WHITE HOUSE NOTEBOOK: U.S. president stayed far away from Myanmar officials.
By MARK S. SMITH – 1 day ago
SINGAPORE (AP) — Also from the picture-is-worth-a-thousand-words department: Obama's class photo with leaders of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations.
Mighty efforts were made to ensure the president and the official head of Myanmar's government, Prime Minister Gen. Thein Sein, were nowhere near each other. Meaning there was no "Hugo Chavez moment," as when Obama was photographed greeting the anti-American Venezuelan leader at a summit in Trinidad-Tobago.
When Obama met with 10 leaders of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations for a group photograph, the U.S. president stayed far away. Similarly, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton didn't speak to officials from Myanmar.
The regime in Myanmar, also known as Burma, has long been shunned by Washington as a brutal dictatorship. Obama's meeting was the first ever by a U.S. president and all 10 ASEAN leaders, and reflected a new carrot-and-stick approach with Myanmar aiming to encourage the release of political prisoners.
It's a strategy, though, that doesn't include grip-and-grin pictures.
There were, however, handshakes — of a unique ASEAN kind.
Obama was prevailed upon to join the special "ASEAN handshake," which has leaders crossing arms across the chest and grasping the hand of the leaders on either side. This accomplished, Obama flashed a wide smile to photographers — but never once made eye contact with the Burmese leader while cameras were in the room.
One of Obama's national security aides, Ben Rhodes, told reporters Obama raised Myanmar during the closed-door meeting — with Thein Sein sitting just seats away — and again called for freedom of political prisoners, including Aung San Suu Kyi. Suu Kyi, 64, has been detained for 14 of the past 20 years.
"Privately, he said the exact same thing he said publicly," said Rhodes, a deputy national security adviser.
While journalists were around, though, the leaders smiled for the cameras and their aides ushered the interlopers from the room.
AP White House Correspondent Jennifer Loven and Associated Press writer Charles Hurtzler contributed to this report.
By MARK S. SMITH – 1 day ago
SINGAPORE (AP) — Also from the picture-is-worth-a-thousand-words department: Obama's class photo with leaders of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations.
Mighty efforts were made to ensure the president and the official head of Myanmar's government, Prime Minister Gen. Thein Sein, were nowhere near each other. Meaning there was no "Hugo Chavez moment," as when Obama was photographed greeting the anti-American Venezuelan leader at a summit in Trinidad-Tobago.
When Obama met with 10 leaders of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations for a group photograph, the U.S. president stayed far away. Similarly, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton didn't speak to officials from Myanmar.
The regime in Myanmar, also known as Burma, has long been shunned by Washington as a brutal dictatorship. Obama's meeting was the first ever by a U.S. president and all 10 ASEAN leaders, and reflected a new carrot-and-stick approach with Myanmar aiming to encourage the release of political prisoners.
It's a strategy, though, that doesn't include grip-and-grin pictures.
There were, however, handshakes — of a unique ASEAN kind.
Obama was prevailed upon to join the special "ASEAN handshake," which has leaders crossing arms across the chest and grasping the hand of the leaders on either side. This accomplished, Obama flashed a wide smile to photographers — but never once made eye contact with the Burmese leader while cameras were in the room.
One of Obama's national security aides, Ben Rhodes, told reporters Obama raised Myanmar during the closed-door meeting — with Thein Sein sitting just seats away — and again called for freedom of political prisoners, including Aung San Suu Kyi. Suu Kyi, 64, has been detained for 14 of the past 20 years.
"Privately, he said the exact same thing he said publicly," said Rhodes, a deputy national security adviser.
While journalists were around, though, the leaders smiled for the cameras and their aides ushered the interlopers from the room.
AP White House Correspondent Jennifer Loven and Associated Press writer Charles Hurtzler contributed to this report.
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8 dead, dozens missing in Myanmar ferry accident
Mon Nov 16, 7:02 am ET
YANGON, Myanmar (AP) – A ferry carrying nearly 200 passengers sank after colliding with an oil barge in a river in Myanmar, killing at least eight and leaving more than three dozen missing, officials said Monday.
The motorized ferry "Nay Win Tun" carrying 176 people sank in the Ngawun River after the collision, 84 miles (134 kilometers) west of Yangon.
The officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to release information, said the accident in the Irrawaddy Delta occurred around 8 p.m. Sunday, and most of the passengers were farmers.
People living in the delta region, also known as the Ayeyarwady, often travel and transport goods by boat because of the low cost and inaccessibility of many areas by road.
Mon Nov 16, 7:02 am ET
YANGON, Myanmar (AP) – A ferry carrying nearly 200 passengers sank after colliding with an oil barge in a river in Myanmar, killing at least eight and leaving more than three dozen missing, officials said Monday.
The motorized ferry "Nay Win Tun" carrying 176 people sank in the Ngawun River after the collision, 84 miles (134 kilometers) west of Yangon.
The officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to release information, said the accident in the Irrawaddy Delta occurred around 8 p.m. Sunday, and most of the passengers were farmers.
People living in the delta region, also known as the Ayeyarwady, often travel and transport goods by boat because of the low cost and inaccessibility of many areas by road.
*******************************************************************
Myanmar's Suu Kyi seeks meeting with junta chief
Mon Nov 16, 9:55 am ET
YANGON, Myanmar (AP) – Myanmar's detained opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi has sent a letter to the head of the country's junta seeking a meeting to discuss how they can cooperate for the national interest, a spokesman for her party said Monday.
The initiative is the latest move is try to break the political deadlock that began when Suu Kyi's party won a 1990 general election. The military refused to allow it to take power and increased repression of the country's pro-democracy movement.
Suu Kyi's party has long sought a dialogue with the government, but its advances have mostly been spurned.
Nyan Win, spokesman of the National League for Democracy, said that in a letter last Wednesday to junta chief Senior Gen. Than Shwe, Suu Kyi also sought permission to meet at her home with other members of her party's central executive committee.
"Daw Aung Suu Kyi stated in her letter that she hoped to work in cooperation with the government in the interest of the country and to allow her to explain the matter to the Senior General," said Nyan Win, who told reporters that the letter will be released on Tuesday. 'Daw' is a term of respect used for older women.
Suu Kyi is not known to have met Than Shwe since 2002. He is reputed to harbor a deep dislike for the 64-year-old Nobel Peace laureate.
The junta's poor human rights record and failure to hand over power to a democratically elected government caused the United States and another Western nations to isolate it with economic and political sanctions. However, the Obama administration, acknowledging that such moves failed to foster reforms, is now seeking to engage it through high-level talks instead of simply applying sanctions.
Earlier this month, U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Kurt Campbell and another State Department official made the highest-level visit to Myanmar in 14 years.
At a meeting with Asian leaders last week in Singapore, President Barack Obama told the gathering — Myanmar Prime Minister Gen. Thein Sein included — that the junta must free Suu Kyi and other political prisoners.
At the same time, Suu Kyi has seemingly eased her hard line against the military government, which had included implicit support for Western sanctions.
This is the second letter Suu Kyi sent to the junta leader since she was sentenced to 18 months' more house arrest for harboring an uninvited American citizen.
In September, she wrote the junta leader stating her willingness to cooperate with the military government to have international sanctions lifted, and seeking permission to meet with Western diplomats in order to understand the positions of the governments that imposed the sanctions.
Suu Kyi was allowed to meet the diplomats. She was also permitted to meet her party senior leaders, but she declined the arrangement as authorities had excluded detained NLD vice-chairman Tin Oo from the meeting.
Asked if and when the NLD expected a response from the government, Nyan Win said: "If the meeting takes place (with the junta leader), I am hopeful that things will happen for the best."
Mon Nov 16, 9:55 am ET
YANGON, Myanmar (AP) – Myanmar's detained opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi has sent a letter to the head of the country's junta seeking a meeting to discuss how they can cooperate for the national interest, a spokesman for her party said Monday.
The initiative is the latest move is try to break the political deadlock that began when Suu Kyi's party won a 1990 general election. The military refused to allow it to take power and increased repression of the country's pro-democracy movement.
Suu Kyi's party has long sought a dialogue with the government, but its advances have mostly been spurned.
Nyan Win, spokesman of the National League for Democracy, said that in a letter last Wednesday to junta chief Senior Gen. Than Shwe, Suu Kyi also sought permission to meet at her home with other members of her party's central executive committee.
"Daw Aung Suu Kyi stated in her letter that she hoped to work in cooperation with the government in the interest of the country and to allow her to explain the matter to the Senior General," said Nyan Win, who told reporters that the letter will be released on Tuesday. 'Daw' is a term of respect used for older women.
Suu Kyi is not known to have met Than Shwe since 2002. He is reputed to harbor a deep dislike for the 64-year-old Nobel Peace laureate.
The junta's poor human rights record and failure to hand over power to a democratically elected government caused the United States and another Western nations to isolate it with economic and political sanctions. However, the Obama administration, acknowledging that such moves failed to foster reforms, is now seeking to engage it through high-level talks instead of simply applying sanctions.
Earlier this month, U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Kurt Campbell and another State Department official made the highest-level visit to Myanmar in 14 years.
At a meeting with Asian leaders last week in Singapore, President Barack Obama told the gathering — Myanmar Prime Minister Gen. Thein Sein included — that the junta must free Suu Kyi and other political prisoners.
At the same time, Suu Kyi has seemingly eased her hard line against the military government, which had included implicit support for Western sanctions.
This is the second letter Suu Kyi sent to the junta leader since she was sentenced to 18 months' more house arrest for harboring an uninvited American citizen.
In September, she wrote the junta leader stating her willingness to cooperate with the military government to have international sanctions lifted, and seeking permission to meet with Western diplomats in order to understand the positions of the governments that imposed the sanctions.
Suu Kyi was allowed to meet the diplomats. She was also permitted to meet her party senior leaders, but she declined the arrangement as authorities had excluded detained NLD vice-chairman Tin Oo from the meeting.
Asked if and when the NLD expected a response from the government, Nyan Win said: "If the meeting takes place (with the junta leader), I am hopeful that things will happen for the best."
*******************************************************************
US, ASEAN drop call for Suu Kyi's release
By VIJAY JOSHI, Associated Press Writer – Sun Nov 15, 1:35 am ET
SINGAPORE (AP) – President Barack Obama and his Southeast Asian counterparts are expected to drop a call for Myanmar's ruling generals to release political prisoners, including pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi, ahead of elections next year.
A joint statement to be issued after a summit Sunday between the U.S. president and leaders of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations — their first ever — devotes an entire section to Myanmar, a major irritant in relations between the two sides.
The leaders emphasized, "the general election to be held in Myanmar in 2010 must be conducted in a free, fair, inclusive and transparent manner in order to be credible to the international community," according to a final draft of the statement obtained by The Associated Press.
Obama, in a broad policy speech in Tokyo on Saturday, made a point of mentioning Suu Kyi by name.
But the leaders' statement does not make any mention of political prisoners — including Nobel Peace Prize laureate Suu Kyi, who has spent 14 of the last 20 years in detention. The omission is glaring, since the U.S. had insisted on the inclusion of such a clause in a previous draft.
According to the old draft, the U.S. wanted to insert a line calling on the junta to "help create the conditions for credible elections, including by releasing political prisoners and initiating a dialogue with political parties and ethnic minority groups."
