News & Articles on Burma-Monday, 04 April, 2011

News & Articles on Burma
Monday, 04 April, 2011
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Myanmar's new president meets Chinese delegate first
Burma's Democratic Parties Welcome US Special Envoy
Burma Arrests ex-army officer who supports opposition
Than Shwe Acquires State Properties
Burmese Blood Donation Volunteer Arrested
Pentagon man tipped for Burma post
Myanmar new vice president meets Chinese official
Head of Burma military retires
Bad Business for Burma
Work begins on $255mn rail line project
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Myanmar's new president meets Chinese delegate first

Apr 4, 2011, 12:14 GMT

Yangon - Myanmar's new President Thein Sein on Monday received a senior official from the Chinese communist party in his first official meeting with a foreign delegation, sources said.

The president met with Jia Qinglin, chairman of the 11th National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, in the capital Naypyitaw, a government source who asked to remain anonymous said.

'The visiting Chinese official also signed a memorandum of understanding with Vice President Thiha Thura Tin Aung Myint Oo related to the social and economic co-operation between the two countries,' the source said.

Jia's delegation arrived in Mandalay on Saturday where they were feted by the mayor, Minister for Development Affairs Phone Zaw Han and other ministers, according to state media reports.

The group arrived in Naypyitaw Sunday morning.

China is Myanmar's closest ally, and recently became the South-East Asian nation's largest private investor.

Thein Sein last week replaced Senior General Than Shwe, junta chief since 1992, as the new head of state.

In his inaugural speech, he urged the international community to 'immediately stop bullying Myanmar, drop sanctions and to work together with the government.'

Myanmar has been subject to economic sanctions by Western democracies since September 1988, when the army cracked down on a pro-democracy movement and reportedly killed up to 3,000 people.

The country been been ruled by military juntas since 1988, and before that by a military-socialist regime since 1962.

Some 82 per cent of the new ministers, who came to power after the military-managed November 7 election, are either former or active military men.
http://www.monstersandcritics.com/news/asiapacific/news/article_1630608.php/Myanmar-s-new-president-meets-Chinese-delegate-first
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Burma's Democratic Parties Welcome US Special Envoy
By HTET AUNG Monday, April 4, 2011

Burma's democratic parties have welcomed the news that the United States is preparing to appoint a special envoy to Burma to engage with both the new Burmese government and opposition groups.

Derek Mitchell, the principal assistant secretary of defense for Asian and Pacific security affairs, was nominated as a special envoy to Burma just days after the country carried out a power transfer from the military regime to a new civilian government composed of the junta's leaders.

“The NLD [National League for Democracy] welcomes the news that the US government will appoint a special envoy to Burma,” said Ohn Kyaing, a spokesperson for the NLD which is led by democracy champion Aung San Suu Kyi.

Derek Michell, new US special envoy to Burma, speaks at a meeting in Seoul.
“It is encouraging to hear this news and it is the right move at the right time,” he added. “Since the first visit of Mr Kurt Campbell [assistant secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific affairs] to Burma, we [the NLD] suggested the US should appoint such a special envoy to Burma.”

The NLD also saw new President Thein Sein's first public speech as positive, and recognized that Burma's politics is now at a critical juncture between the end of military rule and the start of a new government formed by an election of sorts. The party considers that this is the right time for dialogue with the new government aiming toward national reconciliation, said Ohn Kyaing.

Talking to The Irrawaddy on Monday, Ohn Kyaing said: “Our leader [Suu Kyi] said that it is in the best interests of the country if we can discuss things face to face, and that there will be no political problems that we can't solve.”

Ohn Kyaing added that Suu Kyi recently stressed in a meeting with other party leaders that in any political dialogue it was impossible for participants to get everything that they desire.

While the NLD expects that the presence of a US special envoy will help facilitate political dialogue with the new government led by Thein Sein, other political parties have different expectations from the role.

The National Democratic Force (NDF) and the Democratic Party (Myanmar)—which both contested the Nov. 7 election—also welcomed the news that the US will appoint a special envoy to Burma. And both parties desire the lifting of economic sanctions.

