IAEA chief says looking into Myanmar nuclear report
Mon Jun 7, 2010 8:10pm IST
VIENNA (Reuters) - The U.N. nuclear watchdog said on Monday it was looking into a report that military-ruled Myanmar was aiming to develop nuclear weapons.
South Asia
Yukiya Amano, head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), also said that if necessary the Vienna-based body may ask for clarification from Myanmar.
Accounts of suspected nuclear plans surfaced last year, but Myanmar has never confirmed or denied any nuclear ambitions.
Last week, an investigation by an exiled anti-government group said Myanmar was seeking to develop a clandestine nuclear programme with the intent to produce an atomic bomb.
The five-year investigation by the Norway-based Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB) concluded that Myanmar, formerly Burma, was a long way from producing a nuclear weapon but had gone to great lengths to acquire the technology and expertise to do so.
If true, it would be the first southeast Asian country with nuclear ambitions and alter the strategic landscape of a fast-growing region whose big countries -- from Indonesia to the Philippines and Thailand -- are closely allied with Washington.
"We have seen the related articles in the media and we are now assessing the information," Amano told a news conference.
"And, if necessary, we will seek clarification from Myanmar," the Japanese diplomat said, speaking on the first day of a meeting of the 35-nation board of the IAEA.
Myanmar is a member of the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), a global anti-nuclear arms pact, and of the IAEA.
The DVB report cited a U.S. nuclear scientist assessing evidence provided by Sai Thein Win, a Burmese defence engineer trained in Russia in missile technology.
He said he had defected after working in factories built to develop weapons of mass destruction.
The report prompted a U.S. Senator, Jim Webb, to cancel a trip to Myanmar last Thursday, which he said would be "unwise and inappropriate" in light of the report.
Previous claims by defectors suggest Myanmar had enlisted the help of North Korea, with which it reportedly agreed a memorandum of understanding on military cooperation during a visit by a top general to Pyongyang last year.
Mon Jun 7, 2010 8:10pm IST
VIENNA (Reuters) - The U.N. nuclear watchdog said on Monday it was looking into a report that military-ruled Myanmar was aiming to develop nuclear weapons.
South Asia
Yukiya Amano, head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), also said that if necessary the Vienna-based body may ask for clarification from Myanmar.
Accounts of suspected nuclear plans surfaced last year, but Myanmar has never confirmed or denied any nuclear ambitions.
Last week, an investigation by an exiled anti-government group said Myanmar was seeking to develop a clandestine nuclear programme with the intent to produce an atomic bomb.
The five-year investigation by the Norway-based Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB) concluded that Myanmar, formerly Burma, was a long way from producing a nuclear weapon but had gone to great lengths to acquire the technology and expertise to do so.
If true, it would be the first southeast Asian country with nuclear ambitions and alter the strategic landscape of a fast-growing region whose big countries -- from Indonesia to the Philippines and Thailand -- are closely allied with Washington.
"We have seen the related articles in the media and we are now assessing the information," Amano told a news conference.
"And, if necessary, we will seek clarification from Myanmar," the Japanese diplomat said, speaking on the first day of a meeting of the 35-nation board of the IAEA.
Myanmar is a member of the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), a global anti-nuclear arms pact, and of the IAEA.
The DVB report cited a U.S. nuclear scientist assessing evidence provided by Sai Thein Win, a Burmese defence engineer trained in Russia in missile technology.
He said he had defected after working in factories built to develop weapons of mass destruction.
The report prompted a U.S. Senator, Jim Webb, to cancel a trip to Myanmar last Thursday, which he said would be "unwise and inappropriate" in light of the report.
Previous claims by defectors suggest Myanmar had enlisted the help of North Korea, with which it reportedly agreed a memorandum of understanding on military cooperation during a visit by a top general to Pyongyang last year.
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Evidence points to Myanmar nuclear program
Published: June 7, 2010 at 12:33 PM
BANGKOK, June 7 (UPI) -- Myanmar's military dictatorship is working on nuclear weapons, a report by a Norway human rights and democracy group claims.
The evidence from Myanmar, formerly called Burma, is analyzed in a 30-page report by a former director of the International Atomic Energy Agency, Robert Kelley, and published on the Web site of the non-profit Democratic Voice of Burma.
Myanmar is likely mining uranium and exploring nuclear technology that is "useful only for weapons," Kelley said in his report that focuses largely on evidence from one man, former Myanmar Maj. Sai Thein Win.
Kelley, an American nuclear scientist, has worked for five years with DVB putting together the report based on documents and hundreds of photographs from Win, a defense engineer who studied nuclear and chemical technology at the Moscow Institute of Engineering Physics and the Mendeleev Institute of Chemical Technology.
Win later worked in Myanmar factories where he was part of a team making prototype components for missiles, DVB said on its Web site.
"Sai contacted DVB after learning of its investigation into Burma's military programs and supplied various documents and color photographs of the equipment built inside the factories," DVB said.
"The investigation has also uncovered evidence of North Korean involvement in the development of Burmese missiles, as well as Russia's training of Burmese nuclear technicians."
The report said that Win is a "remarkable individual" who "came out to Thailand to tell the world what he has seen and what he was asked to do." Win "can describe the special demonstrations he attended and can name the people and places associated with the Burmese nuclear program."
DVB said that Win is supplying nuclear information in the same fashion as did Mordechai Vanunu, an Israeli technician at the Dimona nuclear site in the Negev desert. Vanunu took photographs of activities in Israel that allegedly related to nuclear fuel and weapons development. The photos were published in the Sunday Times newspaper in London in 1986.
Vanunu was abducted, tried in an Israeli court and sentenced to 18 years in prison for divulging state secrets.
Two companies in Singapore with German connections sold machine tools to the Myanmar government's Department of Technical and Vocational Education.
"DTVE is probably a front for military purchasing for weapons of mass destruction; that is to say nuclear, chemical and biological weapons and the means to deliver them, largely missiles," the report said.
Win provided high-quality photos of German technicians installing the equipment and the Germans were suspicious that the machinery was for educational use because there were no schools or colleges in the area.
Kelley said the quality of the machine parts and the mechanical drawings were "poor" and "nothing we have seen suggests Burma will be successful with materials and components."
Kelley also said that if Myanmar was discovered to have a nuclear development program it should face international sanctions.
Myanmar having nuclear weapons would pose a proliferation risk in the region that lies between the nuclear powers of India and China. Many of their Southeast Asia neighbors have proclaimed the region a nuclear weapons-free zone.
Last summer an article in the Australian newspaper The Sydney Morning Herald reported that North Korea was helping Myanmar build a nuclear reactor and plutonium extraction plant as part of a program to build an atomic bomb by 2014.
Evidence from Myanmar defectors said the plant was inside a mountain at Naung Laing in northern Myanmar and close to a research reactor Russia agreed to help build at another site, the Herald said.
Last August U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton voiced concern over Myanmar's suspected nuclear ambitions at a regional security meeting in Thailand.
Indian authorities had recently detained a North Korean ship and searched it for radioactive material. The MV Mu San dropped anchor off the Andaman Islands without permission and was believed destined for Myanmar.
Most of the Andaman Islands, between India and Myanmar, are part of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands Union Territory of India while a small number of the archipelago islands belong to Myanmar.
The search of the ship was done under U.N. sanctions adopted in June 2009 after North Korea's atomic test the month before.
Published: June 7, 2010 at 12:33 PM
BANGKOK, June 7 (UPI) -- Myanmar's military dictatorship is working on nuclear weapons, a report by a Norway human rights and democracy group claims.
The evidence from Myanmar, formerly called Burma, is analyzed in a 30-page report by a former director of the International Atomic Energy Agency, Robert Kelley, and published on the Web site of the non-profit Democratic Voice of Burma.
Myanmar is likely mining uranium and exploring nuclear technology that is "useful only for weapons," Kelley said in his report that focuses largely on evidence from one man, former Myanmar Maj. Sai Thein Win.
Kelley, an American nuclear scientist, has worked for five years with DVB putting together the report based on documents and hundreds of photographs from Win, a defense engineer who studied nuclear and chemical technology at the Moscow Institute of Engineering Physics and the Mendeleev Institute of Chemical Technology.
Win later worked in Myanmar factories where he was part of a team making prototype components for missiles, DVB said on its Web site.
"Sai contacted DVB after learning of its investigation into Burma's military programs and supplied various documents and color photographs of the equipment built inside the factories," DVB said.
"The investigation has also uncovered evidence of North Korean involvement in the development of Burmese missiles, as well as Russia's training of Burmese nuclear technicians."
The report said that Win is a "remarkable individual" who "came out to Thailand to tell the world what he has seen and what he was asked to do." Win "can describe the special demonstrations he attended and can name the people and places associated with the Burmese nuclear program."
DVB said that Win is supplying nuclear information in the same fashion as did Mordechai Vanunu, an Israeli technician at the Dimona nuclear site in the Negev desert. Vanunu took photographs of activities in Israel that allegedly related to nuclear fuel and weapons development. The photos were published in the Sunday Times newspaper in London in 1986.
Vanunu was abducted, tried in an Israeli court and sentenced to 18 years in prison for divulging state secrets.
Two companies in Singapore with German connections sold machine tools to the Myanmar government's Department of Technical and Vocational Education.
"DTVE is probably a front for military purchasing for weapons of mass destruction; that is to say nuclear, chemical and biological weapons and the means to deliver them, largely missiles," the report said.
Win provided high-quality photos of German technicians installing the equipment and the Germans were suspicious that the machinery was for educational use because there were no schools or colleges in the area.
Kelley said the quality of the machine parts and the mechanical drawings were "poor" and "nothing we have seen suggests Burma will be successful with materials and components."
Kelley also said that if Myanmar was discovered to have a nuclear development program it should face international sanctions.
Myanmar having nuclear weapons would pose a proliferation risk in the region that lies between the nuclear powers of India and China. Many of their Southeast Asia neighbors have proclaimed the region a nuclear weapons-free zone.
Last summer an article in the Australian newspaper The Sydney Morning Herald reported that North Korea was helping Myanmar build a nuclear reactor and plutonium extraction plant as part of a program to build an atomic bomb by 2014.
Evidence from Myanmar defectors said the plant was inside a mountain at Naung Laing in northern Myanmar and close to a research reactor Russia agreed to help build at another site, the Herald said.
Last August U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton voiced concern over Myanmar's suspected nuclear ambitions at a regional security meeting in Thailand.
Indian authorities had recently detained a North Korean ship and searched it for radioactive material. The MV Mu San dropped anchor off the Andaman Islands without permission and was believed destined for Myanmar.
Most of the Andaman Islands, between India and Myanmar, are part of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands Union Territory of India while a small number of the archipelago islands belong to Myanmar.
The search of the ship was done under U.N. sanctions adopted in June 2009 after North Korea's atomic test the month before.
*********************************************************
AsiaOne News - Myanmar rebuts nuclear talk
my paper - Mon, Jun 07, 2010
BY KENNY CHEE
THE Myanmar ambassador to Singapore has told my paper that renewed allegations that the country has a secret nuclear programme were false, but experts said new evidence raises more suspicions regarding alleged nuclear equipment purchases by the reclusive nation.
When asked at the end of the three-day Shangri-La Dialogue security conference yesterday on fresh media reports on the issue, Ambassador Win Myint said they were "not true". "It stereotypes our country," he said. "If (we wanted to) know how to produce nuclear bombs, we need infrastructure and technology."
On reports that North Korea had been helping Myanmar build up nuclear capabilities, Mr Win Myint said: "Some communities and societies... stereotype our country."
Last week, Norway-based media group Democratic Voice of Burma released a report that said military-ruled Myanmar was secretly building a nuclear programme and has intentions of creating a nuclear bomb.
The report said a defector involved in the nuclear programme smuggled out extensive files and photos describing experiments with uranium and specialised gear needed to build a nuclear reactor and develop enrichment capabilities. It said Myanmar was still not close to a weapon.
United States Senator Jim Webb nixed a Myanmar trip last Thursday due to the report, according to Reuters.
Last July, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton expressed worries that Myanmar was receiving nuclear technology from North Korea and called it a threat to US allies.
Security experts say the latest nuclear allegations have raised more questions and concerns.
Mr Mark Fitzpatrick, Senior Fellow for Non-proliferation at The International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS), told reporters at the Shangri-La Dialogue that the latest developments on Myanmar were discussed on the sidelines and at at least one closed-door session.
The London-based Mr Fitzpatrick later told my paper Myanmar has consistently denied claims it is pursuing a nuclear programme. But he said Myanmar had imported very sophisticated machine tools which could be used for making missile parts or possibly nuclear energy or nuclear weaponry. "One of the gravest questions is what is the purpose of these...tools," he said.
Dr Tim Huxley, executive director of IISS Asia, said Myanmar has moved another notch closer to being seen as a rogue state with the new reports, and it was "courting serious consequences" for not being open.
Myanmar Deputy Minister of Defence Aye Myint was to attend the forum but pulled out last week. Asked why, Mr Win Myint said it is because Premier Wen Jiabao of China was visiting Myanmar at the same time as the conference.
my paper - Mon, Jun 07, 2010
BY KENNY CHEE
THE Myanmar ambassador to Singapore has told my paper that renewed allegations that the country has a secret nuclear programme were false, but experts said new evidence raises more suspicions regarding alleged nuclear equipment purchases by the reclusive nation.
When asked at the end of the three-day Shangri-La Dialogue security conference yesterday on fresh media reports on the issue, Ambassador Win Myint said they were "not true". "It stereotypes our country," he said. "If (we wanted to) know how to produce nuclear bombs, we need infrastructure and technology."
On reports that North Korea had been helping Myanmar build up nuclear capabilities, Mr Win Myint said: "Some communities and societies... stereotype our country."
Last week, Norway-based media group Democratic Voice of Burma released a report that said military-ruled Myanmar was secretly building a nuclear programme and has intentions of creating a nuclear bomb.
The report said a defector involved in the nuclear programme smuggled out extensive files and photos describing experiments with uranium and specialised gear needed to build a nuclear reactor and develop enrichment capabilities. It said Myanmar was still not close to a weapon.
United States Senator Jim Webb nixed a Myanmar trip last Thursday due to the report, according to Reuters.
Last July, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton expressed worries that Myanmar was receiving nuclear technology from North Korea and called it a threat to US allies.
Security experts say the latest nuclear allegations have raised more questions and concerns.
Mr Mark Fitzpatrick, Senior Fellow for Non-proliferation at The International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS), told reporters at the Shangri-La Dialogue that the latest developments on Myanmar were discussed on the sidelines and at at least one closed-door session.
The London-based Mr Fitzpatrick later told my paper Myanmar has consistently denied claims it is pursuing a nuclear programme. But he said Myanmar had imported very sophisticated machine tools which could be used for making missile parts or possibly nuclear energy or nuclear weaponry. "One of the gravest questions is what is the purpose of these...tools," he said.
Dr Tim Huxley, executive director of IISS Asia, said Myanmar has moved another notch closer to being seen as a rogue state with the new reports, and it was "courting serious consequences" for not being open.
Myanmar Deputy Minister of Defence Aye Myint was to attend the forum but pulled out last week. Asked why, Mr Win Myint said it is because Premier Wen Jiabao of China was visiting Myanmar at the same time as the conference.
*********************************************************
In Brief: ILO presses for end to forced labour in Myanmar
BANGKOK, 7 June 2010 (IRIN) - The UN International Labour Organization (ILO) has urged the Myanmar government to end forced labour.
The government, working with ILO, has set up a complaints mechanism, whereby people can report forced labour violations, but now needs to work toward eliminating the practice, said Steve Marshall of ILO in Myanmar.
“There has been progress, there’s no question,” Marshall told IRIN by telephone from Geneva, where he presented his assessment of forced labour in Myanmar to the ILO’s annual conference. “In terms of elimination of forced labour, which is the objective, there is still a considerable way to go,” he said, adding that “rather than responding to complaints – as a sort of medical treatment – there needs to be a cure.
“We still have six people still in prison because of the complaints mechanism. It’s very important to work with government toward their release,” he said. He pressed the government to focus on building awareness about forced labour, and setting up an economic solution to provide appropriate remuneration for labourers.
BANGKOK, 7 June 2010 (IRIN) - The UN International Labour Organization (ILO) has urged the Myanmar government to end forced labour.
The government, working with ILO, has set up a complaints mechanism, whereby people can report forced labour violations, but now needs to work toward eliminating the practice, said Steve Marshall of ILO in Myanmar.
“There has been progress, there’s no question,” Marshall told IRIN by telephone from Geneva, where he presented his assessment of forced labour in Myanmar to the ILO’s annual conference. “In terms of elimination of forced labour, which is the objective, there is still a considerable way to go,” he said, adding that “rather than responding to complaints – as a sort of medical treatment – there needs to be a cure.
“We still have six people still in prison because of the complaints mechanism. It’s very important to work with government toward their release,” he said. He pressed the government to focus on building awareness about forced labour, and setting up an economic solution to provide appropriate remuneration for labourers.
*********************************************************
Jun 8, 2010
Asia Times Online - China re-engages Myanmar ally
By Mitch Moxley
BEIJING - Relations between China and Myanmar have been shaky recently, in large part due to border skirmishes in Myanmar that have frustrated Beijing. But one would not know it from Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao's state visit to Myanmar last week.
The junta rolled out the red carpet for Wen, going so far as to issue a stamp to honor the visit, the first by a Chinese leader in 16 years. Chinese state media, meanwhile, glossed over any troubles between the countries, heralding the meeting as "a new page of good-neighborly and friendly cooperation".
The visit was part of Wen's four-nation Asia tour and coincides with the 60th anniversary of diplomatic relations between the two countries. While time will tell whether the meeting represents a genuine thaw in relations, it does seem to reflect a re-commitment to the mutually beneficial relationship China and Myanmar have enjoyed for 60 years.
China craves Myanmar's natural resources, while Myanmar's generals depend on aid, arms and at least some diplomatic protection from their giant neighbor to the north. Wen met Senior General Than Shwe and other top leaders in the Myanmar capital, Naypyidaw, where he signed a series of agreements on energy, hydropower projects and aid.
