BurmaNet News, October 21, 2008

[Editor]

October 21, 2008, Issue # 3581

INSIDE BURMA
Mizzima News: Increasing bomb blasts worry Rangoon residents
Mizzima News: Saw Myint Than, chief correspondent of journal released
Narinjara: Cattle traders held hostage by Burmese army
DVB: U Gambira and Zarganar dismiss lawyer
DVB: Bogalay residents forced to work on reconstruction
AFP: Myanmar blast victim was ex-monk turned bombmaker: state media

ON THE BORDER
SHAN: Ceasefire armies play it close to their chests

BUSINESS / TRADE
KNG: Border trade restriction in Loije puts businessmen in a spot

INTERNATIONAL
ABC News: U.N. frustrated by Myanmar military government
AFP: More aid ‘will reform Burma’

OPINION / OTHER
Mizzima News: Burma's future amid the global financial crisis - Joseph Ball
IPS: Burma: Asia Europe summit can help - David Cronin

PRESS RELEASE
Arakan Oil Watch: China’s expanding oil ventures fuel anger in western Burma

OBITUARY
DVB: Artist Wathone dies at 61


____________________________________
INSIDE BURMA

October 21, Mizzima News
Increasing bomb blasts worry Rangoon residents - Zarni & Mungpi

Burma's state media on Tuesday blamed a bomb blast on Sunday evening that
killed a man in Rangoon's suburban township of Shwepyithar on the victim
himself.

The military-junta's official mouthpiece, the New Light of Myanmar, on
Tuesday said Thet Oo Win, identified as a former Buddhist monk who
participated in the Saffron Revolution, was killed while improvising a
bomb at his residence.

The paper said a police investigation into the incident found an
assortment of bomb-making material, including a 9-volt dry cell battery
fastened with a wire, damaged pieces of lithium batteries, six electronic
detonators and ammonium nitrate, inside Thet Oo Win's house.

"According to the items found at the scene, his injuries and the way he
lost his life, it has been determined that the blast occurred while Thet
Oo Win was improvising a bomb," the paper said.

A former monk who initially fled from Burma after being involved in the
September 2007 protests, the paper said Thet Oo Win later made his way
back to Rangoon.

The paper also noted the victim might have been involved in a bomb blast
on Maha Bandoola Street on September 25 that injured seven people.

"The type of gunpowder, dry cells and other related items found in the
blast that wounded seven people in Maha Bandoola Park on 25 September and
those found at the house of Thet Oo Win are the same. So, he may have been
involved in that bomb blast also," the paper said.

Burma, which has been ruled by a military government since 1962, has in
recent months seen an increasing number of bomb blasts, particularly in
the former capital city of Rangoon. In September alone, four blasts
occurred in Rangoon, injuring at least seven people.

Typically, each time a blast occurs, the military government is quick in
pointing a finger at opposition groups, including members of detained
Nobel Peace Laureate Daw Aung San Suu Kyi's party – National League for
Democracy (NLD), and border-based ethnic armed rebel groups who are
fighting for self-determination.

Similarly, the junta accused a human rights activist, Myint Aye, and
members of the NLD for a bomb blast in early July at the office of a
pro-junta civilian organization, Union Solidarity and Development
Association (USDA), in Shwepyithar Township.

However, despite the junta's claims, some critics and observers believe
that the opposition is not in any position to carry out such acts amidst
the tightly controlled security environment.

Aung Kyaw Zaw, a military analyst based at the Sino-Burmese border, said
opposition groups including armed resistant groups are not likely to have
penetrated Rangoon and other major cities in Burma, as the junta maintains
a tightly knit security apparatus.

"I think they [the junta] are behind all the blasts and are masterminding
them," Aung Kyaw Zaw added.

In most of the major cities in Burma, including Rangoon, authorities
maintain tight control over security and closely monitor the movement of
the people. Local residents in Rangoon said they are even required to
inform and submit national identity cards to local authorities for an
overnight stay at a relative's house.

The NLD, while denying their involvement in violent activities, also
accuses the junta for failing to bring the culprits to justice.

"The increasing number of blasts is causing panic among civilians, and it
is the duty of the government to apprehend the people responsible for the
blasts," Nyan Win, NLD spokesperson, commented.

Win Min, a Burmese analyst based in Thailand, said it is almost impossible
for opposition groups in Rangoon as well as armed resistant groups based
along the border to have carried out any kind of explosion in light of the
existing security measures taken by the junta.

"Looking at the increasing instances where the junta has arrested
activists by accusing them to be responsible for the blasts, it leaves us
to think that the junta itself is behind the blasts or are carefully
planning them in order to allow the government to suppress activists," Win
Min remarked.

Previously, several NLD youth members were arrested and charged with
carrying out explosions in the country made possible through funds
acquired from exile-based opposition groups, including the Thailand-based
Forum for Democracy in Burma (FDB).