The final draft only has leaders calling on the military government to initiate "a dialogue with all stakeholders to ensure that the process is fully inclusive."
The Myanmar government has said it intends to hold elections next year but has not clarified whether Suu Kyi will be allowed to participate. The junta refused to honor the result of the last elections in 1990 when Suu Kyi's party won by a landslide.
Although the United States recently eased its policy toward Myanmar by initiating talks with the generals, it has made clear economic sanctions won't be lifted until Suu Kyi is released.
Earlier this month, two senior U.S. diplomats went to Myanmar for talks, and also had a private meeting with Suu Kyi. It was the highest-level U.S. visit to Myanmar in 14 years.
Sunday's U.S.-ASEAN summit — held just after the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum ends — is the outcome of the new thinking in Washington that ignoring Myanmar will not yield any results, and relations with Southeast Asia should not be held hostage by the junta.
Previous administrations had refused to hold summits with ASEAN because it meant sitting at the same table with Myanmar, which is a member of the regional grouping.
On Sunday, Obama and Myanmar Prime Minister Gen. Thein Sein were likely to sit side by side, but it was not known if they would hold direct talks.
Analysts say the U.S. will continue to be tough, even in face-to-face talks.
"No one should expect America to simply say nice, soothing things to the generals in Myanmar," said Simon Tay of the Singapore Institute for International Affairs think tank.
"The signals that the Americans and all of us in Asia expect are for clean, decent elections in Myanmar."
By VIJAY JOSHI, Associated Press Writer – Sun Nov 15, 1:35 am ET
SINGAPORE (AP) – President Barack Obama and his Southeast Asian counterparts are expected to drop a call for Myanmar's ruling generals to release political prisoners, including pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi, ahead of elections next year.
A joint statement to be issued after a summit Sunday between the U.S. president and leaders of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations — their first ever — devotes an entire section to Myanmar, a major irritant in relations between the two sides.
The leaders emphasized, "the general election to be held in Myanmar in 2010 must be conducted in a free, fair, inclusive and transparent manner in order to be credible to the international community," according to a final draft of the statement obtained by The Associated Press.
Obama, in a broad policy speech in Tokyo on Saturday, made a point of mentioning Suu Kyi by name.
But the leaders' statement does not make any mention of political prisoners — including Nobel Peace Prize laureate Suu Kyi, who has spent 14 of the last 20 years in detention. The omission is glaring, since the U.S. had insisted on the inclusion of such a clause in a previous draft.
According to the old draft, the U.S. wanted to insert a line calling on the junta to "help create the conditions for credible elections, including by releasing political prisoners and initiating a dialogue with political parties and ethnic minority groups."
The final draft only has leaders calling on the military government to initiate "a dialogue with all stakeholders to ensure that the process is fully inclusive."
The Myanmar government has said it intends to hold elections next year but has not clarified whether Suu Kyi will be allowed to participate. The junta refused to honor the result of the last elections in 1990 when Suu Kyi's party won by a landslide.
Although the United States recently eased its policy toward Myanmar by initiating talks with the generals, it has made clear economic sanctions won't be lifted until Suu Kyi is released.
Earlier this month, two senior U.S. diplomats went to Myanmar for talks, and also had a private meeting with Suu Kyi. It was the highest-level U.S. visit to Myanmar in 14 years.
Sunday's U.S.-ASEAN summit — held just after the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum ends — is the outcome of the new thinking in Washington that ignoring Myanmar will not yield any results, and relations with Southeast Asia should not be held hostage by the junta.
Previous administrations had refused to hold summits with ASEAN because it meant sitting at the same table with Myanmar, which is a member of the regional grouping.
On Sunday, Obama and Myanmar Prime Minister Gen. Thein Sein were likely to sit side by side, but it was not known if they would hold direct talks.
Analysts say the U.S. will continue to be tough, even in face-to-face talks.
"No one should expect America to simply say nice, soothing things to the generals in Myanmar," said Simon Tay of the Singapore Institute for International Affairs think tank.
"The signals that the Americans and all of us in Asia expect are for clean, decent elections in Myanmar."
*******************************************************************
Guarded hope as Obama engages Myanmar
by Shaun Tandon – Mon Nov 16, 4:02 am ET
WASHINGTON (AFP) – Supporters of Myanmar's democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi voiced guarded hope after US President Barack Obama raised her case directly with the junta, but some accused Southeast Asian leaders of undercutting his message.
In Singapore, Obama on Sunday held a first-ever summit with leaders of the 10-country Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) where he pressed member Myanmar, earlier known as Burma, to enter dialogue with the opposition.
The summit was a dramatic symbol of the Obama administration's new approach of engaging Myanmar. Just months ago, any senior US official -- let alone the president himself -- meeting the military regime would have been unthinkable.
The White House said Obama asked Prime Minister Thein Sein to free all political prisoners including Aung San Suu Kyi, who has spent most of her time under house arrest since her party swept 1990 elections and was prevented from taking power.
But in a joint statement, the US and ASEAN leaders made no mention of Aung San Suu Kyi and only called for Myanmar next year to hold a free election -- which the opposition has called a sham aimed at legitimizing the junta.
Aung Din, a former political prisoner who heads the US Campaign for Burma advocacy group, said that Obama sent a powerful signal by pressuring the junta in person in front of the other nine ASEAN leaders.
"Sure, certain members of ASEAN may not go along. But it doesn't matter. They could not run away from Obama's message and the enhanced US partnership with ASEAN," he said.
Aung Din voiced hope that Obama will raise Myanmar on the subsequent leg of his trip in China -- the main commercial and military partner of the junta.
But human rights group Amnesty International criticized ASEAN leaders for failing to reach a consensus to call for the release of Aung San Suu Kyi or other prisoners in the statement.
"We are extremely disappointed," said T. Kumar, the director for international advocacy at Amnesty International USA. "It is a step backward."
"We welcome and we appreciate President Obama personally raising Aung San Suu Kyi's case," he said.
"But the joint statement sent the wrong signal, letting the Burmese feel that it is only the United States and not ASEAN that is pushing them," he said.
ASEAN -- whose ranks include communist nations Laos and Vietnam -- has long faced criticism both from abroad and from within some member-states for not taking a firmer stand on Myanmar.
ASEAN's last summit in Thailand that ended on March 1 also did not directly name Aung San Suu Kyi in its final statement but -- unlike on Sunday -- said "the release of political prisoners" would help national reconciliation.
Ernie Bower, director of the Southeast Asia program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a Washington think-tank, said that ASEAN leaders nonetheless were united in seeking progress on Myanmar.
"When you have an intractable problem like Burma, there's some risk that maybe our interests in engagement are not completely aligned with all the other parties, but everybody wants movement in this direction," he said.
More important, Bower said that Myanmar's willingness to sit down for talks was a reason for optimism.
"They're looking for a way to get out of the box that they've created for themselves, which for me is the most hopeful sign on Burma in the last 20 years," he said.
But the diplomatic push will soon face a stark challenge as the junta prepares elections next year, the country's first since the 1990 debacle.
The United States has pressed for a free vote but said it is skeptical. Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy has called a boycott but observers expect it will face pressure to take part if the junta makes concessions.
Obama's meeting was the first between a US president and a Burmese leader since 1966. It followed a rare visit earlier this month to Myanmar by Kurt Campbell, the assistant secretary of state for East Asia.
by Shaun Tandon – Mon Nov 16, 4:02 am ET
WASHINGTON (AFP) – Supporters of Myanmar's democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi voiced guarded hope after US President Barack Obama raised her case directly with the junta, but some accused Southeast Asian leaders of undercutting his message.
In Singapore, Obama on Sunday held a first-ever summit with leaders of the 10-country Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) where he pressed member Myanmar, earlier known as Burma, to enter dialogue with the opposition.
The summit was a dramatic symbol of the Obama administration's new approach of engaging Myanmar. Just months ago, any senior US official -- let alone the president himself -- meeting the military regime would have been unthinkable.
The White House said Obama asked Prime Minister Thein Sein to free all political prisoners including Aung San Suu Kyi, who has spent most of her time under house arrest since her party swept 1990 elections and was prevented from taking power.
But in a joint statement, the US and ASEAN leaders made no mention of Aung San Suu Kyi and only called for Myanmar next year to hold a free election -- which the opposition has called a sham aimed at legitimizing the junta.
Aung Din, a former political prisoner who heads the US Campaign for Burma advocacy group, said that Obama sent a powerful signal by pressuring the junta in person in front of the other nine ASEAN leaders.
"Sure, certain members of ASEAN may not go along. But it doesn't matter. They could not run away from Obama's message and the enhanced US partnership with ASEAN," he said.
Aung Din voiced hope that Obama will raise Myanmar on the subsequent leg of his trip in China -- the main commercial and military partner of the junta.
But human rights group Amnesty International criticized ASEAN leaders for failing to reach a consensus to call for the release of Aung San Suu Kyi or other prisoners in the statement.
"We are extremely disappointed," said T. Kumar, the director for international advocacy at Amnesty International USA. "It is a step backward."
"We welcome and we appreciate President Obama personally raising Aung San Suu Kyi's case," he said.
"But the joint statement sent the wrong signal, letting the Burmese feel that it is only the United States and not ASEAN that is pushing them," he said.
ASEAN -- whose ranks include communist nations Laos and Vietnam -- has long faced criticism both from abroad and from within some member-states for not taking a firmer stand on Myanmar.
ASEAN's last summit in Thailand that ended on March 1 also did not directly name Aung San Suu Kyi in its final statement but -- unlike on Sunday -- said "the release of political prisoners" would help national reconciliation.
Ernie Bower, director of the Southeast Asia program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a Washington think-tank, said that ASEAN leaders nonetheless were united in seeking progress on Myanmar.
"When you have an intractable problem like Burma, there's some risk that maybe our interests in engagement are not completely aligned with all the other parties, but everybody wants movement in this direction," he said.
More important, Bower said that Myanmar's willingness to sit down for talks was a reason for optimism.
"They're looking for a way to get out of the box that they've created for themselves, which for me is the most hopeful sign on Burma in the last 20 years," he said.
But the diplomatic push will soon face a stark challenge as the junta prepares elections next year, the country's first since the 1990 debacle.
The United States has pressed for a free vote but said it is skeptical. Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy has called a boycott but observers expect it will face pressure to take part if the junta makes concessions.
Obama's meeting was the first between a US president and a Burmese leader since 1966. It followed a rare visit earlier this month to Myanmar by Kurt Campbell, the assistant secretary of state for East Asia.
*******************************************************************
Obama meets Myanmar PM, calls for Suu Kyi's release
By Patricia Zengerle and Bill Tarrant – Sun Nov 15, 12:14 pm ET
SINGAPORE (Reuters) – U.S. President Barack Obama called for the release of Myanmar opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi when he met the country's prime minister at a meeting with other Southeast Asian leaders in Singapore on Sunday.
Obama shook hands with Myanmar Prime Minister Thein Sein at the meeting in Singapore's Shangri-la hotel with the 10 leaders of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), the first ever with a U.S. president.
The United States has begun to re-engage with Southeast Asia after years of relative neglect that left China to increase its diplomatic and economic heft in the region.
Speaking to reporters after the meeting, Obama said he reiterated his offer to Myanmar of better ties with Washington if it pursued democratic reform and freed political prisoners, including opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi.
"I reaffirmed the policy that I put forth (Saturday) in Tokyo with regard to Burma," Obama said.
