News & Articles on Burma-Friday, 22 July, 2011-UZL

News & Articles on Burma
Friday, 22 July, 2011
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Burma Ruled by a Brutal Government: Congressmen
Chiang Mai Office of Ethnic Armed Groups Shut Down
Burmese Military Reinforces Troops near KIO Bases
Don’t Tread on the KIA
Steven Law’s Rising Empire
Does Burma launch colonial war in Kachin state?
Bridges blown, army shells Kachin base
Thai rescue team locates downed helicopter in Myanmar; all dead
Hillary Clinton: ASEAN must push Myanmar on reforms
Clinton warns Burma of sanctions
Chinese FM meets with counterparts, ASEAN secretary-general on cooperation
Myanmar, Japan to promote tourism in face of arrival drop
Myanmar Currency Crunch Cripples Exporters, Risks Crisis
Egat urged to scrap Burma project
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Burma Ruled by a Brutal Government: Congressmen
By LALIT K JHA Friday, July 22, 2011

WASHINGTON—Despite the formation of a new civilian government after last year’s elections, recent developments in Burma only indicate that the country continues to be ruled by one of the world’s most brutal regimes, several influential US lawmakers have said in arguing for increased sanctions on this Southeast Asian nation.

“The sanctions are critically important to keeping the pressure on the Burmese junta. The government continues to have one of the worst human rights records in the world and routinely violates the rights of Burmese citizens, including the systematic use of rape as a weapon of war, extrajudicial killings, arbitrary arrests and detention, torture and child labor,” New York Congressman Pete King said on the floor of the House.

“Moreover, the Burmese regime has more child soldiers than any other country and has destroyed more than 3,700 ethnic villages, displaced approximately 2,000,000 people, more than 600,000 of which are internally displaced, and has taken nearly 2,000 political prisoners,” he argued during a discussion on Burma in the US House of Representatives on Wednesday.

King also urged the Obama administration to call for a UN Commission of Inquiry on Burma to investigate war crimes and crimes against humanity. “This Commission is necessary to prevent further killings and to encourage a meaningful political dialogue,” he said.

New Jersey Congressman Rush Holt said in the years following the coup in the early 1960s, the authoritarian regime impoverished the nation and brutalized its people, a pattern that persists today.

“For more than 20 years, the United States government has sought to use its influence to try to create conditions for a restoration of democracy and the rule of law in Burma. One tool has been the use of sanctions,” he said.

“Last November, Burmese elections were clearly illegitimate and not a free expression of the will of the Burmese people. But the continuing international pressure on and scrutiny of the junta may be having some tangible effects,” Holt said.

“As the International Crisis Group noted earlier this year, two senior junta leaders have resigned since the elections, and there is some evidence that pressure has eased on some of the minority ethnic groups in the country,” he said.

There is no question that Burma is ruled by one of the world’s most brutal governments, said Congressman Joe Crowley. “Over the past year, we have seen ongoing abuses committed by the Burmese military, including rapes, torture and killings,” he said.

Just last week, Human Rights Watch released a report documenting how villagers are subjected to summary executions, torture and being used as human shields during conflict. “The women in Burma live in constant fear of rapes by soldiers of their own military. For the leaders of the Burmese military, rape is a tactic of war—one used to torment and to intimidate entire populations, not just their immediate victims,” Crowley said.

“In fact, just two weeks ago, on July 5, the Burmese soldiers carried out four more rapes against ethnic civilians. The innocent victims were of all different ages. One of those victims was as young as 12 years of age. That’s right. A 12-year-old girl was raped by a member of the Burmese military. As a result of thousands of brutal rapes and other abuses, Burmese villagers continue to flee their homes into the jungle where they live as refugees or internally displaced people,” Crowley said.

Observing that the plight facing the people of Burma remains terrible, Congressman Joe Pitts from Pennsylvania said the ruling party in Burma continues to use the rule of law and government apparatus to deprive minority groups of their human rights and their lives, and it does so with impunity.

“The regime’s human rights violations continue to be horrific. The regime in Burma is responsible for committing virtually every human rights violation imaginable. The atrocities perpetrated by the regime range from the use of rape as a weapon of terror, the recruitment of child soldiers, ethnic cleansing, forced labor, political detention, and the list goes on,” he said.

Pitts said he has received firsthand reports in which detail the dictatorship’s use of ethnic minorities as human landmine sweepers. “Over 1 million refugees and 500,000 internally displaced peoples have been forced to flee their homes, and 750,000 of the country’s inhabitants remain stateless.
Indicative of the times, the regime has now turned to censorship of the Internet, as well as that of individual e-mail accounts and social networking sites, to block the dissemination of evidence related to the atrocities,” he said.

“The Burmese government must realize that such attempts to hide its record of abuse, as well as its dishonest elections and mock constitutional reforms, cannot cover up the junta’s war against its own people. Such a record only demonstrates the regime’s illegitimacy,” Pitts said.

Congressman Jim McDermott said that in light of the unchanged political reality in Burma, the renewal of America’s ban on Burmese imports could not be more urgent. “We must send a message to Burma’s new rulers, who turned out to be the same old rulers, that empty promises of democratic reform are unacceptable,” he said.

“Now, there are some who question whether we should maintain our import ban following Burma’s election and the formal dissolution of the military junta. Even our European allies have begun to rethink their strategy as EU travel and financial restrictions have been lifted on certain officials in the new government,” McDermott said.