The junta's Police Chief, Khin Yi, during a rare press conference held in
Burma's new capital Naypyitaw in September, also claimed exile-based
opposition groups had announced a reward to people who carry out bombings
across the country.

"It is clear that the junta is using this as a chance to crack down on
activists," Win Min further speculated.

Aung Thu Nyien, a former student activist who now analyses Burmese
affairs, said that while the groups behind the blasts seem unidentifiable,
the blasts give the junta a convenient excuse to crack down on activists.

However, while most opposition groups both inside and outside Burma deny
any accusations made by the junta regarding their abetting in a campaign
of violence, there is one group, the Vigorous Burmese Student Warriors
(VBSW), who claim to be carrying out bombings in protest against the
military government's continued rule.

VBSW, which claimed responsibility for the blast at the USDA office in
Shwepyithar on July 1 and an earlier blast in April near a restaurant in
downtown Rangoon, occasionally releases press statements, posted on the
blogspots of opposition activists, stating that they will continue to
carry out bomb blasts in the country to remind the junta that they are not
pleased with their rule.

VBSW, however, said it will only target the junta and members of its
puppet organizations, including the USDA and Swan Arrshin, but will not
harm the people. The group also previously claimed responsibility for
several other blasts, among them the bombing of the Panorama Hotel on
Pansodan Street in Rangoon in 2005.

The existence of the VBSW, though, cannot be independently verified as
they remain unreachable.

While the junta and opposition groups continue to play the blame-game, the
increasing number of blasts, particularly in Rangoon, has spread panic
among civilians who worry that their homes might be the next target for
the blasts.

A local resident in Rangoon said he would like to believe the junta's
version of the October 19 explosion that stipulates Thet Oo Win was killed
while improvising a bomb and was likely responsible for blasts throughout
the capital.

"But if the government's claims are false we have reason to be worried,
because we don't know when our houses may be targeted," the local resident
fretted.

____________________________________

October 21, Mizzima News
Saw Myint Than, chief correspondent of journal released - Nam Davies

The Chief Correspondent of the 'Flower' journal, detained for over a month
for covering a double murder in Thigangyun, Rangoon, was released from
custody yesterday evening after signing a personal bond.

Saw Myint Than of the weekly journal was released after the prosecutor
Pol. Maj. Khin Maung Aye withdrew the case against him under section 34(d)
of the Electronic Law.

He was produced in court yesterday at about 3:30 p.m. He was charged only
in one case under the 'Electronic Law," He was released after the
prosecution withdrew his case.

But a journalist close to the weekly journal said that the Chief
Correspondent had to sign a bond before being released. He had to pledge
not to commit a similar crime in the future.

But the authorities did not elaborate or clarify what the 'similar crime'
was.

He was charged with many cases including having unlawful associations and
using an unauthorized internet connection when his cases were registered
at the Kyauktada police station in Rangoon. Later the cases were withdrawn
one by one.

Saw Myint Than is likely to be reassigned his previous work.

The police arrested him after the 'Irrawaddy' magazine website in exile
posted a news item that the Rangoon Division Police Force summoned and
reprimanded him for covering the double murder in Thingangyun, Rangoon
Division.

The police accused him of having contacts with the 'Irrawaddy' news
magazine. But both he and 'Irrawaddy' categorically denied this baseless
accusation.

____________________________________

October 21, Narinjara
Cattle traders held hostage by Burmese army

Two cattle traders in Kyauk Pru were held hostage by the Burmese army on
Sunday in lieu of ransom after being arrested from a cattle smuggling
boat, said another cattle trader.

He said, "Two cattle traders were kidnapped by the Burma army after they
could not pay five million kyat to the army officials as a bribe for their
cattle, which was seized by the army platoon on the way to Bangladesh."

The cattle boat loaded with 70 cattle was stopped by the platoon stationed
at Mayu Lighthouse, 20 miles north of Sittwe, while it was traveling at
sea on the way to Bangladesh from the Arakanese town Kyaukpru.

After stopping the boat, the army personnel asked for five million kyat
from the cattle traders, but the traders were unable to pay the requested
amount because they had no money on them.

The army officials then took two traders from among the group and told the
rest to take the cattle to sell in Bangladesh and return to the lighthouse
to pay the five million kyat in exchange for the two men in custody.

"A group of cattle traders went to Mayu Lighthouse yesterday in a machine
boat from a jetty in Bangladesh to pay the ransom to the army officials
for their two fellow traders. I am sure the army officials will release
them after receiving the five million kyat," he said.

The army platoon is from Light Infantry Battalion 270 based in Sittwe and
are charged with guarding the lighthouse. They patrol the sea near the
lighthouse in order to prevent smuggling, but often seek out smuggling
boats to extort bribes.

