|
|
|
|
|
|
BURMA RELATED NEWS - JULY 04, 2005. YANGON (AFP) - Myanmar's military junta may be readying to move part of their administration outside the capital to somewhere "safer", analysts and diplomats here say. Pyinmana, a region described by tour guides as full of "verdant charm", could become the "escape city" for top leaders, military commanders and some ministers, they said. Some suggested that the relocation inland would be aimed at warding off a potential Iraq-style invasion by the United States, one of the regime's staunchest critics. Several ministries are preparing to move from October to the mountainous region, about six hours north of the capital Yangon along the road to Mandalay, analysts said. "Starting in October, some ministries are going to move -- defense, agriculture and energy," one Western diplomat said. "The ministers would go there, but they would keep a presence here in Yangon with the deputy ministers," he said, noting that "this would allow another layer of screening when it comes to welcoming visiting foreigners." "These are rumors, but Myanmar bureaucrats are busy finding housing there, thinking of schools for their children," he said. "I am told that they have laid a lot of concrete." Another observer said five ministries could move to the region which used to be a bastion of communist insurgents. "It's been in the works for three or four years. It's pretty well prepared," he said. The Myanmar authorities have called "for help from foreign experts, especially Russian." Plans for the site call for a military base, a large hydroelectric dam at Paung Laung built with Chinese assistance, as well as tunnels, bunkers, hospitals and, of course, a golf course, observers said. A Myanmar businessman said the government's military headquarters could leave Yangon in the next month and set up in Pyinmana. "Some went already," he said. "We haven't received any order, although rumors are widespread," an official at the home affairs ministry told AFP. The information ministry was similarly vague. An official there said simply: "We haven't got any order nor instruction so far." Some are skeptical about the talk. "They're building something, that's certain, but nobody knows exactly what it's going to be," another diplomat said. "I don't believe part of the government will move," he said. "Either everyone moves, or no one. It wouldn't make much sense (for only part to move)." "And this is not a move of the capital, it's not Brasilia," he said. The capital of Brazil was officially moved to Brasilia from Rio de Janeiro in 1960. Talk of an "escape city" for the generals has spread throughout Yangon. The plan was apparently reinforced by the US-led invasion of Iraq in 2003, which heightened the junta's fears of attack by the United States, analysts say. While Myanmar is not among the White House's top foreign policy priorities, as are Iran, North Korea, Cuba or Syria, it imagines it isn't far behind. Some observers believe the generals think the United States could invade by sea, which would put Yangon -- a port on the Andaman Sea -- and all the top command on the front line. "Some people describe it (Pyinmana) as a strategic base to which they would retreat in case of an attack by sea," one analyst said. Another diplomat agreed that the US-led invasion of Iraq had rattled junta leader Senior General Than Shwe. The army has boosted its military spending in the past few years, according to experts, notably buying MiG 29s. "There's a clear phenomenon of bunkerization," he said. "They feel threatened and have become paranoid. They think that the Americans have an Iraq-style solution" for Myanmar. "If all this turns out to be true, the top leaders would also go. The country functions like an army with a chain of command, and the chief of staff would move," he said. "The army could fall back to the north," a mountainous and forested region, "to organize a guerilla-style resistance not far from China," he said. "It's like something from science fiction." BANGKOK, July 4 (Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice will visit tsunami-hit parts of Thailand next week, officials said on Monday, fuelling speculation she will snub a major security meeting in the region later in the month. Rice is due to arrive on the southern resort island of Phuket on Sunday and to meet Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra and Foreign Minister Kantathi Suphamongkhon the following day. Foreign Ministry officials said post-tsunami rebuilding in Thailand, where 5,400 died, would top the agenda although it was "inevitable" the two sides would also address the divisive issue of the military junta in neighbouring Myanmar. "The objective of her visit is to observe reconstruction efforts after the tsunami, so most of her meetings will be in Phuket," Foreign Ministry spokesman Sihasak Phuangketkeow said. Rice's visit is part of an Asian trip including China, Japan and South Korea -- a schedule which appears to rule out her attending the annual ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) in the Lao capital of Vientiane on July 28-29. Diplomatic sources have suggested Rice may skip the annual security meeting, which U.S. Secretaries of State have attended for many years -- along with counterparts from ASEAN and China, Japan and North and South Korea -- in protest at the participation of Myanmar's ruling generals. The United States and the European Union have imposed sanctions on the former Burma over the house arrest of democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi and the lack of progress towards multi-party rule. To the frustration of Washington, the 10-member Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) has favoured "constructive engagement" to try and coax the junta towards democracy. Neither policy has had any obvious success. Washington insists there will be "high-level State Department representation" at the ARF, although has declined to say whether this means Rice or her