News & Articles on Burma-Sunday, 08 July 2012-uzl

- News & Articles on Burma Sunday, 08 July 2012 ---------------------------------------- Suu Kyis lessons on value of compromise 36 World War II British fighters found in Myanmar Burma's ethnic hatred Treasure hunting in the Mekong Delta Jackie Chan highlights Burma child trafficking In Burma, many fear completion of stalled dam Myanmar invites foreign firms to upgrade Yangon airport AIPMC urges Burma to release student leaders immediately ----------------------------------------- The Journal Gazette Published: July 8, 2012 3:00 a.m. Suu Kyis lessons on value of compromise Fred Hiatt Chief Justice John Roberts did something that, in polarized Washington, may turn out to be more important than saving Obamacare. He showed that compromise can be consistent with principle. More than that: He showed that compromise, for someone who respects and knows how to use the democratic process, can be the best way to advance principle. There is a lesson that has been lost on many politicians, and its not just that compromise is essential to the proper functioning of a democracy. Its that compromise can be a practical means to a principled goal. A similar lesson is unfolding in Myanmar, also known as Burma, where democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi recently sprung from house arrest into the whirl of day-to-day politics. In modern history its hard to find anyone who can match her combination of steely determination and good-humored lack of bitterness. She, too, is in the process of marrying conviction to practicality. Suu Kyi has been allowed to run for parliament (she won, easily) and travel abroad. At every step she has been criticized by some for sticking to principle too stubbornly and by others for being too willing to compromise with the generals who still call the shots. Her supposed intransigence always has infuriated those more eager to do business with Myanmar than promote its democracy. In response to her opposition to U.S. firms dealing with Myanmars corrupt state-owned energy company, outgoing Virginia Sen. James Webb peevishly asked whether an official from any foreign government should be telling us what sectors that we should invest in and not invest in. But at the same time she has alarmed some of her supporters by embracing this chance at reform, even though theres no guarantee it will bear fruit. She speaks warmly of President Thein Sein, takes her seat in a parliament the regime still controls and urges foreigners to invest, as long they do so in a democracy-friendly and human-rights friendly way. I strive to be as practical as my father was, she told the British Parliament, recalling that when a British general accused him of switching from the Japanese to the British side during World War II because the British were winning, he replied, It wouldnt be much good coming to you if you werent, would it? She deflects canonization and any romanticizing of what shes been through. Finally accepting her 1991 Nobel Peace Prize in Oslo, Norway, last month, she began one sentence this way: Of the sweets of adversity and let me say that these are not numerous ... But she went on to note that the most precious of those sweets was the lesson I learnt on the value of kindness. Every kindness I received, small or big, convinced me that there could never be enough of it in our world.. Its too much to expect us normal folks to match Aung San Suu Kyis serene ability to find humanity in those who have treated her most vilely. But tea party Republicans and MoveOn Democrats might learn, if not from her then from the chief justice, that a studied embrace of compromise can be a means to advance principle, not betray it. Fred Hiatt is the Washington Posts editorial page editor. Copyright 2012 The Journal Gazette. All rights reserved. Neither this material nor its presentation may be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Share http://www.journalgazette.net/article/20120708/EDIT/307089959/1147/EDIT07 -------------------------------------------------- 36 World War II British fighters found in Myanmar IANS | Jul 8, 2012, 08.34PM IST Read more:World War II|United Kingdom|The Fighter|Myanmar|David Cameron 0 YANGON: (IANS) The remains of 36 British Spitfire aircraft, which were secretly buried during the World War II in what was then Burma to prevent them from being seized by the Japanese, have been discovered in the country. The remains of the fighter aircraft were found through radar. They will be dug by experts from Leeds University in cooperation with their counterparts from Myanmar, Xinhua reported citing the Flower News journal. After the planes are unearthed, they will be shipped to Britain to be kept in museums. Myanmar agreed to hand back the aircraft during an official visit to the country by British Prime Minister David Cameron in April. http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/south-asia/36-World-War-II-British-fighters-found-in-Myanmar/articleshow/14748979.cms -------------------------------------------------- Casey Weekly Burma's ethnic