Thein Sein expressed his appreciation that Washington had decided to re-engage with Myanmar, saying: "It will be a new chapter in the relationship to all the countries in the region," ASEAN Secretary-General Surin Pitsuwan quoted him as saying.
The meeting marked the first time a U.S. leader had met his counterparts in the 42-year-old grouping, founded at the height of the Vietnam War. It took place after an Asia-Pacific summit.
Washington has recently taken a two-prong approach to the former Burma, engaging the junta while keeping sanctions on the resource-rich nation that shares borders with India and China.
For years, ASEAN was heavily criticized in the West for its own fruitless engagement policy with Myanmar's generals. Now it is hoping that with U.S. support, Myanmar, under military rule since 1962, can be guided back to democracy.
By refusing to deal with ASEAN because of Myanmar, the United States limited its involvement on a range of issues in Southeast Asia, said Ernie Bower, Southeast Asia Program director at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington.
"China has been greatly enjoying U.S. disengagement in Southeast Asia for the past 10 years, while the Chinese themselves have been deeply engaged."
"FREE, FAIR, INCLUSIVE"
In a joint statement, the leaders said they hoped the U.S. engagement policy "would contribute to broad political and economic reforms" and said next year's elections "must be conducted in a free, fair, inclusive and transparent manner in order to be credible to the international community."
It did not, however, mention Suu Kyi or call for the release of political prisoners.
Suu Kyi has been detained for 14 of the past 20 years, but recently has been allowed to meet U.S. diplomats. She has expressed hopes those contacts would lead to democratic reforms.
Obama was the first president since Lyndon Johnson in 1966 to even be in the same room as a top Myanmar leader.
Obama, who lived in Jakarta as a boy and who has pronounced himself America's "first Pacific President," has led his administration to take a renewed interest in ASEAN, home to 570 million people with combined economic output of $1.1 trillion.
"As the first U.S. president to have a personal connection to the region, I reaffirmed to my ASEAN friends that the United States is committed to strengthening its engagement in Southeast Asia," Obama said after the meeting.
Washington routinely sent lower level officials to ASEAN meetings under former President George W. Bush, in part at least because a junta member was part of the ASEAN pageantry.
Obama said he expressed support for ASEAN's ambition to become an EU-style community by 2015.
The statement noted that ASEAN is host to $153 billion in U.S. direct investments -- more than any other region in Asia -- and two-way trade reached $178 billion in 2008.
China's investments in ASEAN countries, by contrast, had totaled around $2 billion by 2002, according to official data, but were growing at a more rapid rate, as Beijing scours the world for resources to feed its rapidly growing economy.
The leaders also discussed many other issues including climate change and clean energy, transnational crimes, terrorism, trade, the G20, nuclear nonproliferation and North Korea.
By Patricia Zengerle and Bill Tarrant – Sun Nov 15, 12:14 pm ET
SINGAPORE (Reuters) – U.S. President Barack Obama called for the release of Myanmar opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi when he met the country's prime minister at a meeting with other Southeast Asian leaders in Singapore on Sunday.
Obama shook hands with Myanmar Prime Minister Thein Sein at the meeting in Singapore's Shangri-la hotel with the 10 leaders of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), the first ever with a U.S. president.
The United States has begun to re-engage with Southeast Asia after years of relative neglect that left China to increase its diplomatic and economic heft in the region.
Speaking to reporters after the meeting, Obama said he reiterated his offer to Myanmar of better ties with Washington if it pursued democratic reform and freed political prisoners, including opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi.
"I reaffirmed the policy that I put forth (Saturday) in Tokyo with regard to Burma," Obama said.
Thein Sein expressed his appreciation that Washington had decided to re-engage with Myanmar, saying: "It will be a new chapter in the relationship to all the countries in the region," ASEAN Secretary-General Surin Pitsuwan quoted him as saying.
The meeting marked the first time a U.S. leader had met his counterparts in the 42-year-old grouping, founded at the height of the Vietnam War. It took place after an Asia-Pacific summit.
Washington has recently taken a two-prong approach to the former Burma, engaging the junta while keeping sanctions on the resource-rich nation that shares borders with India and China.
For years, ASEAN was heavily criticized in the West for its own fruitless engagement policy with Myanmar's generals. Now it is hoping that with U.S. support, Myanmar, under military rule since 1962, can be guided back to democracy.
By refusing to deal with ASEAN because of Myanmar, the United States limited its involvement on a range of issues in Southeast Asia, said Ernie Bower, Southeast Asia Program director at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington.
"China has been greatly enjoying U.S. disengagement in Southeast Asia for the past 10 years, while the Chinese themselves have been deeply engaged."
"FREE, FAIR, INCLUSIVE"
In a joint statement, the leaders said they hoped the U.S. engagement policy "would contribute to broad political and economic reforms" and said next year's elections "must be conducted in a free, fair, inclusive and transparent manner in order to be credible to the international community."
It did not, however, mention Suu Kyi or call for the release of political prisoners.
Suu Kyi has been detained for 14 of the past 20 years, but recently has been allowed to meet U.S. diplomats. She has expressed hopes those contacts would lead to democratic reforms.
Obama was the first president since Lyndon Johnson in 1966 to even be in the same room as a top Myanmar leader.
Obama, who lived in Jakarta as a boy and who has pronounced himself America's "first Pacific President," has led his administration to take a renewed interest in ASEAN, home to 570 million people with combined economic output of $1.1 trillion.
"As the first U.S. president to have a personal connection to the region, I reaffirmed to my ASEAN friends that the United States is committed to strengthening its engagement in Southeast Asia," Obama said after the meeting.
Washington routinely sent lower level officials to ASEAN meetings under former President George W. Bush, in part at least because a junta member was part of the ASEAN pageantry.
Obama said he expressed support for ASEAN's ambition to become an EU-style community by 2015.
The statement noted that ASEAN is host to $153 billion in U.S. direct investments -- more than any other region in Asia -- and two-way trade reached $178 billion in 2008.
China's investments in ASEAN countries, by contrast, had totaled around $2 billion by 2002, according to official data, but were growing at a more rapid rate, as Beijing scours the world for resources to feed its rapidly growing economy.
The leaders also discussed many other issues including climate change and clean energy, transnational crimes, terrorism, trade, the G20, nuclear nonproliferation and North Korea.
*******************************************************************
Obama offers Myanmar better ties if it reforms
By Patricia Zengerle and Caren Bohan – Sat Nov 14, 8:03 am ET
TOKYO (Reuters) – U.S. President Barack Obama on Saturday offered Myanmar the prospect of better ties with Washington if it pursued democratic reform and freed political prisoners, including opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi.
Obama will be in the same room as the Myanmar prime minister when leaders of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) hold their first meeting with a U.S. president in Singapore on Sunday. Obama has no intention of speaking directly to Lieutenant-General Thein Sein, U.S. officials have said.
The Obama administration has said it is pursuing deeper engagement with the military government in Myanmar, known in Washington by its former name Burma, and this month sent its highest-level delegation to the country in 14 years.
In a speech at the start of a four-nation tour of Asia in Tokyo, Obama said neither U.S. sanctions nor engagement by other nations had succeeded in improving the lives of Myanmar's people.
"So we are now communicating directly with the leadership to make it clear that existing sanctions will remain until there are concrete steps toward democratic reform," Obama said.
"We support a Burma that is unified, peaceful, prosperous, and democratic. And as Burma moves in that direction, a better relationship with the United States is possible."
Obama said the specific steps that were needed were the release of all political prisoners, including Nobel Peace Prize winner Suu Kyi, and a genuine dialogue between the government and the political opposition.
"That is how a government in Burma will be able to respond to the needs of its people. That is the path that will bring Burma true security and prosperity," Obama said.
Obama had no plans for direct talks with Myanmar's leaders during his meeting with ASEAN on Sunday, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said this week, while adding that the opportunity might arise for her or Obama to meet the regime's officials.
Obama's meeting with ASEAN leaders takes place on the sidelines of a weekend summit of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum in Singapore.
Myanmar's military, which has ruled the country for almost 50 years, plans to hold multi-party elections in 2010.
Suu Kyi has spent more than 14 of the past 20 years in detention of one sort or another, mostly under house arrest.
Myanmar's military government is shunned by the West over its rights record, which has kept previous U.S. presidents from meeting all 10 members of ASEAN, of which Myanmar is a part.
But since taking office less than a year ago Obama has greeted and spoken to leaders such as Venezuela's Hugo Chavez who were avoided at international summits by his predecessor.
The Obama administration decided in September to pursue deeper engagement with Myanmar to try to spur democratic reforms. U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Kurt Campbell visited Myanmar last week.
Despite the increased diplomacy, Clinton said there were no plans at this stage to drop U.S. economic sanctions on Myanmar.
By Patricia Zengerle and Caren Bohan – Sat Nov 14, 8:03 am ET
TOKYO (Reuters) – U.S. President Barack Obama on Saturday offered Myanmar the prospect of better ties with Washington if it pursued democratic reform and freed political prisoners, including opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi.
Obama will be in the same room as the Myanmar prime minister when leaders of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) hold their first meeting with a U.S. president in Singapore on Sunday. Obama has no intention of speaking directly to Lieutenant-General Thein Sein, U.S. officials have said.
The Obama administration has said it is pursuing deeper engagement with the military government in Myanmar, known in Washington by its former name Burma, and this month sent its highest-level delegation to the country in 14 years.
In a speech at the start of a four-nation tour of Asia in Tokyo, Obama said neither U.S. sanctions nor engagement by other nations had succeeded in improving the lives of Myanmar's people.
"So we are now communicating directly with the leadership to make it clear that existing sanctions will remain until there are concrete steps toward democratic reform," Obama said.
"We support a Burma that is unified, peaceful, prosperous, and democratic. And as Burma moves in that direction, a better relationship with the United States is possible."
Obama said the specific steps that were needed were the release of all political prisoners, including Nobel Peace Prize winner Suu Kyi, and a genuine dialogue between the government and the political opposition.
"That is how a government in Burma will be able to respond to the needs of its people. That is the path that will bring Burma true security and prosperity," Obama said.
Obama had no plans for direct talks with Myanmar's leaders during his meeting with ASEAN on Sunday, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said this week, while adding that the opportunity might arise for her or Obama to meet the regime's officials.
Obama's meeting with ASEAN leaders takes place on the sidelines of a weekend summit of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum in Singapore.
Myanmar's military, which has ruled the country for almost 50 years, plans to hold multi-party elections in 2010.
Suu Kyi has spent more than 14 of the past 20 years in detention of one sort or another, mostly under house arrest.
Myanmar's military government is shunned by the West over its rights record, which has kept previous U.S. presidents from meeting all 10 members of ASEAN, of which Myanmar is a part.
But since taking office less than a year ago Obama has greeted and spoken to leaders such as Venezuela's Hugo Chavez who were avoided at international summits by his predecessor.
The Obama administration decided in September to pursue deeper engagement with Myanmar to try to spur democratic reforms. U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Kurt Campbell visited Myanmar last week.
Despite the increased diplomacy, Clinton said there were no plans at this stage to drop U.S. economic sanctions on Myanmar.
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Myanmar's Suu Kyi's lawyers file detention appeal
By Aung Hla Tun – Fri Nov 13, 3:05 am ET
YANGON (Reuters) – Lawyers for Myanmar opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi said on Friday they had lodged an appeal against her house arrest with the Supreme Court but expected no rapid decision.