According to state media, Wen told Than Shwe that the meeting had already improved relations between the countries. The leaders "reached consensus on many issues and signed a lot of major deals, which marks another step forward", Jiang Yu, a Foreign Ministry spokesperson, said at a news conference in Beijing.
"We are willing to deepen our friendship with [Myanmar] and expand cooperation, always acting as a good neighbor, good friend and good partner," Jiang quoted Wen as saying.
The meeting comes before Myanmar's first scheduled elections in 20 years. These, which the junta claims will be free and fair, have already been met with wide skepticism in the international community.
Pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi, whose National League for Democracy (NLD) party won the previous election but was prevented by the generals from forming government, has been barred from playing any role this time around. The NLD was dissolved last month after refusing to register as a political party.
China has been under pressure from the West to push for constructive change in Myanmar. China has a significant interest in a stable Myanmar and a greater influence over the xenophobic regime than perhaps any other outside power.
The Irrawaddy, a Thailand-based news magazine run by Myanmar exiles, said in a news analysis that Wen would likely advise Than Shwe to make concessions to add credibility to the elections.
"The [Myanmar] regime faces a crisis of legitimacy," the magazine said. "Beijing's task will be undoubtedly more palatable when standing up for an elected government rather than a rogue military state, much the same as when China protects North Korea on the world stage."
But Zhang Xizhen, a professor at Peking University's School of International Studies, said Wen and Than Shwe likely focused on economic concerns and border stability, veering away from politics. "What kind of political change happens in one country is its own internal affairs," he said. "China has no right to interfere."
Two-way trade between the neighbors reached US$2.9 billion in 2009, according to official figures, making China Myanmar's second-biggest trading partner after Thailand. With investments totaling $1.8 billion (as of January this year), China is the third-largest investor in Myanmar after Thailand and Singapore.
But recent troubles along the Myanmar-China border have soured relations. Last August, the Myanmar army attacked rebels from the ethically Chinese Kokang minority group, forcing some 37,000 refugees to flood into China's Yunnan province and prompting a rare admonishment from Beijing.
China continues to be concerned about more unrest in the border region. These concerns were made apparent with the recent deployment of 5,000 People's Liberation Army troops along China's southwestern border with Myanmar, according to reports by The Irrawaddy.
Border skirmishes only worsened what was already becoming a strained relationship. For many years, China backed the Myanmar-based Communist Party of Burma in its armed struggle with the government, and many of Myanmar's current leaders once fought against the communists.
Today, many in Myanmar view China as a pillager of their resources. China, meanwhile, has apparently grown increasingly frustrated with the lack of political reform in Myanmar.
Xu Liping, a researcher at the Institute of Asia-Pacific Studies, which is part of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, noted that the impact of Wen's visit to Myanmar should not be overblown, but instead should be considered an indication of longstanding diplomatic relations.
Asia Times Online - China re-engages Myanmar ally
By Mitch Moxley
BEIJING - Relations between China and Myanmar have been shaky recently, in large part due to border skirmishes in Myanmar that have frustrated Beijing. But one would not know it from Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao's state visit to Myanmar last week.
The junta rolled out the red carpet for Wen, going so far as to issue a stamp to honor the visit, the first by a Chinese leader in 16 years. Chinese state media, meanwhile, glossed over any troubles between the countries, heralding the meeting as "a new page of good-neighborly and friendly cooperation".
The visit was part of Wen's four-nation Asia tour and coincides with the 60th anniversary of diplomatic relations between the two countries. While time will tell whether the meeting represents a genuine thaw in relations, it does seem to reflect a re-commitment to the mutually beneficial relationship China and Myanmar have enjoyed for 60 years.
China craves Myanmar's natural resources, while Myanmar's generals depend on aid, arms and at least some diplomatic protection from their giant neighbor to the north. Wen met Senior General Than Shwe and other top leaders in the Myanmar capital, Naypyidaw, where he signed a series of agreements on energy, hydropower projects and aid.
According to state media, Wen told Than Shwe that the meeting had already improved relations between the countries. The leaders "reached consensus on many issues and signed a lot of major deals, which marks another step forward", Jiang Yu, a Foreign Ministry spokesperson, said at a news conference in Beijing.
"We are willing to deepen our friendship with [Myanmar] and expand cooperation, always acting as a good neighbor, good friend and good partner," Jiang quoted Wen as saying.
The meeting comes before Myanmar's first scheduled elections in 20 years. These, which the junta claims will be free and fair, have already been met with wide skepticism in the international community.
Pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi, whose National League for Democracy (NLD) party won the previous election but was prevented by the generals from forming government, has been barred from playing any role this time around. The NLD was dissolved last month after refusing to register as a political party.
China has been under pressure from the West to push for constructive change in Myanmar. China has a significant interest in a stable Myanmar and a greater influence over the xenophobic regime than perhaps any other outside power.
The Irrawaddy, a Thailand-based news magazine run by Myanmar exiles, said in a news analysis that Wen would likely advise Than Shwe to make concessions to add credibility to the elections.
"The [Myanmar] regime faces a crisis of legitimacy," the magazine said. "Beijing's task will be undoubtedly more palatable when standing up for an elected government rather than a rogue military state, much the same as when China protects North Korea on the world stage."
But Zhang Xizhen, a professor at Peking University's School of International Studies, said Wen and Than Shwe likely focused on economic concerns and border stability, veering away from politics. "What kind of political change happens in one country is its own internal affairs," he said. "China has no right to interfere."
Two-way trade between the neighbors reached US$2.9 billion in 2009, according to official figures, making China Myanmar's second-biggest trading partner after Thailand. With investments totaling $1.8 billion (as of January this year), China is the third-largest investor in Myanmar after Thailand and Singapore.
But recent troubles along the Myanmar-China border have soured relations. Last August, the Myanmar army attacked rebels from the ethically Chinese Kokang minority group, forcing some 37,000 refugees to flood into China's Yunnan province and prompting a rare admonishment from Beijing.
China continues to be concerned about more unrest in the border region. These concerns were made apparent with the recent deployment of 5,000 People's Liberation Army troops along China's southwestern border with Myanmar, according to reports by The Irrawaddy.
Border skirmishes only worsened what was already becoming a strained relationship. For many years, China backed the Myanmar-based Communist Party of Burma in its armed struggle with the government, and many of Myanmar's current leaders once fought against the communists.
Today, many in Myanmar view China as a pillager of their resources. China, meanwhile, has apparently grown increasingly frustrated with the lack of political reform in Myanmar.
Xu Liping, a researcher at the Institute of Asia-Pacific Studies, which is part of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, noted that the impact of Wen's visit to Myanmar should not be overblown, but instead should be considered an indication of longstanding diplomatic relations.
*********************************************************
Jun 8, 2010
Asia Times Online - Short shelf life for China-US reset
By Peter Lee
The positive reset in United States-China relations that resulted in a united front on Iran sanctions will apparently be of short duration.
United States support for South Korean President Lee Myung-bak's Cheonan policy is increasingly perceived by Beijing as an effort to isolate China strategically as well as diplomatically within Asia.
Allegations of the nuclear ambitions of the Myanmar government will doubtless be raised by Washington as further evidence of China's irresponsibility and used as justification for the filling of the imputed security void in Asia by the United States.
Sharp divisions also emerged at the "Shangri-La Dialogue" of Asian defense ministers held in Singapore over the weekend.
However, the US position had already been telegraphed by US Senator Jim Webb, the most vocal advocate of anti-China engagement in Asia, during the run-up towards his planned trip to South Korea, Thailand and Myanmar last week.
Webb is the point man in the US Congress for engagement with Myanmar (Burma - the preferred nomenclature of human-rights activists and the US government) and has made the case for moving beyond the current unproductive sanctions policy of several years.
Professor David Steinberg of Georgetown University, an authority on American policy toward Myanmar, told Asia Times Online that the Barack Obama administration had moved beyond both the Bill Clinton and George W Bush administrations' preoccupation with regime change in Myanmar, and that US policy vis-a-vis the Myanmar regime should not be regarded as "zero sum" as it relates to acknowledging China's extensive economic, energy and security interests in the country as well as improving the well-being of its people.
Webb is "publicly out in front", not out of step with US policy in Asia, according to Steinberg.
Beginning in the autumn of 2009, Webb has explicitly linked the need for enhanced US ties with Myanmar to preventing China's exploitation of the country as an economic and strategic asset, among other reasons.
Based on Webb's recent statements, the prospects for a "win-win" cohabitation of the US and China on Myanmar appears to be receding, as the perceived need and opportunity to tangle with China on regional security increases.
Chairing hearings of his Asia and Pacific Affairs sub-committee of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Webb introduced his critique of China and US policy toward China with the statement, "There is no country in the world to which we are more vulnerable, strategically and economically, than China." [1]
The Burmese news website Mizzima described his views toward Myanmar:
"And nowhere is this more obvious than in Burma [Myanmar], where Chinese influence has grown steadily at a time when the United States has cut off virtually all economic and diplomatic relations. Since then, Chinese arms sales and other military aid has exceeded $3 billion,” added the Virginian Senator.
Webb, who in August 2009 travelled to Burma and met with high-ranking junta officials, including Senior General Than Shwe, as well as detained opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, is a strong advocate of engagement with the Burmese junta, in power since 1988.
Webb said in the absence of United States engagement with the junta, China has taken over and greatly influenced the Burmese regime to the extent of creating “an intrinsic suspicion of US motives in the region.”
"And as only one example of China’s enormous investment reach," he added, in reference to a future pipeline to run through Burma, "within the next decade or sooner, Beijing is on track to exclusively transfer to its waiting refineries both incoming oil and locally tapped natural gas via a 2,380-kilometer pipeline, a $30 billion deal." [2]
Webb's critique of China goes far beyond the issue of Myanmar, targeting China's policy on North Korea, Vietnam, disputed island chains, and alleged manipulation of water levels on the Mekong River basin from its upstream vantage point.
Appearing on MSNBC's Hardball public affairs program on May 26, Webb resurrected the "responsible stakeholder" theme, most notably articulated by Robert Zoellick during the George W Bush administration, to provide a more principled justification for China rollback than naked American self-interest. He stated:
Recent events have underscored the need for the United States to step up its commitment to the region.
As our interaction has declined, China’s influence has grown rapidly and broadly throughout Asia. Regrettably, China's behavior has not reflected the kind of responsible leadership expected from a regional or global leader. It is time for the United States, together with our allies and partners, to call on China to act in a responsible way that improves the stability and prosperity of the region. [3]
In a decade that has seen the world's most responsible hyperpower inflict the Iraq War and the great recession on the planet - at the same time that China's judicious economic management is credited with forestalling a second great depression - Webb's China-bashing probably elicited a cynical shrug in Beijing.
However, as the South Korean and US diplomatic campaign evolved in the aftermath of the Cheonan sinking on March 26 with the loss of 46 lives, China has realized that the alleged irresponsibility of China is not only a staple of anti-China rhetoric in the US Congress; it is driving the "return to Asia" strategy of the Obama administration.
In the public realm, US strategy has crystallized in the aftermath of the sinking of the corvette Cheonan that has been blamed on North Korea.
As Japan has staggered away from the United States under the rule of the Democratic Party of Japan, the US has been supporting pro-American South Korean President Lee Myung-bak's claim to leadership in North Asia as an important democratic economic and military power and counterweight to China.
In an effort to boost South Korea's stature, US diplomacy has led to arrangements for South Korea to host two high-profile global events: the Group of 20 summit in November 2010 and the next US-orchestrated nuclear security summit in 2012.
The Cheonan tragedy appears to been viewed both by South Korea and the United States as a valuable opportunity to elevate the security leadership profile of Seoul and Washington in North Asia at China's expense.
Lee made the opportunistic decision to exclude China - arguably the most knowledgeable regional asset concerning North Korean capabilities and intentions - from the team convened to investigate the sinking of the Cheonan.
Then, when the investigation's results were announced, again the opportunistic but diplomatically questionable decision was made to publicly pressure China to endorse a report that it had no hand in preparing and was somewhat less than the evidentiary slam dunk that it was made out to be in the South Korean and Western press.
Webb then added fuel to the fire by playing the "irresponsible China" card during his Asian trip, as this June 1 report from the Korea Times (posted on Webb's website) illustrates:
Webb said the United States must encourage China, the North's last benefactor, to be "more open and overt" in approaching challenges on the Korean Peninsula.
"The Chinese government needs to actively assist in resolving these issues rather than sitting back and making bland statements, and maybe doing something behind the scenes," he said.
Webb, who has travelled extensively in Asia as a government official and journalist, believes China's rapid economic emergence has not been balanced with a 'proper sense of national responsibility' when it comes to its relations with other countries in the region.
Webb said China's position on the Cheonan incident when it reaches the UNSC [United Nations Security Council] will be a barometer of its willingness to cooperate with the international community.
"It is a good opportunity for the rest of the world to observe and comment on whether China is proceeding in a mature fashion as a member of the international community," he said. "It's a test of whether it can participate among the leadership of the world community." [4]
Chinese cynicism concerning the South Korean and Western exploitation of the Cheonan sinking as a "US return to Asia" rallying cry was no doubt exacerbated by the outcome of the South Korean local elections on June 2.
Widely understood to be a referendum on Lee's handling of the Cheonan affair - and expected to yield an electoral triumph for his party as the populace rallied, 9/11 style, around the government - Lee's Grand National Party suffered a stunning setback as the North-Korea-conciliatory Democratic Party (DP) won a majority of the races.
Lee, with the encouragement of hardliners inside South Korea and loathe to countenance a return to the detested "Sunshine" policy of accommodation with North Korea championed by the DP, brushed aside this inconvenient expression of popular doubt for his policies.
Instead, he proceeded with the next episode of what was apparently a pre-planned, choreographed campaign to exploit the sinking: his keynote address at the Shangri-La Dialogue, a yearly confab of Asian defense ministers held in Singapore.
In his address, Lee characterized the Cheonan sinking as "not matters pertaining to the Republic of Korea alone. These are serious threats to peace, stability, and prosperity of Northeast Asia and global security. It seriously undermines global peace. It is a direct threat to our values ... Today the Republic of Korea government referred the matter of North Korea's attack on the Cheonan to the United Nations Security Council ..." [5]
What China would be expected to extract from this statement was the clear inference that South Korea and the United States intend that the UN Security Council - the preferred venue of the Western powers - replace the China-dominated six-party talks as the primary vehicle for engagement with North Korea.
The unedited text of Lee's speech preserved on the official website included some interesting and inadvertent insight into his attitude toward the six-party talks. The original text read:
Let us not concern ourselves when the six-party talks resume. Instead we must hammer out a grand bargain to work to fundamentally resolve the North Korea issue through the application of the Grand Bargain proposal within the six-party talks framework.
However, judging from the strikethroughs in the official text preserved in the PDF on the Shangri-La Dialogue website, the final version as delivered soft-pedaled the shift from six-party talks to pursuit of South Korea's upper-case "Grand Bargain" - the Lee Myung-bak government's unilateral recipe for denuclearization and reunification - and retreated to a less assertive lower case "grand bargain".
The final version read:
Let us not concern ourselves when the six-party talks resume. Instead we must hammer out a grand bargain to fundamentally resolve the North Korea issue through six-party talks.
It does not appear that the Chinese were mollified by Lee's last-minute editing, as its response to Lee's speech and the remarks of Secretary of Defense Robert Gates indicate.
Gates is, in many aspects, the eminence grise of the Obama administration. A holdover from the George W Bush administration, Gates protects the vulnerable right flank of the Obama administration on global security matters, providing the "strong on defense" credibility that helps the United States to pursue relatively sane and moderate policies on nuclear disarmament, Russia, and Iran.
His statements matter, more than the State Department's, as an indication of the true intentions of the current US administration.
So it was doubtless a matter of great interest to China that the "irresponsible China/remember the Cheonan" theme introduced by Webb was revealed as something more than a piece of China-bashing by a loose cannon in the US Congress; it found its way into Gates' remarks at the Shangri-La dialogue as well.
As the Associated Press reported, Gates adopted the same criticism of China that Webb employed, but stepping back a bit and avoiding mentioning China by name (except, presumably, in the inevitable backgrounders):
In a clear challenge to China, US Defense Secretary Robert Gates said Asian nations cannot stand by in the face of North Korea's alleged sinking of a South Korean warship. "The question people have to contemplate is, what are the consequences for a North Korea of an unprovoked attack on a neighbor? For nothing to happen would be a very bad precedent here in Asia," Gates said, addressing an international security summit.
He did not mention China's financial and diplomatic support for North Korea but said "the nations of this region share the task of addressing these dangerous provocations". [6]
AP's coverage made it clear that China knows where this is going, and is not particularly pleased.
During the question and answer session, as reported by AP, a Chinese general made a blunt distinction between the US unwillingness to condemn Israel for its assault on the Gaza relief flotilla in international waters, while expecting that China join in the condemnation of North Korea for the Cheonan sinking:
"There is a wide gap in the US attitude and policy to the two instances," said Major General Zhu Chenghu of China's National Defense University. He did not endorse the US-backed international finding that the North sunk the warship Cheonan with a torpedo.
Gates said the attack on the warship was a surprise operation conducted "without any warning". Israel had issued several warnings to the flotilla not to enter its territorial waters, he said. "I won't make judgment on responsibility or fault" in the Mediterranean incident, Gates said, adding that he favors an international investigation to determine responsibility.
"But I think there is no comparison whatsoever between what happened in the eastern Mediterranean and what happened to the Cheonan," he said.
Another reason why China is probably less than impressed with the Cheonan campaign at the UNSC relates to the divergence in evidentiary handling.
International outrage over the Israeli assault on the Mavi Marmara has, thanks to no doubt vigorous advocacy by the United States on Israel's behalf, resulted in the creation of a UNSC-endorsed investigatory commission chaired by the ex-prime minister of New Zealand as a prelude to any formal UN condemnation of Israel.
South Korea, on the other hand, apparently expects the UNSC to condemn North Korea on the basis of its "international" investigation of the Cheonan, which it printed up in a glossy brochure and circulated during the Shangri-La conference.
During his remarks, China's official speaker at the conference General Ma Xiaotuan indirectly expressed China's dissatisfaction with the whole Cheonan jihad strategy orchestrated by the United States and South Korea.
