Myanmar will no longer dictate ASEAN ties: White House
Mon Nov 9, 6:02 pm ET
WASHINGTON (AFP) – The United States said Monday it would no longer allow its row with Myanmar to hold its ties with Southeast Asia hostage, as President Barack Obama geared up for his debut official visit to the region.
Obama is due to hold the first-ever meeting between a US president and leaders of all 10 Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) members, including Myanmar Prime Minister Thein Sein, on Sunday in Singapore.
"One of the frustrations that we've had with policy toward Burma over recent years has been that the inability to have interaction with Burma has prevented certain kinds of interaction with ASEAN as a whole," said Obama's top Asia policy aide Jeffrey Bader.
"The statement we're trying to make here is that we're not going to let the Burmese tail wag the ASEAN dog."
Bader said the meeting was a multilateral session, and not intended to serve as an opportunity for Obama to have a conversation with a Myanmar leader -- though did not categorically rule out such an encounter.
"We're going to meet with all 10 and we're not going to punish the other nine simply because Burma is in the room, but this is not a bilateral."
Myanmar represents another test for Obama's policy of engaging US foes, which has also seen him allow contacts between US officials and North Korea, Iran, Syria and Cuba.
In previous years, hopes for a US-ASEAN leaders' summit have foundered on Washington's refusal to sit down with members of Myanmar's junta because of their suppression of Aung San Suu Kyi's democracy movement.
Myanmar, or Burma, has been a constant impediment to US-ASEAN ties, but the US administration last week sent senior officials to the military-ruled state in a bid to promote a new dialogue after years of shunning the junta.
The Obama administration reasons that the policy of isolating Myanmar has failed for 20 years, so it is time to try a new approach.
Officials however caution that they will not lift US sanctions on the military-ruled state until it embraces diplomatic change, and have no high expectations of progress soon.
Obama's keenness to deepen ties with ASEAN can be partly explained by the fact that while Washington has been distracted by Middle Eastern quagmires, China has deepened its own links with the region.
Now, some US officials fear Washington could be eclipsed as a major Asian power.
The ASEAN summit will take place on the sidelines of the annual Asia Pacific Cooperation forum (APEC) in Singapore, at which Obama is also making his debut.
Apart from Myanmar and Singapore, ASEAN also includes Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam.
Mon Nov 9, 6:02 pm ET
WASHINGTON (AFP) – The United States said Monday it would no longer allow its row with Myanmar to hold its ties with Southeast Asia hostage, as President Barack Obama geared up for his debut official visit to the region.
Obama is due to hold the first-ever meeting between a US president and leaders of all 10 Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) members, including Myanmar Prime Minister Thein Sein, on Sunday in Singapore.
"One of the frustrations that we've had with policy toward Burma over recent years has been that the inability to have interaction with Burma has prevented certain kinds of interaction with ASEAN as a whole," said Obama's top Asia policy aide Jeffrey Bader.
"The statement we're trying to make here is that we're not going to let the Burmese tail wag the ASEAN dog."
Bader said the meeting was a multilateral session, and not intended to serve as an opportunity for Obama to have a conversation with a Myanmar leader -- though did not categorically rule out such an encounter.
"We're going to meet with all 10 and we're not going to punish the other nine simply because Burma is in the room, but this is not a bilateral."
Myanmar represents another test for Obama's policy of engaging US foes, which has also seen him allow contacts between US officials and North Korea, Iran, Syria and Cuba.
In previous years, hopes for a US-ASEAN leaders' summit have foundered on Washington's refusal to sit down with members of Myanmar's junta because of their suppression of Aung San Suu Kyi's democracy movement.
Myanmar, or Burma, has been a constant impediment to US-ASEAN ties, but the US administration last week sent senior officials to the military-ruled state in a bid to promote a new dialogue after years of shunning the junta.
The Obama administration reasons that the policy of isolating Myanmar has failed for 20 years, so it is time to try a new approach.
Officials however caution that they will not lift US sanctions on the military-ruled state until it embraces diplomatic change, and have no high expectations of progress soon.
Obama's keenness to deepen ties with ASEAN can be partly explained by the fact that while Washington has been distracted by Middle Eastern quagmires, China has deepened its own links with the region.
Now, some US officials fear Washington could be eclipsed as a major Asian power.
The ASEAN summit will take place on the sidelines of the annual Asia Pacific Cooperation forum (APEC) in Singapore, at which Obama is also making his debut.
Apart from Myanmar and Singapore, ASEAN also includes Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam.
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Singapore hails 'breakthrough' summit with US, Myanmar
By Martin Abbugao - Tue Nov 10, 4:02 am ET
SINGAPORE (AFP) - A weekend summit involving US President Barack Obama and the premier of military-ruled Myanmar will be a "breakthrough" in ties between Southeast Asia and the United States, Singapore said Tuesday.
"The US has decided that its ASEAN policy will not be determined by its policy towards Myanmar," Singapore Foreign Minister George Yeo said, referring to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations.
"It's a breakthrough because previous attempts at hosting a summit meeting were prevented because of the Myanmar issue."
Yeo was speaking to reporters at annual meetings of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum in Singapore, culminating in a weekend summit of 21 APEC leaders including Obama.
After the APEC summit concludes on Sunday, ASEAN's 10 leaders, including Myanmar Prime Minister Thein Sein, are scheduled to hold an unprecedented meeting with the US president.
Hopes for US-ASEAN leaders' summits have previously foundered on Washington's refusal to sit down with Myanmar's junta because of its suppression of Aung San Suu Kyi and her National League For Democracy (NLD).
But the US administration last week sent senior officials to the isolated state in a bid to promote a new dialogue after years of shunning the junta.
Top Obama aide Jeffrey Bader said Monday the United States would no longer allow its longstanding differences with Myanmar to hold its ties with the rest of Southeast Asia hostage.
"The statement we're trying to make here is that we're not going to let the Burmese tail wag the ASEAN dog," Bader, the senior official for Asia on Obama's National Security Council, told reporters in Washington.
ASEAN has long been accused of ignoring human rights abuses in Myanmar. But as the United States has kept its distance, China has been busy deepening its own economic and diplomatic links with the fast-developing region.
Yeo, whose country is hosting both the APEC and ASEAN-US summits, said: "The US is now in direct talks with Myanmar, not all of it is publicised."
A draft of the post-summit statement obtained by AFP said the ASEAN leaders "welcomed the high-level dialogue" and the new US policy to engage Myanmar.
"The leaders expressed their hope that this effort would contribute to broad political and economic reforms and the process will be further enhanced in the future," the draft communique said.
It said the ASEAN and US leaders "underscored the importance of achieving national reconciliation" and that Myanmar elections to be held next year should be "free, fair, inclusive and transparent" to be credible.
The draft did not mention Suu Kyi or the NLD but it said the regime should "create the conditions for credible elections by initiating a dialogue with all stakeholders to ensure that the process is fully inclusive".
Australian Trade Minister Simon Crean said in Singapore that he supported the US efforts to reach out to Myanmar, which is a member of ASEAN but not of the larger APEC grouping.
"We welcome it, we encourage it... the fact that the US has embarked upon this new initiative is very welcome," Crean said.
"We've never seen sanctions as a solution against Myanmar because it hurts the people," he said.
"What we've been trying to do is to get the necessary political reforms, the human rights reforms through other forms of pressure, political pressure."
However, US officials caution that the administration will not lift US sanctions until Myanmar's military leadership embraces change, and have no expectations of progress soon.
Top of the list of US demands is for the junta to immediately release Suu Kyi, who has spent two decades under house arrest.
By Martin Abbugao - Tue Nov 10, 4:02 am ET
SINGAPORE (AFP) - A weekend summit involving US President Barack Obama and the premier of military-ruled Myanmar will be a "breakthrough" in ties between Southeast Asia and the United States, Singapore said Tuesday.
"The US has decided that its ASEAN policy will not be determined by its policy towards Myanmar," Singapore Foreign Minister George Yeo said, referring to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations.
"It's a breakthrough because previous attempts at hosting a summit meeting were prevented because of the Myanmar issue."
Yeo was speaking to reporters at annual meetings of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum in Singapore, culminating in a weekend summit of 21 APEC leaders including Obama.
After the APEC summit concludes on Sunday, ASEAN's 10 leaders, including Myanmar Prime Minister Thein Sein, are scheduled to hold an unprecedented meeting with the US president.
Hopes for US-ASEAN leaders' summits have previously foundered on Washington's refusal to sit down with Myanmar's junta because of its suppression of Aung San Suu Kyi and her National League For Democracy (NLD).
But the US administration last week sent senior officials to the isolated state in a bid to promote a new dialogue after years of shunning the junta.
Top Obama aide Jeffrey Bader said Monday the United States would no longer allow its longstanding differences with Myanmar to hold its ties with the rest of Southeast Asia hostage.
"The statement we're trying to make here is that we're not going to let the Burmese tail wag the ASEAN dog," Bader, the senior official for Asia on Obama's National Security Council, told reporters in Washington.
ASEAN has long been accused of ignoring human rights abuses in Myanmar. But as the United States has kept its distance, China has been busy deepening its own economic and diplomatic links with the fast-developing region.
Yeo, whose country is hosting both the APEC and ASEAN-US summits, said: "The US is now in direct talks with Myanmar, not all of it is publicised."
A draft of the post-summit statement obtained by AFP said the ASEAN leaders "welcomed the high-level dialogue" and the new US policy to engage Myanmar.
"The leaders expressed their hope that this effort would contribute to broad political and economic reforms and the process will be further enhanced in the future," the draft communique said.
It said the ASEAN and US leaders "underscored the importance of achieving national reconciliation" and that Myanmar elections to be held next year should be "free, fair, inclusive and transparent" to be credible.
The draft did not mention Suu Kyi or the NLD but it said the regime should "create the conditions for credible elections by initiating a dialogue with all stakeholders to ensure that the process is fully inclusive".
Australian Trade Minister Simon Crean said in Singapore that he supported the US efforts to reach out to Myanmar, which is a member of ASEAN but not of the larger APEC grouping.
"We welcome it, we encourage it... the fact that the US has embarked upon this new initiative is very welcome," Crean said.
"We've never seen sanctions as a solution against Myanmar because it hurts the people," he said.
"What we've been trying to do is to get the necessary political reforms, the human rights reforms through other forms of pressure, political pressure."
However, US officials caution that the administration will not lift US sanctions until Myanmar's military leadership embraces change, and have no expectations of progress soon.
Top of the list of US demands is for the junta to immediately release Suu Kyi, who has spent two decades under house arrest.
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Obama to be in same meeting with Myanmar PM
By Patricia Zengerle – Mon Nov 9, 6:20 pm ET
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – President Barack Obama will be at a meeting in Singapore on Sunday also attended by the prime minister of Myanmar, but he does not intend to speak directly with him, an administration official said on Monday.
The Obama administration has said it is pursuing deeper engagement with the military government in Myanmar, known in Washington by its former name Burma, and this month sent its highest-level delegation to the country in 14 years.
Obama will be in Singapore for a summit of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum during which he will hold a meeting with the leaders from the 10 nations that make up ASEAN, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, including Myanmar's prime minister, Lieutenant General Thein Sein.
"The meeting is with the 10 heads of state and government of ASEAN. One of them will be the prime minister of Burma," Jeffrey Bader, senior director for East Asian Affairs at the National Security Council, told a news briefing on Obama's trip.
"The meeting is not called for the purpose of a bilateral or a private conversation between the two," he said.
Myanmar's military government is shunned by the West over its poor rights record and refusal to allow free elections, which has kept previous U.S. presidents from meeting with all 10 members of ASEAN.
"The statement we're trying to make here is that we're not going to let the Burmese tail wag the ASEAN dog. We are going to meet with all 10 and we're not going to punish the other nine simply because the Burma is in the room," Bader said.
By Patricia Zengerle – Mon Nov 9, 6:20 pm ET
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – President Barack Obama will be at a meeting in Singapore on Sunday also attended by the prime minister of Myanmar, but he does not intend to speak directly with him, an administration official said on Monday.
The Obama administration has said it is pursuing deeper engagement with the military government in Myanmar, known in Washington by its former name Burma, and this month sent its highest-level delegation to the country in 14 years.
Obama will be in Singapore for a summit of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum during which he will hold a meeting with the leaders from the 10 nations that make up ASEAN, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, including Myanmar's prime minister, Lieutenant General Thein Sein.
"The meeting is with the 10 heads of state and government of ASEAN. One of them will be the prime minister of Burma," Jeffrey Bader, senior director for East Asian Affairs at the National Security Council, told a news briefing on Obama's trip.
"The meeting is not called for the purpose of a bilateral or a private conversation between the two," he said.
Myanmar's military government is shunned by the West over its poor rights record and refusal to allow free elections, which has kept previous U.S. presidents from meeting with all 10 members of ASEAN.
"The statement we're trying to make here is that we're not going to let the Burmese tail wag the ASEAN dog. We are going to meet with all 10 and we're not going to punish the other nine simply because the Burma is in the room," Bader said.