“The problem with that approach, Mr. Speaker, is that meaningful reform has yet to take place in Burma. By opening our borders to Burmese imports, we would only strengthen and enrich the same old regime that maintains a stranglehold on civic and family life in Burma. According to the UN, the new government has failed to make any significant progress on land confiscation, forced labor, the internal displacement of people, extrajudicial killings, and sexual violence against women. The Obama administration affirms this view,” the Congressman said.

“Burma’s regime is one of the world’s most repressive and continues to oppress democratic movements and humanitarianism,” alleged Congressman Charles Boustany. “The recent election does not represent any kind of shift in domestic Burmese politics. In fact, the political situation in Burma and for the Burmese people has not changed at all,” he said, adding that the human rights situation is no better.

http://www.irrawaddy.org/article.php?art_id=21740
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Chiang Mai Office of Ethnic Armed Groups Shut Down
By LAWI WENG Friday, July 22, 2011

The Chiang Mai, Thailand office of the United Nationalities Federal Council (UNFC), a 12 member association of Burma’s ethnic armed groups, has been shut down after Thai authorities ordered it closed in early July.

“A dozen Thai officials came to our office while we were having lunch. They included police, immigration and military intelligence,” said an ethnic Mon leader who is a UNFC official. “They ordered us to shut down the office, and we have been closed since then.”

“We believed that pressure came from the Burmese government,” he said. “We were almost arrested when the authorities were at the office. Fortunately, we called some military intelligence officers who we knew, and then they did not make trouble for us.”

In the almost twenty days the office has been closed, the ethnic leaders have been forced to stay at an alternate base, according to another source.

Previously, the ethnic armed leaders from the Kachin Independent Organization (KIO) and the New Mon State Party (NMSP) worked mostly at the office, while leaders from the other ethnic groups were based along the border. Together, they were attempting to develop a plan for a future federal army.

The UNFC is an umbrella group of Burmese ethnic armed groups, which include major ethnic armed groups such as the Karen National Union, the KIO, the Karenni National Progressive Party, the NMSP, the Shan State Army and the Chin National Front.

The UNFC was formed early this year and the office was set up afterward.

The ethnic armed leaders said that it is difficult for them to travel in Thailand while the new government is being set up.

Early in May, Thailand's National Security Council banned a Burmese pro-democracy event in Chiang Mai following a complaint from Naypyidaw, according to Burmese pro-democracy activists.

Other Burmese events in Chiang Mai, including a celebration of Aung San Suu Kyi's birthday on June 19, have also been banned by the Thai authorities.

Burmese exile groups have enjoyed relative freedom in Chiang Mai in recent years, but there was reported harassment and repression under the administration of former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra in the early 2000s. http://www.irrawaddy.org/article.php?art_id=21744
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Burmese Military Reinforces Troops near KIO Bases
By SAW YAN NAING Friday, July 22, 2011

The Kachin Independence Organization (KIO) said that more Burmese army trucks and military river vessels were headed toward its bases following rumors that the government troops would attack the KIO’s headquarters in Laiza.

La Nan, the joint-secretary of the KIO, told The Irrawaddy on Friday, “We can say it is a risky condition. We heard many army trucks were headed to Momauk Township. Military vessels on the Irrawaddy River are also headed to Bhamo Town.”

Last night, Burmese government troops from Infantry Battalion 142 fired 20 mortars, including 81 mm mortars, at the Kachin Independence Army’s (KIA) Battalion 24 under Brigade 5. The KIA is the military wing of the KIO.

To cut off government troop supplies, the KIA troops destroyed a 60-foot-long bridge in Waingmaw Township two days ago.

La Nan said that he heard that Burmese air force preparations and exercises are taking place in Myitkyina, the capital of Kachin State, adding that tanks are also patrolling the capital.

The Thailand-based Kachin News Group (KNG) reported that the government is preparing to begin a full-scale offensive against KIA bases located in Kachin State and northern Shan State.

Fuel, arms and ammunition have been stockpiled at the Northern Regional Military Command, located in Myitkyina, after being transported from Mandalay by boat and train, according to the KNG report.

Meanwhile, the Burmese government, along with its Karen Border Guard Force, launched attacks, which included 81 mm mortar shelling, against the Democratic Karen Buddhist Army (DKBA), a renegade Karen armed group, in Myawaddy Township in southern Karen State on Thursday.

Local villagers are worried about further fighting between the government troops and the DKBA, which has the backing of the Karen National Union (KNU), in southern Karen state.

“The fighting is likely to escalate,” said Brig-Gen Johnny, the commander of Brigade 7 of the Karen National Liberation Army, the KNU’s military wing. http://www.irrawaddy.org/article.php?art_id=21746
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Don’t Tread on the KIA
By BA KAUNG Friday, July 22, 2011
KIA representatives during a peace talk. (Photo: The Irrawaddy)

LAIZA, Kachin State – “When we were young, we stepped on jade stones when we walked, found gold nuggets when we panned the rivers and saw tall teak trees when we passed by the forests,” said the Rev Lazum Tuja, a middle-aged ethnic Kachin and Christian priest, in a March sermon.

“But now, all of this is gone from Kachin State, mostly to China,” he told his congregation. “Since we are being looted of all our possessions, this is the dark age of the Kachin people.”

Lazum Tuja’s emotional sermon reflected the frustrations of his flock in the resource-rich Kachin State of northern Burma. Over the past two decades, the Kachin people have seen the depletion of their natural resources due to the growth of massive development projects conducted by Chinese companies with the support of the Burmese government. They have also experienced the consequent displacement of large numbers of local people and negative environmental impact on their communities.

Most of this has occurred since 1994, when the Burmese army signed a ceasefire agreement with the Kachin Independence Army (KIA), the second strongest ethnic armed group in Burma with an estimated 4,000 troops. The KIA has been engaged in an armed struggle for Kachin autonomy since 1961.

