読売新聞 1月10日(月)19時22分配信
【バンコク＝深沢淳一】ミャンマー軍事政権は１０日、国営メディアを通じて、昨年１１月の総選挙を踏まえた新議会を首都ネピドーで１月３１日に招集すると発表した。
会期中に大統領と２人の副大統領を選出し、形式的に軍政から民政へと移管する。ただ、上下両院とも軍政の翼賛政党である「連邦団結発展党」（ＵＳＤＰ）と、選挙を経ず自動的に軍部に振り分けられる軍人枠が圧倒的多数を占めており、国際社会は、軍政体制が続くと批判している。
Tuesday, January 11, 2011
ミャンマー新議会、１月３１日招集
News & Articles on Burma-Monday, 10 January, 2011
News & Articles on Burma
Monday, 10 January, 2011
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Burma to hold first parliamentary session in 22 years
Burma enacts military draft law
Mongla base shelled by Burma Army artillery
Thais Tighten Border Security Amid Clashes
Kachin Farmers Fight On
Unease Grows over Plans to Introduce Draft
Jailed DVB reporter in isolation cell
Burma parliament to meet January 31: state TV
Myanmar enacts 17 new laws under new state constitution
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Burma to hold first parliamentary session in 22 years
Burma's new parliament will hold its first session in 22 years on January 31, according to state radio, an event the country's military rulers hail as one of the final steps in its self-styled "road map to democracy".
AFP : 10:00AM GMT 10 Jan 2011
Burma's 1,154 lawmakers, dominated by the junta-linked party, will meet in a massive new building in the remote capital of Naypyitaw, the brief announcement said. It will be the first parliamentary session since a 1988 meeting in the old capital of Rangoon, which the junta renamed Yangon a year later.
The ruling junta's military-backed party, the Union Solidarity and Development Party, garnered nearly 80 per cent of seats in the two-house Union Parliament in Nov. 7 polls, the country's first in two decades. The country's 14 regional parliaments will convene the same day in their respective areas, the announcement said.
"We have waited 20 years to be able to make our demands through the parliament," said Thein Nyunt, a member of the opposition National Democratic Force. "Now that the parliament is going to be convened, I hope I will be able to work for the betterment of the people and the country from within the system."
The opposition party, formed by a faction of Suu Kyi's party after it was disbanded for boycotting the polls, holds a mere 12 seats total in the national parliament.
Government opponents and outside observers have called the elections unfair and undemocratic, saying the results were manipulated to allow the military-backed party to win. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/burmamyanmar/8249936/Burma-to-hold-first-parliamentary-session-in-22-years.html
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Burma enacts military draft law
By AP News Jan 10, 2011 4:30AM UTC
YANGON, Burma (AP) — Military-ruled Burma has enacted a law that could draft men and women into the armed forces and mete out prison sentences of up to five years for draft dodgers. The country currently has a volunteer army.
According to an official document seen Monday the law will come into force when proclaimed by the ruling military council.
Burma’s 400,000-strong military ranks among the largest in the world. Its troops are engaged in a continuing conflict with several ethnic minority groups seeking autonomy from the central government.
© 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Learn more about our Privacy Policy and Terms of Use.http://asiancorrespondent.com/45790/myanmar-enacts-military-draft-law/
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Mongla base shelled by Burma Army artillery
Monday, 10 January 2011 15:07 Hseng Khio Fah
Burma Army’s artillery force, which is based in Shan State East’s Mongyawng township, has reportedly targeted and tested their weapons against one of the groups that is at loggerheads. This group is the National Democratic Alliance Army (NDAA), better known as Mongla group, according to sources from Mongla.
The incident took place on 7 January. The base that was attacked was located on Loi Parng Nao, which, at 5, 842 feet, is the second highest mountain in the Shan State. 15 155 mm artillery shells had fallen both inside and around the base. No injuries were reported on the Mongla side, an officer from the group said.
According to him, the Burma Army reportedly told the group [Mongla] a day earlier that they were going to test their weapons. The Mongla group says it did not expect the Burma Army to fire upon their base. They thought the Burma Army should not have targeted their base in the first place, if what they wanted was peace.
“It was like they intended to intimidate us,” the officer commented.
The recently used 155 mm artillery, which is said to be able to reach 24 kilometers, was reportedly brought from China, Mongla sources said.
Concerning the test, some border watchers on the Sino-Burma border commented the incident does not mean there would be a possible war; however, it could relate to some of the Mongla group’s speeches delivered on Burma Independence Day, January 4.
“The speech recalled that Burma Independence Day came from the Panglong Agreement, which was signed by different ethnic territories and Burma's representative General Aung San in order to demand Britain for independence and establish a genune federal union. But contrary to expectations, it was just artificial Independence aid an artificial union,” the source said.
Another factor that could have made the junta unhappy is that the Mongla is still said to be using the old national flag, not the new flag as stipulated in 2008 constitution.
Regarding the shooting, the Mongla made no response except to order all of its fighters to stay alert and keep an eye on the Burma Army movement.
The Loi Pangnao Mountain is an important strategic location that the two sides [Burma Army and Mongla] have been scrambling over each other for possession since September 2009. Each side is telling the other to stay off the mountain but neither is leaving. http://www.shanland.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=3402:mongla-base-shelled-by-burma-army-artillery&catid=86:war&Itemid=284
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Thais Tighten Border Security Amid Clashes
By SAI ZOM HSENG Monday, January 10, 2011
Thai authorities have raised border security after some artillery shells fired by Burmese troops during two days of clashes with a splinter group of the Democratic Karen Buddhist Army (DKBA) exploded near a village in Thailand's Mae Sot District.
The incident will be investigated and if necessary the Thai government will issue a formal complaint to the Burmese regime through the the two countries' border committee, according to the commander of the Royal Thai Army's Mae Sot-based No. 4 Regional Command, speaking to reporters.
Around 100 heavy artillery shells were fired by Burmese troops during fighting that started at 7 o'clock this morning, with six of the shells exploding on the Thai side. Yesterday, 11 shells fired by government troops exploded near the village of Mae Koking in Mae Sot District.
A DKBA officer, speaking on condition of anonymity, confirmed that two of their troops were injured by today’s artillery fire.
The regime troops started firing heavy artillery yesterday, mainly targeting DKBA troops near the villages of Waw Lay and Phaluu in Kawkareik Township, Karen State.
Speaking to The Irrawaddy on Monday, Nan Phaw Gay, the editor of the Karen Information Center in Mae Sot, said, “Government troops carried out heavy attacks yesterday. They fired heavy artillery the whole day. We can’t confirm how many have been injured or killed yet.”
Maj San Aung from DKBA Brigade 5 said that the regime's troops were responding to the DKBA's successful guerrilla tactics, which he said have been effective against Burmese forces in the area.
“The government wants to take the Waw Lay and Phaluu areas as soon as possible,” he added.
A local resident of Phaluu told The Irrawaddy that hundreds of people from the area have fled to Thailand since yesterday and are currently at the Mae Tao Clinic in Mae Sot.
DKBA Brigade 5, led by Col Saw Lah Pwe, is the first ethnic armed group to engage in hostilities with the regime over the issue of the junta's border guard force (BGF) plan, which would put armed cease-fire groups under Burmese military command. Clashes between the DKBA and Burmese troops began on Nov. 7, 2010, the day the regime held its first election in 20 years.
According to recent unconfirmed reports, a meeting was held last Friday between Maj-Gen Thet Naing Win, the commander of the Burmese army's Bureau of Special Operation 4 (BSO-4), and DKBA leaders to negotiate an end to the current situation.
A Burmese military source said that he couldn't confirm or deny the rumor, but added that it was unlikely. “Commanding officers from the Southeastern Military Command said they don’t need to negotiate with the DKBA,” he said.
Meanwhile, a Burmese army artillery unit based in Mong Yawn Township in eastern Shan State started firing artillery near a camp of the National Democratic Alliance Army (NDAA), another armed cease-fire group that has rejected the BGF scheme, on Friday.
The unit warned on Jan. 6 that it planned to start artillery firing training on Friday, but nobody expected the shells to land so close to the NDAA camp, said an NDAA officer, speaking on condition of anonymity.
“They [the local artillery unit] can do their training somewhere else. We didn’t know that they were planning to fire shells near our camp. They fired 15 times with 155-mm shells, but they all exploded outside of our camp and no one was injured,” the NDAA officer said.
The NDAA has between 1,000 and 1,200 troops and is based in Mongla in eastern Shan State, according to exiled military observers.
The military junta has been pressuring the ethnic cease-fire groups to join the BGF scheme since April 2009. Most, however, have refused, including the United Wa Stated Army, the strongest ethnic army, with an estimated 30,000 troops, and the Kachin Independence Army, with an estimated 10,000 troops.
http://www.irrawaddy.org/article.php?art_id=20499
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Kachin Farmers Fight On
By KO HTWE Monday, January 10, 2011
Farmers whose lands were confiscated by the Yuzana Company in Hpakant Township in Kachin State are to file an appeal to the High Court in Naypyidaw contesting the State Court decision to award them minimal compensation.
Speaking to The Irrawaddy on Monday, Kyaw Soe Lin, one of the lawyers for the farmers, said that the Myitkyina State Court on Friday ordered Yuzana to pay each farmer the sum of no more than 80,000 kyat (US $80) per acre for land seized or confiscated.
“The farmers are demanding compensation for the nearly three years that they have been unable to work on their lands,” he said. “However, they were not awarded the compensation they deserve and will file an appeal.”
The verdict affected two groups, one representing 46 farmers and the other 17 farmers. A third group of 20 farmers' lawsuit was rejected outright by the court in Myitkyina, the Kachin State capital.
Some 600 farmers were evicted from their lands between 2006 and 2008 without full compensation, and were displaced to areas far from their original homes. Several of the farmers banded together to hire legal teams which filed lawsuits in August claiming the land seizures were illegal.
Yuzana, which plans to use the land to grow tapioca and sugarcane, persuaded them to drop the case in return for payments of 80,000 kyat ($80) per acre to a maximum of 500 evicted farmers. However, of the farmers who accepted the pay-off, many are still waiting for the compensation. Most rejected the offer and filed lawsuits in 2010.
Speaking to The Irrawaddy on Monday, Pho Phyu, a lawyer who has previously represented Rangoon farmers in land seizure cases, said that the authorities were awarding lands “to wealthy persons” as part of a State policy to “industrialize agriculture.”
He added: “In fact, the authorities are helping the wealthy businessmen get richer and richer.”
There are no less than 343 land seizure cases in Rangoon Division alone where private companies have confiscated lands belonging to farmers with the help of local authorities, said Pho Phyu.
The 1963 Safeguarding Peasants' Rights Law, Section (3), states that “a Civil Court shall not make a decree or order for: a warrant of attachment for or confiscation of agricultural land; neither for employed livestock and implements, harrows and implements, other animate and inanimate implements, nor the produce of agricultural land; prohibition of work upon or entry into agricultural land; prohibition of movement or sale in whole or part or use of employed livestock and implements, harrows and implements, other animate and inanimate implements, or the produce of agricultural land.”
However, “the farmers had to vacate their land and were scolded harshly by the Company manager,” said Pho Phyu.
Recently, about 200 farmers demonstrated peacefully in front of the office of the General Administrative Department of Eastern Rangoon District against the land confiscations and demanded the return of their land by 11 private companies.
The Yuzana Company is owned by Htay Myint who is on the US sanctions blacklist because of his close ties to the junta generals. He won his Tenasserim Division constituency for the regime-backed Union Solidarity and Development Party in November's general election.