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Press Trust of India
India for augmenting border trade with Myanmar
STAFF WRITER 16:43 HRS IST
Imphal, Nov 10 (PTI) India will explore ways to augment border trade with Myanmar, and delegates from the two countries would meet soon to deliberate on the issue, a senior government official has said.
A joint conference of delegates from both the countries would be organised soon to find ways and means to enhance border trade, V L Kantha Rao, Director of Commerce Department, Government of India, said.
The assurance was given at a meeting of official teams from both the countries at Tamu, border town of Myanmar, yesterday.
Rao said for smooth trade national highway 39 should be properly developed and maintained.
National highway 39 connects three north eastern states -- Assam, Nagaland and Manipur -- and terminates at Indo-Myanmar border.
India for augmenting border trade with Myanmar
STAFF WRITER 16:43 HRS IST
Imphal, Nov 10 (PTI) India will explore ways to augment border trade with Myanmar, and delegates from the two countries would meet soon to deliberate on the issue, a senior government official has said.
A joint conference of delegates from both the countries would be organised soon to find ways and means to enhance border trade, V L Kantha Rao, Director of Commerce Department, Government of India, said.
The assurance was given at a meeting of official teams from both the countries at Tamu, border town of Myanmar, yesterday.
Rao said for smooth trade national highway 39 should be properly developed and maintained.
National highway 39 connects three north eastern states -- Assam, Nagaland and Manipur -- and terminates at Indo-Myanmar border.
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MYANMAR: Cyclone-affected fishermen still need help
THANDAIT, 10 November 2009 (IRIN) - Before the devastation of Cyclone Nargis in May 2008, Cho Tuu, 30, never found it hard to make ends meet, but these days he struggles to feed his family.
Without any fishing equipment, Cho Tuu is forced to pay the equivalent of US$15 per month to hire a boat, and to hand over three-quarters of his catch to the owner of the fishing net that he rents.
"Some months, I can barely make enough money to even pay for hiring the boat," said the father of two school-age children from his makeshift hut in Thandait village in the Ayeyarwady Delta, the area worst hit by Nargis.
Though Cho Tuu has been expecting fishing equipment from humanitarian agencies for more than 17 months, no assistance has come yet.
Like Cho Tuu, officials say thousands of fishermen are still unable to restore their livelihoods because of a lack of aid following Cyclone Nargis, which left nearly 140,000 people dead or missing, and 2.4 million affected.
After paddy planting, fishing is the second largest source of income for households in the Ayeyarwady Delta, a labyrinth of rivers, ponds and waterways.
For 20 percent of Nargis-affected households, full-time fishing is the primary source of income, according to the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) in Myanmar.
Tesfai Ghermazien, the FAO’s senior emergency and rehabilitation coordinator in Myanmar, said it would take 3-5 years to fully restore the livelihoods of cyclone-affected fishermen.
"Very few [fishermen], if any, are back to normal," Ghermazien told IRIN.
Although the main sources of livelihood in the Delta are farming, fish and livestock, these sub-sectors were the least funded in the Cyclone Nargis response, he said.
According to the FAO, 1,550 marine fishing vessels, 50 percent of small inland fishing boats (i.e. about 100,000 out of 200,000), and 70 percent of fishing gear were destroyed by Nargis.
ASEAN review
A review of recovery efforts by the Myanmar government, the UN, and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) released in July this year found that livelihoods remain insecure in the worst-affected townships of Ayeyarwady and Yangon divisions.
It said that the townships of Bogale, Labutta, Mawlamyinegyun and Pyapon in the delta’s south - where fishing is the predominant income source - had experienced the highest percentage of losses of fishing gear.
However, on average, only 6 percent of surveyed households in these four townships reported receiving fishing gear as a relief item. Only 11 percent of the surveyed households reported receiving boats, although 33 percent of them said they considered a boat as a pressing need to restore their livelihood activity, said the review.
A third Post-Nargis Periodic Review is expected at the end of 2009.
Equipment lacking
In an effort to help cyclone-affected fishermen restore their livelihoods, FAO and its cooperating agencies have distributed about 5,000 boats, and some 130,000 sets of different types of fishing gear, mainly nets and traps.
The Department of Fisheries has also distributed over 10,000 boats with nets and gear.
Before the end of the year, FAO plans to hand over 200 boats which are expected to have a longer life than most common boats now being built. It will also distribute a few thousand boats next year.
In the meantime, though, most cyclone-affected fishermen complain that they still do not have enough equipment.
"There are 154 fishermen in our fishing village, most of whom lost their fishing gear in the cyclone," said Aung Myo, the head of Thandait Village. "But, so far we just got 14 fishing boats and gear."
Besides being forced to hire equipment or take out loans to buy gear, fishermen have complained of the burden of paying for boats distributed by the government, said Aung Myo.
He said the cost of the fishing boat and gear - nearly the equivalent of US$360 - had to be paid back in four installments.
Other complaints include those about the equipment distributed. Some say the nets they received were inappropriate - those who fish in rivers were given nets for sea fishing, and vice-versa. Some boats distributed have also been found wanting.
“The fishing boat I received was quite small,” said Tint Swe, 42, who received a fishing boat from the Department of Fisheries on an installation system.
Tint Swe, who lost two motorized boats during Nargis, said he had been forced to spend additional money to modify the boat to his requirements.
Without any fishing equipment, Cho Tuu is forced to pay the equivalent of US$15 per month to hire a boat, and to hand over three-quarters of his catch to the owner of the fishing net that he rents.
"Some months, I can barely make enough money to even pay for hiring the boat," said the father of two school-age children from his makeshift hut in Thandait village in the Ayeyarwady Delta, the area worst hit by Nargis.
Though Cho Tuu has been expecting fishing equipment from humanitarian agencies for more than 17 months, no assistance has come yet.
Like Cho Tuu, officials say thousands of fishermen are still unable to restore their livelihoods because of a lack of aid following Cyclone Nargis, which left nearly 140,000 people dead or missing, and 2.4 million affected.
After paddy planting, fishing is the second largest source of income for households in the Ayeyarwady Delta, a labyrinth of rivers, ponds and waterways.
For 20 percent of Nargis-affected households, full-time fishing is the primary source of income, according to the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) in Myanmar.
Tesfai Ghermazien, the FAO’s senior emergency and rehabilitation coordinator in Myanmar, said it would take 3-5 years to fully restore the livelihoods of cyclone-affected fishermen.
"Very few [fishermen], if any, are back to normal," Ghermazien told IRIN.
Although the main sources of livelihood in the Delta are farming, fish and livestock, these sub-sectors were the least funded in the Cyclone Nargis response, he said.
According to the FAO, 1,550 marine fishing vessels, 50 percent of small inland fishing boats (i.e. about 100,000 out of 200,000), and 70 percent of fishing gear were destroyed by Nargis.
ASEAN review
A review of recovery efforts by the Myanmar government, the UN, and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) released in July this year found that livelihoods remain insecure in the worst-affected townships of Ayeyarwady and Yangon divisions.
It said that the townships of Bogale, Labutta, Mawlamyinegyun and Pyapon in the delta’s south - where fishing is the predominant income source - had experienced the highest percentage of losses of fishing gear.
However, on average, only 6 percent of surveyed households in these four townships reported receiving fishing gear as a relief item. Only 11 percent of the surveyed households reported receiving boats, although 33 percent of them said they considered a boat as a pressing need to restore their livelihood activity, said the review.
A third Post-Nargis Periodic Review is expected at the end of 2009.
Equipment lacking
In an effort to help cyclone-affected fishermen restore their livelihoods, FAO and its cooperating agencies have distributed about 5,000 boats, and some 130,000 sets of different types of fishing gear, mainly nets and traps.
The Department of Fisheries has also distributed over 10,000 boats with nets and gear.
Before the end of the year, FAO plans to hand over 200 boats which are expected to have a longer life than most common boats now being built. It will also distribute a few thousand boats next year.
In the meantime, though, most cyclone-affected fishermen complain that they still do not have enough equipment.
"There are 154 fishermen in our fishing village, most of whom lost their fishing gear in the cyclone," said Aung Myo, the head of Thandait Village. "But, so far we just got 14 fishing boats and gear."
Besides being forced to hire equipment or take out loans to buy gear, fishermen have complained of the burden of paying for boats distributed by the government, said Aung Myo.
He said the cost of the fishing boat and gear - nearly the equivalent of US$360 - had to be paid back in four installments.
Other complaints include those about the equipment distributed. Some say the nets they received were inappropriate - those who fish in rivers were given nets for sea fishing, and vice-versa. Some boats distributed have also been found wanting.
“The fishing boat I received was quite small,” said Tint Swe, 42, who received a fishing boat from the Department of Fisheries on an installation system.
Tint Swe, who lost two motorized boats during Nargis, said he had been forced to spend additional money to modify the boat to his requirements.
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Nov 10, 2009
STRAITS TIMES EXCLUSIVE
The Straits Times - Obama to appeal on Suu Kyi
By Chua Chin Hon, US Bureau Chief and Bhagyashree Garekar
WASHINGTON - UNITED States President Barack Obama will make a personal plea for the release of Myanmarese opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi at his summit with Asean leaders in Singapore on Sunday, a senior Administration official told The Straits Times.
Asked if Mr Obama will press for the freedom of the jailed opposition leader, the official said in an interview on Monday: 'I think he will. That will be in the context of all political prisoners. Of course, she is the most prominent among them. He will probably mention her by name.'
The US has always allied with international calls for Ms Suu Kyi's release but lending Mr Obama's considerable personal heft to the appeal is likely to turn up the pressure on the junta.
Ms Suu Kyi, a Nobel peace laureate, has been under house arrest for the past 14 years. Her National League for Democracy won Myanmar's last elections in 1990 but the military junta refused to recognise the result.
Yangon periodically hints at her release. On Monday, a foreign ministry official said there was a plan to release her 'soon' ahead of elections next year.
STRAITS TIMES EXCLUSIVE
The Straits Times - Obama to appeal on Suu Kyi
By Chua Chin Hon, US Bureau Chief and Bhagyashree Garekar
WASHINGTON - UNITED States President Barack Obama will make a personal plea for the release of Myanmarese opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi at his summit with Asean leaders in Singapore on Sunday, a senior Administration official told The Straits Times.
Asked if Mr Obama will press for the freedom of the jailed opposition leader, the official said in an interview on Monday: 'I think he will. That will be in the context of all political prisoners. Of course, she is the most prominent among them. He will probably mention her by name.'
The US has always allied with international calls for Ms Suu Kyi's release but lending Mr Obama's considerable personal heft to the appeal is likely to turn up the pressure on the junta.
Ms Suu Kyi, a Nobel peace laureate, has been under house arrest for the past 14 years. Her National League for Democracy won Myanmar's last elections in 1990 but the military junta refused to recognise the result.
Yangon periodically hints at her release. On Monday, a foreign ministry official said there was a plan to release her 'soon' ahead of elections next year.
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Council on Foreign Relations
China's Role in the "New Era of Engagement"
Author: Stewart M. Patrick, Senior Fellow and Director, Program on International Institutions and Global Governance
November 10, 2009
Where does China fit into the U.S. vision of world order? Like former Presidents George W. Bush and Bill Clinton, President Barack Obama seeks a China that plays by global rules, which would require both political and economic liberalization. Regionally, Washington wants an East Asia that is open and free, filled with vibrant democracies and integrated into the global economic system. To prevent the region from being dominated by any single power, the United States will continue to serve as a regional stabilizer, strengthening bilateral security ties with its partners in the region and maintaining forward-deployed U.S. forces.
Unfortunately, as Princeton's Aaron Friedberg has pointed out, these two core U.S. goals conflict with the two main objectives of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). The United States wants a stable balance of power in East Asia and a gradual transition from one-party rule to political pluralism in China, but China wants continued CCP rule and China's emergence as the preponderant player in East Asia. Some Chinese commentators even describe the United States as pursuing a "two-handed strategy" of "engagement" to promote regime change in China and "containment" to stem its regional rise.
The Sino-American relationship is and will remain a complicated one, containing powerful incentives for cooperation as well as enduring elements of strategic conflict. The Obama administration, sensitive to the lessons of history, appreciates the risks of a geopolitical clash. But it by no means considers it inevitable. U.S. officials perceive China as neither a status quo nor a revolutionary power, but rather a modestly revisionist one. It possesses a sense of destiny and entitlement, and it is determined to adjust existing structures of global governance to reflect its emerging power and policy preferences. But as arguably the leading beneficiary of globalization, it is unlikely to mount a frontal assault against the Western-dominated order that has served its purposes so well.
Indeed, prospects for a broad institutional bargain between China and the United States are favorable, at least in the short and perhaps medium term. The United States and China's neighbors have a clear incentive to try to cement China's support for global and regional structures and to win its general commitment to self-restraint. China, likewise, has a near-term incentive to play by established rules and embrace the current global and regional order, both to discourage renewed U.S. unilateralism (which China might find unpleasant) and to ensure a continued U.S. regional presence (which provides stability to facilitate China's continued rise). By sacrificing some measure of policy autonomy, China can gain the international predictability it needs. Of course, this calculation may change as China's power expands, but for now, there is ample scope for a bargain. Over the past decade, the Chinese have articulated several conceptions (PDF) of world order, from "peaceful rise" to "peaceful development" and "harmonious world." All are relatively consistent with former U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Robert Zoellick's notion of China as a "responsible stakeholder (PDF)."
