News & Articles on Burma
Saturday, 01 October, 2011
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Myanmar Backs Down, Suspending Dam Project
Burma's convicts become unwilling pawns in a long and bitter civil war
China calls for talks over shelved Myanmar dam
Statement by the Spokesperson of EU High Representative
Myanmar leader-in-exile to visit SA
China Urges ‘Friendly Talks’ With Myanmar on Dam Project
China wants talks after Myanmar halts dam project
Myanmar calls surprise halt to controversial China-backed dam
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Myanmar Backs Down, Suspending Dam Project
By THOMAS FULLER
Published: September 30, 2011
Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, left, and Labour Minister Aung Kyi spoke to reporters after a meeting on Friday. Mrs. Aung San Suu Kyi, who had opposed the dam, welcomed the government's suspension of the project.
The Myitsone dam project would have been the first to span the Irrawaddy River, the largest waterway in Myanmar, and was a showcase project for the previous military government. The halt in construction was a victory for dissidents in a country with a long history of stifling opposition.
A number of prominent people inside Myanmar, including writers, scientists and the Nobel Peace laureate Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, had opposed the project.
The government’s announcement underscores the nascent stirrings of democracy in Myanmar, also known as Burma, after a nominally civilian government took control from a military junta in March.
The dam’s suspension was a blow to China, long considered a benefactor to the government in Myanmar. China Power Investment, a state-run Chinese company, was leading the construction of the project, which would have delivered electricity to southern China. It is unclear how the suspension will affect six other Chinese-led hydroelectric projects in northern Myanmar.
The announcement on Friday was made during a session of Parliament in the capital, Naypyidaw. The statement acknowledged the role that public pressure had played in the decision.
“Being the government elected by the people, it upholds the aspiration and wishes of the people,” said a statement by President U Thein Sein, according to the Weekly Eleven, a newspaper in Myanmar. “It is also responsible to solve the problems that worry the public. Therefore, the government will suspend the Myitsone dam project during its tenure.”
Although top officials in Myanmar, including Mr. Thein Sein, are former military officers, the government has sought to distance itself from decades of army rule. The new government has loosened restrictions on the news media, is drafting laws on economic liberalization and is holding regular meetings with Mrs. Aung San Suu Kyi, who was released from years of house arrest last November. An estimated 2,000 political prisoners remain in detention.
Despite describing its decision on Friday as a suspension of the dam’s construction, Mr. Thein Sein’s statement seemed to suggest that the project would not continue, at least not in its current form.
“To fulfill the electricity need of the country, the government will continue to implement other hydropower projects that are not harmful to the nation after conducting systematic surveys,” it said.
The statement added that the government would negotiate terms with China “without affecting the friendly bilateral relations between the two countries.”
Chinese businesses have rapidly spread throughout Myanmar in recent years, causing friction in some areas. Chinese companies are sometimes blamed for deforestation and are resented for their voracious appetite for Myanmar’s natural resources. A pipeline that would carry natural gas and oil from the Bay of Bengal to southern China is currently under construction.
The Myitsone dam project, which was largely being carried out by Chinese workers, aggravated anti-Chinese sentiment. As the cradle of Burmese civilization, the Irrawaddy River carries great symbolic significance in Myanmar. Critics of the dam said the trade-off between the electricity that would be produced by the project and the potential environmental impact was not worth it.
A report commissioned and financed by China Power Investment actually highlighted these questions. The company never released the report publicly, but a copy leaked out and was shared among environmentalists and opponents of the dam.
The report said a number of migratory fish species were likely to be wiped out, and it warned that more studies needed to be carried out to understand the possible impact of the dam, which would have flooded 26,238 hectares, or 64,835 acres.
Two smaller dams on tributaries of the Irrawaddy could produce the same amount of electricity, the report said.
Ultimately, the authors concluded, “There is no need for such a big dam.”
A version of this article appeared in print on October 1, 2011, on page A4 of the New York edition with the headline: Myanmar Backs Down, Suspending Dam Project. http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/01/world/asia/myanmar-suspends-construction-of-controversial-dam.html?_r=1&emc=tnt&tntemail1=y
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Burma's convicts become unwilling pawns in a long and bitter civil war
guardian.co.uk, Friday 30 September 2011 21.50 BST Article history
Prisoners forced to serve as military porters in army's decades-long fight against insurgency
Esmer Golluoglu in Mae Sot
And the pawns are the Burmese convicts forced to work as porters on the frontlines. Made to carry heavy supplies, they are regularly beaten and used as human shields against landmines.
Those who have escaped form a growing underclass of refugees on the Thai border, where they eke out a meagre living and face deportation at any time. "I work for a day, eat for a day but I am now free," said Thay Utoo Ong at the secret location where he and three others met the Guardian. "With the army, I had to carry 35kg of water on my back for 13 hours every day, without food or water. I knew I was going to die if I stayed … I would either starve to death or be shot dead."
In January, the 32-year-old was one of 1,200 convicts taken to bolster a military offensive against ethnic insurgents. Many were subjected to torture or summary executions, or placed directly in the line of fire, recounted Maung Nyunt.
"One porter stepped on a mine and lost his leg; he was screaming but the soldiers left him there," he added. "When we came back down the mountain he was dead. I looked up and saw bits of his leg in a tree."
Since 1948 the Burmese army, or Tatmadaw, has been fighting a civil war against armed groups including the Karen, whose members want greater autonomy and an end to what they describe as ethnic cleansing.
Tens of thousands of civilians, historically press-ganged to work as military porters, fled to Thailand, forcing the army to use prisoners instead. "These are petty criminals with no understanding of the conflict or desire to be a part of it," said David Mathieson, a researcher with US-based Human Rights Watch.
Alongside Karen Human Rights Group (KHRG), Mathieson has written a report that documents nearly 60 testimonies. It says prisoners have been used this way since 1992.
The report also stresses the army's continued use of teenage soldiers, such as Nyew Sing, 18, who was abducted from the streets of Rangoon in 2009 at the age of 17, and escaped in March.
"I was leaving a [Buddhist] festival when a plainclothes policeman offered to drive me home," said Nyew Sing. "But he took me to an army recruitment centre where I was held in a dark room for two weeks with other [young] guys, then sent to the frontlines."
Nyew Sing only realised his battalion would be fighting insurgents when "the convict porters arrived". He said: "I was put on night sentry duty and told by my officers to shoot any porters trying to escape. Then they said: 'If you try to escape we'll shoot you.'"
The report describes the army's repeated use of young people and convicts, as well as rape, torture and extrajudicial killings, as "abuses that amount to war crimes … committed with the involvement or knowledge of high-level civilian and military officials".
The UK and 15 other countries have backed calls for a UN-led inquiry. However, the Association of South East Asian Nations (Asean), of which Burma is a member, has remained silent.
Last week Burma created its own human rights commission, aimed at implementing the new constitution. Rangoon declared a civilian government in 2008 but many critics are doubtful about the 15-member commission's motives, especially as Burma has yet to acknowledge the 2,000 political prisoners thought to be in custody.