The soldiers on patrol typically ask smugglers for money whenever they
intercept them at sea.

The cattle husbandry business on Rambree and Manaung Islands off the
Arakan Coast are thriving because they contain large pastures for the
cows, but there are no local markets for the cattle. The cattle is
typically exported to Bangladesh illegally as there are few profitable
legal options for selling them.

____________________________________

October 21, Democratic Voice of Burma
U Gambira and Zarganar dismiss lawyer - Aye Nai

The lawyer for prominent detainees Zarganar and U Gambira has said that
his clients are to dismiss him in protest at the way the authorities have
handled their trial.

Lawyer Aung Thein had previously said he would withdraw his representation
from 11 of his clients, including comedian and activist Zarganar and
high-profile monk U Gambira, in protest at the court’s refusal to allow
him sufficient time to prepare a defence.

But now Aung Thein said the instruction was coming from his clients.

"They are planning to tell the court that they are dismissing their
lawyer. We are following their wishes,” Aung Thein said.

“If you look at Insein special court, the reason they rejected their
defence lawyer is that they feel that the form of the trial is not
correct,” he said.

“They are not asking questions and they are not instructing their lawyers,
and this shows that they are rejecting representation."

U Gambira is to proceed without legal representation for 15 of the 16
charges against him, while Zarganar is facing four charges.

Aung Thein said he did not yet know for which charges his clients would
continue without a lawyer, but said he would continue to represent them on
any other charges.

When asked about his clients’ health, Aung Thein said U Gambira had been
receiving medical attention at Insein prison clinic but was still
appearing in court.

Ma Nyein, a relative of Zarganar, said that she had visited him at the
prison on Saturday and his health was suffering, although he did not yet
need hospital treatment.

The next hearing is on Wednesday.

____________________________________

October 21, Democratic Voice of Burma
Bogalay residents forced to work on reconstruction - Yee May Aung

Residents of cyclone-affected areas of Bogalay township in the Irrawaddy
delta have been forced to take part in reconstruction work or pay a fine,
a local resident told DVB.

Locals have been ordered by military brigade 66 to carry materials for
building roads in Saa-O Kyaung, Set Su, Yay Kyaw Gyee, Shwe Pyi Aye,
Mondaing Lay, Khyoon Thaya, Kyeinchaung villages, a paddy field owner
said.

Those that cannot work have to pay between 3000 and 5000 kyat.

The paddy field owner said army officials had told local workers to either
abandon their day jobs to take part in construction work or pay the fine.

“They are forcing almost the whole villages to take part in road building,
cleaning their buildings, and loading and unloading timber for the
construction companies,” the paddy field owner said.

“They have to work from 6.30am to 11am. Then they have to take a rest and
have lunch at their own home. Then they have to work again from 1pm to
4.30pm,” he said.

“They are saying that they are doing local development, but in fact they
are just using forced labour."

The majority of the people forced to work for the army are farmers and
fishermen, the paddy field owner said.

"They don’t have enough labourers and the army is doing one thing and the
police doing another,” he said.

“We owners have to negotiate with them to make things run smoothly or else
they want to harass you a little bit,” he explained.

“We have to bribe them once a month. I have to pay 3000 kyat, or even 5000
if it is to the army."

The resident said locals had been forced to work in this way since July.

Since August, some paddy field owners have been paying the money demanded
on behalf of their employees so they could be exempted from the work.

____________________________________

October 21, Agence France Presse
Myanmar blast victim was ex-monk turned bombmaker: state media

A man killed in a blast in Myanmar's biggest city Yangon was a former monk
who accidentally blew himself up while trying to build a bomb, state media
reported Tuesday.

The junta-run New Light of Myanmar newspaper published a graphic picture
of the headless body of a man they said was Thet Oo Win, also a suspect in
a bus stop bombing in downtown Yangon last month which injured seven
people.

Thet Oo Win was killed Sunday at a house in northern Yangon, in the latest
in a series of small explosions in military-run Myanmar.

"According to the items found at the scene, injuries and the way he lost
his life, it is learned that the blast occurred when Thet Oo Win was
improvising the bomb," the paper said.

It said authorities seized wires, batteries and detonators from the house.

The New Light of Myanmar accused Thet Oo Win of illegally fleeing across
the border to Thailand after massive anti-junta protests led by monks in
September 2007, and returning to Myanmar 10 days ago.

It said he had once been a Buddhist monk who "then lived as a layman
and... was a drinker," but gave no other motive for his alleged actions.

Sunday's blast came after another small explosion Saturday near a football
pitch in Yangon which caused minor damage but no injuries.

Myanmar also experienced four bomb blasts last month, one of which injured
seven people at a bus stop near Yangon's City Hall.