His Yuzana Company was granted 200,000 acres in the Hugawng Valley Tiger Reserve in 2006 to establish tapioca and sugar cane plantations, according to a report by the Kachin Development Networking Group. http://www.irrawaddy.org/article.php?art_id=20498
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Unease Grows over Plans to Introduce Draft
By THE IRRAWADDY Monday, January 10, 2011
RANGOON — News of the recent enactment of a military conscription law that will force young Burmese to join the armed forces or face prison sentences of up to five years is causing serious concern among the general public, according to an informal survey by The Irrawaddy.
In interviews with more than 100 Rangoon residents from various walks of life, The Irrawaddy found that around 90 percent were opposed to the imposition of mandatory military service and did not want to participate in it or allow their children to do so.
According to The Associated Press, the law, dated Nov. 4, 2010, but still not made public, will require every man between the age of 18 and 45 and every woman between 18 and 35 to serve in the military for two years, which could be increased to five years in times of national emergencies.
Those who fail to report for military service could get three years in prison, a fine or both, and those who deliberately inflict injury upon themselves to avoid conscription could be imprisoned for up to five years, fined or both, the AP reported.
“This news has been spreading since the end of December,” said one Rangoon resident, speaking on condition of anonymity. “People have been talking about it on the Internet and Facebook and are getting worried because they don't want to serve in the military.”
One reason many people are opposed to the draft, he said, is public contempt for the armed forces, which for decades has been the key to keeping the country's deeply unpopular rulers in power.
“The army has violently suppressed Burmese citizens ever since it seized state power in 1962, so people's bitterness has grown from generation to generation. Young people today witnessed violent crackdowns on protests in 1988 and 2007, so they hate the generals and curse the soldiers,” said a gold shop owner in Rangoon.
One 50-year-old mother with two sons over the age of 18 said she would not allow them to be drafted.
“I don't care what the law says, I can't send my sons to the army, not for a short time or a long time,” she said. “I believe other parents think the same way as I do, so we will all oppose it together. If we can't stop it, we will have no choice but to protest against it until we die.”
A Rangoon-based reporter told The Irrawaddy that he could not confirm with regime officials that the conscription law had in fact been enacted. He added, however, that people were taking the reports very seriously, and suggested that the new law could lead to unrest.
“People are furious at the thought that their children could be forced to join the army, which they see as cruel and violent,” he said. “They are worried about the harm that will be inflicted on their children, grandchildren and great grandchildren and will not accept this law.”
Some, however, saw the conscription law as an opportunity to forge closer ties between the army and civilians, possibly with the effect of making the armed forces more attuned to the needs of the public.
“I think we will be nearer our democratic goals when people understand military affairs. Because of the conscription law, people will become soldiers and the army will be viewed as the people's army and will no longer follow the orders of the dictators,” said an independent candidate who ran in Burma's first election in 20 years on Nov. 7, 2010.
The move to introduce conscription did not come as a complete surprise. Article 386, Chapter VIII of Burma's 2008 Constitution states that “Every citizen has the duty to undergo military training in accord with the provisions of the law and to serve in the Armed Forces to defend the Union.”
“Citizens will definitely have to serve in the armed forces in accordance with the Constitution, but we won't know how this will be implemented until after the Parliament is convened,” said a lawyer in Rangoon. “We don't know, for instance, what kind of exceptions there will be. So it's not something we need to worry about now. If it is applied too stringently, however, people will resist it.”
The regime claimed that 92.48 percent of eligible voters cast their ballots in favor of the 2008 Constitution in a national referendum held on May 10, 2008.
Related articles: Conscription in Burma Following Election?
http://www.irrawaddy.org/article.php?art_id=20497
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Jailed DVB reporter in isolation cell
By KHIN HNIN HTET
Published: 10 January 2011
A young DVB reporter recently sentenced to eight years in prison has been placed in solitary confinement in Rangoon’s notorious Insein prison.
A source close to the prison said that it was Sithu Zeya’s lack of understanding about prison customs that meant he didn’t stand to attention when the institution’s director showed up.
The director, Win Naing, had visited his block after hearing reports that political prisoners, including Sithu Zeya, were assaulted by other inmates, and some left with serious injuries.
The 21-year-old was convicted in December last year by a Rangoon township court of illegal border crossing and holding ties to an unlawful organisation. He is facing a further charge under the Electronics Act, which can result in up to 20 years in prison.
He had been arrested after photographing the damage caused by the Rangoon bombings on 15 April, which left nine dead.
Sithu’s father, Maung Maung Zeya, also a DVB reporter, was arrested a day after his son and is still awaiting a verdict, but from a high-level court which could carry a more severe sentence.
Burma was last month ranked fourth in a list of global countries that imprison journalists. Nearly 20 DVB journalists are currently behind bars. http://www.dvb.no/news/jailed-dvb-reporter-in-isolation-cell/13658
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Burma parliament to meet January 31: state TV
* Published: 10/01/2011 at 03:30 PM
* Online news: Asia
Burma's new parliament is to convene for the first time on January 31, state media announced Monday, two months after the military-ruled country held a rare but widely criticised election.
A Myanmar soldier parades during Armed Forces Day in the country's administrative capital, Naypyidaw. The country's new parliament is to convene for the first time on January 31, state media announced Monday, two months after the military-ruled country held a rare but widely criticised election.
The two-chamber parliament will meet in the capital Naypyidaw, while new regional legislatures will convene at the same time, government-controlled television reported, quoting an order from junta chief Senior General Than Shwe.
The main army-backed party claimed an overwhelming victory in the November 7 poll -- Burma's first in 20 years -- with about 80 percent of available seats. An official final tally of results has not been announced.
Under Burma's 2008 constitution, parliament need not meet more than once a year.
One quarter of the places in parliament were already reserved for the military, which together with its political proxy will have a comfortable majority for passing laws and electing the president.
It is unclear what role Than Shwe plans for himself.
Burma, ruled by the military since 1962, has been condemned by the West for an election critics say was a sham designed to cloak ongoing army rule.
The vote was widely criticised by democracy activists and Western governments owing to allegations of fraud and intimidation as well as the exclusion of opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi.
Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy (NLD) party was forced to disband for boycotting the election in response to rules that seemed designed to bar the Nobel Peace Prize winner from taking part.
The democracy icon has spent most of the past 20 years locked up but was freed from her latest seven-year stretch of confinement just days after the poll.
Her party won a landslide election victory in 1990 but it was never recognised by the regime.
The boycott decision deeply split the opposition movement, with a group of former Suu Kyi colleagues who disagreed with her stance breaking away to form a new party -- the National Democratic Force -- to fight the poll.
It won 16 seats after fielding 161 candidates but has complained of widespread fraud by the junta-backed Union Solidarity and Development Party.
More than 3,000 candidates took part in the election for about 1,160 seats available in the national and regional parliaments.
Two pro-junta parties together fielded about two-thirds of the candidates and the opposition was absent in many areas. http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/asia/215338/burma-parliament-to-meet-january-31-state-tv
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Myanmar enacts 17 new laws under new state constitution
20:33, January 10, 2011
Photo taken on March 26, 2010 shows the parliament building locates in Nay Pyi Taw, capital of Myanmar. Myanmar State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) on Monday announced the date of Jan. 31 for first parliamentary session at three levels, the state-run television reported. (Xinhua/Zhang Yunfei)
The ruling Myanmar State Peace and Development Council Monday enacted 17 new laws under the new state constitution which will come out in the form of books, the state radio and television reported Monday.
The promulgation of the laws came in a series with the announcement of the date of Jan. 31 for calling the first parliamentary sessions at three levels after the end of Nov 2010 general election.
These laws include those related to state seal, election of president and vice-presidents, union government, region or state government, self-administered region or zone government, Nay Pyi Taw Council, constitution-related tribunal, state flag, state anthem , union parliament, house of representatives, house of nationalities, region or state parliament, union judiciary, union attorney-general and union auditor-general, the report said.
The enactment of the 17 laws will provide reference for the holding of the coming first three-level parliamentary sessions in the new capital of Nay Pyi Taw.
The union parliament, made up of house of representatives, house of nationalities and region or state parliament, will elect the state's president and vice presidents.
Each level of the parliaments will consist of elected parliament representatives through Nov. 7, 2010 general election and non-elected military representatives, nominated by the commander-in-chief which account for 25 percent of the total parliamentary seats.
Source: Xinhua
Monday, January 10, 2011
News & Articles on Burma-Sunday, 09 January, 2011
News & Articles on Burma
Sunday, 09 January, 2011
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Foreign investment will impact property market
Thai exports rise
Traders at first Sino-Myanmar expo left with heavy burden
Minister Schwarzenberg supports Burma opposition
Students circulate anti-regime posters on opening day of Kachin Manau festival
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Foreign investment will impact property market
By Kyaw Hsu Mon
January 3 - 9, 2011
THE surge in foreign investment and the accompanying rise in the number of joint ventures are likely to have a sizeable effect on the property market in the coming year, real estate professionals say.
Land in areas where development is planned, and rentals of luxury property in Yangon are both expected to boom, they say.
Business collaboration proposals expected to bear fruit in 2011 include investment in hydroelectric power projects, deep-sea port projects, road works and more.
These would have an impact in Yangon, Mandalay and throughout the country, said U Than Oo, managing director of Mandine real estate agency.
“There will be an impact on the property sector of Yangon because these projects will need offices for their staff,” he said.
The impact would extend to those parts of both upper and lower Myanmar where the projects are actually carried out, he said.
Major developments include the Dawei deep-sea port project in Tanintharyi Region and hydroelectric power projects in Mandalay Region and Kachin State.
According to local media, property prices in Dawei have jumped tenfold since the launch of the port project early last month, with the price of a detached house on the main road leaping from K20 million to K200 million within a month.
“Demand and price will continue to rise, because Dawei is a good place for Thai-Myanmar border trade. Even when the project is complete, the property boom will continue,” one Dawei resident told Popular News on December 16.
Thailand-based company Italian-Thai and the Ministry of Transportation signed the Dawei agreement last month in Nay Pyi Taw.
Since foreigners are not legally able to buy land, the surge in visits by business people and investors from Vietnam, Thailand, China, Singapore and Malaysia is also expected to stimulate the rental market.
“The rental market will grow in the coming year because living standards are very important for businesspeople who invest in Myanmar,” said U Than Oo.
Rentals have already perked up since early December, with investors prepared to pay $5000 for prime locations along Pyay and Kabar Aye Pagoda roads and downtown, said U Min Min Soe of Mya Pan Thakhin real estate agency.
“The rental sector will grow both where the projects are and in Yangon, where the headquarters will be,” he added.
The aveerage rent for a detached house with phone and internet, and reliable electricity and water supplies, has doubled in the past two years, said U Zaw Zaw, of Unity real estate agency.
"The rental charge for a building with main road frontage has doubled as foreign companies look for head offices,” he said, predicting both short-term consequences for 2011 and longer-term advantages.
But tenants also want to get what they pay for, demanding furniture, car parking, good electricity and water supplies, and high-speed internet, brokers said.
http://www.mmtimes.com/2010/business/556/biz55605.html
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Thai exports rise
January 3 - 9, 2011
BANGKOK – Thailand’s exports rose at the fastest pace in five months in November from a year earlier, government data showed in late December, easing concerns about the outlook for its economy.
Helped by strong demand for rice, Thai shipments jumped 28.5 percent from the same period of 2009, to US$17.69 billion, the commerce ministry said.
