concluded that through dialogue the US would be able to test the intentions of the Burmese junta and the sincerity of their expressed interest in a more positive relationship with the US, said Campbell.
“The way forward will be clearly tied to concrete actions on the part of the Burmese leadership addressing our core concerns, particularly in the areas of democracy and human rights,” he added.
He said the relationship with the US will only improve in a step-by-step process if the Burmese junta takes meaningful actions in addressing human rights and democracy.
But Campbell said, “We will reserve the option of tightening sanctions on the regime and its supporters to respond to events in Burma.”
With regard to Burma’s planned 2010 elections, Campbell said the US is still assessing the conditions under which the elections will be held and determine whether the opposition and ethnic groups will be allowed to participate fully.
The US will continue to stress to the Burmese junta the conditions that are necessary for any credible electoral process such as the release of political prisoners, participation of all stakeholders, eliminate restrictions on the media and ensuring free and open campaign.
Supporting the new US policy on Burma, Professor David I. Steinberg, School of Foreign Services, George Town University in his testimony said, “Step-by-step negotiations are a reasonable way to proceed, perhaps the only way.”
Steinberg said, in order to yield results in the relationship, the US should avoid rhetoric naming and shaming the junta but use ‘quiet diplomacy’, which the Burmese can respond to in the need for progress and change.
Steinberg said, in order to begin the dialogue both countries should assign ambassadors by carefully choosing the right persons to be ambassadors.
“The choice of that person is important if there is to be credible dialogue with the government, since it calls for direct talks with the Burmese,” he said.
“If the Burmese junta responds to this step-by-step process, and if the 2010 elections are conducted in some manner with widespread campaigning and participation regarded as in a responsible manner then the U.S. could withdraw is opposition to multilateral assistance from the World Bank or Asian Development Bank if that government were to adhere to the bank’s new requirements for transparency and good governance,” he said.
But unlike Steinberg and Campbell, Professor David C Williams of the Center for Constitutional Democracy, Indiana University Maurer School of Law said in order to engage the Burmese junta, the US must demand that the regime first stop attacking ethnic minorities otherwise the US would be directly dealing with “murderers still in the midst of a killing spree.”
He said, the problem in Burma is not mere democracy versus dictatorship represented by Aung San Suu Kyi and the military junta respectively but is of an ethnic conflict going on for decades.
“Even if democracy comes to Burma, the troubles will not end until the minorities are committed to the settlement. The resistance groups are not strong enough to overthrow the regime, but the regime is not strong enough to eliminate the resistance,” he argued.
Prof. Williams said, the US must increase humanitarian assistance not through Rangoon but also across the borders to the ethnic minority areas, as the programmes in central Burma cannot get out into the hills, and as a result, the people who are suffering the most are receiving the least.
He also emphasised that the US must push for a trilateral dialogue that includes the regime, the opposition represented by the National League for Democracy and ethnic groups, without which there can never be lasting peace in the Southeast Asian nation.
“If we are going to move closer to the regime, we must insist that they engage not just with the NLD but also with the minorities,” Prof. Williams said.
With regards to the junta’s planned 2010 elections, Prof. Williams said, unless the 2008 constitution is changed the elections will not bring a solution to Burma’s problems as the constitution has already made sure that the military will be invincible.
“Our focus should not be on ensuring that the elections are free and fair. Instead, the focus should be on securing constitutional change, so that someday Burma might witness civilian rule,” Williams said.
He said, an in-depth study of the constitution, which junta claimed was approved by over 90 per cent of voters in May 2008, reveals much bigger problems that are reported. Under the constitution, the Tatmadaw or the military would not be subject to civilian government, and it would write its own portfolio.
The constitution also provides for the military to seize power anytime it feels it is suited and it would be legally sanctioned, he added.
On sanctions, Professor Williams said it should only be lifted in response to real progress made by the Burmese regime and should be a reward for the progress. And if sanctions are lifted as a competition with China to influence, the US will only be at a disadvantage.
“We win only if we can shift the game, only if through multilateral diplomacy we can get the regime to stop killing its people and to allow civilian rule,” Williams said, “Making premature concessions won’t shift the game; it will only give the game away, along with our own sense of honour.”
As the first step of engagement, Kurt Campbell on Tuesday met Burmese Minister for Science and Technology in New York, and held wide-range discussions on issues including political prisoners, ethnic conflicts, and Burma’s relationship with North Korea.
by Mungpi
Thursday, 01 October 2009 20:45
New Delhi (Mizzima) – The fall out of US-Burma relations will not be judged by the number of meetings but by the progress made in terms of human rights and democracy, and sanctions will not be lifted unless progress is made in these areas, a top US official said on Wednesday.