Asked what the NDF wants the special envoy to specifically focus on, NDF founder and leader Khin Maung Swe said, “What we see now is that there is an assumption that the poverty of this country is because of economic sanctions. But likewise, we can't deny that the poverty has also long been endured due to economic mismanagement.

“However, he [the US special envoy] needs to think about whether it would be better to impose more economic sanctions to the country which already has shouldered the burden of this economic mismanagement.”

Khin Maung Swe, along with other political parties leaders, met the US chargé d'affaires Larry Dinger, on March 28. He also raised the issue of US economic sanctions on Burma during the meeting.

Khin Maung Swe said that he asked Dinger about the perceived double standards in his country's international relations. He pointed out that China has a good relationship with the US despite having a poor human rights record, and that the US supported the Egypt government led by former president Hosni Mubarak, despite his having ruled Egypt dictatorially for 30 years.

Asked how the diplomat responded to these questions, Khin Maung Swe said, “He [Larry Dinger] recognized the ineffectiveness of the economic sanctions and sympathized with people living in poverty, but the US lawmakers will not change their policy any time soon without any tangible progress.”

Thu Wai, the leader of the Democratic Party (Myanmar), who also talked with Dinger in the same meeting, said, “His [Larry Dinger] term is going to end, and so he arranged this meeting before leaving Burma. He mostly explained US policies on Burma.”

Thu Wai said that Dinger explained that the aim of the US economic sanctions is to improve the political environment in Burma and change the junta, not to violate human and democratic rights. But whether this is effective or not remains another matter.

Mitchell was special assistant for Asian and Pacific affairs in the Office of the Secretary of Defense from 1997 to 2001, when he served in turn as senior country director for China, Taiwan, Mongolia and Hong Kong. He also co-authored the book “China’s Rise: Challenges and Opportunities” in 2008.

Copyright © 2008 Irrawaddy Publishing Group | www.irrawaddy.org
http://irrawaddy.org/article.php?art_id=21072
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Burma Arrests ex-army officer who supports opposition
By Zin Linn Apr 04, 2011 10:19PM UTC

On 30 March, President Thein Sein addressed the first regular session of Union Parliament.

In his speech, he said, “To safeguard the fundamental rights of citizens in line with the provisions of the constitution in the new democratic nation is high on our government’s list of priorities. We guarantee that all citizens will enjoy equal rights in terms of law, and we will reinforce the judicial pillar.”

But, now, people are suspicious with his words. The case is that Nay Myo Zin, 36, a retired Burmese military officer who works as a volunteer of ‘Blood Donation Network’ affiliated with the opposition National League for Democracy (NLD), has been arrested on Saturday by the Special Branch Police in South-Dagon in Rangoon.

According to his family, the ex-army captain did not commit any crime except helping poor patients who need emergency blood transfusion. Nay Myo Zin was taken off in the middle of a street by the police but they did not give any reason of his detention.

Zin Myo Maw, wife of the detainee, said she heard that her husband was taken to Aung Thapyay detention centre in Mayangone Township in Rangoon. She could not have a message or a call by her husband since he was taken away to detention center. She said that her husband’s mobile phone had been turn off.

Nay Myo Zin was from Intake 39 of the Defence Services Academy (DSA). In 1998, he became a platoon leader in Infantry Battalion (19) in Swar township in Pegu Division. In 2003, he served as second in command of the No. 262 Military Provost Unit (Military Police) in Taung-gyi in Shan State. In 2005, he decided to quit from the service and retired in May 2005.

In 2009, he started helping some activities of the NLD youth wing. After Daw Aung San Suu Kyi’s released from house arrest in last November, he involved in the NLD’s movement to some extent. He is an active member of the youth wing’s Blood Donation Network group.

According to The Irrawaddy, Nyi Nyi, one of the core members of the NLD Youth Blood-Group, said he had earlier hoped that their group would have more opportunities since a new government had been sworn in. However, now his hopes “had quickly disappeared” following the arrest of Nay Myo Zin.

“We feel very depressed about Nay Myo Zin’s arrest,” he said. “He supported us and brought his own car to work. Without him, our group faces difficulties ahead.”

