BurmaNet News, April 1, 2009

[Editor]

April 1, 2009, Issue #3682


INSIDE BURMA
Irrawaddy: Pro-junta election candidates told to nurture good public
relations
Mizzima News: Businessmen encouraged to participate in 2010 election
DVB: Exiled lawyers call for abolishment of USDA
Narinjara: FM radio station set up in Sittwe for 2010 elections
DPA: Myanmar state media joins US official's trip for the first time

ON THE BORDER
Daily Star (Bangladesh): Myanmar says border fence not a defence mechanism

BUSINESS/TRADE
AP: Internet service disrupted in Myanmar
Kaladan Press: Bangladesh-Burma joint trade meeting to be held soon
Vietnam News Agency: Vietnam, Myanmar seek ways to prevent trade decline

HEALTH / AIDS
New York Times: Dying, and alone, in Myanmar

REGIONAL
VOA: Thailand criticized for treatment of migrants, refugees

OPINION / OTHER
Boston Globe: Standing firm on Burma – Judd Gregg
Washington Independent: When Burma policy is really China policy – Mike
Lillis



____________________________________
INSIDE BURMA

April 1, Irrawaddy
Pro-junta election candidates told to nurture good public relations – Wai Moe

The Burmese military government is reportedly urging potential pro-junta
candidates, particularly members of the Union Solidarity and Development
Association (USDA), to nurture good public relations ahead of the 2010
general election.

According to sources close to the USDA, high ranking officials are issuing
guidelines telling junta supporters considering standing in the election
to develop good relations with the electorate. They should “act in a
friendly way with the people, even with opponents,” one source said.

Since the end of 2008, the USDA has been selecting possible election
candidates from among its members and leading members of the community.

The USDA has also been working on its own public image by undertaking
construction projects in many communities across the country.

This week, the Union of Myanmar Federation of Chambers of Commerce and
Industry (UMFCCI) changed its regulation barring members from involvement
in politics.

The decision, taken at the union’s annual general meeting in Naypyidaw,
gives the green light to leading businessmen who want to participate in
the election, according to observers.

Although the law governing the 2010 election is not expected to be
announced before May or June, pro-junta groups have been making their
preparations. Twenty five pro-junta politicians recently formed a network
of individual candidates.

The junta head, Snr-Gen Than Shwe, offered his perspective on the election
in an Armed Forces Day speech on March 27.

“Political parties need to have their campaigns grounded in a commitment
to non-disintegration of the union and non-disintegration of national
solidarity,” he said.

Political parties should avoid “inciting unrest
personal attacks and smear
campaigns” and practice tolerance, forgiveness and understanding in their
campaigns.

Than Shwe said factionalism among political parties posed a serious threat
to the country and a “danger of disintegration of the union,” Than Shwe
said.

The main opposition party, the National League for Democracy (NLD), led by
Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, has not yet announced whether it will
participate in the 2010 election. The NLD has called for a review of the
constitution, which provides for the holding of the election.

Aung Thar Aung, an Arakan leader, said the democracy process in Burma
would be impossible without a review of the constitution. “How can we
build a democratic nation under this constitution?” he asked.

The constitution reserves 25 percent of the parliamentary seats for the
military.
____________________________________

April 1, Mizzima News
Businessmen encouraged to participate in 2010 election

In a move to enable businessmen to participate in the upcoming 2010
election, the Union of Myanmar Federation of Chambers of Commerce and
Industry (UMFCCI) has retracted previous guidelines stipulating members
steer clear of party politics.

Sein Win Hlaing, secretary of the UMFCCI, during a speech yesterday at the
group’s anniversary celebrations, said the union has revoked two articles
from its regulations that barred members from involvement in party
politics.

Sein Win Hlaing indicated that UMFCCI regulations, articles 28/H and 30/I,
had stated that members shall not be involved in any party politics, and
if members did involve themselves their membership would automatically be
revoked.

“But, with the change in political environment today, we have decided to
remove the above mentioned two articles,” Sein Win Hlaing proclaimed.

Sein Win Hlaing was speaking at the 18th anniversary of the UMFCCI, an
organization of businessmen known to be close to the military government.
The anniversary celebration was also attended by the junta’s Prime
Minister, General Thein Sein.

Burma’s military government has announced that it will hold a general
election in 2010 as part of its roadmap to democracy and has reportedly
urged businessmen to participate in the election.