Seeking 'Strategic Reassurance'
How can China rise without provoking geopolitical conflict? The key, the Obama administration believes, is for Beijing to adopt a posture of "strategic reassurance (PDF)." This would "rest on a core, if tacit, bargain" between China, the United States, and other states in Asia. As Deputy Secretary of State James B. Steinberg explains, "Just as we and our allies must make clear that we are prepared to welcome China's 'arrival'... as a prosperous and successful power, China must reassure the rest of the world that its development and growing global role will not come at the expense of the security and well-being of others."
The Obama administration will be more sympathetic to China's aspirations to have a voice in major structures of global governance when these are backed by tangible Chinese contributions to world order.
Bilaterally, the Obama administration is seeking to foster strategic reassurance through intensified dialogues, designed (in Steinberg's words) "to highlight and reinforce the areas of common interest, while addressing the sources of mistrust directly, whether they be political, military, or economic." The centerpiece of this effort is the U.S.-China Strategic and Economic Dialogue which involves ongoing conversations between cabinet officials. The two sides have generally shied from controversial topics like human rights, exchange rates, or protectionism. Nevertheless, the dialogue provides a useful forum for mutual understanding and confidence-building.
The main contribution to strategic reassurance, of course, will come from China itself. The United States, other Western countries, and China's Asian neighbors seek indications that China will emerge as a responsible stakeholder and become a net provider of-not merely a passive free rider on-global and regional public goods. China has often resisted major resource commitments to help solve global problems, such as climate change, on the grounds that it remains a "poor," "developing" country. The Obama administration will be more sympathetic to China's aspirations to have a voice in major structures of global governance when these are backed by tangible Chinese contributions to world order.
Beijing's Role in Global Security
Most fundamentally, the United States will be looking for evidence of China's peaceful intentions and its willingness to make tangible contributions to global stability. Given the potentially destabilizing impact of China's rapid military buildup, it is critical that Beijing introduce greater transparency into its military doctrine, force structure, and defense budgets-steps that will reassure its neighbors of its intentions, reduce regional tensions, and lower the likelihood of disastrous miscalculation.
Regionally, China has already taken important steps to foster multilateral cooperation and dialogue with many of its neighbors, through actions like signing the Treaty of Amity and Cooperation with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, and by leading the Six-Party Talks on the Korean Peninsula. Washington will look to Beijing to deepen its engagements on the Korean peninsula, place relations with Japan on more productive footing, and accept an ongoing role for the United States and its security partnerships in the Western Pacific (a presence that has the added benefit of constraining Japanese military ambitions).
Although Beijing continues to resist binding obligations and timetables for emissions reductions, it has taken significant steps in recent months, including adopting a comprehensive national climate strategy.
Globally, the Obama administration will look for Beijing to assume greater responsibility for international peace and security by playing a more active and constructive role, not only on North Korea but other hot spots like Sudan, Iran, and Myanmar. (These conversations are likely to be particularly fraught in situations where China's traditional concepts of sovereignty and non-intervention collide with the new international norm of a "responsibility to protect"). Washington also hopes China will expand its impressive and growing engagement since 2000 in UN peace operations, in terms of both funding and personnel, which would provide evidence of China's willingness to share responsibility for global peace outside its narrow national interests.
In the nuclear arena, China has already taken some steps to strengthen the nonproliferation regime. It is a member in good standing of the NPT, has recently joined the Nuclear Suppliers Group, and has good record on counterterrorism cooperation. At the same time, China must improve its export controls and its overall performance regarding states of proliferation concern. Given its special relationship with North Korea, China has a particular responsibility to counter Pyongyang's nuclear ambitions.
Beijing's close cooperation with the Obama administration on UNSC Resolution 1874 testifies to China's capacity, to defend the nonproliferation regime from determined assaults, if so inclined. The Obama administration is seeking a similar level of Chinese determination to confront Iran's nuclear ambitions within the P5+1 [the five permanent members of the UN Security Council, the United States, Britain, France, Russia and China, plus Germany] framework.
A Climate for Economic Cooperation?
In the economic realm, the United States will look to China for tangible steps. First, Washington will continue to press Beijing to permit appreciation of its artificially undervalued currency and to take other domestic steps to correct global financial imbalances, which helped facilitate the global crisis. Second, the United States will look to China to take a less defensive attitude toward trade liberalization within the World Trade Organization (especially in manufacturing and service sectors) and to enforce intellectual property rights more consistently. Third, U.S. officials will press China to shift away from bilateral trade for political and strategic objectives, which threaten to fragment the world economy. Fourth, the Obama administration will urge China to bring its development assistance policies into conformity with existing global norms and standards of transparency and conditionality, and to resist a "no strings attached" approach to foreign aid. Finally, the United States will encourage China to eschew policies of resource mercantilism designed to lock up foreign markets.
Beyond disrupting international markets, observes U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Steinberg, such an orientation "leads China to problematic engagement with actors like Iran, Sudan, Burma [Myanmar] and Zimbabwe and undermines the perception of China as a country interested in contributing to regional stability and humanitarian goals."
Finally, the Obama administration understands that there is no solution to the massive problem of global climate change without China, which produces 20 percent of greenhouse-gas emissions today and will be responsible for half of all emissions growth through 2030 (when its annual share of global greenhouse-gas emissions will be one-third).
Although Beijing continues to resist binding obligations and timetables for emissions reductions, it has taken significant steps in recent months, including adopting a comprehensive national climate strategy and announcing a willingness to adopt "reportable and verifiable" measures to cut energy intensity. At the same time, as CFR Senior Fellow Michael Levi notes, the United States and other advanced economies will look to China to improve its uneven legal and governance capacity, so that it can actually implement these ambitious targets.
China's Role in the "New Era of Engagement"
Author: Stewart M. Patrick, Senior Fellow and Director, Program on International Institutions and Global Governance
November 10, 2009
Where does China fit into the U.S. vision of world order? Like former Presidents George W. Bush and Bill Clinton, President Barack Obama seeks a China that plays by global rules, which would require both political and economic liberalization. Regionally, Washington wants an East Asia that is open and free, filled with vibrant democracies and integrated into the global economic system. To prevent the region from being dominated by any single power, the United States will continue to serve as a regional stabilizer, strengthening bilateral security ties with its partners in the region and maintaining forward-deployed U.S. forces.
Unfortunately, as Princeton's Aaron Friedberg has pointed out, these two core U.S. goals conflict with the two main objectives of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). The United States wants a stable balance of power in East Asia and a gradual transition from one-party rule to political pluralism in China, but China wants continued CCP rule and China's emergence as the preponderant player in East Asia. Some Chinese commentators even describe the United States as pursuing a "two-handed strategy" of "engagement" to promote regime change in China and "containment" to stem its regional rise.
The Sino-American relationship is and will remain a complicated one, containing powerful incentives for cooperation as well as enduring elements of strategic conflict. The Obama administration, sensitive to the lessons of history, appreciates the risks of a geopolitical clash. But it by no means considers it inevitable. U.S. officials perceive China as neither a status quo nor a revolutionary power, but rather a modestly revisionist one. It possesses a sense of destiny and entitlement, and it is determined to adjust existing structures of global governance to reflect its emerging power and policy preferences. But as arguably the leading beneficiary of globalization, it is unlikely to mount a frontal assault against the Western-dominated order that has served its purposes so well.
Indeed, prospects for a broad institutional bargain between China and the United States are favorable, at least in the short and perhaps medium term. The United States and China's neighbors have a clear incentive to try to cement China's support for global and regional structures and to win its general commitment to self-restraint. China, likewise, has a near-term incentive to play by established rules and embrace the current global and regional order, both to discourage renewed U.S. unilateralism (which China might find unpleasant) and to ensure a continued U.S. regional presence (which provides stability to facilitate China's continued rise). By sacrificing some measure of policy autonomy, China can gain the international predictability it needs. Of course, this calculation may change as China's power expands, but for now, there is ample scope for a bargain. Over the past decade, the Chinese have articulated several conceptions (PDF) of world order, from "peaceful rise" to "peaceful development" and "harmonious world." All are relatively consistent with former U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Robert Zoellick's notion of China as a "responsible stakeholder (PDF)."
Seeking 'Strategic Reassurance'
How can China rise without provoking geopolitical conflict? The key, the Obama administration believes, is for Beijing to adopt a posture of "strategic reassurance (PDF)." This would "rest on a core, if tacit, bargain" between China, the United States, and other states in Asia. As Deputy Secretary of State James B. Steinberg explains, "Just as we and our allies must make clear that we are prepared to welcome China's 'arrival'... as a prosperous and successful power, China must reassure the rest of the world that its development and growing global role will not come at the expense of the security and well-being of others."
The Obama administration will be more sympathetic to China's aspirations to have a voice in major structures of global governance when these are backed by tangible Chinese contributions to world order.
Bilaterally, the Obama administration is seeking to foster strategic reassurance through intensified dialogues, designed (in Steinberg's words) "to highlight and reinforce the areas of common interest, while addressing the sources of mistrust directly, whether they be political, military, or economic." The centerpiece of this effort is the U.S.-China Strategic and Economic Dialogue which involves ongoing conversations between cabinet officials. The two sides have generally shied from controversial topics like human rights, exchange rates, or protectionism. Nevertheless, the dialogue provides a useful forum for mutual understanding and confidence-building.
The main contribution to strategic reassurance, of course, will come from China itself. The United States, other Western countries, and China's Asian neighbors seek indications that China will emerge as a responsible stakeholder and become a net provider of-not merely a passive free rider on-global and regional public goods. China has often resisted major resource commitments to help solve global problems, such as climate change, on the grounds that it remains a "poor," "developing" country. The Obama administration will be more sympathetic to China's aspirations to have a voice in major structures of global governance when these are backed by tangible Chinese contributions to world order.
Beijing's Role in Global Security
Most fundamentally, the United States will be looking for evidence of China's peaceful intentions and its willingness to make tangible contributions to global stability. Given the potentially destabilizing impact of China's rapid military buildup, it is critical that Beijing introduce greater transparency into its military doctrine, force structure, and defense budgets-steps that will reassure its neighbors of its intentions, reduce regional tensions, and lower the likelihood of disastrous miscalculation.
Regionally, China has already taken important steps to foster multilateral cooperation and dialogue with many of its neighbors, through actions like signing the Treaty of Amity and Cooperation with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, and by leading the Six-Party Talks on the Korean Peninsula. Washington will look to Beijing to deepen its engagements on the Korean peninsula, place relations with Japan on more productive footing, and accept an ongoing role for the United States and its security partnerships in the Western Pacific (a presence that has the added benefit of constraining Japanese military ambitions).
Although Beijing continues to resist binding obligations and timetables for emissions reductions, it has taken significant steps in recent months, including adopting a comprehensive national climate strategy.
Globally, the Obama administration will look for Beijing to assume greater responsibility for international peace and security by playing a more active and constructive role, not only on North Korea but other hot spots like Sudan, Iran, and Myanmar. (These conversations are likely to be particularly fraught in situations where China's traditional concepts of sovereignty and non-intervention collide with the new international norm of a "responsibility to protect"). Washington also hopes China will expand its impressive and growing engagement since 2000 in UN peace operations, in terms of both funding and personnel, which would provide evidence of China's willingness to share responsibility for global peace outside its narrow national interests.
In the nuclear arena, China has already taken some steps to strengthen the nonproliferation regime. It is a member in good standing of the NPT, has recently joined the Nuclear Suppliers Group, and has good record on counterterrorism cooperation. At the same time, China must improve its export controls and its overall performance regarding states of proliferation concern. Given its special relationship with North Korea, China has a particular responsibility to counter Pyongyang's nuclear ambitions.
Beijing's close cooperation with the Obama administration on UNSC Resolution 1874 testifies to China's capacity, to defend the nonproliferation regime from determined assaults, if so inclined. The Obama administration is seeking a similar level of Chinese determination to confront Iran's nuclear ambitions within the P5+1 [the five permanent members of the UN Security Council, the United States, Britain, France, Russia and China, plus Germany] framework.
A Climate for Economic Cooperation?
In the economic realm, the United States will look to China for tangible steps. First, Washington will continue to press Beijing to permit appreciation of its artificially undervalued currency and to take other domestic steps to correct global financial imbalances, which helped facilitate the global crisis. Second, the United States will look to China to take a less defensive attitude toward trade liberalization within the World Trade Organization (especially in manufacturing and service sectors) and to enforce intellectual property rights more consistently. Third, U.S. officials will press China to shift away from bilateral trade for political and strategic objectives, which threaten to fragment the world economy. Fourth, the Obama administration will urge China to bring its development assistance policies into conformity with existing global norms and standards of transparency and conditionality, and to resist a "no strings attached" approach to foreign aid. Finally, the United States will encourage China to eschew policies of resource mercantilism designed to lock up foreign markets.
