News & Articles on Burma-Saturday, 16 July, 2011

News & Articles on Burma
Saturday, 16 July, 2011
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Defections of two senior envoys rattle Myanmar
Burma’s Kachin people demand political dialogue instead of war
Gems auction nets $1.5 billion for Myanmar despite US sanctions
Myanmar invites bids for 18 onshore oil blocks
Chinese Study Calls for Scrapping Myitsone Dam
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THE MANILA TIMES.Com
Saturday, July 16, 2011
Defections of two senior envoys rattle Myanmar

WASHINGTON, D.C.: Myanmar’s Embassy in Washington has been rattled by defections of two senior diplomats, embarrassing the country’s military-backed regime, which wants to show the world that it is evolving.

Kyaw Win, the second-ranking diplomat at the embassy until his defection on July 4, told Agence France-Presse during an interview that he had grown tired of waiting for change in his country and voiced admiration for pro-democracy opposition icon Aung San Suu Kyi.

Meanwhile, Soe Aung—the embassy’s No. 4 official—applied for asylum in the United States the following week.

Aaccording to several sources, he made the decision as he was about to be escorted home as part of an investigation of the first diplomat’s defection.

The chaos at the embassy comes despite efforts by leaders in Myanmar, also known as Burma, to show a stable political transition.

A ruling junta held elections in November and afterward officially handed over power to a nominally civilian government.

Western governments and opposition leaders believe that the changes are only cosmetic—a view that Kyaw Win said he quietly shared while working at the embassy.

“We said that the elections would bring change, but” six months after the polls “it’s even worse than before,” said the 59-year-old career diplomat, who previously served in Brazil, India and Switzerland.

“I have for a long time argued with my kids, who are already grown up, who used to argue that the government won’t change,” he added.

According to Kyaw Win, who was on the verge of returning to Myanmar for retirement, he “still believed that I could change it within the system.”

“[But] after 30 years, I should try to change our country from the outside and Washington is a good place to give pressure,” he said.

US State Department officials declined to comment on the validity of his asylum bid, citing privacy rules for cases involving immigration.

President Barack Obama’s administration in 2009 opened talks with Myanmar after concluding that the previous policy of engaging the regime has failed.

US State Department officials have insisted that dialogue remains the best option, even though they have voiced disappointment with the results.

Myanmar’s Embassy is believed to have played a low-key role in the talks, with the United States reaching out directly to the leadership in the capital Naypyidaw or working through Myanmar’s United Nations mission in New York.

The embassy, located on a leafy backstreet of northwest Washington next to upscale old homes and the popular Textile Museum, had 14 accredited diplomats as of the beginning of the year, according to the US State Department.

But the two defectors were considered among the most urbane diplomats of the military-backed government.

The United States and Myanmar do not exchange ambassadors, the result of Washington’s protests after the junta annulled 1990 elections won by Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy.

“My view is that Aung San Suu Kyi is the only leader who has the people’s trust,” Kyaw Win said.

He added, however, that he was not convinced that the National League for Democracy was effective.

The party was forcibly disbanded for refusing to register in last year’s elections, which it feared would be marred by fraud.

Kyaw Win said that many people in Myanmar recalled that the country was one of the most prosperous in Asia before 1962, when the military seized power.

“We know that change won’t happen within days. We know that it will take time. But we have to get into the right direction,” he said.

AFP
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Burma’s Kachin people demand political dialogue instead of war
Sat, 2011-07-16 02:45 — editor
By - Zin Linn

How much time does Burma need to initiate national reconciliation, a transition to democracy and full respect for human rights? The cost of further delay will be paid in thousands of innocent lives, lost opportunities and prolonged civil war.

The new civilian government – in the namesake, is neglecting its own promises – good governance, national unity, poverty alleviation etc. – made during presidential inaugural ceremony. But the government is actively going on to count the support of China, India and Russia for its grip on power.

The Burmese people feel that it is time for the international community to raise this half-century-long political conflict at the next meetings of the U.N. General Assembly and Security Council. They hope for a global arms embargo against Burma's military junta, and an investigation into crimes against humanity or war crimes committed by the military regime. They have also called for the establishment of a Commission of Inquiry proposed by Tomas Ojea Quintana, UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights.