During the ceasefire, the Kachin Independence Organization (KIO), the political wing of the KIA, put its emphasis on infrastructure development in Kachin State and temporarily set aside its aspirations for autonomy at the request of the former military regime, which argued that political issues could be resolved once the new “civilian” government was in place.

On the surface, the ceasefire brought relative peace to a region previously scourged first by fighting between the Allied forces and the Japanese Imperial Army during World War II, and later between the Burmese army and the Kachin rebels, who are renowned in Burma for their fighting skills.

But it was peace without a meaningful political solution, and so the Kachin people were in a powerless position when the Burmese government began forcing them to relocate en masse without any proper compensation—leaving behind their livelihoods, culture and ancestral homes—to make way for Chinese state-owned companies such as China Power Investment to build massive hydropower dams across Kachin State. To make matters worse, much of the electricity generated from these dams will not be for the consumption of the Kachin people, but for export to neighboring China, and the revenues from the projects will to go into Naypyidaw’s coffers.

As a result, there has been widespread local resentment against the Chinese-led dam projects in Kachin State, the most prominent being the Myitsone Dam—one of the largest hydropower dam projects in the world which is currently under construction at the confluence of the Irrawaddy River. To add fuel to the fire, there has was has been escalating tension between the Burmese army and the KIA since 2009, when Naypyidaw issued its order for the KIA to join the government’s Border Guard Force (BGF).

The BGF plan was intended to place ethnic militias like the KIA and the United Wa State Army (UWSA), the country’s strongest ethnic armed group, under the central command of the Burmese army. The Burmese government set a number of deadlines for the KIA and UWSA to accept the BGF, but each repeatedly rejected the plan.

In Kachin State, the expiration of the BGF deadlines loomed large not only on the military front, but also on the political front. Kachin political parties were banned from joining the election on grounds that their leaders were linked with the KIA, whereas the ethnic political representatives from Shan, Mon and Arakan States were allowed to participate and won seats in the new Parliament.

When the election brought forth a “civilian” government led by former military generals, it was clear to the Kachin leaders that the new government would not make the political compromises that the former junta chiefs had led them to expect. In addition, the mostly Christian Kachin population were saddled with a Buddhist Kachin chief minister in their state, a man who represents the government-backed United Solidarity Development Party that controls Parliament.

Soon after the election, the Burmese government ratcheted-up the pressure on the KIA, forcing it to shut down its liaison offices in urban areas in Kachin State and then ordering the withdrawal of KIA troops from the area near the hydropower plant that Chinese interests are constructing on the Tapaing River, a tributary of the Irrawaddy, in Bhamo District bordering China’s Yunnan Province. KIA officials were indignant about being ordered to leave areas where they have been active for decades, and took it as a sign that the Burmese army was poised to launch an all-out offensive against its troops.

On June 9, after the KIA refused to move away from the areas near the hydropower plant—which is also only a short distance from China’s strategic oil pipeline running from the Bay of Bengal to Yunnan Province—the two sides exchanged gunfire near the plant, effectively ending the 17-year-old ceasefire and forcing Chinese workers to return home. Further armed clashes ensued in the following days, with bomb explosions reported in major towns in Kachin State.

Analysts believe, however, that this latest conflict—which occurred only a couple weeks after Burma and China announced the establishment of a “comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership” during Burmese President Thein Sein’s visit to Beijing in March—could not have come as a shock to China, as happened in 2009 when the Burmese government launched a surprise offensive against a small Kokang ethnic militia that drove at least 30,000 war refugees into China.

In 2009, there were not many Chinese investments in the Kokang area and China publicly reprimanded Naypyidaw for creating instability at its border. But this time, China seemed almost looking for a fight, or at least was not adverse to one, and a week after the conflict began it merely called for “restraint on both sides.”

Dr. Zarni, a Burmese visiting fellow at the London School of Economics, described the conflict as “a war of business which transcends ethnicity.”

“This has very much to do with territorial expansion and development projects by China and the Burmese army, which only represents the Burmese ruling elite, not the Burmese public,” he said.

This piece is a summary of Ba Kaung’s article that appears in The Irrawaddy’s latest e-magazine. To read the full version visit: http://issuu.com/irrawaddy/docs/irr_vol.19no2_june2011_issuu/10?viewMode=magazine&mode=embed
http://www.irrawaddy.org/article.php?art_id=21743
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Steven Law’s Rising Empire
By WAI MOE Friday, July 22, 2011

Chinese businessmen are currently the richest in Burma—a fact that obviously doesn't sit well with the Burmese business community.

In a recent interview with an Italian journalist, Tay Za, one of Burma’s US-sanctioned tycoons, complained that “Too many Chinese have taken our citizenship and are now boasting they are the richest. But they’re not pure Burmese.”

One of Tay Za’s leading rivals is Tun Myint Naing, also known as Steven Law, 53, who has also been a target of US sanctions since early 2008.

Rangoon businessmen say that Law, a Kokang Chinese, has even surpassed Tay Za as Burma's wealthiest man thanks to his involvement in a number of mega projects run by the Chinese state-owned corporations, including a Sino-Burmese oil and gas pipeline project, a deep-sea port in Kyaukpyu, and the Myitsone and Tasang hydro-power dams.

Most notably, Law’s Asia World Company has been working closely with Chinese companies that own an 80 percent share of of Burma’s hydro-power projects. The Myitsone project alone is estimated to be worth US $3.6 billion. Total Chinese total investment in Burma since March 2010 is $8.17 billion, much of it connected in some way to Asia World.