hatred HANNA HINDSTROM 08 Jul, 2012 03:00 AM The recent brutal religious violence in Burma's western Arakan state has cast a shadow on the country's democratic progress. Dozens of people have been killed and hundreds of homes destroyed as Buddhists and Rohingya Muslims clash near the Bangladeshi border in the country's worst sectarian violence in decades. Even more shocking than the violence has been the public outpouring of vitriol aimed at the Rohingya, the stateless minority group at the centre of the conflict. Considered ''illegal Bengali immigrants'' by the government, they are denied citizenship and are widely despised within Burmese society. Anti-Rohingya views have swept both social and mainstream media, seemingly uniting politicians, human rights activists, journalists, and civil society across Burma's myriad ethnic groups. ''The so-called Rohingya are liars,'' one pro-democracy group said on Twitter. ''We must kill all the kalar,'' another social media user said. Kalar is a racial slur applied to dark-skinned people from the Indian subcontinent. Burmese refugees, who themselves have fled persecution, gathered at embassies around the world to protest against the ''terrorist'' Rohingya invading their homeland. Even the prominent student leader Ko Ko Gyi, who played a key role in the 1988 democratic uprising, lambasted them as impostors and frauds. No doubt Burma's nascent media freedom has played a key role in stirring up religious tensions. Vast swaths of inflammatory misinformation are circulating inside Burma, with mainstream media largely accusing al-Qaeda and ''illegal Bengali terrorists'' of staging the violence in a bid to spread Islam in Asia. Many allege that the Rohingya are burning their own houses to attract attention. One newspaper published a graphic photograph of the corpse of Thida Htwe, a Buddhist woman whose rape and murder - allegedly by three Muslim men - instigated the violence, prompting the President, Thein Sein, to suspend the publication using censorship laws. These are the same papers that in recent months have openly criticised the government for the first time since a nominally civilian administration took over last year. Ironically, this freedom has also led to a virulent backlash against foreign and exiled media, who have reported on the plight of the Rohingya, described by the United Nations as one of the world's most persecuted groups. Following the latest violence, a number of online campaigns have been set up to co-ordinate attacks against news outlets that dare to report on the Rohingya's plight. Angry protesters rallied in Rangoon this week, brandishing signs reading ''Bengali Broadcast Corporation'' and ''Desperate Voice of Bengali''. The latter was a reference to this reporter's employer, the Democratic Voice of Burma, the Norwegian broadcaster that has made a name for itself among many Burmese as one of the most reliable sources of information about their country. Recently the broadcaster faced the biggest attack on its website in its history, and its Facebook page is still under constant assault from people issuing threats and posting racist material. As the International Crisis Group explains, the violence is both a consequence of, and a threat to, Burma's political transition. The ongoing crisis illustrates the need for Burma to embrace not only independent, but also responsible and inclusive, journalism. To facilitate this transition, the government must take concrete steps to address the underlying dispute about the Rohingya. The sheer level of racism against them in Burmese society, enforced by a government policy of discrimination and abuse, lies at the core of the matter. A politician from the military-backed Union Solidarity and Development Party has called for a ''king dragon operation'', the name for a 1978 military operation run by the dictator General Ne Win to stamp out the Rohingya population from Northern Arakan state. Meanwhile, reports of army complicity in attacks on Muslim homes are growing after a state of emergency was declared last month. The immigration minister, Khin Yi, has again reiterated that ''there are no Rohingya in Burma,'' while Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy continues to carefully sidestep the hot-button issue. State media has also fanned tensions by using the racial slur kalar in their official appeal for calm after 10 Muslim pilgrims were murdered to avenge Htwe's death. While the government has taken ostensible steps to calm the violence, including publishing a retraction for the racial slur, it is far from sufficient. Neither is invoking draconian censorship laws a viable solution. There must be a rational public debate on the future of the Rohingya minority in Burma. The issue is sensitive and complex, but it cannot be ignored. Political leaders, especially Thein Sein and Aung San Suu Kyi, along with the international community, have an obligation to drive this process. A failure to do so threatens to unravel Burma's democratic reform at a time when it cannot afford to regress. Foreign Policy