The New Light of Myanmar said materials found at Thet Oo Win's house
matched those used in the bus stop bombing.

Myanmar's junta has in the past blamed explosions on armed exile groups or
ethnic rebels who have been battling the military rulers for decades, but
the regime has also started pointing the finger at democracy activists.

State-run media in September accused two members of detained democracy
leader Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy (NLD) of bombing
pro-government offices in July.

The NLD won a landslide victory in 1990 elections, but the junta never
allowed it to take office and Aung San Suu Kyi has been under house arrest
almost constantly since.
The military has ruled Myanmar since 1962, partly justifying its grip on
power by claiming the need to fend off ethnic rebellions.

____________________________________
ON THE BORDER

October 21, Shan Herald Agency for News
Ceasefire armies play it close to their chests

As Naypyidaw takes turns playing good and bad guy roles towards the major
rebel armies that have maintained uneasy truces with it since 1989, the
latter are also understandably on the quiet about their future plans,
according to reports coming to the border.

“What would you do in our place?” asked a Shan ceasefire officer
rhetorically. “Lay down your cards on the table to make it easy for the
generals to move against us? No, no. We simply cannot afford to play that
way.”

All the groups interviewed by SHAN have conceded that junta commanders
have been now and again urging them “to exchange arms for peace,” a
favorite junta term for surrender. “However, we had a visit by one of the
top officers from Naypyidaw lately,” said a highly placed ceasefire source
who requested anonymity. “He had assured us that there would be no
question of surrender in dealing with us.”

Most of the groups including the United Wa State Army (UWSA) are
reportedly against the demand to give up their arms until an acceptable
political settlement is reached.

On the other hand, some have expressed interest in forming political
parties to contest in the 2010 elections without surrendering their arms.
“That way we will no longer be fighting them from the outside but inside,”
a prominent leader who is living in southern Shan State told SHAN. “It’s
time we came in from the cold.”

Some groups have their own political parties, dormant since 1989: These
are: Shan State Army (SSA) “North”- Shan State Progress Party (SSPP), and
the United Wa State Army (UWSA) – United Wa State Party (UWSP).

At the same time, none of the groups are sure whether their candidates
would be accepted by Naypyidaw as Members of Parliament once they have
been elected by their constituencies.

“We hope the military is content with what it already has: once-quarter
representation in the national assembly and one-third representation in
the state assemblies,” hopes one.

According to some analysts, the non-Burman ethnic parties stand a fair
chance in the elections, compared to the National League for Democracy
(NLD) or any proxy parties it has been urged by some supporters both at
home and abroad to set up. It had won more than 80% of the seats
nationwide in the 1990 elections.

Meanwhile, the groups have also been cautioned not to relax their
vigilance, citing one of the groups that has recently been forcibly
disarmed by the Army.

The Shan State Nationalities People’s Liberation Organization (SNPLO),
also locally known as the Red PaO, that concluded a truce pact with
Rangoon in 1994, was forced to surrender last August, despite assurances
by junta commanders that the Burma Army entertained no such plans a month
earlier.

At least the UWSA appears to be taking no chances. Since July, its squad
leaders up to company commanders have been engaging in military exercises,
as discovered by Brig-Gen Way Lin, Deputy Commander of the Kengtung-based
Triangle Region Command on 19 October when he visited Mongphen and
Mongpawk, south of the Wa capital Panghsang, according to sources in
Kengtung.

____________________________________
BUSINESS / TRADE

October 21, Kachin News Group
Border trade restriction in Loije puts businessmen in a spot

Businessmen in Loije, Bhamo District, Kachin State are in a spot following
restriction in border trade by the Burmese military junta authorities.

"These days it has become difficult to trade in Chinese goods through
Burmese check points. The only goods that are allowed to pass through the
gates are items on which there is a trade agreement between the two
countries," a businessman told KNG.

In the past, border trade continued without a hitch by paying some amount
of money to soldiers manning the gates. However, these days the story is
different and a deal cannot be struck by just paying money for goods to be
traded easily.

It is only recently, that the army in Loije has imposed severe
restrictions. Burma army's Infantry Battalion (IB or Kha-La-Ya) No. 74 was
replaced by Burma army's Light Infantry Battalion (LIB or Kha Ma Ya) No.
348. Such restrictions come about every three or six months, a resident
said.

It has severely impacted businessmen in the area. The obstacles to
China-Burma border trade are mainly because of the new battalion's sudden
and inexplicable move to restrict border trade, a resident added.

____________________________________
INTERNATIONAL

October 21, ABC News
U.N. frustrated by Myanmar military government - Patrick Worsnip

U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon voiced frustration on Monday that
Myanmar's military government had failed to take up proposals by the world
body to bring democracy to the southeast Asian nation.