Law did especially well when Vice President Tin Aung Myint Oo was the chairman of Burma’s Trade Policy Council, a body that has been disbanded since a new government was formed in March. The two men have been close since the mid-1990s, when then Brig-Gen Tin Aung Myint Oo was commander of the Military Operations Command 1 in Kyaukme, Shan State.

According to intelligence officials, the relationship between the two men began during the construction of the Mandalay-Kyaukme-Lashio-Muse road. At the time, military officials described Law’s family as “good givers”.

Law's father, drug kingpin and militia leader Lo Hsing Han,76, played a key role in cementing ties between Law and the Burmese generals.

“Among his children, Lo Hsing Han said that Steven Law was the best at doing business. That's why he chose him to deal with the ruling generals and to run the family's business interests in the cities. However, the other sons are also involved in secret businesses,” said a former Burmese intelligence officer who knows about the family's files, speaking on condition of anonymity.

“Lo Hsing Han is still well respected in the Kokang-Chinese business community. His other sons are reportedly based in Thailand, Singapore and Taiwan doing business. In accordance with Chinese tradition, Lo Hsing Han is seen as the godfather of the family business,” he added.

Law's involvement with the Burmese generals has not been limited to doing business, however. He also acted as a broker during ceasefire talks between the Burmese junta and Chinese-backed Kokang commanders of the Communist Party of Burma in 1989, when ethnic commanders revolted against the party.

Two decades later, Law continues to act as an important intermediary for Burma's generals. Because of his close ties to Chinese officials in Beijing, he accompanied President Thein Sein and his delegation to China in late May.

A Burmese official on the trip said that during the China visit, Law was often beside Thein Sein, chatting with the Burmese president. He added that Law sometimes acted as an interpreter between Thein Sein and Chinese officials, even when there were official interpreters present.

According to the Kachin Independence Army (KIA), a former ceasefire group that resumed fighting with the Burmese army in June, Law has paid a handsome price to earn the generals' trust.

“Based on our information from businessmen, Snr-Gen Than Shwe and Tin Aung Myint Oo receive 25 and 20 percent, respectively, of Asia World’s broker fees from Chinese companies in the hydro-power project deals in Kachin State,” said La Nan, joint-secretary of the KIA's political wing, the Kachin Independence Organization .

Law also enjoys other privileges, including occasional appearances in Burma's state-run media, often in the presence of Tin Aung Myint Oo.

Most recently, he was seen in a photo that ran alongside a report on the visit of Laotian Prime Minister Thongsing Thammavong to Rangoon's Ahlone Port on July 13. The port, built by Asia World, was showcased during the visit, giving Law a chance to build commercial ties not only with Naypyidaw and Beijing, but also with Vientiane.
http://www.irrawaddy.org/article.php?art_id=21748
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Does Burma launch colonial war in Kachin state?
opednews.com/ July 21, 2011 at 12:03:08
By Zin Linn

The fighting between Burma's armed forces and the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) increased soon after the Kachin people abandoned new ceasefire talks with the government at Laiza on July 12 and 13.

All at once, the war has gradually broadened in three main areas in Kachin State, the Sinbo area in Mohnyin Township, Manmaw (Bhamo) District and Waingmaw Township, referring local people Kachin News Group said.

On July 16, when government troops tried to penetrate into Laiza, the KIA's restricted area, the fighting broke out. It was the largest battle of the week, said the Kachin News Group's reporter in Laiza.

KIA captured seven Burmese soldiers, including a captain after two days of fighting at Hka Ya, near the Kachin headquarters at Laiza, in Burma's Northern Kachin State. The captive soldiers are from Infantry Battalion No. 21, based in Myitkyina. They were captured with 19 weapons, including two machine guns, a 60 mm mortar and the main military communication device, according to KIA officials in Laiza.

Fighting has happened in another location in Kachin State close to the Shan State border since July 16, a local resident said. A Burmese Army deputy battalion commander and three soldiers were killed during the conflict with the KIA in Manje Township, in Manmaw District, in Kachin State, KIA officials said.

The Burmese soldiers were from the Light Infantry Battalion No. 348 based in Mong Mit. They were killed during fighting with the KIA Battalion 12, led by Major Zau Gam, which is based in Manje (Mansi) Township, southern Manmaw (Bhamo) District, according to KIA officials in Laiza headquarters. The KIA also captured three guns carried by dead soldiers, KIA officials said.

A KIA soldier was killed yesterday by Burmese troops led by the dead-deputy commander, after the KIA fighter was captured with his gun, according to KIA Battalion 12.

Besides, the Burmese government has been driving a wedge into ethnic factions. The government deploys quite a lot of Kachin soldiers from pro-government militias and its Border Guard Force (BGF), in the civil war against the KIA in Kachin State and Northern Shan State, sources from Kachin militias and the BGF said.

Sixty militiamen from the Rebellion Resistance Force (RRF), based in Hkawng-lang-hpu, in Puta-O District, led by Tanggu Dang, a.k.a. Ah Dang, have been deployed to KIA strongholds near the China border, in eastern Kachin State, since June, sources close to the militia group said.

According to sources close to the Burmese Army, the Burmese government is going to start a full-blown maneuver against the minority Kachin army in the country's north after losing recent battles.

In Myitkyina, the capital of Kachin State, tanks and war planes are preparing for the offensive against the KIA, which has bases around Kachin State and Northern Shan State, said Myitkyina residents. Fuel, arms and ammunition have been stockpiled at the Northern Regional Military Command, according to local military observers.

Burmese troops are currently in action in eight townships - Mohnyin, Myitkyina, Waimaw (Waingmaw), N'mawk (Momauk), Manje (Mansi), Sumprabum, Hpakant and Danai - said KIA officials in Laiza headquarters.