It was the 13th consecutive monthly rise and the sharpest increase since a leap of 46.3pc in June – the biggest on record.
Imports grew at an even faster pace last month, soaring 35.3pc to $17.29 billion on increased demand for fuel, the data showed.
As a result, the country posted a November trade surplus of $407.9 million, down 59.1pc from a year earlier.
In November Thailand revised up its export growth target to about 25pc in 2010, from a previous projection of 20pc.
The latest data eased concern about an economy that slipped back into technical recession with a second straight quarterly contraction in the three months to September, due to a strong baht and a weak global economy.
– AFP http://www.mmtimes.com/2010/business/556/biz55604.html
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Traders at first Sino-Myanmar expo left with heavy burden
By Juliet Shwe Gaung
January 3 - 9, 2011
CHINESE companies that exhibited their products in Myanmar’s first-ever trade expo devoted to China-made goods were able to meet potential customers and pave the way for future sales. But some were unhappy that they could not sell their wares.
The expo, which attracted more than 100 Chinese companies, took place at Tatmadaw Hall on U Wisara Road in Yangon from December 15 to 18. On show in the 2700-square-metre exhibition space were transport and agricultural equipment, hardware goods and household products.
Participating companies included Shanghai Longen Power Equipment, truck maker Dong Feng and the Shandong Shifeng Group, which exhibited agricultural machinery. They are seeking to further expand trade between the two countries, which reached US$3.427 billion in the first 10 months of 2010, a 54 percent increase over the same period in 2009.
Whatever the long-term results of the expo, some companies felt a chance had been missed.
“The organisers didn’t let us sell with tax. We hoped we could sell our samples, but they insisted I had to send my equipment back,” said Mr Simon Li, business manager of Shanghai Longen, which exhibited Chinese-made generators.
But Mr Li also saw the positives and said he had made many contacts and attracted the interest of potential buyers. “We are very happy about [that aspect],” he said.
Dong Feng exhibited several vehicles, including a DFSK light truck, two town cars and five motor cycles. As they were unlicenced, however, all have to be sent back to China.
“We hoped to sell the vehicles in Myanmar. But because we didn’t get a licence, we have to send them back,” said Ko Nay Lin of Dong Feng.
YTO International, which exhibited tractors, said they understood that the aim of the expo was to encourage communication between buyers and sellers.
Shandong Shifeng Group, which showed tractors and diesel engines, also said it was satisfied, as the company has local dealers for its products.
The expo was organised by China’s Trade Development Bureau of the Ministry of Commerce and the Department of Commerce of Yunn an Province, and supported by the Union of Myanmar Federation of Chambers of Commerce and Industry. http://www.mmtimes.com/2010/business/556/biz55602.html
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Minister Schwarzenberg supports Burma opposition
Former Ambassador of the Czech Republic to Thailand met Burma opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi in Rangoon on January 5, 2010. Jir(í Šitler delivered a letter of First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Czech Republic Karel Schwarzenberg to Aung San Suu Kyi.
In the letter minister Schwarzenberg expressed his support to Aung San Suu Kyi as well as to democratic efforts of Burma opposition in general. 05.01.2011 17:28
Aung San Suu Kyi appreciated the Czech Republic is still interesting in democracy in the world, in particular in Burma/Myanmar, even after its own democratization. According to Aung San Suu Kyi it is not a matter of course. A lot of countries with the experience of democratization do not help in such a way as the Czech Republic.
http://www.mzv.cz/jnp/en/issues_and_press/events_and_issues/press_releases/x2011_01_05_minister_schwarzenberg_supports_burma_opposition.html
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Students circulate anti-regime posters on opening day of Kachin Manau festival
Friday, 07 January 2011 18:45 KNG
Kachin students circulated hundreds of anti-regime posters today in Burma’s northern city of Myitkyina, on the inaugural day of the traditional four-day Kachin Manau Festival marking the 63rd anniversary of Kachin State Day, according to student activists.
At the same time, security is increasing in the city and renewed civil war is looming between the Kachin Independence Organization (KIO) and the military regime.
student_poster_movement
Anti-regime poster was found roadside near Kachin National Manau Park in Myitkyina. Photo: Kachin News Group
About 500 copies of the A4-sized posters were scattered on the roadside using motorcycles near Kachin National Manau Park, in Myitkyina, where the Manau Festival will be celebrated until January 11, a student said.
Local eyewitnesses told the Thailand-based Kachin News Group the posters can be seen on roadsides in Shatapru, Manhkring, Tatkone, N’Jang Dung, Du Kahtawng (Du Mare), Yan Gyi Aung and Aye Yar, the main quarters of the city.
According to student activists, the posters called for the dissolution of the military government and the 2008 constitution, the unconditional release of all political prisoners, as well as ending construction of the Irrawaddy Myitsone Dam.
Naw Awng, a student activist and a leader of the All Kachin Students Union (AKSU), an underground Kachin student organization said, “On behalf of Kachin people and people of Burma, we would like to show that we totally oppose the Burmese military regime.”
Civilian activists distributed posters in Myitkyina twice last year. However, in the past, posters were most often circulated by the AKSU.
At the same time, the Kachin people are unhappy because this year’s Manau Festival is being held under the control of the Burmese military, Manau Committee sources said.http://www.kachinnews.com/news/1834-students-circulate-anti-regime-posters-on-opening-day-of-kachin-manau-festival.html
Sunday, January 9, 2011
News & Articles on Burma-Saturday, 08 January, 2011
News & Articles on Burma
Saturday, 08 January, 2011
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Court delivers verdict in Yuzana case, appeal likely
China to Build Massive Trade Center in Thailand
Is China expending its influential power on Burma?
Burmese Banks in Dispute over Airline Ownership
Africans Refuse Burmese Rice
Burma: No ethnic autonomy under military dominated sham parliament
UNAIDS to extend aid for Myanmar HIV victims
Kachins shun junta-organised Manau festival
Pearl emporium to be held in Naypyidaw
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Court delivers verdict in Yuzana case, appeal likely
Saturday, 08 January 2011 12:20 Phanida
Chiang Mai (Mizzima) – The Kachin State Court in Myitkyina handed down its verdict in a land confiscation class action brought by a group of farmers yesterday, ordering the Yuzana Company to compensate plaintiffs for their losses.
The 63 plaintiffs, subsistence farmers from Phakant Township in Moenhyin District, Kachin State, had lodged the class action against the company in September 2010 for confiscation of family-owned lands in 2007.
The Yuzana Company has close ties to Burma’s ruling military leaders.
The verdict was reached this evening after a panel of judges considered witness testimony.
Under the decision the company must pay compensation to the amount of 80,000 kyat (US$80) per an acre of confiscated paddy field, 60,000 kyat (US$60) per acre of crops, and 30,000 kyat (US$30) per acre of garden. In addition, farmers must be compensated an additional 150,000 kyat (US$150) for loss of home, land rights activist, Bawk Jar told Mizzima.
“The compensation rate was set by the Kachin State Peace and Development Council", he said.
However, Lamung Tang Gun, one of the plaintiffs in the case said the court’s verdict was not fair.
“We have been unemployed for three years because of the confiscation of our farmlands. We demanded 800,000 kyat (US$800) from the company as compensation, but the court awarded only 80,000 kyat (US$80)”, he said.
“We cannot accept the verdict”.
The company was accused of confiscating more than 1,038 acres (420 hectares) held by the farmers in Warazuap, Aungra, Sharuzuap, Bangkok and Namsan villages. The firm planned to grow cassava and sugar cane as cash crops.
A total of 148 farmers had originally been party to the lawsuit. However, prior to the court case, the company had offered a settlement worth only 80,000 kyat (about US$80) per an acre, resulting in a number of farmers withdrawing from the class action.
At the time, only 17 plaintiffs remained but were joined by an additional farmers experiencing severe deprivation of livelihood.
The lawsuit was initially brought against company owner Htay Myint, an MP-elect from the junta-backed Union Solidarity and Development Party. However, his name was removed as defendant, replaced by Pu Kyi, reported to be his brother, on October 12.
Bawk Jar stated: “The farmers want to get their lands back. They want fair compensation from the company”
“If the farmers launch a protest, Htay Myint will be responsible for the mess” he said.
The plaintiffs plan to file an appeal on the decision with the Naypyidaw-based Supreme Court. http://mizzima.com/news/inside-burma/4732-court-delivers-verdict-in-yuzana-case-appeal-likely.html
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China to Build Massive Trade Center in Thailand
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Saturday, January 8, 2011
BANGKOK — China plans to build a massive $1.5 billion commercial complex in Thailand that will enable traders to send "Made In China" goods around the world without paying pricey tariffs often imposed in the West, Thai officials and Chinese state media said.
The China City Complex is expected to house more than 70,000 Chinese traders in a sprawling 5.4 million square-foot (500,000 square-meter) facility to be built on the eastern outskirts of Bangkok, Vijit Yang, chairman of the ASEAN-China Economic and Trade Promotion Association said Friday.
China signed a free trade agreement with Southeast Asian countries in January 2010 that reduces or removes tariffs on traded goods. Passing the goods through Thailand will allow Chinese traders to avoid the tariffs imposed by the U.S. and the European Union on many of their exports, said Vijit.
The plan will also give the appearance of reducing China's trade deficit with those countries, which hit $16.8 billion with the U.S. in November and $13.6 billion with the EU.
The surplus has become an increasingly sensitive issue in the EU and the U.S., which buy the vast bulk of China's exports, prompting traders to look for other ways of penetrating those markets.
Overall, China's trade has remained robust despite the global economic crisis. Exports in November jumped 34.9 percent from a year earlier to $153.3 billion, boosted by a surge in sales to other developing economies, which are recovering from the crisis faster than the U.S. and Europe.
The China Daily said the commercial center will sell Chinese-made garments, ornaments and household items, among other things.
Thailand's Deputy Commerce Minister Alongkorn Ponlaboot traveled to China on Wednesday to woo investors, the China Daily said.
Construction is scheduled to begin in March and take 18 months to complete, said Vijit, who is overseeing the project, according to the Thai Commerce Ministry.
Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva is scheduled to chair a ceremony in Bangkok to officially unveil the project on Jan. 18. http://www.irrawaddy.org/article.php?art_id=20489
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Is China expending its influential power on Burma?
By Zin Linn Jan 07, 2011 11:29PM UTC
China is to rebuild Burma’s historic “Stilwell Road”, the route from India used by British and American forces to supply Chinese troops in the battle against Japanese occupation during the Second World War, as said by Dean Nelson of The Daily Telegraph.
The Stillwell Road, starting in Ledo in Assam in Northeast India, passes through the Pangsau pass in Burma and reaches Kunming in the Yunnan province of South China. The 1726km road, which was initially known as Ledo Road, was later renamed Stilwell Road.
During World War II, the road was built by the allies and Chinese forces under the Command of US Army General Joseph Stilwell with 632km falling in China and small stretch of 61km in India. Unfortunately, the stretch of the road in Burma is not maintained and in many places the road almost disappears.
One of the trucks in the first convoy to travel over the Stilwell Road kicks up a cloud of dust as it passes through the town of Bhamo in Burma, Feb. 18, 1945. Pic: AP.
The road was named after the American general “Vinegar Joe” Stilwell by Chiang Kai-shek, China’s nationalist leader, to honour his determination to find a faster way to get more military supplies from India to Kunming.
Allied forces had been hampered after Japanese troops seized the Burma Road, and were forced to transport supplies to their Chinese allies by air over the Himalayas. U.S. army engineers started work on the 478-mile road from Ledo in Assam (now in Arunachal Pradesh), India, to Mogaung in Burma in 1942.