Ban has been asked by the U.N. Security Council to do his utmost to pursue
reforms in Myanmar, which drew international condemnation last year for a
bloody crackdown on pro-democracy protesters led by monks.

Ban's special envoy, Ibrahim Gambari, last visited the former Burma in
August, but failed to wring concessions from the junta or to meet
opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, who has been under house arrest for
most of the past five years.

In a report, Ban said "it remains a source of frustration that meaningful
steps have yet to be taken by the Myanmar authorities in response to the
concerns and expectations of the United Nations and the international
community."

Myanmar says it is pursuing its own seven-step "roadmap" to democracy. It
announced overwhelming public support in a May referendum on an
army-drafted constitution as part of a process meant to culminate in
multiparty elections in 2010 and end a nearly 20-year political stalemate.

Western countries have condemned the referendum as a sham.

"It is unfortunate that specific suggestions of the United Nations to
improve the credibility and inclusiveness of the political process have
thus far not been taken up by the government," Ban said in his report for
the General Assembly.

The main U.N. demands, backed by the Security Council and advanced by
Gambari, have been for the junta to release political prisoners, including
Aung San Suu Kyi, and start a serious dialogue with the opposition.

Ban said that "expectations are high that the government of Myanmar will
start taking substantive action" on those proposals. It was up to the
junta "to genuinely demonstrate its stated commitment to cooperating with
the United Nations."

Ban also called, however, on all countries that were interested in a
solution in Myanmar to "work constructively together" in support of U.N.
efforts.

Saying that only negotiated political solutions would work, he urged
Myanmar's government and opposition to find ways to talk to each other.

____________________________________

October 21, Agence France Presse
More aid ‘will reform Burma’

An increased flow of foreign aid into Myanmar after Cyclone Nargis would
help improve people’s lives and foster democratic reform in the
military-run nation, a think tank said today.

Aid trickles into Myanmar

Cyclone destroyed 95 percent of Myanmar city

Brussels-based International Crisis Group (ICG) said aid agencies should
build on relations forged with the junta during the cyclone response,
rather than return to the status quo in Myanmar, which is under European
and US sanctions.

“Political reform remains vital, but withholding aid has done nothing to
promote this,” said John Virgoe, ICG’s Southeast Asia project director.

“Aid is valuable in its own right for alleviating suffering, as well as a
potential means of opening up a closed country, improving governance and
empowering people to take control of their own lives."

Myanmar only received $2.9 of foreign aid per person in 2005, United
Nations figures show, compared to more than $38 per person in nearby
Cambodia and nearly $50 in Laos.

This is despite Myanmar having a significantly lower per capita GDP than
both those nations.

Many aid agencies have also in the past pulled out of Myanmar, saying the
restrictions from the junta made their work impossible.

But since Cyclone Nargis pummeled the southwest delta in early May leaving
at least 138 000 people dead or missing, and up to one million in need of
assistance, relations between aid agencies and the junta have improved,
the ICG said in its statement.

Myanmar’s military junta initially came under fire from the United Nations
for its slow response to the tragedy, although it relented after a
personal visit by the UN head, and aid has since been trickling through to
survivors.

ICG said that visas to Myanmar and permits for aid workers for travel
within the country were being granted with greater ease, while
requirements for the launch of new development projects had been eased.

“But Myanmar faces a much deeper developmental crisis, with millions of
households living on the edge of survival,” the statement said.

“Donors should end aid restrictions, which have seen Myanmar receiving 20
times less assistance than similar countries, and which have weakened, not
strengthened, the forces for change."

Myanmar has been ruled by the military since 1962.

____________________________________
OPINION / OTHER

October 21, Mizzima News
Burma's future amid the global financial crisis - Joseph Ball

 Without yet knowing the end story of the current financial crisis
gripping much of the world, valuable lessons for Burma's future –
including the prospects and avenues for the positive development of the
country – can be observed.

When the lights went off on the Soviet Union, pundits and analysts were
quick to point to the failure of the command economy while simultaneously
raining praise on the capitalist economic development model, and
specifically the free-wheeling version trumpeted by the likes of
Washington.

Then in 1997, as the Asian Financial Crisis wrecked havoc from Seoul to
Jakarta, the world was told how no longer could the development models of
the Asian Tigers be considered on the same plane as those of the West –
while the notion of Asian Values took a pummeling from rights activists
who were quick to link the so-called Asian Values with the formation of
the then discredited Asian development models.

In short, economic crises have historically worked to confer legitimacy
upon and acceptance of certain systems of development at the expense of
alternative approaches and often associated non-financial values. This
legitimacy then typically allows the perceived 'victors' greater influence
and latitude in molding the direction of economic and financial approaches
regionally, if not globally.

Now, as the effects of the financial turmoil in the world's major markets
continue to reverberate, it is the financial system that has come to be
identified most closely with the United States that is being made to
appear dysfunctional in its lack of financial oversight and foresight.