Ma made the cogent point that it was counterproductive to "try to put out a fire with a hammer", i.e. use traditional us-versus-them security alliances (as the United States appears to be trying to formulate with South Korea against North Korea and possibly China) to answer the complex security challenges of an interconnected and interdependent region.
According to the official text of his remarks, he also said:
Relevant issues should neither be politicized nor used as excuses to put pressure on other countries in pursuit of one's own interests. [7]
As reported in the Chinese press, his remarks were more pointed:
Relevant issues should not be politicized and, even more so, should not turn into a tool for certain countries to put pressure on other countries in order to extract private benefit. [8]
Presumably, "politicization" refers to Lee's attempt to orchestrate his Cheonan gambit to achieve the maximum in pro-government fervor and international diplomatic momentum (while perhaps obliquely drawing attention to his apparent failure in the local elections).
"Certain countries" pressuring other countries looks like a slap at the United States to use the Cheonan issue in an attempt to ostracize and isolate China within Asia.
Given the impression that the Cheonan incident is being stirred up despite Chinese objections and the resistance of the South Korean electorate in order to advance a deeply held US China-rollback strategy, it is safe to say that the Iran sanctions honeymoon between the United States and China is just about over.
The next flashpoint for US friction with China will probably be Myanmar.
As previously noted, Webb was the most visible representative of the effort by the Obama administration to move beyond the sanctions-centric strategy of the Bush administration to engage with the Myanmar junta and wean it away from its strategic relationship with China.
Webb was in Asia and prepared to visit Myanmar and, perhaps, provide a dose of US anti-diplomacy to offset the effects of a high profile visit by Chinese premier Wen Jiabao, when his trip was blown out of the water, as it were, by a damning documentary prepared by the activist group Democratic Voice of Burma and aired on al-Jazeera concerning Myanmar's nuclear and ballistic weapons-related ambitions.
Webb dropped Myanmar from his itinerary. On his website, he referred hopefully to the postponement of his trip, rather than its cancelation, and stated:
I strongly believe that a continuation of dialogue between our two countries is important for the evolution of a more open governmental system and for the future strategic balance in Southeast Asia. However, a productive dialogue will be achievable only when these two matters are further clarified. [9]
However, attempts to engage with the junta have always been dogged by the vociferous, politically telling opposition of the Burmese democracy movement championing the cause of Aung San Suu Kyi and her political party, the National League for Democracy.
Now that Myanmar appears guilty of the twin sins of nuclear proliferation and colluding with North Korea in addition to its high profile offenses to democracy and human rights, it would appear to be beyond the pale as far as the United States is concerned.
If past history is a guide, Myanmar will become permanently enmeshed in the gears of the American nuclear non-proliferation machine and can be expected to cleave even more closely to Beijing.
The most obvious way for the Obama administration to extract any geopolitical advantage from the mess will be to will be to seek to hang the Myanmar millstone around China's neck as another demonstration of Beijing's irresponsible foreign policy.
The United States has apparently made some moves to mollify Beijing, most notably by postponing US-South Korean naval exercises that China considered an unnecessary and provocative escalation of tensions.
However, China's dissatisfaction with the US Asia strategy as pursued in cooperation with Lee Myung-bak implies that US-China ties will become fraught and filled with obstacles.
Beijing's refusal to receive Secretary Gates for a trip to Beijing is being attributed to China's continued anger over US approval of arms sales to Taiwan.
However, since the Taiwan issue was extensively aired during the negotiations over Iran sanctions - and resulted in a US reaffirmation of the one-China policy - it is likely that Beijing was sending a pointed message of disapproval concerning America's anti-China diplomatic activity in Beijing's near-beyond of North Asia.
Reportedly, Gates returned the snub by refusing to meet with General Ma in Singapore.
For his part, Ma identified three obstacles to closer US-China military ties: the Taiwan arms sales, the "intensive" monitoring and intelligence gathering directed by US air craft and naval vessels at Chinese ships in China's southern and eastern waters; and the DeLay Amendment to the 2000 Defense Authorization Act, which restricts exchanges between the US and Chinese military in 12 areas. [10]
The DeLay amendment dates to the dismal, dishonest days of the Cox Report, and was intended to humiliate the Clinton administration with the implication that it could not be trusted to protect American secrets from the PLA without Congressional oversight. Perhaps General Ma was suggesting that it would be a matter of personal honor as well as good public policy for Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to agitate for the abolition of these restrictions.
It is unlikely that a formal breach will occur between China and the United States or South Korea.
All three countries have a stake in the underlying logic of their relationship: their economic ties.
Seoul, in particular, has been peering anxiously over its shoulder toward Beijing during the entire Cheonan process, trying to reassure China of its sincere desire to partner on regional stability, while playing the role of America's eager security partner in North Asia.
However, it seems that China is in a better position to recognize and exploit the economic implications of its regional role than the United States, which needs an unwelcome environment of tension and confrontation to justify and project its military power into North Asia.
Notes
1. Principles of US engagement in Asia, US Senate, January 21, 2010.
2. US policy grants China greater influence in Burma, Mizzima, January 22, 2010.
3. Senator Jim Webb to Visit Korea, Thailand, Burma. US Senate, May 26, 2010.
4. US must remain strongly involved in East Asia, US Senate, June 1, 2010.
5. Keynote address - Lee Myung-bak, IISS, June 4, 2010.
6. Gates: N Korea must face account in ship sinking, Yahoo news, June 5, 2010.
7. Second plenary session - General Ma Xiaotian, IISS, June 5, 2010.
8. Click here (in Chinese).
9. Senator Jim Webb Postpones Burma Stop After Visits to Korea, Thailand, US Senate, June 3, 2010.
10. Click here (in Chinese)
Peter Lee writes on East and South Asian affairs and their intersection with US foreign policy.
Asia Times Online - Short shelf life for China-US reset
By Peter Lee
The positive reset in United States-China relations that resulted in a united front on Iran sanctions will apparently be of short duration.
United States support for South Korean President Lee Myung-bak's Cheonan policy is increasingly perceived by Beijing as an effort to isolate China strategically as well as diplomatically within Asia.
Allegations of the nuclear ambitions of the Myanmar government will doubtless be raised by Washington as further evidence of China's irresponsibility and used as justification for the filling of the imputed security void in Asia by the United States.
Sharp divisions also emerged at the "Shangri-La Dialogue" of Asian defense ministers held in Singapore over the weekend.
However, the US position had already been telegraphed by US Senator Jim Webb, the most vocal advocate of anti-China engagement in Asia, during the run-up towards his planned trip to South Korea, Thailand and Myanmar last week.
Webb is the point man in the US Congress for engagement with Myanmar (Burma - the preferred nomenclature of human-rights activists and the US government) and has made the case for moving beyond the current unproductive sanctions policy of several years.
Professor David Steinberg of Georgetown University, an authority on American policy toward Myanmar, told Asia Times Online that the Barack Obama administration had moved beyond both the Bill Clinton and George W Bush administrations' preoccupation with regime change in Myanmar, and that US policy vis-a-vis the Myanmar regime should not be regarded as "zero sum" as it relates to acknowledging China's extensive economic, energy and security interests in the country as well as improving the well-being of its people.
Webb is "publicly out in front", not out of step with US policy in Asia, according to Steinberg.
Beginning in the autumn of 2009, Webb has explicitly linked the need for enhanced US ties with Myanmar to preventing China's exploitation of the country as an economic and strategic asset, among other reasons.
Based on Webb's recent statements, the prospects for a "win-win" cohabitation of the US and China on Myanmar appears to be receding, as the perceived need and opportunity to tangle with China on regional security increases.
Chairing hearings of his Asia and Pacific Affairs sub-committee of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Webb introduced his critique of China and US policy toward China with the statement, "There is no country in the world to which we are more vulnerable, strategically and economically, than China." [1]
The Burmese news website Mizzima described his views toward Myanmar:
"And nowhere is this more obvious than in Burma [Myanmar], where Chinese influence has grown steadily at a time when the United States has cut off virtually all economic and diplomatic relations. Since then, Chinese arms sales and other military aid has exceeded $3 billion,” added the Virginian Senator.
Webb, who in August 2009 travelled to Burma and met with high-ranking junta officials, including Senior General Than Shwe, as well as detained opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, is a strong advocate of engagement with the Burmese junta, in power since 1988.
Webb said in the absence of United States engagement with the junta, China has taken over and greatly influenced the Burmese regime to the extent of creating “an intrinsic suspicion of US motives in the region.”
"And as only one example of China’s enormous investment reach," he added, in reference to a future pipeline to run through Burma, "within the next decade or sooner, Beijing is on track to exclusively transfer to its waiting refineries both incoming oil and locally tapped natural gas via a 2,380-kilometer pipeline, a $30 billion deal." [2]
Webb's critique of China goes far beyond the issue of Myanmar, targeting China's policy on North Korea, Vietnam, disputed island chains, and alleged manipulation of water levels on the Mekong River basin from its upstream vantage point.
Appearing on MSNBC's Hardball public affairs program on May 26, Webb resurrected the "responsible stakeholder" theme, most notably articulated by Robert Zoellick during the George W Bush administration, to provide a more principled justification for China rollback than naked American self-interest. He stated:
Recent events have underscored the need for the United States to step up its commitment to the region.
As our interaction has declined, China’s influence has grown rapidly and broadly throughout Asia. Regrettably, China's behavior has not reflected the kind of responsible leadership expected from a regional or global leader. It is time for the United States, together with our allies and partners, to call on China to act in a responsible way that improves the stability and prosperity of the region. [3]
In a decade that has seen the world's most responsible hyperpower inflict the Iraq War and the great recession on the planet - at the same time that China's judicious economic management is credited with forestalling a second great depression - Webb's China-bashing probably elicited a cynical shrug in Beijing.
However, as the South Korean and US diplomatic campaign evolved in the aftermath of the Cheonan sinking on March 26 with the loss of 46 lives, China has realized that the alleged irresponsibility of China is not only a staple of anti-China rhetoric in the US Congress; it is driving the "return to Asia" strategy of the Obama administration.
In the public realm, US strategy has crystallized in the aftermath of the sinking of the corvette Cheonan that has been blamed on North Korea.
As Japan has staggered away from the United States under the rule of the Democratic Party of Japan, the US has been supporting pro-American South Korean President Lee Myung-bak's claim to leadership in North Asia as an important democratic economic and military power and counterweight to China.
In an effort to boost South Korea's stature, US diplomacy has led to arrangements for South Korea to host two high-profile global events: the Group of 20 summit in November 2010 and the next US-orchestrated nuclear security summit in 2012.
The Cheonan tragedy appears to been viewed both by South Korea and the United States as a valuable opportunity to elevate the security leadership profile of Seoul and Washington in North Asia at China's expense.
Lee made the opportunistic decision to exclude China - arguably the most knowledgeable regional asset concerning North Korean capabilities and intentions - from the team convened to investigate the sinking of the Cheonan.
Then, when the investigation's results were announced, again the opportunistic but diplomatically questionable decision was made to publicly pressure China to endorse a report that it had no hand in preparing and was somewhat less than the evidentiary slam dunk that it was made out to be in the South Korean and Western press.
Webb then added fuel to the fire by playing the "irresponsible China" card during his Asian trip, as this June 1 report from the Korea Times (posted on Webb's website) illustrates:
Webb said the United States must encourage China, the North's last benefactor, to be "more open and overt" in approaching challenges on the Korean Peninsula.
"The Chinese government needs to actively assist in resolving these issues rather than sitting back and making bland statements, and maybe doing something behind the scenes," he said.
Webb, who has travelled extensively in Asia as a government official and journalist, believes China's rapid economic emergence has not been balanced with a 'proper sense of national responsibility' when it comes to its relations with other countries in the region.
Webb said China's position on the Cheonan incident when it reaches the UNSC [United Nations Security Council] will be a barometer of its willingness to cooperate with the international community.
"It is a good opportunity for the rest of the world to observe and comment on whether China is proceeding in a mature fashion as a member of the international community," he said. "It's a test of whether it can participate among the leadership of the world community." [4]
Chinese cynicism concerning the South Korean and Western exploitation of the Cheonan sinking as a "US return to Asia" rallying cry was no doubt exacerbated by the outcome of the South Korean local elections on June 2.
Widely understood to be a referendum on Lee's handling of the Cheonan affair - and expected to yield an electoral triumph for his party as the populace rallied, 9/11 style, around the government - Lee's Grand National Party suffered a stunning setback as the North-Korea-conciliatory Democratic Party (DP) won a majority of the races.
Lee, with the encouragement of hardliners inside South Korea and loathe to countenance a return to the detested "Sunshine" policy of accommodation with North Korea championed by the DP, brushed aside this inconvenient expression of popular doubt for his policies.
Instead, he proceeded with the next episode of what was apparently a pre-planned, choreographed campaign to exploit the sinking: his keynote address at the Shangri-La Dialogue, a yearly confab of Asian defense ministers held in Singapore.
In his address, Lee characterized the Cheonan sinking as "not matters pertaining to the Republic of Korea alone. These are serious threats to peace, stability, and prosperity of Northeast Asia and global security. It seriously undermines global peace. It is a direct threat to our values ... Today the Republic of Korea government referred the matter of North Korea's attack on the Cheonan to the United Nations Security Council ..." [5]
What China would be expected to extract from this statement was the clear inference that South Korea and the United States intend that the UN Security Council - the preferred venue of the Western powers - replace the China-dominated six-party talks as the primary vehicle for engagement with North Korea.
The unedited text of Lee's speech preserved on the official website included some interesting and inadvertent insight into his attitude toward the six-party talks. The original text read:
Let us not concern ourselves when the six-party talks resume. Instead we must hammer out a grand bargain to work to fundamentally resolve the North Korea issue through the application of the Grand Bargain proposal within the six-party talks framework.
However, judging from the strikethroughs in the official text preserved in the PDF on the Shangri-La Dialogue website, the final version as delivered soft-pedaled the shift from six-party talks to pursuit of South Korea's upper-case "Grand Bargain" - the Lee Myung-bak government's unilateral recipe for denuclearization and reunification - and retreated to a less assertive lower case "grand bargain".
The final version read:
Let us not concern ourselves when the six-party talks resume. Instead we must hammer out a grand bargain to fundamentally resolve the North Korea issue through six-party talks.
It does not appear that the Chinese were mollified by Lee's last-minute editing, as its response to Lee's speech and the remarks of Secretary of Defense Robert Gates indicate.
Gates is, in many aspects, the eminence grise of the Obama administration. A holdover from the George W Bush administration, Gates protects the vulnerable right flank of the Obama administration on global security matters, providing the "strong on defense" credibility that helps the United States to pursue relatively sane and moderate policies on nuclear disarmament, Russia, and Iran.
His statements matter, more than the State Department's, as an indication of the true intentions of the current US administration.
So it was doubtless a matter of great interest to China that the "irresponsible China/remember the Cheonan" theme introduced by Webb was revealed as something more than a piece of China-bashing by a loose cannon in the US Congress; it found its way into Gates' remarks at the Shangri-La dialogue as well.
As the Associated Press reported, Gates adopted the same criticism of China that Webb employed, but stepping back a bit and avoiding mentioning China by name (except, presumably, in the inevitable backgrounders):
In a clear challenge to China, US Defense Secretary Robert Gates said Asian nations cannot stand by in the face of North Korea's alleged sinking of a South Korean warship. "The question people have to contemplate is, what are the consequences for a North Korea of an unprovoked attack on a neighbor? For nothing to happen would be a very bad precedent here in Asia," Gates said, addressing an international security summit.
He did not mention China's financial and diplomatic support for North Korea but said "the nations of this region share the task of addressing these dangerous provocations". [6]
AP's coverage made it clear that China knows where this is going, and is not particularly pleased.
During the question and answer session, as reported by AP, a Chinese general made a blunt distinction between the US unwillingness to condemn Israel for its assault on the Gaza relief flotilla in international waters, while expecting that China join in the condemnation of North Korea for the Cheonan sinking:
"There is a wide gap in the US attitude and policy to the two instances," said Major General Zhu Chenghu of China's National Defense University. He did not endorse the US-backed international finding that the North sunk the warship Cheonan with a torpedo.
Gates said the attack on the warship was a surprise operation conducted "without any warning". Israel had issued several warnings to the flotilla not to enter its territorial waters, he said. "I won't make judgment on responsibility or fault" in the Mediterranean incident, Gates said, adding that he favors an international investigation to determine responsibility.
"But I think there is no comparison whatsoever between what happened in the eastern Mediterranean and what happened to the Cheonan," he said.
Another reason why China is probably less than impressed with the Cheonan campaign at the UNSC relates to the divergence in evidentiary handling.
International outrage over the Israeli assault on the Mavi Marmara has, thanks to no doubt vigorous advocacy by the United States on Israel's behalf, resulted in the creation of a UNSC-endorsed investigatory commission chaired by the ex-prime minister of New Zealand as a prelude to any formal UN condemnation of Israel.
South Korea, on the other hand, apparently expects the UNSC to condemn North Korea on the basis of its "international" investigation of the Cheonan, which it printed up in a glossy brochure and circulated during the Shangri-La conference.
During his remarks, China's official speaker at the conference General Ma Xiaotuan indirectly expressed China's dissatisfaction with the whole Cheonan jihad strategy orchestrated by the United States and South Korea.
Ma made the cogent point that it was counterproductive to "try to put out a fire with a hammer", i.e. use traditional us-versus-them security alliances (as the United States appears to be trying to formulate with South Korea against North Korea and possibly China) to answer the complex security challenges of an interconnected and interdependent region.
According to the official text of his remarks, he also said:
Relevant issues should neither be politicized nor used as excuses to put pressure on other countries in pursuit of one's own interests. [7]
As reported in the Chinese press, his remarks were more pointed:
Relevant issues should not be politicized and, even more so, should not turn into a tool for certain countries to put pressure on other countries in order to extract private benefit. [8]
Presumably, "politicization" refers to Lee's attempt to orchestrate his Cheonan gambit to achieve the maximum in pro-government fervor and international diplomatic momentum (while perhaps obliquely drawing attention to his apparent failure in the local elections).