Beyond disrupting international markets, observes U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Steinberg, such an orientation "leads China to problematic engagement with actors like Iran, Sudan, Burma [Myanmar] and Zimbabwe and undermines the perception of China as a country interested in contributing to regional stability and humanitarian goals."
Finally, the Obama administration understands that there is no solution to the massive problem of global climate change without China, which produces 20 percent of greenhouse-gas emissions today and will be responsible for half of all emissions growth through 2030 (when its annual share of global greenhouse-gas emissions will be one-third).
Although Beijing continues to resist binding obligations and timetables for emissions reductions, it has taken significant steps in recent months, including adopting a comprehensive national climate strategy and announcing a willingness to adopt "reportable and verifiable" measures to cut energy intensity. At the same time, as CFR Senior Fellow Michael Levi notes, the United States and other advanced economies will look to China to improve its uneven legal and governance capacity, so that it can actually implement these ambitious targets.
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Expressindia - B'desh approaches UN over marine border dispute with India
Posted: Nov 10, 2009 at 2033 hrs IST
Dhaka Bangladesh has approached the UN over its maritime border dispute with India, amid claims by Dhaka on certain areas in the Bay of Bengal as within its territorial waters, a news report said on Tuesday.
Earlier both India and Myanmar were involved in a diplomatic row with Bangladesh over territorial waters claim.
Bangladesh has problems with India and Myanmar on the issue of "starting point" on how to mark the coastlines from the exclusive economic zone that has apparently overlapped claims of the three neighboring countries due to the funnel-like shape of the Bay of Bengal.
Bangladesh registered its objection with the UN to India’s claim over certain areas in the Bay of Bengal, three months after a similar missive was filed against Myanmar’s claim, the New Age newspaper reported.
"We have submitted our objection to the maritime commission of the UN on October 29," MA Momen, Bangladesh’s Permanent Representative at the UN, was quoted as saying by the Bangladeshi daily.
The three neighbors are yet to clearly demarcate their maritime boundaries and are moving the Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf (CLCS), a UN body to deal with the law of the seas.
India submitted its claim on maritime boundary to the CLCS in May 2009, one month ahead of its deadline amid dispute with Dhaka over the ownership for the hydrocarbons in the Bay of Bengal.
Bangladesh has disputes over territorial waters in the Bay of Bengal with both India and Myanmar in two areas that of natural prolongation of the continental shelf and the baseline.
India argues that the course of the natural prolongation of continental shelf is from east to west while Bangladesh claims it is from north to south, said the report in the Bangladeshi newspaper. Bangladesh and India have some overlapping claims on baselines.
According to the United Nations Convention on Law of the Seas, Bangladesh must demarcate its sea boundaries by July 27, 2011, India by June 29, 2009 and Myanmar May 21, 2009, the report said.
Bangladesh earlier lodged its objection with the CLCS, a UN body to deal with the law of the seas, in July this year against Myanmar’s claim on the sea waters.
Posted: Nov 10, 2009 at 2033 hrs IST
Dhaka Bangladesh has approached the UN over its maritime border dispute with India, amid claims by Dhaka on certain areas in the Bay of Bengal as within its territorial waters, a news report said on Tuesday.
Earlier both India and Myanmar were involved in a diplomatic row with Bangladesh over territorial waters claim.
Bangladesh has problems with India and Myanmar on the issue of "starting point" on how to mark the coastlines from the exclusive economic zone that has apparently overlapped claims of the three neighboring countries due to the funnel-like shape of the Bay of Bengal.
Bangladesh registered its objection with the UN to India’s claim over certain areas in the Bay of Bengal, three months after a similar missive was filed against Myanmar’s claim, the New Age newspaper reported.
"We have submitted our objection to the maritime commission of the UN on October 29," MA Momen, Bangladesh’s Permanent Representative at the UN, was quoted as saying by the Bangladeshi daily.
The three neighbors are yet to clearly demarcate their maritime boundaries and are moving the Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf (CLCS), a UN body to deal with the law of the seas.
India submitted its claim on maritime boundary to the CLCS in May 2009, one month ahead of its deadline amid dispute with Dhaka over the ownership for the hydrocarbons in the Bay of Bengal.
Bangladesh has disputes over territorial waters in the Bay of Bengal with both India and Myanmar in two areas that of natural prolongation of the continental shelf and the baseline.
India argues that the course of the natural prolongation of continental shelf is from east to west while Bangladesh claims it is from north to south, said the report in the Bangladeshi newspaper. Bangladesh and India have some overlapping claims on baselines.
According to the United Nations Convention on Law of the Seas, Bangladesh must demarcate its sea boundaries by July 27, 2011, India by June 29, 2009 and Myanmar May 21, 2009, the report said.
Bangladesh earlier lodged its objection with the CLCS, a UN body to deal with the law of the seas, in July this year against Myanmar’s claim on the sea waters.
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Two former ethnic peace groups in Myanmar re-formed into frontier forces
www.chinaview.cn 2009-11-10 20:46:17
YANGON, Nov. 10 (Xinhua) -- Two former ethnic peace groups -- New Democratic Army-Kachin (NDA-K) in Kachin State Special Region-1 and Kayinni Nationalities People's Liberation Front (KNPLF) in Kayah State Special Region-2 have been re-formed into frontier forces by the government, state-run Myanmar Radio and Television reported Tuesday evening.
The two peace groups are the first to have been reformed into such border guard forces.
Ceremonies were respectively held in some areas of the regions on Sunday to mark the transformation to the frontier forces, attended by the government's local military commanders and hundreds of local people, the report said.
The report added that the former peace groups were so transformed so as to enable them to hold arms legally under the command of the government armed forces.
The NDA-K, led by Sakhone Ting Ying, ceased fire with the government in December 1989, while the KNPLF did so in May 1994.
In Kachin state, there established some two special regions for the resettlement of Kachin ethnic peace groups after they returned to the government's legal fold about 15 years ago with the New Democratic Army (NDA-Kachin) in Kachin State Special Region-1 and KIO in Kachin State Special Region-2.
In Kayah state, there are three special regions.
Since the present government came to power in late 1988, 17 anti-government major ethnic armed groups and over 20 small groups were claimed to have returned to the legal fold by signing respective ceasefire agreements with the government.
Some of the armed groups were resettled with special regions with arms retained, conditionally enjoying self-administration.
Under the government's fifth step of its seven-step roadmap announced in 2003, a multi-party democracy general election is to be held in 2010 in accordance with the 2008 new state constitution to produce parliament representatives and form a new civilian government.
The 2008 new state constitution prescribes that all the armed forces in the union shall be under the command of the Defense Services.
Meanwhile, the government urged ethnic peace groups in the country to adhere to the provisions of the approved new state constitution in the light of upcoming general election next year.
"The national race armed groups will have to reconsider formation of their political parties if they wish to work for their regional development within the framework of the constitution," official media said.
There also remains 10 legal political parties in Myanmar.
www.chinaview.cn 2009-11-10 20:46:17
YANGON, Nov. 10 (Xinhua) -- Two former ethnic peace groups -- New Democratic Army-Kachin (NDA-K) in Kachin State Special Region-1 and Kayinni Nationalities People's Liberation Front (KNPLF) in Kayah State Special Region-2 have been re-formed into frontier forces by the government, state-run Myanmar Radio and Television reported Tuesday evening.
The two peace groups are the first to have been reformed into such border guard forces.
Ceremonies were respectively held in some areas of the regions on Sunday to mark the transformation to the frontier forces, attended by the government's local military commanders and hundreds of local people, the report said.
The report added that the former peace groups were so transformed so as to enable them to hold arms legally under the command of the government armed forces.
The NDA-K, led by Sakhone Ting Ying, ceased fire with the government in December 1989, while the KNPLF did so in May 1994.
In Kachin state, there established some two special regions for the resettlement of Kachin ethnic peace groups after they returned to the government's legal fold about 15 years ago with the New Democratic Army (NDA-Kachin) in Kachin State Special Region-1 and KIO in Kachin State Special Region-2.
In Kayah state, there are three special regions.
Since the present government came to power in late 1988, 17 anti-government major ethnic armed groups and over 20 small groups were claimed to have returned to the legal fold by signing respective ceasefire agreements with the government.
Some of the armed groups were resettled with special regions with arms retained, conditionally enjoying self-administration.
Under the government's fifth step of its seven-step roadmap announced in 2003, a multi-party democracy general election is to be held in 2010 in accordance with the 2008 new state constitution to produce parliament representatives and form a new civilian government.
The 2008 new state constitution prescribes that all the armed forces in the union shall be under the command of the Defense Services.
Meanwhile, the government urged ethnic peace groups in the country to adhere to the provisions of the approved new state constitution in the light of upcoming general election next year.
"The national race armed groups will have to reconsider formation of their political parties if they wish to work for their regional development within the framework of the constitution," official media said.
There also remains 10 legal political parties in Myanmar.
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Myanmar, China to establish direct banking system in border trade
www.chinaview.cn 2009-11-10 13:09:59
YANGON, Nov. 10 (Xinhua) -- Myanmar and Chinese bank authorities are to establish direct banking system between the two countries in a bid to facilitate transaction in border trade, traders circle said on Tuesday.
Commercial banks from Myanmar will link its counterparts from Ruili and Jie Guo from China for the move starting next year, the sources said.
Bilateral border trade payments were settled in cash during the past decade, it added.
Myanmar has five border trade points with China, namely Muse, Lwejei, Laizar, Chinshwehaw and Kambaiti.
Meanwhile, Myanmar will add one more border trade zone in Yan Lone Chai township of Kokang region, the country's northern Shan State, to facilitate trading between the region and China, earlier report said.
Once the Yan Lone Chai border trade zone is completed, it will help enhance the economic development of Laukkai and the Kokang as a whole as the border trade zone can be accessible by direct road link with Lashio, Kuttkai and Theini townships.
Myanmar-China border trade fair has been held annually and alternately in the two countries' border town of Muse and Ruili since 2001 and the last event was in Muse in December 2008.
Myanmar exports to China through Muse border trade zone farm produce such as rice, beans and pulses, corn and sesame, fruits such as mango, watermelon and muskmelon, and marine products such as fish, prawn and eel, minerals such as lead and jade, and timber and forest products, while importing from China iron, steel, construction materials, machine and machine tools, computer an accessories, farm implements, fertilizer, raw materials and household utensils.
According to Chinese official statistics, China-Myanmar bilateral trade amounted to 2.626 billion U.S. dollars in 2008, up26.4 percent. Of the total, China's export to Myanmar took 1.978 billion dollars.
Up to the end of 2008, China's contracted investment in Myanmar reached 1.331 billion dollars, of which that in mining, electric power and oil and gas respectively took 866 million dollars, 281 million dollars and 124 million dollars.
China now stands the 4th in Myanmar's foreign investment line-up.
www.chinaview.cn 2009-11-10 13:09:59
YANGON, Nov. 10 (Xinhua) -- Myanmar and Chinese bank authorities are to establish direct banking system between the two countries in a bid to facilitate transaction in border trade, traders circle said on Tuesday.
Commercial banks from Myanmar will link its counterparts from Ruili and Jie Guo from China for the move starting next year, the sources said.
Bilateral border trade payments were settled in cash during the past decade, it added.
Myanmar has five border trade points with China, namely Muse, Lwejei, Laizar, Chinshwehaw and Kambaiti.
Meanwhile, Myanmar will add one more border trade zone in Yan Lone Chai township of Kokang region, the country's northern Shan State, to facilitate trading between the region and China, earlier report said.
Once the Yan Lone Chai border trade zone is completed, it will help enhance the economic development of Laukkai and the Kokang as a whole as the border trade zone can be accessible by direct road link with Lashio, Kuttkai and Theini townships.
Myanmar-China border trade fair has been held annually and alternately in the two countries' border town of Muse and Ruili since 2001 and the last event was in Muse in December 2008.
Myanmar exports to China through Muse border trade zone farm produce such as rice, beans and pulses, corn and sesame, fruits such as mango, watermelon and muskmelon, and marine products such as fish, prawn and eel, minerals such as lead and jade, and timber and forest products, while importing from China iron, steel, construction materials, machine and machine tools, computer an accessories, farm implements, fertilizer, raw materials and household utensils.
According to Chinese official statistics, China-Myanmar bilateral trade amounted to 2.626 billion U.S. dollars in 2008, up26.4 percent. Of the total, China's export to Myanmar took 1.978 billion dollars.
Up to the end of 2008, China's contracted investment in Myanmar reached 1.331 billion dollars, of which that in mining, electric power and oil and gas respectively took 866 million dollars, 281 million dollars and 124 million dollars.
China now stands the 4th in Myanmar's foreign investment line-up.
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‘Nargis’ fails to lower Myanmar rice output
2009-11-10 14:55:00
YANGON (Commodity Online) : Devastation caused by cyclonic storm Nargis did not prevent Myanmar from achieving its rice output target last fiscal.