The KHRG report is a blow to Burma, which held elections in November 2010 for the first time in 20 years and released the long-time political prisoner Aung San Suu Kyi. Many have called the new civilian government – which largely comprises retired army officers – a sham. Although the regime recently acknowledged the use of convict porters, it says they serve voluntarily and do not fight on the frontline.
This government statement does not ring true for Thay Utoo Ong and Nyew Sing, who escaped their battalions in the nighttime and fled to the Thai border.
They now survive on menial work for £2.50 per day, with some, including Nyew Sing, sleeping on factory floors. They are not safe even here. Stateless and paperless, they face deportation if caught by Thai authorities, and arrest or death if they return to Burma.
Some 150,000 Burmese refugees live in nine camps along the border. But that could soon change as the local Thai authorities recently called for the camps' closure, citing their "shelter to a resistance movement".
Poe Shan of the KHRG warns that repatriation could be disastrous for the refugees.
"Some came because they lost their homes or villages, others because of human rights abuses, or forced labour, or attack. This can't be just a discussion between the Thai and Burmese governments. It has to include the refugees themselves."Thay Utoo Ong, who risked arrest by stealing back across the Burmese border to find his wife, says he will stay in Thailand until freedom arrives in his native land. "We could achieve democracy in Burma if we combined all of our individual battles," he said. "The rebels aren't just fighting for their ethnic rights, they're fighting for freedom in Burma. As Burmese, we must be thankful for that." http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/sep/30/burma-convicts-civil-war
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China calls for talks over shelved Myanmar dam
BEIJING | Sat Oct 1, 2011 7:19am EDT
(Reuters) - China called on Saturday for talks with Myanmar after the government there suspended a controversial $3.6 billion, Chinese-led dam project.
After weeks of rare public outrage against the Myitsone dam, Myanmar's largest hydropower project, President Thein Sein told parliament his government had to act "according to the desire of the people.
Myanmar's then military government proposed the dam in 2006 and signed a contract in 2009 with the Myanmar military-backed Asia World Company and China Power Investment Corp to build it.
China's Foreign Ministry said "relevant countries should guarantee the legal and legitimate rights of Chinese companies."
"The Myitsone dam is a jointly invested project between China and Myanmar, and has been ... thoroughly examined by both sides," ministry spokesman Hong Lei said in a statement on the ministry's website (www.mfa.gov.cn)
"Both sides should appropriately deal with matters related to the progress of this project through friendly consultations," he added.
The northern Myanmar dam would have flooded an area about the size of Singapore, creating a 766-square-km (296-square-mile) reservoir, mainly to serve growing energy needs in neighboring China, which would have imported about 90 percent of its power.
In recent years, Myanmar's leaders have embraced investment from China as a deep and lucrative market for the former British colony's energy-related resources and to counterbalance the impact of Western sanctions imposed in response to human rights abuses.
But in recent weeks, the dam had become a symbol of resentment over China's growing influence and revealed a stark divide between cabinet ministers and parliamentary leaders, making it the first real public test over whether reformers or hard-liners had more sway over the country's direction.
While China and Myanmar have close economic and political ties, including the building of oil and gas pipelines into southwestern China, there are also deep mutual suspicions.
China has frequently expressed its concern at instability along their often mountainous and remote border, where rebel groups deeply involved in the narcotics trade have been fighting Myanmar's central government for decades.
Myanmar in turn looks warily at its vast neighbor, and has tried forging closer ties with India to offset China's influence.
(Reporting by Ben Blanchard; Editing by Robert Birsel) http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/10/01/us-china-myanmar-dam-idUSTRE7900N120111001?rpc=401&feedType=RSS&feedName=environmentNews&rpc=401
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P R E S S
FOR FURTHER DETAILS:
Michael Mann +32 498 999 780 - +32 2 299 97 80 - Michael.Mann@eeas.europa.eu
Maja Kocijancic +32 498 984 425 - +32 2 298 65 70 - Maja.Kocijancic@ec.europa.eu
COMM-SPP-HRVP-ASHTON@ec.europa.eu
www.eeas.europa.eu
EN
EUROPEAN UNION Brussels, 30 September 2011
A 393/11
Statement by the Spokesperson of EU High Representative
Catherine Ashton on the Myitsone Dam project in Myanmar
(Burma)
The spokesman of Catherine Ashton, the High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and Vice President of the Commission, made today the following statement:
We are encouraged by the news that the President of Myanmar (Burma) has decided to halt the controversial Myitsone Dam project in northern Kachin State. We welcome the Government's readiness to address the ecological and economic concerns about this project, and its willingness to listen to diverse voices on this subject following a strikingly open nationwide debate. It is encouraging to see the leadership starting to put into practice its commitment to be a “Government of the people”.
http://www.consilium.europa.eu/uedocs/cms_data/docs/pressdata/EN/foraff/124858.pdf
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Myanmar leader-in-exile to visit SA
2011-10-01 08:45
Johannesburg - Myanmar's prime minister-in-exile Sein Win is to visit South Africa to accept an honorary doctorate on behalf of Nobel Peace Laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, his spokesperson said on Friday.
Win would arrive on Saturday evening and stay until next week Wednesday, spokesperson for the Free Burma Campaign Thein Win said.
Seine Win would have a meeting with International Affairs and Co-operation Deputy Minister Ebrahim Ebrahim on Monday.
He would also attend a public lecture delivered by the founder of the Free Burma Campaign's South African branch, Kiru Naidoothe, at the University of Johannesburg (UJ) on Monday.
The lecture, titled "Dilemmas in South Africa's relations with Burma", would include a live video broadcast with Suu Kyi.
On Tuesday, UJ would bestow an honorary doctorate of philosophy on Suu Kyi.
The conferral, at the university auditorium, would feature a pre-recorded video message from Suu Kyi.
She won the 1991 Nobel Peace Prize for her non-violent struggle for democracy.
The military placed her under house arrest in 1989, offering to free her if she agreed to leave the country. She refused and demanded a return to civilian government and the release of political prisoners.
Although she led her National League for Democracy to victory in the 1990 elections, the ruling military junta refused to recognise the results.
The junta changed the nation's name to Myanmar, but many democracy supporters, including Suu Kyi, still refer to it as Burma.
Suu Kyi spent 15 of the past 21 years under house arrest. Her house arrest was finally lifted in November 2010.
After the 2010 elections, won by a party close to the ruling junta, military leaders turned over control to a nominally civilian government in March 2011. http://www.news24.com/SouthAfrica/Politics/Myanmar-leader-in-exile-to-visit-SA-20110930
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China Urges ‘Friendly Talks’ With Myanmar on Dam Project
October 01, 2011, 8:19 AM EDT
By Bloomberg News
Oct. 1 (Bloomberg) -- China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs called for “friendly talks” after Myanmar suspended the construction of a hydroelectric dam being built by both nations.
China has always upheld “mutual respect” and “mutual benefit” in cooperation with other countries, the ministry said today on its website. Other governments should also respect the lawful and appropriate rights of Chinese companies, it said.
“The Myitsone dam is a joint venture between China and Myanmar,” according to the statement. “Both sides should have friendly talks over matters related to the project.”