Bidding to step in and replace the soiled individualist-centric model of
economic growth is a pragmatic approach championed by China that seeks a
symbiotic relationship between the public and private sectors in matters
of economic and financial policy – in essence appreciably increasing the
role of the state in the economic sector.

Whereas the International Monetary Fund, for more than a decade following
the end of the Soviet empire, had preached upon the dais of global
economics the boundless merits of free markets, drilling aspiring
countries with the mantra of "less government is good government," the
message is now clearly one of a need for increased regulation and
oversight from governmental institutions – a blasphemous notion to be
heard on the streets of Washington only scant years previously.

It may well transpire that 2008 is looked back on as the year in which
Adam Smith's misunderstood invisible hand, long endowed with a certain
mystique regarding Western development models, falls under the all-seeing
eye of state authority.

Sick man of Asia no more

Almost exactly one hundred years ago, as its last Emperor assumed the
throne in the form of two-year old Pu Yi, China was known as the "Sick man
of Asia," a fractured economy and entity left largely to the mercy of
external interests and objectives. No more.

Even before the latest financial avalanche triggered in the United States,
China was poised, in many analysts' estimation, to overtake the U.S.
economy within 20 years.

The International Monetary Fund, this month holding an emergency meeting
on the grim outlook of the global economy, found time to announce that it
expects the Chinese economy to grow at a clip approaching ten percent next
year, even while the West braces to tough out the conditions of a possible
deep recession. The assessment for China is the lowest such calculation
for years, but still represents a considerable relative advantage.

China also holds the world's largest foreign reserves, amounting to some
1,810 billion dollars. And just last month Standard and Poor's upgraded
the country's long-term sovereign credit rating from A to A+ in
recognition of the country's "exceptional" economic prospects and strong
financial position.

Such projections for China and the Chinese economy are made despite the
Shanghai Stock Exchange taking its share of lumps over recent weeks.
However, the crucial difference is that analysts look at China and see a
negative economic impact in the market as predominantly a correction for
problems overseas, as opposed to additionally reflecting inherent problems
within China's domestic financial institutions and infrastructure.

"If you look around the world, China is doing pretty good right now, and
the U.S. isn't," remarked C. Fred Bergsten, director of the Peterson
Institute for International Economics, earlier this month.

With China's economic position currently portending a growing and possibly
leading role for the country in the world's economy going forward,
diplomats as well as monetary experts are lining up to get on board.

Since last year, when traces of many of the fissures now rending economies
apart first became distinctly visible, Australia's foreign policy has
become increasingly predicated upon the establishment and growth of strong
ties with Beijing.

"My understanding is that China will continue to drive strong economic
growth for its own national purposes, but that's also good for countries
like Australia because China is such a major trading partner of ours,"
implored Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd.

Meanwhile, Michel Camdessus, a former Managing Director of the
International Monetary Fund, recently proclaimed of Asia, "Your countries
are now creditors of the world." And the biggest creditor of them all is
China.

Nation building or national interest?

To be sure, nation building and national interest are not mutually
exclusive concepts. But the decades ahead could well see the question of
national interest weighing increasingly heavy in the calculations of
policy makers regarding projects associated with nation building.

George Bush assumed the Presidency of the United States eight years ago
with a reputation of abhorring the concept of nation building. Two terms
later, nation building sits as a central tenet to his administration's
legacy. It is a policy approach that likely will not survive the ensuing
Presidential handover in January of next year – no matter who resides in
the Oval Office.

The prospect of a deepening financial crisis will likely take a heavy toll
on the countries most susceptible to promote a foreign policy distinctly
cognizant of nation building, those in North America and Europe. This
diminished financial capacity to incur such massive financial outlays will
be paired with domestic electoral constituencies increasingly critical of
elected officers who pursue such objectives over policies more directly
linked with national, domestic economy, issues.

In contrast, China has shown little, if any, interest in nation building
since the implementation of broad economic reforms under then Premier Deng
Xiaoping, opting instead to pursue a foreign policy definitively focused
on national interest. Unlike the early decades of the People's Republic,
when politics of ideology figured authoritatively in the country's foreign
policy calculations, Deng's China is almost singularly infatuated with the
notion of national interest – with economic considerations first and
foremost.

A clear example of this approach was in the pervading atmosphere of
economic uncertainty instigated by the Asian financial crisis. While China
did bail out Burma, it did so out of pure economic national interest,
headlined by a desire for relative stability in Burma, concessions on
natural resources and easy access of Burmese markets for Chinese products.

Policy imperatives for a future Burma

National interest and nation building obviously sleep together in matters
concerning domestic policy. What, then, in the national interest of
building a prosperous Burmese nation, can the present financial turmoil
tell Burma's current and future leaders?