"Certain countries" pressuring other countries looks like a slap at the United States to use the Cheonan issue in an attempt to ostracize and isolate China within Asia.
Given the impression that the Cheonan incident is being stirred up despite Chinese objections and the resistance of the South Korean electorate in order to advance a deeply held US China-rollback strategy, it is safe to say that the Iran sanctions honeymoon between the United States and China is just about over.
The next flashpoint for US friction with China will probably be Myanmar.
As previously noted, Webb was the most visible representative of the effort by the Obama administration to move beyond the sanctions-centric strategy of the Bush administration to engage with the Myanmar junta and wean it away from its strategic relationship with China.
Webb was in Asia and prepared to visit Myanmar and, perhaps, provide a dose of US anti-diplomacy to offset the effects of a high profile visit by Chinese premier Wen Jiabao, when his trip was blown out of the water, as it were, by a damning documentary prepared by the activist group Democratic Voice of Burma and aired on al-Jazeera concerning Myanmar's nuclear and ballistic weapons-related ambitions.
Webb dropped Myanmar from his itinerary. On his website, he referred hopefully to the postponement of his trip, rather than its cancelation, and stated:
I strongly believe that a continuation of dialogue between our two countries is important for the evolution of a more open governmental system and for the future strategic balance in Southeast Asia. However, a productive dialogue will be achievable only when these two matters are further clarified. [9]
However, attempts to engage with the junta have always been dogged by the vociferous, politically telling opposition of the Burmese democracy movement championing the cause of Aung San Suu Kyi and her political party, the National League for Democracy.
Now that Myanmar appears guilty of the twin sins of nuclear proliferation and colluding with North Korea in addition to its high profile offenses to democracy and human rights, it would appear to be beyond the pale as far as the United States is concerned.
If past history is a guide, Myanmar will become permanently enmeshed in the gears of the American nuclear non-proliferation machine and can be expected to cleave even more closely to Beijing.
The most obvious way for the Obama administration to extract any geopolitical advantage from the mess will be to will be to seek to hang the Myanmar millstone around China's neck as another demonstration of Beijing's irresponsible foreign policy.
The United States has apparently made some moves to mollify Beijing, most notably by postponing US-South Korean naval exercises that China considered an unnecessary and provocative escalation of tensions.
However, China's dissatisfaction with the US Asia strategy as pursued in cooperation with Lee Myung-bak implies that US-China ties will become fraught and filled with obstacles.
Beijing's refusal to receive Secretary Gates for a trip to Beijing is being attributed to China's continued anger over US approval of arms sales to Taiwan.
However, since the Taiwan issue was extensively aired during the negotiations over Iran sanctions - and resulted in a US reaffirmation of the one-China policy - it is likely that Beijing was sending a pointed message of disapproval concerning America's anti-China diplomatic activity in Beijing's near-beyond of North Asia.
Reportedly, Gates returned the snub by refusing to meet with General Ma in Singapore.
For his part, Ma identified three obstacles to closer US-China military ties: the Taiwan arms sales, the "intensive" monitoring and intelligence gathering directed by US air craft and naval vessels at Chinese ships in China's southern and eastern waters; and the DeLay Amendment to the 2000 Defense Authorization Act, which restricts exchanges between the US and Chinese military in 12 areas. [10]
The DeLay amendment dates to the dismal, dishonest days of the Cox Report, and was intended to humiliate the Clinton administration with the implication that it could not be trusted to protect American secrets from the PLA without Congressional oversight. Perhaps General Ma was suggesting that it would be a matter of personal honor as well as good public policy for Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to agitate for the abolition of these restrictions.
It is unlikely that a formal breach will occur between China and the United States or South Korea.
All three countries have a stake in the underlying logic of their relationship: their economic ties.
Seoul, in particular, has been peering anxiously over its shoulder toward Beijing during the entire Cheonan process, trying to reassure China of its sincere desire to partner on regional stability, while playing the role of America's eager security partner in North Asia.
However, it seems that China is in a better position to recognize and exploit the economic implications of its regional role than the United States, which needs an unwelcome environment of tension and confrontation to justify and project its military power into North Asia.
Notes
1. Principles of US engagement in Asia, US Senate, January 21, 2010.
2. US policy grants China greater influence in Burma, Mizzima, January 22, 2010.
3. Senator Jim Webb to Visit Korea, Thailand, Burma. US Senate, May 26, 2010.
4. US must remain strongly involved in East Asia, US Senate, June 1, 2010.
5. Keynote address - Lee Myung-bak, IISS, June 4, 2010.
6. Gates: N Korea must face account in ship sinking, Yahoo news, June 5, 2010.
7. Second plenary session - General Ma Xiaotian, IISS, June 5, 2010.
8. Click here (in Chinese).
9. Senator Jim Webb Postpones Burma Stop After Visits to Korea, Thailand, US Senate, June 3, 2010.
10. Click here (in Chinese)
Peter Lee writes on East and South Asian affairs and their intersection with US foreign policy.
*********************************************************
U.S. calls on Myanmar to abide by arms embargo on N. Korea: State Dept.
By Hwang Doo-hyong
WASHINGTON, June 4 (Yonhap) -- The United States Friday called on Myanmar to abide by the U.N. resolutions banning arms transactions with North Korea, suspected of providing nuclear and missile technologies to the South Asian country.
"We continue to encourage Burma to meet its international obligations, including those in the area of nonproliferation," State Department spokesman Philip Crowley said. "We share international concerns for Burma's intentions and its relationship with North Korea. And we expect Burma, just as we expect all countries, to live up to their international obligations. We continue to watch transactions between North Korea and Burma."
Crowley was responding to the report by a Myanmarese Army defector who insisted that the country has been working with North Korea for the development of nuclear weapons and long-range missiles.
U.N. resolutions adopted after North Korea's nuclear and missile tests impose an overall arms and economic embargo on the impoverished, but nuclear-armed communist state.
U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs Kurt Campbell visited Myanmar last month in the first bilateral high level contact under the Obama administration to call on the military junta to abide by U.N. resolutions banning arms exports and imports from North Korea, and improve its human rights record.
U.S. Senator Jim Webb (D-Virginia) Thursday canceled his trip to Myanmar, or Burma, citing the Southeast Asian country's alleged military connection with North Korea.
Webb said he still believes in a continuation of dialogue "for the evolution of a more open governmental system and for the future strategic balance in Southeast Asia.
"However, a productive dialogue will be achievable only when these two matters are further clarified," he said.
Webb visited Myanmar last August to win the release of an American citizen, John Yettaw, detained for swimming to the lakeside home of Burmese pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi.
The senator also met with the Burmese top leader, General Than Shwe, and the opposition leader, who has been under house arrest for nearly 20 years.
By Hwang Doo-hyong
WASHINGTON, June 4 (Yonhap) -- The United States Friday called on Myanmar to abide by the U.N. resolutions banning arms transactions with North Korea, suspected of providing nuclear and missile technologies to the South Asian country.
"We continue to encourage Burma to meet its international obligations, including those in the area of nonproliferation," State Department spokesman Philip Crowley said. "We share international concerns for Burma's intentions and its relationship with North Korea. And we expect Burma, just as we expect all countries, to live up to their international obligations. We continue to watch transactions between North Korea and Burma."
Crowley was responding to the report by a Myanmarese Army defector who insisted that the country has been working with North Korea for the development of nuclear weapons and long-range missiles.
U.N. resolutions adopted after North Korea's nuclear and missile tests impose an overall arms and economic embargo on the impoverished, but nuclear-armed communist state.
U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs Kurt Campbell visited Myanmar last month in the first bilateral high level contact under the Obama administration to call on the military junta to abide by U.N. resolutions banning arms exports and imports from North Korea, and improve its human rights record.
U.S. Senator Jim Webb (D-Virginia) Thursday canceled his trip to Myanmar, or Burma, citing the Southeast Asian country's alleged military connection with North Korea.
Webb said he still believes in a continuation of dialogue "for the evolution of a more open governmental system and for the future strategic balance in Southeast Asia.
"However, a productive dialogue will be achievable only when these two matters are further clarified," he said.
Webb visited Myanmar last August to win the release of an American citizen, John Yettaw, detained for swimming to the lakeside home of Burmese pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi.
The senator also met with the Burmese top leader, General Than Shwe, and the opposition leader, who has been under house arrest for nearly 20 years.
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People's Daily Online - Yangon faces reduced power supply as old offshore gas pipeline leaks again
12:40, June 07, 2010
Myanmar's former capital city of Yangon is now facing abnormal reduced electric power supply as an old pipeline that carries natural gas from the Mottama offshore gas field to drive power plants in the city leaked again over last week, the local Weekly Eleven News reported Monday.
The shortage of power intensified as the leakage occurred before a new 24-inch alternative gas pipeline was nearing completion and not ready yet to distribute gas to the commercial city from Insein township's Ywama where gas control and distribution station is based, the Yangon City Electricity Supplying Board was quoted as saying.
Power supply to private enterprises in Yangon was temporarily stopped in mid-May to divert some of the electricity for Yangon residents' home use as part of the authorities' provisional measures to ease power shortage in Yangon.
However, the temporary measures of suspending power supply to the small industrial enterprises were resumed in the last week of May except industrial zones.
Myanmar gets a total of 660 megawatts (mw) produced from hydropower and gas power, of which only 330 mw or 50 percent are supplied to Yangon which actually needs 660 mw, according to the report.
The serious shortage of power has prolonged for over three months, affecting the daily life of Yangon residents.
12:40, June 07, 2010
Myanmar's former capital city of Yangon is now facing abnormal reduced electric power supply as an old pipeline that carries natural gas from the Mottama offshore gas field to drive power plants in the city leaked again over last week, the local Weekly Eleven News reported Monday.
The shortage of power intensified as the leakage occurred before a new 24-inch alternative gas pipeline was nearing completion and not ready yet to distribute gas to the commercial city from Insein township's Ywama where gas control and distribution station is based, the Yangon City Electricity Supplying Board was quoted as saying.
Power supply to private enterprises in Yangon was temporarily stopped in mid-May to divert some of the electricity for Yangon residents' home use as part of the authorities' provisional measures to ease power shortage in Yangon.
However, the temporary measures of suspending power supply to the small industrial enterprises were resumed in the last week of May except industrial zones.
Myanmar gets a total of 660 megawatts (mw) produced from hydropower and gas power, of which only 330 mw or 50 percent are supplied to Yangon which actually needs 660 mw, according to the report.
The serious shortage of power has prolonged for over three months, affecting the daily life of Yangon residents.
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People's Daily Online - China-Myanmar oil and gas pipeline project underway
16:31, June 07, 2010
The China-Myanmar oil and gas pipeline project kicked off over the weekend in the Naypyitaw, the capital of Myanmar.
There are 793 kilometers of gas pipeline in Myanmar, and also a 771-kilometer-long crude oil pipeline. The China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) said it has begun building an oil port in Kyaukpyu as a facility for the planned China-Myanmar oil pipeline project.
According to the agreement signed by both countries, the Union of Myanmar is to grant a crude oil pipeline to the Southeast Asia Oil Pipeline Co., Ltd. for the China-Myanmar oil pipeline franchise and is responsible for pipeline construction and operation and so on. The company also enjoys tax breaks, oil transit, import and export customs clearance and related rights such as right-of-way operations.
Relevant chiefs from CNPC said that the project could explore new oil product import channels and further ensure the country's oil supply security. Meanwhile, the project also could improve the infrastructure construction in China's southwest area, which is beneficial to implementing the general strategy of the West Development Program.
16:31, June 07, 2010
The China-Myanmar oil and gas pipeline project kicked off over the weekend in the Naypyitaw, the capital of Myanmar.
There are 793 kilometers of gas pipeline in Myanmar, and also a 771-kilometer-long crude oil pipeline. The China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) said it has begun building an oil port in Kyaukpyu as a facility for the planned China-Myanmar oil pipeline project.
According to the agreement signed by both countries, the Union of Myanmar is to grant a crude oil pipeline to the Southeast Asia Oil Pipeline Co., Ltd. for the China-Myanmar oil pipeline franchise and is responsible for pipeline construction and operation and so on. The company also enjoys tax breaks, oil transit, import and export customs clearance and related rights such as right-of-way operations.
Relevant chiefs from CNPC said that the project could explore new oil product import channels and further ensure the country's oil supply security. Meanwhile, the project also could improve the infrastructure construction in China's southwest area, which is beneficial to implementing the general strategy of the West Development Program.
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Global Times - Myanmar reportedly after nukes
[02:06 June 07 2010]
By Song Shengxia
Speculations on Myanmar's nuclear ambitions reemerged this weekend after media reported Friday claiming that the Southeast Asian country is seeking to develop a nuclear program with assistance from North Korea.
Chinese analysts, however, questioned the reliability of the sources of the investigation, suggesting the report is related to the US' interest in reasserting its role in Southeast Asia.
A report by the Norway-based Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB) said extensive documents and photos smuggled out of Myanmar by an army defector shows Myanmar is experimenting with uranium and trying to build a reactor or enrichment plant.
The DVB said its report was based on a five-year investigation that indicates that Myanmar is actively acquiring nuclear technology and expertise with help from North Korea.
It said the documents and photos obtained from Sai Thein Win, a former Myanmar defense engineer trained in Russia in missile technology, were examined by Robert Kelley, a US nuclear scientist and ex-director of the International Atomic Energy Agency.
Sai said he had defected from the military after working in a nuclear battalion in Myanmar tasked with making prototype components for missile and nuclear programs.
According to the report, two companies in Singapore with German connections sold many machine tools to the Myanmar government, notably the Department of Technical and Vocational Education (DTVE), which is closely asso-ciated with the Department of Atomic Energy, and probably a front for military purchasing for weapons of mass destruction.
But the machinery did not include all the necessary accessories to make the high-precision parts required for many missile and nuclear applications.
The revelations prompted US Senator Jim Webb to abruptly cancel a trip to Myanmar on Thursday. He said it would be "unwise" and "potentially counterproductive" for him to visit Myanmar as a result of the claim.
A senior Myanmar official, who declined to be named, told AFP that the accusations were "groundless," without elaborating.
Sun Xiaoying, a researcher on Southeast Asia with the Guangxi Academy of Social Sciences, told the Global Times that she was skeptical about the unverified claim as the accusation is from former Myanmar military figures now living in exile.
The international community should "carefully differentiate between the peaceful use of atomic energy and efforts to seek nuclear arms," Sun added.
Myanmar signed an agreement with the IAEA in 1995 that it would not pursue nuclear weapons under a carefully defined standard international legal agreement.
However, speculation on Myanmar embarking on a nuclear program mounted a year ago when a North Korean freighter, the Kang Nam I, headed toward Myanmar with an undisclosed cargo. Tracked by the US Navy, the freighter changed course and returned home.
US and South Korean officials suspected the freighter to be carrying artillery and other non-nuclear arms, while a South Korean intelligence expert said the ship's mission appeared to be related to a Myanmar nuclear program and also carried Scud-type missiles, the AP reported. Both Myanmar and North Korea denied the allegation.
A UN report released last month said North Korea has been using front companies to export nuclear and missile technology and has helped Iran, Syria and Myanmar.
He Shengda, a scholar on Southeast Asian affairs at the Yunnan Academy of Social Sciences, said Myanmar does not seem to be in a position to engage in nuclear weapons development.
"Economic development and political stability are most urgent for the authorities of Myanmar, which has been under military rule since 1962 and is expected to hold elections this year, the first of their kind in 20 years.
Jin Liangxiang, a researcher with the Shanghai Institute for International Studies, told Time Weekly that the US has been using the hype on Myanmar's nuclear ambition to recast its role in Southeast Asia, which remains a nuclear-free region.
"To reassert its presence in the region, the US will surely use Myanmar's alleged nuclear ambition to intimidate its allies in the region," he said.
Strategically, it attempted to restrain China by creating a stir in Myanmar, a regional hub for transport via the Indian Ocean, Jin added.
Reuters commented that if the report about Myanmar's nuclear program were true, "it would change the strategic landscape of the region with Indonesia, the Philippines and Thailand, which are closely allied with Washington."
Zhao Gancheng, director of South Asian Studies at the Shanghai Institute for International Studies, warned that the Myanmar government could risk seeking nuclear weapons if it feels threatened by persistent external pressures.
The scenario is likely to be realized if Western countries stick to their current approaches, despite the fact that the development of nuclear weapons by Myanmar is against the law, Zhao said.
Under those circumstances, neither ASEAN nor China, Myanmar's largest donor, could succeed in persuading the regime to abandon its atomic weapons ambition, he added.
[02:06 June 07 2010]
By Song Shengxia
Speculations on Myanmar's nuclear ambitions reemerged this weekend after media reported Friday claiming that the Southeast Asian country is seeking to develop a nuclear program with assistance from North Korea.
Chinese analysts, however, questioned the reliability of the sources of the investigation, suggesting the report is related to the US' interest in reasserting its role in Southeast Asia.
A report by the Norway-based Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB) said extensive documents and photos smuggled out of Myanmar by an army defector shows Myanmar is experimenting with uranium and trying to build a reactor or enrichment plant.
The DVB said its report was based on a five-year investigation that indicates that Myanmar is actively acquiring nuclear technology and expertise with help from North Korea.
It said the documents and photos obtained from Sai Thein Win, a former Myanmar defense engineer trained in Russia in missile technology, were examined by Robert Kelley, a US nuclear scientist and ex-director of the International Atomic Energy Agency.
Sai said he had defected from the military after working in a nuclear battalion in Myanmar tasked with making prototype components for missile and nuclear programs.
According to the report, two companies in Singapore with German connections sold many machine tools to the Myanmar government, notably the Department of Technical and Vocational Education (DTVE), which is closely asso-ciated with the Department of Atomic Energy, and probably a front for military purchasing for weapons of mass destruction.
But the machinery did not include all the necessary accessories to make the high-precision parts required for many missile and nuclear applications.
The revelations prompted US Senator Jim Webb to abruptly cancel a trip to Myanmar on Thursday. He said it would be "unwise" and "potentially counterproductive" for him to visit Myanmar as a result of the claim.
A senior Myanmar official, who declined to be named, told AFP that the accusations were "groundless," without elaborating.