With the help of Chinese troops, they cut through the high Pangsau Pass as an alternative route to Burma at Mu-se in January, 1945.
According to The Daily Telegraph, the road is now to be rebuilt by the Yunnan Construction Engineering Company in a joint venture with the Burmese military-backed Yuzana Group. The deal was signed by Burmese ministers and leaders of the Yunnan Communist Party on November 22. A 194-mile stretch of road will be built from Myitkyina to the Pangsau Pass, close to the Indian border.
In August 1999, Chinese, Indian, Burmese and Bangladeshi authorities met in China’s Yunnan province and approved an agreement, known as the Kunming Initiative. It was decided to improve communications between India’s northeast and south-western China, as said by the Indo-Burma News on 22 December, 2010.
On the other hand, the New Delhi government fears that the opening up of the road will create a security threat in northeast India as the road would connect the Kachin State of Burma, which is infamous for its armed groups that also raise many North-East Indian rebels.
India is afraid the road would grant an easier route for those insurgent groups. Furthermore, it might increase the volume of illegal drugs that penetrates India from the Golden Triangle.
Meanwhile, China’s political influence, thanks to its economic success, is going up. Due to China’s military and financial support for Burma’s cruel regime, its people are facing a prospect not of peace and safety measures, but of continuing conflict and violence. For energy-hungry China, Burma’s oil and gas reserves are important as it became a regional power.
Remarkably, the “Stilwell Road” passes mostly through the Kachin State of Burma. The Kachin Independence Army (KIA), one of Burma’s strong ethnic armed groups, is in a nervous face-off with the Burmese Army following the pressure to transform into the Border Guard Force.
The KIA is constantly claiming to have autonomy. The KIA had a 16-year ceasefire with the military regime and seeks self-reliance for the Kachin people. The International Crisis Group (ICG) said that the Kachin Independence Organization (KIO) has had “basic discussions” with Beijing over the contours of a “genuine union” within Burma in which the ethnic groups would have autonomy, possibly similar to the Special Administrative Regions in China — Hong Kong and Macao.
Over the past decade, more than a million Burmese refugees and illegal migrant-workers have fled across the border into Thailand and China in order to evade the Burmese junta’s inhumane military offensives toward ethnic armed groups.
According to some observers, without resolving the ethnic autonomy issues, China’s development projects may not be completed in the allotted ttime. If China wants to promote its investments in Burma, it should not depend only on the rogue junta. Instead, it should also work with pro-democracy groups, such as the National League for Democracy and democratic ethnic groups.
Devoid of peace and stability in Burma, China’s dream of building mega-energy projects and communication courses for the South and South-East Asia market may not materialize. China may have to review its foreign relations strategy toward political oppositions in Burma. http://asiancorrespondent.com/45604/is-china-expending-its-influential-power-on-burma/
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Burmese Banks in Dispute over Airline Ownership
By YAN PAI Saturday, January 8, 2011
Three banks that bought Myanmar Airways International (MAI) last year are involved in a dispute over ownership of the airline, according to business sources in Rangoon.
Kanbawza Bank, which bought MAI early last year in partnership with the Cooperative Bank and the Tun Foundation Bank, has been trying to claim sole ownership of the airline since it was recently granted a permit to operate domestic flights, the sources said.
A businessman close to the Cooperative Bank told The Irrawaddy on condition of anonymity that the argument began when Aung Ko Win, a Western-sanctioned business tycoon and the owner of Kanbawza Bank, told other shareholders that he wanted to be the sole owner of MAI.
“Kanbawza Bank is the majority shareholder, followed by the Cooperative Bank. Now that the airline has obtained a new permit for domestic flights, Aung Ko Win said he wanted to manage it alone and tried to refund the others' shares,” said the businessman.
Aung Ko Win is reportedly close to Vice Snr-Gen Maung Aye, the regime's second in command.
Besides being Burma's main overseas carrier, MAI reportedly also had licenses to operate ground handling and passenger services and other airport-related businesses at the country's two international airports in Rangoon and Mandalay.
However, sources in the airline industry said that these licenses were recently given to Asia World, another company close to Burma's ruling generals. Asia World is expected to earn an annual income of US $6 million from ground handling services, the sources said.
As compensation for the loss of these licenses, MAI was granted permission to fly domestic routes, according to the sources.
The sources also said that the airlines are struggling because of a lack of passengers and difficulty buying spare parts for their aircraft due to economic sanctions imposed on them by the US and the European Union.
MAI was formed in 1993 as a joint venture between Myanmar Airways and Singapore business interests with the support of Royal Brunei Airlines. In February 2007, it was reorganized as a joint venture between Myanmar Airways, which retained 51 percent, and Hong Kong-based Region Air.
Currently, the only other Burmese airlines operating both domestic and international flights are Air Bagan and Air Mandalay. http://www.irrawaddy.org/article.php?art_id=20491
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Africans Refuse Burmese Rice
By MYO MAUNG Saturday, January 8, 2011
A ship carrying Burmese rice was ordered to return to Burma in December after being refused docking permission in the Ivory Cost due to the unacceptable quality of the rice on board, according to a rice trader in Rangoon. Appriximately 25 percent of the exported rice was apparently broken.
This was not the first time that Burmese rice has been judged unacceptable, even to a continent as poverty-stricken as Africa.
Throughout 2010, Burmese rice exports were frequently held up at African ports, pronounced “unqualified,” and sent back to their port of origin. Sacks of rice from Burma were routinely dismissed as being wet, moldy, infested by weevils or containing too many grains that were broken to dust.
(Photo: AP)
In November, some 6,000 tons of rice exported to a country (which country?) in the Middle East were sent back, disqualified as “broken grains,” according to another rice trader in Rangoon.
Traders have said that due to an increase in the price of rice in Burma, many farmers or wholesalers mix the “good” rice with broken grains.
Burma was, until recently, selling rice at US $270-$280 per ton. The price, however, increased in the past months to $390 per ton.
The qualification of Burma’s rice exports are mostly checked by a branch of the Switzerland-based SGS, the world’s largest goods inspector.
Traders in Rangoon said that Burma’s rice exports increased dramatically in early 2009 due to greater demand from Africa and Bangladesh—mostly due to the cheap price of Burmese rice on the international market. Burma exported some 300,000 tons of rice between April and December of 2010.
In 2007-08, Burma’s rice exports amounted to a meager 358,500 tons—just 1.2 percent of total world exports that year, according to U Myint, a retired UN official and a director on the board of directors of Tun Foundation Bank.http://www.irrawaddy.org/article.php?art_id=20490
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Burma: No ethnic autonomy under military dominated sham parliament
By Zin Linn
opednews.com
Burma has already come to an end holding its namesake polls in last November. The elections were regarded as the ugliest vote rigging show of the country's history. According to Burmese junta's 2008 constitution, the incoming legislative body will convene its first session 90 days after the Election Day (7 November, 2010) to elect a president and two vice presidents and to form a new government. So, the new parliamentary session seems to be held in last week of this January as many political analysts have speculated.
Burma celebrated its 63rd anniversary of independence on 4th January, 2011. Burma gained its independence from Britain on 4 January, 1948. But the country experienced with democracy until 1962, when the military seized power to which it has since clung.
The current military junta has emerged in 1988 after violently suppressing mass pro-democracy protests. It held a general election in 1990, but refused to recognize the results after a landslide victory by the National League for Democracy (NLD) led by Aung San Suu Kyi, who has just released from house-arrest recently. She was under detention for more than a decade and a half and freed on 13 November, 2010.
Some ethnic Shan leaders believe that the then Shan's leadership decision to depart the British colonialism on 7th February 1947 had paved the way to Burma's Independence sunshine on 4 January 1948. The decision was taken by the Shan States Council, comprising the ruling princes and people's representatives of Shan States, as Shan State was known then, at the Panglong Conference from 3 to 12 February 1947.
So, up to this day, Shan community believe they deserve autonomy as a free people. However, Burmese military regime has no attitude to allowing equal status to the ethnic nationalities of Burma including the Shans. The major disagreement between junta and the opposition NLD led by Aung San Suu Kyi is no other than to give equal category to all ethnic groups.
Latest political scenario is still blurred although a multi-party general election on 7 November has been done. In accordance with the figures pronounced by Union Election Commission (UEC), a total of 1,148 candidates representing political parties and 6 independent candidates were elected as parliamentary representatives at three levels.
The Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP), led by Prime Minister Thein Sein, won the majority of 882 parliamentary seats or 76.43 percent out of the total1, 154 seats. The USDP is followed by the National Unity Party (NUP) with 64 seats, Shan Nationalities Democratic Party (SNDP) with 57 seats, Rakhine Nationalities Development Party with 35 seats, National Democratic Force (NDF) and the All Mon Region Democracy Party (AMRDP) each with 16 at three levels of parliament.
Meanwhile, the SNDP Chairman Sai Aik Paung told a party conference in Taunggyi in mid-December that the party has achieved extraordinary unity among ethnic Shan nationals. The December 13-15 conference set up about 180 members, including 57 winning candidates from the November 7 election, as said by the Myanmar Times December 20 - 26, 2010 Issue.
The Shan Nationalities Democratic Party won 57 of the 156 seats and the third-largest number of candidates in national and regional legislatures, after the USDP.
Simultaneously, the three ceasefire armed groups have challenged Burma Army that pressured them to transform into Border Guard Forces (BGFs). For that reason, the groups have come around declining BGF plan in order to avoid Burmese junta's oppressive strategies. The UWSA, the NDAA, and the Shan State Army-North are along with the other armed ethnic groups which are defying the military regime's demands on them to join its Border Guard Force (BGF). Actually, the junta's BGF program intended to win over the ceasefire groups through laying down their arms.
Coincidentally, the United Wa State Army (UWSA)'s political wing United Wa State Party (UWSP) has drawn another contradict proposal which includes a point to demand for a state with the Right of Self Determination from the new government, quoting UWSP sources Shan Herald Agency for News said.
The UWSP's new proposal which is to be presented to the new parliamentary government expected to be held early 2011. In the proposal, UWSP says that their armed force will remain in the Wa State to defend their independence. Although they will not secede from the Union, they will steadfastly demand for a state with the Right of Self Determination from the upcoming government, upholding a policy of non-alignment and neutrality.
The said proposal was drawn at the UWSP's 5th annual district level party congress which is being held in Mongmai, 170 km north of its main base Panghsang from 20 to 29 December. According to a Wa officer, after the December Congress, the UWSP leading party committee will send its delegation to talk with the new government on the basis of 'Opposition to War' and 'Work for Peace and Development' principle.
Subsequently, General meeting of the 3rd Central Standing Committee (CSC) of the 14th KNU Congress was fruitfully held from December 14 to 19, 2010, according to the Karen National Union (Supreme Headquarters) source. KNU adopted the four guiding principles delineated by the late heroic leader Saw Ba U Gyi. The four principles are "Surrender is out of the question", "We shall retain our arms", "Recognition of Karen State must be complete" and "We shall decide our own political destiny."
KNU says in its statement dated 23 December 2010: "As the parliament and government that would come into being according to the SPDC Road Map were for realization of the 2008 Constitution, the meeting adopted the view that instead of resolving the problems faced by Burma, it would create more insecurity and conflicts, especially in the political and military fields."
According to SPDC's 2008 constitution, the incoming legislative body will convene its first session 90 days after the election to elect a president and two vice presidents and to form a new government. However, the first issue the new government has to head on be the question of self-determination. The ethnic parties not only representing in parliament but also from outside of the legislative body have the same demand in favor of autonomy.