deputy, Robert Zoellick. Analysts said a Rice boycott would be a major slap in the face to a region where it has "war on terror" security concerns and where it is fast losing its edge to a rising China. "It will be very interesting to see whether she actually does not show up on the day itself, because that would be incredible," said Ralf Emmers of Singapore's Institute of Strategic and Defence Studies. "Not showing up to the only security forum in the region? I think quite a bit of explanation would need to be given," he said, adding that the snub would be even greater given that Rice has only just moved into the job. The U.S. embassy in Bangkok said it had no details of Rice's travel plans. ASEAN comprises Brunei, Cambodia, Laos, Thailand, Singapore, Vietnam, Malaysia, Myanmar, Indonesia and the Philippines. Myanmar, which has been under military rule for more than four decades, is due to assume the group's alphabetically rotating chair in mid-2006 -- a timetable which has forced the controversy over ASEAN's "black sheep" into the open. BANGKOK (Reuters) - Thai police said on Monday they had arrested two Malaysian men caught with 54 kg of crystalised methamphetamine, or "ice", as they tried to smuggle it from Myanmar to Malaysia. The suspects -- named as Hew Kien Fatt, 50, and Chia Yok Kong, 39 -- were arrested in the southern commercial town of Hat Yai on Sunday with the drug, popular with clubgoers in Malaysia and Indonesia, with a Thai street value of $500,000, police said. If found guilty, the two face execution by lethal injection, police said. Thai anti-drug officials said the drugs were made in Myanmar by ethnic Wa troops led by Chinese drug lord Wei Hsueh-kang, who has a $2 million American bounty on his head. "We believe the drug is made by Wei Hsueh-kang, who has relocated his production base from China to Myanmar and we have to inform Myanmar authorities about this," Krisana Polanand, head of the Office of the Narcotics Control Board told reporters. Thai drug busters have already accused Wei of producing and trafficking hundreds of millions of methamphetamine tablets, or "crazy drug" in Thai, to Thailand in the past decade, but Krisana said "ice" was not popular among Thai users. BANGKOK (AFP) - US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice will visit Thailand during an Asian tour this month and may address the controversy over military-ruled Myanmar heading ASEAN, Thailand's foreign minister said. "Rice will visit Thailand on the 11th and 12th" of July, Kantathi Suphamongkhon told reporters, adding that she will hold talks with Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra. When asked if Rice would be discussing Myanmar's chairing of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) next year, Kantathi said: "It might be included in the talks, but there will be no conclusion". Rice will also be briefed on rehabilitation efforts in the wake of last December's deadly tsunami which ravaged parts of Thailand's coast, Kantathi said. Myanmar is due to take the helm of ASEAN from Malaysia in 2006. The chairmanship is determined by alphabetical rotation among member states, which also include Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. The United States, citing Yangon's dismal human rights record, including its refusal to free opposition leader and Nobel peace laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, has warned that if Myanmar chaired ASEAN, the grouping's image would be smeared. Officials and parliamentarians from some ASEAN member states also fear that Myanmar's chairmanship will damage the group's image and international links, although Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam are backing Yangon. Last month diplomatic sources said Rice may skip the ASEAN Ministerial Meeting in Laos in late July amid concerns in Washington the region is not pushing enough for democratic reforms in Myanmar. It would be the first time ever that a US secretary of state does not participate in the annual talks. The top US diplomat is also to visit China, Japan and South Korea during her tour, Yonhap news agency said Friday. The visit is expected to focus on the North Korean nuclear standoff amid diplomatic efforts to bring Pyongyang back to six-party talks. KUNMING: Tremendous business opportunities have been afforded over the years by the founding of the Greater Mekong Sub-Region Economic Co-operation Program (GMS Program), said Jin Liqun, vice-president of Asian Development Bank (ADB) yesterday. And today, the six countries that share the Mekong River China, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand and Viet Nam "are aggressively pursuing policy and institutional reforms to encourage greater private sector participation in critical areas," he said. Jin made the remarks at the opening of the Forum on Business Participation for Co-operation in the GMS, a supplement to the two-day Second GMS Summit, which will be opened and presided over by Premier Wen Jiabao from today. Wen arrived in Kunming yesterday. Prime ministers of the six GMS member countries will gather today to review the progress of co-operation and chart the future course of action by passing a leaders' declaration and signing a series of co-operative agreements. And the Chinese Government will issue the second State report explaining its stance on participating in GMS co-operation during the summit meeting. About 300 business executives and policy-makers participated in the business forum yesterday to exchange views on how the government and business sectors can further collaborate in addressing development issues confronting the Greater Mekong River. They will meet leaders today to discuss how to further enhance the role of business in the GMS, especially in the fields of transportation, telecommunications, energy, trade and tourism. Jin noted that the dialogue would be a landmark event, setting the stage for a new era of co-operation between the GMS's public and private sectors. The