An official from UMFCCI, who requested not to be named, said the chairman
of the group, Win Myint, is likely to contest the 2010 elections from his
Tant Sae in central Burma's Sagaing Division.

The official added that the group decided to remove the two articles from
the regulations as several members of the group had expressed interest in
participating in next year's general election, the first in 20 years.

____________________________________

April 1, Democratic Voice of Burma
Exiled lawyers call for abolishment of USDA – Aye Nai

A government-backed social organization alleged to have been implicated in
the 2003 Depayin massacre is fast becoming a political party and must be
abolished, said an exiled Burmese lawyers group.

The Union Solidarity and Development Association, which was formed in 1993
by the former State Law and Order Restoration Council government, is made
up of army members, police and civil servants.

A statement released yesterday by the Burmese Lawyers Council said that
the USDA’s affiliations with members of the military government and its
own comments on transforming into a political party violated the Unlawful
Associations Act as set out by the government.

The Unlawful Associations Act is often used as a charge under which to
sentence members of opposition parties.

“According to regulation regarding non-involvement in politics by
government employees
government workers are not allowed to take part in
any political party,” said the statement.

“The USDA is in open violation of these laws and thus should be given no
chance to stand as a legal political party.”

Furthermore, the USDA’s documented role in abuses against Burmese
citizens, including the infamous 2003 Depayin massacre in which hundreds
of opposition party supporters were killed, contravened Burmese law as
stated by the government itself.

"The international community knows that the USDA was implicated in the
attacks in Bahan and the Depayin massacre," said U Myo, an official from
the BLC.

The ruling State Peace and Development Council claim there are more than
20 million USDA members. The head of the SPDC, Senior General Than Shwe,
is one of the organisation’s patrons.

In the past reports have surfaced of students and civil servants being
forced under threat to join the organisation.

“The government should show respect of the law by abolishing the USDA,”
the statement said.

____________________________________

April 1, Narinjara
FM radio station set up in Sittwe for 2010 elections

A private company in association with the ruling military junta has set up
a FM radio station for the first time in Sittwe, the capital of Arakan
State, to help organize Arakanese people for the proposed 2010 elections,
a teacher from Sittwe said.
"The FM radio station, named Pyinsawaddhi was inaugurated in Sittwe last
week, and the station has been airing its test broadcast program in
Arakan, since March 27," he said.

The FM radio station is currently airing popular Burmese songs for 12
hours a day, from 7 am to 7 pm.

"It is intended for organizing our people to support the 2010 elections
through the medium of the radio, because most people in our state have not
enlisted for Myanmar Radio, run by the military government, as people do
not trust the news aired by the state-owned radio station. So, the
authority set up the FM station in our state," he added.

Many popular Burmese songs, but not Arakanese songs, have so far been
aired on the program.

"I do not know if the radio will air Arakanese songs in the future, but
now the music and all the songs are in Burmese. In Arakan State, the radio
should air Arakanese songs for Arakanese people. It will be more
attractive for Arakanese people then," he said.

Currently, four townships near Sittwe, are able to pick up the FM radio
frequency, and this range will be extended to all townships in Arakan in
the near future.

According to an official report, FM radio stations will be set up in all
the states and divisions of Burma, by July 2009.

____________________________________

April 1, Deutsche Presse-Agentur
Myanmar state media joins US official's trip for the first time

The US government donated 16,000 tons of rice to typhoon-ravaged Irrawaddy
delta Wednesday, prompting the normally hostile state-run media to the
cover the news, an official of the US embassy in Yangon confirmed.

"There were five journalists from Ministry of Information who joined our
trip for the first time," the official said.

The trip was led Larry Dinger, the deputy chief of mission, and included
officials from the World Food Programme. The donated rice was imported
from the US, sources said.

The secretive military junta appeared to be signalling a shift toward
willingness to cooperate on some level. One retired diplomat noted that
state media has not been with US embassy officials for almost 20 years.

Stephen Blake, director of the US State Department's Mainland Southeast
Asia Office, visited Myanmar last week and met with senior government
officials including Foreign Minister Nyan Win.

The US imposed sanctions on Myanmar in 1988 after the regime launched a
brutal crackdown on pro-democracy demonstrators that left an estimated
3,000 people dead.

It has not posted a full ambassador to Myanmar for several years.