As the self-styled new civilian government is the rebirth of the same military itself, the ethnic autonomy seems to be out of question. Correspondingly, national reconciliation proposal by Burma's Nobel laureate has also to be faced the same destiny. Thus, people of Burma have to continue struggle for national reconciliation plus self-determination.
Obviously, Burma's military dictators have held the recent polls, not to restore freedom, justice and equality but to resume the military dictatorial power and to monopolize the country's all-out economic opportunities. http://www.opednews.com/articles/Burma-No-ethnic-autonomy-by-Zin-Linn-110107-254.html
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UNAIDS to extend aid for Myanmar HIV victims
English.news.cn 2011-01-08 11:08:14 FeedbackPrintRSS
YANGON, Jan. 8 (Xinhua) -- The UNAIDS will extend supply of anti-retroviral (ARV) drug for Myanmar HIV victims up to 2015 under a joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS, local media reported Saturday.
About 250,000 people were infected with HIV/AIDS in Myanmar, the Voice quoted the UN organization as saying.
A total of 20,000 HIV/AIDS patients or 27 percent of 74,000 in Myanmar have been treated with ARV drug, the report said.
Myanmar has achieved a unique distinction of bringing about a gradual declination of HIV prevalence in the country over the past decade.
The country's HIV prevalence rate dropped from 0.94 percent in 2000 to 0.67 percent in 2007 and to 0.61 percent in 2009.
There are 11 local non-governmental organizations (NGO), 21 international NGOs and 7 United Nations agencies actively collaborating with Myanmar's ministry of health in responding to HIV/AIDS.
Myanmar is also actively participating in the ASEAN work program in HIV/AIDS and Mekong regional HIV/AIDS projects as well as global and regional activities initiated by various UN agencies.
AIDS is one of the priority diseases of Myanmar's national health plan and prevention and care activities for HIV/AIDS are being implemented as a national concern. http://news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/health/2011-01/08/c_13681406.htm
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Kachins shun junta-organised Manau festival
Friday, 07 January 2011 21:58 Mizzima News
Chiang Mai (Mizzima) – Less than half the usual number of visitors attended this Manau festival commemorating Kachin State Day, which kicked off today in Myitkyina, according to festival organisers.
This year’s Manau festival will run for five days before ending on January 11.
Unlike previous years, the 2011 festival was organised under the supervision of the Burmese military regime’s northern command officers.
“There were around 800 people at the opening ceremony, much less than last year. I hope more people come and enjoy festivities tomorrow”, La Kari La Awng, head of the festival organising committee told Mizzima.
Another committee member said: “Last year visitors filled the entire grounds. But this year people are keeping away because of the heavy security presence from police, fire fighters and armed soldiers”.
“No one wants to visit, and those who did, were unhappy”.
Previous opening ceremonies have been attended by up to 4,000 people, mostly ethnic Kachins from Burma, but also from neighbouring countries.
Diplomats and tourists also usually attend the ceremony.
“Authorities reminded people over loudspeakers to enjoy the festival to drum up numbers. We saw mainly USDP party members and fire fighters. Other people included soldiers and police”, said a local resident who visited the festival today.
Besides police and soldiers, the local authorities ordered mandatory security detail from 15 fire fighters from 40 Myitkyina ward.
The number of festival goers was matched by the number of security personnel, according to another attendee.
Rev. Zong Kyang and Pastor Dau Khau from the Kachin Christian Churches inaugurated the festival at 8am with prayers.
Kachin Independence Organisation (KIO) officials, who have resisted Burmese government pressure to transform into a Border Guard Force (BGF), did not officially attend today's festivities.
Northern command leaders had only extended an invitation to them on January 4.
Military Affairs Security General Staff Officer of military affairs security, Colonel Thet Pone informed Colonel Jee Nau from the KIO liaison office in Myitkyina that while they could attend, they must appear in civilian clothes.
The Manau festival was re-branded in state-owned media this week as the ‘Union Manau Festival’, causing offense to many Kachins. http://mizzima.com/news/inside-burma/4731-kachins-shun-junta-organised-manau-festival.html
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Pearl emporium to be held in Naypyidaw
Friday, 07 January 2011 21:53 Mizzima News
New Delhi (Mizzima) – A national pearl emporium is scheduled for January 11 to 13, 2011 in the Burmese capital Naypyidaw, according to the Myanmar Pearl Production and Trading Enterprise.
A similar gems emporium was held in the new capital in November 2010 where gems and pearls were sold by tender and auction.
Unsold pearl lots from the November’s emporium, as well as newly arrived lots from Pearl Island with be auctioned.
A special viewing for merchants will be arranged for January 11, while the tender process and sale by auction will commence the day after.
Sales will be in Burmese kyat.
Successful successful bidders will be announced by tender numbers using an imported electronic system.
Last year’s gem emporium resulted in the sale of 237 out of 240 lots.
http://mizzima.com/business/4730-pearl-emporium-to-be-held-in-naypyidaw.html
__._,_.___
Saturday, January 8, 2011
Fw: [BurmaInfo] 今週のビルマのニュース（1101号）議会の招集はいつ？ 天然ガス発見 スーチー氏の毎日新聞連載が再開 イベント情報 ほか
みなさま、
以下、「今週のビルマのニュース」を転送させていただきます。
（重複の際はご容赦ください。）
ＰＦＢ事務局
http://www1.jca.apc.org/pfb/
*****************************************************
ビルマ情報ネットワークの「今週のビルマのニュース」をお送りします。
ビルマ情報ネットワーク
秋元由紀
ビルマ情報ネットワーク
ウェブサイト http://www.burmainfo.org
ツイッター http://twitter.com/BurmaInfoJapan
========================================
今週のビルマのニュース Eメール版
2011年1月7日【1101号】
========================================
【政治】
・63回目の独立記念日だった4日、軍政トップ・
タンシュエ上級大将は、ビルマの支配を狙う
外国勢力に警戒するよう国民に呼びかけた
（4日国営紙）。
・2010年11月に行われた総選挙結果に基づく
議会の招集は、1月中旬から下旬になるとの
非公式情報（12月24日イラワディ、6日ミジマほか）。
公式発表はまだ。2008年憲法によれば、総選挙から
105日以内に連邦議会の第1回通常国会が招集され、
そこで大統領が選出される。
【投資・貿易】
・マグウェ管区ガンゴー郡で天然ガス（909bcf）が
見つかったと国営紙が発表。中国石油化工（シノペック）
が国営石油ガス公社（MOGE）と共同で試掘をしていた
（6日ロイター、イラワディ）。
・国民民主連盟（NLD）は4 日、外国投資を受け入れる
場合の指針を発表した。社会・環境影響への配慮、
労働者の権利の尊重、雇用の創出、最新技術を使った
投資、の4つ（5日イラワディ）。
【少数民族】
・カレン州南部やシャン州南部で国軍と、国境警備隊
への編入を拒否する少数民族武装勢力との散発的衝突が続く。
国軍は当該地域で部隊を増強（6日イラワディ）。
アラカン州ではアラカン解放軍（ALA）と国軍とが衝突、
双方合わせて5人が死亡との情報（5日DVB）。
・昨年末に、戦闘を逃れてタイに避難していた
カレン難民166人にタイ当局が帰国を強制したこと
について、国連難民高等弁務官事務所（UNHCR）が
懸念を表明（2010年12月28日）。
【政府開発援助（ODA）】
新たな発表はなし
【注目アイテム】
・アウンサンスーチー氏が寄稿する「ビルマからの手紙」
の連載（毎日新聞）が1日から13年ぶりに再開。
・月刊「すばる」2月号にビルマ情報ネットワーク
秋元由紀のエッセイ『ビルマの「選挙」とメディアの危うさ』が掲載。
・タイム誌1月10日号がアウンサンスーチー氏を特集。
表紙にはプラトン氏撮影の肖像写真も。
【イベント情報】（［ ］内は主催者。共催等は省略）
・［カチン民族機構日本］
第63回カチン州の日記念チャリティーコンサート
（豊島公会堂、9日18時半～）
・［上智大学アジア文化研究所］
「旅するアジア」2010年度第6回講演会
『「仏教国」ビルマ（ミャンマー）のイスラーム教徒：バマー・ムスリムの現実か
ら』
斎藤紋子（上智大学非常勤講師）
（上智大学2号館5階510会議室、20日18時～）
http://www.info.sophia.ac.jp/iac/news/docs/news20101224_232092757.html
・［難民支援協会］
シンポジウム『新たな難民受け入れと新宿区～
第三国定住開始にあたって私たちにできることを考える』
（早稲田大学早稲田キャンパス8号館B102教室、22日14時～）
★要申し込み
http://www.refugee.or.jp/event/2011/01/22-1627.shtml
・［ビルマ市民フォーラム］
第62回例会『タイとラオス、ビルマでのダム開発による被害と地元住民の声』
東智美、秋元由紀（メコン・ウォッチ）
（池袋・生活産業プラザ7階、29日18時～）
http://pfb-japan.org/?p=541
・［アムネスティ・インターナショナル］
アムネスティ・フィルム・フェスティバル2011
（東京・ヤクルトホール、29・30日）
＊29日11時～「ビルマVJ 消された革命」上映、
16時35分～トークイベント『日本にも難民はいるんですか？』
渡邉彰悟（弁護士・全国難民弁護団連絡会事務局長）、
マリップ・センブー（ビルマ難民／カチン民族機構日本事務局長）
http://www.amnesty.or.jp
【もっと詳しい情報・お問い合わせは】
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http://www.burmainfo.org/
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http://www.burmainfo.org/news/today.php?mode=2
Twitter公式アカウントはこちら
http://twitter.com/BurmaInfoJapan
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今週のビルマのニュース Eメール版
2011年1月7日【1101号】
作成： ビルマ情報ネットワーク
協力： ビルマ市民フォーラム
====================================
ေတာင္သမန္အင္းက အလြမ္းပြင့္ေ၀ႏွင္း
ေတာင္သမန္အင္းက အလြမ္းပြင့္ေ၀ႏွင္း
ဘ၀ရဲ ့မွတ္တမ္း
ရုပ္ရွင္ထဲက ဇာတ္လမ္းလို
စာတမ္းထိုး ………
လြန္ခဲ့ေသာ ႏွစ္ဆယ့္ေလးႏွစ္က ………
ေနာက္ခံဂီတသံက
ေခါက္ရွာငွက္ ပ်ံသန္းပံုမ်ိဳး ……။
သတၳဳႏြယ္ႀကိဳးေတြက
သံစဥ္လိႈင္းမ်ား အျပန္အလွန္သယ္ေဆာင္
ႏုနယ္ပ်ိဳမ်စ္ေသာ
ႏွစ္ကာလတခ်ိဳ ့ ……
ႏွလံုးသားခ်င္း ဖလွယ္
အတြယ္အတာနဲ ့သမုဒယ
ဘ၀ခ်ိဳခ်ိဳ
ႏွစ္ကာလတခ်ိဳ ့ ……
တီတီတာတာ
သား သမီးနဲ ့အတူေနရ
ငါ့ ဘ၀
ႏွစ္ကာလတခ်ိဳ ့……
ခြဲေနရဦးမယ္
အတိုင္းအတာ တခုအထိ
မိသားစုနဲ ့ေ၀း
ႏွစ္ကာလ တခ်ိဳ ့ …..