GMS regional co-operation programme, which ADB has been supporting since 1992, has been actively promoting the participation of the private sector in GMS activities. Statistics from ADB showed that since the inception of the GMS programme, foreign direct investment has increased three times, total exports have grown six-fold and intra-regional exports have grown more than 10-fold in the sub-region. Annual GDP growth across the region has averaged over 6 per cent during the last few years. The Myanmar Women's Affairs Federation (MWAF), the largest women social organization in Myanmar, has condemned some big nations for putting pressure on and imposing sanctions against the country, saying that such acts are repressive and obstructive to Myanmar women's progress and development. A proclamation of the MWAF on Myanmar Women's Day 2005, published in Monday's state-run newspaper New Light of Myanmar, blamed that the Myanmar female workers, part of all the workers, are massively deprived of their livelihood which is affected by the limitation and blockage of external aid, restriction on international credit and currency, sanctions on foreign investment,bans on the tourist and hotel industries all imposed by some powerful countries as part of their pressure on Myanmar. The statement objects to the annual reports to the United Nations General Assembly, saying that they were based on groundless and fabricated information by insurgent groups in border areas and those opposing to the government to defame Myanmar in the international community. The statement also condemned terrorist bomb explosions in Yangon in last May which killed and injured 172 people including women. The statement pledged to cooperate with other social organizations in sharing a common purpose of serving the interests of the state and the people. The MWAF, representing about 27 million women, who make up more than half of the nation's population, has been implementing the human security development and progress of Myanmar women by establishing concrete plans and programs, the statement said, adding that it is also taking preventive measures to eliminate violence against women, trafficking of women and children and rehabilitating such victims. The MWAF was formed on July 3, 1996. The organization's original name was Myanmar National Committee for Women's Affairs then and was reconstituted as the MWAF on Dec. 20, 2003. The organization, whose patrons are wives of the country's state leaders, now has about 1.5 million members. The day July 3 has been designated as Myanmar Women's Day. Myanmar Prime Minister General Soe Win left Yangon Sunday for Kunming, China, to attend the Second Summit of the Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS) on Economic Cooperation Program due to kick off on Monday. It is Soe Win's second trip to China for a summit meeting since he became the prime minister last October. In November last year he attended a business and investment summit of China and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) as well as the first China-ASEAN Expo in Nanning. The two-day GMS Summit in the capital of China's southwest Yunnan province will review the subregion's ongoing programs and outline cooperation in the future. Initiated by the Asian Development Bank, the GMS-Economic Cooperation was founded in 1992 to bring together six countries --China, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam along the Mekong river. Myanmar has worked for closer economic ties together with other members of the grouping by taking part in the implementation of the GMS program which prioritizes some 100 projects in eight sectors including investment, trade, transport, tourism, telecommunications, energy, environment and human resources development. The 4,500-km Mekong river originates from China and runs through Myanmar, Laos, Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam. The GMS has a combined land area of nearly 2.3 million square-kilometers and home to more than 250 million people. The first GMS summit was held in 2002 in Phnom Penh. China will continue to encourage and support its enterprises to cooperate with Myanmar and will try its best to offer assistance to Myanmar's economic development, said Premier Wen Jiabao on Monday in Kunming. During a meeting with his Myanmar counterpart Soe Win in this capital of southwest China's Yunnan Province, Wen said China has always been pushing for the development of bilateral economic and trade relations with Myanmar on the basis of equality, mutual benefit and the win-win principle. China and Myanmar have witnessed the growth of mutual trust and support since the two countries forged their diplomatic ties 55 years ago, said Wen at the meeting, held on the sidelines of the second summit of the Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS) Economic Cooperation Program. Wen said China supports Myanmar's efforts in maintaining national stability, promoting reconciliation among ethnic groups, and expanding foreign relations. China's principle of promoting good-neighborly cooperation with Myanmar will never change, no matter how the international situation fluctuates, the Chinese premier said. Soe Win stressed that Myanmar considers China as a sincere friend and hopes to strengthen bilateral cooperation in every field, including the expansion of trade and the fight against drugs. After their meeting, the two leaders also attended the signing ceremony of a bilateral economic and technical cooperation agreement between the two governments. Soe Win arrived here Sunday for the second GMS summit along with heads of government from other GMS countries, including Cambodia, China, Laos, Thailand and Vietnam. (Source: Xinhua) Burmese military junta increased its crackdown on pro-democracy activists in the two weeks following Aung San Suu Kyi's birthday when millions of people from around the world joined their political and religious leaders, according to reports coming from Burma. Pro-democracy