There have been signs that US President Barack Obama may reexamine US
policy towards Myanmar in light of the failure of sanctions and tough talk
to significantly influence the ruling junta's policies over the past two
decades.

US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton during her visit to Indonesia
last month said the US was conducting a review of its foreign policy
towards Myanmar.

____________________________________
ON THE BORDER

April 1, Daily Star (Bangladesh)
Myanmar says border fence not a defence mechanism

The Myanmar [Burma] Ambassador in Dhaka Phae Thann Oo yesterday insisted
that the barbed wire fence being put up along the border with Bangladesh
is not a defence mechanism.

He was summoned for a 'detailed explanation' on the issue at the foreign
ministry yesterday.

"It is not a defence structure. It is to prevent narcotics and human
trafficking," the ambassador told the press after meeting State Minister
for Foreign Affairs Hasan Mahmud.

The envoy said his country was constructing a 40-mile long barbed wire
fence along the border it shares with Bangladesh. The fencing is for
mutual benefit of the two close-door countries, he further said.

Bangladesh shares 168 miles of common border with Myanmar.

Thann also said that the fence construction was already underway and the
nearest distance of the fence from no man's land is 50 yards while the
farthest 1,000 yards at different points. "We have verbally informed the
minister. We will not give any written explanation," he added.

The state minister declined to comment on the issue. However, a foreign
ministry spokesman said Myanmar has been constructing the fence after
informing Bangladesh through diplomatic channel.

He found nothing wrong in it and said, "Construction of the barbed wire
fence will not affect relations between the two nations."

As Yangon was giving confusing information about the location of the
fencing, Bangladesh sought official explanation from Myanmar earlier on
Monday and later summoned the envoy at the ministry.

According to official information, Myanmar border force Nasaka began
accumulating fencing equipment at Kyin Gun village, just across the
bordering river Naaf in Cox's Bazar district on March 15.

The envoy was called to the foreign ministry on November 2 last year
following Myanmar's intrusion into Bangladesh water territory for oil and
gas exploration.

____________________________________
BUSINESS / TRADE

April 1, Associated Press
Internet service disrupted in Myanmar

The Internet is running at a snail's pace in Myanmar, costing travel
agents and exporters much-needed business and forcing computer cafes to
turn away customers.

The military-run government on Wednesday blamed the slowdown on
maintenance it has been doing since March 21 on an undersea cable in the
Bay of Bengal.

State-owned Internet service provider Teleport initially said work would
be finished on March 25 but now says it will not be completed until at
least April 3 because of "unexpected difficulties."

The junta in Myanmar aggressively censors the Internet and routinely
blocks politically sensitive Web sites such as those promoting democracy.
During the crackdown on pro-democracy protesters in September 2007, it cut
all access to the Internet and shuttered many cybercafes.

But this time around, there is no indication that government meddling is
behind the slowdown. While hard to confirm, business owners said they
believed the problem was technical since Teleport went out of its way to
announce the repairs and expected slowdown.

Whatever the cause, travel agents say they are seeing a rising number of
cancelations for trips to the impoverished country, including tourists who
have changed their plans and headed to Vietnam and Cambodia. Exporters and
importers also said they were missing deadlines because of the slowdown.

"This is the Internet age and every customer, especially from overseas,
makes their travel inquiries and reservations online," said a travel agent
who identified herself as Wunna. "Erratic Internet connections affects the
efficiency and credibility of our operations."

Among the hardest hit have been Internet cafes. Some have shut their doors.

"It takes ages to load Web pages," said La Pye, a cybercafe owner who
claims he has lost 70 percent of his business. "It is still possible check
Gmail, but young, regular customers who normally chat online and play
Internet games can no longer use Internet at this slow speed."

____________________________________

April 1, Kaladan Press
Bangladesh-Burma joint trade meeting to be held soon

The third Bangladesh-Burma Joint Trade Commission (JTC) meeting will be
held on April 7-8 in Nay Pyi Taw, aiming to boost bilateral trade
relations between both countries, according to sources.

Commerce Secretary Feroz Ahmed will head an 11-member delegation at the
meeting to discuss different issues such as--- establishment of direct
shipping link, easing visa regulations for Bangladeshi businessmen,
establishing direct banking arrangement for simplifying the payment
procedure--- between the two countries, officials said on March 31.

