U.N. committee condemns N.Korea, Myanmar over rights
By Louis Charbonneau – Thu Nov 19, 9:05 pm ET
UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) – A special committee of the U.N. General Assembly condemned North Korea and Myanmar on Thursday for what it said were widespread human rights violations in the two Asian countries.
The 192-nation General Assembly's Third Committee, which focuses on human rights issues, approved a non-binding resolution on North Korea 97-19 with 65 abstentions.
A similar resolution on Myanmar, formerly known as Burma, passed 92-26 with 65 abstentions.
The North Korea resolution voiced "very serious concern" at what it said were persistent reports of "systematic, widespread and grave violations of civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights."
Among Pyongyang's violations, the resolution said, are torture, inhuman conditions of detention, public executions, collective punishment and "the existence of a large number of prison camps and the extensive use of forced labor."
North Korea's deputy U.N. ambassador, Pak Tok Hun, dismissed the resolution as a political attack by its enemies.
"The draft resolution is nothing more than a document of political conspiracy of the hostile forces to ... deny and obliterate the state and social system of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea," he told the committee.
Among the sponsors of the North Korea resolution were the European Union, the United States, Japan and South Korea.
Envoys from developing nations that rights groups have also accused of having poor human rights records -- including China, Russia, Libya, Sudan, Syria, Egypt and Zimbabwe -- told the committee that they generally reject such resolutions because they oppose singling out specific countries.
Assembly condemnations of the human rights situation in North Korea, Myanmar and Iran have become an annual ritual in recent years.
FREE AND FAIR ELECTIONS
Myanmar's U.N. envoy Than Swe rejected the resolution on his country, which said the assembly "strongly condemns the ongoing systematic violations of human rights and fundamental freedoms of the people of Myanmar."
It also voiced "grave concern" at the recent trial and sentencing to further house arrest of Myanmar's opposition leader, Nobel Peace Prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, and urged the military junta to release her and all other political prisoners.
The resolution also called on Myanmar's military rulers to pass the necessary electoral legislation and take further steps to ensure that next year's general election is not rigged but "free, fair, transparent and inclusive."
Than Swe said the resolution is "glaringly deficient" and little more than "another means to maintain pressure on Myanmar in tandem with sanctions."
British Ambassador Mark Lyall Grant said the resolution "sets out the action Burma's military rulers must take if planned elections are to have any international credibility."
The Third Committee, which includes all members of the General Assembly, is scheduled to debate a resolution condemning Iran on Friday. A special General Assembly session next month is expected to formally adopt all recently approved committee resolutions.
By Louis Charbonneau – Thu Nov 19, 9:05 pm ET
UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) – A special committee of the U.N. General Assembly condemned North Korea and Myanmar on Thursday for what it said were widespread human rights violations in the two Asian countries.
The 192-nation General Assembly's Third Committee, which focuses on human rights issues, approved a non-binding resolution on North Korea 97-19 with 65 abstentions.
A similar resolution on Myanmar, formerly known as Burma, passed 92-26 with 65 abstentions.
The North Korea resolution voiced "very serious concern" at what it said were persistent reports of "systematic, widespread and grave violations of civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights."
Among Pyongyang's violations, the resolution said, are torture, inhuman conditions of detention, public executions, collective punishment and "the existence of a large number of prison camps and the extensive use of forced labor."
North Korea's deputy U.N. ambassador, Pak Tok Hun, dismissed the resolution as a political attack by its enemies.
"The draft resolution is nothing more than a document of political conspiracy of the hostile forces to ... deny and obliterate the state and social system of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea," he told the committee.
Among the sponsors of the North Korea resolution were the European Union, the United States, Japan and South Korea.
Envoys from developing nations that rights groups have also accused of having poor human rights records -- including China, Russia, Libya, Sudan, Syria, Egypt and Zimbabwe -- told the committee that they generally reject such resolutions because they oppose singling out specific countries.
Assembly condemnations of the human rights situation in North Korea, Myanmar and Iran have become an annual ritual in recent years.
FREE AND FAIR ELECTIONS
Myanmar's U.N. envoy Than Swe rejected the resolution on his country, which said the assembly "strongly condemns the ongoing systematic violations of human rights and fundamental freedoms of the people of Myanmar."
It also voiced "grave concern" at the recent trial and sentencing to further house arrest of Myanmar's opposition leader, Nobel Peace Prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, and urged the military junta to release her and all other political prisoners.
The resolution also called on Myanmar's military rulers to pass the necessary electoral legislation and take further steps to ensure that next year's general election is not rigged but "free, fair, transparent and inclusive."
Than Swe said the resolution is "glaringly deficient" and little more than "another means to maintain pressure on Myanmar in tandem with sanctions."
British Ambassador Mark Lyall Grant said the resolution "sets out the action Burma's military rulers must take if planned elections are to have any international credibility."
The Third Committee, which includes all members of the General Assembly, is scheduled to debate a resolution condemning Iran on Friday. A special General Assembly session next month is expected to formally adopt all recently approved committee resolutions.
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U.S. Calls for Myanmar Dialogue as Suu Kyi Writes to Junta
By Ed Johnson
Nov. 20 (Bloomberg) -- The U.S. said it’s hopeful that political dialogue can begin in Myanmar between the military government and opposition parties after pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi wrote to junta chief Senior General Than Shwe.
The State Department is aware of the letter and hopes it will be “the beginning of a dialogue that will lead” to Suu Kyi’s release, State Department spokesman Ian Kelly told reporters in Washington yesterday.
Suu Kyi requested a meeting with Than Shwe in the letter, dated Nov. 11, and said she was willing to work with the government in the interests of the nation, the Associated Press reported, citing a spokesman for her National League for Democracy.
President Barack Obama’s administration is seeking to engage directly with the junta to press for democracy in the country formerly known as Burma. Obama brought up the case of Suu Kyi with the prime minister of Myanmar during a meeting of Southeast Asian nations in Singapore on Nov. 15, according to the White House.
The U.S. has “started a new, very focused dialogue with the government of Burma” that calls on the junta to “open up its political system,” Kelly said, according to a transcript.
He called on the regime to release more than 2,000 political prisoners, including Suu Kyi.
U.S. envoy Kurt Campbell earlier this month became the most senior American official to visit Myanmar in 14 years. He met with Suu Kyi, who has spent more than 13 years in detention since her party won the country’s last elections in 1990. The junta extended her house arrest for 18 months in August, potentially excluding her from next year’s elections.
Obama has maintained sanctions on the regime amid the increased contacts.
The United Nations General Assembly voted yesterday to adopt a U.S.-sponsored resolution criticizing human rights abuses in Myanmar.
The junta was “strongly” condemned for violating rights and was urged to release all political prisoners, including Suu Kyi. The measure passed by a vote of 92 to 26, with 65abstentions.
By Ed Johnson
Nov. 20 (Bloomberg) -- The U.S. said it’s hopeful that political dialogue can begin in Myanmar between the military government and opposition parties after pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi wrote to junta chief Senior General Than Shwe.
The State Department is aware of the letter and hopes it will be “the beginning of a dialogue that will lead” to Suu Kyi’s release, State Department spokesman Ian Kelly told reporters in Washington yesterday.
Suu Kyi requested a meeting with Than Shwe in the letter, dated Nov. 11, and said she was willing to work with the government in the interests of the nation, the Associated Press reported, citing a spokesman for her National League for Democracy.
President Barack Obama’s administration is seeking to engage directly with the junta to press for democracy in the country formerly known as Burma. Obama brought up the case of Suu Kyi with the prime minister of Myanmar during a meeting of Southeast Asian nations in Singapore on Nov. 15, according to the White House.
The U.S. has “started a new, very focused dialogue with the government of Burma” that calls on the junta to “open up its political system,” Kelly said, according to a transcript.
He called on the regime to release more than 2,000 political prisoners, including Suu Kyi.
U.S. envoy Kurt Campbell earlier this month became the most senior American official to visit Myanmar in 14 years. He met with Suu Kyi, who has spent more than 13 years in detention since her party won the country’s last elections in 1990. The junta extended her house arrest for 18 months in August, potentially excluding her from next year’s elections.
Obama has maintained sanctions on the regime amid the increased contacts.
The United Nations General Assembly voted yesterday to adopt a U.S.-sponsored resolution criticizing human rights abuses in Myanmar.
The junta was “strongly” condemned for violating rights and was urged to release all political prisoners, including Suu Kyi. The measure passed by a vote of 92 to 26, with 65abstentions.
*************************************************************
11/19/2009 12:20
MYANMAR
AsiaNews.it - ILO Report: The Burmese junta increases forced labour and child soldiers
50% increase in complaints of forced labour and more than half involving children and young people enrolled in the army. The military junta has inserted a provision in the Constitution that authorizes the use of civilians in the construction of roads, infrastructure, such as porters or minesweepers.
Yangon (AsiaNews / Agencies) - The alleged cases of forced labour in Myanmar increased by 50% over the past five months, over half concerns the recruitment of children and young people among the ranks of the army. This is shown by a recent report by the International Labour Organization (ILO), which admits the "ineffectiveness" of pressure to the Burmese government.
Last June, the ILO criticized a provision of the Constitution of Myanmar – which the junta drafted and ratified in a farce referendum in 2008 - that justifies the exploitation of forced labour as punishment for crimes or "in case of assignments entrusted by the Union [Myanmar], in accordance with law and in the public interest.”
As of 28 October, allegations of forced labour made to the ILO offices are 223. These are supplemented by the recruitment of 112 children in the army over the past seven months. Aye Myint, an activist for the rights of workers in Pegu, Bago division, told the dissident newspaper The Irrawaddy that the young people were recruited between May and November "and families have submitted complaints.
Defence of human rights groups confirm that the Burmese military junta continues a campaign of forced recruitment of minors into the army. Children are picked up from school, bars, cinemas or in the evening as they return home. They are threatened and beaten if they resist. Completed training, they are sent to war zones to fight against ethnic rebels.
The ILO document explains that, following complaints from families, “59 child soldiers were demobilized, 30 cases are currently pending and awaiting the start of the nine others". Forced labour in Myanmar takes on many forms: construction of roads and infrastructure, use of civilians as porters for the army or minesweepers.