Sun Xiaoying, a researcher on Southeast Asia with the Guangxi Academy of Social Sciences, told the Global Times that she was skeptical about the unverified claim as the accusation is from former Myanmar military figures now living in exile.
The international community should "carefully differentiate between the peaceful use of atomic energy and efforts to seek nuclear arms," Sun added.
Myanmar signed an agreement with the IAEA in 1995 that it would not pursue nuclear weapons under a carefully defined standard international legal agreement.
However, speculation on Myanmar embarking on a nuclear program mounted a year ago when a North Korean freighter, the Kang Nam I, headed toward Myanmar with an undisclosed cargo. Tracked by the US Navy, the freighter changed course and returned home.
US and South Korean officials suspected the freighter to be carrying artillery and other non-nuclear arms, while a South Korean intelligence expert said the ship's mission appeared to be related to a Myanmar nuclear program and also carried Scud-type missiles, the AP reported. Both Myanmar and North Korea denied the allegation.
A UN report released last month said North Korea has been using front companies to export nuclear and missile technology and has helped Iran, Syria and Myanmar.
He Shengda, a scholar on Southeast Asian affairs at the Yunnan Academy of Social Sciences, said Myanmar does not seem to be in a position to engage in nuclear weapons development.
"Economic development and political stability are most urgent for the authorities of Myanmar, which has been under military rule since 1962 and is expected to hold elections this year, the first of their kind in 20 years.
Jin Liangxiang, a researcher with the Shanghai Institute for International Studies, told Time Weekly that the US has been using the hype on Myanmar's nuclear ambition to recast its role in Southeast Asia, which remains a nuclear-free region.
"To reassert its presence in the region, the US will surely use Myanmar's alleged nuclear ambition to intimidate its allies in the region," he said.
Strategically, it attempted to restrain China by creating a stir in Myanmar, a regional hub for transport via the Indian Ocean, Jin added.
Reuters commented that if the report about Myanmar's nuclear program were true, "it would change the strategic landscape of the region with Indonesia, the Philippines and Thailand, which are closely allied with Washington."
Zhao Gancheng, director of South Asian Studies at the Shanghai Institute for International Studies, warned that the Myanmar government could risk seeking nuclear weapons if it feels threatened by persistent external pressures.
The scenario is likely to be realized if Western countries stick to their current approaches, despite the fact that the development of nuclear weapons by Myanmar is against the law, Zhao said.
Under those circumstances, neither ASEAN nor China, Myanmar's largest donor, could succeed in persuading the regime to abandon its atomic weapons ambition, he added.
*********************************************************
June 07, 2010 19:01 PM
Myanmar Man Guilty Of Murder Escapes Gallows
SHAH ALAM, June 7 (Bernama) -- A Myanmar man escaped the gallows when the High Court ordered Monday that he be held at the pleasure of the Sultan of Selangor after being found guilty of murdering an Indonesian maid seven years ago.
The 23-year-old man, who was 16-1/2 and a gas delivery boy at the time of the offence on June 11, 2003, cannot be sentenced to death as he was a child at the time of the offence, and Section 97 (2) of the Child Act 2001 provides for a child convicted of murder to be ordered by the court to be detained at the ruler's pleasure.
"As you were 16 years and six months old at the time of the offence, you cannot be sentenced to death even though I find you guilty under Section 302 of the Penal Code, but you can be held at the pleasure of the Sultan of Selangor for a period to be decided by the sultan," said Judge Datuk Mohd Zaki Md Yasin.
On March 19, the man was found guilty of murdering the maid, Nurmahdaleni, 23, at a house in Jalan Kesuma 6, Taman Kesuma, Ampang, between 11am and 5pm on June 11, 2003.
He was charged under Section 302 of the Penal Code which provides for the mandatory death sentence upon conviction.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Alfred Egin appeared for the prosecution while the defence counsel was K. A. Ramu.
Myanmar Man Guilty Of Murder Escapes Gallows
SHAH ALAM, June 7 (Bernama) -- A Myanmar man escaped the gallows when the High Court ordered Monday that he be held at the pleasure of the Sultan of Selangor after being found guilty of murdering an Indonesian maid seven years ago.
The 23-year-old man, who was 16-1/2 and a gas delivery boy at the time of the offence on June 11, 2003, cannot be sentenced to death as he was a child at the time of the offence, and Section 97 (2) of the Child Act 2001 provides for a child convicted of murder to be ordered by the court to be detained at the ruler's pleasure.
"As you were 16 years and six months old at the time of the offence, you cannot be sentenced to death even though I find you guilty under Section 302 of the Penal Code, but you can be held at the pleasure of the Sultan of Selangor for a period to be decided by the sultan," said Judge Datuk Mohd Zaki Md Yasin.
On March 19, the man was found guilty of murdering the maid, Nurmahdaleni, 23, at a house in Jalan Kesuma 6, Taman Kesuma, Ampang, between 11am and 5pm on June 11, 2003.
He was charged under Section 302 of the Penal Code which provides for the mandatory death sentence upon conviction.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Alfred Egin appeared for the prosecution while the defence counsel was K. A. Ramu.
*********************************************************
June 06, 2010 13:56 PM
Riot Attempt At Ajil Detention Depot Foiled
HULU TERENGGANU, June 6 (Bernama) -- Police foiled an attempt by almost 200 Vietnamese and Myanmar inmates to riot and break out of the Ajil immigration detention depot here last night, sparked by a fight between two new Vietnamese inmates.
Eight Vietnamese inmates were injured in the incident, and the Vietnamese embassy has been informed.
Terengganu Immigration director Mahasan Mustapa said today the incident began at 9.30pm when two new Vietnamese immigrants started fighting and the others joined in.
"They tried to break down doors and break free from the depot, but their attempt was foiled. One door was torn down but they could not get past two other doors and a grille," he told reporters.
The police brought the situation under control by midnight, he said.
Terengganu police chief Datuk Mohd Shukri Dahlan said eight Vietnamese inmates were injured in the incident.
A fire truck from the Kuala Berang Fire and Rescue Station was sent to the depot during the commotion as a precaution should the inmates attempt to set fire to the building.
Riot Attempt At Ajil Detention Depot Foiled
HULU TERENGGANU, June 6 (Bernama) -- Police foiled an attempt by almost 200 Vietnamese and Myanmar inmates to riot and break out of the Ajil immigration detention depot here last night, sparked by a fight between two new Vietnamese inmates.
Eight Vietnamese inmates were injured in the incident, and the Vietnamese embassy has been informed.
Terengganu Immigration director Mahasan Mustapa said today the incident began at 9.30pm when two new Vietnamese immigrants started fighting and the others joined in.
"They tried to break down doors and break free from the depot, but their attempt was foiled. One door was torn down but they could not get past two other doors and a grille," he told reporters.
The police brought the situation under control by midnight, he said.
Terengganu police chief Datuk Mohd Shukri Dahlan said eight Vietnamese inmates were injured in the incident.
A fire truck from the Kuala Berang Fire and Rescue Station was sent to the depot during the commotion as a precaution should the inmates attempt to set fire to the building.
*********************************************************
Daily News & Analysis
Proposal to deploy BSF along Indo-Myanmar border under consideration
PTI - Sunday, June 6, 2010 15:24 IST
Shillong: A proposal to deploy Border Security Force (BSF) personnel along the Indo-Myanmar border to improve security was under consideration, Union home secretary GK Pillai said.
"A final decision on whether the Indo-Myanmar border will be manned by BSF or Assam Rifles will be taken by the Union cabinet," Pillai told PTI during his three-day visit to Shillong.
India shares a 1640km-long border with Myanmar manned by Assam Rifles and the dense forests in most parts make the border porous and vulnerable.
Most of the posts of Assam Rifles are located well inside Indian territory and only a handful of posts are located near the zero line, which makes it easier for the insurgents camping in Myanmar to sneak into India easily, the sources said.
BSF is currently responsible for guarding the Indo-Pak and Indo-Bangla border, with some battalions also deployed in Maoist-hit areas in central and eastern India and anti-insurgency operations in the Northeast.
Assam Rifles was entrusted with the responsibility of guarding the border with Myanmar in 2002 and at that time, the strength of the force was 30 battalions.
Gradually, the strength of the force has been increased to 46 battalions. Twenty more battalions are being raised by the force, the country's oldest paramilitary force.
Proposal to deploy BSF along Indo-Myanmar border under consideration
PTI - Sunday, June 6, 2010 15:24 IST
Shillong: A proposal to deploy Border Security Force (BSF) personnel along the Indo-Myanmar border to improve security was under consideration, Union home secretary GK Pillai said.
"A final decision on whether the Indo-Myanmar border will be manned by BSF or Assam Rifles will be taken by the Union cabinet," Pillai told PTI during his three-day visit to Shillong.
India shares a 1640km-long border with Myanmar manned by Assam Rifles and the dense forests in most parts make the border porous and vulnerable.
Most of the posts of Assam Rifles are located well inside Indian territory and only a handful of posts are located near the zero line, which makes it easier for the insurgents camping in Myanmar to sneak into India easily, the sources said.
BSF is currently responsible for guarding the Indo-Pak and Indo-Bangla border, with some battalions also deployed in Maoist-hit areas in central and eastern India and anti-insurgency operations in the Northeast.
Assam Rifles was entrusted with the responsibility of guarding the border with Myanmar in 2002 and at that time, the strength of the force was 30 battalions.
Gradually, the strength of the force has been increased to 46 battalions. Twenty more battalions are being raised by the force, the country's oldest paramilitary force.
*********************************************************
Jamaica Observer - Myanmar national killed in MoBay
Friday, June 04, 2010
POLICE in St James are investigating the murder of Myanmar national Hla Tun Aung, who was killed in Montego Bay today.
Aung is a 74-year-old retired bank manager.
Police report that about 12:00 noon, Aung was at the home of a relative in Ironshore when two men - one armed with a gun - entered and demanded money.
One of the occupants of the house managed to escape and made a report to the Coral Gardens Police. When the cops arrived on the scene they found Aung's body in the house with his throat was slashed.
Investigators reported that a number of items were removed from the house including a silver Sony laptop valued at J$30,000 and three cellular phone chargers.
Friday, June 04, 2010
POLICE in St James are investigating the murder of Myanmar national Hla Tun Aung, who was killed in Montego Bay today.
Aung is a 74-year-old retired bank manager.
Police report that about 12:00 noon, Aung was at the home of a relative in Ironshore when two men - one armed with a gun - entered and demanded money.
One of the occupants of the house managed to escape and made a report to the Coral Gardens Police. When the cops arrived on the scene they found Aung's body in the house with his throat was slashed.
Investigators reported that a number of items were removed from the house including a silver Sony laptop valued at J$30,000 and three cellular phone chargers.
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Al Jazeera.Net - Myanmar's military ambitions - Part 1 to 4
Myanmar's military ambitions - Part 1 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oUa_OODAjNQ&feature=related
Myanmar's military ambitions - Part 2 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7gQK5R-EefY&feature=related
Myanmar's military ambitions - Part 3 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hTs3egj-G44&feature=related
Myanmar's military ambitions - Part 4 -http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S28WtjCCN-c&feature=related
Myanmar's military ambitions - Part 1 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oUa_OODAjNQ&feature=related
Myanmar's military ambitions - Part 2 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7gQK5R-EefY&feature=related
Myanmar's military ambitions - Part 3 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hTs3egj-G44&feature=related
Myanmar's military ambitions - Part 4 -http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S28WtjCCN-c&feature=related
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The Klaxon - Myanmar nuke accusations should raise radioactive questions for world leaders
By Joshua Wilwohl / josh@theklaxon.com / 06.05.2010
Updated on: 06.05.10 at 11:25 am
A former United Nations nuclear inspector said Friday that secret documents smuggled out of Myanmar by an army defector show the country anxiously is looking to develop nukes.
This comes at a time when North Korea is threatening its southern counterpart and when U.S. President Barack Obama has called for peace treaties to curb nuclear proliferation, all while Iran President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad speeds up his country’s technology.
The report, first obtained by The Associated Press, states Myanmar has attempted experiments with uranium and the equipment needed for enrichment.
The International Atomic Energy Agency had no comment.
The world is beginning to see a now power-hungry nuclear arms race that talking heads have said for years is not a threat. Unfortunately, it is even more of a threat now than ever with the rise of terror organizations that want their hands on nuclear technology and will pay handsomely for the devices.
Al-Qaeda is one of them (i.e. Sharif Mobley, though officials swear his time at U.S. nuclear plants did not compromise security).
Some governments appear to take a laissez-fare attitude toward nuclear terrorism because, according to some, it’s a nearly impossible task to detonate a nuke. Granted this may be temporarily true, but it should not be the reason governments or “experts” label such activity as inconsequential. It should be the reason we focus on preventing warheads and nuclear technology from falling into the wrong hands.
It’s quite obvious that Myanmar is only the tip of the iceberg in this fight. The country allegedly has ties with North Korea and some U.S. officials have accused the two countries of collaborating to develop nuclear weapons (as the AP reported that early documents show North Korea allegedly helped Myanmar construct underground facilities to create nukes).
The next phase is whether or not these countries will “black market” their nuclear ambition to other nations known to harbor terror groups or to the cells themselves. It provokes a danger the world cannot afford. We must start turning Obama’s words from the April nuclear summit into action if we are to stay vigilant in the fight against nuclear terrorism. Because over the past two months, our beautiful blue-green marble is beginning to resemble an oil-smeared ticking time bomb.
By Joshua Wilwohl / josh@theklaxon.com / 06.05.2010
Updated on: 06.05.10 at 11:25 am
A former United Nations nuclear inspector said Friday that secret documents smuggled out of Myanmar by an army defector show the country anxiously is looking to develop nukes.
This comes at a time when North Korea is threatening its southern counterpart and when U.S. President Barack Obama has called for peace treaties to curb nuclear proliferation, all while Iran President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad speeds up his country’s technology.
The report, first obtained by The Associated Press, states Myanmar has attempted experiments with uranium and the equipment needed for enrichment.
The International Atomic Energy Agency had no comment.
The world is beginning to see a now power-hungry nuclear arms race that talking heads have said for years is not a threat. Unfortunately, it is even more of a threat now than ever with the rise of terror organizations that want their hands on nuclear technology and will pay handsomely for the devices.
Al-Qaeda is one of them (i.e. Sharif Mobley, though officials swear his time at U.S. nuclear plants did not compromise security).
Some governments appear to take a laissez-fare attitude toward nuclear terrorism because, according to some, it’s a nearly impossible task to detonate a nuke. Granted this may be temporarily true, but it should not be the reason governments or “experts” label such activity as inconsequential. It should be the reason we focus on preventing warheads and nuclear technology from falling into the wrong hands.
It’s quite obvious that Myanmar is only the tip of the iceberg in this fight. The country allegedly has ties with North Korea and some U.S. officials have accused the two countries of collaborating to develop nuclear weapons (as the AP reported that early documents show North Korea allegedly helped Myanmar construct underground facilities to create nukes).
The next phase is whether or not these countries will “black market” their nuclear ambition to other nations known to harbor terror groups or to the cells themselves. It provokes a danger the world cannot afford. We must start turning Obama’s words from the April nuclear summit into action if we are to stay vigilant in the fight against nuclear terrorism. Because over the past two months, our beautiful blue-green marble is beginning to resemble an oil-smeared ticking time bomb.
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VOL 18 NO 184 REGD NO DA 1589 | Dhaka, Sunday June 6 2010
Financial Express Bangladesh - Myanmar readying master plan to speed up power export to Bangladesh
A Z M Anas
Myanmar has started crafting a master-plan to speed up electricity exports to Bangladesh, offering a renewed hope for the power-scarce nation to boost generation, officials said Friday.
Bangladesh is facing severe power crisis, compounded by energy supply crunch and years of lower investment.
Around 87 per cent of power plants in the country are running on fast-depleting natural gas while the country has failed to commission large stations since 1997 as makeshift policies turned away foreign investors.
"It's a right and timely step. I think the master plan will help us overcome hurdles to electricity exports," chairman of state-run Power Development Board (PDB) ASM Alamgir Kabir said.
A high-powered Myanmar team came to the capital last week for discussions with government officials and other stakeholders to identify the potential challenges and opportunities for the two-nation power trading.
Myanmar's master plan is seen as crucial for the government, which is desperately seeking to add more power to the national grid to placate people who are becoming increasingly angry owing to lack of electricity supply.
The daily blackouts amount to 1500-2000 megawatt, harming the industrial production while threatening to slow down economic growth.
"They (team) had talks with us. It also reflects the Myanmar government's sincerity to kickstart the process of cross-border power trading," the PDB chief told the FE.
Shwe Taung Development Co, a Myanmar company, has expressed its interest to set up a 500-megawatt hydroelectric plant in Rakhine state intended to export power to Bangladesh.
A local company, which has already got lease of land in Rakhine state to set up two power plants, is also considering exporting electricity to Bangladesh after meeting the demand of the state.
Bangladesh needs to bridge the gap between demand and supply and also additional power to keep the wheel of industry humming. Public and private companies are generating below 4000mw of electricity, although peak-hour demand tops 6000mw a day.
The World Bank has estimated power outages cost the economy 2.0 per cent of its annual national growth, undercutting its ability to grow faster. In a report, the bank said the country must grow seven to eight per cent a year to become a middle income nation over the next decade.
The government, however, is pressing ahead with a plan to generate 9000mw of electricity by 2015, which will require an investment of $9.0 billion.
As quick fix, it has taken steps to install nine oil-based and dual-fuel peaking power plants in a year with a total capacity of 620mw.
Bangladesh is also in discussion with the Indian government to import 250mw of electricity and building grid infrastructure on the border points to facilitate transmission.
Technical experts from the ministry of energy have already visited Rakhine state to make a feasibility study on the prospects of electricity import as Myanmar has agreed to Bangladesh's proposal to arrange a visit to the state.
Officials figured, the amount of bilateral trade between Dhaka and Yangon is set to shoot up from the present US$140 million to $500 million during 2009-10 fiscal year.
A Z M Anas
Myanmar has started crafting a master-plan to speed up electricity exports to Bangladesh, offering a renewed hope for the power-scarce nation to boost generation, officials said Friday.