http://www.caseyweeklyberwick.com.au/news/world/world/general/burmas-ethnic-hatred/2616760.aspx?storypage=0 ---------------------------------------- Korea JoongAng Ilbo Treasure hunting in the Mekong Delta [Commentary] July 09,2012 Myanmars conversion to democracy is breathing new life into a project with a terminally boring name: Greater Mekong Subregion. This name was bestowed on an investment bloc that the Asian Development Bank put together in 1992. It was made up of Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, Vietnam and Chinas Yunnan Province. Talk about odd bedfellows. It mixes constitutional monarchies, immature multiparty democracies, communist states and military regimes suddenly mulling elections with one thing in common: a waterway thats central to the livelihood of 330 million people. The potential of the resource-rich Mekong River region has long intrigued Asia-philes. If only this area got its act together, trade might flourish and markets in this next frontier of the Asian growth story could take off. Myanmars opening makes this possible for the first time. Myanmars reforms dont ensure success, though. That requires overcoming three big challenges: cordial relations with and among its neighbors, weathering the next global crisis and navigating the regions role as a proxy for U.S. and Chinese designs on Asia. In December, about the time Secretary of State Hillary Clinton became the highest-ranking U.S. official to visit Myanmar in a half century, Mekong leaders endorsed a 10-year plan: Tighter integration, more open trade and market-oriented financial policies, better use of natural resources, improved infrastructure, increased tourism, and poverty reduction. The idea is that in order to flourish together, we must work together, said Neav Chanthana, the deputy governor of the National Bank of Cambodia. Adds Chartsiri Sophonpanich, the president of Bangkok Bank: What makes this workable is that different countries in our region really do offer complementary competitive advantages. Thailand has banking expertise and sophisticated markets; Myanmar has substantial stores of petroleum, natural gas and copper; Laos has considerable hydropower know-how; Vietnam and Cambodia boast young and growing populations; Yunnan Province offers labor and a pathway to the worlds fastest-growing major economy. Yet Asias history with coordination is spotty. Japan and South Korea cant put aside anger over World War II long enough to share intelligence on North Korean leader Kim Jong-un. The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) engages in meaningless summits and proved out of its depth when global markets crashed in 2008. One enduring feature is distrust. Aseans 10 members covet sovereignty more than the European Union and have vastly different takes on financial openness, press freedom and human rights. Cooperation is often in short supply as one nation undercuts another for short-term gain. Bilateral trade agreements have proven easier to negotiate than regional ones. If people are already looking at Asean integration with caution, they will take the Mekong subregion with even more skepticism, says Tai Hui, the Singapore-based head of Southeast Asian research at Standard Chartered. Europes debt crisis will test Asia as rarely before. The good news, says Xaypaseuth Phomsoupha, general director of Laoss Ministry of Energy and Mines, is that the Mekong region is more insulated from global turmoil. The bad news, he says, is that more trouble overseas will leave less money for development projects at home. How Asia copes with Europes coming meltdown will say much about its ability to increase growth, create jobs and raise living standards. That goes, too, for Chinas ability to play the role of growth engine. Yet China is a controversial player in the Mekong region. Even as governments woo Asias biggest economy, they seethe over the huge Chinese dam projects that are reducing flows downstream. These have led to water shortages, depletion of soil nutrients, reduced food production and trouble for fisheries and ecosystems. Another flashpoint is the South China Sea. The drilling plans of China National Offshore Oil Corp. have enraged the Vietnamese. China has repeatedly shown a willingness to provoke conflicts in disputed waters, as it has with the Philippines and Japan. If one of these spins out of control it would cost China dearly by driving Asian governments to seek more support from Washington. For Clinton and U.S. President Barack Obama, the Mekong region is a microcosm of China-U.S. relations. Obamas so-called pivot to Asia has unnerved officials in Beijing, who almost see the Mekong region as their birthright. Access to natural resources is almost secondary. The bigger issue is who holds sway over Asia a decade from now. The creative tension emanating from U.S. and Chinese engagement has its benefits. As both jockey for advantage, the Mekong nations can play one off against the other and seek investment, security assurances and free-trade agreements. Yet theres ample scope for things to go awry. For all the challenges, Myanmars rebirth is a