The government has signed an agreement with the International Labour Organization "not to punish" those who report cases of forced labour. In many cases happens, however, that local officials (civilian and military) retaliate, through harassment or violence against those who dare to rebel.
The Karen Human Rights Group (Khrg) is launching a new appeal for "a real step forward in defending the rights of children affected by war." The problem of child soldiers has dragged on for years in Myanmar: a report by Human Rights Watch (HRW) in 2002 estimated that at least 70 thousand members of the Burmese army are under the age of 18.
MYANMAR
AsiaNews.it - ILO Report: The Burmese junta increases forced labour and child soldiers
50% increase in complaints of forced labour and more than half involving children and young people enrolled in the army. The military junta has inserted a provision in the Constitution that authorizes the use of civilians in the construction of roads, infrastructure, such as porters or minesweepers.
Yangon (AsiaNews / Agencies) - The alleged cases of forced labour in Myanmar increased by 50% over the past five months, over half concerns the recruitment of children and young people among the ranks of the army. This is shown by a recent report by the International Labour Organization (ILO), which admits the "ineffectiveness" of pressure to the Burmese government.
Last June, the ILO criticized a provision of the Constitution of Myanmar – which the junta drafted and ratified in a farce referendum in 2008 - that justifies the exploitation of forced labour as punishment for crimes or "in case of assignments entrusted by the Union [Myanmar], in accordance with law and in the public interest.”
As of 28 October, allegations of forced labour made to the ILO offices are 223. These are supplemented by the recruitment of 112 children in the army over the past seven months. Aye Myint, an activist for the rights of workers in Pegu, Bago division, told the dissident newspaper The Irrawaddy that the young people were recruited between May and November "and families have submitted complaints.
Defence of human rights groups confirm that the Burmese military junta continues a campaign of forced recruitment of minors into the army. Children are picked up from school, bars, cinemas or in the evening as they return home. They are threatened and beaten if they resist. Completed training, they are sent to war zones to fight against ethnic rebels.
The ILO document explains that, following complaints from families, “59 child soldiers were demobilized, 30 cases are currently pending and awaiting the start of the nine others". Forced labour in Myanmar takes on many forms: construction of roads and infrastructure, use of civilians as porters for the army or minesweepers.
The government has signed an agreement with the International Labour Organization "not to punish" those who report cases of forced labour. In many cases happens, however, that local officials (civilian and military) retaliate, through harassment or violence against those who dare to rebel.
The Karen Human Rights Group (Khrg) is launching a new appeal for "a real step forward in defending the rights of children affected by war." The problem of child soldiers has dragged on for years in Myanmar: a report by Human Rights Watch (HRW) in 2002 estimated that at least 70 thousand members of the Burmese army are under the age of 18.
*************************************************************
eTaiwan News - UN slams Myanmar over forced labor practices
Associated Press
2009-11-20 07:30 PM
The U.N. labor agency has criticized Myanmar for failing to abolish forced labor.
The International Labor Organization says it is "deeply concerned" that the southeast Asian country continues to imprison people who have complained about forced labor.
Geneva-based ILO said Friday it has adopted a resolution calling on Myanmar to immediately release those prisoners.
ILO says its latest resolution also expresses concern about forced labor being used in infrastructure projects such as building oil and gas pipelines.
An official at the Myanmar's mission at the U.N. declined to comment.
ILO has accused Myanmar since 1998 of using forced labor to aid the military and build roads and other projects.
Associated Press
2009-11-20 07:30 PM
The U.N. labor agency has criticized Myanmar for failing to abolish forced labor.
The International Labor Organization says it is "deeply concerned" that the southeast Asian country continues to imprison people who have complained about forced labor.
Geneva-based ILO said Friday it has adopted a resolution calling on Myanmar to immediately release those prisoners.
ILO says its latest resolution also expresses concern about forced labor being used in infrastructure projects such as building oil and gas pipelines.
An official at the Myanmar's mission at the U.N. declined to comment.
ILO has accused Myanmar since 1998 of using forced labor to aid the military and build roads and other projects.
*************************************************************
Phnom Penh Post - A flexible Myanmar dialogue
Friday, 20 November 2009 15:02 Robert Taylor
US engagement with the nation may have laid groundwork for improved diplomacy, but the generals are still firmly in control.
COMMENT: ROBERT TAYLOR
THE two-hour summit meeting of US President Barrack Obama and the leaders of the 10 member nations of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations held on Sunday, at the end of the APEC meeting in Singapore, stimulated much idle speculation about possible future political developments in Myanmar. This was because the hyped meeting was the first encounter between a senior Burmese government official, Prime Minister Thein Sein, and a US president since Lyndon Johnson welcomed General Ne Win to the White House in 1966. Then, in the midst of the Cold War, neutralist Burma was hailed as a cheap but effective bulwark against Chinese communist expansion into Southeast Asia. When the Cold War ended, and the containment of communism ceased to be the centre of American foreign policy, Myanmar soon became a favoured whipping boy for the Clinton and Bush administrations, ultimately obscuring larger issues at stake in US-Asian relations.
President Obama is taking a different tack. Whether the administration in Washington really expects the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) military government in Naypyidaw to heed its insistent strictures regarding the release from house arrest of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and other opponents of the regime, or reopen negotiations on the political future of the country prior to elections slated for next year, is unclear. They would be naive if they expected much from sending two top state department officials for two days of talks in Yangon and Naypyidaw or to dangle economic rewards in front of the generals who have governed Myanmar for the past 20 years, accepting no foreign advice and precious little foreign economic assistance. Whatever else the Americans are currently doing, in statements to the effect that they are establishing no conditions on a dialogue with the SPDC they are positioning themselves to be able to improve relations with Myanmar after elections in 2010 create a new government with a civilian face. The European Union member states will doubtless probably soon be playing catch-up.
The ASEAN-US summit provided President Obama an opportunity to reiterate his call for the release of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi. This call was made in his first speech on his initial Asian sojourn the day before. Having twice called for the end of her home detention, once in the hearing of Prime Minister Thein Sein, he fulfilled a political obligation to her supporters and his critics back in Washington. However, the American willingness to see the issuing of a summit final communique that made no mention of political prisoners but merely called for the 2010 elections to be fair and inclusive, demonstrated a degree of diplomatic flexibility that the former Bush administration was unable to display. The return of the Americans to the ASEAN meeting shows both a measure of respect for regional sensitivities and a realistic perception of what American power can and cannot achieve in Asia.
Back in Myanmar, the issuance of a letter from Suu Kyi to SPDC Chairman Senior General Than Shwe, written on November 11 to request a meeting to discuss cooperation in the future, with the background of the US flurry of interest, prompted even more speculation. Her presumption to approach the head of state as an equal, when all previous talks between her and senior government officials since 1988 have failed, suggests this effort will probably be ignored. Her unwillingness to address the conditions set down by the government for a meeting with the senior general in October 2007 – that she agree to renounce her policy of resisting all authority, her call for utter devastation and her previous requests that Western governments impose economic sanctions – will probably guarantee no response to her letter. The dead letter box will once more be opened.
The SPDC laid down its seven-step road map to the establishment of new political order in 2003. It has been following that plan slowly but steadily ever since, having achieved the ratification of a new constitution by a miraculous public referendum in May last year. The next step in the road map will be the holding of elections, followed by the convening of a legislature and the formation of a new government. Demands by the NLD and their supporters to reopen issues foreclosed by the ratification of the new constitution will continue to be ignored. The government is taking the final steps to prepare for the elections next year. The completion of the process of turning former insurgent armed foes into border security forces under the auspices of the national army is now under way. This is a crucial step to ensuring domestic peace and stability under the new order.
The issuance of a new election law, which will determine the conditions under which political parties can be organised and rules by which they will be allowed to campaign, is still awaited. Until that document is promulgated, most expected political life to be put on hold. Inside the country, people interested in politics are expectant of some modest change after the elections in 2010.
They do not expect a revolution, nor a sudden revision of the constitution to address those aspects of it to which democratic purists strongly object.
The Myanmar army has created for itself a constitutional order that will preserve peace and stability in such a way as it believes history has proved is essential. This may be a self-serving reading of history, but no less real for that.
The SPDC is not going to give up what it has planned for itself and its country for unknown and untried promises of cooperation with foes of 20 years’ standing, with whom previous attempts at dialogued proved to be fruitless.
Robert Taylor is a former research associate at the School of Oriental and African Studies in London and author of Burma: Political Economy under Military Rule.
Friday, 20 November 2009 15:02 Robert Taylor
US engagement with the nation may have laid groundwork for improved diplomacy, but the generals are still firmly in control.
COMMENT: ROBERT TAYLOR
THE two-hour summit meeting of US President Barrack Obama and the leaders of the 10 member nations of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations held on Sunday, at the end of the APEC meeting in Singapore, stimulated much idle speculation about possible future political developments in Myanmar. This was because the hyped meeting was the first encounter between a senior Burmese government official, Prime Minister Thein Sein, and a US president since Lyndon Johnson welcomed General Ne Win to the White House in 1966. Then, in the midst of the Cold War, neutralist Burma was hailed as a cheap but effective bulwark against Chinese communist expansion into Southeast Asia. When the Cold War ended, and the containment of communism ceased to be the centre of American foreign policy, Myanmar soon became a favoured whipping boy for the Clinton and Bush administrations, ultimately obscuring larger issues at stake in US-Asian relations.
President Obama is taking a different tack. Whether the administration in Washington really expects the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) military government in Naypyidaw to heed its insistent strictures regarding the release from house arrest of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and other opponents of the regime, or reopen negotiations on the political future of the country prior to elections slated for next year, is unclear. They would be naive if they expected much from sending two top state department officials for two days of talks in Yangon and Naypyidaw or to dangle economic rewards in front of the generals who have governed Myanmar for the past 20 years, accepting no foreign advice and precious little foreign economic assistance. Whatever else the Americans are currently doing, in statements to the effect that they are establishing no conditions on a dialogue with the SPDC they are positioning themselves to be able to improve relations with Myanmar after elections in 2010 create a new government with a civilian face. The European Union member states will doubtless probably soon be playing catch-up.
