BurmaNet News, December 13-15, 2008

[Editor]

December 13 - 15, 2008, Issue #3618


INSIDE BURMA
AFP: Former Myanmar dictator's daughter released from house arrest
Irrawaddy: Promotions seen as part of 2010 election plan
Mizzima News: Ethnic Chin group rejects junta's 2010 election plans
Mizzima News: UWSA faces renewed pressures
DVB: Kachin villagers destroy plantation built on seized land

ON THE BORDER
Irrawaddy: Burmese defense lawyer flees to Thailand, blasts regime
IMNA: Eight migrant workers killed in car chase with Thai police
Reuters: Myanmar says disputed AD-7 test well disappointing

BUSINESS / TRADE
AFP: Gems auction in Myanmar
Kachin News Group: More and more elephants killed for tusk and skin in
northern Burma

ASEAN
AP: Asean charter comes into force

REGIONAL
Mizzima News: Thailand's new PM likely to be more 'pro-Active' on Burma:
Activist

INTERNATIONAL
AFP: UN chief visit would help Myanmar: EU envoy
Mizzima News: Activists urge Canada to assign special envoy to Burma

OPINION / OTHER
Irrawaddy: Isolation or engagement? It’s Than Shwe’s choice – Aung Zaw




____________________________________
INSIDE BURMA

December 14, Agence France Presse
Former Myanmar dictator's daughter released from house arrest

Officials in Myanmar have released the daughter of the country's former
dictator Ne Win after six years under house arrest, police said Saturday.

A senior police official told AFP that Ne Win's favoured daughter Sandar
Win, who is now in her 50s, was released late Friday.

"She was released yesterday evening as her detention period was
completed," he said, under condition of anonymity.

Sandar Win had been under house arrest at her lakeside home in Myanmar's
main city Yangon since 2002 after being convicted on treason charges for
plotting a coup.

Her husband Aye Zaw Win and three sons were sentenced to death for the
same crime, but remain locked up in Yangon's notorious Insein prison.

Ne Win ruled the country from 1962-88 after ousting Myanmar's first
elected post-independence leader U Nu in a coup.

His socialist programme sent the country, once one of Southeast Asia's
wealthiest nations, spiralling into poverty. It remains one of the world's
poorest nations.

Ne Win resigned in 1988 after a mass uprising against the country's junta,
which was crushed in a brutal crackdown that left an estimated 3,000 dead.

He died in December 2002, aged 92, while under house arrest with his
daughter.

____________________________________

December 15, Irrawaddy
Promotions seen as part of 2010 election plan – Min Lwin

Burma’s military government, the State Peace and Development Council, has
promoted a number of senior officers and created new positions in what
observers see as part of preparations for the political structure that
will follow the 2010 general election.

Among those promoted is Maj-Gen Maung Shein, former commander of the
Western Regional Military Command, who was appointed chief of the newly
created Defense Services Inspection and Auditor (Army, Navy and Air).

Bureau of Special Operations (BSO) commanders Khin Zaw and Thar Aye and
Adjutant-General Thura Myint Aung were promoted to Lt-Generals, according
to military sources.

Five BSOs, four of which were established in November 2001, run all
Burma’s regional commands throughout Burma. The creation of a BSO command
center created much confusion in the military’s command system and
structure.

Unconfirmed reports suggested that BSO 5, created in 2006, retains Snr-Gen
Than Shwe’s loyal officer Lt-Gen Myint Swe as commander. Myint Swe
previously oversaw the Rangoon division.

According to exiled dissidents and military observers who have close
connection with Burma’s armed forces, at least three major generals were
promoted to three-star lieutenant generals.

Meanwhile, at a graduation parade in Maymyo, Mandalay Division, Than Shwe
urged officers to learn four “outlooks”—military, political, economic and
administrative. The junta leader was addressing the graduation parade of
the 51 intake of the Defense Services Academy on December 12.

“We will continue to implement the fifth step [of the road map] which is
the holding of general elections in 2010, and the transfer of state power
will be carried out accordingly,” Than Shwe said.

Than Shwe and his deputy, Vice Snr-Gen Maung Aye, have served in the
ruling junta since 1988, first in the State Law and Order Restoration
Council (SLORC), and then in the State Peace and Development Council,
which replaced SLORC in 1997.

____________________________________

December 15, Mizzima News
Ethnic Chin group rejects junta's 2010 election plans – Zalatmay

The ethnic rebel group Chin National Front announced today they will not
accept the junta's planned general election scheduled for 2010.

The CNF passed the resolution during their Fourth Congress held on the
Indo-Burma border from the 8th to the 13th of this month, according to the
organization.

"We are facing real challenges in politics now. There may be changes too.
So it is very important to us regarding how to respond to the 2010
election. We would like state our position on the election to the people
in advance," CNF General Secretary Paul Sitha told Mizzima.