Bangladesh is facing severe power crisis, compounded by energy supply crunch and years of lower investment.
Around 87 per cent of power plants in the country are running on fast-depleting natural gas while the country has failed to commission large stations since 1997 as makeshift policies turned away foreign investors.
"It's a right and timely step. I think the master plan will help us overcome hurdles to electricity exports," chairman of state-run Power Development Board (PDB) ASM Alamgir Kabir said.
A high-powered Myanmar team came to the capital last week for discussions with government officials and other stakeholders to identify the potential challenges and opportunities for the two-nation power trading.
Myanmar's master plan is seen as crucial for the government, which is desperately seeking to add more power to the national grid to placate people who are becoming increasingly angry owing to lack of electricity supply.
The daily blackouts amount to 1500-2000 megawatt, harming the industrial production while threatening to slow down economic growth.
"They (team) had talks with us. It also reflects the Myanmar government's sincerity to kickstart the process of cross-border power trading," the PDB chief told the FE.
Shwe Taung Development Co, a Myanmar company, has expressed its interest to set up a 500-megawatt hydroelectric plant in Rakhine state intended to export power to Bangladesh.
A local company, which has already got lease of land in Rakhine state to set up two power plants, is also considering exporting electricity to Bangladesh after meeting the demand of the state.
Bangladesh needs to bridge the gap between demand and supply and also additional power to keep the wheel of industry humming. Public and private companies are generating below 4000mw of electricity, although peak-hour demand tops 6000mw a day.
The World Bank has estimated power outages cost the economy 2.0 per cent of its annual national growth, undercutting its ability to grow faster. In a report, the bank said the country must grow seven to eight per cent a year to become a middle income nation over the next decade.
The government, however, is pressing ahead with a plan to generate 9000mw of electricity by 2015, which will require an investment of $9.0 billion.
As quick fix, it has taken steps to install nine oil-based and dual-fuel peaking power plants in a year with a total capacity of 620mw.
Bangladesh is also in discussion with the Indian government to import 250mw of electricity and building grid infrastructure on the border points to facilitate transmission.
Technical experts from the ministry of energy have already visited Rakhine state to make a feasibility study on the prospects of electricity import as Myanmar has agreed to Bangladesh's proposal to arrange a visit to the state.
Officials figured, the amount of bilateral trade between Dhaka and Yangon is set to shoot up from the present US$140 million to $500 million during 2009-10 fiscal year.
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India Today - Myanmar junta mines uranium to make N-bomb
Dipanjan Roy Chaudhury New Delhi, June 6, 2010
Military-ruled Myanmar may have gone a step ahead in developing nuclear weapons as it is learnt to have mined uranium and acquired components for nukes, a new report by a Burmese media organisation says.
Robert Kelley, former director of the International Atomic Energy Agency, says Myanmar is acquiring components for a nuclear weapons programme.
He makes his case in the report commissioned by a Burmese dissident group, Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB), based in Norway.
"The most compelling evidence that Burma is developing a nuclear weapons programme is photographs of bomb-reduction vessels," co-researcher Ali Fowle, DVB editor and research assistant, says.
Titled Nuclear Related Activities in Burma, the report was released earlier this week.
According to Kelley, Myanmar is trying to manufacture a nuclear reactor for a plutonium and uranium-enrichment programme.
If this is true, India may well have to contend with a third nuclear-armed neighbour, apart from China and Pakistan.
Kelley claims Myanmar's intention is clear to build a nuclear bomb. He has spent months scouring photographs and documents provided by a former Myanmarese defence engineer and missile expert - Maj. Sai Thein Win - who had defected.
"Sai's information suggests Burma is mining uranium, converting it to uranium compounds ... and trying to build a reactor and/ or an enrichment plant that could only be useful for a bomb," Kelly said.
The report authors say: "Sai's information is impressive and correlates well with information from other published and unpublished sources. But the most important thing he has brought forth is hundreds of colour photographs taken inside critical facilities in Burma… Our analysis leads to only one conclusion: this technology is only for nuclear weapons and not civilian use or nuclear power."
The photographs analysed in the report show Myanmarese military officials and civilians posing beside a machine called the vacuum glove box, which is used in the production of uranium metal.
"The machines… seemed… to be for making chemical compounds of uranium. That vessel looks like it's made to turn enriched uranium grain salt into uranium metal… but it's likely to be for a nuclear programme,"the report states.
The two factories analysed in the report appear to be run solely by Myanmarese engineers, Fowle said. "Some machines they have been making… are crude, probably because they have not been (taking) outside help,"he said.
Burma's nuclear effort is managed by the Directorate of Defence Services Science and Technology Research Centre (DDSSTRC).
Hours before the report's release, US senator Jim Webb cancelled a trip to Myanmar. He cited the report's findings and US concerns about an alleged shipment of North Korean arms to Burma.
"I think there is enough in these allegations of Burmese involvement with North Korea and potentially with a nuclear programme," he said, adding that "it would be unwise and counterproductive for me to visit Burma". A UN report had said last month that North Korea was secretly exporting missile and nuclear technology to Myanmar.
Dipanjan Roy Chaudhury New Delhi, June 6, 2010
Military-ruled Myanmar may have gone a step ahead in developing nuclear weapons as it is learnt to have mined uranium and acquired components for nukes, a new report by a Burmese media organisation says.
Robert Kelley, former director of the International Atomic Energy Agency, says Myanmar is acquiring components for a nuclear weapons programme.
He makes his case in the report commissioned by a Burmese dissident group, Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB), based in Norway.
"The most compelling evidence that Burma is developing a nuclear weapons programme is photographs of bomb-reduction vessels," co-researcher Ali Fowle, DVB editor and research assistant, says.
Titled Nuclear Related Activities in Burma, the report was released earlier this week.
According to Kelley, Myanmar is trying to manufacture a nuclear reactor for a plutonium and uranium-enrichment programme.
If this is true, India may well have to contend with a third nuclear-armed neighbour, apart from China and Pakistan.
Kelley claims Myanmar's intention is clear to build a nuclear bomb. He has spent months scouring photographs and documents provided by a former Myanmarese defence engineer and missile expert - Maj. Sai Thein Win - who had defected.
"Sai's information suggests Burma is mining uranium, converting it to uranium compounds ... and trying to build a reactor and/ or an enrichment plant that could only be useful for a bomb," Kelly said.
The report authors say: "Sai's information is impressive and correlates well with information from other published and unpublished sources. But the most important thing he has brought forth is hundreds of colour photographs taken inside critical facilities in Burma… Our analysis leads to only one conclusion: this technology is only for nuclear weapons and not civilian use or nuclear power."
The photographs analysed in the report show Myanmarese military officials and civilians posing beside a machine called the vacuum glove box, which is used in the production of uranium metal.
"The machines… seemed… to be for making chemical compounds of uranium. That vessel looks like it's made to turn enriched uranium grain salt into uranium metal… but it's likely to be for a nuclear programme,"the report states.
The two factories analysed in the report appear to be run solely by Myanmarese engineers, Fowle said. "Some machines they have been making… are crude, probably because they have not been (taking) outside help,"he said.
Burma's nuclear effort is managed by the Directorate of Defence Services Science and Technology Research Centre (DDSSTRC).
Hours before the report's release, US senator Jim Webb cancelled a trip to Myanmar. He cited the report's findings and US concerns about an alleged shipment of North Korean arms to Burma.
"I think there is enough in these allegations of Burmese involvement with North Korea and potentially with a nuclear programme," he said, adding that "it would be unwise and counterproductive for me to visit Burma". A UN report had said last month that North Korea was secretly exporting missile and nuclear technology to Myanmar.
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Inquirer.net - ASEAN: No clear sign Myanmar wants help with vote
Agence France-Presse
First Posted 15:36:00 06/06/2010
HO CHI MINH CITY-- Myanmar has given no clear signs that it would welcome regional help with its elections expected later this year, its Southeast Asian neighbors said on Sunday.
The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and the European Union have urged Myanmar to ensure the elections are "credible and transparent".
ASEAN secretary general Surin Pitsuwan told reporters on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum on East Asia: "We don't have any clear signal that member states of ASEAN will be asked to help but the offer is on the table."
Surin said in Madrid late last month that the election "won't be perfect" but would be the start of a process that could lead to real democracy.
ASEAN groups Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.
State media in military-ruled Myanmar reported last month that the country has no need for foreign observers to monitor its first elections in two decades, despite international concerns that the polls will lack legitimacy.
The National League for Democracy (NLD) of detained democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi has been forcibly dissolved under widely criticized laws governing the elections.
The NLD refused to meet a May 6 deadline to re-register as a party -- a move that would have forced it to expel its own leader -- and boycotted the vote.
Suu Kyi, a Nobel peace laureate, has been held in detention for 14 of the past 20 years.
Agence France-Presse
First Posted 15:36:00 06/06/2010
HO CHI MINH CITY-- Myanmar has given no clear signs that it would welcome regional help with its elections expected later this year, its Southeast Asian neighbors said on Sunday.
The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and the European Union have urged Myanmar to ensure the elections are "credible and transparent".
ASEAN secretary general Surin Pitsuwan told reporters on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum on East Asia: "We don't have any clear signal that member states of ASEAN will be asked to help but the offer is on the table."
Surin said in Madrid late last month that the election "won't be perfect" but would be the start of a process that could lead to real democracy.
ASEAN groups Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.
State media in military-ruled Myanmar reported last month that the country has no need for foreign observers to monitor its first elections in two decades, despite international concerns that the polls will lack legitimacy.
The National League for Democracy (NLD) of detained democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi has been forcibly dissolved under widely criticized laws governing the elections.
The NLD refused to meet a May 6 deadline to re-register as a party -- a move that would have forced it to expel its own leader -- and boycotted the vote.
Suu Kyi, a Nobel peace laureate, has been held in detention for 14 of the past 20 years.
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World Economic Forum on East Asia rethinks Asia's leadership agenda
English.news.cn 2010-06-07 21:40:49
By Han Qiao
HO CHI MINH CITY, Vietnam, June 7 (Xinhua) -- The Europe-based World Economic Forum (WEF), known for being innovative and forward- looking, chose an interesting and thought-provoking theme for this year's WEF on East Asia -- Rethink Asia's Leadership Agenda.
During the two-day discussion, a note was persuasive among participants from more than 50 economies. A shift in the balance of world economic power is taking place in the aftermath of the economic crisis, underscoring Asia's need and ability to take a greater outward approach in global cooperation.
Surin Pitsuwan, Secretary-General of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, said the past two years marked a period of change for Asia's role.
Asia, by keeping its imports open, helped pull the world out of the crisis. Meanwhile, Asia has maintained sustained growth, becoming a driving force for world economic revival, said Surin.
Andrei Kostin, a co-chair of this forum, and chairman and CEO of VTB Bank in Russia, observed the shift in world economic power from the perspective of capital flow.
"Traditionally, Asia is the importer of capital. But recently, it has become exporter of capital," Kostin told the forum. "Asia and Gulf countries are main sources of capital for investors in today's world."
Asian leaders and scholars responded to this leadership agenda call with optimism as well as prudence.
"The global roles and responsibilities undertaken by East Asia need to be recognized and re-evaluated adequately," said Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung at the forum. "East Asia wants to make active contributions to the development of a new, more effective and democratic structure of global governance," said Dung, adding that the theme of this forum is "very appropriate to the regional context."
Gita Wirjawan, Chairman of the Indonesian Investment Coordinating Board, translated the "leadership agenda" as an agenda to have "a higher degree of engagement in international affairs."
Gita held that Asia is not as much engaged in the international discussion as it deserves to be. Asia should have more representation in the international arena like the G20, he said.
Prof. Tong Jiadong, vice president of the prestigious Nankai University in China, said Asia is leading world economic growth, but it is not ready for the leadership yet.
"The theme of World Economic Forum is always forward-looking and touches on the 'next wave' of international trend," said Tong. Asia is growing big but it has not accumulated the expertise to be a world leader.
But as Asia currently has all these advantages, the ambitious leadership agenda is something Asia can put some thoughts on, he said.
About Asia's capital advantage, Tong has his opinions. Asia has accumulated big foreign currency reserves from its export. Unfortunately, the capital can not be invested in the region due to a lack of safe and effective channels, and went out to other markets like the U.S. bond market instead, he said.
China, along with many developing countries in this region, needs huge capital for investment and development, said Tong. He urged the building of a mature trade, financial and investment system in the region so that Asia's money will better serve Asia' s development.
English.news.cn 2010-06-07 21:40:49
By Han Qiao
HO CHI MINH CITY, Vietnam, June 7 (Xinhua) -- The Europe-based World Economic Forum (WEF), known for being innovative and forward- looking, chose an interesting and thought-provoking theme for this year's WEF on East Asia -- Rethink Asia's Leadership Agenda.
During the two-day discussion, a note was persuasive among participants from more than 50 economies. A shift in the balance of world economic power is taking place in the aftermath of the economic crisis, underscoring Asia's need and ability to take a greater outward approach in global cooperation.
Surin Pitsuwan, Secretary-General of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, said the past two years marked a period of change for Asia's role.
Asia, by keeping its imports open, helped pull the world out of the crisis. Meanwhile, Asia has maintained sustained growth, becoming a driving force for world economic revival, said Surin.
Andrei Kostin, a co-chair of this forum, and chairman and CEO of VTB Bank in Russia, observed the shift in world economic power from the perspective of capital flow.
"Traditionally, Asia is the importer of capital. But recently, it has become exporter of capital," Kostin told the forum. "Asia and Gulf countries are main sources of capital for investors in today's world."
Asian leaders and scholars responded to this leadership agenda call with optimism as well as prudence.
"The global roles and responsibilities undertaken by East Asia need to be recognized and re-evaluated adequately," said Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung at the forum. "East Asia wants to make active contributions to the development of a new, more effective and democratic structure of global governance," said Dung, adding that the theme of this forum is "very appropriate to the regional context."
Gita Wirjawan, Chairman of the Indonesian Investment Coordinating Board, translated the "leadership agenda" as an agenda to have "a higher degree of engagement in international affairs."
Gita held that Asia is not as much engaged in the international discussion as it deserves to be. Asia should have more representation in the international arena like the G20, he said.
Prof. Tong Jiadong, vice president of the prestigious Nankai University in China, said Asia is leading world economic growth, but it is not ready for the leadership yet.
"The theme of World Economic Forum is always forward-looking and touches on the 'next wave' of international trend," said Tong. Asia is growing big but it has not accumulated the expertise to be a world leader.
But as Asia currently has all these advantages, the ambitious leadership agenda is something Asia can put some thoughts on, he said.
About Asia's capital advantage, Tong has his opinions. Asia has accumulated big foreign currency reserves from its export. Unfortunately, the capital can not be invested in the region due to a lack of safe and effective channels, and went out to other markets like the U.S. bond market instead, he said.
China, along with many developing countries in this region, needs huge capital for investment and development, said Tong. He urged the building of a mature trade, financial and investment system in the region so that Asia's money will better serve Asia' s development.
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The Washington Post - What It Takes: A persistent voice for human rights
By Avis Thomas-Lester
Monday, June 7, 2010
Jared M. Genser was a law school student working for a human rights organization in London in 2000 when he got involved in the case of a British citizen, James Mawdsley, then 27, who had been given a 17-year jail sentence in solitary confinement in Burma for passing out pro-democracy leaflets. Genser took the case to the United Nations, persuaded five U.S. senators and 18 members of Congress to write letters to the Burmese junta urging Mawdsley's release and was at London's Heathrow Airport when Mawdsley was reunited with his family after 416 days in jail. That case hooked Genser and a year later, he co-founded Freedom Now, a nonprofit organization that works to secure the release of international "prisoners of conscience." He is a partner at DLA Piper, where he specializes in public international law and human rights cases. On Monday, June 7, he will be awarded the Charles Bronfman Prize, which recognizes young Jewish humanitarians involved in values-inspired work. Genser, 37, is married to Lisa, a clinical social worker; they have a son, Zachary, 2, and live in Bethesda.
WHY HE'S SUCCESSFUL
Genser's clients have included Aung San Suu Kyi, the Burmese pro-democracy opposition leader and Nobel Peace Prize laureate who has been held under house arrest for 15 of the last 19 years, and Ayub Masih, a Pakistani Christian unjustly sentenced to death for blasphemy. "I think the character trait that I've developed over time, probably from failure as well as success, has been persistence ... The work also requires substantial capability to work with people all across the political spectrum and all parts of society, from nonprofit groups to government to media to business leaders, and to be able to build coalitions of people who can collectively view what you are doing as important and to get behind those efforts."
A MAJOR OBSTACLE HE OVERCAME
The Freedom Now case of Chinese dissident Yang Jianli, who was blacklisted by his government for testifying to the U.S. Congress about Tiananmen Square. "He went back to China to observe labor unrest and was caught and accused of being a spy for Taiwan. Going up against China is not an easy task ... It required a level of persistence that was beyond what I ever thought was possible. It was a five-year odyssey."
FIRST JOB
He volunteered with a home hospice program as a teenager and worked at a McDonald's on Rockville Pike from ages 15 to 17 while attending the Landon School. "My parents had an interesting deal with me, which was that if I was working, I would get an allowance, and if I wasn't working, I wouldn't. I learned later that's what many of us would call the earned income tax credit ... I did the Saturday morning breakfast shift for two years."
BEST JOB
His current position at DLA Piper. "Because I am working in the area of public international law and human rights in my day job, and because it provides me with such a strong platform to support my voluntary opportunities and activities, it's really been a phenomenal place for me to be."
SMARTEST MOVE
Taking a year off from undergraduate work at Cornell University to work in Maryland on the first statewide community service requirement for high school graduation. He later earned a master's at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University and a law degree from the University of Michigan. "I was on the road working with high school and middle school students and trying to inspire them to get involved with community service ... To have that at 20 years old kind of gave me a sense that if I had a chance to unleash my potential, that I might actually able to make something of myself and have an impact on the world."