activists in the country, which was renamed Myanmar by the military dictatorship, claim that international support for their cause is on the wane since the global outcry against the "cocktail of barbarity" of the junta leading up to the birthday celebrations of their iconic leader and Nobel Laureate Daw(Madam) Suu Kyi. Daw Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy won the first democratic elections in Burma in 40 years in 1990, but the Burmese military government, the State Peace and Development Council, refused to recognize the results and murdered 10,000 activists before throwing Daw Suu Kyi in prison. She has spent most of the last 15 years either in prison or under house arrest, and the military junta did not even let her husband, Briton Micheal Aris, who was dying of cancer, visit her. Aris died in 1999 without seeing his wife for 11 years. The Burmese military, which is accused of murdering, torturing, and raping pro-democracy activists and minority groups, has the full backing of India, China and its neighbors in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). The natural resource-rich nation is due to take over the ASEAN chair from Malaysia in 2006, a move widely condemned by human rights activists. There are at least 1,300 political prisoners in Burma and some of them are there for writing poems about freedom, according to the human rights group Amnesty International. But activists claim that the international community cares more about Myanmar's oil wealth more than the well being of her citizens. They claim that greed for oil of rich multinational corporations, including the giant Unocal, is fuelling the regime's suppression of human rights and dignity. Nobel laureates, politicians, religious leaders and millions of ordinary people joined Burmese exiles on June 20 to celebrate Daw Suu Kyi's 60th birthday and call for her release. But pro-democracy activists claim that words alone will not free her, and asked the international community to take concrete steps towards freeing their country and their leader. "The way the junta increased arrests and harassment even while the world was calling for Daw Suu Kyi's release send a clear message," one activist from Rangoon(Yangon) said. "They want us to know that the international community will never do anything more thant talk about our liberation as long as they can extract our oil and exploit our labor." "The actions of India, China, ASEAN and Unocal speak louder than words," he added. "Until and unless the world leaders, and the United Nations act tough with the junta, and make it clear that the Generals belong in the barracks and not in government, nothing will change in Burma." Four Burmese ethnic minority women living in exile are among 1,000 nominees worldwide for the 2005 Nobel Peace Prize. The women include Cynthia Maung, a Karen medical doctor who since 1989 has run a clinic treating Burmese refugees, migrants and orphans in Mae Sot, on the Thai-Burma border, and Charm Tong, a leader of the Shan Women's Action Network. In 2002, Dr Cynthia, as she is widely known, won Southeast Asia’s Ramon Magsaysay Award for community leadership, considered by many as Asia’s equivalent of the Nobel Peace Prize, and last April she was listed as one of Time Magazine’s Asian Heroes. Altogether she has received six international awards for her work. In 1999, she was the first recipient of the Jonathan Mann Award, sponsored by US and Swiss health organizations. Charm Tong is also well known for her struggle on behalf of women from her native Shan State, on Burma’s eastern border. In 2004 she was one of 10 women chosen as Women of the World, by popular women’s magazine Marie Claire. The other two Burmese women nominated for the Nobel prize are Naw Zipporrah Sein, secretary of the Karen Women’s Organization, and Naw Paw Lu Lu, who runs a home for Burmese refugees in the Sangkhlaburi district of Thailand’s Kanchanaburi province. (Source: Irrawaddy) July 4, 2005 (DVB) - Military authorities in Rangoon have been tightening security measures around the main campus of Rangoon University as the historic 7 July approaches. On 7 July 1962, Burmese students at Rangoon University who were protesting against the military coup led by Gen Ne Win were gunned down by soldiers. Security measures have been increased around the university and people going in and out of the university have been searched and interrogated since 26 June, a university lecturer who doesn’t want to be named told DVB. Moreover, soldiers and security agents have been patrolling areas frequented by students at Hledan-Myeniggone Junction and the university’s Buddhist chaplaincy had been closed down temporarily. July 3, 2005 (DVB) - Myanmar War Veteran Organisation (MWVO) vice-chairman Maj Gen Kyi Min urged the children of Burmese soldiers to attend army sponsored universities rather than civilian based university. The comment was said to have been made at recent MWVO conference held in Rangoon in which the organisation decided to provide 30,000 kyat (around US$ 30) to 162 army veterans’ children studying at military universities. After the 1988 coup, many army sponsored “universities” sprouted around Burma and the most popular among them are said to be military medical and technical universities. An education staff in Mandalay told DVB that increasing Burmese students are attending these universities because the facilities are much better than the civilian ones. “The candidates do not need good marks like the ones for civilian medical universities. They provide very good chance for boys. No girls are invited. They are all for males,” she told DVB. “At the civilian Mandalay Medical University, final year students even don’t have a chance to do ‘body check’. At Magwe Medical University, they only have the chance to watch it on TV.” For the students who want to attend the military universities, they do not need to obtain good marks but they must have good connections within the army. |
|
|
|
|
|