The 64-year-old Nobel peace laureate was sentenced in August to three years in prison for letting an American intruder stay in her home in May, which contravened the terms of her previous detention. Myanmar's junta leader later commuted the sentence to 18 months' house arrest.
"We lodged the appeal at the Supreme Court this morning. The Supreme Court will take some time to decide whether to accept it or not," lawyer Kyi Win told reporters.
Suu Kyi has spent more than 14 of the past 20 years in detention of one sort or another, mostly under house arrest.
Myanmar's military, which has ruled the country for almost 50 years, plans to hold multi-party elections in 2010.
A senior official from the Foreign Ministry was quoted this week as saying Suu Kyi could be released soon so she could help organize her party, the National League for Democracy (NLD), for next year's election.
However, the official, Min Lwin, told Reuters on Thursday after his return from an overseas trip that he had been misquoted. He declined further comment on the matter.
Critics call the proposed election a sham and say the military will still hold the real power. The NLD has not yet said whether it will take part.
The United States is reviewing its policy on Myanmar, trying to engage it diplomatically but without lifting trade and investment sanctions for the time being.
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton called again on Thursday for Suu Kyi to be released and said the United States would be skeptical about an election that excluded opposition representatives.
Clinton and President Barack Obama will be in Singapore this weekend where they are expected to attend a meeting with leaders of the Association of South East Asian Nations, which includes Myanmar. No bilateral meeting has been planned.
By Aung Hla Tun – Fri Nov 13, 3:05 am ET
YANGON (Reuters) – Lawyers for Myanmar opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi said on Friday they had lodged an appeal against her house arrest with the Supreme Court but expected no rapid decision.
The 64-year-old Nobel peace laureate was sentenced in August to three years in prison for letting an American intruder stay in her home in May, which contravened the terms of her previous detention. Myanmar's junta leader later commuted the sentence to 18 months' house arrest.
"We lodged the appeal at the Supreme Court this morning. The Supreme Court will take some time to decide whether to accept it or not," lawyer Kyi Win told reporters.
Suu Kyi has spent more than 14 of the past 20 years in detention of one sort or another, mostly under house arrest.
Myanmar's military, which has ruled the country for almost 50 years, plans to hold multi-party elections in 2010.
A senior official from the Foreign Ministry was quoted this week as saying Suu Kyi could be released soon so she could help organize her party, the National League for Democracy (NLD), for next year's election.
However, the official, Min Lwin, told Reuters on Thursday after his return from an overseas trip that he had been misquoted. He declined further comment on the matter.
Critics call the proposed election a sham and say the military will still hold the real power. The NLD has not yet said whether it will take part.
The United States is reviewing its policy on Myanmar, trying to engage it diplomatically but without lifting trade and investment sanctions for the time being.
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton called again on Thursday for Suu Kyi to be released and said the United States would be skeptical about an election that excluded opposition representatives.
Clinton and President Barack Obama will be in Singapore this weekend where they are expected to attend a meeting with leaders of the Association of South East Asian Nations, which includes Myanmar. No bilateral meeting has been planned.
*******************************************************************
Obama Meets Leaders of Asean, Myanmar, to Counter Chinese Clout
By Edwin Chen and Julianna Goldman
Nov. 16 (Bloomberg) -- President Barack Obama spent 90 minutes at the same table as Myanmar’s junta-installed Prime Minister Thein Sein and other Southeast Asian leaders as part of U.S. efforts to counter China’s influence in the region.
Obama, on his inaugural trip to Asia as president, yesterday became the first U.S. leader to meet the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations. His predecessor, George W. Bush, scrapped a meeting with the bloc two years ago after Myanmar’s junta crushed the biggest anti-government protests since 1988.
“That the meeting took place at all” was “very significant” given U.S. concerns over Myanmar, said Singapore’s Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, whose country hosted the gathering after the annual Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit.
Obama said he reaffirmed at the meeting that Myanmar should release detained opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi along with other political prisoners. Myanmar expressed appreciation for Obama’s decision to engage and said little else, Malaysia’s Prime Minister Najib Razak told reporters yesterday.
“We expected a bit more, but it was not forthcoming,” Najib said. “We hope this problem of national reconciliation and principles of democracy as a system to be adopted in Myanmar will become a reality sooner than later.”
The summit reinforces Obama’s message that the U.S. intends to maintain its influence in the region even as China’s economic and military strength grows. Southeast Asia contains sea lanes vital to world trade, as well as coal, oil and precious metals.
‘Leaps and Bounds’
The U.S. “realizes that if they are to retain American influence in this region, they must be able to match what China is doing,” said Kishore Mahbubani, dean of the National University of Singapore’s Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy. “If China is improving its ties by leaps and bounds with Asean, it is not in America’s interest to be left behind.”
China’s trade with Myanmar increased 26 percent last year to $2.6 billion, 240 times more than the $10.8 million in U.S. commerce with the country, government statistics show.
China National Petroleum Corp., the nation’s largest oil company, has started building a 771-kilometer (480 miles) pipeline from Myanmar to Southwest China. Cnooc Ltd., China’s largest offshore oil producer, is exploring for oil in Myanmar.
China’s trade with Southeast Asia has grown almost 20 times since 1993 to $179 billion last year, with its share of total Asean commerce rising to 10.5 percent from 2 percent. The U.S. share of trade with the region during that time fell to 12 percent last year from 17 percent even as two-way shipments almost tripled to $201 billion, according to Asean statistics.
Next Stop Shanghai
The U.S. joined a friendship accord with Southeast Asia in July, six years after China signed up. The non-binding agreement is a prerequisite for joining the East Asia Summit, an Asean-centered grouping that includes China and India. The U.S. wants to engage “more formally” with the region, Obama said Nov. 14.
Obama arrived in Singapore on Nov. 14 for the APEC group’s annual summit and flew to Shanghai last night.
He decided to meet with the Asean leaders so as to not punish other nations simply because of Myanmar’s presence in the group, Jeffrey Bader, director of East Asian affairs on the National Security Council, said before the trip.
“The statement we’re trying to make here is that we’re not going to let the Burmese tail wag the Asean dog,” he said.
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said in September the U.S. would directly engage with Myanmar’s leaders to press for democracy. The announcement came a month after U.S. Senator Jim Webb, a Virginia Democrat, became the first American official ever to meet with Senior-General Than Shwe, the junta’s leader.
House Arrest
Kurt Campbell, the assistant secretary of state for East Asian affairs, traveled to Myanmar earlier this month as the most senior U.S. official to visit the country in 14 years. Obama has maintained sanctions amid the increased contacts, and on Nov. 14 repeated a call for the unconditional release of all political prisoners, including Nobel laureate Suu Kyi.
Suu Kyi, who leads the opposition National League for Democracy, has spent 13 years in detention since her party won Myanmar’s last elections in 1990, a result the military rejected. The junta extended her house arrest for 18 months in August after she was convicted of violating her detention terms, potentially excluding her from elections scheduled for next year.
Asean comprises Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.
By Edwin Chen and Julianna Goldman
Nov. 16 (Bloomberg) -- President Barack Obama spent 90 minutes at the same table as Myanmar’s junta-installed Prime Minister Thein Sein and other Southeast Asian leaders as part of U.S. efforts to counter China’s influence in the region.
Obama, on his inaugural trip to Asia as president, yesterday became the first U.S. leader to meet the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations. His predecessor, George W. Bush, scrapped a meeting with the bloc two years ago after Myanmar’s junta crushed the biggest anti-government protests since 1988.
“That the meeting took place at all” was “very significant” given U.S. concerns over Myanmar, said Singapore’s Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, whose country hosted the gathering after the annual Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit.
Obama said he reaffirmed at the meeting that Myanmar should release detained opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi along with other political prisoners. Myanmar expressed appreciation for Obama’s decision to engage and said little else, Malaysia’s Prime Minister Najib Razak told reporters yesterday.
“We expected a bit more, but it was not forthcoming,” Najib said. “We hope this problem of national reconciliation and principles of democracy as a system to be adopted in Myanmar will become a reality sooner than later.”
The summit reinforces Obama’s message that the U.S. intends to maintain its influence in the region even as China’s economic and military strength grows. Southeast Asia contains sea lanes vital to world trade, as well as coal, oil and precious metals.
‘Leaps and Bounds’
The U.S. “realizes that if they are to retain American influence in this region, they must be able to match what China is doing,” said Kishore Mahbubani, dean of the National University of Singapore’s Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy. “If China is improving its ties by leaps and bounds with Asean, it is not in America’s interest to be left behind.”
China’s trade with Myanmar increased 26 percent last year to $2.6 billion, 240 times more than the $10.8 million in U.S. commerce with the country, government statistics show.
China National Petroleum Corp., the nation’s largest oil company, has started building a 771-kilometer (480 miles) pipeline from Myanmar to Southwest China. Cnooc Ltd., China’s largest offshore oil producer, is exploring for oil in Myanmar.
China’s trade with Southeast Asia has grown almost 20 times since 1993 to $179 billion last year, with its share of total Asean commerce rising to 10.5 percent from 2 percent. The U.S. share of trade with the region during that time fell to 12 percent last year from 17 percent even as two-way shipments almost tripled to $201 billion, according to Asean statistics.
Next Stop Shanghai
The U.S. joined a friendship accord with Southeast Asia in July, six years after China signed up. The non-binding agreement is a prerequisite for joining the East Asia Summit, an Asean-centered grouping that includes China and India. The U.S. wants to engage “more formally” with the region, Obama said Nov. 14.
Obama arrived in Singapore on Nov. 14 for the APEC group’s annual summit and flew to Shanghai last night.
He decided to meet with the Asean leaders so as to not punish other nations simply because of Myanmar’s presence in the group, Jeffrey Bader, director of East Asian affairs on the National Security Council, said before the trip.
“The statement we’re trying to make here is that we’re not going to let the Burmese tail wag the Asean dog,” he said.
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said in September the U.S. would directly engage with Myanmar’s leaders to press for democracy. The announcement came a month after U.S. Senator Jim Webb, a Virginia Democrat, became the first American official ever to meet with Senior-General Than Shwe, the junta’s leader.
House Arrest
Kurt Campbell, the assistant secretary of state for East Asian affairs, traveled to Myanmar earlier this month as the most senior U.S. official to visit the country in 14 years. Obama has maintained sanctions amid the increased contacts, and on Nov. 14 repeated a call for the unconditional release of all political prisoners, including Nobel laureate Suu Kyi.
Suu Kyi, who leads the opposition National League for Democracy, has spent 13 years in detention since her party won Myanmar’s last elections in 1990, a result the military rejected. The junta extended her house arrest for 18 months in August after she was convicted of violating her detention terms, potentially excluding her from elections scheduled for next year.
Asean comprises Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.
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EarthTimes - Myanmar's August gas exports to Thailand earn 588 million dollars
Posted : Sun, 15 Nov 2009 08:22:25 GMT
Yangon - Myanmar earned 588.7 million dollars off natural gas exports to neighbouring Thailand in August, media reports said Sunday. In August, 92,000 million cubic feet of natural gas was piped overland to Thailand from the Myanmar's Yadana and Yetagun reserves in the Gulf of Martaban, according to the National Planning and Economic Development, The Myanmar Times reported.
Myanmar's natural gas exports earned the country 1.2 billion dollars in the first five months of fiscal year 2009-10, which started on April 1, the English-language weekly said.