--Feiwen Rong. Editors: John Chacko, Digby Lidstone
To contact Bloomberg News staff for this story: Feiwen Rong in Beijing at frong2@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Jim McDonald at jmcdonald8@bloomberg.net http://www.businessweek.com/news/2011-10-01/china-urges-friendly-talks-with-myanmar-on-dam-project.html
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Associated Press
China wants talks after Myanmar halts dam project
Associated Press, 10.01.11, 08:24 AM EDT
BEIJING -- China is urging Myanmar to protect Chinese companies' interests after the Myanmar president's surprising suspension of a jointly developed, but disliked, multibillion-dollar dam project.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei, in a statement posted on the agency's website Saturday, called on Myanmar to hold consultations to handle any problems with the Myitsone dam project. The statement notes that the dam is a project both countries agreed to undertake and had been subjected to rigorous review.
The Myanmar president's announcement Friday came after the dam project drew strong opposition from environmental activists and ethnic groups living near the site.
Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. http://www.forbes.com/feeds/ap/2011/10/01/general-as-china-myanmar_8711376.html
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Myanmar calls surprise halt to controversial China-backed dam
By Mark Magnier and Simon Roughneen, Los Angeles Times
October 1, 2011
Reporting from New Delhi and Bangkok, Thailand—
Myanmar's president ordered a halt Friday to work on a controversial $3.6-billion hydroelectric dam backed by China, a rare concession to the political opposition and public displeasure.
President Thein Sein said in a statement read out on his behalf in parliament that the Myitsone dam project in the northern state of Kachin should be terminated because it is "against the will of the people."
The reversal — if in fact it proves to be one, given Myanmar's often opaque governance — seemed somewhat surprising in a country where leaders have for decades paid limited attention to the public's concerns.
As recently as a few weeks ago, Electric Power Minister Zaw Min vowed to forge ahead with the dam despite growing resistance and widespread criticism.
And if the project is ultimately shut down, given that construction has already started, it's not immediately clear how a halt might be carried out in politically isolated Myanmar, also known as Burma.
Critics led by pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi have argued in recent months that the dam would hurt the ecological balance of the vital Irrawaddy River, displace at least 10,000 people from 63 villages and submerge culturally important sites.
Rebels and residents also have voiced their opposition. Fighting in the area has intensified recently, and in April bomb blasts at the dam site destroyed cars and buildings, leaving one man wounded.
About 90% of the power generated by the project would go to neighboring China, the government has said, even though most Myanmar residents lack electricity.
Activists and dissidents opposed to Myanmar's military junta welcomed Friday's news as a rare case of the government relenting after public protest.
"But I'm not sure they'll really stop the project," said Htun Htun, program coordinator with India's Burma Center Delhi, an activist group. "The military junta has taken a lot of money from the Chinese, some say $700 million in bribes, so it could be difficult to halt it. Later on, it may continue."
Others said the Myanmar government was making a virtue of necessity.
"The government had little choice," said Col. James Lum Dau, a spokesman for the Kachin Independence Army, an ethnic militia group that has battled the government over the dam. "Since the fighting started, it has been impossible for any construction materials or supplies to get through from China to Myitsone."
The dam, outlined in a 2009 deal between China Power Investment Corp. and Myanmar's military-backed Asia World Co., would flood an area roughly five times the size of Long Beach.
Burma Rivers Network, a coalition of environmental groups in Thailand and Myanmar that opposed the project, said it expects the dam to go ahead unless China makes its own cancellation announcement and leaves the site.
Analysts said China, with its huge stake in Myanmar's resource-based economy and growing environmental opposition of its own back home, is likely to take the setback in stride until it can regroup.
Although opposition in Myanmar toward China's presence is growing, said Sean Turnell, an economist at Australia's Macquarie University, this decision could ruffle feathers among hard-liners connected to Beijing and the dam.
"A great and somewhat brave decision," he added.
Ever since the Myanmar military handed nominal power to civilians in March — parliament is still dominated by army officers or recent military retirees — there have been some modest signs of reform.
Suu Kyi, who was released last fall from long-term house arrest, has been given some leeway to travel and speak. The government has put out peace feelers to ethnic guerrilla groups, and it has tolerated a modicum of criticism.
This loosening trend is likely to continue for a time, analysts said, as Myanmar tries to persuade the international community to lift economic sanctions. On Thursday, the country's foreign minister, Wunna Maung Lwin, met with Kurt Campbell, the top U.S. diplomat for East Asia, and U.S. special envoy to Burma Derek Mitchell at the State Department.
But activists said they didn't rule out another crackdown or the rearrest of Suu Kyi if the junta feels it is losing too much control.
"We'll have to see," said Htun Htun. "Right now there seems to be an opportunity, for both the government and Aung San Suu Kyi."
mark.magnier@latimes.com
Times staff writer Magnier reported from New Delhi and special correspondent Roughneen from Bangkok, Thailand. http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-myanmar-dam-20111001,0,6135163.story
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Saturday, October 1, 2011
News & Articles on Burma-Saturday, 01 October, 2011
News & Articles on Burma-Friday, 30 September, 2011
News & Articles on Burma
Friday, 30 September, 2011
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WikiLeaks cables: Americans funded groups that stalled Burma dam project
The Myitsone Dam Project and Burma-China Relations
After Meeting in Mae Sot, KNU Calls for Talks with Naypyidaw
Myanmar shelves $3.6 billion mega dam, officials say
Suu Kyi Welcomes Suspension of Myitsone Dam
Burma’s President postpones the Irrawaddy dam project cleverly
FIFA bans Myanmar from 2018 World Cup qualifiers
NLD considers registering as official political party
Victory for Burma reformers over dam project
Myanmar suspends dam project after rare outcry
Suu Kyi and gov’t minister discuss amnesty and establishing peace
Verdict on Burma-Bangladesh Dispute Due in March
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WikiLeaks cables: Americans funded groups that stalled Burma dam project
Newly leaked document reveals support for opponents of proposed Myitsone dam, widely seen as a Chinese project
Foreign staff
guardian.co.uk, Friday 30 September 2011 13.27 BST
Burma protest against Myitsone dam project
Burmese activists shout anti-China slogans during a protest against the Myitsone dam this month. Locals said the dam, planned for the Irrawaddy river, would destroy their way of life. Photograph: Ahmad Yusni/EPA
The US embassy in Rangoon funded some of the civil society groups in the Burmese region that forced the government to suspend a controversial Chinese dam on the Irrawaddy river, according to a US diplomatic cable.
The January 2010 cable on the $3.6bn (£2.3bn) Myitsone dam project noted that local groups had "voiced strong opposition to the project on economic, environmental and cultural grounds and have organised grassroots campaigns to rally others to their cause".
The cable, signed by then US charge d'affaires, Larry Dinger, went on to say: "An unusual aspect of this case is the role grassroots organisations have played in opposing the dam, which speaks to the growing strength of civil society groups in Kachin state, including recipients of embassy small grants."
Dinger said that although Burma had launched a number of hydropower projects to address its acute electricity shortages, the Myitsone dam was widely seen as a Chinese project, with China the principal beneficiary.