The Congress also urged the Chin people to fulfill their wills and desires
if they wish to compete in the election either through the establishment
of a political party or as individuals.

The CNF said they do not accept the junta's political roadmap and want
only to pursue progress via the tripartite dialogue, which comprises
various ethnic representatives and democratic forces in addition to the
junta.

"We shall continue our protest against the SPDC's [Burmese military
government's] roadmap. Especially I'd like to urge other opposition forces
to join with us in this protest," Paul Sitha said.

Before the backdrop of an exodus of many Chin nationals due to unjust
restrictions, repressions and violations of fundamental rights by the
junta, the CNF believes the Chin are faced with a national security crisis
which must be resolved collectively by all ethnic Chin people at home and
abroad, says the resolution.

The CNF, which is struggling for the establishment of a genuine federal
union based on self-determination and equality for all ethnic people, was
founded in May 1988 and maintains an armed wing called the Chin National
Army which is based in the jungle on the Indo-Burma border.

The Congress also elected 13 members to the Central Committee, including
Chairman Zing Cung, Vice-Chairman (1) Thomas Thangnou, Vice-Chairman (2)
Thang Yen and General Secretary Paul Sitha.

The CNF convenes a Congress once every five years.

____________________________________

December 14, Mizzima News
UWSA faces renewed pressures – Mungpi & Solomon

United Wa State Army, an ethnic armed rebels that has a ceasefire
agreement with Burma's military regime, said it is facing renewed pressure
by the junta to give-up armed struggle.

A UWSA official in an interview with Mizzima said, Maj-Gen Kyaw Phyoe, a
regional Commander of the Burma Army based in Keng Tung had literally step
up efforts to persuade the armed rebel to give up armed struggle and
'exchange arms for peace'.

In early December, Kyaw Phyoe met a UWSA official and made renewed calls
to stop armed rebellion and to turn the group into political party as a
preparation to contest in the upcoming 2010 general election.

"Yes, they [junta's commanders] often asked us to stop pursuing armed
struggle," the UWSA official, who spoke on condition of anonymity as he is
not authorize to speak to the press.

But the official said, despite of the increased pressures, the UWSA's
official position have not alter and reiterated that the group is not
ready to abandon their arms.

"Arms to us is like farmers needing their farming tools. If farmers do not
have spades and shovels they cannot work on the fields, likewise we will
be useless without our arms," the official said.

He, however, added that the group does not aim to continue armed struggle
'forever' but will pursue until they can obtain their objectives of having
a separate homeland under a federal democratic system.

"We would definitely do away with our arms, once there is peace and
justice in Burma," the UWSA official said.

With regards to the junta's pressure to transform the group into a
political party and contest in the upcoming general election, the official
said, the group has not made any decision on it and would continue
observing the situation and eventually decide.
"For now, we have not made any decisions, we would like to observe more
and see the situation as it gets nearer to the election," the official
added.

Meanwhile, reports said, at least 1,000 strong armed men of the UWSA are
conducting military drills along the Thai-Burmese border in response to
the recent the junta's pressures to disarm the group.

The official, admitting the drills and exercises carried out by the group,
however, denied that the military exercises were carried out in response
to the pressure. But he said, the group is preparing for its 20th
anniversary celebration to be held in April 2009.

"We are soldiers, so we always have military training, we need to be ready
for any circumstances," the official said.

Like the UWSA, several other ethnic armed groups including the Kachin
Independent Organisation (KIO) have all come under renewed pressure from
the Burmese military to transform them in to a political party, abandoning
their arms struggle.

Burma's military junta has announced that as the fifth step of its
seven-step roadmap to democracy, a general election will be held in 2010,
in accordance with the new constitution that was drafted and approved in a
referendum in May.

According to the new constitution, Burma will be reformed and govern by a
civilian participated government and would have only one armed force.
Analysts said, this will give way for the military to disarm all other
armed rebellion groups including those that has ceasefire pacts with the
junta, and military campaigns are likely to increase on other armed groups
that so far do not have any ceasefire pacts.

But ceasefire groups including the KIO and UWSA, has so far not decided on
what course they should – whether to yield to the pressures or to continue
armed struggles.

Aung Kyaw Zaw, a Burmese military-analyst based on the Sino-Burmese
border, said these pressures leaves the ceasefire groups to seriously
rethink of their position and their future course.

"All ceasefire groups are in a tight situation now, and they need to
really think carefully of the path they choose," Aung Kyaw Zaw said.

He added that with neighboring countries such as Thailand and China, on
whose soils many armed rebellion groups are taking base, favoring the
junta, it might be a tight situation for these groups to resume arm
struggle.

But he did not leave the possibilities that these groups would, however,
resume active armed struggle if they are constantly pressured.