ဂလိုဘယ္လိုက္ေဇရွင္းတဲ ့
ကမၻာ့ရြာ ေခတ္ႀကီးထဲမွာ
ကလစ္ တခ်က္ႏွိပ္ရံုနဲ ့
အရုပ္ျမင္ အသံၾကား
အလြမ္းက ပါးလ်သြားလား
အလြမ္းက အားရသြားလား
ႏွစ္ကာလတခ်ိဳ ့ ……
ႏွစ္ဆယ့္ေလးႏွစ္ၾကာတဲ့အခါ
ညီမေလးေရ ….
အဲဒီ နံနက္ခင္းက
ေတာင္သမန္အင္းမွာ ျမဴႏွင္းေတြ ေ၀ေနပံု သတိရ
မယ္ဇယ္ပင္ ေျခရင္းမွာ ျမဴႏွင္းေတြ ေ၀ေနပံုမ်ား သတိရ
သီခ်င္းသံတိုးတိုးသဲ့သဲ့ ၾကားရဲ ့လား
ေနာက္ထပ္တို ့ မေ၀းဘူး ……။
(တေယာက္ဘ၀ကို တေယာက္ေထြးေပြ ့ႏွစ္ဆယ့္ေလးႏွစ္ျပည့္ အမွတ္တရ)
ရဲရင့္သက္ဇြဲ ၂၉ ၁၂ ၂၀၁၀
News & Articles on Burma-Friday, 07 January, 2011
News & Articles on Burma
Friday, 07 January, 2011
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Military Firms Excluded From Tax Evasion Law
Chin Party Meets to Discuss Ethnic Alliance
Airport Just Latest Chinese Foray into Burma's Transport Sector
Ban Discusses Burma with Chinese FM
Fuel Shops Closed in Mandalay
China outward bound through Myanmar
Did Shan army become militia units because of free car licenses?
Thailand again sullies its human rights record
Roadshow to Burma slated for January 18
Interest in Travel to Myanmar Surges
China to rebuild the allies' wartime lifeline through Burma
Luc Besson quietly filming Aung San Suu Kyi biopic in Paris already
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Military Firms Excluded From Tax Evasion Law
By WAI MOE Friday, January 7, 2011
Burma’s Internal Revenue Department has announced a new law targeting companies that evade tax as from Jan.1. However, the military-owned Union of Myanmar Economic Holdings Ltd (UMEHL) and several other government enterprises are still exempt from the regulation, said an official.
The director of the Internal Revenue Department—which is under the direction of the Ministry of Finance and Revenue—explained the new regulation at a press conference on Dec. 31 at the office of the Union of Myanmar Federation of Chambers of Commerce and Industry in Rangoon, according to local journalists.
A cargo ship from Five Star Shipping, owned by the UMEHL, sails from Rangoon. (PHOTO: Moemakha)
Director Aung Moe Kyi of the department said that the “Withholding Tax” law is aimed at all businesses, traders, NGOs and individuals with assets higher than 300,000 kyat (US $300), and states that they are liable to pay taxes of between 3 and 20 percent of their profits or earnings.
“However, state organizations and the UMEHL are not included in the Withholding Tax regulation,” Aung Moe Kyi said.
He did not clarify whether another military enterprise, the Myanmar Economic Corporation, is also excluded from the new tax regulation.
The military junta issued Decree 41/2010 on Withholding Tax on March 10, 2010, with a view to making it law by April last year.
However, the date for enforcement of the law was set as Jan. 1, 2011. The Internal Revenue Department also stated that only companies and individuals that comply with the regulation will be able to open legal bank accounts in Burma.
Since state enterprises and the UMEHL are excluded from the Withholding Tax regulation, a handful of military cronies who have stakes in massive state enterprises such as factories, mines, hydropower projects and state-owned buildings would appear to be exempt from the tax regulation too, said business sources in Rangoon.
The UMEHL was founded in 1990 under the 1950 Special Company Act, designated to support regimental welfare organizations, in-service and retired military personnel, and veteran organizations.
The military-run UMEHL has since enjoyed the privilege of tax exemption, analysts said, as it existed under the adjutant-general office of the military. Adjutant-General Maj-Gen Khin Zaw Oo currently chairs the organization.
However, from 2002 to 2010, the UMEHL was under the office of Military Ordnance, headed by Lt-Gen Tin Aye who is one of junta chief Snr-Gen Than Shwe’s most trusted subordinates. Tin Aye took over at the UMEHL when Lt-Gen Win Myint, a former adjutant-general, was removed in 2002.
Although Khin Zaw Oo is officially chairman of the UMEHL, Tin Aye reportedly still oversees the bureau, according to military sources. The UMEHL is currently managing at least 51 firms directly or within partnerships.
Observers routinely criticize Burma as being one of the most mismanaged nations in the world with a barely functioning economy and a corrupt tax system. According to data from the Internal Revenue Department, only 1.09 percent of more than 50 million people in the country pay tax.
On Jan. 4, the opposition National League for Democracy (NLD) suggested in an economic analysis that systematic taxation throughout the nation would help to resolve Burma's spiraling inflation and financial problems.
The NLD also recommended that the rule of law be upheld and transparent, with accountable governance as well as equal business opportunities for all citizens in the country.
Irrawaddy correspondents in Rangoon contributed to this story.
http://www.irrawaddy.org/article.php?art_id=20488
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Chin Party Meets to Discuss Ethnic Alliance
By SAI ZOM HSENG Friday, January 7, 2011
The Chin National Party (CNP) is currently holding a three-day conference at Hakha, the capital of Chin State, and will mainly discuss the forming of an alliance with other ethnic parties, according to Pu Zo Zam, the party's chairman.
The conference started on Jan. 6 and is being attended by about 60 representatives and party members, he added.
“We will discuss the CNP’s future plans, including the possibility of forming an alliance with other parties, but we haven’t made any decision so far,” Pu Zo Zam told The Irrawaddy on Friday.
The CNP was formed on March 27, 2010 in Rangoon. The party fielded 25 candidates in last year's Nov. 7 election and won nine seats.
Meanwhile, the Shan Nationalities Democratic Party (SNDP), the largest ethnic party that contested the election, said that it would not be a part of an alliance with the CNP, according to Sai Hla Kyaw, a member of the party's central executive committee.
“If there is an alliance, there will be rules, regulations and many other things that we have to agree to and sign. If someone breaks the rules, there are sure to be problems between us. That's why we've decided not to be part of the alliance,” he said.
However, he said that the SNDP would make joint statements with other parties and work together with them when they shared common positions.
At a conference in December, the SNDP decided to form a company to financially support the party. The company will issue one million shares valued at 10,000 kyat (US $12) apiece to invest in mining, agriculture and logging businesses in Shan State, party sources said.
According to the sources, the SNDP will soon form a committee to facilitate the sale of shares, which will only be sold to party members. The person who owns the most shares will be named managing director.
The SNDP fielded 157 candidates in the election, winning a total of 57 seats. The party came in third, after the junta-backed Union Solidarity and Development Party and the pro-military National Unity Party.
Like the SNDP, other ethnic parties that contested the election were also cool to the idea of forming an alliance.
“We have good relations with the other ethnic parties, but we don’t have any ambition to be a part of an alliance. We just want more understanding among the parties,” said Hla Soe, the secretary of the Rakhine Nationalities Development Party, which won 35 of 44 constituencies in Arakan State.
Burma's state-owned media declared that the USDP won in 882 of the 1,154 constituencies where they contested. http://www.irrawaddy.org/article.php?art_id=20487
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Airport Just Latest Chinese Foray into Burma's Transport Sector
By YAN PAI Friday, January 7, 2011
A Chinese company will invest US $100 million toward the construction of an airport near Naypyidaw, the new capital built by Burma's ruling junta in 2004, in the latest move by China to expand its involvement in the Southeast Asian country's transport sector.
The company, China Communications Construction (CCC), signed a deal to work on the project on Dec. 15 following a summit attended by Burmese Prime Minister Thein Sein and senior officials from China, Thailand, Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam in Phnom Penh in November, according to a report by The South China Morning Post on Jan. 3.
Work on the project began in 2009, when Asia World, one of Burma's largest conglomerates, won a $250 million contract to build the new airport on the site of a disused airport in Ela Township, according to Burmese business sources.
Weekly Eleven News, a Rangoon-based news journal, reported at the end of last year that the airport's domestic and international terminals and runways are still under construction and are expected to be completed sometime in early 2011.
On its website, CCC said its contract with Burma's Department of Civil Aviation will be financed by a loan from the state-owned China Exim Bank.
“This project will significantly increase the internationalization of the Myanmar [Burmese] capital of Naypyidaw and increase CCC's influence in Myanmar,” the company said.
China has dramatically stepped up its investment in Burma in recent years and is increasingly turning to major infrastructure projects aimed at improving access to the country's natural resources.
Among the more ambitious projects under discussion is a 1,920 kilometer rail link between Kunming, the capital of China's Yunnan Province, and Burma's main commercial city and former capital, Rangoon.
According to business sources, the railway line may be extended even further, to Tavoy in southern Burma's Tenasserim Division, where Thai investors are planning a massive port development project.
Work on the railway line, which is part of a grand project to link China and its Southeast Asian neighbors, is reportedly set to begin construction this year.
There is also a plan to rebuild the Stilwell Road, constructed during the Second World War to enable the Allied Powers to assist China in its resistance to Japan's occupying Imperial Army.
According to the British newspaper The Telegraph, the road, which stretches from the Kachin State capital of Myitkyina to Pangsau near the Indian border, will be rebuilt by the Yunnan Construction Engineering Company in a joint venture with Burma's Yuzana Group under an agreement reached on Nov. 22 last year.
Last June, Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao traveled to Burma to further promote already strong economic ties between the two countries. According to official statistics, China invested an estimated $8.2 billion in the Burmese economy in the first five months of last year, including $5 billion in the hydro-power sector.
One of the largest joint projects between China and Burma is a pipeline that will carry natural gas to Kunming from Burmese offshore fields in the Bay of Bengal. China also hopes to construct a railway line along this route, linking Kunming and the Arakan State deep-sea port of Kyaukpyu.
Despite rumors that Burma's military leaders are wary of growing too dependent on Beijing for economic support, there are no signs that they are scaling back on plans to increase cooperation.
Following a state visit to China by junta leader Snr-Gen Than Shwe last September, the Chinese government agreed to provide a 30 billion yuan ($4.5 billion) interest-free loan to the regime.
http://irrawaddy.org/highlight.php?art_id=20486
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Ban Discusses Burma with Chinese FM
By LALIT K JHA Friday, January 7, 2011
WASHINGTON—The UN Secretary-General, Ban Ki-moon, on Thursday discussed the current situation in Burma with visiting Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi.
No Burma-specific readout of the meeting held at the UN headquarters in New York was available. Diplomatic sources, however, said the UN Secretary-General sought China’s help in restoring true democracy in the country and the release of all political prisoners.
According to UN spokesman Martin Nesirky, Ban and Yang also discussed Sudan, Ivory Coast and North Korea. During Thursday's meeting, Ban expressed strong appreciation for China's "active efforts" to revive the nuclear talks involving the two Koreas, the US, China, Japan and Russia, which have been stalled for nearly two years.
Rising tensions and the threat of war between North and South Korea also topped the agenda of Yang's meeting in Washington on Wednesday with US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
Burma also was one of the topics of discussion when Yang met US leaders, including President Barack Obama, during his stay in Washington earlier this week.
The United States has a two-track approach in Burma, the State Department Deputy spokesman, Mark Toner, said.