The ASEAN-US summit provided President Obama an opportunity to reiterate his call for the release of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi. This call was made in his first speech on his initial Asian sojourn the day before. Having twice called for the end of her home detention, once in the hearing of Prime Minister Thein Sein, he fulfilled a political obligation to her supporters and his critics back in Washington. However, the American willingness to see the issuing of a summit final communique that made no mention of political prisoners but merely called for the 2010 elections to be fair and inclusive, demonstrated a degree of diplomatic flexibility that the former Bush administration was unable to display. The return of the Americans to the ASEAN meeting shows both a measure of respect for regional sensitivities and a realistic perception of what American power can and cannot achieve in Asia.
Back in Myanmar, the issuance of a letter from Suu Kyi to SPDC Chairman Senior General Than Shwe, written on November 11 to request a meeting to discuss cooperation in the future, with the background of the US flurry of interest, prompted even more speculation. Her presumption to approach the head of state as an equal, when all previous talks between her and senior government officials since 1988 have failed, suggests this effort will probably be ignored. Her unwillingness to address the conditions set down by the government for a meeting with the senior general in October 2007 – that she agree to renounce her policy of resisting all authority, her call for utter devastation and her previous requests that Western governments impose economic sanctions – will probably guarantee no response to her letter. The dead letter box will once more be opened.
The SPDC laid down its seven-step road map to the establishment of new political order in 2003. It has been following that plan slowly but steadily ever since, having achieved the ratification of a new constitution by a miraculous public referendum in May last year. The next step in the road map will be the holding of elections, followed by the convening of a legislature and the formation of a new government. Demands by the NLD and their supporters to reopen issues foreclosed by the ratification of the new constitution will continue to be ignored. The government is taking the final steps to prepare for the elections next year. The completion of the process of turning former insurgent armed foes into border security forces under the auspices of the national army is now under way. This is a crucial step to ensuring domestic peace and stability under the new order.
The issuance of a new election law, which will determine the conditions under which political parties can be organised and rules by which they will be allowed to campaign, is still awaited. Until that document is promulgated, most expected political life to be put on hold. Inside the country, people interested in politics are expectant of some modest change after the elections in 2010.
They do not expect a revolution, nor a sudden revision of the constitution to address those aspects of it to which democratic purists strongly object.
The Myanmar army has created for itself a constitutional order that will preserve peace and stability in such a way as it believes history has proved is essential. This may be a self-serving reading of history, but no less real for that.
The SPDC is not going to give up what it has planned for itself and its country for unknown and untried promises of cooperation with foes of 20 years’ standing, with whom previous attempts at dialogued proved to be fruitless.
Robert Taylor is a former research associate at the School of Oriental and African Studies in London and author of Burma: Political Economy under Military Rule.
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Sydney Morning Herald - Burma engagement offers false hope
GRAHAM REILLY
November 21, 2009
A renewed US push seems destined to fail as the junta pursues self-interest.
ONE of the few predictable aspects of Burmese politics is how the ruling military regime responds to outside attempts to influence the direction of the country's internal affairs. A good example is how it reacted to the calamitous circumstances of last year's cyclone Nargis. If there was ever a time that the generals could have relaxed their xenophobic view of the world and welcomed Western help, this should have been it.
But despite the fact that Nargis devastated much of the southern part of the country, ultimately killing 140,000 people and affecting 2.4 million, the obsessively inward-looking regime refused to accept aid for three critical weeks.
The callous response illustrated how suspicious the regime is of the outside world and how little it cares about criticism from it. The generals listen only to themselves (and the odd astrologer).
This is a regime that is seemingly immune to pressure to change its ways and introduce political freedoms or human rights in a country that has been criminally lacking in both since 1962. The regime's primary concern is the perpetuation of its own power and wealth at the expense of ordinary Burmese. It does not accept that it should be accountable to its own people and as such has no imperative to act in their best interests. Eight days after the cyclone hit, the regime went ahead with a referendum on a new constitution, part of its much-criticised ''road map to democracy'', and announced that an unbelievable 92 per cent voted in favour. This is the context in which any renewed attempts at dialogue must be seen.
Another attempt is under way to engage with the regime and nudge it along the road of democracy. It is being led by the United States, which has acknowledged that its policy of isolating Burma through sanctions alone has failed. The US is now pursuing what it calls ''pragmatic engagement'' while keeping sanctions in place. It hopes that dangling the possibility of easing economic sanctions will be incentive enough for the regime to free political prisoners (most notably democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi) and ensure next year's elections are free and fair. The regime is known to be desperate to have sanctions lifted.
Earlier this month, the US Secretary of State for East Asia, Kurt Campbell, and his deputy, Scot Marciel, met Burmese Prime Minister Thein Sein in Rangoon. They also met Suu Kyi, who was released from house arrest for the day. Significantly, they did not meet with the senior general Than Shwe, who more or less makes all the important decisions.
Campbell and Marciel are the two most-senior US officials to visit Burma since Madeleine Albright in 1995. Her visit came five years after the regime refused to hand over power to Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy after it won a landslide election victory.
Not long after the visit by Campbell and Marciel, Thein Sein announced that Suu Kyi, who has been under house arrest for 14 of the past 20 years, could soon be released to ''contribute to the process of national reconciliation''. What that might be remains to be seen, given that the constitution bars her from elected office.
That aside, Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama, perhaps sensing change, then called on the regime to release Suu Kyi. Singapore is also understood to have suspended investment in Burma until after the election, in the hope that this will encourage a more democratic voting process.
It has also been revealed that before the US envoys' visit, Suu Kyi wrote to Than Shwe suggesting direct talks, a move that some regional observers have welcomed as an important development. Suu Kyi, who had her house arrest extended by another 18 months in August, is understood to have last met Than Shwe in 2003.
Some international observers are hoping the changed approach from the US could get results. Are there, at last, grounds to be optimistic about the future of Burma?
The problem is that engagement with Burma has been tried many times before, and always without success. Nor is it the first time the regime has promised to free Suu Kyi, or that Suu Kyi has expressed her willingness to meet the generals. The patterns are all too familiar, the accommodating noises from the generals eerily similar to those uttered before.
The US sees the election as the opportune time to begin a process of democratic change. But, for the generals, the election is the culmination of nearly 50 years of running the country. They have no interest negotiating their own demise.
The generals want to tighten their grip on the country and they have moulded the constitution so that they can do just that. They have nobbled the media and they will not be in a hurry to free Suu Kyi so that she can arouse mass enthusiasm for another political party. And any younger army officers harbouring ideas of a more pluralistic society have been kept sweet with more privileges. The election will be a confirmation, if not a tribute, to the generals' own success.
Burma might be going backwards when it comes to human rights, health and education, but for the military regime it's business as usual.
Graham Reilly is a senior writer. - Source: The Age
GRAHAM REILLY
November 21, 2009
A renewed US push seems destined to fail as the junta pursues self-interest.
ONE of the few predictable aspects of Burmese politics is how the ruling military regime responds to outside attempts to influence the direction of the country's internal affairs. A good example is how it reacted to the calamitous circumstances of last year's cyclone Nargis. If there was ever a time that the generals could have relaxed their xenophobic view of the world and welcomed Western help, this should have been it.
But despite the fact that Nargis devastated much of the southern part of the country, ultimately killing 140,000 people and affecting 2.4 million, the obsessively inward-looking regime refused to accept aid for three critical weeks.
The callous response illustrated how suspicious the regime is of the outside world and how little it cares about criticism from it. The generals listen only to themselves (and the odd astrologer).
This is a regime that is seemingly immune to pressure to change its ways and introduce political freedoms or human rights in a country that has been criminally lacking in both since 1962. The regime's primary concern is the perpetuation of its own power and wealth at the expense of ordinary Burmese. It does not accept that it should be accountable to its own people and as such has no imperative to act in their best interests. Eight days after the cyclone hit, the regime went ahead with a referendum on a new constitution, part of its much-criticised ''road map to democracy'', and announced that an unbelievable 92 per cent voted in favour. This is the context in which any renewed attempts at dialogue must be seen.
Another attempt is under way to engage with the regime and nudge it along the road of democracy. It is being led by the United States, which has acknowledged that its policy of isolating Burma through sanctions alone has failed. The US is now pursuing what it calls ''pragmatic engagement'' while keeping sanctions in place. It hopes that dangling the possibility of easing economic sanctions will be incentive enough for the regime to free political prisoners (most notably democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi) and ensure next year's elections are free and fair. The regime is known to be desperate to have sanctions lifted.
Earlier this month, the US Secretary of State for East Asia, Kurt Campbell, and his deputy, Scot Marciel, met Burmese Prime Minister Thein Sein in Rangoon. They also met Suu Kyi, who was released from house arrest for the day. Significantly, they did not meet with the senior general Than Shwe, who more or less makes all the important decisions.
Campbell and Marciel are the two most-senior US officials to visit Burma since Madeleine Albright in 1995. Her visit came five years after the regime refused to hand over power to Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy after it won a landslide election victory.
Not long after the visit by Campbell and Marciel, Thein Sein announced that Suu Kyi, who has been under house arrest for 14 of the past 20 years, could soon be released to ''contribute to the process of national reconciliation''. What that might be remains to be seen, given that the constitution bars her from elected office.
That aside, Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama, perhaps sensing change, then called on the regime to release Suu Kyi. Singapore is also understood to have suspended investment in Burma until after the election, in the hope that this will encourage a more democratic voting process.
It has also been revealed that before the US envoys' visit, Suu Kyi wrote to Than Shwe suggesting direct talks, a move that some regional observers have welcomed as an important development. Suu Kyi, who had her house arrest extended by another 18 months in August, is understood to have last met Than Shwe in 2003.
Some international observers are hoping the changed approach from the US could get results. Are there, at last, grounds to be optimistic about the future of Burma?
The problem is that engagement with Burma has been tried many times before, and always without success. Nor is it the first time the regime has promised to free Suu Kyi, or that Suu Kyi has expressed her willingness to meet the generals. The patterns are all too familiar, the accommodating noises from the generals eerily similar to those uttered before.