According to Myanmar Rice and Paddy Association, country exported 670,000 tons of rice in the fiscal year that ended March 31 and expected to export up to 1 million tons this fiscal year.
Myanmar enjoyed a rice surplus of 3.24 million tons out of 15 million tons of rice produced in the past fiscal year, it said. Domestic rice consumption among its 56 million people is about 12 million tons a year.
As of the end of September, rice exports amounted to more than 500,000 metric tons. In the past fiscal year, rice exports earned the country 200.6 million dollars, almost double the 102.55 million earned off rice exports the year before.
Cyclone Nargis hit the Irrawaddy Delta, the country's traditional rice bowl, in May 2008, destroying much of the rice paddy under cultivation and leaving more than 40,000 people dead or missing.
While Myanmar's rice exports are on the rise this year, prices are down. Myanmar rice was selling at $310 a ton on the export market last month, compared with $380 per ton in October 2008.
Myanmar was the world's largest rice exporter before the country opted for socialism in 1962.
Thailand has thereafter claimed the top slot. This year, Thailand expects to export about 10 million tons of rice, followed by Vietnam with 6 million.
Myanmar rice is deemed poor quality compared with Thailand's and fetches considerably lower prices on the world market.
Of Myanmar's rice exports in the past fiscal year, about 85 per cent went to Bangladesh, South Africa and Ivory Coast.
2009-11-10 14:55:00
YANGON (Commodity Online) : Devastation caused by cyclonic storm Nargis did not prevent Myanmar from achieving its rice output target last fiscal.
According to Myanmar Rice and Paddy Association, country exported 670,000 tons of rice in the fiscal year that ended March 31 and expected to export up to 1 million tons this fiscal year.
Myanmar enjoyed a rice surplus of 3.24 million tons out of 15 million tons of rice produced in the past fiscal year, it said. Domestic rice consumption among its 56 million people is about 12 million tons a year.
As of the end of September, rice exports amounted to more than 500,000 metric tons. In the past fiscal year, rice exports earned the country 200.6 million dollars, almost double the 102.55 million earned off rice exports the year before.
Cyclone Nargis hit the Irrawaddy Delta, the country's traditional rice bowl, in May 2008, destroying much of the rice paddy under cultivation and leaving more than 40,000 people dead or missing.
While Myanmar's rice exports are on the rise this year, prices are down. Myanmar rice was selling at $310 a ton on the export market last month, compared with $380 per ton in October 2008.
Myanmar was the world's largest rice exporter before the country opted for socialism in 1962.
Thailand has thereafter claimed the top slot. This year, Thailand expects to export about 10 million tons of rice, followed by Vietnam with 6 million.
Myanmar rice is deemed poor quality compared with Thailand's and fetches considerably lower prices on the world market.
Of Myanmar's rice exports in the past fiscal year, about 85 per cent went to Bangladesh, South Africa and Ivory Coast.
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The Manila Times - Southeast Asia ties come first for US
Wednesday, 11 November 2009 00:00
WASHINGTON, D.C.: The United States said Monday (Tuesday in Manila) it would no longer allow its row with Myanmar to hold its ties with Southeast Asia hostage, as President Barack Obama geared up for his debut official visit to the region. Obama is expected to hold the first-ever meeting between a US president and leaders of all 10 Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) members, including Myanmar Prime Minister Thein Sein, on Sunday in Singapore.
“One of the frustrations that we’ve had with policy toward Burma over recent years has been that the inability to have interaction with Burma has prevented certain kinds of interaction with Asean as a whole,” said Obama’s top Asia policy aide Jeffrey Bader.
“The statement we’re trying to make here is that we’re not going to let the Burmese tail wag the Asean dog.”
Bader said the meeting was a multilateral session, and not intended to serve as an opportunity for Obama to have a conversation with a Myanmar leader—though did not categorically rule out such an encounter.
“We’re going to meet with all 10, and we’re not going to punish the other nine simply because Burma is in the room. But this is not a bilateral.”
Myanmar test
Myanmar represents another test for Obama’s policy of engaging US foes, which has also seen him allow contacts between US officials and North Korea, Iran, Syria and Cuba.
In previous years, hopes for a US-Asean leaders’ summit have foundered on Washington’s refusal to sit down with members of Myanmar’s junta because of their suppression of Aung San Suu Kyi’s democracy movement.
Myanmar, formerly known as Burma, has been a constant impediment to US-Asean ties, but the US administration last week sent senior officials to the military-ruled state in a bid to promote a new dialogue after years of shunning the junta.
US policy shift
The Obama administration reasons that the policy of isolating Myanmar has failed for 20 years, so it is time to try a new approach.
But officials caution that they will not lift US sanctions on the military-ruled state until it embraces diplomatic change, and have no high expectations of progress soon.
Obama’s keenness to deepen ties with Asean can be partly explained by the fact that while Washington has been distracted by Middle Eastern quagmires, China has deepened its own links with the region.
Now, some US officials fear Washington could be eclipsed as a major Asian power.
The Asean summit will take place on the sidelines of the annual Asia Pacific Cooperation (APEC) forumin Singapore, at which Obama is also making his debut.
Apart from Myanmar and Singapore, Asean also includes Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam.
Importance of Asia
White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said that Obama would travel to Asia “to strengthen our cooperation with this vital part of the world on a range of issues of mutual interest.”
Kurt Tong, the US senior APEC official, said at a briefing this week that a number of top American officials would attend the summit in Singapore, including Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, Trade Representative Ron Kirk and Commerce Secretary Gary Locke.
Experts said that speaks volumes about the Obama administration’s desire to play a greater role in Asia. In contrast, Condoleezza Rice was Bush’s only Cabinet official to attend last year’s APEC meeting.
Themes will include the global economic recovery, resisting protectionism, regional economic integration and economic growth that is “less prone to booms and busts,” Tong said.
Tong billed the hefty presence of top US officials as a bid to ramp up US participation. “It’s really quite a concerted and very enthusiastic embrace of the APEC meetings and APEC as an institution by the United States, as evidenced by that participation,” Tong said.
Some experts say that is a major difference from the Bush administration, which was too busy with Middle East concerns to fully engage Asia.
Domestic and Middle East concerns should not diminish expectations for the trip, nor would they distract the administration from playing a greater role in the region, said Andy Johnson, director of the national security program at the Washington, D.C.-based Third Way.
“The Obama administration prides itself on the ability to concurrently [work in] in a number of areas,” he said. “The team he put together and the personal focus he will put toward the trip will probably achieve something of substance.”
Strategic concerns
Johnson said each stop of the upcoming visit had its own strategic importance to the United States.
There was a growing interaction between the United States and China, and Japan and South Korea were regional allies hosting US forces, so the trip would keep those relationships on a firm footing, he said. The region was also one of the world’s most dynamic trading areas, he added.
APEC represented an important group of emerging countries and the United States wanted to ensure shared economic interests, he said.
Jin Canrong, deputy dean of the International Studies School at China’s Renmin University, said, “Above all, against the background of the international financial crisis, a visit to Asia, which has been on a sound economic recovery led by countries such as China, is significant for Obama.”
The United States had to cooperate with Asian countries in efforts to deal with the nuclear issues in Iran and on the Korean Peninsula, and to face up to the challenge of climate change, Jin said.
He said Asia had now overtaken Europe in its significance to the United States. US-Europe trade accounted for only half of that with Asia and, with China’s emergence, Asia was now increasingly indispensable to US geopolitical interests.
Wednesday, 11 November 2009 00:00
WASHINGTON, D.C.: The United States said Monday (Tuesday in Manila) it would no longer allow its row with Myanmar to hold its ties with Southeast Asia hostage, as President Barack Obama geared up for his debut official visit to the region. Obama is expected to hold the first-ever meeting between a US president and leaders of all 10 Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) members, including Myanmar Prime Minister Thein Sein, on Sunday in Singapore.
“One of the frustrations that we’ve had with policy toward Burma over recent years has been that the inability to have interaction with Burma has prevented certain kinds of interaction with Asean as a whole,” said Obama’s top Asia policy aide Jeffrey Bader.
“The statement we’re trying to make here is that we’re not going to let the Burmese tail wag the Asean dog.”
Bader said the meeting was a multilateral session, and not intended to serve as an opportunity for Obama to have a conversation with a Myanmar leader—though did not categorically rule out such an encounter.
“We’re going to meet with all 10, and we’re not going to punish the other nine simply because Burma is in the room. But this is not a bilateral.”
Myanmar test
Myanmar represents another test for Obama’s policy of engaging US foes, which has also seen him allow contacts between US officials and North Korea, Iran, Syria and Cuba.
In previous years, hopes for a US-Asean leaders’ summit have foundered on Washington’s refusal to sit down with members of Myanmar’s junta because of their suppression of Aung San Suu Kyi’s democracy movement.
Myanmar, formerly known as Burma, has been a constant impediment to US-Asean ties, but the US administration last week sent senior officials to the military-ruled state in a bid to promote a new dialogue after years of shunning the junta.
US policy shift
The Obama administration reasons that the policy of isolating Myanmar has failed for 20 years, so it is time to try a new approach.
But officials caution that they will not lift US sanctions on the military-ruled state until it embraces diplomatic change, and have no high expectations of progress soon.
Obama’s keenness to deepen ties with Asean can be partly explained by the fact that while Washington has been distracted by Middle Eastern quagmires, China has deepened its own links with the region.
Now, some US officials fear Washington could be eclipsed as a major Asian power.
The Asean summit will take place on the sidelines of the annual Asia Pacific Cooperation (APEC) forumin Singapore, at which Obama is also making his debut.
Apart from Myanmar and Singapore, Asean also includes Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam.
Importance of Asia
White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said that Obama would travel to Asia “to strengthen our cooperation with this vital part of the world on a range of issues of mutual interest.”
Kurt Tong, the US senior APEC official, said at a briefing this week that a number of top American officials would attend the summit in Singapore, including Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, Trade Representative Ron Kirk and Commerce Secretary Gary Locke.
Experts said that speaks volumes about the Obama administration’s desire to play a greater role in Asia. In contrast, Condoleezza Rice was Bush’s only Cabinet official to attend last year’s APEC meeting.
Themes will include the global economic recovery, resisting protectionism, regional economic integration and economic growth that is “less prone to booms and busts,” Tong said.
Tong billed the hefty presence of top US officials as a bid to ramp up US participation. “It’s really quite a concerted and very enthusiastic embrace of the APEC meetings and APEC as an institution by the United States, as evidenced by that participation,” Tong said.
Some experts say that is a major difference from the Bush administration, which was too busy with Middle East concerns to fully engage Asia.
Domestic and Middle East concerns should not diminish expectations for the trip, nor would they distract the administration from playing a greater role in the region, said Andy Johnson, director of the national security program at the Washington, D.C.-based Third Way.
“The Obama administration prides itself on the ability to concurrently [work in] in a number of areas,” he said. “The team he put together and the personal focus he will put toward the trip will probably achieve something of substance.”
Strategic concerns
Johnson said each stop of the upcoming visit had its own strategic importance to the United States.
There was a growing interaction between the United States and China, and Japan and South Korea were regional allies hosting US forces, so the trip would keep those relationships on a firm footing, he said. The region was also one of the world’s most dynamic trading areas, he added.
APEC represented an important group of emerging countries and the United States wanted to ensure shared economic interests, he said.
Jin Canrong, deputy dean of the International Studies School at China’s Renmin University, said, “Above all, against the background of the international financial crisis, a visit to Asia, which has been on a sound economic recovery led by countries such as China, is significant for Obama.”
The United States had to cooperate with Asian countries in efforts to deal with the nuclear issues in Iran and on the Korean Peninsula, and to face up to the challenge of climate change, Jin said.
He said Asia had now overtaken Europe in its significance to the United States. US-Europe trade accounted for only half of that with Asia and, with China’s emergence, Asia was now increasingly indispensable to US geopolitical interests.
*************************************************************
The Nation - Tough road for Thailand
Published on November 10, 2009
Thailand have been handed a difficult mission in their bid for a ninth consecutive SEA Games title after landing in a tough group alongside regional rivals Vietnam when the draw was made yesterday.
Nine nations compete in the Games to be held in Laos for the first time from December 9 to 18.
The competition is split into two groups, with Thailand in Group A along with five other teams. Apart from Vietnam, the defending champions face Malaysia, East Timor and Cambodia, while hosts Laos, Singapore, Indonesia and Burma make up Group B.
Steve Darby, assistant to national-team football coach Bryan Robson, was unhappy with the draw in the larger group, which means Thailand will play more games in the group stage.
Published on November 10, 2009
Thailand have been handed a difficult mission in their bid for a ninth consecutive SEA Games title after landing in a tough group alongside regional rivals Vietnam when the draw was made yesterday.
Nine nations compete in the Games to be held in Laos for the first time from December 9 to 18.
The competition is split into two groups, with Thailand in Group A along with five other teams. Apart from Vietnam, the defending champions face Malaysia, East Timor and Cambodia, while hosts Laos, Singapore, Indonesia and Burma make up Group B.