A source close to the Chairman of the UWSA Bao Yu-xiang, said the group so
far has no agenda of surrendering their arms or to exchange 'Arms for
Peace'. Rather, if the pressures from the junta are rising, there are
possibilities that group will break their ceasefire pact.

"If there are more pressures or demands from the Burmese army [to give up
arms] then they [UWSA] will likely break away their [ceasefire] pact and
resume vibrant arm struggle," the source, who did not wished to reveal his
identity told Mizzima.

____________________________________

December 15, Democratic Voice of Burma
Kachin villagers destroy plantation built on seized land - Nam Kham Kaew

Kachin villagers destroyed a Chinese-owned rubber plantation near Washawng
and Nam Wa villages on 7 December because they were angry that it had been
built on land confiscated from locals.

A local resident said villagers were unhappy that a Chinese national named
Lixi had forcibly confiscated around 200 acres of village land with the
help of local authorities and cut down all the trees.

"They destroyed all the saplings and the mechanical equipment,” the
resident said.

“The land belongs to the village and it was covered with trees,” he went on.

“Local authorities took bribes and joined forces with the Chinese man.
They cut down the trees and dug up the earth."

The plantation owner has reported the damage caused by the villagers to
the authorities and asked that those responsible be arrested.

Analyst Aung Kyaw Zaw, who is based on the China-Burma border, said it was
a longstanding Chinese policy to establish businesses and gain land in
Burma.

"[The policy was to] try to join hands with any army commander and enter
or take hold of the country from anywhere you could,” Aung Kyaw Zaw said.

“The matter is easily sorted out when you give the so-called patriotic
Burmese army commander about 200,000 kyat, or 500,000 for a chief
strategist,” he said.

“That is not new. Many things like that will happen in the future. They
are already in Tantyang, Lashio, Maymyo” they are all Chinese.

Many gem business, goldmines and jungle suppliers are under Chinese
control, locals said, and Chinese nationals have recently leased land in
northern Shan state and central Burma to grow watermelons and cucumbers.

Locals said rubber plants and pine trees were now being grown for export
to China.

____________________________________
ON THE BORDER

December 15, Irrawaddy
Burmese defense lawyer flees to Thailand, blasts regime – Saw Yan Naing

A young Burmese lawyer sentenced to six months imprisonment for
questioning court proceedings against his dissident clients has fled to
Thailand after a hazardous journey from Rangoon.

Saw Kyaw Kyaw Min, 29, was one of four defense lawyers convicted of
contempt of court after complaining of unfair treatment by the Rangoon
court. The other three—Aung Thein, Khin Maung Shein and Nyi Nyi Htwe—are
being detained by Burmese authorities.

Saw Kyaw Kyaw Min, who escaped to Thailand some two weeks ago, gave a
press conference in the Thai-Burmese border town of Mae Sot on Monday,
accusing the Burmese courts of allowing themselves to become tools of the
Burmese regime. He had been engaged to represent more than 20 political
activists.

In a telephone interview on Monday with The Irrawaddy, Saw Kyaw Kyaw Min
said:
“There are no fair trials in Burma. Defense lawyers are denied the right
to defend their clients. The Burmese authority is using the courts to
pressure political activists by pronouncing long terms of imprisonment.”

By imprisoning young political activists, the Burmese authorities were
trying to silence an entire political generation in the run up to the 2010
general election, Saw Kyaw Kyaw Min said.

Among those defended by Saw Kyaw Kyaw Min was the prominent human rights
activist Myint Aye, founder of a rights advocacy group known as the Human
Rights Defenders and Promoters.

Myint Aye was sentenced to life imprisonment for his alleged involvement
in a bomb attack on an office of the junta-backed Union Solidarity and
Development Association in Rangoon’s Shwepyithar Township on July 1.

According to the state-run newspaper New Light of Myanmar, Myint Aye
funded the bombing, which it said had been carried out by two members of
the opposition National League for Democracy, Zaw Zaw Aung and Yan Shwe.
Exiled Burmese dissidents based in Mae Sot had also helped fund the
attack, the newspaper alleged.

Saw Kyaw Kyaw Min said Myint Aye was innocent and he accused the Burmese
authorities of illegally sentencing him.

About 215 political activists, including members of the 88 Generation
Students group, Buddhist monks, cyclone relief workers, journalists and
bloggers, were given prison sentences of up to 68 years in a series of
trials in November. More than 100 were transferred to prisons in remote
areas around Burma, according to the Assistance Association for Political
Prisoners (Burma).

According to rights groups, more than 2,100 political prisoners are
estimated to be still behind bars in Burma.
____________________________________

December 15, Independent Mon News Agency
Eight migrant workers killed in car chase with Thai police

Eight migrant workers were killed this morning when the SUV driven by a
trafficker crashed as the driver attempted to evade Thai police in
Kanchanaburi Province, Thailand.