"Given past evidence from foreign investments in Burma's energy sector, it is very likely, as many locals believe, that both construction of the dam and the energy it produces will primarily benefit Chinese companies and consumers, rather than Burmese," he said.
Presciently, he added: "Dam-related social unrest is a possibility in light of the already-tense political situation in Kachin state and the dislocations the project is expected to cause." http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/sep/30/us-embassy-cables-burma-myitsone-dam
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The Myitsone Dam Project and Burma-China Relations
By AUNG LYNN HTUT Friday, September 30, 2011
The Irrawaddy Myitsone dam project originated during a meeting between Burmese junta chief Snr-Gen Than Shwe and Chinese President Hu Jintao in April 2005, when both were attending the Asian-African Summit 2005 in Jakarta, Indonesia. Others present from the Burmese side were the current President Thein Sein (then Secretary 1 of the State Peace and Development Council, or SPDC), Nyan Win (then foreign minister and now chief minister of Pegu Division) and Soe Thar (then minister for national planning and economic development, now chairman of a parliamentary sub-committee). In the meeting, Than Shwe agreed that electricity produced by the Myitsone hydro-power plant would be sold to China.
With the agreement between the two leaders, initial observation over the dam construction and electricity production began at the confluence of the Maykha and Malikha rivers in northern Kachin State in December 2006. The survey findings—as the Burmese military top brass knew then, and as citizens have learned recently—indicated that the negative impact of the planned Myitsone dam project would be greater than its advantages.
According to military sources, many top generals were unhappy with the dam construction but only criticized it quietly, as they dared not speak out against the junta chief. They said that even Than Shwe, who knew the real situation of the project and its impact, was hesitant about continuing with the project. On the other hand, the Chinese government reportedly pushed the previous military regime to implement it as soon as possible whenever its officials met with the latter's.
Than Shwe, however, had to allow a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for the implementation of the dam project in 2009 to be signed following the regime's military offensive against the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA), the Kokang group led by Peng Jiasheng.
Chinese authorities frequently requested the regime not to use violent means in dealing with the ethnic armed groups based on the Sino-Burmese border, but it attacked the MNDAA for not agreeing to its proposed Border Guard Force plan.
The attack resulted in the exodus of tens of thousands of refugees from Burma to China and caused serious tension between the two countries, as Beijing was reportedly furious with the regime for not respecting its request and informally suggested that it would reconsider its support for Naypyidaw in the international arena.
To ease the situation, Than Shwe sent former Gen Shwe Mann, the then third-in-command and the current speaker of the Lower House, to Beijing, but Chinese leaders were reportedly not satisfied with Shwe Mann's explanation and instead asked the regime to assign someone higher than him to handle the matter. They also asked the coming Burmese leader to sign MoUs on three projects, including the Myitsone dam.
Consequently, in June 2009, Vice Snr-Gen Maung Aye (the then vice-chairman of the SPDC) had to visit China at the invitation of Chinese Vice-President Xi Jinping. He was accompanied by former Gen Thiha Thura Tin Aung Myint Oo (the current vice-president 1), Gen Min Aung Hlaing (the current commander-in-chief of defense services), former Lt-Gen Tin Aye (a former SPDC member who is currently the chairman of the Election Commission), Zaw Min (the current minister of electric power 1), Nyan Win, Soe Thar, Lun Thi (then minister of energy and currently the chairman of a parliamentary sub-committee) and Tin Naing Thein (then minister of commerce and now the minister of national planning and economic development).
During the trip, a MoU on selling electricity to Beijing was signed by Thein Lwin, the Burmese ambassador to China, and Lu Qizhou, the president of the China Power Investment Corporation, on June 21. Also, on the same day, an MoU on economic and technical cooperation between the two countries was signed by Soe Thar and Chen Jian, the Chinese vice-minister of commerce, and another MoU on oil and gas pipelines was signed by Thein Lwin and Liao Yongyuan, the vice-president of China National Petroleum Corporation.
No one can deny that in terms of development, Burma is now far behind its neighbors, including Laos and Bangladesh, which it used to provide assistance to in the past. The military leaders who took office after 1988 are responsible for Burma's backwardness. Their false ideology and selfishness, their ignorance and superstition, their refusal to listen to scholars and experts and their failure to recognize changes in the international arena have all contributed to the country's decline.
Due to political and economic crises, Burma has become, unwillingly, a semi-colony of China, a country that was always regarded with deep distrust by Burma's rulers before 1988. The Irrawaddy Myitsone dam project can be considered as evidence of Beijing's undeniable influence on Naypyidaw. The country's rulers may have changed their minds about China, but the people of Burma are still inclined to think of their giant neighbor to the north as their enemy. I was young when a dispute broke out between Chinese and Burmese in 1967. What I understood was that the dispute was a result of Burmese resentment of the rude and insulting behavior of Chinese people living in their country. After 1967, Chinese troops were present in Burma under the cover of the Communist Party of Burma (CPB). Furthermore, Chinese people living along the Sino-Burmese border, such as the Wa and Kokang, had seized Burmese territory in the border areas. Many of the current military leaders and members of the new government, and I myself, fought against the CPB troops, which were supported by China, until late 1988.
Tin Aung Myint Oo , the current vice president 1, received the Thiha Thura medal in 1989, when Burma's army was fighting back against a heavy offensive launched by the CPB along the Sino-Burmese border. At the time, he was a major and the deputy commander of Light Infantry Battalion 11. Many of his officers and soldiers, including his commander, died on the battlefield.
When Snr-Gen Than Shwe was the commander of the army's Division 88, Mong Yong, a town under his control, was captured by the CPB. Many officers, soldiers and civilians died. Furthermore, when Vice Snr-Gen Maung Aye was the commander of Division 77, many of his officers and soldiers in Maw Pha area were killed by the CPB. The current Burmese leaders should be faithful to those who sacrificed their lives.
By taking advantage of fragile relations between the Burmese government and Western countries following the 1988 nationwide pro-democracy uprising, China changed its approach towards Burma. First, it controlled movements of Burman leaders within the CPB while allowing ethnic armed groups under its influence to enter ceasefire agreements with the regime. When the National League for Democracy (NLD) led by Aung San Suu Kyi won a landslide victory in the 1990 election, Beijing was the first country to recognize the election result and sent its ambassador to Burma to the NLD headquarters to congratulate the party. However, it later withdrew its support for the NLD when it realized that the regime would not transfer power to the election-winning party. Back then, economic interests were the focus of China's Burma policy, so Beijing said Burma needed political stability. China was happy as long as Burma's internal affairs remained complex and the regime faced more and more pressure from the West.
Since 2000, China has paid serious attention to Burma's natural resources and Chinese companies have been involved in huge investments in the country. Beijing has also tried to control the country's economy by pledging to support its rulers in the international arena. These days, Chinese in the country seem to be trying to systematically take over Burma economically and racially. Whenever Chinese leaders visit Burma, they reportedly ask Burmese government officials to protect their fellow Chinese living in the country.