fresh start for the Mekong region. The process wont be smooth and it wont necessarily go as planned. But when a promising economic area with an American-size population joins hands, potential can only grow. http://koreajoongangdaily.joinsmsn.com/news/article/Article.aspx?aid=2955816 --------------------------------------- Radio Australia Jackie Chan highlights Burma child trafficking Posted 8 July 2012, 20:12 AEST According to the US State Department, thousands of children in Burma are forced to serve in the national army and ethnic military groups. Last week, Burma signed an agreement with the United Nations to ban the recruitment of child soldiers and demobilise those already serving. During his trip, Chan spoke with a number of Burmese children who had been trafficked. He says they made clear the importance of protecting children around the region. "Every trip I go - Vietnam, Cambodia, Myanmar - the most important message is love, harmony, united. Care about children because children is our future. (It's) all about children, because children is every country's future," he said. Chan, who has established 27 schools in China, says trafficking is a global problem. "This kind of trafficking thing is not only in Myanmar but also around the world," he said. Chan has been a goodwill ambassador for UNICEF (the UN Children's Fund) since 2004. http://www.radioaustralia.net.au/international/2012-07-08/jackie-chan-highlights-burma-child-trafficking/975884 --------------------------------------- The Washington Post In Burma, many fear completion of stalled dam Sunday, July 8, 8:54 PM TANG HPRE, Burma Father Thomas Gum Rai Aung points to a spot in the emerald hills that flank his village to show how high the floodwaters will rise if a dam project nearby is completed. Everything weve built here will be gone in an instant, he said, with a sweep of his arm. For now, the project is on hold. But Rai Aung has already lost his flock. Greg Jaffe and Nikki Kahn 6:05 AM ET Since her husband died in Afghanistan in 2009, Lisa Halletts grief has left her stuck, but it also propels her in her running and her efforts to ensure John is remembered. It feels like it couldnt be any hotter than it is in D.C., but believe it or not, there are worse places to be. Two years ago, Burmese authorities began forcibly relocating thousands of ethnic Kachin to clear the way for the hydroelectric dam. The Chinese-financed initiative was approved on the grounds that electricity and revenues it generated would improve livelihoods in an isolated region with poor infrastructure and few economic prospects. Construction was halted last year after a public backlash over the dams social and environmental impact. But activists now worry that Chinese leverage with state officials will succeed in restarting the project, threatening a fragile ecosystem and fledging chances for a peace settlement with an ethnic rebel group that says the dam violates native rights on territory that historically belonged to them. The Myitsone dam, a joint venture with the state-owned China Power Investment Corp., is the first and largest of seven planned along the Irrawaddy River, Burmas most vital waterway. Slated for completion in 2019, the dam would send 90 percent of electricity generated from northern Kachin state across the border to Chinas southwestern Yunnan province in exchange for $17 billion over a 50-year period. Burmas state-run media initially reported that more than 2,100 people from five villages would be moved to model villages and given new houses equipped with running water and electricity. On a Web site launched as part of a public relations campaign, the Chinese company says it has so far invested $25 million in the resettlement while fully respecting the desires of the project-affected people. Critics dispute these claims. In an August letter to the government, Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi said 12,000 ethnic Kachin from more than 60 villages have been divorced from their homes and traditional way of life. She warned that the Myitsone project poses serious environmental risks, made worse by nearby fault lines that raise the specter of horrendous devastation in the event of an earthquake. President Thein Seins decision to suspend the project was seen as a blow to China, the former military regimes main patron, and a sign that democracy might finally be taking hold in a land where opposition groups have had little room to breathe, let alone effect change. Analysts speculated that it might also be another signal of Burmas shift from Chinas orbit toward the West. In the months since, fast-track political and economic reforms have warmed Burmese relations with the United States and the European Union. In Kachin state, however, Burmese generals have ignored the presidents calls to end hostilities that have intensified since the army attacked territory controlled by the rebel Kachin Independence Army near contested dam sites on the Taping River. According to a March report by Human Rights Watch, both sides acknowledge that the fighting is partly about such