In fiscal 2007-08, Myanmar exported a record 2.53 billion dollars worth of natural gas to Thailand. Gas exports declined slightly in fiscal 2008-09 to 2.38 billion.
Natural gas is Myanmar's main foreign exchange earner, accounting for nearly 66.5 per cent of total exports in August, according to government statistics.
Posted : Sun, 15 Nov 2009 08:22:25 GMT
Yangon - Myanmar earned 588.7 million dollars off natural gas exports to neighbouring Thailand in August, media reports said Sunday. In August, 92,000 million cubic feet of natural gas was piped overland to Thailand from the Myanmar's Yadana and Yetagun reserves in the Gulf of Martaban, according to the National Planning and Economic Development, The Myanmar Times reported.
Myanmar's natural gas exports earned the country 1.2 billion dollars in the first five months of fiscal year 2009-10, which started on April 1, the English-language weekly said.
In fiscal 2007-08, Myanmar exported a record 2.53 billion dollars worth of natural gas to Thailand. Gas exports declined slightly in fiscal 2008-09 to 2.38 billion.
Natural gas is Myanmar's main foreign exchange earner, accounting for nearly 66.5 per cent of total exports in August, according to government statistics.
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Boston Globe - US reports progress on new nuclear pact
Expects treaty with Russia by year’s end
By Charles Hutzler - Associated Press / November 16, 2009
SINGAPORE - President Obama said yesterday that the United States and Russia would have a replacement treaty on reducing nuclear arms ready for approval by year’s end, an announcement designed as an upbeat ending to a summit with Asia-Pacific leaders.
Obama and President Dmitry Medvedev of Russia met on the sidelines of the summit of Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation nations and announced good progress in negotiations on an updated pact to replace the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty that expires Dec. 5.
Sitting with his Russian counterpart, Obama said the pair discussed a successor to the 1991 START agreement and described “excellent progress over the last several months.’’
“I’m confident that if we work hard and with a sense of urgency, we’ll be able to get that done,’’ Obama said, adding that technical issues remain.
Medvedev said he hoped negotiators would “finalize the text of the document by December.’’
While publicizing progress with Russia on arms control, Obama and other leaders meeting in Singapore bowed to the obvious on climate change. They discussed a compromise agreement for a 192-nation gathering next month in Copenhagen, indirectly acknowledging that the meeting would not produce a new global treaty to reduce heat-trapping carbon emissions.
Obama also attended a second summit with leaders of the 10 countries that make up the Association of Southeast Asia Nations. Obama sat in on meetings that included a senior leader of Myanmar - part of a shift in US policy away from isolating the repressive military government.
Afterward, Robert Gibbs, White House spokesman, said Obama told the gathering, General Thein Sein of Myanmar included, that the government of what once was known as Burma must free long-detained democracy leader and Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi and other political prisoners.
Myanmar ranks high among nations that suppress human rights, but a joint statement by the United States and the ASEAN group made no mention of Suu Kyi.
The whirlwind of summitry is part of Obama’s first presidential trip to the region. Its emphasis on big issues like climate change, disarmament, and the economic crisis is part of Obama’s approach to persuade new emerging powers like China to share in the burden of managing global challenges.
Obama arrived in Shanghai last night, launching a three-day visit to an important global US partner and his first travels in China. His schedule called for a state visit to Beijing hosted by President Hu Jintao of China.
Expects treaty with Russia by year’s end
By Charles Hutzler - Associated Press / November 16, 2009
SINGAPORE - President Obama said yesterday that the United States and Russia would have a replacement treaty on reducing nuclear arms ready for approval by year’s end, an announcement designed as an upbeat ending to a summit with Asia-Pacific leaders.
Obama and President Dmitry Medvedev of Russia met on the sidelines of the summit of Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation nations and announced good progress in negotiations on an updated pact to replace the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty that expires Dec. 5.
Sitting with his Russian counterpart, Obama said the pair discussed a successor to the 1991 START agreement and described “excellent progress over the last several months.’’
“I’m confident that if we work hard and with a sense of urgency, we’ll be able to get that done,’’ Obama said, adding that technical issues remain.
Medvedev said he hoped negotiators would “finalize the text of the document by December.’’
While publicizing progress with Russia on arms control, Obama and other leaders meeting in Singapore bowed to the obvious on climate change. They discussed a compromise agreement for a 192-nation gathering next month in Copenhagen, indirectly acknowledging that the meeting would not produce a new global treaty to reduce heat-trapping carbon emissions.
Obama also attended a second summit with leaders of the 10 countries that make up the Association of Southeast Asia Nations. Obama sat in on meetings that included a senior leader of Myanmar - part of a shift in US policy away from isolating the repressive military government.
Afterward, Robert Gibbs, White House spokesman, said Obama told the gathering, General Thein Sein of Myanmar included, that the government of what once was known as Burma must free long-detained democracy leader and Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi and other political prisoners.
Myanmar ranks high among nations that suppress human rights, but a joint statement by the United States and the ASEAN group made no mention of Suu Kyi.
The whirlwind of summitry is part of Obama’s first presidential trip to the region. Its emphasis on big issues like climate change, disarmament, and the economic crisis is part of Obama’s approach to persuade new emerging powers like China to share in the burden of managing global challenges.
Obama arrived in Shanghai last night, launching a three-day visit to an important global US partner and his first travels in China. His schedule called for a state visit to Beijing hosted by President Hu Jintao of China.
*******************************************************************
Bru Direct - Leaders To Enhance Economic Relations, Welcome US Engagement Of Myanmar
Last Updated on Monday, 16 November 2009 06:48 Written by Ronny Baroud Monday, 16 November 2009 06:08
1st Asean-US Leaders' Meeting:
Singapore - Leaders of the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Mean) met for the first time with US President Barack Obama in what is considered here a historic meeting.
Obama arrived to Singapore on Saturday to attend the Apec 2009 Summit, which brought together the leaders of 21 "member economies." Seven out of the 21 Apec members are also members of Asean.
The meeting is historic since it's the first time that all of Asean's leaders, including Myanmar's Prime Minister Thein Sein met with the US president. It's also important in the sense that it reflects American desire to counter Chinese influence in the region.
A joint statement was issued at the conclusion of the "1st Mean-US Leaders' Meeting" yesterday. The meeting, which also included Brunei Darussalam, a unifying force in the Asean equation, was co-chaired by Abhisit Vejjajiva of Thailand, and President Obama.
"We noted with satisfaction that over the last 32 years of dialogue relations, Asean and the United States have developed mutually beneficial cooperation in many areas, reflecting our broad shared interest," the statement read in part. It added, the US "welcomed plans to achieve an Mean community by 2015 based on the Mean Charter."
As for the controversial subject over the US-Myanmar quarrel, the statement read, "The leaders of Asean welcomed the high-level dialogue and the policy of the
United States to engage with the Government of Myanmar, as indicated by the recent visit of US officials to Myanmar."
Obama, who is leading a serious US push to reclaim his country's position in Asia, is hoping to counter Chinese influence in the region by engaging all members of the Asian community, including Myanmar. The US president, however, reaffirmed at the Singapore meeting that Myanmar should release detained opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi along with other political prisoners.
The Asean-US meeting was attended by His Majesty Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah Mu'izzaddin Waddaulah, the Sultan and Yang Di-Pertuan of Brunei Darussalam.
"We were pleased to note that economic relations between Mean and the United States continue to be strong and dynamic," said the leaders in their statement. "We applauded the sizable increase in trade and investment between Mean and the United States over the past several years. Two-way goods trade reached US$178 billion in 2008, and, Mean is host to US foreign direct investment of US$153 billions, making it the favoured US investment destination in Asia."
China too, however is making a sizable impact in Asia, including Myanmar itself. China's largest oil company, China National Petroleum Corp, is building a 771-km pipeline from Myanmar to Southwest China. Cnooc Ltd, China's largest offshore oil producer, is also exploring for oil in the country, where total trade between both nations is estimated at US$2.6 billion.
As for Mean, "China's trade with Southeast Asia has grown almost 20 times since 1993 to US$179 billion last year, with its share of total Mean commerce rising to 10.5 per cent from 2 per cent. The US share of trade with the region during that time fell to 12 per cent last year from 17 per cent even as two-way shipments almost tripled to US$201 billion, according to Asean statistics," Bloomberg reported.-- Courtesy of The Brunei Times
Last Updated on Monday, 16 November 2009 06:48 Written by Ronny Baroud Monday, 16 November 2009 06:08
1st Asean-US Leaders' Meeting:
Singapore - Leaders of the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Mean) met for the first time with US President Barack Obama in what is considered here a historic meeting.
Obama arrived to Singapore on Saturday to attend the Apec 2009 Summit, which brought together the leaders of 21 "member economies." Seven out of the 21 Apec members are also members of Asean.
The meeting is historic since it's the first time that all of Asean's leaders, including Myanmar's Prime Minister Thein Sein met with the US president. It's also important in the sense that it reflects American desire to counter Chinese influence in the region.
A joint statement was issued at the conclusion of the "1st Mean-US Leaders' Meeting" yesterday. The meeting, which also included Brunei Darussalam, a unifying force in the Asean equation, was co-chaired by Abhisit Vejjajiva of Thailand, and President Obama.
"We noted with satisfaction that over the last 32 years of dialogue relations, Asean and the United States have developed mutually beneficial cooperation in many areas, reflecting our broad shared interest," the statement read in part. It added, the US "welcomed plans to achieve an Mean community by 2015 based on the Mean Charter."
As for the controversial subject over the US-Myanmar quarrel, the statement read, "The leaders of Asean welcomed the high-level dialogue and the policy of the
United States to engage with the Government of Myanmar, as indicated by the recent visit of US officials to Myanmar."
Obama, who is leading a serious US push to reclaim his country's position in Asia, is hoping to counter Chinese influence in the region by engaging all members of the Asian community, including Myanmar. The US president, however, reaffirmed at the Singapore meeting that Myanmar should release detained opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi along with other political prisoners.
The Asean-US meeting was attended by His Majesty Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah Mu'izzaddin Waddaulah, the Sultan and Yang Di-Pertuan of Brunei Darussalam.
"We were pleased to note that economic relations between Mean and the United States continue to be strong and dynamic," said the leaders in their statement. "We applauded the sizable increase in trade and investment between Mean and the United States over the past several years. Two-way goods trade reached US$178 billion in 2008, and, Mean is host to US foreign direct investment of US$153 billions, making it the favoured US investment destination in Asia."
China too, however is making a sizable impact in Asia, including Myanmar itself. China's largest oil company, China National Petroleum Corp, is building a 771-km pipeline from Myanmar to Southwest China. Cnooc Ltd, China's largest offshore oil producer, is also exploring for oil in the country, where total trade between both nations is estimated at US$2.6 billion.
As for Mean, "China's trade with Southeast Asia has grown almost 20 times since 1993 to US$179 billion last year, with its share of total Mean commerce rising to 10.5 per cent from 2 per cent. The US share of trade with the region during that time fell to 12 per cent last year from 17 per cent even as two-way shipments almost tripled to US$201 billion, according to Asean statistics," Bloomberg reported.-- Courtesy of The Brunei Times
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Colombo Page - Myanmar leader concludes Sri Lanka visit
Sun, Nov 15, 2009, 08:54 pm SL Time, ColomboPage News Desk, Sri Lanka.