BIGGEST CHALLENGE
"It has been a big challenge to transform Freedom Now from an all-volunteer group with a lot of scrappy young lawyers to a full-time endeavor with staff and an office. We're honored to have [former clients] Archbishop Desmond M. Tutu and former Czech Republic president Václav Havel as honorary co-chairs ... We've been able to raise a fair amount of support from foundations, but to do this in the midst of the financial crisis had been an ongoing challenge."
WHAT INSPIRES HIM
His clients. "The stories of people who, despite incredible odds and incredible challenges that they are facing, manage to persevere and prevail ... That provides me with tremendous inspiration and tremendous hope for the world."
WHAT'S NEXT
"I would love to do a stint in government at the right time and in the right type of position in the human rights field. I could see myself in some point in the future running a large nonprofit. So I really don't know exactly what the future is going to hold. I know that I love what I'm doing now. As long as I continue to love what I'm doing, I'm kind of happy where I am."
ADVICE TO THE ASPIRING
"I advise people to follow their passion. If you are following your passion, even if you are not successful, you'll be pretty pleased that you tried. And if you're not successful, you will learn to get up, dust yourself off, and give it another try ... I like to joke that my résumé of failures is twice as long as my résumé of successes."
By Avis Thomas-Lester
Monday, June 7, 2010
Jared M. Genser was a law school student working for a human rights organization in London in 2000 when he got involved in the case of a British citizen, James Mawdsley, then 27, who had been given a 17-year jail sentence in solitary confinement in Burma for passing out pro-democracy leaflets. Genser took the case to the United Nations, persuaded five U.S. senators and 18 members of Congress to write letters to the Burmese junta urging Mawdsley's release and was at London's Heathrow Airport when Mawdsley was reunited with his family after 416 days in jail. That case hooked Genser and a year later, he co-founded Freedom Now, a nonprofit organization that works to secure the release of international "prisoners of conscience." He is a partner at DLA Piper, where he specializes in public international law and human rights cases. On Monday, June 7, he will be awarded the Charles Bronfman Prize, which recognizes young Jewish humanitarians involved in values-inspired work. Genser, 37, is married to Lisa, a clinical social worker; they have a son, Zachary, 2, and live in Bethesda.
WHY HE'S SUCCESSFUL
Genser's clients have included Aung San Suu Kyi, the Burmese pro-democracy opposition leader and Nobel Peace Prize laureate who has been held under house arrest for 15 of the last 19 years, and Ayub Masih, a Pakistani Christian unjustly sentenced to death for blasphemy. "I think the character trait that I've developed over time, probably from failure as well as success, has been persistence ... The work also requires substantial capability to work with people all across the political spectrum and all parts of society, from nonprofit groups to government to media to business leaders, and to be able to build coalitions of people who can collectively view what you are doing as important and to get behind those efforts."
A MAJOR OBSTACLE HE OVERCAME
The Freedom Now case of Chinese dissident Yang Jianli, who was blacklisted by his government for testifying to the U.S. Congress about Tiananmen Square. "He went back to China to observe labor unrest and was caught and accused of being a spy for Taiwan. Going up against China is not an easy task ... It required a level of persistence that was beyond what I ever thought was possible. It was a five-year odyssey."
FIRST JOB
He volunteered with a home hospice program as a teenager and worked at a McDonald's on Rockville Pike from ages 15 to 17 while attending the Landon School. "My parents had an interesting deal with me, which was that if I was working, I would get an allowance, and if I wasn't working, I wouldn't. I learned later that's what many of us would call the earned income tax credit ... I did the Saturday morning breakfast shift for two years."
BEST JOB
His current position at DLA Piper. "Because I am working in the area of public international law and human rights in my day job, and because it provides me with such a strong platform to support my voluntary opportunities and activities, it's really been a phenomenal place for me to be."
SMARTEST MOVE
Taking a year off from undergraduate work at Cornell University to work in Maryland on the first statewide community service requirement for high school graduation. He later earned a master's at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University and a law degree from the University of Michigan. "I was on the road working with high school and middle school students and trying to inspire them to get involved with community service ... To have that at 20 years old kind of gave me a sense that if I had a chance to unleash my potential, that I might actually able to make something of myself and have an impact on the world."
BIGGEST CHALLENGE
"It has been a big challenge to transform Freedom Now from an all-volunteer group with a lot of scrappy young lawyers to a full-time endeavor with staff and an office. We're honored to have [former clients] Archbishop Desmond M. Tutu and former Czech Republic president Václav Havel as honorary co-chairs ... We've been able to raise a fair amount of support from foundations, but to do this in the midst of the financial crisis had been an ongoing challenge."
WHAT INSPIRES HIM
His clients. "The stories of people who, despite incredible odds and incredible challenges that they are facing, manage to persevere and prevail ... That provides me with tremendous inspiration and tremendous hope for the world."
WHAT'S NEXT
"I would love to do a stint in government at the right time and in the right type of position in the human rights field. I could see myself in some point in the future running a large nonprofit. So I really don't know exactly what the future is going to hold. I know that I love what I'm doing now. As long as I continue to love what I'm doing, I'm kind of happy where I am."
ADVICE TO THE ASPIRING
"I advise people to follow their passion. If you are following your passion, even if you are not successful, you'll be pretty pleased that you tried. And if you're not successful, you will learn to get up, dust yourself off, and give it another try ... I like to joke that my résumé of failures is twice as long as my résumé of successes."
*********************************************************
The Irrawaddy - Oppositions Lament Nuclear Program Effort
By SAW YAN NAING - Monday, June 7, 2010
The Burmese junta's apparent intent to develop a nuclear weapons program is a tragic waste of badly needed money which should be used for the welfare of the people, say opposition political leaders.
Several opposition politicians, ethnic leaders, and rebel army leaders said on Monday the military government should use the national budget for education, health, economic and other developmental programs instead of prioritizing a nuclear weapons program when, in fact, the country is under no immediate or long-term threat.
Critics said large sums of income earned from the sale of natural resources should be shared with the people for the benefit of the country.
The comments came after new evidence surfaced about the government's nuclear ambitions, disclosed by a Burmese missile expert, Maj Sai Thein Win, who defected.
Rangoon-based veteran politician Chan Htun, who served as the Burmese ambassador to China, said that the generals are strengthening the armed forces because they don't want to be inferior to powerful nations.
Chan Htun said, however, “It isn't enough to strengthen the military alone. The livelihood of civilians also need to be improved. Social and economic areas need to be improved.”
Burma's military regime is infamous for spending a large percentage of its national budget on the military, rather than on education, health and other public services. According to Burma military experts, 40 to 60 percent of the national budget is allocated to the military.
In contrast, 0.4 percent of the budget is spent on healthcare, while 0.5 percent is spent on education, according to a report released in 2007 by the International Institute for Strategic Studies, a think-tank based in London.
Aye Thar Aung, an Arakanese politician who is chair of the Arakan League for Democracy, said, “To hold power firmly, Burmese generals think that it will be safer for them if they have nuclear weapons.”
However, he said there is no threat of invasion from neighboring countries or powerful nations.
Sai Lao Hseng, a spokesperson for the Shan State Army–South, an ethnic rebel group, said developing a nuclear program only wastes badly need funds that come mainly from the sale of natural resources.
“I was shocked and wondered why they wanted nuclear weapons while many people and ethnic groups live in poverty,” he said. “They can't use these weapons to attack ethic rebels. It will only be a threat to the regional and international community.”
The government's annual budget stems mostly from the sale of natural gas, logging, mining and hydro-electric power. Rice export is also a main source of national income.
According to a study by the Washington-based United States Institute of Peace, Burma's export earnings from the energy sector will double in the next five years, due mainly to oil and gas transit pipelines now being built across Burma to China's Yunnan Province.
The institute said the calculation is based on energy exports—mostly gas—accounting for at least 45 percent of the $6.6 billion earnings in 2008.
A retired Mon army chief, Nai Kao Rot, who is a former colonel in the New Mon State Party said, “We are unhappy...that they don't share the benefits with ethnic people, but only strengthen their military.”
Zipporah Sein, the general-secretary of the Karen National Union, said, “We believe that if Burma really has nuclear ambitions, it will be a threat to the international community. The nuclear program is meant to entrench the Burmese junta in power, and will be of no benefit to the people.”
By SAW YAN NAING - Monday, June 7, 2010
The Burmese junta's apparent intent to develop a nuclear weapons program is a tragic waste of badly needed money which should be used for the welfare of the people, say opposition political leaders.
Several opposition politicians, ethnic leaders, and rebel army leaders said on Monday the military government should use the national budget for education, health, economic and other developmental programs instead of prioritizing a nuclear weapons program when, in fact, the country is under no immediate or long-term threat.
Critics said large sums of income earned from the sale of natural resources should be shared with the people for the benefit of the country.
The comments came after new evidence surfaced about the government's nuclear ambitions, disclosed by a Burmese missile expert, Maj Sai Thein Win, who defected.
Rangoon-based veteran politician Chan Htun, who served as the Burmese ambassador to China, said that the generals are strengthening the armed forces because they don't want to be inferior to powerful nations.
Chan Htun said, however, “It isn't enough to strengthen the military alone. The livelihood of civilians also need to be improved. Social and economic areas need to be improved.”
Burma's military regime is infamous for spending a large percentage of its national budget on the military, rather than on education, health and other public services. According to Burma military experts, 40 to 60 percent of the national budget is allocated to the military.
In contrast, 0.4 percent of the budget is spent on healthcare, while 0.5 percent is spent on education, according to a report released in 2007 by the International Institute for Strategic Studies, a think-tank based in London.
Aye Thar Aung, an Arakanese politician who is chair of the Arakan League for Democracy, said, “To hold power firmly, Burmese generals think that it will be safer for them if they have nuclear weapons.”
However, he said there is no threat of invasion from neighboring countries or powerful nations.
Sai Lao Hseng, a spokesperson for the Shan State Army–South, an ethnic rebel group, said developing a nuclear program only wastes badly need funds that come mainly from the sale of natural resources.
“I was shocked and wondered why they wanted nuclear weapons while many people and ethnic groups live in poverty,” he said. “They can't use these weapons to attack ethic rebels. It will only be a threat to the regional and international community.”
The government's annual budget stems mostly from the sale of natural gas, logging, mining and hydro-electric power. Rice export is also a main source of national income.
According to a study by the Washington-based United States Institute of Peace, Burma's export earnings from the energy sector will double in the next five years, due mainly to oil and gas transit pipelines now being built across Burma to China's Yunnan Province.
The institute said the calculation is based on energy exports—mostly gas—accounting for at least 45 percent of the $6.6 billion earnings in 2008.
A retired Mon army chief, Nai Kao Rot, who is a former colonel in the New Mon State Party said, “We are unhappy...that they don't share the benefits with ethnic people, but only strengthen their military.”
Zipporah Sein, the general-secretary of the Karen National Union, said, “We believe that if Burma really has nuclear ambitions, it will be a threat to the international community. The nuclear program is meant to entrench the Burmese junta in power, and will be of no benefit to the people.”
*********************************************************
The Irrawaddy - Junta Launches New Media Offensive
By WAI MOE - Monday, June 7, 2010
Burmese Information Minister Brig-Gen Kyaw Hsan said after the junta’s crackdown on monk-led demonstrators in September 2007 that he would combat the media by using the media.
As the country prepares now for a general election, the junta is expected to sharpen its propaganda war against the international and exile media by using Kyaw Hsan's tactics.
One of these tactics is to allow semi-official or private journals whose owners are close to the ruling generals to publish daily newspapers for the first time in nearly five decades.
Among the rumors that have been circulating since early 2008 are reports that the semi-official newspaper, The Myanmar Times, will be allowed to publish daily.
The Myanmar Times is indeed now being allowed to publish daily—but only for about one month and restricting coverage to the football World Cup in South Africa.
“We have got permission [for a daily],” Zaw Myint, one of the paper's editors, confirmed. “We will publish daily during the World Cup from June 10 to July 12. But it is only during the World Cup.”
Even though The Myanmar Times edition will only be a sports issue, this will be the first time in 48 years that readers will be able to buy a daily newspaper not entirely run by the state. All newspapers in Burma were nationalized and passed into tight control by the state after the military coup in 1962 and following periods of press freedom.
Burmese observers said the concession now granted to The Myanmar Times could indicate a new phase in the regime's public relations campaign.
“It could be a signal to permit privately-owned daily newspapers,” said Maung Wantha, a veteran journalist in Rangoon, who is planning to publish a political journal. “Ahead of the elections, political parties will have to be allowed to publish their policies and activities.”
However, most Burmese journalists are skeptical about any possibility of meaningful press freedom being granted by the the junta, whose censors are still fully employed in combing every publication and excising anything unfavorable to the regime.
“Until now, the censorship board is still cutting and cutting the reports of Burmese journalists,” said an editor with a private journal in Rangoon, who spoke on condition of anonymity. “So it is too early to say the junta would agree to the publication of privately-owned dailies.”
The Myanmar Times was founded as a semi-official publication in 2000 by Ross Dunkley, an Australian businessman, and Sonny Swe, son of former military intelligence official Brig-Gen Thein Swe.
Following the junta’s crackdown on Burma's military intelligence apparatus in October 2004, both Thein Swe and his son Sonny Swe were arrested and sentenced to long terms of imprisonment.
The Myanmar Times survived their downfall and Ross Dunkley has continued to enjoy good connections with ruling generals, a necessary condition for doing any businesses in Burma.
Unlike former intelligence officials, the ruling generals seem to lack knowledge in how to use the media for their propaganda machine, particularly in the years 2005-2007. Its crackdown on the mass demonstrations in September 2007 displayed to the international media the brutal, ugly face of the regime.
Currently the junta has been using different public relations tactics. The state-run MRTV has recently used foreign broadcasts in its new, English-language program, “Myanmar International.” The junta has also formed different FM, AM and short wave radio stations to counter exile media and Burmese-language foreign broadcasts.
One of these is Napyidaw-based Padauk Myay radio which often counters reports criticizing the junta and carries attacks on pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi and dissident groups.
Despite its propaganda, the radio station attracts young Burmese audiences with the latest music. According to independent researchers, Padauk Myay's audience also includes Burmese migrant workers in Thailand.
Meanwhile, the junta has allowed some private journals to cover political news. According to journalists in Rangoon, apart from The Myanmar Times, Burmese authorities also allows two journals, The Voice Weekly and The Monitor, to carry political news, including election-related reports. Burmese journalists say the publishers of the two journals are associated with the ruling generals.
“Election-related news is mainly published in The Voice and The Monitor while other news journals publish political news in one or two pages,” said a journalist who is researching the development of Burma’s media.
Irrawaddy reporter Ko Htwe contributed to this story.
By WAI MOE - Monday, June 7, 2010
Burmese Information Minister Brig-Gen Kyaw Hsan said after the junta’s crackdown on monk-led demonstrators in September 2007 that he would combat the media by using the media.
As the country prepares now for a general election, the junta is expected to sharpen its propaganda war against the international and exile media by using Kyaw Hsan's tactics.
One of these tactics is to allow semi-official or private journals whose owners are close to the ruling generals to publish daily newspapers for the first time in nearly five decades.
Among the rumors that have been circulating since early 2008 are reports that the semi-official newspaper, The Myanmar Times, will be allowed to publish daily.
The Myanmar Times is indeed now being allowed to publish daily—but only for about one month and restricting coverage to the football World Cup in South Africa.
“We have got permission [for a daily],” Zaw Myint, one of the paper's editors, confirmed. “We will publish daily during the World Cup from June 10 to July 12. But it is only during the World Cup.”
Even though The Myanmar Times edition will only be a sports issue, this will be the first time in 48 years that readers will be able to buy a daily newspaper not entirely run by the state. All newspapers in Burma were nationalized and passed into tight control by the state after the military coup in 1962 and following periods of press freedom.
Burmese observers said the concession now granted to The Myanmar Times could indicate a new phase in the regime's public relations campaign.
“It could be a signal to permit privately-owned daily newspapers,” said Maung Wantha, a veteran journalist in Rangoon, who is planning to publish a political journal. “Ahead of the elections, political parties will have to be allowed to publish their policies and activities.”
However, most Burmese journalists are skeptical about any possibility of meaningful press freedom being granted by the the junta, whose censors are still fully employed in combing every publication and excising anything unfavorable to the regime.
“Until now, the censorship board is still cutting and cutting the reports of Burmese journalists,” said an editor with a private journal in Rangoon, who spoke on condition of anonymity. “So it is too early to say the junta would agree to the publication of privately-owned dailies.”
The Myanmar Times was founded as a semi-official publication in 2000 by Ross Dunkley, an Australian businessman, and Sonny Swe, son of former military intelligence official Brig-Gen Thein Swe.
Following the junta’s crackdown on Burma's military intelligence apparatus in October 2004, both Thein Swe and his son Sonny Swe were arrested and sentenced to long terms of imprisonment.
The Myanmar Times survived their downfall and Ross Dunkley has continued to enjoy good connections with ruling generals, a necessary condition for doing any businesses in Burma.
Unlike former intelligence officials, the ruling generals seem to lack knowledge in how to use the media for their propaganda machine, particularly in the years 2005-2007. Its crackdown on the mass demonstrations in September 2007 displayed to the international media the brutal, ugly face of the regime.
Currently the junta has been using different public relations tactics. The state-run MRTV has recently used foreign broadcasts in its new, English-language program, “Myanmar International.” The junta has also formed different FM, AM and short wave radio stations to counter exile media and Burmese-language foreign broadcasts.
One of these is Napyidaw-based Padauk Myay radio which often counters reports criticizing the junta and carries attacks on pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi and dissident groups.
Despite its propaganda, the radio station attracts young Burmese audiences with the latest music. According to independent researchers, Padauk Myay's audience also includes Burmese migrant workers in Thailand.
Meanwhile, the junta has allowed some private journals to cover political news. According to journalists in Rangoon, apart from The Myanmar Times, Burmese authorities also allows two journals, The Voice Weekly and The Monitor, to carry political news, including election-related reports. Burmese journalists say the publishers of the two journals are associated with the ruling generals.
“Election-related news is mainly published in The Voice and The Monitor while other news journals publish political news in one or two pages,” said a journalist who is researching the development of Burma’s media.
Irrawaddy reporter Ko Htwe contributed to this story.