It is clearly visible to the International Community, the ongoing atrocities, violence and destructions and crimes against humanity unleashed by the Burma’s Army in Kachin, Karen and Shan states. Recently, a two-day meeting of Kachin delegates in Laiza, in Burma’s northern Kachin State, concluded with the denunciation of a truce without political reconciliation with the untrustworthy Burmese government.

According to Kachin News Group [KNG], the July 12-13 meeting was held at the Alen Bum Military Base, in the KIO command center, Laiza, hearing the opinions from Kachin public leaders on the restoration of ceasefire between the Kachin Independence Organization (KIO) and the military-backed Burmese government. More than 120 delegates from Kachin State, Shan State and the rest of Burma participated in the meeting.

During the meeting, Maj-Gen Gunhtang Gam Shawng, Chief of Staff of the Kachin Independence Army (KIA), the military-branch of the KIO, gave details about the KIO’s ceasefire plan to Kachin public leaders at the meeting.

Political analysts and observers were deeply concerned about the widespread war in the Kachin State. Now, people have been blaming Thein Sein government for breaking of every promise with the ethnic ceasefire groups.

The regime’s miscalculation on handling the Kachin issue seems pushing the country into an abysmal gorge of tragedies. Burma’s new military offensives on the Kachin, Karen and Shan armed groups will lead the nation into a severe poverty trap.

According to Maj-Gen Gam Shawng, the KIO will only seek out a transitory armistice with the Burmese government up to six months. However, it can be called a halt at any time if there were no political word of honor. The KIO’s new ceasefire plan was rejected by delegates because of the failure to achieve a political solution over the last five decades, a Kachin News Group (KNG) reporter in Laiza said.

In hope of setting up a political dialogue, the KIO signed a ceasefire agreement with the central government on February 24, 1994 and supported the military-favored 2008 constitution.

No political dialogue took place in the last 16-year ceasefire period and the KIO was intimidated to remove weapons and transform into the Burmese Army-controlled Border Guard Force (BGF) before the November 7 election.

The KIO cast off the BGF plan, saying it cannot accept transformation of its armed wing.

Talks between KIO and Burmese government were also abortive in 1963, 1972, and the1980 respectively. But they all failed to get to the bottom of the political standoff between the two sides.

The 22-year military rule of the country ended after November 2010 polls. The President Thein Sein government was sworn in as a new controversial civil government in March 2011. It has not publicly offered a new ceasefire agreement to the KIO, until now. However KIO claims that it has proposed a new ceasefire plan to the President Thein Sein government on July 8, according KIO officials in Laiza.

The public meeting in Laiza was called while the KIO is waiting for the government’s response to its new ceasefire proposal amid growing concern by the Kachin people over ceasefire talks.

As reported by the KNG, the KIO met with peace delegates from the Kachin State Government on June 17, June 30 and July 7. However, the state-level ceasefire effort was rejected by the KIO, Kumhtat La Nan, General Secretary-2, the KIO said.

In such a situation, no one throughout Burma will trust President Thein Sein government’s propaganda of good governance policy, national unity program and poverty alleviation agenda.

At the same time, it seems Thein Sein Government has no inspiration of going along a meaningful dialogue seeking a peaceful and prosperous nation in the ASEAN family.

The Universal Periodic Review (UPR) on Myanmar (Burma) was under discussion on 8 June at the 17th regular session of the UN Human Rights Council conference in Geneva, Switzerland, from 30 May to 17 June.

Speaking on behalf of the 14 Burmese rights organizations before the Council, one representative said, “With no domestic mechanism available inside the country to effectively and impartially establish justice and accountability, failure to independently investigate those widespread and systematic violations of human rights will only make further abuses inevitable. Therefore, we strongly urge this Council to act swiftly to establish a UN-mandated Commission of Inquiry to look into the violations of international humanitarian and human rights law in the country.”