The NLD’s youth blood donors’ network was established in 2009 in Rangoon. As a result of core members’ hard works, it has already organized branches in Mandalay, Magwe and Sagaing. Now, Blood-Group Network has not less than 10,000 members, as said by Nyi Nyi.

Burmese people are eagerly watching the to-do list of the Thein Sein Government due to his rhetoric inaugural speech. People are also waiting for the release of over 2,000 political prisoners as a gesture of reconciliation. But, it seems in vain because apart from releasing the old political dissidents, it starts arresting fresh political dissenters.

President Thein Sein said in his speech, “In conclusion, respecting the people’s decision to elect our government, we will try our best for Myanmar (Burma) to be able to stand as a democratic nation in the long run with justice, freedom and equality while steadfastly shouldering the State duties. At the same time I would like to urge and invite all the people to work together with the government in the interests of the nation.”

On the contrary, a blood donor’s arrest would appear to disagree with the essence of President Thein Sein’s inaugural speech. It shows there is no freedom, justice and equality. So, the capture of ex-army captain Nay Myo Zin proves clearly that Thein Sein government will not become a democratic version.

The military faction has still jealousy toward the NLD led by Aung San Suu Kyi and even did not want to recognize the basic principle of democracy – to respect each other. They think themselves so high, while they think others of no value.
http://asiancorrespondent.com/51814/burma-arrests-ex-army-officer-who-supports-opposition/
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Than Shwe Acquires State Properties
By YAN PAI Monday, April 4, 2011
Snr-Gen Than Shwe and his family members at Uppatasanti Pogoda in Naypyidaw on March 8,2009 (Photo:MNA)

Burma's State Peace and Development Council (SPDC), the military junta that ruled the country since September 1988 under different names, reportedly transferred ownership of over 1,000 acres of rubber plantations, jade mines and gold mines to junta chief Snr-Gen Than Shwe and his family, according to business sources in Rangoon.

The rubber plantations are located in the areas controlled by the Burmese army's Southeast Region Command and Coastal Region Command, and the jade and gold mining sites are in the country's northern Kachin State.

A businessman close to the regime told The Irrawaddy that the transfer had to be completed before the SPDC was dissolved on March 30 and the new government lead by former prime minister Thein Sein was sworn in. He said the rubber plantations were placed in Than Shwe's name and the jade and gold mines, which were under care of the regime's Ministry of Mines, were transferred to his daughters.

A source from the regime's Ministry of Finance and Revenue (MFR) said the ownership of certain premises in Rangoon, Naypyidaw and Maymyo, as well as over 30 vehicles, were put in the names of Than Shwe's children and grandchildren. The transfer of those premises and cars, which were provided to the junta leader by the SPDC, was done without paying any tax to the state, the source said.

The MFR source also said Nay Shwe Thway Aung, Than Shwe's most beloved grandson, has acquired many major properties in Rangoon. One of the properties he has taken over, located on Kabaraye Pagoda Road, used to belong to the Ministry of Industry 1. Others belonged to the Ministry of Science and Technology, the Department of Atomic Energy and the Ministry of Industry 2 located in Yankin Township. He has taken over the land of the duty-free market in Yankin as well, the source said.

Since late 2009, with a pretext of privatization, the SPDC transferred the ownership of state-owned ministry buildings and enterprises in Rangoon and Mandalay to private companies run by leading military figures or regime cronies. Most of the transferred businesses were reportedly acquired by private companies such as Asia World, Max Myanmar, Htoo and IGE.

In addition to the dissolution of the SPDC, Than Shwe handed over his position as the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces to Gen Min Aung Hlaing.

Than Shwe's future role under the new government is not known, but military sources in Naypyidaw said he heads the soon-to-be officially formed State Supreme Council, the highest decision making body in the country that will directly control the armed forces.
http://www.irrawaddy.org/article.php?art_id=21071
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Burmese Blood Donation Volunteer Arrested
By KO HTWE Monday, April 4, 2011
A police truck patrols in Rangoon. (Photo: Reuters)

Nay Myo Zin, a former Burmese military officer who works as a volunteer for a blood donation group affiliated with the opposition National League for Democracy (NLD), has been arrested by the Special Branch of Rangoon's police for no apparent reason, according to family members.