projects. http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/asia_pacific/in-burma-many-fear-completion-of-stalled-dam/2012/07/07/gJQAtIJzVW_story.html?wprss=rss_world --------------------------------------- Myanmar invites foreign firms to upgrade Yangon airport July 8, 2012 3:53 pm Yangon - Myanmar has invited foreign firms to participate in upgrading Yangon International Airport to handle an extra million arrivals by next year, reports said Sunday. The Department of Civil Aviation (DCA) will soon invite both localand foreign investors to help upgrade Yangon Airports capacity from2.7 million passengers per year at present to 3.7 million by early 2013, the departments assistant director general Nwe Ni Win Kyaw told the Myanmar Times. Myanmar, whose recent political and economic reforms have been welcomed by the West and Asian neighbours, will host the South-East Asian Games in 2013 and its first summit of the Association of South-East Asian Nations in 2014.//DPA http://www.nationmultimedia.com/breakingnews/Myanmar-invites-foreign-firms-to-upgrade-Yangon-ai-30185719.html ----------------------------------------- Asian Correspondent AIPMC urges Burma to release student leaders immediately By Zin Linn Jul 07, 2012 10:08PM UTC Although the President of Burma has repeatedly said that the country is on the right track of reform path, more than 20 student-activists were recently detained in Burma. It happened ahead of an intended commemoration ceremony of the 50th anniversary of the 7th July brutal military onslaught on Rangoon University students. Concerning the recent arrests of students, The ASEAN Inter-Parliamentary Myanmar Caucus (AIPMC) today called on the government of the Union of Myanmar (Burma) to immediately release student leaders detained in Mandalay, Yangon and other cities. AIPMC also urges the regime ensuring basic freedom of the citizens. The statement says students and civil society groups must have the freedom of assembly and freedom to exercise their democratic rights. According to the press release, AIPMC is in Burma on a fact-finding visit to assess the current reform process. The student leaders were apparently in custody ahead of plans to hold events to commemorate the bombing of the Student Union building of Rangoon University in 1962. The 7 July crackdown was led by the late General Ne Win after he seized the power on 2 March of 1962. He initiated decades of military rule and oppression in Burma. Vice President of AIPMC and Cambodian Member of Parliament, Son Chhay said, We are extremely disappointed that this event occurred, especially so as it is during our trip to assess the often lauded reform process. This act of oppression has given us the impression that the old ways of practice are still in effect despite all the positivity for change that we have been hearing. Son Chhay said that the latest arrests of the students were unacceptable. If the government of Burma wants to impress the international community, it should not be a repressive country, and the Burmese government must act differently, he said. If they are even going to arrest people before any crime has taken place, this shows that they continue to use fear and intimidation to repress. This is one of the many things that we have learned over the past few days we have spent in this country. We will have to report to the international community and consider ourselves to determine the best way to proceed to help the people of Burma, Son Chhay highlighted his view on current negative steps of Burma. AIPMC expressed in its statement dated 7 July 2012 that fifteen young student leaders from the All Burma Federation of Student Unions (ABFSU) mostly in Yangon, Mandalay, Myinggyan and Lashio, have been under arrest by security forces. It was uncertain on what charges they were detained, AIPMC revealed in the press statement. AIPMC supports the 88 Generations calls for the immediate release of D Nyein Lin, Sithu Maung, Phyo Phyo Aung, Ye Myat Hein, and the other 11 student leaders known to have been in custody. The Asean Inter-Parliamentary Myanmar Caucus, or AIPMC, which comprises representatives from Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore, Thailand, the Philippines and Cambodia, urged their governments to take the situation in the military influenced country seriously. ASEAN could otherwise lose its credibility. The AIPMC was originally formed by Malaysian legislators in May 2004. The current President of the AIPMC is Ms. Eva Kusuma Sundari, Member of the Indonesian Parliament. Mr. Kraisak Choonhavan, Member of the Thai Parliament, has been serving as Vice-President of the AIPMC as well as chair of the Thai national AIPMC caucus. Besides, Ms. Agung Putri Astrid has taken responsibility as Executive Director of the AIPMC. She was formerly Executive Director of the Indonesian Institute for Policy Research and Advocacy, Elsam. The grouping of ASEAN Legislators has repeatedly called for the unconditional release of almost political prisoners in Burma. http://asiancorrespondent.com/85515/aipmc-urges-burma-to-release-student-leaders-immediately/