*********************************************************
The Irrawaddy - Regime ‘Destroying Economy’ Ahead of Elections
By WILLIAM BOOT - Sunday, June 6, 2010
BANGKOK—Two detailed studies of Burma’s economic health paint a grim picture on the eve of promised parliamentary elections later this year.
One study said the country is suffering from “misguided economic policies” which have “deprived the economy of the basic foundations for sustainable improvements.”
Most of the economic data published by the military regime is unreliable or simply a fiction, concluded a United States Institute of Peace think tank report.
The other study, from Australia, warned that Burma’s economy is being pillaged by the military regime and its business cronies and is “unbalanced, unstable and largely without the institutions and attributes necessary to achieve transformational growth.”
Policy making in Burma is “not just ill-conducive to sustained economic growth, but is actively destructive of Burma’s prospects,” said the Australian report, “Dissecting the Data: Burma’s Macroeconomy at the Cusp of the 2010 Elections.”
It was compiled by long-time Burma watcher and economist Sean Turnell of Macquarie University in Sydney, Australia.
Turnell said there is evidence that per capita GDP in Burma, already one of the lowest in the world, is actually declining.
His report found that basic elements necessary for economic health and development remain missing in Burma—including lack of protection for private property, lack of business freedom, dysfunctional infrastructure and irrational and inconsistent policy making.
The US study—“The Economy of Burma on the Eve of the 2010 Elections” —was written by Lex Rieffel who has worked with the US Agency for International Development for 30 years.
It makes equally depressing reading, even as it offers a few glimmers of hope.
“Burma’s official gross domestic product (GDP) figures for the past ten years put the average rate of GDP growth well above China’s, which cannot be true,” said Rieffel.
“Even the range of estimates of Burma’s population—between 48 million and 58 million—is unusually broad because the last census meeting international standards was carried out in the 1930s.”
Insurgencies by ethnic minorities since independence and sanctions imposed by the US and other Western countries since 1990 are not the main reasons for the poor performance of Burma’s economy, said Rieffel.
“Instead, misguided economic policies, compounded by extraordinary neglect of the education and health sectors, have deprived the economy of the basic foundations for sustainable improvements in living standards,” he said.
The United States Institute of Peace is funded by the US Congress but has a charter asserting independence.
Both Rieffel and Turnell are sharply critical of the insidious involvement of Burma’s military and its crony business friends in all corners of commerce.
“The country’s financial sector is dysfunctional. The private sector has insufficient credit to grow because the central bank provides so much credit to the central government.
The banking system is dominated by state-owned banks that lend primarily to relatives and cronies of regime leaders as well as state-owned enterprises,” said Rieffel.
“To support an estimated 400,000 personnel, almost 30 percent of the national budget is allocated to the country’s armed forces, which substantially understates the resources devoted to the military because it does not include large amounts of money generated by a vast array of legal and illegal businesses.”
Export earnings from Burma’s growing energy sector will double in the next five years, Rieffel suggests, largely because of the gas and oil transit pipelines now being built through the country into China.
This could mean annual earnings from gas, oil and other energy of more than US $6 billion, he says. That calculation is based on energy exports, mostly gas, accounting for at least 45 percent of the $6.6 billion earnings declared for 2008.
However, international human rights groups have said most of the income from energy sales is stolen by regime leaders and squirreled away in foreign banks.
Rieffel praises The Association for Southeast Asian Nations for trying to make Burma a more responsible member of the 10-country economic club, while noting that the Burmese government “has been the most obstructionist member” as Asean seeks to become a more inclusive community by 2015.
“If the next [Burma] government takes steps to promote stability through a more inclusive political process, it would be especially important for Western democracies and multilateral agencies to lift the existing constraints on aid,” Reiffel said.
“Western democracies are more likely to improve outcomes if they follow the lead of the Asian countries that are directly affected by the problems in Burma instead of trying to persuade them to buy into a Western-flavored strategy.”
Turnell’s study painted a grimmer picture of a Mafia-like regime which even as it talks about national reconciliation sells off state assets and enterprises— almost 300 to date—to cronies and one another on the pretext of a privatization program.
“The 2010, elections notwithstanding, meaningful economic reform in Burma is, regrettably, neither in progress, nor in prospect,” said Turnell who also produces the Burma Economic Watch news bulletin.
By WILLIAM BOOT - Sunday, June 6, 2010
BANGKOK—Two detailed studies of Burma’s economic health paint a grim picture on the eve of promised parliamentary elections later this year.
One study said the country is suffering from “misguided economic policies” which have “deprived the economy of the basic foundations for sustainable improvements.”
Most of the economic data published by the military regime is unreliable or simply a fiction, concluded a United States Institute of Peace think tank report.
The other study, from Australia, warned that Burma’s economy is being pillaged by the military regime and its business cronies and is “unbalanced, unstable and largely without the institutions and attributes necessary to achieve transformational growth.”
Policy making in Burma is “not just ill-conducive to sustained economic growth, but is actively destructive of Burma’s prospects,” said the Australian report, “Dissecting the Data: Burma’s Macroeconomy at the Cusp of the 2010 Elections.”
It was compiled by long-time Burma watcher and economist Sean Turnell of Macquarie University in Sydney, Australia.
Turnell said there is evidence that per capita GDP in Burma, already one of the lowest in the world, is actually declining.
His report found that basic elements necessary for economic health and development remain missing in Burma—including lack of protection for private property, lack of business freedom, dysfunctional infrastructure and irrational and inconsistent policy making.
The US study—“The Economy of Burma on the Eve of the 2010 Elections” —was written by Lex Rieffel who has worked with the US Agency for International Development for 30 years.
It makes equally depressing reading, even as it offers a few glimmers of hope.
“Burma’s official gross domestic product (GDP) figures for the past ten years put the average rate of GDP growth well above China’s, which cannot be true,” said Rieffel.
“Even the range of estimates of Burma’s population—between 48 million and 58 million—is unusually broad because the last census meeting international standards was carried out in the 1930s.”
Insurgencies by ethnic minorities since independence and sanctions imposed by the US and other Western countries since 1990 are not the main reasons for the poor performance of Burma’s economy, said Rieffel.
“Instead, misguided economic policies, compounded by extraordinary neglect of the education and health sectors, have deprived the economy of the basic foundations for sustainable improvements in living standards,” he said.
The United States Institute of Peace is funded by the US Congress but has a charter asserting independence.
Both Rieffel and Turnell are sharply critical of the insidious involvement of Burma’s military and its crony business friends in all corners of commerce.
“The country’s financial sector is dysfunctional. The private sector has insufficient credit to grow because the central bank provides so much credit to the central government.
The banking system is dominated by state-owned banks that lend primarily to relatives and cronies of regime leaders as well as state-owned enterprises,” said Rieffel.
“To support an estimated 400,000 personnel, almost 30 percent of the national budget is allocated to the country’s armed forces, which substantially understates the resources devoted to the military because it does not include large amounts of money generated by a vast array of legal and illegal businesses.”
Export earnings from Burma’s growing energy sector will double in the next five years, Rieffel suggests, largely because of the gas and oil transit pipelines now being built through the country into China.
This could mean annual earnings from gas, oil and other energy of more than US $6 billion, he says. That calculation is based on energy exports, mostly gas, accounting for at least 45 percent of the $6.6 billion earnings declared for 2008.
However, international human rights groups have said most of the income from energy sales is stolen by regime leaders and squirreled away in foreign banks.
Rieffel praises The Association for Southeast Asian Nations for trying to make Burma a more responsible member of the 10-country economic club, while noting that the Burmese government “has been the most obstructionist member” as Asean seeks to become a more inclusive community by 2015.
“If the next [Burma] government takes steps to promote stability through a more inclusive political process, it would be especially important for Western democracies and multilateral agencies to lift the existing constraints on aid,” Reiffel said.
“Western democracies are more likely to improve outcomes if they follow the lead of the Asian countries that are directly affected by the problems in Burma instead of trying to persuade them to buy into a Western-flavored strategy.”
Turnell’s study painted a grimmer picture of a Mafia-like regime which even as it talks about national reconciliation sells off state assets and enterprises— almost 300 to date—to cronies and one another on the pretext of a privatization program.
“The 2010, elections notwithstanding, meaningful economic reform in Burma is, regrettably, neither in progress, nor in prospect,” said Turnell who also produces the Burma Economic Watch news bulletin.
*********************************************************
DVB News - Burma economy in ‘artificial deficit’
By JOSEPH ALLCHIN
Published: 7 June 2010
Gas revenues being banked at the official exchange rate in Burma are causing an artificial deficit, when in fact there should be a 15 percent fiscal surplus, a prominent economist on Burma has said.
A “fresh look” at data of Burma’s economy is “worse than I had long thought, and the regime’s culpability so much worse,” said Sean Turnell, from the Sydney-based Burma Economic Watch (BEW), who released the ‘Dissecting the Data’ report on Burma.
He believes the government is fudging the economic figures: “I had a look at how the regime is recording these earnings from the gas in the public accounts and what is revealed when you look into it is that Burma’s fiscal deficit is artificial,” he said.
“[It’s an] an artifice of the regime itself; if you brought those [gas] revenues into the public account at the proper exchange rate, what is currently a fiscal deficit of about four percent of GDP turns into a fiscal surplus of around 15 percent of GDP.”
The report notes that in 2008/09, official figures showed a fiscal deficit of around 3.5 percent, adding that this was not extraordinary given the global recession. This was added to by a deficit of 1.9 percent from Burma’s state-owned enterprises, representing obviously poor management, particularly when one thinks of the gas revenues earned by the Myanmar Oil and Gas Enterprise (MOGE).
MOGE also uses the official exchange rate of six kyat to the dollar, but the money is “rendered into the accounts at the unofficial [but realistic] exchange rate of around 1000 kyat to the dollar, then these earnings [5,270 billion kyat instead of 24.7 billion kyat] would have an extraordinary impact.”
He added that “those gas revenues are kept offshore where they are used for all sorts of things and, I dare say, as per recent reports by you guys suggest on nuclear activities and so on”.
The report also once again highlighted the junta’s questionable response to cyclone Nargis reconstruction: “The amount of spending on post-Nargis reconstruction was a paltry figure of around $US85 million spent by the government, when the Tripartite Core Group [UN, ASEAN and Burmese government] estimated that $US600 million was required. They would earn more than this every single month from the gas earnings, which really illustrates nicely their priorities.”
He also indicated that Burma’s supposed shift to a ‘market economy’ is a fiction, given that “domestic capital is a mere 15 percent so the state controls 85 percent of the capital. [And] when you compare it to Laos or Cambodia,” the opposite is true,.
There is also an apparent “famine” of credit in the country which is particularly destructive to the agricultural sector, which provides for 70 percent of the population and earned 50 percent of GDP. The sector only received 0.4 percent of the credit created, whilst the overall credit of the private sector has been in steady decline from 19 percent in 2004/05 to 15 percent in 2008/09.
The mismanagement of the economy then leads to massive government borrowing from the central bank. “Persistent annual double-digit percentage increases in central bank advances to the State across the last decade (including an extraordinary 21.8 percent growth in the incomplete 2008/09 financial year),” the report says.
This in turn is the “primary driver of Burma’s high inflation rates [easily the highest in the region], which have seldom been under 25 percent in the last decade”.
The analysis that Turnell presents seems to confirm a complete lack of foresight or people-orientated planning, as privatization continues apace with the recent selling of the national library, and real doubt about Burma’s ability to develop alongside its Asian neighbours is apparent. Even more worrying however is Turnell’s belief that government policy is “actively destructive of Burma’s prospects”.
By JOSEPH ALLCHIN
Published: 7 June 2010
Gas revenues being banked at the official exchange rate in Burma are causing an artificial deficit, when in fact there should be a 15 percent fiscal surplus, a prominent economist on Burma has said.
A “fresh look” at data of Burma’s economy is “worse than I had long thought, and the regime’s culpability so much worse,” said Sean Turnell, from the Sydney-based Burma Economic Watch (BEW), who released the ‘Dissecting the Data’ report on Burma.
He believes the government is fudging the economic figures: “I had a look at how the regime is recording these earnings from the gas in the public accounts and what is revealed when you look into it is that Burma’s fiscal deficit is artificial,” he said.
“[It’s an] an artifice of the regime itself; if you brought those [gas] revenues into the public account at the proper exchange rate, what is currently a fiscal deficit of about four percent of GDP turns into a fiscal surplus of around 15 percent of GDP.”
The report notes that in 2008/09, official figures showed a fiscal deficit of around 3.5 percent, adding that this was not extraordinary given the global recession. This was added to by a deficit of 1.9 percent from Burma’s state-owned enterprises, representing obviously poor management, particularly when one thinks of the gas revenues earned by the Myanmar Oil and Gas Enterprise (MOGE).
MOGE also uses the official exchange rate of six kyat to the dollar, but the money is “rendered into the accounts at the unofficial [but realistic] exchange rate of around 1000 kyat to the dollar, then these earnings [5,270 billion kyat instead of 24.7 billion kyat] would have an extraordinary impact.”
He added that “those gas revenues are kept offshore where they are used for all sorts of things and, I dare say, as per recent reports by you guys suggest on nuclear activities and so on”.
The report also once again highlighted the junta’s questionable response to cyclone Nargis reconstruction: “The amount of spending on post-Nargis reconstruction was a paltry figure of around $US85 million spent by the government, when the Tripartite Core Group [UN, ASEAN and Burmese government] estimated that $US600 million was required. They would earn more than this every single month from the gas earnings, which really illustrates nicely their priorities.”
He also indicated that Burma’s supposed shift to a ‘market economy’ is a fiction, given that “domestic capital is a mere 15 percent so the state controls 85 percent of the capital. [And] when you compare it to Laos or Cambodia,” the opposite is true,.
There is also an apparent “famine” of credit in the country which is particularly destructive to the agricultural sector, which provides for 70 percent of the population and earned 50 percent of GDP. The sector only received 0.4 percent of the credit created, whilst the overall credit of the private sector has been in steady decline from 19 percent in 2004/05 to 15 percent in 2008/09.
The mismanagement of the economy then leads to massive government borrowing from the central bank. “Persistent annual double-digit percentage increases in central bank advances to the State across the last decade (including an extraordinary 21.8 percent growth in the incomplete 2008/09 financial year),” the report says.
This in turn is the “primary driver of Burma’s high inflation rates [easily the highest in the region], which have seldom been under 25 percent in the last decade”.
The analysis that Turnell presents seems to confirm a complete lack of foresight or people-orientated planning, as privatization continues apace with the recent selling of the national library, and real doubt about Burma’s ability to develop alongside its Asian neighbours is apparent. Even more worrying however is Turnell’s belief that government policy is “actively destructive of Burma’s prospects”.
*********************************************************
DVB News - New ASEAN security forum mooted
By JOSEPH ALLCHIN
Published: 7 June 2010
The idea of a new regional security forum was tabled at the Shangri La Dialogue security conference last weekend in Singapore and could materialise in October this year.
The 10-member ASEAN [Association for Southeast Asian Nations] bloc’s security forum will have as its chair the Vietnamese defence minister, General Phung Quang Thanh.
The weekend’s conference was hopeful that the new forum would help smooth over competing territorial claims and other regional issues in Southeast Asia.
The October meeting in Hanoi is expected to draw delegations from major international nations such as Russia, India and, tellingly, the US and China, who have been at loggerheads over security and economic issues in the region.
But a notable absentee from the Shangri La Dialogue, organised by the London-based International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS), was Burma’s deputy defence minister, who pulled out after news broke of Burma’s nuclear ambitions. North Korea, the Burmese junta’s alleged allies in their quest for nuclear weapons, also stayed away from the event.
Meanwhile, Burmese prime minister Thein Sein attended the World Economic Forum on East Asia in Ho Chi Minh City on 6 and 7 June along with other Asian country leaders.
Thein Sein told the audience that “the Union of Myanmar [Burma], as one of the Asian countries, was participating enthusiastically in activities by regional organisations.
“[Burma] is cordially cooperating with other countries in regional development projects and programmes, and the world’s issues. Unity in the Asia region is the most important factor for Asia to reclaim its leading role [in] international matters.”
The forum, which held the slogan ‘Rethinking Asia’s Leadership Agenda’, was attended by about 450 participants, including international representatives and business leaders.
He added the East Asia region will steadfastly grow in the coming years and will remain in the leading role for global economic development.
Accompanying Thein Sein in his delegation was foreign affairs minister Nyan Win and planning and development minister, Soe Thar.
By JOSEPH ALLCHIN
Published: 7 June 2010
The idea of a new regional security forum was tabled at the Shangri La Dialogue security conference last weekend in Singapore and could materialise in October this year.
The 10-member ASEAN [Association for Southeast Asian Nations] bloc’s security forum will have as its chair the Vietnamese defence minister, General Phung Quang Thanh.
The weekend’s conference was hopeful that the new forum would help smooth over competing territorial claims and other regional issues in Southeast Asia.
The October meeting in Hanoi is expected to draw delegations from major international nations such as Russia, India and, tellingly, the US and China, who have been at loggerheads over security and economic issues in the region.
But a notable absentee from the Shangri La Dialogue, organised by the London-based International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS), was Burma’s deputy defence minister, who pulled out after news broke of Burma’s nuclear ambitions. North Korea, the Burmese junta’s alleged allies in their quest for nuclear weapons, also stayed away from the event.
Meanwhile, Burmese prime minister Thein Sein attended the World Economic Forum on East Asia in Ho Chi Minh City on 6 and 7 June along with other Asian country leaders.
Thein Sein told the audience that “the Union of Myanmar [Burma], as one of the Asian countries, was participating enthusiastically in activities by regional organisations.
“[Burma] is cordially cooperating with other countries in regional development projects and programmes, and the world’s issues. Unity in the Asia region is the most important factor for Asia to reclaim its leading role [in] international matters.”
The forum, which held the slogan ‘Rethinking Asia’s Leadership Agenda’, was attended by about 450 participants, including international representatives and business leaders.
He added the East Asia region will steadfastly grow in the coming years and will remain in the leading role for global economic development.
Accompanying Thein Sein in his delegation was foreign affairs minister Nyan Win and planning and development minister, Soe Thar.
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