Nov 15, Colombo: Concluding a successful four-day official tour in Sri Lanka, the visiting leader of Myanmar left the country today.
The Chairman of the Union of Myanmar, Senior General Than Shwe arrived in Sri Lanka last Thursday with his wife to visit several revered Buddhist sites and participate in a series of religious activities, on an invitation made by his Sri Lankan counterpart President Mahinda Rajapaksa.
During his stay in Sri Lanka, General Shwe paid homage to the Temple of Tooth Relic in Kandy, Jaya Sri Maha Bodhi in Anuradhapura and historical Kelaniya Temple and participated in several Bodhi Poojas.
The Government Information Department this morning presented a special photo album compiled with the photos taken during his visit to General Than Shwe in appreciation of his visit to Sri Lanka.
Sun, Nov 15, 2009, 08:54 pm SL Time, ColomboPage News Desk, Sri Lanka.
Nov 15, Colombo: Concluding a successful four-day official tour in Sri Lanka, the visiting leader of Myanmar left the country today.
The Chairman of the Union of Myanmar, Senior General Than Shwe arrived in Sri Lanka last Thursday with his wife to visit several revered Buddhist sites and participate in a series of religious activities, on an invitation made by his Sri Lankan counterpart President Mahinda Rajapaksa.
During his stay in Sri Lanka, General Shwe paid homage to the Temple of Tooth Relic in Kandy, Jaya Sri Maha Bodhi in Anuradhapura and historical Kelaniya Temple and participated in several Bodhi Poojas.
The Government Information Department this morning presented a special photo album compiled with the photos taken during his visit to General Than Shwe in appreciation of his visit to Sri Lanka.
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NOVEMBER 16, 2009, 9:43 A.M. ET
Wall Street Journal - Concerns Rise Around Obama Trip
By JONATHAN WEISMAN
SHANGHAI -- President Barack Obama arrived here late Sunday to press China on issues from climate change to economic restructuring, amid rising concerns that his first swing through Asia as president will yield more disappointment than progress on trade, human rights, national security and environmental concerns.
A flurry of actions in Singapore this weekend raised more questions than they resolved on a broad sweep of issues confronting both sides of the Pacific. On Sunday, leaders of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum dropped efforts to reach a binding international climate-change agreement in Copenhagen next month, settling instead for what they called a political framework for future negotiations.
Mr. Obama became the first president to meet with the entire Association of Southeast Asian Nations, including the military junta of Myanmar, and White House officials say he personally demanded the country's leaders release political prisoners, including opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi. But Mr. Obama failed to secure any mention of political prisoners in an ASEAN communiqué.
U.S. President Barack Obama and Russian counterpart Dmitry Medvedev meet in Singapore on the sidelines of an Asia-Pacific summit, but the focus of their talks was on Iran. Video courtesy of Reuters.
The U.S. and Russia now appear unlikely to complete a nuclear arms reduction accord by Dec. 5, when the current Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty expires. Mr. Obama met for closed-door consultations with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, but National Security Council Russia specialist Michael McFaul said major issues remain, and the two countries are working out a "bridging agreement" to extend previous arms-ratification rules.
On trade, the U.S. president committed this weekend to re-engage the Trans Pacific Partnership, a fledgling free trade alliance in the region. But a presidential shift in tone toward more trade engagement will face its real test Thursday when Mr. Obama visits South Korea to discuss a free trade agreement with that country that remains stuck.
And on Iran, Messers. Obama and Medvedev were left to warn leaders of the Islamic Republic once again that "time is running out." Iran has yet to agree to a Russian offer to provide nuclear material for research in exchange for the closure of a nuclear reactor that western powers say could be used to enrich uranium for nuclear weapons.
Half way through his Asian tour, Mr. Obama is confronting the limits of engagement and personal charm.
International efforts to combat climate change took a significant blow when the leaders of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum conceded a binding international treaty won't be reached when the United Nations convenes in Copenhagen in three weeks. Danish Prime Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen flew to Singapore Saturday night to deliver a new, down-sized proposal to lock world leaders into further talks.
"Even if we may not hammer out the last dot's of a legally binding instrument, I do believe a political binding agreement with specific commitment to mitigation and finance provides a strong basis for immediate action in the years to come," Mr. Rasmussen told APEC leaders at a hastily convened meeting organized by Mexican President Felipe Calderón and Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd Sunday morning.
The election of Mr. Obama, a believer in strict limits on greenhouse gas emissions, had raised hopes among environmentalists that Copenhagen would produce a tough, binding treaty to follow the Kyoto Accords of 1997. The landslide victory of Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama's Democratic Party of Japan brought to power a new government pledging deeper emissions cuts than its predecessor. And Chinese President Hu Jintao proposed in September to adopt what he called "carbon intensity targets," the amount of carbon released into the atmosphere per unit of economic output. Emissions from surging economics like China's would continue to rise but at a slower rate.
But political opposition in the U.S. Congress over Mr. Obama's climate-change proposals and continuing resistance among developing countries to binding emission reduction targets slowed consensus ahead of the Copenhagen summit.
Mr. Rasmussen laid out in some detail his goals for the Copenhagen summit. He said leaders should produce a five- to eight-page text with "precise language" committing developed countries to reductions of emissions thought to be warming the planet, with provisions on adapting to warmer temperatures, financing adaptation and combating climate change in poor countries, and technological development and diffusion. It would include pledges of immediate financing for early action.
"We are not aiming to let anyone off the hook," Mr. Rasmussen told the leaders. "We are trying to create a framework that will allow everybody to commit."
But the leaders didn't say when a final summit would be convened to ratify a real treaty.
"There are two choices that we face, given where things are. One was to have a political declaration to say 'We tried. We didn't achieve an agreement and we'll keep on trying.' and the other was to see if we could reach accord as the Danish prime minister laid out," said Michael Froman, White House deputy national security adviser for international economics..
Mr. Obama, in a speech Sunday, took his appeal for a new world economic order to the leaders of Asia that must help make it happen. He said the United States would strive to consume less, save more and restructure its economy around trade and exports. But he appealed to Asian nations to make their own economies more dependent on domestic consumption than U.S. profligacy.
White House officials say a similar message will be delivered in Shanghai and Beijing, but it is unclear how hard the U.S. president can press Beijing to allow the Chinese yuan to appreciate. At the APEC summit, leaders "until the last moment" tried to secure a commitment to stabilize foreign-exchange markers, according to a top adviser to an APEC head of state. But disagreements between the U.S. and Chinese delegations kept any commitment on currency out of the APEC final statement.
A more valuable yuan would empower Chinese consumers to buy, while making Chinese exports less attractive to U.S. consumers. But Washington cannot afford to anger China, which it needs to float a U.S. budget deficit that reached $176.4 billion in October alone, a monthly record.
Indeed, the Asia trip is exposing the limits of Mr. Obama's policy of engagement. The U.S. president met with ASEAN, declaring that efforts to marginalize the government of Myanmar had failed. Human rights groups had hoped a communiqué out of the meeting would call for the release of Ms. Suu Kyi, who is under house arrest. Instead, it made a cryptic reference to a previous ASEAN foreign ministers communiqué that called for her release. Sunday's statement did say that 2010 elections in Myanmar must be "free, fair, inclusive and transparent."
The failure to single out Ms. Suu Kyi was "another blow" to dissidents who want more pressure on the Myanmar junta, said Soe Aung, a spokesman for the Forum for Democracy in Burma, a Thailand-based organization. "We keep saying again and again that the U.S. should not send a mixed signal to the regime."
A White House official said the president never expected the leaders of Myanmar to accept any mention of the Nobel Laureate opposition leader but did press for a mention of political prisoners.
U.S. officials had taken pains to reduce expectations for the meeting, which was part of a new initiative by the Obama administration to improve its ties with Southeast Asia and increase interaction with the Myanmar government. The U.S. imposes stiff sanctions on the country, also known as Burma. But many analysts view those sanctions as a failure as Myanmar has expanded trade with China and other Asian nations, and U.S. officials now believe they might have more influence over the country's leaders if they talk with them more regularly.
Myanmar's military has controlled the country since 1962, and is accused of widespread human rights violations while overseeing an economy that remains one of the least-developed in Asia. The country's profile has risen over the last year, however, amid reports of growing ties with North Korea. The regime plans to hold elections next year, the first since 1990, in a bid to boost its international reputation. But the U.S. and others contend the results cannot be fair unless Ms. Suu Kyi and her supporters – who won the last vote – are allowed to participate.
Wall Street Journal - Concerns Rise Around Obama Trip
By JONATHAN WEISMAN
SHANGHAI -- President Barack Obama arrived here late Sunday to press China on issues from climate change to economic restructuring, amid rising concerns that his first swing through Asia as president will yield more disappointment than progress on trade, human rights, national security and environmental concerns.
A flurry of actions in Singapore this weekend raised more questions than they resolved on a broad sweep of issues confronting both sides of the Pacific. On Sunday, leaders of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum dropped efforts to reach a binding international climate-change agreement in Copenhagen next month, settling instead for what they called a political framework for future negotiations.
Mr. Obama became the first president to meet with the entire Association of Southeast Asian Nations, including the military junta of Myanmar, and White House officials say he personally demanded the country's leaders release political prisoners, including opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi. But Mr. Obama failed to secure any mention of political prisoners in an ASEAN communiqué.
U.S. President Barack Obama and Russian counterpart Dmitry Medvedev meet in Singapore on the sidelines of an Asia-Pacific summit, but the focus of their talks was on Iran. Video courtesy of Reuters.
The U.S. and Russia now appear unlikely to complete a nuclear arms reduction accord by Dec. 5, when the current Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty expires. Mr. Obama met for closed-door consultations with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, but National Security Council Russia specialist Michael McFaul said major issues remain, and the two countries are working out a "bridging agreement" to extend previous arms-ratification rules.
On trade, the U.S. president committed this weekend to re-engage the Trans Pacific Partnership, a fledgling free trade alliance in the region. But a presidential shift in tone toward more trade engagement will face its real test Thursday when Mr. Obama visits South Korea to discuss a free trade agreement with that country that remains stuck.
And on Iran, Messers. Obama and Medvedev were left to warn leaders of the Islamic Republic once again that "time is running out." Iran has yet to agree to a Russian offer to provide nuclear material for research in exchange for the closure of a nuclear reactor that western powers say could be used to enrich uranium for nuclear weapons.
Half way through his Asian tour, Mr. Obama is confronting the limits of engagement and personal charm.
International efforts to combat climate change took a significant blow when the leaders of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum conceded a binding international treaty won't be reached when the United Nations convenes in Copenhagen in three weeks. Danish Prime Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen flew to Singapore Saturday night to deliver a new, down-sized proposal to lock world leaders into further talks.
"Even if we may not hammer out the last dot's of a legally binding instrument, I do believe a political binding agreement with specific commitment to mitigation and finance provides a strong basis for immediate action in the years to come," Mr. Rasmussen told APEC leaders at a hastily convened meeting organized by Mexican President Felipe Calderón and Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd Sunday morning.
The election of Mr. Obama, a believer in strict limits on greenhouse gas emissions, had raised hopes among environmentalists that Copenhagen would produce a tough, binding treaty to follow the Kyoto Accords of 1997. The landslide victory of Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama's Democratic Party of Japan brought to power a new government pledging deeper emissions cuts than its predecessor. And Chinese President Hu Jintao proposed in September to adopt what he called "carbon intensity targets," the amount of carbon released into the atmosphere per unit of economic output. Emissions from surging economics like China's would continue to rise but at a slower rate.