To the extent that the pervading political stagnation in Burma is
resultant upon the notion that some country, group of countries or
international agency will proactively, possibly even physically, intervene
in Burma
such premonitions, at present, must be removed from any policy
equation. Already unlikely, the external financing of nation building not
intrinsically linked to national interest is likely to be prohibitively
expensive for potential suitors in the foreseeable future.

Succinctly put, it is imperative that prospective ruling Burmese political
parties develop strategic models for the future that incorporate
components of both enhanced self-reliance and diversification than what is
accounted for by present models.

Whatever Burma's domestic political orientation in the future, it does
nothing to change the fact that Burma's development and economic fortunes
will be substantially linked to its foreign relations and eventual
"re"integration into the global economy. Understanding this, and in lieu
of the current financial upheavals, is there an entity that both wants to
and is capable of taking the lead in providing the assistance necessary to
fuel a transformation of the Burmese state? The answer is yes, and it's
China.

Burma's prospects for a brighter future are thus best served by nurturing
strong bonds with China, the quicker the better for prospects of economic
transformation when change does come to Burma.

In doing so, nobody need forfeit any political aspirations and differences
between the countries and the people are certain, and welcomed, to exist.
As seen, the Australian Prime Minister, at the head of a vibrant
democratic society, is outwardly supportive and positive in assessing the
importance to a democratic Australia of a strong and growing relationship
between Canberra and Beijing. Similarly, China is vital to several U.S.
industries, inclusive of such 'national' endeavors as the development of
the U.S. space program.

A strategy of confrontation with, or relative ignoring of, China is a
policy inimical to the interests of a future Burma – a fact laid bare by
the recent gales of financial turmoil. It is up to Burma's leaders to
recognize this, while ensuring that the Burmese state effectively
prioritizes the interests of the Burmese people in dealing with China –
without being unjustly abused in return.

____________________________________

October 21, Inter Press Service
Burma: Asia Europe summit can help - David Cronin

By the end of this week Burmese pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi will
have spent 13 years under house arrest. By coincidence, the anniversary of
her incarceration (Oct. 24) falls when the military junta will be
represented in a summit between Asian and European leaders in Beijing.

The question of Burma’s participation in the Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM)
has been the most contentious issue that this process of dialogue has
encountered since it was established in 1996. The European Union was
initially opposed to any Burmese involvement unless preceded by the
release of political prisoners and democratic reforms.

Yet despite the absence of such reforms, the EU agreed in 2004 that Burma
could take part, alongside the other nine members of the Association of
South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) -- Thailand, Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, the
Philippines, Brunei, Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia.

Mark Farmaner from the Burma Campaign in Britain believes that Burmese
participation has "produced absolutely nothing" in concrete terms. "In
fact, it has got worse," he added, pointing to a doubling in the number of
political prisoners, a tightening of censorship and the refusal of
humanitarian assistance for victims of Cyclone Nargis earlier this year.

Nonetheless, Farmaner said that both EU and Asian governments should use
the summit to urge Ban Ki-Moon, the United Nations Secretary-General, to
insist on the release of all political prisoners when he visits Burma in
December. "If dialogue with the generals is ever going to work, this is
when it can work," he said, adding that it is unprecedented for the
secretary-general to engage in high-level discussions with the regime.

Last month Burma released seven political activists from jail, including U
Win Tin, a close ally of Suu Kyi, who had been in captivity since 1989.
But the authorities also arrested another 39 activists. In total, Burma
has over 2,100 political prisoners, about 800 of whom were detained
following the so-called ‘Saffron Revolution’, as protests by Buddhist
monks in 2007 came to be known.

Geoffrey Barrett, an advisor on relations with Asia to the European
Commission, said that there was a "time when Burma/Myanmar dominated"
discussions held as part of the ASEM process. "Now the topic is dealt with
in a very frank and open way, with a representative of that country
present," he said. "This betokens maturity."

While China has strong economic ties with Burma, it supported U.N.
statements calling for an improvement to the country’s human rights record
last year.

Xing Hua, a professor in the Chinese Institute for International Studies,
said: "Burma has internal difficulties. If we are more patient and more
skilful, I believe we can help to seek a fair solution to their internal
problems."

Yeo Lay Hwee, a researcher at the Singapore Institute of International
Relations, said that the EU decided a few years ago to adopt "a more
pragmatic approach" to Burma on the grounds "it is better to engage with
them than leave them out." But she added that "Asians are just as
interested as Europeans to talk about how we can deal with this problem."

Preparations for the summit were debated at an event in Brussels this week
organised by the European Policy Centre, a think-tank.

Yeo told the meeting that while the membership of ASEM has grown from 27
to 45 countries, it "still remains" an instrument of dialogue that has not
yet evolved into a forum for more structured cooperation between the two
continents.