The US sees the election as the opportune time to begin a process of democratic change. But, for the generals, the election is the culmination of nearly 50 years of running the country. They have no interest negotiating their own demise.
The generals want to tighten their grip on the country and they have moulded the constitution so that they can do just that. They have nobbled the media and they will not be in a hurry to free Suu Kyi so that she can arouse mass enthusiasm for another political party. And any younger army officers harbouring ideas of a more pluralistic society have been kept sweet with more privileges. The election will be a confirmation, if not a tribute, to the generals' own success.
Burma might be going backwards when it comes to human rights, health and education, but for the military regime it's business as usual.
Graham Reilly is a senior writer. - Source: The Age
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Asian Tribune - A Burmese Perspective Is America a Paper Tiger?
Sat, 2009-11-21 01:48 — editor
By Kanbawza Win
It seems that President Barack Obama's first trip to Asia has signaled a turning point in relations between a weakened American eagle and the fiery Chinese Dragon that senses its time has come to ignore on human rights and restrict it to economics only.
In other words business overrules the conscious. Seen through the prism of his domestic policy struggles, his health-care measure in the balance, President has endeavors to keep congressional Democrats unified and obviously couldn't make concrete promises to combat climate change especially in the coming Kobenhavn Conference, without adding to the political burden on Democratic lawmakers saddled with his higher priorities of health care and revamped financial regulation.
On the other hand he couldn't lean too hard on China to let its currency rise in value, lest he risk a rupture with America's biggest creditor at a time of record U.S. budget deficits that White House economists are reluctant to tackle until the recovery is clear and self-sustaining.
The meeting between US President and his ASEAN counterparts has been mostly well-received, even though I harbour serious misgivings. President Obama clearly repeated his call in Tokyo “that the Burmese Junta needed to take clear steps toward democracy, including the unconditional release of all political prisoners, an end to conflicts with ethnic nationalities and a genuine dialogue with the opposition and ethnic nationalities on a shared vision for the future.” This was followed up by Daw Aung San Suu Kyi now asking for a meeting with General Than Shwe. It is rather hilarious to witness that Prime Minister Thein Sein a messenger boy of Than Swe sat just four seats apart from President Obama at the US-ASEAN meeting and yet nothing concrete has come out.
Even though Obama's public demand in front of the Burmese prime minister was a dramatic repudiation of the regime's oppressive ways, the very fact that holding a dialogue with the Burmese Junta appears to me that the US has backed down and appeared soft. The joint US-ASEAN statement issued after the summit did not mentioned the release of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi or more than 2000 political prisoners, clearly indicates that ASEAN has bowed down to the Burmese stand rather than the US and this clearly paints the picture that ASEAN cannot supplement the US efforts.
Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak has said that the reference to Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and political prisoners was dropped from the statement, because “there is no consensus on this matter.” It is obvious that Singapore and Thailand do lucrative business with the Junta, and others such as Vietnam have come out strongly against any attempt to free Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, regarding this as a domestic matter which ASEAN should not interfere with. Vietnam may be hedging against any scrutiny of clampdowns on minority religious groups such as Catholics and various Buddhist sects.
What hypocrisy is more apparent than its new Charter and Human Rights Commission that has recently passed was not able to effectively support US efforts to nudge Burma toward reform.
It is a foregone conclusion that domestic policy reflects very much on the foreign policy of every country and US is no exception. In recent years, the world has been shifting from a unipolar world structure to a multipolar one, bringing an endless stream of new challenges and Burma's lockdown suggested the White House exerted little effort to win concessions from Asia in general and ASEAN in particular.
China has emerged from the global economic crisis, strengthened in its role as international banker, its economy powering ahead and its cash-rich companies prowling for opportunities from Africa to Australia. In the summary way that Beijing dismissed Mr. Obama's entreaties on a range of subjects, China sent a strong signal that it believes the relationship has been profoundly altered. Mr. Obama's dilemma in dealing with a newly assertive China was highlighted by sparring over Beijing's policy of keeping its currency pegged tightly to a falling dollar. The issue is important to a U.S. president under mounting domestic pressure from rising joblessness.
One wonders of whether the US understands the rationale of the Burmese Generals of just why the Junta wants to talk right now. Sanctions have been no more than “modest inconveniences” to the generals, suggesting that getting these removed is not at the top of the junta's list. And what more proof is more wanted than Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and the political prisoners are still under lock and key while the Junta`s army is readying to launch its summer offensive on the ethnic nationalities. It coincides that the Obama administration is clearly seeking ways to get around the impasse As Andrew Selth put it “The Obama administration seems to understand that there are few practical ways for the international community to influence a government that is deeply committed to its self-appointed role in national affairs, does not care for the welfare of its own people, does not observe international norms and is protected by powerful friends and allies.”
The fact is that the US was unable to get language pushing for Daw Aung San Suu Kyi's release and any notion that the American compromise on talking to the Junta might be reciprocated with an ASEAN compromise on its own aversion to sanctions. But this is very far-fetched. ASEAN dared not admit its own failed “Constructive Engagement Policy” and now it seems that Washington is admitting that sanctions are at a dead-end. In the end it was the average Burmese that suffered.
The current US policy with Burma is a cover to allow it to work more closely with the ASEAN region in general, to stave off growing Chinese economic and diplomatic clout in Southeast Asia. One should remember that reform is not just about prisoner release or a more free and fair and credible elections. The world aware of the grossly undemocratic Nargis Constitution that Than Shwe's administration has drafted.” Without addressing the Constitution issue, John Dale of George Mason University said that the US policy could flounder. “Can democratic elections, even with the international community's stamp of approval, produce a democratic outcome in Burma when the Constitution that it would legitimate is structured to retain military rule with no significant checks and balances” We could not comprehend of what the people at the helm of the American administration is heading for
For the current American Administration thirty years of episodic relations with ASEAN marked out new areas for cooperation. President Obama invited the members of the ASEAN Inter-Governmental Commission on Human Rights to the United States in 2010, and proposed a ministerial-level meeting on energy next year as well. Such statements are negotiated well in advance of the meeting, and the drama is often in small details and subtle shadings. But, the lacking of the release of Daw Aung Sang Suu Kyi and political prisoners was the diplomatic equivalent of a draw which hurt the people of Burma most. Some aspects of the statement were more subtle but important nevertheless.
Nuclear non-proliferation is a renewed priority in the West in view of developments in North Korea and Iran, and it offered the ASEAN leaders an opportunity to laud the concept of a Southeast Asia Nuclear Weapons Free Zone, a proposal that had met with strong US resistance when it first emerged in the 1980s. For its part, Washington was able to echo Obama’s speech in Tokyo last week, with the description of a shared vision of a regional architecture that is “inclusive,” code for a broader Asian-Pacific community rather than one more narrowly limited to Asia that would exclude the United States.
Whether the US is a paper tiger or not will be seen in the near future with what stick US will hit the Generals if the latter refused to comply or bluff its way around as they had already demonstrated.
Sat, 2009-11-21 01:48 — editor
By Kanbawza Win
It seems that President Barack Obama's first trip to Asia has signaled a turning point in relations between a weakened American eagle and the fiery Chinese Dragon that senses its time has come to ignore on human rights and restrict it to economics only.
In other words business overrules the conscious. Seen through the prism of his domestic policy struggles, his health-care measure in the balance, President has endeavors to keep congressional Democrats unified and obviously couldn't make concrete promises to combat climate change especially in the coming Kobenhavn Conference, without adding to the political burden on Democratic lawmakers saddled with his higher priorities of health care and revamped financial regulation.
On the other hand he couldn't lean too hard on China to let its currency rise in value, lest he risk a rupture with America's biggest creditor at a time of record U.S. budget deficits that White House economists are reluctant to tackle until the recovery is clear and self-sustaining.
The meeting between US President and his ASEAN counterparts has been mostly well-received, even though I harbour serious misgivings. President Obama clearly repeated his call in Tokyo “that the Burmese Junta needed to take clear steps toward democracy, including the unconditional release of all political prisoners, an end to conflicts with ethnic nationalities and a genuine dialogue with the opposition and ethnic nationalities on a shared vision for the future.” This was followed up by Daw Aung San Suu Kyi now asking for a meeting with General Than Shwe. It is rather hilarious to witness that Prime Minister Thein Sein a messenger boy of Than Swe sat just four seats apart from President Obama at the US-ASEAN meeting and yet nothing concrete has come out.
Even though Obama's public demand in front of the Burmese prime minister was a dramatic repudiation of the regime's oppressive ways, the very fact that holding a dialogue with the Burmese Junta appears to me that the US has backed down and appeared soft. The joint US-ASEAN statement issued after the summit did not mentioned the release of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi or more than 2000 political prisoners, clearly indicates that ASEAN has bowed down to the Burmese stand rather than the US and this clearly paints the picture that ASEAN cannot supplement the US efforts.
Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak has said that the reference to Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and political prisoners was dropped from the statement, because “there is no consensus on this matter.” It is obvious that Singapore and Thailand do lucrative business with the Junta, and others such as Vietnam have come out strongly against any attempt to free Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, regarding this as a domestic matter which ASEAN should not interfere with. Vietnam may be hedging against any scrutiny of clampdowns on minority religious groups such as Catholics and various Buddhist sects.
What hypocrisy is more apparent than its new Charter and Human Rights Commission that has recently passed was not able to effectively support US efforts to nudge Burma toward reform.
It is a foregone conclusion that domestic policy reflects very much on the foreign policy of every country and US is no exception. In recent years, the world has been shifting from a unipolar world structure to a multipolar one, bringing an endless stream of new challenges and Burma's lockdown suggested the White House exerted little effort to win concessions from Asia in general and ASEAN in particular.
China has emerged from the global economic crisis, strengthened in its role as international banker, its economy powering ahead and its cash-rich companies prowling for opportunities from Africa to Australia. In the summary way that Beijing dismissed Mr. Obama's entreaties on a range of subjects, China sent a strong signal that it believes the relationship has been profoundly altered. Mr. Obama's dilemma in dealing with a newly assertive China was highlighted by sparring over Beijing's policy of keeping its currency pegged tightly to a falling dollar. The issue is important to a U.S. president under mounting domestic pressure from rising joblessness.