According to a member of the New Mon State Party who maintains close
contact with Thai intelligence officers in the area, the driver lost
control of his Mitsubishi SUV when rounding a corner. The accident
occurred about 130 kilometers from the Thai-Burma border, on the highway
that links the Three Pagodas Pass border crossing with Kanchanburi, the
capital of Thailand's western Kanchanaburi province.

A nurse at the government hospital in nearby Sai Yok, who said he admitted
the victims at 6am this morning, confirmed the deaths. According to the
nurse, eight men were killed. Seven Burmese women and a man survived the
accident, the nurse said, who added that their condition is not serious.
The two injured passengers are scheduled for release tomorrow.

According to an article in the Singapore based Straits Times earlier
today, the SUV's Thai driver was among those killed. This could not be
independently confirmed by IMNA.

The accident involved half of a group of migrant workers that departed
Three Pagodas Pass in the last few days, a human trafficker who was not
involved in the deal told IMNA. "Thirty-six people left from the border in
the last few days. At least three brokers were involved in taking these
people to Bangkok," the IMNA source said. Their whereabouts could not be
confirmed.

The lead trafficker involved in the deal is Mon man from Ye Township, Mon
State, said another IMNA source in Three Pagodas Pass. Though IMNA has
repeatedly tried to contact the man via phone, is phone is turned off.
IMNA field reporters and contacts in Three Pagodas Pass have also been
unable to locate him. "He escaped," said the human trafficker who spoke
with IMNA. "Now he is hiding."

____________________________________

December 15, Reuters
Myanmar says disputed AD-7 test well disappointing

An initial test drill at an offshore oil and gas field disputed by
Bangladesh and military-ruled Myanmar has failed to confirm commercially
viable deposits, Myanmar officials said on Monday.

A senior energy ministry official described results from the exploration
well in the AD-7 offshore gas block as "not very encouraging".

"However, we still need to dig four or five more test wells before we
confirm the deposit is not commercially viable," the official, who did not
wish to be named, said.

Another industry source said the disputed offshore block did not have
commercial deposits of oil or gas.

The test drilling by South Korea's Daewoo International became a source of
contention between the two countries in October, with both sides sending
naval vessels to the field in the Bay of Bengal.

Separately, the ministry official confirmed that Myanmar and China had
agreed on the construction of oil and gas pipelines from Myanmar's western
coastal Rakhine State to Yunnan in southwest China.

"I can confirm to you that Myanmar and China have agreed to these
projects. Arrangements are under way to sign the agreement soon, so please
wait to see the details when the deal is announced," the official said.

It is the first time an official has confirmed agreement of the project,
part of China's long-term strategic goal to develop its southwest interior
and reduce its reliance on energy shipments via the Straits of Malacca.

Myanmar has at least 90 TCF of gas reserves and 3.2 billion barrels of
recoverable crude oil reserves in 19 onshore and three major offshore
fields.

____________________________________
BUSINESS / TRADE

December 13, Agence France Presse
Gems auction in Myanmar

MILITARY-RUN Myanmar announced on Saturday it would hold an auction of
precious gems in Yangon early next year, despite economic sanctions
banning their international trade.

The auction would be held January 5-9 at Myanmar Gems Pavilion in Yangon,
the Burmese-language Myanma Ahlin newspaper said.

Buyers would have to pay an entrance fee of 10,000 kyats (S$12.70), with a
higher charge for foreigners, the paper said.

Sellers would also pay a commission fee of between one and three per cent
to the state on top of a jewellery tax, it said.

Myanmar last held a gems auction in October but did not reveal how much it
made from the sales.

At an earlier sale in March, 7,700 lots were sold, valued at more than 100
million euros (S$199 million).

Myanmar, one of the world's poorest countries, is the source of some of
the world's most beautiful rubies - a key source of revenue for the ruling
junta.

The United States blocked imports of Myanmar's gems in July, passing new
legislation to prevent the gems entering US markets via third-party
countries.

Europe also intensified economic sanctions on the regime after a deadly
crackdown on pro-democracy protesters last year, while Washington and
human rights groups have urged gem buyers to boycott the sales.

Myanmar's two biggest customers, neighbouring China and Thailand, have
continued to attend the frequently held gem auctions.

____________________________________

December 15. Kachin News Group
More and more elephants killed for tusk and skin in northern Burma

An increasing number of elephants in northern Burma are being killed for
its ivory and skin for over a decade by local people, sources said.