But political opposition in the U.S. Congress over Mr. Obama's climate-change proposals and continuing resistance among developing countries to binding emission reduction targets slowed consensus ahead of the Copenhagen summit.
Mr. Rasmussen laid out in some detail his goals for the Copenhagen summit. He said leaders should produce a five- to eight-page text with "precise language" committing developed countries to reductions of emissions thought to be warming the planet, with provisions on adapting to warmer temperatures, financing adaptation and combating climate change in poor countries, and technological development and diffusion. It would include pledges of immediate financing for early action.
"We are not aiming to let anyone off the hook," Mr. Rasmussen told the leaders. "We are trying to create a framework that will allow everybody to commit."
But the leaders didn't say when a final summit would be convened to ratify a real treaty.
"There are two choices that we face, given where things are. One was to have a political declaration to say 'We tried. We didn't achieve an agreement and we'll keep on trying.' and the other was to see if we could reach accord as the Danish prime minister laid out," said Michael Froman, White House deputy national security adviser for international economics..
Mr. Obama, in a speech Sunday, took his appeal for a new world economic order to the leaders of Asia that must help make it happen. He said the United States would strive to consume less, save more and restructure its economy around trade and exports. But he appealed to Asian nations to make their own economies more dependent on domestic consumption than U.S. profligacy.
White House officials say a similar message will be delivered in Shanghai and Beijing, but it is unclear how hard the U.S. president can press Beijing to allow the Chinese yuan to appreciate. At the APEC summit, leaders "until the last moment" tried to secure a commitment to stabilize foreign-exchange markers, according to a top adviser to an APEC head of state. But disagreements between the U.S. and Chinese delegations kept any commitment on currency out of the APEC final statement.
A more valuable yuan would empower Chinese consumers to buy, while making Chinese exports less attractive to U.S. consumers. But Washington cannot afford to anger China, which it needs to float a U.S. budget deficit that reached $176.4 billion in October alone, a monthly record.
Indeed, the Asia trip is exposing the limits of Mr. Obama's policy of engagement. The U.S. president met with ASEAN, declaring that efforts to marginalize the government of Myanmar had failed. Human rights groups had hoped a communiqué out of the meeting would call for the release of Ms. Suu Kyi, who is under house arrest. Instead, it made a cryptic reference to a previous ASEAN foreign ministers communiqué that called for her release. Sunday's statement did say that 2010 elections in Myanmar must be "free, fair, inclusive and transparent."
The failure to single out Ms. Suu Kyi was "another blow" to dissidents who want more pressure on the Myanmar junta, said Soe Aung, a spokesman for the Forum for Democracy in Burma, a Thailand-based organization. "We keep saying again and again that the U.S. should not send a mixed signal to the regime."
A White House official said the president never expected the leaders of Myanmar to accept any mention of the Nobel Laureate opposition leader but did press for a mention of political prisoners.
U.S. officials had taken pains to reduce expectations for the meeting, which was part of a new initiative by the Obama administration to improve its ties with Southeast Asia and increase interaction with the Myanmar government. The U.S. imposes stiff sanctions on the country, also known as Burma. But many analysts view those sanctions as a failure as Myanmar has expanded trade with China and other Asian nations, and U.S. officials now believe they might have more influence over the country's leaders if they talk with them more regularly.
Myanmar's military has controlled the country since 1962, and is accused of widespread human rights violations while overseeing an economy that remains one of the least-developed in Asia. The country's profile has risen over the last year, however, amid reports of growing ties with North Korea. The regime plans to hold elections next year, the first since 1990, in a bid to boost its international reputation. But the U.S. and others contend the results cannot be fair unless Ms. Suu Kyi and her supporters – who won the last vote – are allowed to participate.
*******************************************************************
Monsters and Critics - Global Fund returns to Myanmar with 110 million dollars
Health News
Nov 15, 2009, 6:54 GMT
Yangon - The Global Fund has agreed to provide Myanmar with 110 million dollars to fight HIV/AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis, after pulling out of the country four years ago, media reports said Sunday.
Total funding for Myanmar could rise to almost 290 million dollars if the grants are extended to the maximum five-year period, The Myanmar Times reported, citing documents provided by The Global Fund to fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria.
It will be the first aid Myanmar has received from organisation since it terminated grants to the country in 2005, Global Fund spokeswoman Marcela Rojo told the English-language weekly.
'After the termination of Global Fund grants in Myanmar in 2005, this is a very significant and very much welcome development, as the Global Fund is aware of the tremendous need to provide humanitarian assistance to prevent and fight the three diseases in Myanmar,' Rojo said.
The Global Fund's decision to end funding in Myanmar, a pariah state among Western democracies because of human rights abuses and refusal to implement democratic reforms, was attributed to political pressure from the US, a major donor to the fund.
To some extent the Global Fund's aid to Myanmar had been replaced by the European Union backed Three Diseases Fund.
UNAIDS country coordinator for Myanmar Sun Gang described the Global Fund's return to Myanmar as 'very much significant - and welcomed by all the (implementing) partners.'
'Of all the least-developed countries, Myanmar receives just about the lowest level of ODA (Official Development Assistance) in the world,' Gang said.
'To have the Global Fund providing money again not only means much-need financial resources but is also further evidence of the increasing confidence from the outside world that Myanmar does have the capacity to absorb more resources and deliver services to its people,' he added.
Health News
Nov 15, 2009, 6:54 GMT
Yangon - The Global Fund has agreed to provide Myanmar with 110 million dollars to fight HIV/AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis, after pulling out of the country four years ago, media reports said Sunday.
Total funding for Myanmar could rise to almost 290 million dollars if the grants are extended to the maximum five-year period, The Myanmar Times reported, citing documents provided by The Global Fund to fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria.
It will be the first aid Myanmar has received from organisation since it terminated grants to the country in 2005, Global Fund spokeswoman Marcela Rojo told the English-language weekly.
'After the termination of Global Fund grants in Myanmar in 2005, this is a very significant and very much welcome development, as the Global Fund is aware of the tremendous need to provide humanitarian assistance to prevent and fight the three diseases in Myanmar,' Rojo said.
The Global Fund's decision to end funding in Myanmar, a pariah state among Western democracies because of human rights abuses and refusal to implement democratic reforms, was attributed to political pressure from the US, a major donor to the fund.
To some extent the Global Fund's aid to Myanmar had been replaced by the European Union backed Three Diseases Fund.
UNAIDS country coordinator for Myanmar Sun Gang described the Global Fund's return to Myanmar as 'very much significant - and welcomed by all the (implementing) partners.'
'Of all the least-developed countries, Myanmar receives just about the lowest level of ODA (Official Development Assistance) in the world,' Gang said.
'To have the Global Fund providing money again not only means much-need financial resources but is also further evidence of the increasing confidence from the outside world that Myanmar does have the capacity to absorb more resources and deliver services to its people,' he added.
*******************************************************************
Asian Tribune - Lanka and Myanmar: Challenges ahead
Sun, 2009-11-15 03:44 — editor
By Janaka Perera
The Sri Lanka visit (Nov. 12-15) of Myanmar’s Head of State Senior General Than Shwe came in the wake of allegations being made over the past six months against the Rajapaksa regime that it was moving away from the ‘democracies’ and getting closer to 'dictatorships.'
The accusers have been sections of the Opposition and the media and the usual ‘anti-war’ crusaders. Needless to say the democracies that these pontificating pundits mean are the former European colonialists and their allies who did their utmost to prevent a final military victory over the LTTE while loudly proclaiming their commitment to defeat terrorism worldwide.
If we assume that the West hoped to humble the government and 'strengthen' democracy in Sri Lanka by such double games it is no exaggeration to say that they probably have had the opposite effect. Having compelled to eat their own words after the crushing defeat of the Tigers these 'human rights' champions have now shifted their focus to Sri Lanka’s alleged war crimes by her armed forces and to her ties with totalitarian regimes. The aim it appears is to declare Sri Lanka a pariah state.
Few days before General Than Shwe’s arrival an Opposition politician and a section of the press (quoting Western sources) severely criticised Myanmar’s military rule and blamed the Sri Lankan Government for inviting the General.
But have any of these critics pondered the real reasons leading to the erosion of Burmese democracy? It is no exaggeration that these factors have echoes in Sri Lanka too. Whether we like it or not Myanmar’s military Junta is the logical outcome of a series of events that began in the country’s immediate pre-independence years but rooted in her colonial past.
The “divide and rule” strategy of the British Raj entrenched ethnic nationalist sentiments, which became an impediment to creating a unified sense of nationhood in Myanmar following independence in 1948. Under British colonial rule the country’s diverse ethnic minority groups were administered as separate mini-states known as “Frontier Areas”.
The British rule established a complex system of differing treatment for various ethnic groups, the consequences of which continues to resonate to this day. The British were responsible for introducing narcotic drugs to the country for using them as a weapon to destroy the nation politically, economically and socially (as they did China’s case during the opium wars). They opened opium dens throughout the land and incited dissension in social and religious affairs by violating Myanmar’s Buddhist customs and traditions – the effects of which are still felt.
The colonialists held race-based elections and moved to establish separate ethnic states. When General Aung San, leader of Myanmar’s Anti-Fascist People’s Freedom League (AFPFL) demanded from the British full independence for Myanmar after World War II the colonial rulers proposed that "people from hill regions did not yet want to unite with Myanmar mainland", and called for the appointment of a fact-finding committee to study the wishes of people from hill regions. Aung San turned down the British proposal.
It is strongly suspected that the British had a hand in the General’s assassination in 1947 since he was the leader who could organize and unite the whole country if he became independent Burma’s first Head of State. The idea was unpalatable to the colonialists. Consequently the discord sown by the British largely contributed to gradual weakening of Myanmar’s civilian rule which - as the Burmese military saw it – would not have been able to prevent the country’s fragmentation. And it is obvious who would have gained by it. The rest is history.
The West is now admitting that imposing sanctions on Myanmar have not had the desired impact. U.S. President Barack Obama has said that his new policy of direct communication with Myanmar's ruling generals is based on the failure of Washington’s sanctions to change the Junta’s policies. It is a good eye-opener for everyone who wants the West to punish the Rajapaksa regime through sanctions.
Sri Lanka’s primary concern should to be to strengthen her age-old ties with Myanmar no matter who rules her - though we earnestly hope that one day she would return to civilian rule. Sri Lanka’s religious and cultural ties with that country go back to over 10 centuries. That is something that no Sri Lankan Government can ignore. The two nations enjoy a special relationship on several grounds. The foremost among them is the Theravada Buddhist connection. Both are heirs to a proud history and high achieving Buddhist civilization.
In a way Myanmar is more fortunate than Sri Lanka in the sense the former suffered only about 100 years of Western colonialism. Consequently, the vast majority of Burmese were never uprooted from their Buddhist heritage, customs and traditions. Since independence both civil and military governments of Myanmar have supported Theravada Buddhism. They were neither Pol Potist nor Din Diem-type rulers who were hell-bent on destroying the country’s ancestral religion and culture.