Kurt Campbell, Assistant Secretary of State, in his testimony at a Congressional hearing on Burma hosted by Senator James Webb, said engagement with the Burmese junta will supplement rather than replace sanctions.
“Lifting or easing sanctions at the outset of a dialogue without meaningful progress on our concerns would be a mistake,” Campbell explained to the committee of the new US policy on Burma.
The policy review, which started seven months ago, concluded that through dialogue the US would be able to test the intentions of the Burmese junta and the sincerity of their expressed interest in a more positive relationship with the US, said Campbell.
“The way forward will be clearly tied to concrete actions on the part of the Burmese leadership addressing our core concerns, particularly in the areas of democracy and human rights,” he added.
He said the relationship with the US will only improve in a step-by-step process if the Burmese junta takes meaningful actions in addressing human rights and democracy.
But Campbell said, “We will reserve the option of tightening sanctions on the regime and its supporters to respond to events in Burma.”
With regard to Burma’s planned 2010 elections, Campbell said the US is still assessing the conditions under which the elections will be held and determine whether the opposition and ethnic groups will be allowed to participate fully.
The US will continue to stress to the Burmese junta the conditions that are necessary for any credible electoral process such as the release of political prisoners, participation of all stakeholders, eliminate restrictions on the media and ensuring free and open campaign.
Supporting the new US policy on Burma, Professor David I. Steinberg, School of Foreign Services, George Town University in his testimony said, “Step-by-step negotiations are a reasonable way to proceed, perhaps the only way.”
Steinberg said, in order to yield results in the relationship, the US should avoid rhetoric naming and shaming the junta but use ‘quiet diplomacy’, which the Burmese can respond to in the need for progress and change.
Steinberg said, in order to begin the dialogue both countries should assign ambassadors by carefully choosing the right persons to be ambassadors.
“The choice of that person is important if there is to be credible dialogue with the government, since it calls for direct talks with the Burmese,” he said.
“If the Burmese junta responds to this step-by-step process, and if the 2010 elections are conducted in some manner with widespread campaigning and participation regarded as in a responsible manner then the U.S. could withdraw is opposition to multilateral assistance from the World Bank or Asian Development Bank if that government were to adhere to the bank’s new requirements for transparency and good governance,” he said.
But unlike Steinberg and Campbell, Professor David C Williams of the Center for Constitutional Democracy, Indiana University Maurer School of Law said in order to engage the Burmese junta, the US must demand that the regime first stop attacking ethnic minorities otherwise the US would be directly dealing with “murderers still in the midst of a killing spree.”
He said, the problem in Burma is not mere democracy versus dictatorship represented by Aung San Suu Kyi and the military junta respectively but is of an ethnic conflict going on for decades.
“Even if democracy comes to Burma, the troubles will not end until the minorities are committed to the settlement. The resistance groups are not strong enough to overthrow the regime, but the regime is not strong enough to eliminate the resistance,” he argued.
Prof. Williams said, the US must increase humanitarian assistance not through Rangoon but also across the borders to the ethnic minority areas, as the programmes in central Burma cannot get out into the hills, and as a result, the people who are suffering the most are receiving the least.
He also emphasised that the US must push for a trilateral dialogue that includes the regime, the opposition represented by the National League for Democracy and ethnic groups, without which there can never be lasting peace in the Southeast Asian nation.
“If we are going to move closer to the regime, we must insist that they engage not just with the NLD but also with the minorities,” Prof. Williams said.
With regards to the junta’s planned 2010 elections, Prof. Williams said, unless the 2008 constitution is changed the elections will not bring a solution to Burma’s problems as the constitution has already made sure that the military will be invincible.
“Our focus should not be on ensuring that the elections are free and fair. Instead, the focus should be on securing constitutional change, so that someday Burma might witness civilian rule,” Williams said.
He said, an in-depth study of the constitution, which junta claimed was approved by over 90 per cent of voters in May 2008, reveals much bigger problems that are reported. Under the constitution, the Tatmadaw or the military would not be subject to civilian government, and it would write its own portfolio.
The constitution also provides for the military to seize power anytime it feels it is suited and it would be legally sanctioned, he added.
On sanctions, Professor Williams said it should only be lifted in response to real progress made by the Burmese regime and should be a reward for the progress. And if sanctions are lifted as a competition with China to influence, the US will only be at a disadvantage.
“We win only if we can shift the game, only if through multilateral diplomacy we can get the regime to stop killing its people and to allow civilian rule,” Williams said, “Making premature concessions won’t shift the game; it will only give the game away, along with our own sense of honour.”
As the first step of engagement, Kurt Campbell on Tuesday met Burmese Minister for Science and Technology in New York, and held wide-range discussions on issues including political prisoners, ethnic conflicts, and Burma’s relationship with North Korea.