Every year, hundreds of wild elephants around Kachin state are killed for
its ivory and skin by local people after Kachin Independence Organization
(KIO) signed a ceasefire agreement with the Burmese military junta in
1994, said local owners of tame elephants. An elephant camp was placed
near Hpakant jade mining city in Kachin state, northern Burma. At current
prices in Kachin state, a set of tusks weighing from one to two Viss is
valued at 500,000 Kyat (US $ 397) to 600,000 Kyat (US $ 476). It is over
1.5 million Kyat for a set of tusks weighing over 10 Viss (1Viss = 1.6
Kilograms in Burmese measurement in weight). Again one Viss of dry
elephant skin is valued at over 40,000 Kyat (US $32), according to
residents of Myitkyina, the capital of Kachin state. Three tame elephant
owners in Myitkyina told KNG today, "Now, elephants are mainly killed for
their skin. An elephant has at least over 100 Viss of skin so hunters can
earn a net income of over 4 million Kyat from an elephant's skin alone."

According to merchants dealing in elephant ivory and skin in Myitkyina,
ivory is mainly exported to neighbouring Thailand and some to China but
elephant skin is mainly exported to China for traditional treatment of
human gastritis and wounds on the body.

Hunting elephants and selling its ivory and skin are illegal in Kachin
state but local hunters and merchants are in this business by handing out
bribes to local policemen and forest officials of the Burmese ruling
junta, added local elephant owners.

Elephant owners in Myitkyina said the junta and the KIO authorities are
yet to take serious action against illegal elephant trappers. No hunter
has been arrested yet since the increase in hunting pachyderms in the
state from 1994.

Several elephants owners in Kachin state said, there are only about 1,000
wild elephants left in Kachin state and most pachyderms are in Hukawng
Valley in the west of the state, bordering India. Here elephants are
mainly hunted for business purposes.

Before 1994, when the KIO and the junta signed a ceasefire agreement,
there were over 3,000 wild elephants in Kachin state. The animals were
killed mainly for ivory at that time, said local elephant owners.

Currently, there are over 500 tame elephants in Kachin state and they are
made to work in logging camps and gold mines for transporting rations,
said local sources.

Burma has the largest elephant population in Southeast Asia, with an
estimated 4,000 to 5,000 pachyderms, a report by the wildlife trade
monitoring network TRAFFIC said.

____________________________________
ASEAN

December 15, Associated Press
Asean charter comes into force – Ninek Karmini

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations moved to forge an EU-style
community Monday, signing a charter that makes the bloc a legal entity for
the first time and could pave the way for creating a single market within
seven years.

Asean Secretary-General Surin Pitsuwan said the new charter, ratified by
foreign ministers, allows the regional grouping to sue and be sued and
establishes enforceable financial, trade and environmental rules. Now, the
10-nation organization is little more than a talk shop, which forges
agreements through consensus and steers away from confrontation among
members.

The charter seeks to establish a single market by 2015 for the vast and
diverse region of 500 million people, though the deepening global
financial crisis and political instability in several member states could
derail those plans.

Asean already has been developing a free-trade zone since the 1990s, but
progress has been spotty.

The most controversial part of the charter is a proposed human rights
body, the details of which will be hammered out for approval at a summit
of Asean leaders in Thailand, now scheduled for late February.

The new body will have no power to impose sanctions or expulsion in cases
of serious breaches by members. The regional bloc has drawn criticism over
the years for failing to take action against abuses in military-ruled
Burma.

Asean was founded during the Cold War as an anti-communist political
coalition, later evolving into a trade bloc. It consists of Brunei, Burma,
Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand,
and Vietnam.

____________________________________
REGIONAL

December 15, Mizzima News
Thailand's new PM likely to be more 'pro-Active' on Burma: Activist - Mungpi

Thailand's opposition leader, Abhisit Vejjajiva, has been elected as the
country's new Prime Minister after winning a special vote in Parliament on
Monday.

Abhisit, on Monday, won 235 votes, edging out Pracha Promnok who received
198 votes, to become Thailand's 27th Prime Minister.

The 44-year old Abhisit, who was born in Britain, will also become the
fifth Prime Minister of Thailand within a period of less than
two-and-a-half years.

The election came after Thailand's constitutional court in early December
forced former Prime Minister Somchai Wongsawat to resign. Somchai and his
Peoples Power Party, along with two other parties, were charged for
election fraud related to polls convened over a year previously.

While electing Abhisit as the new Prime Minister seems to provide at least
a momentary end to the political deadlock that has dragged on in Thailand
for months, supporters of the ousted government, known as the red-shirts,
on Monday reacted furiously – rampaging through barricades and preventing
MPs from leaving Parliament.

While the election of Abhisit as the new Prime Minister signals an end to
the immediate political crisis, Burmese pro-democracy activists based in
Thailand said Abhisit's new government is more likely to take a pro-active
role regarding Burma's politics.