It is time for the current government to decide whether to continue the Myitsone dam project, which plays a key role in Sino-Burmese relations. I believe President Thein Sein is well aware of the danger of this project that was unilaterally decided on by Than Shwe.
Chinese who want to continue to do business in Burma have to do their best not to increase anti-Chinese sentiment among Burmese people. If Beijing wants to maintain good relations with Burma, it needs to comply with the desires of the Burmese people. As for Thein Sein's administration, it must explain to the Chinese government about the inevitable consequences of the Myitsone dam project and stop it.
Anything that affects the future of the Irrawaddy River must be considered a national cause. Its fate cannot be decided by any individual or political party. The Irrawaddy will be saved only if Burmese people within and outside the country join hands and convince whoever is responsible in their government to consider doing the same.
Ex-Maj Aung Lynn Htut is a former counter intelligence officer and deputy chief of mission to the US. He sought political asylum in Washington, DC, in 2005. The opinions expressed in this guest commentary are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Irrawaddy.
http://www.irrawaddy.org/opinion_story.php?art_id=22170
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After Meeting in Mae Sot, KNU Calls for Talks with Naypyidaw
By THE IRRAWADDY Friday, September 30, 2011
Leaders of the Karen National Union (KNU) ended a meeting with a government delegation led by Col Aung Lwin, the minister for security and border affairs, in the Thai border town of Mae Sot on Sept 28 with calls for direct talks with Naypyidaw government officials.
The KNU leaders told the government delegation, which included Christian community leaders, Buddhist monks and an MP named Saw Boe Ni, that they didn’t want to hold peace talks with state-level officials because they lacked the authority to reach an agreement.
“Karen State officials have no power to make decisions,” said Maung Kyaw Mahn, a Karen social worker who is close to the KNU. “This is just a tactic to divide the Karen again.”
The KNU is one of Burma’s main ethnic armed groups. It has been fighting for autonomy for more than six decades, but suffered a major setback in 1995 when a splinter group, the Democratic Karen Buddhist Army (DKBA), broke away and signed ceasefire agreement with the government.
Last month, another delegation, consisting of Karen Christian community leaders from the state capital of Pa-an, also approached the KNU with an offer to hold peace talks on behalf of the Burmese government. The group said that it had been sent by Col Zaw Min, the chief minister of Karen State.
On Aug 18, government officials made a similar overture to a breakaway faction of the DKBA that resumed fighting with the Burmese army late last year. The officials offered peace negotiations through a prominent Buddhist monk, U Pinya Thami, the abbot of Taungalay Monastery in Pa-an.
The DKBA rejected the offer, calling instead for a withdrawal of all government troops from ethnic regions and a nationwide ceasefire, followed by inclusive peace talks involving all ethnic armed groups.
Despite the government's recent offers of peace talks, fighting between government forces and the DKBA is still occurring in southern Karen State. The government has also launched major offensives against the ethnic Kachin Independence Army (KIA) in northern Burma and recently seized some of its bases in northern Shan State.
Meanwhile, the government is also approaching another strong ethnic armed group, the United Wa State Army (UWSA), for talks via its local representatives.
Led by the secretaries of the ruling Union Solidarity and Development Party, Aung Thaung and Thein Zaw, a group of government representatives will hold talks with the UWSA on Saturday in Lashio, in northern Shan State.
There have also been reports that the Burmese authorities have approached the New Mon State Party (NMSP), an ethnic Mon ceasefire group, for talks aimed at averting a return to hostilities. The NMSP has already established a group of representatives for peace talks, but hasn’t decided whether to meet the government representatives.
Burmese President Thein Sein recently announced via the country's state-run media that, in order to move the peace process forward, all ethnic armed groups are to meet first with their respective regional and state chief ministers. http://irrawaddy.org/article.php?art_id=22174
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Myanmar shelves $3.6 billion mega dam, officials say
By Aung Hla Tun
YANGON | Fri Sep 30, 2011 6:30am EDT
(Reuters) - Myanmar's government suspended on Friday a controversial $3.6 billion, Chinese-led dam project, a victory for supporters of pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi and another sign of apparent reform in one of Asia's most repressive states.
After weeks of rare public outrage against the Myitsone dam, Myanmar's largest hydropower project, President Thein Sein told parliament his government had to act "according to the desire of the people," officials in parliament told Reuters.
Its construction has been "shelved" during the president's five-year term, one official said.
The dam was backed by hardliners with ties to China and opposed by an increasingly vocal band of reformers. Some politicians appeared to fear they may not be re-elected if they defied public opinion and threw their support behind it, a sign democracy may be taking root after rare elections last year.
Suu Kyi had said the dam threatened the flow of the powerful Irrawaddy River and warned that 12,000 people from 63 villages would have to be moved to make way for it. Many other sectors of society had also voiced opposition.
"This is President Thein Sein showing he can exercise his executive power and that he can stand up against China," said Aung Zaw, editor of the Irrawaddy magazine.
In his message to parliament, the president said "that his government, being born out of people's desire, has to act according to the desire of the people," said an official in parliament who declined to be named because he was not authorized to speak to the media.
The will of the people was seldom considered under the military regimes that made Myanmar one of Asia's most reclusive and repressive countries for almost 50 years.
The statement is one of many signs of change since the army nominally handed over power in March to civilians after elections in November, a process ridiculed at the time as a sham to cement authoritarian rule under a democratic facade.
Recent overtures by the government hint at possibly deeper changes at work -- from calls for peace with ethnic minority guerrilla groups to some tolerance of criticism and more communication with Nobel peace prize laureate Suu Kyi.
NATIONAL SYMBOL
The dam would have flooded an area about the size of Singapore, creating a 766 sq km (296 sq mile) reservoir, mainly to serve growing energy needs in northern neighbor China, which would have imported about 90 percent of its power.
In recent years, Myanmar's leaders have embraced investment from China as a deep and lucrative market for the former British colony's vast energy-related resources and to counterbalance the impact of Western sanctions imposed in response to human rights abuses.
But in recent weeks, the dam had become a symbol of resentment over China's growing influence and revealed a stark divide between cabinet ministers and parliamentary leaders, making it the first real public test over whether reformers or hardliners had more sway over the country's direction.
"It is a bold decision with the underlying message that we cannot kowtow to whatever China wants," said Aung Zaw of Irrawaddy magazine. "This could be another turning point for which direction Burma goes in the next decade."
The military junta proposed the dam in 2006 and signed a contract in 2009 with Myanmar's military-backed Asia World Company and China Power Investment Corp to build it.
Critics called that deal un-democratic, arguing it was agreed without considering the views of the people. Those criticism flared into the open recently, unthinkable for a government project just months ago, reflecting an easing of some controls on public expression in domestic media.
The dam, several years from completion, would have been built where the Mali and Nmai rivers form to become the Irrawaddy, which flows from northern Kachin state through half of the length of the country to the Andaman Sea, a national symbol and lifeline for millions of people.
Myanmar's ethnic Kachin, bordering China, have opposed the dam since 2007. Emotions over the project have spilled into violent skirmishes between the Myanmar military and the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) since June.