The KIA's 4th Brigade and its five battalions are based in Muse, Kutkai and Lashio In Northern Shan State. Burmese troop has been reinforcing significantly in KIA 4th Brigade's area since early July, as said by local witnesses.

According to Burmese military sources, on July 18, high level military summit was held in Naypyidaw, Burma's capital, followed by a regional military meeting at Northern Regional Command, in Myitkyina, the next day.

The key agenda of discussion in the two meetings concentrated on the offensive against the KIA and all remaining minority armed groups which rejected transforming into the government- controlled Border Guard Force (BGF), added the sources. It was alleged that the war plan was ordered by two top military leaders, Senior General Than Shwe and Vice-Senior Maung Aye.

In hope of setting up political dialogue, the KIO signed a ceasefire agreement with the then junta on February 24, 1994 and supported the military-favored 2008 constitution. However, no political dialogue happened in the 17-year ceasefire time and the KIO was squeezed transforming into the government-controlled Border Guard Force (BGF) before the November 7 election.

The latest series of armed clashes in Kachin state have prompted observers to believe that purposeful war in the border regions may not be avoidable.

The Thein Sein government seems to be unenthusiastic to end political and civil contradictions in ethnic regions. So, it is clear that Thein Sein government is not heading toward democracy. Instead it is attempting to colonize the ethnic states ferociously.
http://www.opednews.com/articles/Does-Burma-launch-colonial-by-Zin-Linn-110721-53.html
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Bridges blown, army shells Kachin base
By DVB
Published: 22 July 2011

Refugees are seen fleeing their homes near the China border shortly after fighting broke out in Kachin state in early June (Reuters)

Fighting near the Laiza headquarters of the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) has intensified overnight following warnings yesterday that Burmese troops were closing in on the group’s stronghold on the China border.

Yesterday evening a volley of artillery was fired at a hill around a mile from Laiza where a KIA battalion is based. Reports earlier on Thursday said that a column of Burmese soldiers had reached a village some four miles from the headquarters, but that distance now appears to have lessened.

Sources in Laiza told DVB that around 20 shells were fired in a 10-minute burst beginning just after 8pm yesterday, and continued into the night. Locals are said to be preparing makeshift bomb shelters, reportedly following a warning from Chinese officials to Kachin families living along the border that air strikes by the Burmese army may be on the cards.

A Laiza resident said that people “have already begun to flee or are preparing to flee [the town] in case the shells land there”.

Another bridge along the highway connecting the Kachin state capital of Myitkyina to Bhamo, where the KIA has a strong presence, was blown yesterday, the latest in a series of attacks on key infrastructure across Kachin state since fighting began in early June.

“The bridge outside Gadaryang [village] was blown up with mines at midnight, completely stopping transportation between Bhamo, Myitkyina and Laiza,” an eye-witness said.

It is unclear who was behind the attack, but both sides have carried out similar acts aimed at thwarting supply routes and hemming troops in.

Intense clashes have erupted across areas of Kachin state over the past two months, forcing thousands of refugees to Laiza and into China. Refusals from a multitude of armed ethnic groups to become government-controlled Border Guard Forces have led to parts of Burma’s northern and eastern border regions being engulfed in violence.

The Kachin Women’s Association of Thailand (KWAT) issued a statement on 19 July saying that a humanitarian crisis was looming for the 16,000 refugees sheltering in makeshift camps along the China-Burma border, who are “urgently in need of aid”.
http://www.dvb.no/news/bridges-blown-army-shells-kachin-base/16671
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Thai rescue team locates downed helicopter in Myanmar; all dead
Jul 22, 2011, 6:54 GMT

Bangkok - A rescue team on Friday found the wreckage of a Black Hawk helicopter that crashed this week in mountainous terrain on the Thai-Myanmar border where it had been sent to recover bodies from another chopper crash.

All nine people on board the helicopter died in the crash, Thai television reports said.

Lieutenant General Udomdej Sithabhut, commander of the 1st Army Region, said there was no evidence that the Black Hawk had been shot down.

The military helicopter crashed on Tuesday during a rainstorm in the mountainous Kaeng Krachan National Park area, 165 kilometres south-west of Bangkok near the Thai-Myanmar border. It was on a mission to retrieve the bodies of the victims of a Huey helicopter crash at the weekend.

'The Black Hawk crash site was inside Myanmar, about 200 metres away from Huey crash site,' Udomdej said.

A joint team of Thai and Myanmar soldiers was sent to the double crash site to check for survivors and retrieve the bodies.

There were nine people on board the Black Hawk, the highest ranking of whom was Major General Thawan Reungsri. The only civilian passenger was a journalist for Channel 5 TV.

The mission that crashed on June 16, killing all five on board, had been sent to the Kaeng Krachan park to pick up officials dispatched to the park on July 11 to arrest suspected illegal loggers, but had been stranded in bad weather.
http://www.monstersandcritics.com/news/asiapacific/news/article_1652510.php/Thai-rescue-team-locates-downed-helicopter-in-Myanmar-all-dead
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Hillary Clinton: ASEAN must push Myanmar on reforms
07/22/2011 | 02:13 PM

BALI, Indonesia - U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Friday called on Myanmar to free political prisoners, address non-proliferation concerns and start a dialogue with pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi, saying its refusal to do so threatened the cohesion of Southeast Asia.

Clinton, speaking at a regional security forum of the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) in Bali, said Myanmar was a major challenge facing the regional grouping and would have to be addressed.