According to Nyo Ohn Myint, in-charge of the Foreign Affairs Committee of
the exiled National League for Democracy-Liberated Area (NLD-LA), with his
fair knowledge and understanding of political situation in Burma, Abhisit
is likely to be more pro-active than other earlier Thai governments.

Abhisit, during a conference on 'Safeguarding Democracy – Role of
Opposition,' held in Bangkok on Saturday, acknowledged that Thailand's
former Prime Minister, Thaksin Shinawatra, had used Thailand's foreign
policy to make personal deals with Burma's military junta.

Nyo Ohn Myint, who was also a participant in the conference, said Abhisit,
during an informal discussion, had promised to be more 'pro-active'
towards Burma's political crisis if elected as the new head of state.

"I also made a point to him that, as a neighbor, Burma's political
problems impact on Thailand," Nyo Ohn Myint added.

Nyo Ohn Myint said that while it is still too early to predict what will
be Thailand's foreign policy under the newly elected Premier, it would
look more positive if the leaders do not have any personal business
connections with Burma's military rulers.

Thaksin, Thailand's former Prime Minister, now in exile, during his tenure
conducted lucrative business deals with Burma's military junta. Critics
said Thaksin used Thailand's foreign policy to deal with Burma's military
junta for personal gain.

"I believe that if the new elected leaders of Thailand do not have
personal business ties with Burma's military rulers, Thailand could take a
better position on Burma," Nyo Ohn Myint speculated.

Thailand, with its ongoing political crisis, is unlikely to have Burma as
a major focus of its any new foreign policy, but Nyo Ohn Myint said the
Thai government is likely to more sympathetic towards Burmese refugees and
migrants.

Thailand currently hosts over two million Burmese migrant workers, who are
employed in varied fields of work, including the sex industry.
Additionally, there are some 140,000 Burmese refugees eking out a survival
in nine camps along the Thai-Burmese border.

____________________________________
INTERNATIONAL

December 15, Agence France Presse
UN chief visit would help Myanmar: EU envoy

The European Union's special envoy on Myanmar said Monday a visit by UN
Secretary General Ban Ki-moon to the military-ruled nation would have a
positive impact and trigger dialogue with the opposition.

Ban, who in May made the first visit by a UN chief to Myanmar in almost 45
years, said Friday that the atmosphere was not right for a return trip.

EU envoy Piero Fassino, a former Italian foreign minister, said that a
visit by Ban must be "carefully prepared."

"We believe that a personal initiative by Ban Ki-moon could prove positive
in establishing a serious dialogue between the junta, democratic
opposition and ethnic minorities, which has not yet taken place," Fassino
told reporters on a visit to Tokyo.

Last week more than 100 former leaders wrote to the UN chief urging him to
travel to Myanmar to secure the release of political prisoners including
democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi, who has spent years under house arrest.

Leaders who signed the letter included ex-US presidents George H.W. Bush
and Jimmy Carter, former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev, ex-Australian
premier John Howard, former Japanese prime minister Junichiro Koizumi and
ex-Philippine leaders Fidel Ramos and Corazon Aquino.

Fassino, who has not travelled to Myanmar in the year since his
appointment, was in Japan as part of a tour of Asian nations.

He called for the world to act now to ensure the fairness of elections
that Myanmar's military regime says it will hold in 2010.

"We cannot afford to stay still. We have to act now to obtain democratic
guarantees," Fassino said.

"We want Myanmar's society and citizens to decide their own future. We
want the 2010 general elections to be held in a fair and free
environment," he added.

Ban said on Friday that he was frustrated at the failure of Myanmar's
military to restore democracy.

"At this time I do not think that the atmosphere is ripe for me to
undertake my own visit there," he said.

But he added: "I am committed, and I am ready to visit any time, whenever
I can have reasonable expectations of my visit, to be productive and
meaningful."

The European Union and United States have both slapped sanctions on
Myanmar, but most Asian countries have focused instead on dialogue. China
is Myanmar's main ally, while Japan -- in a rare break with Western allies
-- is a major donor to the country.

Fassino said he was visiting Asia in hopes of finding a united front on
Myanmar.

"The main concern for Asian countries is to avoid the destabilisation of
the region," Fassino said.

"The EU and the US have implemented sanctions to force the opening of
dialogue. The assessment of the tools to obtain this objective can differ
but the goal is the same," he said.

Fassino said Japan, with its historical ties to Myanmar, had a "very
important role to play," especially from next month when it becomes a
member of the UN Security Council.

____________________________________

December 15, Mizzima News
Activists urge Canada to assign special envoy to Burma – Solomon

Burmese activists based in Canada and their supporters have called on the
Canadian government to assign a special representative to pressure Burma's
military regime to implement reforms.