An official at China Power Investment Corp declined comment. A Chinese Foreign Ministry official said he needed to look into the matter.
Danny Richards, senior Asia Editor at the Economist Intelligence Unit, said the suspension showed the new government is placing more value on the fallout from big infrastructure projects.
"However, it is only a suspension of the project, and it remains to be seen what pressure China may apply to ensure that the construction of the dam is completed," he said.
According to Richards, of $20 billion in foreign investment projects approved by Myanmar's government in the 2010/11 fiscal year, Chinese and Hong Kong firms accounted for a hefty 70 percent.
"With few other sources of foreign investment -- the only other major investors are from Thailand and South Korea -- the new government will clearly not want to undermine its commercial ties with its northern neighbor," he said.
(Additional reporting by Ben Blanchard in Beijing; Writing by Jason Szep; Editing by Alan Raybould and Jonathan Thatcher) http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/09/30/us-myanmar-dam-idUSTRE78T10H20110930
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Suu Kyi Welcomes Suspension of Myitsone Dam
By SAI ZOM HSENG Friday, September 30, 2011
Emerging from a meeting with a senior government minister on Friday afternoon, Burmese pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi welcomed today's surprise announcement by President Thein Sein that he had suspended the controversial Myitsone dam project in Kachin State.
Suu Kyi met with Aung Kyi, the minister of labor and minister of social welfare, relief and resettlement, for about one hour today at the Sane Lae Kan Thar state guesthouse in Rangoon. Among the issues discussed were an amnesty for political prisoners, cooperation on efforts to conserve the Irrawaddy River, and ways to achieve peace with Burma's ethnic armed groups.
“I've heard that the president sent a message about the suspension of the Myitsone project on the Irrawaddy River in response to the public’s concerns. It’s very good that the government listens to the voice of the people, as that is what they should do,” Suu Kyi said to reporters after the meeting.
Aung Kyi, a retired major general, told the reporters that both sides agreed to meet again to hold further discussions on the major issues raised in today's meeting. He also said that cooperation would increase after Suu Kyi's party, the National League for Democracy, registered as a legal political organization.
When reporters asked Suu Kyi about Burma's next elections, to be held in 2015, she said, “We accept that elections are a part of democracy, but we will have to wait and see what form they take.”
Suu Kyi and Aung Kyi previously met twice this year, once in July and again in August. Suu Kyi also met with Thein Sein for the first time in August. In statements issued after each meeting, both sides said they were satisfied with the discussions that took place.
While observers have generally welcomed the recent contact between the government and the iconic opposition leader, many still suspect that Naypyidaw's main aim is to ease international pressure and win approval of its bid to become chairman of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations in 2014, rather than to achieve national reconciliation.
On Tuesday, Burma’s Foreign Minister Wunna Maung Lwin addressed the issue of political prisoners at the 66th session of the UN General Assembly, saying that an early amnesty program is being considered. He also called for the lifting of Western sanctions on Burma. http://irrawaddy.org/article.php?art_id=22176
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Burma’s President postpones the Irrawaddy dam project cleverly
By Zin Linn Sep 30, 2011 6:05PM UTC
Burma’s nominal civilian government has suspended a controversial $3.6 billion hydroelectric power project which has faced objections from various social strata nationwide, according to the Eleven News Media Group.
The 500-foot dam has been under construction at the confluence of the Mali Hka River and N’Mai Hka River, 27 miles north of the Kachin capital of Myitkyina. Construction at Myitsone began December 21, 2009, led by China’s state owned China Power Investment Corporation (CPI) in cooperation with Burma’s Asia World Company (AWC) and the Burmese government’s No. 1 Ministry of Electric Power.
Remarkably, AWC owner is former drug lord, Lo Hsing Han. It will cost 3.6 billion dollars and most of the 6000 MW of electricity produced will be sold out to China.
On 10 September, Union Minister for Electric Power No (1) Zaw Min said in a meeting with media, the government will carry on construction of the Myitsone Dam on the Irrawaddy River despite severe criticism and environmental and communal risks, some Rangoon-based journals spotlighted.
Zaw Min also challenged the people that the government will not withdraw the project due to any objection.
Antagonism to the hydro-power dam on the Irrawaddy has been increasing because pro-democracy and environmental activists test the limits of their right under the new outwardly civilian government, which is under control by military officers from previous junta. If the government stubbornly stuck up for the dam project, there might be another mass protest similar to the 1988 people’s uprising.
In such a critical moment, President Thein Sein sent a letter of presidential office dated 29 September to the current parliament regular session. There are 10 points in the President’s letter. Suspension of the Myitsone dam project is one in the 10-point letter saying that the Chinese-backed Myitsone dam on the Irrawaddy River in Kachin state would be put off during the term of the existing government.
According to the president’s letter No. 151 (2) 8/3, the Irrawaddy dam project must be postponed since the government has been elected by the people and it has an obligation to respect the determination of the people, the Eleven Media Group’s Online journal said.
In 2009, Thailand-based Kachin Development Networking Group (KDNG) published a report – “Resisting the Flood” – highlighting the implementation of the Myitsone dam project on the Irrawaddy River. The report demanded a halt to the project that is sponsored by the China Power Investment Corporation (CPI), its main investor and contractor.
The dam project creates unwelcome impacts like social, environmental, livelihood, cultural and security problems for tens of thousands of people in the Kachin State. The report states that more than 15,000 people in 60 villages around the dam sites are being forcibly relocated without proper relocation. These individuals have lost their means of livelihood such as farming, fishing and collection of non-timber forest products.
In the past, Kachin people had made an official plea to the former junta’s boss Senior-General Than Shwe to stop the project due to environmental damage. But he always turned a deaf ear to the call. The junta boss regularly obeys the Chinese government over the dam projects.
In a statement issued on 11 August, Burma’s Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi said the dam endangers the flow of the Irrawaddy River, which she described as “the most significant geographical feature of our country.
“We believe that, taking into account the interests of both countries, both governments would hope to avoid consequences which might jeopardize lives and homes,” Suu Kyi emphasized.
“To safeguard the Irrawaddy is to save from harm our economy and our environment, as well as to protect our cultural heritage,” she added.
On 20 September, Burmese security Police detained a 46-year-old man who staged a rare solo protest against the project outside a Chinese embassy building in Yangon. He raised a banner demanding a halt to the Myitsone hydropower dam project in Kachin state, electricity from which will sell out to neighboring China.
As a great number of Burmese citizens inside and outside the country opposed the massive dam project, the president decided to suspend it. The president’s decision seems to be wiser this time avoiding nationwide protest in time. http://asiancorrespondent.com/66241/burma%E2%80%99s-president-postpones-the-irrawaddy-dam-project-cleverly/
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FIFA bans Myanmar from 2018 World Cup qualifiers
The Associated Press
Last Updated: Sep 30, 2011 9:07 AM ET
FIFA has kicked Myanmar out of qualifying for the 2018 World Cup as punishment for crowd violence at a 2014 qualifier in July.
Fans threw stones and water bottles onto the field during Myanamar's game against Oman on July 28, forcing the referee to abandon the match.