***********************************************************
China denies rumours of Burma eviction
Oct 1, 2009 (DVB)–China’s foreign ministry has denied rumours that the Burmese government forcibly evicted some 10,000 Chinese nationals from its northern border region.
At a press briefing yesterday, foreign ministry spokesperson Jiang Yu was asked to confirm whether the incident reported last month took place.
“According to our knowledge, the reports are not true,” he said. “The current situation in the China-Myanmar [Burma] border are stable and in order. The exchanges between the two peoples are also normal.”
Following clashes in late August between Burmese troops and the Kokang rebel group, based in Burma’s northeastern Shan state, which borders China, Beijing warned its citizens not to travel to the region.
Tens of thousands of Chinese live in the region, many of them shop owners and businessmen. The Kokang rebel group is also predominantly made up of ethnic Chinese.
The fighting forced some 37,000 refugees across the border into China’s southern Yunnan province.
China has since set up a number of refugee camps along the border, with rumours of fresh clashes circulating in Shan state.
The three camps are around the Salween River that flows from China into Burma and are said to be able to accommodate around 15,000 people.
The influx of refugees last month sparked a rare rebuke by China to the Burmese government, urging it to “properly deal with its domestic issue to safeguard the regional stability in the China-Myanmar border area”.
Jiang Yu yesterday reiterated that Burma “take effective measures according to law to protect the lawful rights and interests of the Chinese citizens in Myanmar”.
Reporting by Francis Wade
Oct 1, 2009 (DVB)–China’s foreign ministry has denied rumours that the Burmese government forcibly evicted some 10,000 Chinese nationals from its northern border region.
At a press briefing yesterday, foreign ministry spokesperson Jiang Yu was asked to confirm whether the incident reported last month took place.
“According to our knowledge, the reports are not true,” he said. “The current situation in the China-Myanmar [Burma] border are stable and in order. The exchanges between the two peoples are also normal.”
Following clashes in late August between Burmese troops and the Kokang rebel group, based in Burma’s northeastern Shan state, which borders China, Beijing warned its citizens not to travel to the region.
Tens of thousands of Chinese live in the region, many of them shop owners and businessmen. The Kokang rebel group is also predominantly made up of ethnic Chinese.
The fighting forced some 37,000 refugees across the border into China’s southern Yunnan province.
China has since set up a number of refugee camps along the border, with rumours of fresh clashes circulating in Shan state.
The three camps are around the Salween River that flows from China into Burma and are said to be able to accommodate around 15,000 people.
The influx of refugees last month sparked a rare rebuke by China to the Burmese government, urging it to “properly deal with its domestic issue to safeguard the regional stability in the China-Myanmar border area”.
Jiang Yu yesterday reiterated that Burma “take effective measures according to law to protect the lawful rights and interests of the Chinese citizens in Myanmar”.
Reporting by Francis Wade
***********************************************************
US policy to Burma ‘must focus on people’Oct 1, 2009 (DVB)–United States policy to Burma must address the deteriorating living conditions in the country, and not continue to focus just on the government, aid groups said yesterday.
An open letter signed by 20 aid agencies, including Save the Children, Refugees International and International HIV/AIDS Alliance, welcomed greater US engagement with Burma.
It stressed however that while aid “is one of the few areas where concrete progress is being made” in Burma, the US must “continue to increase humanitarian assistance”.
“While the Burmese military regime bears most responsibility for the situation in Burma, international humanitarian aid for the Burmese people has not kept pace with their needs.”
It added that engagement only with the ruling junta would not begin to tackle Burma’s myriad problems.
“US policy towards Burma has traditionally focused on the government and not the millions of people in Burma, whose living conditions have steadily deteriorated,” it said.
The comments were echoed by Southeast Asia researcher at Amnesty International (AI), Benjamin Zawacki, who said that the overwhelming majority of the Burmese
population “have been held hostage to political concerns” when it comes to humanitarian aid.
“This is simply indefensible, so we very much support humanitarian engagement to Burma,” he said.
He added that the time was ripe for a change in US policy to Burma, but whether through sanctions or engagement with the ruling junta, “there must be no let up in the quantity of pressure”.
“Sanctions certainly have been a failure. The purpose of those sanctions was to ultimately affect government policy, vis-à-vis human rights, political participation, and so on,
and in that they have been a categorical failure,” he said.
Senior US State Department officials met with Burma’s delegation to the United Nations General Assembly yesterday in New York.
The US announced last week that it will look to directly engage with the ruling junta, whilst maintaining sanctions, following years of a failed isolationist policy.
No comments:
Post a Comment