"The choice is clear. They can take these steps and gain back the confidence of their people and the trust of the international community. Or they can continue down the path they've been on," Clinton said.

U.S. President Barack Obama in 2009 launched a new policy of engagement with Myanmar, hoping to coax the reclusive military leadership to relax its nearly 50-year grip on power over the country formally known as Burma.

The junta made way for a civilian government in March following elections late last year that were widely dismissed as a sham, and most analysts say the military continues to call the shots in the jungle capital of Naypyidaw.

The restructuring of power has thrust the issue of Western sanctions back into the spotlight as the former British colony seeks to attract investment and boost economic ties with countries willing to do business there.

Clinton said the impasse in Myanmar represented a challenge the "cohesion and future" of the 10-member ASEAN bloc, long dismissed by many in the West as a talking shop which fails to put vows into action.

"We need ASEAN's help to persuade Naypyidaw to take reciprocal steps to seriously engage with the international community and address its concerns," Clinton said.

"We look to the government to unconditionally release the more than 2,000 political prisoners who continue to languish in prison; to conduct meaningful and inclusive dialogue with the political opposition and ethnic minorities, including Aung San Suu Kyi," Clinton said.

Suu Kyi spent seven years in detention until her release last November.

Clinton said Myanmar must also address "growing concerns" over non-proliferation following reports which have linked Myanmar to banned trade with nuclear renegade North Korea.

ASEAN, also criticised for inaction in reining in Myanmar, has said it would have no objection to Myanmar assuming chairmanship of the organization in 2014 as long as it continued to make progress towards democracy -- a move that Clinton suggested could be a mistake.

"The United States respects ASEAN's decision-making process for selecting its chair. And we trust that ASEAN members will gauge whether a potential chair can advance the organization's credibility and leadership role."

U.S. officials have said Clinton is not scheduled to have any meetings with Myanmar Foreign Minister Nyan Win while in Bali, but that he had met the State Department's top diplomat for Asia, Assistant Secretary Kurt Campbell. — Reuters http://www.gmanews.tv/story/227078/world/hillary-clinton-asean-must-push-myanmar-on-reforms
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2011 irishtimes.com
Clinton warns Burma of sanctions

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton the East Asia Summit Plenary Session, held alongside the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) meetings in Nusa Dua, Bali, today.

US secretary of state Hillary Clinton has called on Burma (Myanmar) to improve relations with the US and the international community or face the possibility of 'punitive' action.

The US wants Burma to release more than 2,000 political prisoners and begin meaningful dialogue with minorities and the political opposition including Aung San Suu Kyi, Mrs Clinton said today at a meeting of the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations.

"The choice is clear," Mrs Clinton said.

"They can take these steps and gain back the confidence of their people and the trust of the international community. Or they can continue down the path they've been on."

The US reserves the right to take punitive steps if Burma doesn't make progress, a US administration official told reporters today in Bali, Indonesia, where the Asean meeting is taking place.

Mrs Clinton said that her country had taken Asean's advice and engaged directly with Burma's government, a step that "helped lower one of the more significant stumbling blocks in the US-Asean relationship."

The US will also demand that Burma, immediately stop any trade with North Korea that violates a United Nations Security Council resolution extending an arms embargo against the country, according to the US official.

Mrs Clinton is at the Asean meeting as part of a 12-day around- the-world trip to consult with allies on issues ranging from the unrest in Libya and Syria to trade with India and strategic issues in Asia. http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/breaking/2011/0722/breaking23.html
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Chinese FM meets with counterparts, ASEAN secretary-general on cooperation
10:40, July 22, 2011

Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi met with his counterparts of Indonesia, Laos, Myanmar and South Korea as well as ASEAN secretary-general in Bali Thursday to promote bilateral relations.

Yang met with his Indonesian counterpart Marty Natalegawa on the sidelines of the ASEAN Foreign Ministers' Meeting. Both sides shared the same view that the two countries should implement the consensus reached by both leaders on further promoting bilateral relations and boost pragmatic cooperation in all sectors.

The two sides believe that the China-ASEAN agreement on the guidelines of implementing the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea (DOC) sends a positive signal and the next step is to speed up pragmatic cooperation. Yang also praised the positive role that Marty plays as Indonesia is the rotating chair of ASEAN.

During a meeting with Lao Foreign Minister Thongloun Sisoulith, Yang said the two countries should enhance high-level exchanges, deepen cooperation in economy and trade, and boost China-Laos bilateral relations to a new level.

Thongloun agreed with Yang and thanked China for its long-term help and support.

During Yang's meeting with Myanmar Foreign Minister Wunna Maung Lwin, the two sides agreed to work on a plan on strengthening China-Myanmar comprehensive strategic partnership, expand the size of economic and trade cooperation, enhance people-to-people interaction and step up support and cooperation with each other in international and regional affairs.

While meeting with ASEAN Secretary-General Surin Pitsuwan, Yang praised the agreement on the guidelines of implementing the DOC, saying this is conducive to increasing mutual trust and calling for initiating pragmatic cooperation as soon as possible.

Surin said the agreement, which is of historical significance, proves to the world that the two sides are able to manage and control disparities.

Yang and South Korean Foreign Minister Kim Sung-Hwan satisfied with the development of the bilateral relations in all fields, saying both countries will commit to strengthening strategic cooperative partnership.

As to the situation in the Korean Peninsula, the two sides stressed the importance of dialogue and consultation, hoping every party should make joint effort to safeguard peace and stability of the peninsula.

Yang said the six-party talks and the dialogue between South Korea and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea can complement with each other.

South Korea appreciated China's effort in safeguarding the stability of the peninsula, Kim said.