Speaking to The Irrawaddy on Monday, his wife, Zin Myo Maw, said that her husband was taken off the street by the police on Saturday evening and that no reason was given.

“The Special Branch didn’t tell us what they were doing,” she said. “They just took him away.”

Zin Myo Maw said she heard that her husband was taken to Aung Thapyay detention centre in Mayangone Township in Rangoon, and that she had not been contacted by her husband since he was arrested. She said that his mobile phone had been switched off.

“He was simply working as a volunteer by helping collect donations of blood,” she said.

The authorities arrived at Nay Myo Zin's home on Sunday and seized some of his documents,” she added.

Nay Myo Zin, 36, had served as a captain with the military police within the Burmese army until he was forced to retired in 2005 because he was involved with a political movement, said sources close to him.

His arrest would appear to contradict the substance of President Thein Sein's inaugural speech last Wednesday when he called for the new government to cooperate with international organizations such as the United Nations, as well as international nongovernmental organizations and local nongovernmental organizations, said a Burma observer.

Nyi Nyi, one of the leaders of the NLD youth blood donation group, said he had previously hoped that their organization would have more opportunities now that a new government had been sworn in, but now his hopes “had quickly disappeared” following the arrest of Nay Myo Zin.

“We feel very depressed about Nay Myo Zin's arrest,” he said. “He supported us and brought his own car to work. Without him, our group faces difficulties ahead.”

The NLD's youth blood donor group was established in 2009 in Rangoon, and now has operations in Mandalay, Magwe and Sagaing. It has at least 10,000 members, said Nyi Nyi.

According to the Thailand-based Assistance Association for Political Prisoners-Burma, there are currently 2,076 political prisoners in Burma. http://irrawaddy.org/article.php?art_id=21070
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Pentagon man tipped for Burma post
By AFP
Published: 4 April 2011

President Barack Obama will soon appoint the first US special envoy on Burma, officials said, signalling a renewed effort to pry open the nation after its much criticised political transition.

People involved in the process said Obama would name Derek Mitchell, a veteran policymaker on Asia who now serves at the Pentagon, as the coordinator for US efforts for the country.

A US official said on condition of anonymity that the administration would announce the nomination “very soon” and likely roll out Mitchell with an appearance before Congress, a hotbed of criticism of Burma.

The nomination was first reported by Foreign Policy magazine’s blog The Cable.

After Obama took office in January 2009, his administration concluded that Western efforts to isolate the military-led nation had been ineffective and initiated a dialogue with the junta.

The United States has voiced disappointment over developments in Burma, including an election in November widely denounced as a sham, but has said that it sees no alternative to engagement at such a fluid time.

Kurt Campbell, the top state department official for East Asia, had personally spearheaded the Obama administration’s efforts on Burma and travelled twice to the isolated country.

Congress approved a wide-ranging law on Burma in 2008 that tightened sanctions and created the special envoy position. Then-president George W. Bush named Michael Green, formerly one of his top aides, but the nomination died in the Senate due to an unrelated political dispute.

Green, now a scholar at the Center for Strategic and International Studies and Georgetown University, said Mitchell’s expected appointment would give momentum to Burma policy – provided that the administration gives him enough space to manoeuvre.

“Kurt Campbell wanted to make a serious run at this. He did as well as could be expected but it yielded no positive change, so now they want to invest this with someone who has a full-time commitment,” Green told AFP.

In naming an envoy, Campbell could escape the criticism levelled against his predecessor in the Bush administration, Christopher Hill, who was accused in some quarters of neglecting most of the dynamic Asia region because he was personally engrossed in denuclearisation negotiations with North Korea.

Burma’s ruling junta officially disbanded on Wednesday, giving the country a nominally civilian government for the first time in nearly a century. But many analysts called the move a masquerade, as top junta figures remain firmly in leadership positions, albeit without their uniforms.

In one development welcomed overseas, Burmese authorities last year freed pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi. The Nobel laureate had spent most of the last two decades under house arrest after her party won previous elections.