One wonders of whether the US understands the rationale of the Burmese Generals of just why the Junta wants to talk right now. Sanctions have been no more than “modest inconveniences” to the generals, suggesting that getting these removed is not at the top of the junta's list. And what more proof is more wanted than Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and the political prisoners are still under lock and key while the Junta`s army is readying to launch its summer offensive on the ethnic nationalities. It coincides that the Obama administration is clearly seeking ways to get around the impasse As Andrew Selth put it “The Obama administration seems to understand that there are few practical ways for the international community to influence a government that is deeply committed to its self-appointed role in national affairs, does not care for the welfare of its own people, does not observe international norms and is protected by powerful friends and allies.”
The fact is that the US was unable to get language pushing for Daw Aung San Suu Kyi's release and any notion that the American compromise on talking to the Junta might be reciprocated with an ASEAN compromise on its own aversion to sanctions. But this is very far-fetched. ASEAN dared not admit its own failed “Constructive Engagement Policy” and now it seems that Washington is admitting that sanctions are at a dead-end. In the end it was the average Burmese that suffered.
The current US policy with Burma is a cover to allow it to work more closely with the ASEAN region in general, to stave off growing Chinese economic and diplomatic clout in Southeast Asia. One should remember that reform is not just about prisoner release or a more free and fair and credible elections. The world aware of the grossly undemocratic Nargis Constitution that Than Shwe's administration has drafted.” Without addressing the Constitution issue, John Dale of George Mason University said that the US policy could flounder. “Can democratic elections, even with the international community's stamp of approval, produce a democratic outcome in Burma when the Constitution that it would legitimate is structured to retain military rule with no significant checks and balances” We could not comprehend of what the people at the helm of the American administration is heading for
For the current American Administration thirty years of episodic relations with ASEAN marked out new areas for cooperation. President Obama invited the members of the ASEAN Inter-Governmental Commission on Human Rights to the United States in 2010, and proposed a ministerial-level meeting on energy next year as well. Such statements are negotiated well in advance of the meeting, and the drama is often in small details and subtle shadings. But, the lacking of the release of Daw Aung Sang Suu Kyi and political prisoners was the diplomatic equivalent of a draw which hurt the people of Burma most. Some aspects of the statement were more subtle but important nevertheless.
Nuclear non-proliferation is a renewed priority in the West in view of developments in North Korea and Iran, and it offered the ASEAN leaders an opportunity to laud the concept of a Southeast Asia Nuclear Weapons Free Zone, a proposal that had met with strong US resistance when it first emerged in the 1980s. For its part, Washington was able to echo Obama’s speech in Tokyo last week, with the description of a shared vision of a regional architecture that is “inclusive,” code for a broader Asian-Pacific community rather than one more narrowly limited to Asia that would exclude the United States.
Whether the US is a paper tiger or not will be seen in the near future with what stick US will hit the Generals if the latter refused to comply or bluff its way around as they had already demonstrated.
*************************************************************
Myanmar to build new railroad to link Chinese border town
www.chinaview.cn 2009-11-20 20:24:33
YANGON, Nov. 20 (Xinhua) -- Myanmar will construct a new railroad to link Myanmar's border town of Muse with China's Jie Guo, Yunnan province to facilitate commodity flow in bilateral border trade, sources with the Rail Transportation Department said on Friday.
Rail track tracing work has been carried out and the railway station is planned to lie at Sone Kwe village near Lashio-Muse Union Road, the sources said.
Since decades ago, trading goods were transported by motor cars and trucks and once the railroad is completed, transportation would become rapid and help boost bilateral border trade, it said.
Meanwhile, commercial banks from Myanmar and its counterparts from Ruili and Jie Guo will establish a direct banking system starting next year for prompt trade transaction in bilateral payments which were settled in cash before, an earlier report said.
Myanmar has five border trade points with China, namely Muse, Lwejei, Laizar, Chinshwehaw and Kambaiti established since 1998.
Moreover, the country will add one more border trade zone in Yan Lone Chai township of Kokang region, the country's northern Shan State, the other report said.
The Myanmar-China border trade fair has been held annually and alternately in the two countries' border town of Muse (Myanmar) and Ruili (China) since 2001 and the last event was in Muse in December 2008. This year, the two countries' border trade fair is set for Dec. 2-6 in Jie Guo (China).
Myanmar exports to China through Muse border trade zone agricultural 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 in return iron, steel, construction materials, machine and machine tools, computer an accessories, farm implements, fertilizer, raw materials and household utensils.
www.chinaview.cn 2009-11-20 20:24:33
YANGON, Nov. 20 (Xinhua) -- Myanmar will construct a new railroad to link Myanmar's border town of Muse with China's Jie Guo, Yunnan province to facilitate commodity flow in bilateral border trade, sources with the Rail Transportation Department said on Friday.
Rail track tracing work has been carried out and the railway station is planned to lie at Sone Kwe village near Lashio-Muse Union Road, the sources said.
Since decades ago, trading goods were transported by motor cars and trucks and once the railroad is completed, transportation would become rapid and help boost bilateral border trade, it said.
Meanwhile, commercial banks from Myanmar and its counterparts from Ruili and Jie Guo will establish a direct banking system starting next year for prompt trade transaction in bilateral payments which were settled in cash before, an earlier report said.
Myanmar has five border trade points with China, namely Muse, Lwejei, Laizar, Chinshwehaw and Kambaiti established since 1998.
Moreover, the country will add one more border trade zone in Yan Lone Chai township of Kokang region, the country's northern Shan State, the other report said.
The Myanmar-China border trade fair has been held annually and alternately in the two countries' border town of Muse (Myanmar) and Ruili (China) since 2001 and the last event was in Muse in December 2008. This year, the two countries' border trade fair is set for Dec. 2-6 in Jie Guo (China).
Myanmar exports to China through Muse border trade zone agricultural 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 in return iron, steel, construction materials, machine and machine tools, computer an accessories, farm implements, fertilizer, raw materials and household utensils.
*************************************************************
Myanmar, Laos sign two MoUs on visa exemption, double taxation avoidance
www.chinaview.cn 2009-11-20 22:35:36
YANGON, Nov. 20 (Xinhua) -- Myanmar and Laos Friday signed two memorandums of understanding in Nay Pyi Taw respectively on mutualvisa exemption for holders of diplomatic passport and avoidance of double taxation, the state-run Myanmar Radio and Television (MRTV)reported in a night broadcast.
The signing came shortly after Lao Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Thongloun Sisoulith met with Myanmar Prime Minister General Thein Sein.
On the same day, Vice-Chairman of the Myanmar State Peace and Development Council Vice Senior-General Maung Aye also met with Sisoulith.
The Lao deputy prime minister and foreign minister began his formal official goodwill visit to the new capital of Myanmar Thursday after he attended the 9th meeting of Myanmar-Lao Joint Commission for Bilateral Cooperation in Taunggyi, the capital of Myanmar's Shan state, on Wednesday.
That meeting was represented by Sisoulith from the Lao side, while Foreign Minister U Nyan Win from the Myanmar side.
The two sides discussed matters relating to further strengthening and cooperation between the two countries as well as enhancing in mutual cooperation in regional and international forums.
Sisoulith arrived Yangon on Tuesday for the meeting and then the visit to Nay Pyi Taw.
www.chinaview.cn 2009-11-20 22:35:36
YANGON, Nov. 20 (Xinhua) -- Myanmar and Laos Friday signed two memorandums of understanding in Nay Pyi Taw respectively on mutualvisa exemption for holders of diplomatic passport and avoidance of double taxation, the state-run Myanmar Radio and Television (MRTV)reported in a night broadcast.
The signing came shortly after Lao Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Thongloun Sisoulith met with Myanmar Prime Minister General Thein Sein.
On the same day, Vice-Chairman of the Myanmar State Peace and Development Council Vice Senior-General Maung Aye also met with Sisoulith.
The Lao deputy prime minister and foreign minister began his formal official goodwill visit to the new capital of Myanmar Thursday after he attended the 9th meeting of Myanmar-Lao Joint Commission for Bilateral Cooperation in Taunggyi, the capital of Myanmar's Shan state, on Wednesday.
That meeting was represented by Sisoulith from the Lao side, while Foreign Minister U Nyan Win from the Myanmar side.
The two sides discussed matters relating to further strengthening and cooperation between the two countries as well as enhancing in mutual cooperation in regional and international forums.
Sisoulith arrived Yangon on Tuesday for the meeting and then the visit to Nay Pyi Taw.
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Myanmar holds ceremony to mark Universal Children's Day
www.chinaview.cn 2009-11-20 19:54:22
YANGON, Nov. 20 (Xinhua) -- Myanmar holds a ceremony in Nay PyiTaw Friday to mark the 20th anniversary of the signing of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, an official report reaching here from the new capital said.
The ceremony, jointly sponsored by the Myanmar Ministry of Social Welfare, Relief and Resettlement and the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF), was attended by Minister Major-General Maung Maung Swe and Resident Representative of the UNICEF Ramesh Shrestha.
A prize presentation ceremony was attached to honor winners in the photo contest marking the event.
The photo contest was jointly launched by the Myanmar Photographers Association and the UNICEF.
Under four titles, the contest featured healthy children's life, children and education, children in danger, and children and natural disaster.
The prizes for winners are 700,000 Kyats (over 660 U.S. dollars) for the first prize, 500,000 Kyats (over 470 dollars) for second prize, 300,000 Kyats (over 285 dollars) for third prize, followed by other consolation prizes.
The UN agreement on children's rights was signed in Nov. 20, 1989 and Myanmar ratified it in 1991.
www.chinaview.cn 2009-11-20 19:54:22
YANGON, Nov. 20 (Xinhua) -- Myanmar holds a ceremony in Nay PyiTaw Friday to mark the 20th anniversary of the signing of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, an official report reaching here from the new capital said.
The ceremony, jointly sponsored by the Myanmar Ministry of Social Welfare, Relief and Resettlement and the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF), was attended by Minister Major-General Maung Maung Swe and Resident Representative of the UNICEF Ramesh Shrestha.
A prize presentation ceremony was attached to honor winners in the photo contest marking the event.