Source: Xinhua http://english.people.com.cn/90001/90776/90883/7448405.html
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Myanmar, Japan to promote tourism in face of arrival drop
10:29, July 22, 2011

Myanmar and Japan will jointly promote tourism this year in the wake of a drop in tourist arrivals in Myanmar from Japan, a local media reported Thursday.

Due to the mega earthquake and tsunami that struck Japan in March, tourist arrivals from Japan have decreased despite its upward trend since late 2006.

Visitors from Japan stood third in Myanmar's tourist arrivals and their travel destinations mainly cover Yangon, Bago and Bagan, said the Popular News.

Nearly 17 million Japanese travel worldwide annually, of which about 4 million travel to ASEAN countries.

According to statistics, the number of tourist arrivals in Myanmar reached over 140,000 in the first four months of 2011, up from over 109,000 in 2010 correspondingly.

Meanwhile, the tourism authorities are making efforts to promote its international tourism market in cooperation with international and domestic airlines, hotels, tour operators and travel agencies.

Myanmar's tourism season, which falls in the open season, runs from October to April.
Source:Xinhua http://english.people.com.cn/90001/90777/90851/7448380.html
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Myanmar Currency Crunch Cripples Exporters, Risks Crisis
Published: Friday, 22 Jul 2011 | 2:31 AM ET
By: CNBC.com

Promises of economic development and pro-business reforms from Myanmar's new civilian government ring hollow for entrepreneur Tin Maung, a fisheries exporter whose once-thriving firm is now on the brink of bankruptcy.

Myanmar's kyat currency has appreciated 20 percent in the past year, more than any other Asian currency that Reuters monitors daily, squeezing traders and exporters like Tin Muang, who are struggling to break even as inflation pushes up costs and the new government does nothing to tame the currency's rise.

The strong kyat and high food and fuel prices are a major test for the four-month-old government, not just economically, but politically, and analysts warn its failure to tackle bread and-butter issues may anger the public and lead to its downfall.

The biggest and bloodiest uprisings against military rule, in 1988 and 2007 were sparked by discontent over soaring inflation and fuel prices respectively, and former government officials say more of the same could be on the way.

"It's a political time bomb for the government," said a retired senior government official. "It was livelihood issues, not a thirst for democracy that pushed people onto the street before and things couldn't be worse now."

Dollars are pouring into Myanmar's fragile and largely opaque economy, with foreign investors keen to tap its vast resources and visiting traders buying up gemstones. But most of that money ends up lining the pockets of cronies of the military dictators who controlled the country for decades.

The government's inaction over the kyat's strength and rising food costs is alarming exporters, farmers and employees earning dollar-pegged salaries. Businesses are closing, salaries are cut and jobs are being lost as production costs rise.

Exporters who hoped for better times are hurting badly, with the kyat currently trading at around 785 to the dollar on the black market — which covers nearly all transactions — compared with more than 1,000 a year ago.

"We're in a real dilemma. We're fighting a losing battle because of the soaring costs," said Tin Muang, 42, who reckons more than 20 farms and processing plants in the fisheries sector alone have closed in recent months.

"We've had to sell all we were breeding in the local market at low prices. It will have a very negative impact on our traditional export market."

The government has made no public acknowledgement of its currency crisis and its cut in export tax from 10 to 7 percent, effective this month, is a measure seen as too little, too late.

"I don't think the government is much interested in the worsening situation with the kyat," said a retired commerce ministry official, who requested anonymity.

"They seem complacent and focused on the huge proceeds from gems emporiums and foreign investment."

Private economists point to the dollar's weakness as the main driver of the kyat's appreciation but say many other factors have come into play, including increased inflows from timber and energy exports, mainly to China and Thailand, which is boosting demand for kyat.

Gems such as jade, rubies and sapphires worth $5.7 billion were sold at three emporiums in the past eight months alone.

Dollar inflows also increased with the repatriation of funds held offshore by wealthy Burmese to buy up state assets and property in a mass pre-election sell-off last year.

Sean Turnell, an expert on Myanmar's economy at Australia's Macquarie University, said another major contributor to the kyat's strength was sales of illicit opium and methamphetamine, of which Myanmar is one of the world's biggest producers.

Intervention Unlikely

Drug money was converted into kyat to pay opium growers and workers in illegal drug factories, he said. The rest was laundered through banks and businesses or put into Myanmar's booming real estate market, with transactions paid in kyat.

The lack of reliable data or transparency in Myanmar's economy and banking system allows Burmese tycoons — many of whom are targeted by Western sanctions due to their alliances with former junta leaders — to continue to boost their wealth.

Economists see no signs that policy makers with a history of fiscal mismanagement will take any action to intervene in the currency.

"In other countries, the central banks normally intervene, but we can't expect this sort of thing to happen here," said Maw Than, a retired rector of Yangon's Institute of Economics.

"Unless effective measures are taken immediately, it will have widespread negative impacts on the economy."

Myanmar's government wants to boost exports but that is being inhibited by the kyat's appreciation.

Rice shipments, for example, dropped by almost two-thirds in 2010 despite increased production of the grain, mostly because the strength of the currency made it uncompetitive.

One exporter said 25 percent broken rice fetched $390 per tonne, but after tax and transaction fees his income was just $2 dollars per tonne higher than the local price, so exporters in various sectors were selling off stocks on local wholesale markets to try to keep their businesses afloat.

"It's already had a grave impact on us, from the primary producers and exporters to consumers," said Hla Maung Shwe, a prominent businessmen and vice-chairman of the Myanmar Federation of Chambers of Commerce.

"The more we sell, the more we lose."