The people of Burma are hoping that the international community, especially the key players – the United States, United Nations, European Union and ASEAN – will push for political change in their country.

The ethnic people of Burma also seriously wish for total ceasefire in order to avoid war crimes in their regions. In addition, they are calling for a meaningful political dialogue among the stakeholders to reinstate peace in the war-torn country.

- Asian Tribune - http://www.asiantribune.com/news/2011/07/15/burma%E2%80%99s-kachin-people-demand-political-dialogue-instead-war
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Gems auction nets $1.5 billion for Myanmar despite US sanctions
By Associated Press, Updated: Saturday, July 16, 12:22 PM

YANGON, Myanmar — Myanmar’s state-sponsored gems auction has reaped another $1.5 billion in foreign exchange despite U.S. sanctions against the industry.

The weekly “Voice” news magazine reported Saturday that 22,317 lots of jade, 284 lots of gems and 355 lots of pearls were sold July 1-13 at the mid-year Gems Emporium .

Some $2.8 billion was earned at the main auction in March and more than $1.44 billion at last year’s mid-year auction. Myanmar is one of the world’s biggest producers of jade and rubies.

The sales are a major foreign exchange earner for the military-dominated government, which faces sanctions from the West because of its poor human rights record. In 2008, the United States enacted legislation banning the import of gems from Myanmar.

Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/asia-pacific/gems-auction-nets-15-billion-for-myanmar-despite-us-sanctions/2011/07/16/gIQA7L6THI_story.html?wprss=rss_world
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Myanmar invites bids for 18 onshore oil blocks
By REUTERS
Published: Jul 15, 2011 23:14 Updated: Jul 15, 2011 23:14

YANGON: Myanmar has invited bids for companies to operate 18 onshore oil blocks scattered across about half a dozen provinces on a production-sharing contract basis, the largest number in a single such offer in recent years.

Bidders are allowed to submit up to three proposals for three onshore blocks, the Ministry of Energy said in an announcement in the official English daily, New Light of Myanmar.

Proposals should be submitted by Aug. 3, 2011.

Myanmar has been exploring oil and gas at 49 onshore sites and 26 offshore blocks in Rakhine, Tanintharyi and Mon states after entering joint ventures with foreign companies since 1988.

Myanmar’s crude oil reserves are estimated at 3.2 billion barrels, the energy ministry has said. This compares with China’s proven oil reserves of 14.8 billion barrels, Malaysia’s 5.8 billion, Vietnam’s 4.4 billion and Indonesia’s 4.2 billion barrels, at the end of 2010, according to the BP Statistical Review.

The country’s proven gas reserves tripled in the past decade to around 800 billion cubic meters, equivalent to more than a quarter of Australia’s, BP Statistical Review figures show.

Myanmar’s ruling military junta handed power to a nominally civilian government in March after elections last November that were widely dismissed as a sham. The elections were intended to create the impression of a democratic transition after 49 years of direct army rule.

Neighboring Thailand and China are the biggest investors in Myanmar’s energy sector.

Last October, China’s state energy group CNPC started building a crude oil port in Myanmar, part of a pipeline project aimed at cutting out the long detour oil cargoes take through the congested Malacca Strait.

Companies from Australia, Britain, Canada, Indonesia, India, Malaysia, Russia, South Korea and Vietnam have also reached energy deals with the government.

Total foreign direct investment in the oil and gas sector has amounted to $13.5 billion since 1988, official data show.
http://arabnews.com/economy/article472578.ece
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Published on Friday, Jul,15,2011
LATEST NEWS
Chinese Study Calls for Scrapping Myitsone Dam

China Power Investment Corporation (CPI) is forging ahead with the controversial Myitsone Dam in northern Burma, despite its own assessment calling for the project to be cancelled. The 945-page “environmental impact assessment,” fully funded by CPI and conducted by a team of Burmese and Chinese scientists, recommends that the Irrawaddy Myitsone Dam not proceed. “There is no need for such a big dam to be constructed at the confluence of the Irrawaddy River,” says the assessment. CPI is planning to build and operate seven
http://irrawaddy.org/index.php
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