Suu Kyi has no voice in Burma’s new parliament. Her National League for Democracy was disbanded after it chose to boycott the elections, which it suspected were designed to marginalise the opposition and ethnic minorities.

In an address Saturday to activists gathered in Washington, Suu Kyi appealed for sustained world attention on her country – which human rights groups say experiences some of the world’s most severe abuses.

“At this moment, Burma is at a crossroads,” Suu Kyi told the meeting of the US Campaign for Burma in a video message.

“There are those who say that we have come to a place where there is change visible, but there are those of us who believe that change has not yet come – no visible change, just superficial change, not real change.

“May I say to renew your efforts once again to make sure that the Burma cause is kept alive at all the important places where it should be kept alive – in the minds of governments, in the minds of the United Nations, in the minds of peoples all over the world,” she added.

Suu Kyi enjoys wide support in the US Congress. Four senators – Republicans Mitch McConnell and Mark Kirk and Democrats Dianne Feinstein and Barbara Boxer – urged the administration not to lift sanctions over Burma’s transition.

Representative Joseph Crowley, a Democrat active on Burma, said separately: “One thing is certain – when it comes to Burma’s military regime, the more things change, the more they stay the same.” http://www.dvb.no/news/pentagon-man-tipped-for-burma-post/15142
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Myanmar new vice president meets Chinese official
English.news.cn 2011-04-03 23:08:04

NAY PYI TAW, April 3 (Xinhua) -- Myanmar new Vice President U Tin Aung Myint Oo met with visiting Chinese Vice Commerce Minister Chen Jian in Nay Pyi Taw Sunday.

The two sides discussed matters of mutually beneficial economic cooperation.

Chen is accompanying China's top political advisor Jia Qinglin on a friendly visit to Myanmar.

Jia Qinglin, chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, arrived at central Myanmar's Mandalay on Saturday and had met with U Ye Myint, Chief Minister of Mandalay region, agreeing to boost regional cooperation between the two neighboring countries.

Trade between China and Myanmar has been on a sharp rise in recent years. In 2010, bilateral trade totaled 4.444 billion U.S. dollars, an increase of 53.2 percent over the year before.

Myanmar is the first stop of Jia's three nation tour, which will also take him to Australia and Samoa.
Editor: yan http://news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/china/2011-04/03/c_13812002.htm
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Head of Burma military retires
04 April 2011 | 02:15:36 PM | Source: AAP

Burma's strongman Than Shwe, who ruled with an iron fist for almost two decades, has retired as head of the military after handing power to a nominally civilian government, officials said.

Than Shwe, previously known as the "senior general", last week disbanded the ruling junta following a November election marred by the absence of democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi and claims of cheating and intimidation.

"The senior general and vice-senior general (Maung Aye) have retired already," a Burmese official told AFP, speaking on condition of anonymity. "They are going to have a rest now."

A second official said: "Although they are retired, they will give some advice when the government asks for it."

The army hierarchy retains a firm grip on power in the resource-rich Southeast Asian country, and many analysts believe Than Shwe will retain a significant role behind the scenes.
http://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/1513016/Head-of-Burma-military-retires
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I.H.T. Op-Ed Contributor
Bad Business for Burma
By MATTHEW F. SMITH
Published: April 3, 2011

The Burmese pro-democracy leader Daw Aung San Suu Kyi recently urged Western nations to maintain economic sanctions against Myanmar, where the world’s longest-running military dictatorship is tightening its repressive ways: Over 2,000 prisoners of conscience languish behind bars in squalid conditions, while arbitrary arrests and detentions, extrajudicial killings, torture and other abuses continue to be widespread and systematic, particularly in ethnic areas.

Nevertheless, Mrs. Aung San Suu Kyi’s message is not without controversy. It comes just weeks before the European Union will revisit its hotly debated sanctions policy, and a few disquieted Western policymakers, corporate executives and think tanks are advocating for economic engagement with the reclusive generals and their cronies. Sanctions policy is not only antiquated, ineffective, and hurtful to the Burmese people, they argue, it also gives the upper hand to China, which is sending companies to Burma with abandon, especially for big-ticket energy projects tapping natural gas reserves.