Steve Darby, assistant to national-team football coach Bryan Robson, was unhappy with the draw in the larger group, which means Thailand will play more games in the group stage.
*************************************************************
The Irrawaddy - Suu Kyi’s Release?
By SAW YAN NAING - Tuesday, November 10, 2009
Speaking to The Irrawaddy on Tuesday after the announcement that Suu Kyi would be released soon, Nyan Win, the spokesman for the Rangoon-based National League for Democracy (NLD) said, “This is what many people wanted to hear.”
“It is going strengthen the NLD party if she is released. She will organize the election campaign effectively for the party and can perform well on the political stage,” he said.
Speaking to The Associated Press in Manila on Monday, Min Lwin, a senior Burmese diplomat, said, “There is a plan to release her [Suu Kyi] soon ... so she can organize her party.”
NLD leader Win Tin, who is a close friend of Suu Kyi, said there will be a change if she is released.
Suu Kyi has been detained for 14 of the past 20 years. Her latest detention began in May 2003 after convoy of vehicles in which she was traveling was attacked by junta thugs during a canvassing trip at Depayin. Suu Kyi has been unable to speak publicly since.
Charged with violating the terms of her house arrest in May a few weeks before the end of her detention, Suu Kyi was placed under house arrest for a further 18 months in August.
Suu Kyi said she was satisfied with the recent meeting with the US delegation led by Kurt Campbell and she thanked the Burmese regime for allowing it to happen.
Observers say the release of Suu Kyi should not come as a surprise because junta chief Snr-Gen Than Shwe said in August Suu Kyi would be granted amnesty before her suspended sentence expired if she behaved "well" at her Inya Lake home under the restrictions imposed on her.
Burmese officials regularly make conciliatory promises before regional meetings but fail to follow them up with action, noted one observer, who pointed out that Thein Sein said the election law would be announced soon during the Asean summit in Cha-am in Thailand in October.
On Sunday, Thein Sein and Min Lwin will attend the US-Asean leaders meeting in Singapore, the first between President Obama and Asean leaders.
Rumors circulating among diplomats in Rangoon suggest Min Lwin will be promoted as Burmese ambassador to the US.
Observers also said a meeting between Suu Kyi and Than Shwe is necessary before the election law is announced because this would help the NLD decide whether to insist on constitutional review before taking part in the election.
Christina Fink, author of a new edition of her book: Living Silence: Burma under Military Rule, also doubts Min Lwin, saying he may have made the comment to ease pressure on the Burmese regime prior to the Singapore summit.
According to Jeffrey Bader, the US senior director for Asian affairs, Obama will make a personal plea for Suu Kyi’s release at the summit.
If they plan to release Suu Kyi, the junta needs to do it very soon to give her and the NLD enough time to decide on whether to participate in the election and prepare an election campaign, Fink said.
She said Suu Kyi should be released before the election and political parties contesting the election are announced.
Burma watcher Jeff Kingston, the director of Asian Studies at Temple University’s Japan campus, said the junta’s Constitution excludes Suu Kyi from holding office, so the big questions are whether and how the regime will facilitate her participation in the election.
He said that the other 2,000 political prisoners must also be released.
“The regime should not be negotiating the timing of her release...having raised the possibility of her release they should do so immediately without conditions,” Kingston said.
By SAW YAN NAING - Tuesday, November 10, 2009
Speaking to The Irrawaddy on Tuesday after the announcement that Suu Kyi would be released soon, Nyan Win, the spokesman for the Rangoon-based National League for Democracy (NLD) said, “This is what many people wanted to hear.”
“It is going strengthen the NLD party if she is released. She will organize the election campaign effectively for the party and can perform well on the political stage,” he said.
Speaking to The Associated Press in Manila on Monday, Min Lwin, a senior Burmese diplomat, said, “There is a plan to release her [Suu Kyi] soon ... so she can organize her party.”
NLD leader Win Tin, who is a close friend of Suu Kyi, said there will be a change if she is released.
Suu Kyi has been detained for 14 of the past 20 years. Her latest detention began in May 2003 after convoy of vehicles in which she was traveling was attacked by junta thugs during a canvassing trip at Depayin. Suu Kyi has been unable to speak publicly since.
Charged with violating the terms of her house arrest in May a few weeks before the end of her detention, Suu Kyi was placed under house arrest for a further 18 months in August.
Suu Kyi said she was satisfied with the recent meeting with the US delegation led by Kurt Campbell and she thanked the Burmese regime for allowing it to happen.
Observers say the release of Suu Kyi should not come as a surprise because junta chief Snr-Gen Than Shwe said in August Suu Kyi would be granted amnesty before her suspended sentence expired if she behaved "well" at her Inya Lake home under the restrictions imposed on her.
Burmese officials regularly make conciliatory promises before regional meetings but fail to follow them up with action, noted one observer, who pointed out that Thein Sein said the election law would be announced soon during the Asean summit in Cha-am in Thailand in October.
On Sunday, Thein Sein and Min Lwin will attend the US-Asean leaders meeting in Singapore, the first between President Obama and Asean leaders.
Rumors circulating among diplomats in Rangoon suggest Min Lwin will be promoted as Burmese ambassador to the US.
Observers also said a meeting between Suu Kyi and Than Shwe is necessary before the election law is announced because this would help the NLD decide whether to insist on constitutional review before taking part in the election.
Christina Fink, author of a new edition of her book: Living Silence: Burma under Military Rule, also doubts Min Lwin, saying he may have made the comment to ease pressure on the Burmese regime prior to the Singapore summit.
According to Jeffrey Bader, the US senior director for Asian affairs, Obama will make a personal plea for Suu Kyi’s release at the summit.
If they plan to release Suu Kyi, the junta needs to do it very soon to give her and the NLD enough time to decide on whether to participate in the election and prepare an election campaign, Fink said.
She said Suu Kyi should be released before the election and political parties contesting the election are announced.
Burma watcher Jeff Kingston, the director of Asian Studies at Temple University’s Japan campus, said the junta’s Constitution excludes Suu Kyi from holding office, so the big questions are whether and how the regime will facilitate her participation in the election.
He said that the other 2,000 political prisoners must also be released.
“The regime should not be negotiating the timing of her release...having raised the possibility of her release they should do so immediately without conditions,” Kingston said.
*************************************************************
The Irrawaddy - All Quiet on the Western Front
By ALEX ELGEE - Tuesday, November 10, 2009
COX’S BAZAAR, Bangladesh—After a series of meetings between Bangladeshi and Burmese authorities the chances of conflict in the immediate future between the two countries are slim, but tension still remains high on the border and in disputed waters.
“We’ve had some talks with the Nasaka [the Burmese border security force] and have agreed to deal with things peacefully,” one Bangladeshi Rifle (BDR) commander told The Irrawaddy on condition of anonymity due to a lack of prior permission needed from the Home Ministry to talk with journalists.
“To be honest, things do remain a little bit tense,” he said. “But I can’t see any fighting breaking out. There are some disagreements, but the Burmese have promised to delay the building of the fence for the time being, which will help the situation.”
In a two-hour flag meeting between the BDR and the Nasaka on Nov. 5 it was agreed that construction of the border fence would be halted until the next meeting.
This is expected to ease worries in Dhaka after construction of the fence resumed in October, sending alarm bells ringing that the expelled Rohingya population may remain on Bangladeshi soil.
Already suffering from overpopulation and unemployment, the local population of Cox’s Bazaar is developing a growing grievance against the Rohingya refugees who are considered a heavy burden on the undeveloped district.
One Burmese businessman from Maungdaw, a small town in Arakan State, told The Irrawaddy that everything was normal on the Burmese side, as far as he could see, and believed much of the tension was created by media reports.
“I think there was a risk that relations could have broken down in October as a result of the increased military presence on the border, but most of the reports in the media were exaggerated,” he said.
“I’ve been told by Burmese military sources that things are back to normal and agreements are being made to avoid confrontation,” he said, adding that Burma did not want to jeopardize its efforts in building relations with the US, which has strong ties to Bangladesh.
A similar sentiment was echoed by BDR Col Didarul Alam Chowdhury who, following a meeting between the BDR and the Nasaka on Oct. 30, told journalists that reports of a military buildup were untrue and that terms of peace had been agreed.
However, not all the locals in Cox’s Bazaar are convinced.
“First we are told by [Bangladeshi Foreign Minister Dipu] Moni that there is no troop buildup. Then later we receive reports from BDR directors that soldiers are not allowed to receive leave and reinforcements are being sent to the border. With these contradictions, it’s hard to believe what officials claim,” said a Bangladeshi journalist based in the town.
Shalim, a fisherman in his 50s, works on the shores of the Naf River which separates the two countries. He told The Irrawaddy that fishermen are still worried about fishing in the area after they heard that fellow fishermen had been arrested by the Nasaka.
“Many fishermen are still afraid to fish close to where Nasaka forces could arrest us and ransom us like they did with the others,” he said. “The BDR say there’s nothing to worry about, but I don’t think tensions have completely gone and until they have I’m staying close to shore.”
Some Rohingya refugees reject the claim that tensions have disappeared and believe they are still bearing the brunt of earlier disagreements.
“Even if they [the BDR and the Nasaka] are getting along better now, we still feel the tension,” said a Rohingya community leader in a tea shop in Leda, one of the two unofficial refugee camps near Cox’s Bazaar that houses a small percentage of the estimated 400,000 Rohingya refugees.
“There’s definitely an increased presence of soldiers and checkpoints on the border, and as a result we are suffering because we are unable to move freely,” he said.
Smugglers operating on the border report that there hasn’t been any change in the flow of cross-border trade and believe that the recent enforcements were just for show.
One smuggler based in the Teknaf, a coastal town at the southeastern point of Bangladesh, said that trade was continuing as normal and that, unlike last year, no schools had been ordered to close along the border.
In addition to the border fence row, a potential conflict looms between the two underdeveloped Asian nations over disputed waters in the Bay of Bengal, which only recently geoscientists concluded are rich in oil and natural gas.
The Dhaka-based editor of Narinjara News, Khaing Mrat Kyaw, believes that the resource extraction potential of this area is too great for either side to back down and the dispute could eventually lead to war.
“Underneath those waters is a lot of natural resources which both countries want to get their hands on,” he explained. “Bangladesh is very poor and really needs extra resources to develop, but I don’t believe Burma will back down.”
Burma showed their hunger for the disputed waters last year, when a team of exploration workers from Daewoo sent by Naypyidaw were caught exploring the area. Then, in October, when Bangladesh began oil exploration in the area, the Burmese sent a letter to the exploration company, ConocoPhillips, warning them not to begin exploration because the area in question was in their waters.
To further complicate matters, India has entered the fray, claiming that part of the area Bangladesh claims as its waters belongs to India, and also asked for the exploration to stop.
Despite what’s at stake, the common opinion around Cox’s Bazaar is that Bangladesh will not turn to war in order to protect the area. Many believe the country is too poor and ill-equipped to take on the Tatmadaw [the Burmese Army], which was recently upgraded by the military government.
Bangladesh has always gone through international channels to resolve disputes and has, in this case, decided to take the issue to arbitration under the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea.
Allegedly, the Bangladeshi government asked for China’s approval, seeing Beijing as having some control over Burma’s generals.
China has large investments in both countries and it is believed Beijing will do its utmost to keep peace between the two nations. China recently voiced its desire to increase its business interests in Bangladesh with China’s ambassador in Dhaka telling journalists, “We want to import more from Dhaka.”
Part of this plan to boost trade involves the opening of the Beijing- Myanmar- Bangladesh highway, which would substantially boost trade for Bangladesh. Dhaka will be keen to reap the benefits from the highway after the government reported on Monday that exports had plunged 12 percent in the first quarter of the fiscal year.
Bangladesh can also benefit from maintaining relations with Burma in terms of energy. Bangladesh’s foreign minister has already begun discussions with the Burmese regime for permission to build hydroelectric power stations in Arakan State. In June, she announced that a private company in Burma had begun work on two plants which will export electricity to Bangladesh.
That would be good news indeed for locals in and around Cox’s Bazaar who receive electricity for less than half the day.
“It’s on for two hours and then off for two hours. It’s unbearable when you have things to do,” a Bangladeshi NGO worker told The Irrawaddy in the darkness of his home in Teknaf.
Although many citizens along the border fear the unpredictable nature of the Burmese junta and its history of neglect for international pressure, most are confident that Bangladesh’s economic interests in Burma means that Dhaka will avoid confrontation and continue to deal with disputes through international bodies.
For now, the border area is peaceful as it appears both countries have too much at stake to engage in a conflict. However, the result of the arbitration could open a new chapter in the ongoing bilateral tensions.
By ALEX ELGEE - Tuesday, November 10, 2009
COX’S BAZAAR, Bangladesh—After a series of meetings between Bangladeshi and Burmese authorities the chances of conflict in the immediate future between the two countries are slim, but tension still remains high on the border and in disputed waters.