Oman was leading 2-0 at the time and was awarded the victory by that score. Oman, which also won the first leg 2-0, advanced to the next round of Asian qualifying on 4-0 aggregate.
FIFA's disciplinary committee says the Myanmar football federation failed to prevent "improper conduct of supporters" and "is excluded from taking part in the matches of the preliminary competition" for the 2018 World Cup in Russia.
The federation was also fined 25,000 Swiss Francs ($28,000).
Read more: http://www.cbc.ca/sports/soccer/story/2011/09/30/sp-fifa-myanmar.html?cmp=rss#ixzz1ZRSLfv51
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NLD considers registering as official political party
Thursday, 29 September 2011 21:35 Tun Tun
New Delhi (Mizzima) – If the government continues to make progressive political changes, the National League for Democracy (NLD) will consider registering as an official political party, according to NLD lawyer Nyan Win.
NLD attorney Nyan Win. Photo: Mizzima
NLD attorney Nyan Win. Photo: Mizzima
“We are awaiting the government’s changes,” he said. “We will not decide in advance whether we will register or not. As the conditions change, we will make the decision,” Nyan Win said.
Since Burma created a parliamentary government after the election in November 2010, NLD leaders have discussed the issue of re-registering the organization, he said. Currently, he said the NLD thinks that recent governmental changes–although important–have not risen to the level to justify re-registering as a political party.
“It’s unusual. But, we cannot specify what the differences really are,” Nyan Win said.
In the nationwide general election in 1990, the NLD won 82 per cent of the parliamentary seats, but the former military junta did not convene the parliament and began a campaign to arrest and oppress NLD members.
The NLD did not re-register itself as a political party and did not contest in the 2010 general election, alleging that the military-drafted 2008 Constitution and electoral laws for the 2010 general elections were unjust. However, it still claims that it is a legal political party.
On September 14, 2010, the Union Election Commission (UEC) officially declared that the NLD was dissolved because it had failed to re-register. After the announcement, the NLD filed legal appeals, but various courts rejected them.
“In politics, we need to consider the time and the real circumstances. We have not decided. We will consider everything and make a decision,” Nyan Win said.
He said there could be divergent opinions among party supporters, but the NLD will serve the people and if it re-registers, it will cooperate with other parties.
Meanwhile, NLD General-Secretary Aung San Suu Kyi will meet with the government laison representative Union Minister Aung Kyi on Friday.
It will be Suu Kyi’s third meeting with Aung Kyi under the new government. The meeting will be held at the Sane Lae Kan Thar state guesthouse at 1 p.m.
“This will be a follow-up to previous meetings. We hope that we can take a step forward to seek national reconciliation,” Nyan Win said.
Their last meeting was held on August 12. After the meeting, both sides issued a joint four-point statement of their intent: to cooperate for stability and development in the country; to cooperate for the flourishing of democracy in the country and better development in economic and social areas; to avoid conflicting views; to focus on mutual cooperation and to continue the meetings.
Union Minister Aung Kyi was appointed as liaison minister in October 2007 to meet with Suu Kyi. They have met 11 times. http://www.mizzima.com/news/inside-burma/6002-nld-considers-registering-as-official-political-party.html
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Victory for Burma reformers over dam project
Work on £2.3bn Myitsone dam halted after Burma's president says he has to 'act according to the desire of the people'
Jonathan Watts
guardian.co.uk, Friday 30 September 2011 10.26 BST
Aung San Suu Kyi at Sketch of a River
Aung San Suu Kyi at an exhibition to celebrate the Irrawaddy river - the move is seen as a victory for her campaign to protect the river. Photograph: Nyein Chan Naing/EPA
Burma will suspend a massive Chinese hydropower project on the Irrawaddy river after the country's president joined a chorus of concerns raised by environmentalists, democracy activists and tribal militias.
The proposed halting of the $3.6bn (£2.3bn) Myitsone dam is a remarkable step for a government that has long ruled by military fiat, but appears this time to have put public and ecological concerns ahead of economic priorities and the interests of its powerful neighbour.
In a rare concession to opposition groups, President Thein Sein informed parliament on Friday that construction of the 3,600MW project on Burma's most important river should be in halted because it was against the will of the people.
The decision will be seen as a victory for Aung San Suu Kyi, the leader of Burma's pro-democracy opposition. In August, the Nobel laureate called for the plan to be reassessed and greater efforts be made to protect the Irrawaddy and the interests of people who would be affected.
Chief among them are the residents of the Kachin region, which would have been flooded by a reservoir the size of New York City, forcing the displacement of 10,000 people and submerging important cultural sites.
Earlier this year, the Kachin Independence Organisation broke a 17-year-ceasefire after warning that it would fight to block the project.
Environmental groups warned that the dam, which was to be built by the China Gezhouba Group on the confluence of the Mali and N'Mai, would inundate one of the world's biodiversity hotspots and pose a major risk in the event of an earthquake.
The Burma Rivers Network, an NGO which represents communities along the river, released what it says is a leaked environmental assessment jointly commissioned by the Burmese and Chinese authorities that recommends scrapping the project.
There has clearly been a tussle inside the government over the issue. Earlier this month, the minister for electric power, U Zaw Min, insisted the plan would go ahead. Senior environmental officials, however, have urged caution.
Thein Sein may be taking a risk with the announcement. His government took over this year from the junta that ruled Burma for decades and is still thought to be under the influence of the military. http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/sep/30/victory-burma-reformers-dam-project
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Myanmar suspends dam project after rare outcry
(AFP) 30 September 2011
Myanmar’s new army-backed government has suspended a controversial $3.6 billion hydroelectric power project following rare public opposition, a govt official.
Opposition to the dam has been building as pro-democracy and environmental activists test the limits of their freedom under the new nominally civilian regime, which is dominated by former military officers.
President Thein Sein told lawmakers in the capital Naypyidaw that work on the Chinese-backed Myitsone dam on the Irrawaddy River in northern Kachin state would be halted during the term of the current government.
“The president decided to stop the dam project because the government is elected by the people and the government has to respect the will of the people,” said the official, who did not want to be named.
Environmentalists have warned the dam project would inundate dozens of villages, displace at least 10,000 people and irreversibly damage one of the world’s most biodiverse areas.
For the people of Kachin, the Myitsone dam has come to symbolise the struggles they have faced for decades as a marginalised ethnic group in the repressed nation under almost half a century of military rule.
Police last week arrested a man who staged a rare solo protest against the project outside a Chinese embassy building in Yangon.
They also blocked a rally this week by people seeking the release of political prisoners and an end to the Myitsone project, electricity from which is destined for neighbouring China. No arrests were made on that occasion.
“For the contract with the Chinese company, both sides will discuss it based on goodwill,” the official said.
Protests are rare in authoritarian Myanmar, where pro-democracy rallies in 1988 and 2007 were brutally crushed by the junta. Demonstrators must have permission from the authorities. http://www.khaleejtimes.com/displayarticle.asp?xfile=data/international/2011/September/international_September1188.xml§ion=international&col=
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Suu Kyi and gov’t minister discuss amnesty and establishing peace
Friday, 30 September 2011 18:20 Mizzima News
Rangoon (Mizzima) – Burma’s opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi and government Labour Minister Aung Kyi discussed granting amnesty and establishing peace with ethnic armed groups on Friday.