The photo contest was jointly launched by the Myanmar Photographers Association and the UNICEF.
Under four titles, the contest featured healthy children's life, children and education, children in danger, and children and natural disaster.
The prizes for winners are 700,000 Kyats (over 660 U.S. dollars) for the first prize, 500,000 Kyats (over 470 dollars) for second prize, 300,000 Kyats (over 285 dollars) for third prize, followed by other consolation prizes.
The UN agreement on children's rights was signed in Nov. 20, 1989 and Myanmar ratified it in 1991.
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Offshore Magazine - HHI to build Myanmar offshore/onshore complex
Published: Nov 20, 2009
Offshore staff
ULSAN, South Korea -- Daewoo International has awarded Hyundai Heavy Industries (HHI) a $1.4 billion construction contract for the SHWE gas project offshore Myanmar.
SHWE involves development of blocks A-1 and A-3 in the Bay of Bengal, 70 km (43.5 mi) west of Myanmar. A 40,000-ton (36,287-metric ton) platform will produce and process up to 500MMcf/d of gas from fields in these blocks before transporting it to Ramree Island through a subsea pipeline. The gas will eventually be exported to China via an onshore terminal.
Under a turnkey contract, HHI will be responsible for engineering, procurement, construction, installation, and commissioning of the platform, the subsea production system, the subsea pipelines, the terminal and associated jetty and supply base.
Daewoo and HHI are due to sign the contract in mid-December with the approval of Myanmar’s government. The project is scheduled for completion by March 2013.
Published: Nov 20, 2009
Offshore staff
ULSAN, South Korea -- Daewoo International has awarded Hyundai Heavy Industries (HHI) a $1.4 billion construction contract for the SHWE gas project offshore Myanmar.
SHWE involves development of blocks A-1 and A-3 in the Bay of Bengal, 70 km (43.5 mi) west of Myanmar. A 40,000-ton (36,287-metric ton) platform will produce and process up to 500MMcf/d of gas from fields in these blocks before transporting it to Ramree Island through a subsea pipeline. The gas will eventually be exported to China via an onshore terminal.
Under a turnkey contract, HHI will be responsible for engineering, procurement, construction, installation, and commissioning of the platform, the subsea production system, the subsea pipelines, the terminal and associated jetty and supply base.
Daewoo and HHI are due to sign the contract in mid-December with the approval of Myanmar’s government. The project is scheduled for completion by March 2013.
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Opinion: COMMENTARY
Bangkok Post - Nuclear or bust! say the power hungry
Published: 20/11/2009 at 12:00 AM
Newspaper section: News
Their figures do comfort us. The results of a recent international survey on corruption might be disheartening for many Thais. This year, our country is ranked by Transparency International as the fourth most corrupt in Southeast Asia (only Burma, Cambodia and Laos have beaten us), the tenth in Asia and 84th in the whole world.
But let's scan a little more of the TI's corruption index table. Look at the line above. See our big brother China up there? For Asia, we are only one notch higher in being perceived as (more) corrupt than our Chinese buddy. (Incidentally, our score 3.4 out of 10 is exactly the same as India's, another Asian superpower). All of a sudden, we are not doing so badly, eh? Being placed more or less in the same class as two giants, regionally and globally, is not an accolade you earn every day.
Thus another report about our collaboration with China to develop nuclear technology is only more of the same trend. We have long sought to be a big player like the Chinese, who want to be like the Indians who have already gone nuclear (and have been engaging bloodily in a protracted conflict with neighbouring Pakistan for ages).
Security - military or energy-wise - is thus deemed a requisite. So, early this week, the Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand signed a memorandum of understanding with China Guangdong Nuclear Power Group and CLP Holding Co. For the next three years, Thai engineers will undergo a thorough brainwashing, oops, schooling on how the Chinese could have made nuclear reactors a reality, something that has been vehemently opposed in this Kingdom for years.
At present, China is at the very top in its "go nuclear" ambitions. Out of 52 reactor projects "under construction" around the world, the Chinese claim 16. The statistics are intriguing considering how most other major powers have significantly slowed down their N-pursuits, building one or two more plants at most.
But China is far more power hungry (no pun intended). In 2006, they forecast that another 30,000 to 50,000 megawatts would be generated by nuclear reactors by the year 2020. How they are going to achieve that lofty target is a story perhaps only the Chinese could write.
In a session on nuclear policy held at Thailand's Parliament last month, nuclear expert Mycle Schneider pointed out how China used to be plagued by the "reactors-that-have-been-forever-under-construction" syndrome, a disease that has contributed to the tremendous overrun costs of nuclear power projects worldwide (and prompted a few utilities to go totally bankrupt). Their 1985 forecast to generate 20,000 MWs from nuclear reactors by 2000 turned out only 2,168 MWs, or 11% of the original goal. They managed to do a bit better a decade later, churning out 10,282 MWs by 2009. Schneider said it was not known how the Chinese could have upped the generation rate that fast, although he quoted a senior Chinese official who warned that perhaps China should not "go too fast" out of concern for safety issues. For Schneider, it is already "stunning" to witness 16(!) units in parallel construction (whatever stage they are actually in is another story).
"In China and India, there is no transparency whatsoever, no access to information that would allow [impartial] judgement on the [construction] delay," Schneider told the Thai Parliament.
So far our government has been an exemplary, dutiful student of China, following the dragon's example almost step by step. Worthy of note is how Thailand's nuclear power development programme was brought to life during a military regime set up after the Sept 19, 2006 coup. The national Power Development Plan in 2007 (as well as the revised version) put nuclear power as a constant must-have, regardless of the predictions of future economic scenarios. There is very little regard for public participation, let alone consultation with the communities earmarked as potential sites for the up-and-coming power plants.
A huge amount of our taxpayers' money has been speedily allocated to resuscitate an industry which otherwise is on the decline in most G8 countries. A new unit was set up with the explicit mandate to promote nuclear energy and Thai officers sent on overseas study trips; the Chinese deal is only the latest in the series. Electricity-guzzling malls have been turned into venues for "educational" fairs where N-energy is cast as a knight to save Thailand from an energy crisis (with over 600 million baht earmarked for publicity during 2008-2010). And there is a plan to integrate nuclear power into the school curriculum, too. No doubt by then our future generations will be "cool" about having N-reactors right next to their homes.
Vasana Chinvarakorn is a senior writer for Outlook.
Bangkok Post - Nuclear or bust! say the power hungry
Published: 20/11/2009 at 12:00 AM
Newspaper section: News
Their figures do comfort us. The results of a recent international survey on corruption might be disheartening for many Thais. This year, our country is ranked by Transparency International as the fourth most corrupt in Southeast Asia (only Burma, Cambodia and Laos have beaten us), the tenth in Asia and 84th in the whole world.
But let's scan a little more of the TI's corruption index table. Look at the line above. See our big brother China up there? For Asia, we are only one notch higher in being perceived as (more) corrupt than our Chinese buddy. (Incidentally, our score 3.4 out of 10 is exactly the same as India's, another Asian superpower). All of a sudden, we are not doing so badly, eh? Being placed more or less in the same class as two giants, regionally and globally, is not an accolade you earn every day.
Thus another report about our collaboration with China to develop nuclear technology is only more of the same trend. We have long sought to be a big player like the Chinese, who want to be like the Indians who have already gone nuclear (and have been engaging bloodily in a protracted conflict with neighbouring Pakistan for ages).
Security - military or energy-wise - is thus deemed a requisite. So, early this week, the Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand signed a memorandum of understanding with China Guangdong Nuclear Power Group and CLP Holding Co. For the next three years, Thai engineers will undergo a thorough brainwashing, oops, schooling on how the Chinese could have made nuclear reactors a reality, something that has been vehemently opposed in this Kingdom for years.
At present, China is at the very top in its "go nuclear" ambitions. Out of 52 reactor projects "under construction" around the world, the Chinese claim 16. The statistics are intriguing considering how most other major powers have significantly slowed down their N-pursuits, building one or two more plants at most.
But China is far more power hungry (no pun intended). In 2006, they forecast that another 30,000 to 50,000 megawatts would be generated by nuclear reactors by the year 2020. How they are going to achieve that lofty target is a story perhaps only the Chinese could write.
In a session on nuclear policy held at Thailand's Parliament last month, nuclear expert Mycle Schneider pointed out how China used to be plagued by the "reactors-that-have-been-forever-under-construction" syndrome, a disease that has contributed to the tremendous overrun costs of nuclear power projects worldwide (and prompted a few utilities to go totally bankrupt). Their 1985 forecast to generate 20,000 MWs from nuclear reactors by 2000 turned out only 2,168 MWs, or 11% of the original goal. They managed to do a bit better a decade later, churning out 10,282 MWs by 2009. Schneider said it was not known how the Chinese could have upped the generation rate that fast, although he quoted a senior Chinese official who warned that perhaps China should not "go too fast" out of concern for safety issues. For Schneider, it is already "stunning" to witness 16(!) units in parallel construction (whatever stage they are actually in is another story).
"In China and India, there is no transparency whatsoever, no access to information that would allow [impartial] judgement on the [construction] delay," Schneider told the Thai Parliament.
So far our government has been an exemplary, dutiful student of China, following the dragon's example almost step by step. Worthy of note is how Thailand's nuclear power development programme was brought to life during a military regime set up after the Sept 19, 2006 coup. The national Power Development Plan in 2007 (as well as the revised version) put nuclear power as a constant must-have, regardless of the predictions of future economic scenarios. There is very little regard for public participation, let alone consultation with the communities earmarked as potential sites for the up-and-coming power plants.
A huge amount of our taxpayers' money has been speedily allocated to resuscitate an industry which otherwise is on the decline in most G8 countries. A new unit was set up with the explicit mandate to promote nuclear energy and Thai officers sent on overseas study trips; the Chinese deal is only the latest in the series. Electricity-guzzling malls have been turned into venues for "educational" fairs where N-energy is cast as a knight to save Thailand from an energy crisis (with over 600 million baht earmarked for publicity during 2008-2010). And there is a plan to integrate nuclear power into the school curriculum, too. No doubt by then our future generations will be "cool" about having N-reactors right next to their homes.
Vasana Chinvarakorn is a senior writer for Outlook.