“We’ve had some talks with the Nasaka [the Burmese border security force] and have agreed to deal with things peacefully,” one Bangladeshi Rifle (BDR) commander told The Irrawaddy on condition of anonymity due to a lack of prior permission needed from the Home Ministry to talk with journalists.
“To be honest, things do remain a little bit tense,” he said. “But I can’t see any fighting breaking out. There are some disagreements, but the Burmese have promised to delay the building of the fence for the time being, which will help the situation.”
In a two-hour flag meeting between the BDR and the Nasaka on Nov. 5 it was agreed that construction of the border fence would be halted until the next meeting.
This is expected to ease worries in Dhaka after construction of the fence resumed in October, sending alarm bells ringing that the expelled Rohingya population may remain on Bangladeshi soil.
Already suffering from overpopulation and unemployment, the local population of Cox’s Bazaar is developing a growing grievance against the Rohingya refugees who are considered a heavy burden on the undeveloped district.
One Burmese businessman from Maungdaw, a small town in Arakan State, told The Irrawaddy that everything was normal on the Burmese side, as far as he could see, and believed much of the tension was created by media reports.
“I think there was a risk that relations could have broken down in October as a result of the increased military presence on the border, but most of the reports in the media were exaggerated,” he said.
“I’ve been told by Burmese military sources that things are back to normal and agreements are being made to avoid confrontation,” he said, adding that Burma did not want to jeopardize its efforts in building relations with the US, which has strong ties to Bangladesh.
A similar sentiment was echoed by BDR Col Didarul Alam Chowdhury who, following a meeting between the BDR and the Nasaka on Oct. 30, told journalists that reports of a military buildup were untrue and that terms of peace had been agreed.
However, not all the locals in Cox’s Bazaar are convinced.
“First we are told by [Bangladeshi Foreign Minister Dipu] Moni that there is no troop buildup. Then later we receive reports from BDR directors that soldiers are not allowed to receive leave and reinforcements are being sent to the border. With these contradictions, it’s hard to believe what officials claim,” said a Bangladeshi journalist based in the town.
Shalim, a fisherman in his 50s, works on the shores of the Naf River which separates the two countries. He told The Irrawaddy that fishermen are still worried about fishing in the area after they heard that fellow fishermen had been arrested by the Nasaka.
“Many fishermen are still afraid to fish close to where Nasaka forces could arrest us and ransom us like they did with the others,” he said. “The BDR say there’s nothing to worry about, but I don’t think tensions have completely gone and until they have I’m staying close to shore.”
Some Rohingya refugees reject the claim that tensions have disappeared and believe they are still bearing the brunt of earlier disagreements.
“Even if they [the BDR and the Nasaka] are getting along better now, we still feel the tension,” said a Rohingya community leader in a tea shop in Leda, one of the two unofficial refugee camps near Cox’s Bazaar that houses a small percentage of the estimated 400,000 Rohingya refugees.
“There’s definitely an increased presence of soldiers and checkpoints on the border, and as a result we are suffering because we are unable to move freely,” he said.
Smugglers operating on the border report that there hasn’t been any change in the flow of cross-border trade and believe that the recent enforcements were just for show.
One smuggler based in the Teknaf, a coastal town at the southeastern point of Bangladesh, said that trade was continuing as normal and that, unlike last year, no schools had been ordered to close along the border.
In addition to the border fence row, a potential conflict looms between the two underdeveloped Asian nations over disputed waters in the Bay of Bengal, which only recently geoscientists concluded are rich in oil and natural gas.
The Dhaka-based editor of Narinjara News, Khaing Mrat Kyaw, believes that the resource extraction potential of this area is too great for either side to back down and the dispute could eventually lead to war.
“Underneath those waters is a lot of natural resources which both countries want to get their hands on,” he explained. “Bangladesh is very poor and really needs extra resources to develop, but I don’t believe Burma will back down.”
Burma showed their hunger for the disputed waters last year, when a team of exploration workers from Daewoo sent by Naypyidaw were caught exploring the area. Then, in October, when Bangladesh began oil exploration in the area, the Burmese sent a letter to the exploration company, ConocoPhillips, warning them not to begin exploration because the area in question was in their waters.
To further complicate matters, India has entered the fray, claiming that part of the area Bangladesh claims as its waters belongs to India, and also asked for the exploration to stop.
Despite what’s at stake, the common opinion around Cox’s Bazaar is that Bangladesh will not turn to war in order to protect the area. Many believe the country is too poor and ill-equipped to take on the Tatmadaw [the Burmese Army], which was recently upgraded by the military government.
Bangladesh has always gone through international channels to resolve disputes and has, in this case, decided to take the issue to arbitration under the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea.
Allegedly, the Bangladeshi government asked for China’s approval, seeing Beijing as having some control over Burma’s generals.
China has large investments in both countries and it is believed Beijing will do its utmost to keep peace between the two nations. China recently voiced its desire to increase its business interests in Bangladesh with China’s ambassador in Dhaka telling journalists, “We want to import more from Dhaka.”
Part of this plan to boost trade involves the opening of the Beijing- Myanmar- Bangladesh highway, which would substantially boost trade for Bangladesh. Dhaka will be keen to reap the benefits from the highway after the government reported on Monday that exports had plunged 12 percent in the first quarter of the fiscal year.
Bangladesh can also benefit from maintaining relations with Burma in terms of energy. Bangladesh’s foreign minister has already begun discussions with the Burmese regime for permission to build hydroelectric power stations in Arakan State. In June, she announced that a private company in Burma had begun work on two plants which will export electricity to Bangladesh.
That would be good news indeed for locals in and around Cox’s Bazaar who receive electricity for less than half the day.
“It’s on for two hours and then off for two hours. It’s unbearable when you have things to do,” a Bangladeshi NGO worker told The Irrawaddy in the darkness of his home in Teknaf.
Although many citizens along the border fear the unpredictable nature of the Burmese junta and its history of neglect for international pressure, most are confident that Bangladesh’s economic interests in Burma means that Dhaka will avoid confrontation and continue to deal with disputes through international bodies.
For now, the border area is peaceful as it appears both countries have too much at stake to engage in a conflict. However, the result of the arbitration could open a new chapter in the ongoing bilateral tensions.
*************************************************************
Rights groups want UNSC to protect children in Burma
by Salai Pi Pi
Tuesday, 10 November 2009 21:06
New Delhi (Mizzima) – Rights groups have demanded that the United Nations Security Council Working Group closely monitor the progress of work on eliminating violations against children and the use of child soldiers in military-ruled Burma.
While supporting the conclusion of the SCWG on Children and Armed Conflict on Burma, four rights groups including London-based Coalition to Stop the Use of Child Soldiers, released a joint statement on Monday calling for the immediate implementation of UNSC’s resolutions on Burma.
“The limited measures so far taken by the government [Burmese junta] have failed to bring an end to recruitment and use of children by the armed forces or prevented other grave violations against them,” said a joint statement quoting data collected by NGOs working inside Burma.
“It is thus imperative that the SCWG closely monitor the situation to ensure its recommendations are implemented without delay,” the statement added.
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has listed the Burmese Army and several ethnic armed groups in his reports to the Security Council as violating international standards prohibiting the recruitment and use of child soldiers.
UNSC on August 4 unanimously adopted a new landmark resolution on children and armed conflict and called upon Secretary General Ban Ki-moon to expand his "list of shame" on the recruitment and use of children in armed forces.
Earlier, the SCWG had called all parties, the Burmese Army and ethnic armed groups, to agree to time-bound action plans to end the recruitment and use of child soldiers; to end the impunity with which violence is perpetrated on children; and to provide full and unimpeded access to all areas of Myanmar [Burma] to facilitate the monitoring and reporting of violations and to assist victims more effectively.
Aung Myo Min, Director of Thailand based Human Rights and Education Institute of Burma (HREIB) said the Burmese military regime did not allow the UN Country Task Force including the ILO to see the conditions in armed conflict areas, despite some ethnic armed group such as Karen National Union (KNU), Karenni National Progressive Party (KNPP) and Chin National Front (CNF) willing to cooperate with the UN.
“As they [Country Task Force] were not allowed to access the conflict areas, the work is delayed,” Aung Myo Min told Mizzima on Tuesday.
“There is no sign of decrease in the number of child soldiers recruited and used in the army,” he added.
Aung Myo Min said around 30 children from Pegu division north of former capital Rangoon were forcibly recruited in the Burmese Army in the last three months.
The joint statement said the recent outbreak of fighting in Kokang in northern Shan state and Karen areas in eastern Burma had worsened the already grave situation for children in Burma and called for an urgent need to step up the protection of children’s rights.
It also warned that in the run up to the 2010 elections, the Burmese regime is pushing ‘cease-fire groups’ to transform into border guard forces” under Burmese Army control. This has resulted in an upswing in violence in some of the conflict and ceasefire areas placing children at increased risk of human rights abuses.
“If no progress is achieved by the end of this year, the SCWG should consider imposing a three-month time frame for specific steps to be taken,” the statement said.
The four organizations are Thailand based Human Rights and Education Institute of Burma (HREIB), Karen Human Rights Group (KHRG) and New York based Watch List on Children and Armed Conflict.
by Salai Pi Pi
Tuesday, 10 November 2009 21:06
New Delhi (Mizzima) – Rights groups have demanded that the United Nations Security Council Working Group closely monitor the progress of work on eliminating violations against children and the use of child soldiers in military-ruled Burma.
While supporting the conclusion of the SCWG on Children and Armed Conflict on Burma, four rights groups including London-based Coalition to Stop the Use of Child Soldiers, released a joint statement on Monday calling for the immediate implementation of UNSC’s resolutions on Burma.
“The limited measures so far taken by the government [Burmese junta] have failed to bring an end to recruitment and use of children by the armed forces or prevented other grave violations against them,” said a joint statement quoting data collected by NGOs working inside Burma.
“It is thus imperative that the SCWG closely monitor the situation to ensure its recommendations are implemented without delay,” the statement added.
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has listed the Burmese Army and several ethnic armed groups in his reports to the Security Council as violating international standards prohibiting the recruitment and use of child soldiers.
UNSC on August 4 unanimously adopted a new landmark resolution on children and armed conflict and called upon Secretary General Ban Ki-moon to expand his "list of shame" on the recruitment and use of children in armed forces.
Earlier, the SCWG had called all parties, the Burmese Army and ethnic armed groups, to agree to time-bound action plans to end the recruitment and use of child soldiers; to end the impunity with which violence is perpetrated on children; and to provide full and unimpeded access to all areas of Myanmar [Burma] to facilitate the monitoring and reporting of violations and to assist victims more effectively.
Aung Myo Min, Director of Thailand based Human Rights and Education Institute of Burma (HREIB) said the Burmese military regime did not allow the UN Country Task Force including the ILO to see the conditions in armed conflict areas, despite some ethnic armed group such as Karen National Union (KNU), Karenni National Progressive Party (KNPP) and Chin National Front (CNF) willing to cooperate with the UN.
“As they [Country Task Force] were not allowed to access the conflict areas, the work is delayed,” Aung Myo Min told Mizzima on Tuesday.
“There is no sign of decrease in the number of child soldiers recruited and used in the army,” he added.
Aung Myo Min said around 30 children from Pegu division north of former capital Rangoon were forcibly recruited in the Burmese Army in the last three months.
The joint statement said the recent outbreak of fighting in Kokang in northern Shan state and Karen areas in eastern Burma had worsened the already grave situation for children in Burma and called for an urgent need to step up the protection of children’s rights.
It also warned that in the run up to the 2010 elections, the Burmese regime is pushing ‘cease-fire groups’ to transform into border guard forces” under Burmese Army control. This has resulted in an upswing in violence in some of the conflict and ceasefire areas placing children at increased risk of human rights abuses.
“If no progress is achieved by the end of this year, the SCWG should consider imposing a three-month time frame for specific steps to be taken,” the statement said.
The four organizations are Thailand based Human Rights and Education Institute of Burma (HREIB), Karen Human Rights Group (KHRG) and New York based Watch List on Children and Armed Conflict.
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Hearing of Naw Ohn Hla's case on
by Phanida
Tuesday, 10 November 2009 16:48
Chiang Mai (Mizzima) – The case against four women, including Naw Ohn Hla was heard yesterday by the Rangoon East District court, where the prosecutor's made their submission.
The four accused Naw Ohn Hla, Myint Myint San, Cho Cho Lwin and Ma Cho appeared in court, in session at the Insein Prison. The prosecutor, Sub-Inspector of Police Aung Tun Thet and two prosecution witnesses from Thingagyun Township Ward level Peace and Development Council Chairmen made submissions in court.
The accused are pro-democracy activists, who are supporters of detained pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi. They said they were arrested by police after offering food as alms to monks at the Magwe monastery in South Dagon Township on 3 November.
They were initially sent to an interrogation camp and then transferred to prison. They have been charged under section 505(b) of the Penal Code (crime against state and public tranquility) by the police. Usually such cases are tried in township courts but on the intervention of Naypyitaw, this case is being heard inside the prison, it is learnt.