“We do have a relationship [with the junta],” Toner said in response to a question. “And at the same time we’re seeking engagement, which admittedly hasn’t shown much progress and borne much fruit. But we’re also pushing them hard to release political prisoners and to take clear democratic steps.”
http://www.irrawaddy.org/article.php?art_id=20480
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Fuel Shops Closed in Mandalay
By KHIN OO THAR Friday, January 7, 2011
At least 91 roadside fuel shops in Mandalay have been ordered to close as from Friday, Jan. 7, according to local sources.
One gasoline vendor told The Irrawaddy that he and other vendors were worried by threats from district-level authorities that serious action would be taken against the shop owners if they did not comply with the order.
He said the 91 fuel shops had opened for business around 2002 and that many are located along the Mandalay-Pyin Oo Lwin Road outside the city. Authorities told the gasoline vendors to move out of the area and told them the decision had been made for reasons of road expansion and fire prevention, he said.
“I think it could be an attempt by the authorities and local businessmen to get rid of small-scale fuel shops like ours,” said the shop owner.
Informal, or black market fuel shops have been operating on Burmese roadsides for decades. But since Burma's military regime transferred state-owned gas stations into the hands of private companies in June 2010, the small roadside shops have faced renewed competition.
Many of the country's formerly state-owned gas stations reopened as private businesses operated by organizations and investors with close links to the ruling junta, including the Union Solidarity and Development Party, the Union of Myanmar Economic Holdings Ltd, and 18 other privately owned companies.
The privatized gas stations are no longer required to ration sales of gasoline and petrol, removing one of the reasons many customers turn to black-market petrol dealers. But for a host of other reasons, many customers still prefer to fill up at illegal roadside stands.
Some customers said they avoided the new gas stations because of delays and fears of overcharging. Others said they prefer the roadside dealers because they guarantee the quality of their petrol and are open 24/7.
A Mandalay resident said one gallon of gasoline costs 3,200-3,250 kyat [US $3.70 to $3.80] at the black market shops, which is the same price as the private gas stations.
“If there are no roadside shops, we'll have to wait overnight to get fuel from the gas stations,” he added.
Currently, there are two state-owned gas stations and 12 privately owned ones operating in the city of Mandalay.
A gasoline vendor in Maha Aung Myay Township said the order to close roadside fuel shops will affect people like him and many other families.
The Irrawaddy contacted the District Office and the fire brigade in Mandalay and asked for details about the order, but they refused to make any comment.
http://www.irrawaddy.org/article.php?art_id=20479
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China outward bound through Myanmar
By Brian McCartan
CHIANG MAI - Myanmar is set to become an important regional rail hub connecting China and India with markets in Southeast Asia and beyond should proposed spending plans come to fruition. As with many infrastructure developments across the region, Beijing is the driving force behind the ambitious designs.
China plans to construct several routes linking its remote southwestern region with ports in Myanmar and on to Southeast and South Asia. In particular, a major rail line is planned to connect Kunming with a new deep-sea port and special industrial economic zone under construction at Kyaukpyu on Myanmar's western coast.
Plans for the route were first announced in the Myanmar Weekly Eleven News magazine on October 16 and is expected to be finished in 2015. China is also involved in developing the port and the industrial zone, both of which are part of its plan to develop a trade outlet for its land-locked southwestern region and an oil and gas transshipment point connected to oil and gas pipelines already under construction.
Another rail route will connect the 1,920 kilometers between China's Yunnan province capital Kunming to Myanmar's former capital and major port Yangon. Construction will likely build on Myanmar's existing north-south rail line rather than lay completely new tracks.
This route would also link with a railway connecting to a new port project at Dawei on the country's southern coast. A component of the port project announced late last year is the construction of a new rail line between Dawei and Bangkok.
A third route will run through Myanmar's eastern Shan State connecting Kunming with the northern Thai town of Chiang Rai and from there link into the Thai rail network. This link, together with a route currently being surveyed in Laos, will enable the shipment of goods by rail between China, Cambodia, Thailand and Singapore.
Wang Mengshu, an academic at the Chinese Academy of Engineering, told Chinese media in December that "an expert delegation from the Ministry of Railroads visited [Myanmar] and Laos in mid-November to conduct a survey: as soon as a route for the China-[Myanmar] railroad is determined, construction could start in as early as two months, and may serve as the main transportation route of China's [rail] link with countries in Southeast Asia".
Two additional routes connecting southwestern China with Myanmar's rail network are planned between the Chinese town of Dali with Myitkyina and Lashio. Both Myanmar towns are large trading centers and railheads. China has also contributed to upgrade Myanmar's rail stock: in October 2010, Beijing donated thirty engines from the rail transport department as "friendship gifts", according to the official Xinhua news agency.
Once completed, the new routes will strengthen China's already substantial economic ties with Myanmar and contribute to a more integrated regional economy. China is already in the midst of an estimated US$1 trillion project to expand its domestic railway system from the current 78,000 kilometers to 110,000 by 2012 and 120,000 by 2020. The project aims to connect all major Chinese cities with high-speed lines with trains capable of speeds of over 200 kilometers per hour.
Myanmar occupies an especially important position in Beijing's ambitious plans to construct a high-speed rail network linking China with the economies of Southeast Asia, South Asia, the Middle East and Europe. Much of this network, especially through Myanmar, corresponds with the 14,000 kilometer Trans-Asian Railway initiative the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP) first proposed in the 1960's. If completed as planned, it will represent the largest infrastructure project in history.
The exact routes of the lines are still unclear, but they will follow three general directions. A northern route will extend through Mongolia, Kazakhstan, Russia, Ukraine and on to connect to the European rail network. A middle route will go through Myanmar, Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, Iran to Turkey. A southern route will link China to Singapore through Myanmar, Laos, Vietnam, and Thailand. Currently, China's only rail connection to Southeast Asia runs to Vietnam.
Missing links
One major obstacle for the project is Beijing's insistence on the use of the same gauge of tracks as its domestic high-speed network. The rail systems in Myanmar and other Southeast Asian nations use different gauges, meaning it will be necessary to replace current tracks or lay new ones to make the connection.
Another is the high cost and how it will be shared. China is reportedly in talks about track gauge, line direction and expense allocations with the tipped 17 countries. However, many observers are skeptical of estimates that the network could be completed over the next 10 years. Beijing must also ensure the long-term profitability of the railways in order to make the huge investment necessary for the project justifiable. So far the only portion of China's planned network actually under construction is a link between Yunnan province and northern Myanmar.
China has offered to bankroll the construction of new routes and upgrades to Myanmar's existing system in exchange for access to the country's rich natural resources. Wang Mengshu, a professor at Beijing Jiaotong University and a key member of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, told German Magazine Der Spiegel in March "We will obtain commodities that the huge Chinese population needs. [Myanmar], for instance, has no money but plenty of resources. We will help such underdeveloped countries to build railroads and to exploit their resources. Many countries have oil, gas and water resources."
In addition to providing expanded export routes for Chinese goods from its remote southwestern region, the railways will also enable more efficient transportation of energy resources from suppliers in the Middle East and Africa. New deep-sea ports at Cox's Bazaar in Bangladesh and Kyaukphyu and Dawei in Myanmar will with new rail links cut almost in half the distance needed to transport oil from the Middle East and Africa by sea.
The new ports and rail links will provide alternative routes for Chinese strategic resources that avoid potential maritime bottleneck areas such as the Malacca Straits, where currently as much as 80% of China's imported energy travels. Strategic analysts have noted that the US could block those energy flows in a potential conflict with China.
China and Bangladesh have discussed establishing a rail link between Kunming and a new deep sea port project under construction at Cox's Bazaar via Myanmar's rail network. An agreement with Dhaka has yet to be signed, but the proposed 111-kilometer route is expected to pass through eastern Bangladesh to Gundum in Myanmar where it will either connect with Myanmar's existing rail network or with the new high-speed route.
Regardless of Chinese assistance, Dhaka seems eager to construct a railway to the Myanmar border. In July 2010, Dhaka announced plans to build a railway to the Myanmar border by 2014 at a cost of $260 million. Construction of the single-track meter gauge route was set to begin in July, but some Bangladeshi observers say this may be more talk than substance. Chinese involvement, however, would put more financial firepower behind Dhaka's plans.
Bangladesh-Myanmar ties have been problematic in recent years due to disputes over their shared border, Muslim Rohingya refugees from Myanmar, as well as smuggling and ownership disputes of lucrative offshore oil and gas deposits. A new rail link, however, may go some way to interconnecting their economies and reducing the possibilities of further disputes.
India, not to be outdone by Chinese financing of Myanmar's railway infrastructure, authorized its state-owned EXIM Bank to lend $60 million to Naypyidaw to finance railway projects. The announcement of the funding came during a recent visit by Myanmar leader Senior General Than Shwe to New Delhi where he met with Indian leaders including Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.
India's assistance is a component of its ambitious Mekong-Ganga Cooperation (MGC) project to link New Delhi with Hanoi by rail. India signed a pact for the project in 2000 with Thailand, Laos, Myanmar, Vietnam and Cambodia. As part of the project, it has extended a $56 million line of credit to Naypyidaw to construct modern railway facilities in its central and northwestern regions. New Delhi has also assisted in the upgrading of the central Yangon-Mandalay rail line.
In order to connect the two countries by rail, Indian Railways has begun initial preparations to extend a broad gauge track from Jiribam in southwestern Manipur state to Moreh on the border with Myanmar. The line will connect with a proposed track in Myanmar from the current railhead at Segyi in its western Sagaing Division to the town of Tamu on the Myanmar-India border.
An established rail link between India and Myanmar would also allow for the more efficient shipment of goods between India and China. Trade between the two countries has been fast growing. China is now India's largest trading partner, with bilateral trade projected to have reached $60 billion last year. While rivals for influence in the region, especially in Myanmar, their economies are becoming increasingly interdependent despite complaints by some Indian businessmen carping about a trade imbalance which favors China.
Brian McCartan is a Bangkok-based freelance journalist. He may be reached at brianpm@comcast.net.
http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Southeast_Asia/MA08Ae01.html
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Did Shan army become militia units because of free car licenses?
Friday, 07 January 2011 16:02 Hseng Khio Fah
According to latest sources coming from the Shan State Army (SSA) ‘North’ areas, some of the SSA brigades that transformed themselves into junta-formed militia units have recently received dozens of car licenses by the ruling military junta.
Two weeks ago, Brig-Gen Aung Kyaw Zaw, Commander of the Northeastern Region Command, has granted car licenses to the transformed groups of SSA ‘North’s 3rd Brigade, 7th Brigade and its Hsengkaoew Headquarters.
The licenses are for about 30 cars, with a value of nearly 1,000 million Kyat (US $). In Burma, the cost of a license is about Kyat 3 million (US $) each.
“Before the Shan army accepted the program, the junta’s top negotiator had promised them that they would be granted car licenses if the group transformed into border guard forces,” a source said.
According to him, the promise was given by former Chief of Military Affairs Security (MAS) Lt-Gen Ye Myint to SSA ‘North’’s former Chairman Maj-Gen Loi Mao at the headquarters of the Northeastern Region Command.
It is apparent that the transformed militia units will be treated differently from non militia units which have already been seen with Shan State Army (SSA) ‘North’. For instance, the SSA’s 1st Brigade, which did not accept the BGF program, was attacked by the Burma Army five times.