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Japan Today - Hatoyama calls for UNHCR to support plan to accept Myanmar refugees
Friday 20th November, 12:26 AM JST
TOKYO — Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama on Thursday called on the U.N. refugee agency to support Japan’s plan to accept Myanmar refugees from fiscal 2010, the Japanese Foreign Ministry said.
During the meeting with U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees Antonio Guterres, Hatoyama was quoted as saying that Japan needs the agency’s continued cooperation for it to make a “success” of its acceptance of Myanmar refugees under a third-country resettlement program starting in the next fiscal year from April 2010.
Friday 20th November, 12:26 AM JST
TOKYO — Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama on Thursday called on the U.N. refugee agency to support Japan’s plan to accept Myanmar refugees from fiscal 2010, the Japanese Foreign Ministry said.
During the meeting with U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees Antonio Guterres, Hatoyama was quoted as saying that Japan needs the agency’s continued cooperation for it to make a “success” of its acceptance of Myanmar refugees under a third-country resettlement program starting in the next fiscal year from April 2010.
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The Irrawaddy - Myint Swe: The Tatmadaw’s Next Top Dog?
By MIN LWIN - Friday, November 20, 2009
Lt-Gen Myint Swe is being widely tipped to succeed Snr-Gen Than Shwe as the Burmese army's next commander in chief, according to several dissidents in exile and Burma observers.
Rumors have circulated that Myint Swe is junta strongman Than Shwe’s favored choice to take over from him. Myint Swe was recently promoted to quartermaster general of the Tatmadaw, Burma’s armed forces, and is also commander of the Bureau of Special Operations 5.
According to analysts, Myint Swe’s appointment indicates that the junta chief intends to pave the way for him to assume a top-ranking position in the military's hierarchy.
Traditionally, a quartermaster in the Tatmadaw is among the names in the hat who could feasibly be promoted to commander in chief of Burma’s armed forces.
Myint Swe reportedly caught Than Shwe’s eye in 2002 when he was involved in the arrests of late dictator Gen Ne Win’s family after an alleged coup conspiracy was uncovered. Then, in October 2004, Myint Swe proved his loyalty to Than Shwe by heading the purge against former military intelligence chief Prime Minister Gen Khin Nyunt.
Myint Swe became a second lieutenant officer after he graduated from the 15th intake of the Defence Services Academy in 1971. He was promoted to commanding officer of Infantry Battalion 404 and quickly rose through the ranks, becoming commanding officer of Light Infantry Division 11 overseeing security in Rangoon. He then served as commander of Southwest Military Region in Bassein, Irrawaddy Division, before moving to the War Office in the late 1990s where he worked directly under Than Shwe and Vice Snr-Gen Maung Aye, reputedly becoming their close confidante.
In 2001, Myint Swe made brigadier-general as the commander of the Southeast Region when he succeeded Maj-Gen Thiha Thura Sit Maung who had died in a helicopter crash. As a divisional commander and a favorite of Burma’s “first lady,” Than Shwe’s wife Kyaing Kyaing, Myint Swe took over Rangoon Command and was promoted to major-general.
As a commander in Rangoon and chief of Military Affairs Security, he failed to catch the culprits when the former capital was rocked by a series of bomb blasts in 2005, which killed 21 people and injured dozens more. Nonetheless, his reputation and loyalty within the military elite went unquestioned.
As chief of both the Bureau of Special Operations 5 and Military Affairs Security, Myint Swe undoubtedly played a ruthless role in the crackdown and handling of monk-led demonstrations in September 2007.
By MIN LWIN - Friday, November 20, 2009
Lt-Gen Myint Swe is being widely tipped to succeed Snr-Gen Than Shwe as the Burmese army's next commander in chief, according to several dissidents in exile and Burma observers.
Rumors have circulated that Myint Swe is junta strongman Than Shwe’s favored choice to take over from him. Myint Swe was recently promoted to quartermaster general of the Tatmadaw, Burma’s armed forces, and is also commander of the Bureau of Special Operations 5.
According to analysts, Myint Swe’s appointment indicates that the junta chief intends to pave the way for him to assume a top-ranking position in the military's hierarchy.
Traditionally, a quartermaster in the Tatmadaw is among the names in the hat who could feasibly be promoted to commander in chief of Burma’s armed forces.
Myint Swe reportedly caught Than Shwe’s eye in 2002 when he was involved in the arrests of late dictator Gen Ne Win’s family after an alleged coup conspiracy was uncovered. Then, in October 2004, Myint Swe proved his loyalty to Than Shwe by heading the purge against former military intelligence chief Prime Minister Gen Khin Nyunt.
Myint Swe became a second lieutenant officer after he graduated from the 15th intake of the Defence Services Academy in 1971. He was promoted to commanding officer of Infantry Battalion 404 and quickly rose through the ranks, becoming commanding officer of Light Infantry Division 11 overseeing security in Rangoon. He then served as commander of Southwest Military Region in Bassein, Irrawaddy Division, before moving to the War Office in the late 1990s where he worked directly under Than Shwe and Vice Snr-Gen Maung Aye, reputedly becoming their close confidante.
In 2001, Myint Swe made brigadier-general as the commander of the Southeast Region when he succeeded Maj-Gen Thiha Thura Sit Maung who had died in a helicopter crash. As a divisional commander and a favorite of Burma’s “first lady,” Than Shwe’s wife Kyaing Kyaing, Myint Swe took over Rangoon Command and was promoted to major-general.
As a commander in Rangoon and chief of Military Affairs Security, he failed to catch the culprits when the former capital was rocked by a series of bomb blasts in 2005, which killed 21 people and injured dozens more. Nonetheless, his reputation and loyalty within the military elite went unquestioned.
As chief of both the Bureau of Special Operations 5 and Military Affairs Security, Myint Swe undoubtedly played a ruthless role in the crackdown and handling of monk-led demonstrations in September 2007.
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The Irrawaddy - Handcuffed Statue Has the Experts Talking
By ARKAR MOE - Friday, November 20, 2009
A handcuffed statue of a revered woman who exists only in Burma’s spirit world is at the center of debate and speculation among even the country’s intellectual elite.
“It is very interesting and mysterious story,” said Khin Maung Kyi, a writer on cultural affairs.
He and an increasing number of others interested in occult practices in Burma are following the story of a statue in Rangoon’s Bo Ta Htaung Pagoda which is handcuffed every night between 9 p.m. and 6 a.m.
“It is a sign of superstition,” said Khin Maung Kyi. “So we need to watch and observe it.”
The statue is of a prominent nat, or spirit, named Mya Nan Nwe and revered for the good deeds she is said to perform in the name of Buddhism. It is believed that she can transform herself into a beautiful girl and that she is the guardian of a treasure trove that she uses to build pagodas and other religious buildings.
Mya Nan Nwe is also known as Thike Nan Shin (a guardian spirit) and Amadaw (royal elder sister). All three names inspire reverence among a large number of devotees—Mee Mee, a university student, is a typical follower who visits the statue whenever she needs solace.
So why are the hands of Mya Nan Nwe’s statue, draped in green robes, handcuffed every night? Speculation is rife, but the most popular rumor says that the statue—and perhaps another one at a second Rangoon pagoda—is handcuffed on the orders of junta leader Snr-Gen Than Shwe.
Mya Nan Nwe is said to have appeared in her green robes before Than Shwe in his sleep and to have warned him of the bad consequences of his suppression of the Burmese people and of the country’s monks.
Ye Aung, an astrologer in Upper Burma, said Than Shwe could be linking Mya Nan Nwe with pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi—“So handcuffing the statue might be intended to suppress Suu Kyi and perhaps bring misfortune to her.”
Snr-Gen Than Shwe and many members of the ruling military are deeply superstitious and rely on astrologers and other soothsayers to advise them. Than Shwe is known to seek the advice of astrologers when making major policy decisions, and his wife Kyaing Kyaing is reputedly even more superstitious and a long-time believer in nats.
She and her husband, and many other members of the military elite, also indulge in yadaya, a kind of voodoo said to ward off ill-fortune, and are said to have employed its rituals in an occult bid to suppress the influence of Suu Kyi.
Kyaing Kyaing is said to have been told by an astrologer in the 1980s that her husband would one day head the government. The astrologer, a monk, also told Kyaing Kyaing that her husband had been a king in his past life.
After the first prediction came true, Than Shwe became interested in astrology and yadaya and began to seek the advice of astrologers and soothsayers—including Rangoon’s most famous fortune-teller, ET (also known as E Thi).
In October, the All Burma Monks Alliance excommunicated Than Shwe, naming him “Mecchadhtti,” meaning a man who is ignorant with no idea about religion.
A monk at the International Theravada Buddhist University in Rangoon said Than Shwe and other members of the junta “are very superstitious and all their ideas and decisions disillusioned. According to Buddha’s Dhamma, bad people see only bad omens and their minds are always insecure and they do only misdeeds.”
By ARKAR MOE - Friday, November 20, 2009
A handcuffed statue of a revered woman who exists only in Burma’s spirit world is at the center of debate and speculation among even the country’s intellectual elite.
“It is very interesting and mysterious story,” said Khin Maung Kyi, a writer on cultural affairs.
He and an increasing number of others interested in occult practices in Burma are following the story of a statue in Rangoon’s Bo Ta Htaung Pagoda which is handcuffed every night between 9 p.m. and 6 a.m.
“It is a sign of superstition,” said Khin Maung Kyi. “So we need to watch and observe it.”
The statue is of a prominent nat, or spirit, named Mya Nan Nwe and revered for the good deeds she is said to perform in the name of Buddhism. It is believed that she can transform herself into a beautiful girl and that she is the guardian of a treasure trove that she uses to build pagodas and other religious buildings.
Mya Nan Nwe is also known as Thike Nan Shin (a guardian spirit) and Amadaw (royal elder sister). All three names inspire reverence among a large number of devotees—Mee Mee, a university student, is a typical follower who visits the statue whenever she needs solace.
So why are the hands of Mya Nan Nwe’s statue, draped in green robes, handcuffed every night? Speculation is rife, but the most popular rumor says that the statue—and perhaps another one at a second Rangoon pagoda—is handcuffed on the orders of junta leader Snr-Gen Than Shwe.