At a joint press conference after their 77-minute meeting in Rangoon, they also said they discussed cooperating in conservation efforts to protect the Irrawaddy River and to cooperate for the stability of the country and the prevalence of law and order. They also also said the meetings will continue.
Aung San Suu Kyi speaks to the media in Rangoon after her third meeting with Burmese government Minister of Labour Aung Kyi on Friday, September 30, 2011. They discussed amnesty, the halt of the Myitsone Dam project and peace with ethnic armed groups. Photo: Mizzima
Aung San Suu Kyi speaks to the media in Rangoon after her third meeting with Burmese government Minister of Labour Aung Kyi on Friday, September 30, 2011. They discussed amnesty, the halt of the Myitsone Dam project and peace with ethnic armed groups. Photo: Mizzima
It was Suu Kyi’s third meeting with Union Minister Aung Kyi under the new government led by President Thein Sein.
Suu Kyi also told reporters that she welcomed President Thein Sein’s decision to halt the Myitsone Dam project at some point during his government’s tenure.
Suu Kyi said, “It’s very good that [the government] listens to the people’s voice. That is a task every government must do. Governments need to work to solve the problems that make people worry.”
On Friday, President Thein Sein informed both houses of the Burmese Parliament by letter that the Myitsone Dam project on the Irrawaddy River would be halted at some point during his government’s tenure, citing people’s concern about the dam’s impact on the environment.
The letter also said that without spoiling the friendship between China and Burma, the government would discuss the contract agreed to with China, which is funding the dam project that will generate 6,000 megawatts of electricity
Meanwhile, many people have welcomed the president’s decision on the Internet.
In reply to a question whether the National League for Democracy (NLD) and its leader Suu Kyi would contest in the coming by-election or not, the labour minister answered that if the NLD registers as a political party, the government is ready to cooperate with the NLD. Presently, the NLD is the main opposition group outside of the Burmese Parliament.
Regarding registering as a political party, Suu Kyi, who spent 14 years under house arrest, said that she must first consult with the NLD leadership. The NLD did not re-register to become a political party prior to the 2010 elections.
“We don’t oppose elections according to any policy. We have already accepted that elections are a part of a democratic system,” Suu Kyi said. http://www.mizzima.com/news/inside-burma/6005-suu-kyi-and-govt-minister-discuss-amnesty-and-establishing-peace.html
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Verdict on Burma-Bangladesh Dispute Due in March
By SIMON ROUGHNEEN Friday, September 30, 2011
BANGKOK—Burma and Bangladesh will have to wait until March 2012 for a verdict on their disputed maritime boundary, in a case that could facilitate both sides in acquiring new gas and oil supplies in the energy-rich Bay of Bengal.
Amid a background of stalled bilateral negotiations and sometimes acrimonious relations, hearings ran from Sept 8 -24 at the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (ITLOS) in Hamburg, Germany.
International legal experts and academics lent weight to the proceedings—which unlike the simmering multi-state dispute over the gas and oil-laden South China Sea and various islands in the area—looks set to be resolved without acrimony. The outcome could establish some international maritime legal precedent, which in turn could have a bearing on any international law-based resolution to the South China Sea conundrum.
Bangladesh foreign minister Dipu Moni addressed the opening of the hearings, expressing confidence that the proceedings and the resolution would lead to better bilateral ties.
"Our two states have long enjoyed strong ties born out of the familiarity that comes with being neighbors," she said.
However, relations between the two sides are often touchy, and the case came to the ITLOS after became Bangladeshi angered at Burmese-backed exploration work in the disputed waters, carried out by Korean company Daewoo in 2008. Prior to that, decades of on-off bilateral talks over the maritime boundary went nowhere, leading to dangerous November 2008 and October 2009 stand-offs, after it became apparent that the seabed contained gas and oil deposits.
A leaked diplomatic cable from the US Embassy in Dhaka shows that the Bangladeshi authorities feared possible Burmese military action after the 2008 dispute. According to the document, dated Aug 3 2009, “Prime Minister's Security Advisor Major General (ret) Tarique Ahmed Siddique expressed concern about the possibility of hostilities with Burma related to the ongoing maritime boundary dispute. Tarique confided that he had recently been briefed by Bangladesh's Defense Advisor in Burma, who assessed that the Burmese were planning military action.”
The cable recounted a separate Aug 1 2009 meeting with Bangladesh Chief of Army Staff Gen Abdul Mubin, who, according to the cable, opined that “the Burmese had been humiliated by the need to back down and withdraw an exploration rig from the disputed waters in the Bay. He feared that the Burmese would seek revenge to coincide with the anniversary of the confrontation.” Weeks later, in October 2009, both countries sent warships to the disputed waters.
The Bangladesh military representatives said that they feared the military edge lay with the Chinese-backed Burmese, and were in turn seeking US assistance. However, in a later cable dated Nov 21 2009, “on November 5 the (US) Ambassador advised the (Bangladesh) PM that the US did not see any indications that Burma was preparing for aggressive action against Bangladesh, despite alarmist reports in the Bangladeshi media.”
Other companies—such as India's Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC), China National Petroleum Corp., and ConocoPhilipps—have shown an interest in exploration in the disputed zone, raising the prospect of a new site of competition between China and India for commercial and strategic influence in the region.
ONGC operations off the Vietnam coast prompted an angry Chinese reaction earlier this month, with Beijing saying the exploration work was taking place in disputed waters in the South China Sea. Vietnam calls the sea the East Sea and says the work was within the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ), the area extending to 200 nautical miles from the country’s coast. Within this area, the coastal nation has sole exploitation rights over all natural resources, and the region includes the 12-mile territorial sea zone directly off the coast.
India lost out to China over Burma's Shwe Gas fields, located south of the disputed Burma-Bangladesh maritime border, with the Burmese Government hoping to start piping the gas to China by 2013, which will earn Naypyidaw almost US $30 billion in revenue over the life-span of the field, according to the Shwe Gas Movement.
India has a separate, but related, dispute with Bangladesh over territorial waters in the Bay of Bengal, which some analysts say could overlap with the Burma-Bangladesh issue, meaning that a trilateral agreement or arbitration could be necessary to resolve the seemingly-interlocking claims.
While Burma exports most of its gas and oil, Bangladesh needs energy supplies for its domestic economy, and according to a Nov 11, 2009 cable from the US embassy in Dhaka, “is taking steps to encourage foreign investment in natural gas exploration and other energy projects,” including offshore.
Julia Ritter, the press officer at the ITLOS, told The Irrawaddy that “the judges will now deliberate on the case and a tentative date for the judgment has been set for March 14, 2012.” After listening to a series of highly-technical arguments and counter-proposals, pouring over the finer points of international maritime law, the judges will likely need the six months to assess the case and finalize a ruling. http://irrawaddy.org/article.php?art_id=22175
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