Sri Lanka's contribution towards the consolidation of the Myanmar’s ancient Bagan Empire in terms of religion, culture and civilization is attested to in that country’s historical chronicles, inscriptions, art and architecture, as well as in Sinhala records, according to Sri Lankan Buddhist Scholar Dr. Hema Goonatilake. She says that what Sri Lanka later gained from Myanmar is equally significant. Myanmar's religious gifts to Sri Lanka - the Amarapura and the Ramanna sects contributed a great deal to the Buddhist, cultural and educational renaissance in the 18th and 19th Centuries, the influence of which continues to this day.
Dr. Goonatilake notes: “Although not mentioned in Sri Lankan records, there is evidence from Myanmar inscriptions that confirms the strong Sinhalese connection with the Myanmar royalty during that time. The premier historian of Myanmar, Gordon Luce and local historians have given evidence to show that there was a strong Sinhalese influence in the Bagan Royal Court during the reigns of Alaungsithu and Narapatisithu. Wife of King Narapatisithu, Queen Uchokpan was a Sinhalese princess.”
Both Sri Lanka and Myanmar regained independence from British rule in the same year -1948. The following year (June 7, 1949) they established diplomatic ties. Sri Lanka figured prominently when the agreement on disbanding the Burmese Patriotic Forces and reorganizing them as a standing Myanmar Army was signed on September 4, 1945.
(The Patriotic Forces had fought the British and subsequently the Japanese in World War II). Allied Supreme Commander SEAC, Admiral Lord Louis Mountbatten’s South-Asia Command (SEAC) Headquarters in Kandy was the venue of the event. A principal signatory to the agreement was Myanmar’s independence hero General Aung San.
The first Burmese Head of State to visit Sri Lanka was Prime Minister U Nu in 1950. On this visit U Nu met Asoka Weeraratna, the Sri Lankan who was later instrumental in the spread of Buddhism in Germany through organizing Buddhist missions comprising monks from Sri Lanka and in establishing the Berlin Vihara (Das Buddhistische Haus founded by Dr. Paul Dahlke) with resident monks drawn primarily from Theravada Buddhist countries on a permanent footing.
Venerable Sayadaw U. Silananda - an icon in Myanmar for his invaluable contributions to Buddhism - was one of the Burmese monks who arrived in Sri Lanka in the early 1950s. He was closely associated with the work of the Sri Lanka based German Dharmaduta Society in the initial period for the spread of Theravada Buddhism in Germany and other western countries. He was based in Sri Lanka from 1954 - 1956.
The famous Buddhist monk Venerable Mah?si Say?daw (1904-1982) was a questioner and final editor at the Sixth Buddhist Council held in Rangoon in1954 and helped to establish Vipassana meditation centers in Sri Lanka among other countries. Several Sri Lankan meditation Centres have adopted the techniques taught by Mahasi Sayadaw in the teaching and practice of Vipassana Meditation.
Today there is increased understanding between Sri Lanka and Myanmar in resolving issues through a common approach. Recently the Government of Myanmar donated US $ 50,000 for the welfare of the IDPs in the north. It also presented a tusker to Sri Lanka for Buddhist ceremonies, as a gesture of friendship. There is a visible number of Buddhist monks from Myanmar engaged in post-graduate studies on Pali and Buddhism in Sri Lanka.
The invaluable close links between the two nations must continue into the future and lay the foundation for an international summit conference of predominantly Buddhist countries. It is an event long overdue. Sri Lanka and Myanmar may well consider jointly sponsoring such an international conference.
Concludes Dr. Goonatilake:
”With the rise of Asia as the centre of economic, political and cultural focus in the world, we can together make Buddhism again the unifying force in Asia as well as across the new globalised world at a time when Buddhism is being widely spread in the Western world.”
Sun, 2009-11-15 03:44 — editor
By Janaka Perera
The Sri Lanka visit (Nov. 12-15) of Myanmar’s Head of State Senior General Than Shwe came in the wake of allegations being made over the past six months against the Rajapaksa regime that it was moving away from the ‘democracies’ and getting closer to 'dictatorships.'
The accusers have been sections of the Opposition and the media and the usual ‘anti-war’ crusaders. Needless to say the democracies that these pontificating pundits mean are the former European colonialists and their allies who did their utmost to prevent a final military victory over the LTTE while loudly proclaiming their commitment to defeat terrorism worldwide.
If we assume that the West hoped to humble the government and 'strengthen' democracy in Sri Lanka by such double games it is no exaggeration to say that they probably have had the opposite effect. Having compelled to eat their own words after the crushing defeat of the Tigers these 'human rights' champions have now shifted their focus to Sri Lanka’s alleged war crimes by her armed forces and to her ties with totalitarian regimes. The aim it appears is to declare Sri Lanka a pariah state.
Few days before General Than Shwe’s arrival an Opposition politician and a section of the press (quoting Western sources) severely criticised Myanmar’s military rule and blamed the Sri Lankan Government for inviting the General.
But have any of these critics pondered the real reasons leading to the erosion of Burmese democracy? It is no exaggeration that these factors have echoes in Sri Lanka too. Whether we like it or not Myanmar’s military Junta is the logical outcome of a series of events that began in the country’s immediate pre-independence years but rooted in her colonial past.
The “divide and rule” strategy of the British Raj entrenched ethnic nationalist sentiments, which became an impediment to creating a unified sense of nationhood in Myanmar following independence in 1948. Under British colonial rule the country’s diverse ethnic minority groups were administered as separate mini-states known as “Frontier Areas”.
The British rule established a complex system of differing treatment for various ethnic groups, the consequences of which continues to resonate to this day. The British were responsible for introducing narcotic drugs to the country for using them as a weapon to destroy the nation politically, economically and socially (as they did China’s case during the opium wars). They opened opium dens throughout the land and incited dissension in social and religious affairs by violating Myanmar’s Buddhist customs and traditions – the effects of which are still felt.
The colonialists held race-based elections and moved to establish separate ethnic states. When General Aung San, leader of Myanmar’s Anti-Fascist People’s Freedom League (AFPFL) demanded from the British full independence for Myanmar after World War II the colonial rulers proposed that "people from hill regions did not yet want to unite with Myanmar mainland", and called for the appointment of a fact-finding committee to study the wishes of people from hill regions. Aung San turned down the British proposal.
It is strongly suspected that the British had a hand in the General’s assassination in 1947 since he was the leader who could organize and unite the whole country if he became independent Burma’s first Head of State. The idea was unpalatable to the colonialists. Consequently the discord sown by the British largely contributed to gradual weakening of Myanmar’s civilian rule which - as the Burmese military saw it – would not have been able to prevent the country’s fragmentation. And it is obvious who would have gained by it. The rest is history.
The West is now admitting that imposing sanctions on Myanmar have not had the desired impact. U.S. President Barack Obama has said that his new policy of direct communication with Myanmar's ruling generals is based on the failure of Washington’s sanctions to change the Junta’s policies. It is a good eye-opener for everyone who wants the West to punish the Rajapaksa regime through sanctions.
Sri Lanka’s primary concern should to be to strengthen her age-old ties with Myanmar no matter who rules her - though we earnestly hope that one day she would return to civilian rule. Sri Lanka’s religious and cultural ties with that country go back to over 10 centuries. That is something that no Sri Lankan Government can ignore. The two nations enjoy a special relationship on several grounds. The foremost among them is the Theravada Buddhist connection. Both are heirs to a proud history and high achieving Buddhist civilization.
In a way Myanmar is more fortunate than Sri Lanka in the sense the former suffered only about 100 years of Western colonialism. Consequently, the vast majority of Burmese were never uprooted from their Buddhist heritage, customs and traditions. Since independence both civil and military governments of Myanmar have supported Theravada Buddhism. They were neither Pol Potist nor Din Diem-type rulers who were hell-bent on destroying the country’s ancestral religion and culture.
Sri Lanka's contribution towards the consolidation of the Myanmar’s ancient Bagan Empire in terms of religion, culture and civilization is attested to in that country’s historical chronicles, inscriptions, art and architecture, as well as in Sinhala records, according to Sri Lankan Buddhist Scholar Dr. Hema Goonatilake. She says that what Sri Lanka later gained from Myanmar is equally significant. Myanmar's religious gifts to Sri Lanka - the Amarapura and the Ramanna sects contributed a great deal to the Buddhist, cultural and educational renaissance in the 18th and 19th Centuries, the influence of which continues to this day.
Dr. Goonatilake notes: “Although not mentioned in Sri Lankan records, there is evidence from Myanmar inscriptions that confirms the strong Sinhalese connection with the Myanmar royalty during that time. The premier historian of Myanmar, Gordon Luce and local historians have given evidence to show that there was a strong Sinhalese influence in the Bagan Royal Court during the reigns of Alaungsithu and Narapatisithu. Wife of King Narapatisithu, Queen Uchokpan was a Sinhalese princess.”
Both Sri Lanka and Myanmar regained independence from British rule in the same year -1948. The following year (June 7, 1949) they established diplomatic ties. Sri Lanka figured prominently when the agreement on disbanding the Burmese Patriotic Forces and reorganizing them as a standing Myanmar Army was signed on September 4, 1945.
(The Patriotic Forces had fought the British and subsequently the Japanese in World War II). Allied Supreme Commander SEAC, Admiral Lord Louis Mountbatten’s South-Asia Command (SEAC) Headquarters in Kandy was the venue of the event. A principal signatory to the agreement was Myanmar’s independence hero General Aung San.
The first Burmese Head of State to visit Sri Lanka was Prime Minister U Nu in 1950. On this visit U Nu met Asoka Weeraratna, the Sri Lankan who was later instrumental in the spread of Buddhism in Germany through organizing Buddhist missions comprising monks from Sri Lanka and in establishing the Berlin Vihara (Das Buddhistische Haus founded by Dr. Paul Dahlke) with resident monks drawn primarily from Theravada Buddhist countries on a permanent footing.
Venerable Sayadaw U. Silananda - an icon in Myanmar for his invaluable contributions to Buddhism - was one of the Burmese monks who arrived in Sri Lanka in the early 1950s. He was closely associated with the work of the Sri Lanka based German Dharmaduta Society in the initial period for the spread of Theravada Buddhism in Germany and other western countries. He was based in Sri Lanka from 1954 - 1956.
The famous Buddhist monk Venerable Mah?si Say?daw (1904-1982) was a questioner and final editor at the Sixth Buddhist Council held in Rangoon in1954 and helped to establish Vipassana meditation centers in Sri Lanka among other countries. Several Sri Lankan meditation Centres have adopted the techniques taught by Mahasi Sayadaw in the teaching and practice of Vipassana Meditation.
Today there is increased understanding between Sri Lanka and Myanmar in resolving issues through a common approach. Recently the Government of Myanmar donated US $ 50,000 for the welfare of the IDPs in the north. It also presented a tusker to Sri Lanka for Buddhist ceremonies, as a gesture of friendship. There is a visible number of Buddhist monks from Myanmar engaged in post-graduate studies on Pali and Buddhism in Sri Lanka.
The invaluable close links between the two nations must continue into the future and lay the foundation for an international summit conference of predominantly Buddhist countries. It is an event long overdue. Sri Lanka and Myanmar may well consider jointly sponsoring such an international conference.
Concludes Dr. Goonatilake:
”With the rise of Asia as the centre of economic, political and cultural focus in the world, we can together make Buddhism again the unifying force in Asia as well as across the new globalised world at a time when Buddhism is being widely spread in the Western world.”
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