Mya Nan Nwe is said to have appeared in her green robes before Than Shwe in his sleep and to have warned him of the bad consequences of his suppression of the Burmese people and of the country’s monks.
Ye Aung, an astrologer in Upper Burma, said Than Shwe could be linking Mya Nan Nwe with pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi—“So handcuffing the statue might be intended to suppress Suu Kyi and perhaps bring misfortune to her.”
Snr-Gen Than Shwe and many members of the ruling military are deeply superstitious and rely on astrologers and other soothsayers to advise them. Than Shwe is known to seek the advice of astrologers when making major policy decisions, and his wife Kyaing Kyaing is reputedly even more superstitious and a long-time believer in nats.
She and her husband, and many other members of the military elite, also indulge in yadaya, a kind of voodoo said to ward off ill-fortune, and are said to have employed its rituals in an occult bid to suppress the influence of Suu Kyi.
Kyaing Kyaing is said to have been told by an astrologer in the 1980s that her husband would one day head the government. The astrologer, a monk, also told Kyaing Kyaing that her husband had been a king in his past life.
After the first prediction came true, Than Shwe became interested in astrology and yadaya and began to seek the advice of astrologers and soothsayers—including Rangoon’s most famous fortune-teller, ET (also known as E Thi).
In October, the All Burma Monks Alliance excommunicated Than Shwe, naming him “Mecchadhtti,” meaning a man who is ignorant with no idea about religion.
A monk at the International Theravada Buddhist University in Rangoon said Than Shwe and other members of the junta “are very superstitious and all their ideas and decisions disillusioned. According to Buddha’s Dhamma, bad people see only bad omens and their minds are always insecure and they do only misdeeds.”
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Burmese commanders arrive in Naypyitaw for quarterly meet
by Salai Pi Pi
Friday, 20 November 2009 20:31
New Delhi (Mizzima) – Commanders of Burma’s military commands arrived in the new jungle capital of Naypyitaw, as the ruling junta is set to commence its year-end quarterly meeting.
Sources close to the military establishment in Naypyitaw told Mizzima that the junta supremo Senior General Than Shwe had directed the Commanders to reach Naypyitaw by November 20 for the quarterly meeting, scheduled to begin in the coming week.
The quarterly meeting, according to the source, is likely to come up with a reshuffle among high ranking officials including re-appointment of cabinet ministers and allow old ministers, who are to contest the 2010 elections, to retire.
In the wake of the meeting, the junta is likely to form a political party, which will contest for office in the 2010 elections. The party will be backed by the junta’s civilian organization – the Union Solidarity and Development Association (USDA) – whose patron is the junta chief Than Shwe.
Aung Kyaw Zaw, a Burmese observer on the Sino-Burma border said the ensuing quarterly meeting will be more significant than previous meetings, as it will mainly focus on the details of next year’s elections.
“In this meeting, they will not only review the tasks they have accomplished this year but will also discuss matters related to the election,” Aung Kyaw Zaw told Mizzima on Friday.
He also said the agenda on transforming cease-fire groups into the Border Guard Force will be included in the meeting.
“They will possibly decide on how to deal with groups like KIO and UWSA, which refuse to transform into BGF,” Aung Kyaw Zaw said.
While agreeing that there would be some changes following the meeting, Win Min, another Burmese analyst in Thailand said he did not expect that there would be a major reshuffle among the Generals but there is a likelihood of a few division commanders being promoted.
“I don’t think there will be a major change in the Burmese Army. It is possible that some division commanders with Major-General tags will get promoted to Lieutenant General,” said Win Min, but said he is unsure who will get promoted.
Meanwhile, the pro-junta social organization USDA is also set to begin its nation-wide conference on Monday at its head quarter in Dakhina Thiri Town near Naypyitaw.
“I also heard that some of USDA’s candidates will contest the elections,” Win Min said.
by Salai Pi Pi
Friday, 20 November 2009 20:31
New Delhi (Mizzima) – Commanders of Burma’s military commands arrived in the new jungle capital of Naypyitaw, as the ruling junta is set to commence its year-end quarterly meeting.
Sources close to the military establishment in Naypyitaw told Mizzima that the junta supremo Senior General Than Shwe had directed the Commanders to reach Naypyitaw by November 20 for the quarterly meeting, scheduled to begin in the coming week.
The quarterly meeting, according to the source, is likely to come up with a reshuffle among high ranking officials including re-appointment of cabinet ministers and allow old ministers, who are to contest the 2010 elections, to retire.
In the wake of the meeting, the junta is likely to form a political party, which will contest for office in the 2010 elections. The party will be backed by the junta’s civilian organization – the Union Solidarity and Development Association (USDA) – whose patron is the junta chief Than Shwe.
Aung Kyaw Zaw, a Burmese observer on the Sino-Burma border said the ensuing quarterly meeting will be more significant than previous meetings, as it will mainly focus on the details of next year’s elections.
“In this meeting, they will not only review the tasks they have accomplished this year but will also discuss matters related to the election,” Aung Kyaw Zaw told Mizzima on Friday.
He also said the agenda on transforming cease-fire groups into the Border Guard Force will be included in the meeting.
“They will possibly decide on how to deal with groups like KIO and UWSA, which refuse to transform into BGF,” Aung Kyaw Zaw said.
While agreeing that there would be some changes following the meeting, Win Min, another Burmese analyst in Thailand said he did not expect that there would be a major reshuffle among the Generals but there is a likelihood of a few division commanders being promoted.
“I don’t think there will be a major change in the Burmese Army. It is possible that some division commanders with Major-General tags will get promoted to Lieutenant General,” said Win Min, but said he is unsure who will get promoted.
Meanwhile, the pro-junta social organization USDA is also set to begin its nation-wide conference on Monday at its head quarter in Dakhina Thiri Town near Naypyitaw.
“I also heard that some of USDA’s candidates will contest the elections,” Win Min said.
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US hopes Suu Kyi’s proposal will pave way for political dialogue
by Mungpi
Friday, 20 November 2009 21:13
New Delhi (Mizzima) – The United States on Thursday said it is aware of detained Burmese opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi’s proposal to the ruling junta supremo Snr. Gen Than Shwe and hoped that it would lead to a dialogue between the two.
“We’re aware of the letter that she’s written to the senior general, and we hope that this will be the beginning of a dialogue that will lead to her release,” Ian Kelly, spokesperson of the State Department said during a regular press briefing on Thursday in Washington.
Kelly was referring to Aung San Suu Kyi’s letter sent to Than Shwe by her party spokesperson on November 11.
The detained Burmese Nobel Peace Laureate, in her letter, proposed a meeting with Than Shwe in order to further discuss activities that will benefit the nation. She also requested to allow her to pay homage to aging party leaders at their homes and a meeting with her party central executive committee.
This was the second letter that the Burmese pro-democracy leader has sent to Than Shwe. The first letter in September met with a positive response, where she was allowed to meet diplomats from the United States, European Union, and Australia as she had requested.
Opposition leaders, including ethnic politicians, have expressed hope that the correspondence between the military chief and Aung San Suu Kyi would lead to positive developments.
Aye Thar Aung of the Committee Representing Peoples’ Parliament, a group formed with various political parties, earlier told Mizzima, “I think Aung San Suu Kyi’s proposal is the right choice and is a smart move. But this needs to take the direction of national reconciliation.”
The United States, since announcing its new policy, has begun meeting Burmese officials, with a high-level delegation visiting the Southeast Asian nation in early November.
The new US policy, which for the first time in over a decade opened a channel of engagement, demanded that Burma’s military rulers improve human rights situations and implement political reforms, before it can lift sanctions, which are still in place.
Kelly said, the US has begun “a very focused” dialogue with Burma’s military regime. The dialogue is focused on the need for the Southeast Asian nation to open up its political system for more debate and discussion.
“And I think one of the best steps that they could take to show that they [the junta] are willing to open up their system is to release political prisoners. There are over 2,000 of them. And of course, we’ve called, in particular, for the release of Aung San Suu Kyi,” Kelly added.
by Mungpi
Friday, 20 November 2009 21:13
New Delhi (Mizzima) – The United States on Thursday said it is aware of detained Burmese opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi’s proposal to the ruling junta supremo Snr. Gen Than Shwe and hoped that it would lead to a dialogue between the two.
“We’re aware of the letter that she’s written to the senior general, and we hope that this will be the beginning of a dialogue that will lead to her release,” Ian Kelly, spokesperson of the State Department said during a regular press briefing on Thursday in Washington.
Kelly was referring to Aung San Suu Kyi’s letter sent to Than Shwe by her party spokesperson on November 11.
The detained Burmese Nobel Peace Laureate, in her letter, proposed a meeting with Than Shwe in order to further discuss activities that will benefit the nation. She also requested to allow her to pay homage to aging party leaders at their homes and a meeting with her party central executive committee.
This was the second letter that the Burmese pro-democracy leader has sent to Than Shwe. The first letter in September met with a positive response, where she was allowed to meet diplomats from the United States, European Union, and Australia as she had requested.
Opposition leaders, including ethnic politicians, have expressed hope that the correspondence between the military chief and Aung San Suu Kyi would lead to positive developments.
Aye Thar Aung of the Committee Representing Peoples’ Parliament, a group formed with various political parties, earlier told Mizzima, “I think Aung San Suu Kyi’s proposal is the right choice and is a smart move. But this needs to take the direction of national reconciliation.”
The United States, since announcing its new policy, has begun meeting Burmese officials, with a high-level delegation visiting the Southeast Asian nation in early November.
The new US policy, which for the first time in over a decade opened a channel of engagement, demanded that Burma’s military rulers improve human rights situations and implement political reforms, before it can lift sanctions, which are still in place.
Kelly said, the US has begun “a very focused” dialogue with Burma’s military regime. The dialogue is focused on the need for the Southeast Asian nation to open up its political system for more debate and discussion.
“And I think one of the best steps that they could take to show that they [the junta] are willing to open up their system is to release political prisoners. There are over 2,000 of them. And of course, we’ve called, in particular, for the release of Aung San Suu Kyi,” Kelly added.
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