At least 10 Burmese organisations in Canada and their supporters including
the Parliamentary Friends of Burma (PFB), Burma Watch International (BWI),
and Canadian Friends of Burma (CFB) in a joint letter on Friday urged the
Canadian Prime Minister to appoint an envoy to Burma.

"With this special envoy, we hope the Canadian government can do more for
democratic reforms in Burma," said Kyaw Zaw Wei, spokesman of the groups.

He said, with the Canadian government being supportive of democratic
reforms in Burma, it should have a special envoy, who will be able to work
together with other envoys, including from the United Nations, United
States and European Union to mount pressure on Burma's ruling generals.

Canada has long condemned Burma's military junta for failing to keep its
promise to implement changes, and had supported the pro-democracy
movement. As a gesture of solidarity towards Burmese refugees, who fled
from military persecution in Burma to neighbouring Thailand and India,
Canada has accepted thousands of refugees into the country.

The activists also urged Ban Ki-moon, the UN Secretary General to
personally pay a fresh visit  to Burma and pressure the ruling junta to
release political prisoners, a call that has been made earlier by over 110
former world leaders.

Ban, in response to the world leader's call, has said that he does not
find it necessary to visit Burma as there are no signs of change in the
country.

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OPINION / OTHER

December 15, Irrawaddy
Isolation or engagement? It’s Than Shwe’s choice – Aung Zaw

Since Gen Ne Win seized power in 1962, Burma has proudly proclaimed its
neutrality in international affairs. Under Snr-Gen Than Shwe, the
country’s “active and neutral” foreign policy remains in place, although
many question whether this accurately describes the way Burma now relates
to the rest of the world.

Than Shwe’s regime has long been a target of Western sanctions, which
include a visa ban that prohibits the paramount leader himself from
traveling to the West. Relations with neighboring countries are, however,
more cordial. This has produced a foreign policy that is more selective
than neutral.

Last week, the general who routinely snubs visiting UN envoys welcomed
Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi, who received Than Shwe’s special
envoy, Foreign Minister Nyan Win, in September 2007 amid the brutal
crackdown on monk-led protests.

State-run papers reported that Than Shwe briefed the Chinese minister on
Burma’s domestic situation, including the progress of reconstruction work
in the cyclone-hit Irrawaddy delta. More importantly, the general reported
on the country’s “democratic process and economic development, based on
the principles of independence and self-determination,” according to
China’s Xinhua news agency.

The junta chief also reassured his visitor that Burma continued to value
its paukphaw (fraternal) friendship with China.

Burmese leaders have traditionally used the term “paukphaw” to refer to
relations with China. This special relationship has, however, been subject
to numerous strains over the years. This was especially true in the 1960s
and 70s, when China aided the Communist Party of Burma (CPB).

Although the “big brothers” in Beijing dubbed Ne Win a “fascist,” the
Burmese strongman was pragmatic and visited China several times to repair
ties. He held high-level talks with Chinese leaders and maintained a good
relationship. In return, leaders from China also paid several state-level
visits to Burma.

But as Ne Win dined with leaders in Beijing, Than Shwe and other
mid-ranking officers posted in the northern frontier region in the 1970s
and 80s continued the fight against Chinese-backed communists. They would
never forget China’s efforts to overthrow the government in Rangoon.

Today the CPB is gone, and its troops never did march down to Rangoon.
China has been the regime’s major ally since the military coup of
September 1988, supplying the regime with military and economic aid.
Border trade between the two countries has also expanded, to an estimated
annual level of US $1.5 billion.

Now China is planning to build a gas pipeline in 2009, linking Sittwe on
the Arakanese coast with China’s landlocked province of Yunnan. China
National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) will head the $2.5 billion pipeline
project with a 50.9 percent stake, while Burma’s state-run Myanmar Oil and
Gas Enterprise (MOGE) will hold the rest.

Besides the MOGE’s stake in the project, Beijing will also be counting on
the regime to keep armed groups along the China-Burma border under
control.

Although military leaders in Burma have expressed dissatisfaction with the
quality of some of the military hardware and jet fighters they have
purchased from China, they still appreciate Beijing’s unwavering support,
including exercising its veto at the UN Security Council.

However, it is important not to overestimate China’s influence over Burma.
China could also be looking for an alternative to Than Shwe, and like
everyone else, Chinese officials are looking at the post-Than Shwe era and
beyond the planned 2010 election.

Chinese know that the aid policy and economic cooperation over the past 20
years has not paid off much.

Chinese remain skeptical that the aid, economic cooperation and investment
in Burma will translate into meaningful economic development. It is
obvious that Burma is descending into a failed state. China is only
helping to preserve the regime.

It is unfortunate that China, which once sought to overthrow the Ne Win
regime, is now backing one of the most repressive regimes in the world.
Than Shwe often tells his generals that as long as he can count on three
countries—China, India and Russia—for backing, his regime will survive. Of
these three, China is obviously the most crucial.