"Today I asked the judge why this case was being heard at the district court rather than the usual township court. The judge said that they did it under the direction of the High Court in Naypyitaw," Kyaw Hoe said.
The next hearing is on Monday.
All the four accused held prayer meetings every Tuesday for the release of political prisoners, including Suu Kyi, the Nobel Peace Laureate.
by Phanida
Tuesday, 10 November 2009 16:48
Chiang Mai (Mizzima) – The case against four women, including Naw Ohn Hla was heard yesterday by the Rangoon East District court, where the prosecutor's made their submission.
The four accused Naw Ohn Hla, Myint Myint San, Cho Cho Lwin and Ma Cho appeared in court, in session at the Insein Prison. The prosecutor, Sub-Inspector of Police Aung Tun Thet and two prosecution witnesses from Thingagyun Township Ward level Peace and Development Council Chairmen made submissions in court.
The accused are pro-democracy activists, who are supporters of detained pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi. They said they were arrested by police after offering food as alms to monks at the Magwe monastery in South Dagon Township on 3 November.
They were initially sent to an interrogation camp and then transferred to prison. They have been charged under section 505(b) of the Penal Code (crime against state and public tranquility) by the police. Usually such cases are tried in township courts but on the intervention of Naypyitaw, this case is being heard inside the prison, it is learnt.
"Today I asked the judge why this case was being heard at the district court rather than the usual township court. The judge said that they did it under the direction of the High Court in Naypyitaw," Kyaw Hoe said.
The next hearing is on Monday.
All the four accused held prayer meetings every Tuesday for the release of political prisoners, including Suu Kyi, the Nobel Peace Laureate.
*************************************************************
India lays waste to Burma’s untouched rivers
JJ Kim
Nov 10, 2009 (DVB)–A new transport system connecting North East India with the sea via western Burma will damage the lives of hundreds of thousands of civilians and one of the world’s few remaining untouched rivers.
The bleak assessment was today laid down in a report released by the Arakan Rivers Network (ARN). For years India has been trying to find a stronger travel route to Southeast Asia and a way to connect the landlocked area of North East India with the sea and the rest of the country. The Kaladan Multi-Modal Transit Transport Project, as it has become known, seems to be the solution to both.
A highway will firstly connect Mizoram province in North East India with Kaletwa, in Burma’s northwestern Chin state. From there, goods will be taken down the Kaladan River by boat to Arakan state’s capital, Sittwe, where they can be taken across the Andaman Sea to Kolkata or elsewhere. The port and sea route are also likely to be used for shipments arriving from the rest of Southeast Asia via Rangoon.
While it will bring vast profits for the Burmese military regime, the project is expected to lead to the rapid depletion of already scarce food supplies, and impose heavy restrictions on local trade.
The report predicts that millions of people could see rapid degradation of their food supplies as the coast near Sittwe and 225 kilometres of the Kaladan River are excessively dredged. The river, lined with the homes of approximately one million people, is for many a key source of water, fish and crabs, and is surrounded by paddy fields. This is of particular concern now due to a regional famine, which has steadily worsened since 2007, and which has caused many to leave their homes.
A need for higher security, which the regime has told the Indian government it will “provide gratis”, has already meant mass militarisation in the region. More than 25 new military checkpoints have been deployed along the river in just three years, and merchants travelling along the waterway have complained of extortion from soldiers. This has meant serious restrictions on local business, especially in Paletwa and Kyauk Taw townships in and around the upper part of the river.
According to Lunn Htain, spokesperson for the Democratic Party of Arakan (DPA) and long-time military observer in the region, soldiers at these points “demand money from merchants selling things like dried fish and domestic products. Three years ago they made good profits along this waterway but now this is possible and they have lost a lot.”
The regime’s “self-reliance policy”, which forces all military battalions to support themselves independently, has also led to high rates of extortion. “Most of the soldiers there are staying in the villages, not in their camps,” Lunn Htain explained. “Therefore, local villagers must support them with water and chickens. They give six chicken cages per village once a month.”
For thousands of years the people of Arakan and Chin state have depended on the river as their main means of travel. Unlike most parts of the world, this has barely changed since the invention of the automobile as very few roads have been built in the area. Today therefore, traders of goods such as rice, fish, meat and firewood still totally rely on their waterways to keep their businesses afloat and thus feed their families.
According to ARN’s director, Aung Marm Oo, “Arakanese people rely heavily on rivers for fishing and farming; rivers are crucial arteries for regional trade in fish and agriculture, as well as the transportation of local people, since the state lacks good roads”.
“If developments on the Kaladan and Laymro rivers go forward, local businesses will be severely harmed and hundreds of acres of cultivated land along the rivers will have to be abandoned.”
Indian company Essar, one of the companies shortlisted for the project, is also drilling for oil in numerous locations along the river. It is likely that much of this oil will be shipped upstream to North East India and via Sittwe to Kolkatta, which could threaten river-based habitats further.
Despite the project’s numerous damaging implications, politicians and businessmen in India, the world’s second fastest growing economy, see the project in a very different light. For many of them, the $US120 million transport system will open up a vast wealth of business opportunities, allowing companies to trade with Southeast Asia and China much more cheaply and efficiently than ever before. It is also a key step forward for India in a continual struggle for political influence in the region.
In 1992, the Indian government announced its “Look East Policy”, aiming to strengthen ties between the country and its eastern counterparts. The policy materialised as a series of political initiatives and trade negotiations. Due to its geographical position, Burma quickly became the centre of many of these negotiations and - despite its horrific human rights record - India began investing heavily.
According to Kim from Shwe Gas Campaign-India, lead author of “Unfair Deal”, an in-depth analysis of India and Burma’s relationship, “the main reasons for the project are to counter China's influence in the region, to connect with Southeast Asian nations, and suppress North East insurgency groups which are based in Burma”. As well as recently becoming Burma’s largest foreign investor, the Chinese government has also built its own seaport off the Arakan coast, in Kyaukphru, just 50 miles from Sittwe.
“India has never have good relations with Pakistan and they are always fighting with Bangladesh. India has bad relations with her neighbours so the government needs to make good relations with Burma,” Kim said.
“But their policy on Burma is worrying because it’s leading to further human rights abuses. People in India, even in parliament, have no awareness about the situation in Burma. When I tell members of parliament about the human rights abuses caused by Indian companies, they are clueless. Those who know will not raise the issue, especially with people in the northeast.”
Lunn Thein also noted that the closer relationship between the countries is likely to cause problems for Arakanese refugees and opposition groups in exile in North East India.
“We are expecting more pressure from the state government because the Burmese authorities will point out that India’s enemies are residing in the country. Even though our armed groups are out of India, we have a lot of families there. Some of these refugee families served in the Arakanese revolution and are no longer allowed to live in Burma.”
Despite pro-democracy rhetoric and calls for Aung San Suu Kyi’s freedom earlier this year, India’s government seems to be becoming yet another regional ally of Burma’s military regime. Meanwhile, people across Arakan state continue to have no say in decision making processes regarding their homes and see further damage being done to their already strained livelihoods. Regarding this, ARN’s message to the Indian government is very clear: “As the largest democratic country in the world, India has a responsibility to defend democratic principles and not support the Burmese military regime.” Aung Marm Oo said.
“Therefore, the government must freeze investment in this and all other river development projects in Burma and refrain from further investment until the affected people of Burma can decide on the use of their natural resources through a democratically-elected government without fearing persecution.”
JJ Kim
Nov 10, 2009 (DVB)–A new transport system connecting North East India with the sea via western Burma will damage the lives of hundreds of thousands of civilians and one of the world’s few remaining untouched rivers.
The bleak assessment was today laid down in a report released by the Arakan Rivers Network (ARN). For years India has been trying to find a stronger travel route to Southeast Asia and a way to connect the landlocked area of North East India with the sea and the rest of the country. The Kaladan Multi-Modal Transit Transport Project, as it has become known, seems to be the solution to both.
A highway will firstly connect Mizoram province in North East India with Kaletwa, in Burma’s northwestern Chin state. From there, goods will be taken down the Kaladan River by boat to Arakan state’s capital, Sittwe, where they can be taken across the Andaman Sea to Kolkata or elsewhere. The port and sea route are also likely to be used for shipments arriving from the rest of Southeast Asia via Rangoon.
While it will bring vast profits for the Burmese military regime, the project is expected to lead to the rapid depletion of already scarce food supplies, and impose heavy restrictions on local trade.
The report predicts that millions of people could see rapid degradation of their food supplies as the coast near Sittwe and 225 kilometres of the Kaladan River are excessively dredged. The river, lined with the homes of approximately one million people, is for many a key source of water, fish and crabs, and is surrounded by paddy fields. This is of particular concern now due to a regional famine, which has steadily worsened since 2007, and which has caused many to leave their homes.
A need for higher security, which the regime has told the Indian government it will “provide gratis”, has already meant mass militarisation in the region. More than 25 new military checkpoints have been deployed along the river in just three years, and merchants travelling along the waterway have complained of extortion from soldiers. This has meant serious restrictions on local business, especially in Paletwa and Kyauk Taw townships in and around the upper part of the river.
According to Lunn Htain, spokesperson for the Democratic Party of Arakan (DPA) and long-time military observer in the region, soldiers at these points “demand money from merchants selling things like dried fish and domestic products. Three years ago they made good profits along this waterway but now this is possible and they have lost a lot.”
The regime’s “self-reliance policy”, which forces all military battalions to support themselves independently, has also led to high rates of extortion. “Most of the soldiers there are staying in the villages, not in their camps,” Lunn Htain explained. “Therefore, local villagers must support them with water and chickens. They give six chicken cages per village once a month.”
For thousands of years the people of Arakan and Chin state have depended on the river as their main means of travel. Unlike most parts of the world, this has barely changed since the invention of the automobile as very few roads have been built in the area. Today therefore, traders of goods such as rice, fish, meat and firewood still totally rely on their waterways to keep their businesses afloat and thus feed their families.
According to ARN’s director, Aung Marm Oo, “Arakanese people rely heavily on rivers for fishing and farming; rivers are crucial arteries for regional trade in fish and agriculture, as well as the transportation of local people, since the state lacks good roads”.
“If developments on the Kaladan and Laymro rivers go forward, local businesses will be severely harmed and hundreds of acres of cultivated land along the rivers will have to be abandoned.”
Indian company Essar, one of the companies shortlisted for the project, is also drilling for oil in numerous locations along the river. It is likely that much of this oil will be shipped upstream to North East India and via Sittwe to Kolkatta, which could threaten river-based habitats further.
Despite the project’s numerous damaging implications, politicians and businessmen in India, the world’s second fastest growing economy, see the project in a very different light. For many of them, the $US120 million transport system will open up a vast wealth of business opportunities, allowing companies to trade with Southeast Asia and China much more cheaply and efficiently than ever before. It is also a key step forward for India in a continual struggle for political influence in the region.
In 1992, the Indian government announced its “Look East Policy”, aiming to strengthen ties between the country and its eastern counterparts. The policy materialised as a series of political initiatives and trade negotiations. Due to its geographical position, Burma quickly became the centre of many of these negotiations and - despite its horrific human rights record - India began investing heavily.
According to Kim from Shwe Gas Campaign-India, lead author of “Unfair Deal”, an in-depth analysis of India and Burma’s relationship, “the main reasons for the project are to counter China's influence in the region, to connect with Southeast Asian nations, and suppress North East insurgency groups which are based in Burma”. As well as recently becoming Burma’s largest foreign investor, the Chinese government has also built its own seaport off the Arakan coast, in Kyaukphru, just 50 miles from Sittwe.
“India has never have good relations with Pakistan and they are always fighting with Bangladesh. India has bad relations with her neighbours so the government needs to make good relations with Burma,” Kim said.
“But their policy on Burma is worrying because it’s leading to further human rights abuses. People in India, even in parliament, have no awareness about the situation in Burma. When I tell members of parliament about the human rights abuses caused by Indian companies, they are clueless. Those who know will not raise the issue, especially with people in the northeast.”
Lunn Thein also noted that the closer relationship between the countries is likely to cause problems for Arakanese refugees and opposition groups in exile in North East India.
“We are expecting more pressure from the state government because the Burmese authorities will point out that India’s enemies are residing in the country. Even though our armed groups are out of India, we have a lot of families there. Some of these refugee families served in the Arakanese revolution and are no longer allowed to live in Burma.”
Despite pro-democracy rhetoric and calls for Aung San Suu Kyi’s freedom earlier this year, India’s government seems to be becoming yet another regional ally of Burma’s military regime. Meanwhile, people across Arakan state continue to have no say in decision making processes regarding their homes and see further damage being done to their already strained livelihoods. Regarding this, ARN’s message to the Indian government is very clear: “As the largest democratic country in the world, India has a responsibility to defend democratic principles and not support the Burmese military regime.” Aung Marm Oo said.
“Therefore, the government must freeze investment in this and all other river development projects in Burma and refrain from further investment until the affected people of Burma can decide on the use of their natural resources through a democratically-elected government without fearing persecution.”
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