Foreign direct investment in Indonesia surged 21 percent in the second quarter of 2011 from a year earlier, as strong commodity prices attracted investors into the mining sector in the world's top exporter of thermal coal and tin.

Direct and portfolio investment has quickened into Southeast Asia's largest economy in recent months, though analysts warn the country needs to overhaul and expand its infrastructure in coming years to keep attracting firms and to overcome the sprawling archipelago's Achilles' heel — inflation.

For now things look rosy: FDI totals $9.6 billion so far this year, on track for its highest ever in 2011, while foreign investment in government bonds and the stock market are both at records.

"I'm very bullish," said Gita Wirjawan, the country's investment chief and a former investment banker. "Traditionally, investment quickens in the third quarter."

Worries over eurozone and U.S. debt and slower growth in China mean Indonesia is now seen as a relative safe haven, though that could change once the West recovers or if runaway inflation returns to erode a rupiah at seven-year highs .

FDI from April to June was 43.1 trillion rupiah ($5 billion), spread across the country. In a quarter when gold [XAU= 1584.80 -3.10 (-0.2%) ] and tin prices hit records , mining led the way with $1.5 billion, followed by chemicals, machinery, electronics and transport.

"FDI will continue coming because of strong economic fundamentals and the appreciating rupiah...the main concern with long-term investment is poor infrastructure conditions and inflation," said Eric Sugandi, economist at Standard Chartered in Jakarta.

While inflation is within the central bank's 4-6 percent target now, economists say inflationary pressures will pick up again and lead to interest rate rises by mid-2012 that could slow growth.

Poor infrastructure, from roads to ports, means higher distribution costs that create both a structural inflation problem and cut into companies' profit margins. Previous bouts of high inflation have led to investor outflows.

The government is relying on private investors for two-thirds of its $15 billion infrastructure needs, though Japan, China and India have all made big commitments this year.

Yet progress on the ground in its traffic-logged cities and overwhelmed ports remains to be seen, while corruption is rife.

"This is still Indonesia. Everyone wants something for nothing," said the Australian manager of a road building firm.

Roads Not Supplied

Infrastructure is seen as an investment opportunity if the government can speed up land acquisition in the next year, with many investors forced to build their own roads, rail and ports.

Wirjawan did not mention specific firms, though in recent months officials and executives have said Coal India, Procter & Gamble [PG 64.49 0.29 (+0.45%) ] and Hyundai Motor are planning investments, while dozens of others from Google [GOOG 606.99 11.64 (+1.96%) ] to Peabody Energy [BTU 61.22 0.24 (+0.39%) ] are eyeing the country.

Neighbouring Singapore, a home for many Indonesian tycoons, was the top foreign investor in Q2, followed by former colonial ruler the Netherlands and then the United States, underlining growing interest from Western investors who in recent years lagged Asian firms because of worries over corruption.

South Korea and India are expected to be leading investors in the future, the investment agency said, with LG Electronics eyeing expansion to tap consumer demand from an emerging middle class in the world's fourth largest population.

India's state-run National Aluminium Co Ltd (NALCO) is in talks to invest in an aluminium smelter, the investment agency said on Thursday, joining other Indian firms looking to buy coal mines and develop power or cement plants.

The investment board is targeting 156 trillion rupiah of FDI this year. Last year foreign investment into Indonesia reached a record 148 trillion rupiah.

External Risks

Analysts say the country ticks along at 6 percent annual economic growth despite the government and shabby bureaucracy .

Fitch Ratings said in March it could lift Indonesia's sovereign rating to investment grade within 12 months, though weak infrastructure was the key risk to any upgrade.

"A lack of infrastructure remains one of the biggest constraints to boosting Indonesia's growth potential. Significant improvements to the regulatory framework are needed to support infrastructure spending and public-private projects," said Milan Zavadjil, the IMF's representative in Indonesia, adding it had to overcome inflation from cutting fuel subsidies.

Still, compared to much of the world, Indonesia's financial situation looks strong, with a budget deficit seen at 2.1 percent of GDP this year, and record foreign currency reserves of about $120 billion to stabilise the rupiah currency in the event of any sudden fund outflows.

Economists say this could happen once a global economic recovery leads Western countries to start normalising rates.

"We see fears from investors from the end of the low interest rate era in countries such as the United States, Europe, and Japan. Once the Fed increases its benchmark... a large sudden reversal might occur in the Asia region," said Juniman, an economist at Bank International Indonesia in Jakarta.

"Another risk is the threat from a sovereign debt default in Europe and that it could spread to the U.S. That will cause global economic instability and the world will fall into recession, eventually. FDI would stop, to wait and see."
© 2011 CNBC.com http://www.cnbc.com//id/43851119
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Egat urged to scrap Burma project
By The Nation
Published on July 22, 2011

A network of environmentalists and villagers based in Chiang Rai are campaigning against a power plant project in Burma, and demanding that joint developer Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand (Egat) withdraw from it.

At a meeting yesterday, representatives of hilltribe people in Burma said the Bt270billion project, involving a lignitefired power plant, had forced 3,000 people out of 20 villages and put them at risk of abuses by rival minority groups.

The groups demanded that Egat withdraw from the plan to jointly develop the MaiKok project in Burma and later purchase power produced by it for 15 years. They said Egat was also planning to jointly develop another power plant in Burma, from which it would buy electricity for 25 years.

Activist Montree Janthawong said the plants would probably emit toxic fumes and discharge harmful chemicals. Despite a request for information from a Thai coalmining company taking part in the projects, he never received answers.
http://www.nationmultimedia.com/2011/07/22/national/Egat-urged-to-scrap-Burma-project-30160856.html

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