Regardless, the transformed groups have not received any other significant benefits, only the car licenses, a source close to the SSA said. http://www.shanland.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=3401:did-shan-army-become-militia-units-because-of-free-car-licenses&catid=85:politics&Itemid=266
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REPATRIATION BY FORCE
Thailand again sullies its human rights record
* Published: 7/01/2011 at 12:00 AM
* Newspaper section: News
Deja vu is a French term meaning "already seen". Refoulement is also French, meaning "to force back". Upon receiving a report on Christmas Day that Thai authorities had just forced back 166 refugees to Burma, I knew that I had seen this before - at Christmas 2009 in fact.
An armed Thai soldier stands guard as Burmese refugees wait for food at a border police base in Mae Sot on Nov 9 last year. Before the year ended many of the refugees were forcibly sent back to Burma.
Indeed, only a year ago this weekend, a colleague and I had written an article in this newspaper decrying the Thai government's 2009 record on refugee protection. In late December 2009 - likewise seemingly calculated to coincide with the slowest week of the year - the army forcibly returned to Laos around 4,500 ethnic minority Hmong, among whom were 158 recognised refugees and many other asylum seekers.
A year later, only the facts had changed: the 166 refugees forcibly returned on Dec 25 had fled fighting in eastern Burma between the Burmese army and several ethnic minority armed groups. Of these refugees, 120 were women and children. They had taken refuge in Waw Lay village in Phop Phra district of Tak province, where authorities had likewise forced back at least 360 Burmese refugees on Dec 8, roughly 650 on Nov 17, and approximately 2,500 on Nov 10, 2010.
Along with the year-end symmetry, however, the human rights violations are the same. Everyone has the right to seek asylum, and those recognised as refugees have a right to not be sent back to fighting or persecution - the principle of non-refoulement.
The Thai government denied this right to the 166 people from Burma, all considered refugees by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. The fact that Thailand has not ratified the UN Refugee Convention makes no difference: like the prohibition against torture, non-refoulement is customary international law, meaning that it applies to all states regardless of their treaty obligations. Once again, Thailand has committed a clear and direct violation of international refugee law.
Despite the ugly precedent set a year earlier, this action still came as a shock, given that on Oct 7 the Thai Foreign Ministry had publicly denied any "plans to repatriate to Burma displaced persons after the [Burmese] elections". It was election day itself, Nov 7, when the first of roughly 20,000 refugees from Burma began to arrive in Thailand. And on Dec 6 - though after several incidents of refoulement had already occurred - Tak Governor Samart Loifa was quoted in this newspaper as stating that Thailand would not send refugees back as long as the fighting continued. This, sadly, was often not the case, for while most refugees have returned to Burma, many - like the 166 on Christmas - did so involuntarily. And the fighting has continued throughout.
My colleague and I concluded in our article a year ago that "Thailand's disregard for its international legal obligations should not go without a response by the international community", and I can only restate that now. UNHCR, which issued a statement in late December calling on Thailand to not forcibly return the 166, should condemn the action and reiterate its call vis-a-vis all refugees who remain in Thailand or may yet arrive. Embassies in Bangkok should do likewise, while countries on the UN Human Rights Council (which includes Thailand as a member and Thailand's ambassador to Geneva as its president) should also raise concerns about this violation.
Indeed, it is now too late for the 166 Burmese refugees who have been forcibly returned, just as it was in 2009 for the 158 Lao Hmong refugees. But given ongoing conflict in Burma, refugees from there will continue to cross the border during 2011. Thailand, regardless of which party is in power, must acknowledge and uphold its international legal obligations. Once is already once too often for human rights deja vu.
Benjamin Zawacki is Amnesty International's researcher on Thailand and Burma. http://www.bangkokpost.com/opinion/opinion/214831/thailand-again-sullies-its-human-rights-record
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DEEP-SEA PORT PROJECT
Roadshow to Burma slated for January 18
By WATCHARAPONG THONGRUNG
THE NATION
Published on January 7, 2011
Industry Minister Chaiwuti Bannawat will lead a Thai delegation to Burma later this month for talks about the establishment of an upstream steel project at Dawei (Tavoy) - the site of a proposed deep-sea port adjacent to Kanchanaburi province.
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Chaiwuti said he would visit the capital Naypyidaw and meet the Burmese minister who oversees industrial development. Thai investors accompanying him will be taken to Dawei, where the deep-sea port and industrial complex are planned.
Chaiwuti said it was possible that some industries could be diverted to Burma, such as the upstream steel project, as a joint investment scheme involving both countries.
"We'll see what investment opportunities we can explore, in the areas of the deep-sea port and logistics. Our view is that Asean will come under one roof after the Asean Economic Community [comes into effect], and Thailand could be the investment centre," he said.
Chaiwuti, who had a meeting with overseas officials of the Board of Investment this week, said the BoI's new mission was to promote Thai investment overseas and woo foreign investment into Thailand. The foreign investors targeted by Thailand are still those from the United States, Europe and Japan, as well as those from new targets like China and India.
The Board of Investment expects to receive applications for privileges covering investments worth Bt400 billion this year, compared with Bt447 billion in 2010. The 2010 figure fell short of the BoI's target of Bt500 billion.
Despite the low figure, Chaiwuti said Thailand was ranked 15th in the world in terms of investment expansion last year, and fifth in Asia after China, India, Hong Kong and Singapore.
"Thailand has some competitive advantages to draw foreign investment," he said, giving as examples its geographical location, infrastructure and hospitality.
However, he said that for its continued prosperity, Thailand had to improve in many areas, particularly the country's political condition and its regulatory framework, to avoid more conflicts like the 3G issue.
BoI officials have been urged to work hand in hand with the Foreign Affairs and Commerce ministries. They should also offer privileges for value-chain investments, like those that add value to rubber, or are environmentally-friendly, the minister said.
The BOI is also planning to open a new office in Mumbai, India, to facilitate investments to and from India. http://www.nationmultimedia.com/home/2011/01/07/business/Roadshow-to-Burma-slated-for-January-18-30145879.html
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Interest in Travel to Myanmar Surges
- January 6, 2011
With the release of Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi in November 2010, many travelers now feel more comfortable visiting Myanmar (Burma), a destination that many had felt discouraged to visit in the past.
Yet, visiting Myanmar, the land of a million pagodas, is a retreat to a country whose great allure lies in its warm-hearted and welcoming people, peaceful Buddhist culture and bucolic landscape.
Asia Transpacific Journeys, the nation's leading tour company specializing exclusively in Custom Journeys and Small Group Trips in the Asia/Pacific region, is reporting that bookings to this intriguing country have almost tripled year over year. The company has been organizing travel to Myanmar for the past 15 years and is the hands-down Burma expert in the industry.
Marilyn Downing-Staff, Asia Transpacific Journeys' founder and President, says: "It's a golden moment to see Myanmar and take a step back in time to the Southeast Asia of old. The country still moves via ox cart, water buffalo plough the fields and smiling children run to greet the traveler."
Ms. Downing Staff made her first visit to the country in 1987 and describes travel to Burma as captivating - "a place that I go back to time and again, to renew my deep affection for Southeast Asia's people. " Many of Asia Transpacific Journeys' travelers have made friends for life with the hospitable Burmese people and there is no better place to immerse one's self in Asian culture than in Burma, according to Ms. Downing Staff. The country offers tremendous value, with comfortable to luxurious accommodations and attentive service. English is widely spoken, making it easy for travelers to interact with the locals.
Asia Transpacific Journeys' Small Group tour "Burma - Land of the Golden Pagoda" January 2011 departure is sold out and demand for their custom journeys to Myanmar have also risen considerably in recent months. Their list of Myanmar travel tours include three expertly led small group trips with five annual departures, as well as customized, privately guided tours.
The company's next Small Group tour "Hidden Burma" departs January 28 and "Burma—Land of the Golden Pagoda" departs again in October, while Custom Journeys can be arranged at any time of the year, with October through February being the best time to visit.
Highlights of a custom trip to Myanmar include witnessing the annual Phaung Daw Oo Pagoda Festival, one of the most popular pagoda festivals in Myanmar, where thousands of floating luminaries dot Inle Lake for the first few nights of the festival. Other highlights include riding bicycles at sunrise through the countryside around Bagan or through the Lisu and Rawang tribal villages in the far north, or enjoying a spectacular sunrise balloon ride over the temples of Bagan, the former capital of several ancient kingdoms in Myanmar.
Asia Transpacific Journeys also recommends visiting lesser-known areas of the country such as the mountainous areas of extreme northern Myanmar or some of the remote towns of Shan State including Hsipaw, Kengtung and Putao. "The morning markets in these areas are second to none in Southeast Asia, filled with colorfully dressed tribal villagers, local crafts and freshly prepared food", says Ms. Downing Staff.
http://www.luxurytravelmagazine.com/news-articles/interest-in-travel-to-myanmar-surges-15216.php
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China to rebuild the allies' wartime lifeline through Burma
Dean Nelson, The Daily Telegraph
January 6, 2011
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China is to rebuild Burma's historic "Stilwell Road", the route from India used by British and American forces to supply Chinese troops in the battle against Japanese occupation during the Second World War.
The road was named after the American general "Vinegar Joe" Stilwell by Chiang Kai-shek, China's nationalist leader, to honour his determination to find a faster way to get more military supplies from India to Kunming.
Allied forces had been hampered after Japanese troops seized the Burma Road, and were forced to transport supplies to their Chinese allies by air over the Himalayas. U.S. army engineers started work on the 478-mile road from Ledo in Assam (now in Arunachal Pradesh), India, to Mogaung in Burma in 1942.
With the help of Chinese troops, they cut through the high Pangsau Pass as an alternative route to Burma at Mu-se in January, 1945.
Gen Stilwell was a bitter critic of Winston Churchill's decision to focus Britain's war effort on the fight against German forces in Europe and believed it was more concerned with retaining its colonies than defeating imperial Japan.
The road is now to be rebuilt by the Yunnan Construction Engineering Company in a joint venture with the Burmese military-backed Yuzana Group.
The deal was signed by Burmese ministers and leaders of the Yunnan Communist Party on Nov 22. A 194-mile stretch of road will be built from Myitkyina to the Pangsau Pass, close to the Indian border.
The plans have added to concerns in India about China's territorial claims in Arunachal Pradesh. In recent months, tension has grown between New Delhi and Beijing over China's claim to sovereignty over Tawang district, which it claims is part of Tibet.
India is also disappointed that its own hopes of constructing the road have been quashed. Security commentators, however, said that while the road could pose a strategic threat to India if relations with China deteriorated, it could also lead to greater trade between India and both Burma and China. "It could be a good thing or a bad thing," said Vikram Sood, the former head of India's main intelligence agency. "It could serve either trade or military purposes. It was a vital road to China during the Second World War and it remains so. Whether it is good or bad depends on how we take care of our interests."
© Copyright (c) The Daily Telegraph http://www.dose.ca/news/story.html?id=4070913
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Luc Besson quietly filming Aung San Suu Kyi biopic in Paris already
Filming started on the movie about the Burmese opposition leader last year and Deadline Hollywood claims it has resumed in Paris.
It's been reported Besson has been trying to keep filming on The Lady as quiet as possible because of the political situation after Suu Kyi's release from prison in November.
Besson has been shooting the movie in Oxford, England, as well as Bangkok, Thailand, and it is claimed they were filming in Bangkok on the day of Suu Kyi's release two months ago.
The movie follows Suu Kyi's decision whether to fly back to England and look after her dying husband, who will be played by David Thewlis, or continue fighting for Burma's democracy.
copyright notice http://www.monstersandcritics.com/people/news/article_1610013.php/Luc-Besson-quietly-filming-Aung-San-Suu-Kyi-biopic-in-Paris-already
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