Beijing has at least 16 oil and gas companies invested in 21 onshore and offshore projects in Burma, far more than any other country. Until now, there’s been very little information available about these projects, the largest of which are dual gas and oil pipelines under construction from western Burma to the Chinese border, led by the state-controlled China National Petroleum Corporation and Korea’s Daewoo International.

Passing rugged mountains, dense jungles, arid plains, important rivers and a number of contested territories and population densities in Burma, the 500-mile-long pipelines will enable Beijing to bypass the vulnerable Strait of Malacca and supply gas and oil directly to landlocked Yunnan Province.

Leaked documents and clandestine interviews with affected populations along the project route in Burma confirm that the Burmese military is responsible for guarding the pipelines and related infrastructure, and for committing serious human rights violations in connection to the projects.

The most common violation so far is land confiscation and forced or coerced evictions. Families have been stripped of their means of subsistence — their land — with little or no compensation, making them instantly more vulnerable to the trappings of poverty and abuse in the militarized state.

“I don’t have enough rice for my family,” said one farmer who lost the land his family cultivated for generations. “I worry for my family.”

Violent abuses are also happening. “They blindfolded me and put me in a car,” an Arakanese man reported, referring to Burma’s Military Intelligence, “I’m not sure where they drove.” This man was tortured brutally for four days in a windowless room before standing trial on trumped-up charges with no defense lawyer.

Not that legal representation would have mattered. In proceedings that he says lasted five minutes, a Burmese judge sentenced him to six months in the notorious Insein Prison, where he survived appalling conditions before going into hiding. His crime: leading two community-level training sessions to raise awareness about the pipelines.

Unsurprisingly, in a multitude of interviews, not one villager expressed support for the pipelines.

Perhaps of greatest concern for Burma’s development is that the projects will generate billions of dollars annually through gas sales, taxes, fees, royalties and production bonuses. If the past is any judge, those revenues will accrue to the military rulers and serve to widen the gap between the haves and the have-nots. Burma already ranks as the world’s second most corrupt country, beating only Somalia, according to Transparency International, which publishes a widely cited corruption perception index.

Barring targeted action from the international community, revenues from these pipelines will likely remain outside the national budget and tucked away in offshore bank accounts held in trust for the military rulers and their closed network of political and economic elite. Despite billions of dollars in export gas sales already coming in, new schools and hospitals are few and far between in resource-rich Burma, but luxury homes and expensive cars for the ruling elite and their families abound.

As sanctions policies are revisited, Western oil and mining companies shouldn’t assume they have the answers for Burma’s development or that they can do better than China. No matter how well intentioned a company may be, no matter how responsible, constructing new energy projects in Burma’s contested ethnic territories with the backing of the Burmese Army is bound to be violent, and enormous revenue flows into military coffers will do more to perpetuate authoritarianism than to promote positive change, regardless of where those revenues come from.

Barring meaningful political changes, new energy projects in today’s Burma are simply not good business — for China, the West, or the people of Burma, regardless of any sanctions policy.

Matthew F. Smith is a senior consultant with EarthRights International, which represented Burmese plaintiffs in Doe v. Unocal Corporation. http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/04/opinion/04iht-edsmith04.html?ref=global-home
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Work begins on $255mn rail line project

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina yesterday opened construction work on a rail line that will connect Cox’s Bazaar, Bangladesh’s southeastern beach resort to neighbouring Myanmar.

The $255mn project of 2-meter gauge lines will connect Jhilongjha with Chittagong, the principal port city on one side and on the other side, it will connect Ramu with Gundum near the Myanmarese border by December 2013, Star Online, website of The Daily Star reported. The first survey for the railway line was conducted in 1890 during the British era. But due to the two World Wars the construction works could not start. The first feasibility study on the rail line was conducted in 2001 during Hasina’s previous tenure. Bangladesh has a 300km border with Myanmar. It hopes to connect by road and rail through Myanmar with Kunmin in China.
http://www.gulf-times.com/site/topics/article.asp?cu_no=2&item_no=426167&version=1&template_id=44&parent_id=24