Increasingly, however, the junta has been looking beyond China for new
friends, new markets and economic cooperation.

This month, Burma confirmed that it will open an embassy in Kuwait.
Tomorrow marks the tenth anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic
ties between Burma and Kuwait.

Kuwaiti Prime Minister Sheikh Nasser al-Mohammed al-Ahmed al-Jaber
al-Sabah visited Burma in August and signed an agreement on economic and
technical cooperation between the two countries.

During a meeting with the visiting prime minister, Than Shwe informed him
of his “road map” to “disciplined democracy” and explained the need for
the army to safeguard Burma’s unity and stability. Deputy Foreign Minister
Maung Myint visited Kuwait recently looking to expand Burma’s trade and
business activities there.

This is not the first time the regime has looked to the Middle East to
expand its diplomatic relationships. In 2006, Iran’s deputy minister for
oil paid a visit to Burma to express his country’s interest in cooperating
with the junta.

In April of last year, we also saw Burma formally restore its ties with
North Korea. Relations between the two countries had been severed for more
than two decades after North Korean state-sponsored terrorists launched a
deadly bomb attack on a high-ranking South Korean delegation of
politicians who were visiting Rangoon.

However, a clandestine diplomatic relationship had been restored as early
as the 1990s. In recent years, North Korean technicians have been seen in
Rangoon and in the newly built capital. Well-informed sources reported
that North Korean agents usually stay at state-owned guesthouses on the
outskirts of Rangoon. The lack of transparency surrounding the North
Korean agents’ frequent visits to Burma has fueled rumors about the nature
of the cooperation between these two “outposts of tyranny.”

But even as Than Shwe looks to broaden Burma’s diplomatic horizons, it is
clear that he remains very selective when choosing potential allies. In
May, Cyclone Nargis offered an opportunity to forge friendlier ties with
the US and the West, but Than Shwe opted to spurn their offers of
assistance because they came in warships.

The paramount leader doesn’t really count the Association of Southeast
Asian Nations (Asean) as an ally, but maintains a normal relationship with
the regional grouping. His regime’s recent decision to send prominent
dissidents to jail demonstrated his disregard for the principles laid out
in the Asean charter.

With regard to Burma’s closest neighbor, Thailand, we have seen many ups
and downs in the relationship over the past two decades. Thaksin
Shinawatra, the billionaire Thai prime minister who was ousted in 2006,
cultivated close business ties to the Burmese junta. But even during the
relatively amicable period of Thaksin’s rule, Burma felt compelled to buy
state-of-the-art MiG 29 jet fighters from Russia to counter the Thailand’s
F16 jet fighters.

When looking for new friends, Than Shwe steers clear of countries that
take are likely to take issue with his regime’s human rights record. His
treatment of the democratic opposition and detention of Aung San Suu Kyi
and 2,000 other political prisoners are also taboo topics.

To return to Ne Win—the charismatic leader frequently visited Western
countries for medical treatment or annual vacations. Ne Win and the
ministers and generals who served under him acquired a taste for the finer
things the West had to offer, even if they had no appetite for Western
democratic values.

Ne Win had bank accounts in Switzerland and liked to stay in London. He
and top leaders had TVs and video players long before Burma officially
introduced these marvels of technology in the late 1980s. Top leaders and
their wives were encouraged to go to hospitals in Europe when they needed
to have check-ups—not to Singapore, where Than Shwe regularly visits for
medical examinations.

Ne Win and his senior ministers often visited Europe to get aid and loans.
The former Federal Republic Germany, or West Germany, was a favorite
destination. Germany’s Fritz Werner Company helped Burma to build an arms
industry as early as the 1950s to suppress ethnic insurgency.

Thanks to his “engagement” with the West, Ne Win even received military
assistance from the US to suppress narcotics in the 1970s. US-made
helicopters were also used to attack ethnic civilians and insurgents, but
there was no protest from Washington.

Under Ne Win, Burmese army officers were not only sent to Asian nations
but also to the US and UK for military education. Under former spy chief
Gen Khin Nyunt, dozens of army officers were CIA or UK-trained. Ne Win and
Than Shwe all benefited from this sort of engagement and cooperation from
the West.

Until 2004, Burma’s feared secret police agency ran a ruthless and
efficient spy network inside and outside of the country. Ironically, this
would not have been possible without the contributions of countries that
now regard Burma’s current rulers as international pariahs.

Every time Than Shwe shakes hands with a visiting state leader or foreign
diplomat, critics of his regime shake their heads in dismay at the
willingness of many in the world to ignore his egregious crimes against
the people of Burma. Than Shwe’s occasional forays into international
diplomacy may help him to stay in power, but they will do nothing to
improve the plight of Burma’s oppressed people.