She contended, however, that ASEM can be useful for "testing ideas",
suggesting that it should use the international financial crisis as an
opportunity to examine such matters as the need for reforming the
International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank.

Asia has been somewhat marginalised by these bodies, which have been
dominated by Europe and the U.S. since their inception in the 1940s. With
a combined population of about 27 million, Belgium and the Netherlands
control more votes in the IMF than India and China, each of which is home
to more than one billion people.

Barrett admitted that the financial crisis will overshadow the summit.

But, Barret expressed hope that there will be a fruitful debate on how
Europe and Asia can cooperate in addressing climate change, so that "an
ambitious and comprehensive agreement" will be reached in 2009. He was
referring to U.N.-sponsored talks, due to conclude in Copenhagen late next
year, on a replacement for the Kyoto Protocol, the main international
accord on reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

Barrett recognised that ASEM is overlooked by the media but that it "pops
up like the Loch Ness monster when there is a summit". He argued, too,
that the summit should address issues deemed sensitive in Asia such as
conditions for workers and freedom of expression. This is especially
important, he suggested, given that the sixtieth anniversary of the
Universal Declaration on Human Rights occurs in December.

"I don’t think we should have taboo topics in ASEM," he said. "The
dialogue should have attained the level where we don’t have taboo topics
anymore."

____________________________________
PRESS RELEASE

October 21, Arakan Oil Watch
China’s expanding oil ventures fuel anger in western Burma

An unregulated scramble for oil and gas by Chinese companies in Burma is
exacerbating poverty and creating a potential environmental and security
flashpoint that could have repercussions throughout the region, a study
released today revealed.

“Blocking Freedom”, a damning new report by environmental and human rights
group Arakan Oil Watch said that Chinese companies have been working
together with Burma’s military regime to confiscate land and farms, and
damage crops and destroy livelihoods by polluting soil and waterways as
they search for the oil that will fuel China’s economic development.

“Corporations and their supporting governments engaged in the oil and gas
sector in Burma must ensure they follow international standards on local
people’s rights, and ensure environmental and revenue transparency,” said
Jockai Khaing, director of Arakan Oil Watch. “Until then, we are demanding
that they stop oil and gas exploration in Burma.”

The report is primarily based on data taken by secretly and in dangerous
conditions over a period of two years from Arakan state’s Ramree Island,
where a consortium led by China National Offshore Oil Company Ltd. (CNOOC
ltd.) had been exploring for oil in an area known as Block M since 2005.
The New York and Hong Kong Stock Exchange-listed CNOOC partnered on the
project with Singapore-based Golden Aaron Pte. Ltd. owned by Stephen Law,
son of notorious drug baron Lo Hsing Han in their ventures.

Local people, who have for centuries been surviving on traditional hand
dug-wells, were evicted from their lands without warning and deprived of
their livelihoods and property, the report said. Local frustration erupted
in April 2007 when affected villagers took the law into their own hands,
breaking into and ransacking a CNOOC drilling site. The resulting
crackdown by local army militia drove some 70 villagers to flee from the
area, some as far as Thailand and Malaysia.

“Even people in urban centres of Arakan State only have a few hours of
electricity per day, so you can imagine the anger of the people when the
regime exports the resources to neighbours for cash that they never see,”
Jockai added.

China plans to use the island as its new gateway to the Indian Ocean, with
a huge deep-sea port under development at Kyauk Phyu, from which oil and
gas pipelines will traverse Burma to China’s Yunnan province across
populated areas of central Burma.

As at Ramree, it is likely local communities will be the biggest losers in
Burma. Chinese firms have been awarded the right to exploit 16 onshore and
offshore oil and gas blocks, more than any of the other 11 countries
currently investing in Burma’s oil and gas sector.

“Chinese and many other oil companies operating in Burma have impressive
corporate social responsibility statements. Unfortunately in Burma, these
statements are simply empty rhetoric,” said Jockai.

____________________________________
OBITUARY

October 21, Democratic Voice of Burma
Artist Wathone dies at 61 - Shwe Aung

The well-known Burmese artist Wathone passed away this morning from lung
problems at his house in Thingangyun township, Rangoon division, at the
age of 61.

Wathone spent most of his life painting and lived simply and modestly,
according to his colleagues.

Recently, 'A Sketch of Wathone', a film directed by Burmese director Kyi
Phyu Shin which profiled Wathone's life, won a National Geographic award
for best feature-length film.

Kyi Phyu Shin said she was deeply saddened to hear of Wathone’s death.

"The joy I recently felt after my film about Saya Wathone won the award
didn't last long as I heard the news about his death this morning," Kyi
Phyu Shin said.
"But at least he got to hear the news about the film winning the award and
he was so happy," she said.

"He said that honesty will eventually win out – those were his last words."