During the JTC meeting, Bangladesh is likely to seek access of the
country's ceramic and pharmaceuticals products, to the Burmese market
besides resolving banking problems for strengthening bilateral trade
relations, between the two countries.

Besides, a seminar will also be held in Rangoon on April 9, after
conclusion of the JTC meeting in Nay Pyi Taw, to create awareness about
Bangladeshi products in Burma, a Commerce Ministry official said.

Bangladesh is trying to improve bilateral trade relations through
establishment of a direct banking arrangement between the two countries,
the commerce ministry official added.

A four-member technical team has already visited Burma in February 2009,
to work out the modalities of banking transactions and ways to make the
proposed “border market” operational to boost bilateral trade, said a
trader from Teknaf.

Currently, payments for foreign trade are settled between the two
countries through a third country. Bangladesh's importers now settle their
payments for bulk exports, through bank drafts issued by foreign banks in
a third country. An importer is entitled to USD 10,000-20,000 bank draft
against import for any single shipment, under the existing border trade
arrangement.

____________________________________

April 1, Vietnam News Agency
Vietnam, Myanmar seek ways to prevent trade decline

Vietnamese and Myanmar trade officials met in Hanoi on March 30 to seek
ways to remove difficulties and obstacles that have hindered and recently
caused a decline in bilateral trade.

Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Nguyen Thanh Bien and Myanmar Trade
Minister Tin Naing Thein agreed that the Vietnam-Myanmar Joint Committee
on Economic Cooperation will convene its meeting every two years to
oversee trade activities between the two countries.

Apart from that, the Vietnamese Ministry of Industry and Trade and the
Myanmar Trade Ministry will be responsible for organising visits to
explore cooperation opportunities, the two officials said.

According to the Myanmar Customs Office, the two countries' two-way trade
fell by 76.2 percent to $5US.7 million in the first two months compared to
the same period last year.

Explaining the trade decline, the Vietnamese Ministry of Industry and
Trade pointed to adverse impact of the global economic crisis and
Myanmar's time-consuming processing of import and administrative
procedures.

Accordingly, Mr Bien proposed that the Myanmar Trade Ministry work to
address problems concerning import procedures while coordinating with
relevant Vietnamese agencies to find out effective solutions to tackle the
existing issues to further facilitate business activities of the two
countries.

He also suggested the Vietnamese Ministry of Industry and Trade start
garnering opinions in April from businesspeople, especially those who are
doing business in Myanmar in relation to obstacles they have faced in
Myanmar up to now.

The Vietnamese official also told his guests of a plan to organise an
international trade fair in Yangon as part of the 2009 national trade
promotion programme to provide a venue for the two countries'
businesspeople to meet and explore cooperation opportunities to prevent
the trade decline from plunging farther.

____________________________________
HEALTH / AIDS

April 1, New York Times
Dying, and alone, in Myanmar – Seth Mydans

The most heartbreaking moment for doctors and nurses treating people with
H.I.V./AIDS in Myanmar is the arrival of a new patient. Running short of
funds and medications, clinics have started turning dying people away.

“They continue to knock on our doors, even though we can’t take in most of
them,” said Joe Belliveau, operations manager of the international aid
group Médecins Sans Frontières.

The 23 clinics run by the group, also known as Doctors Without Borders,
are the primary dispensers in Myanmar of the antiretroviral drugs that can
prolong the lives of those infected with H.I.V., the virus that leads to
AIDS. So most of the people it cannot treat are likely to die.

The people of Myanmar, a country that seems to have been marked for
suffering, receive little foreign assistance — the country ranks among the
lowest per capita for such aid in the world. The same is true for
assistance for people with H.I.V./AIDS.

Médecins Sans Frontières estimates that 240,000 people are currently
infected with H.I.V. in Myanmar and that 76,000 are in urgent need of
antiretroviral drugs. Every year, about 25,000 people with the virus die.

The group’s clinics have been providing 11,000 people with the
antiretroviral drugs that keep them alive. The longer they live, the more
treatment they need. The group says it is unable to increase its budget
there without taking money away from people in need elsewhere.

Last year it made the difficult decision to stop accepting any new
patients in order to continue treating the old ones. It has opened its
doors a little bit this year, accepting 3,000 new patients, still a
fraction of those in need.

“When we stopped last July it was devastating for the staff,“ Belliveau
said. “They couldn’t even treat the ones dying on their doorsteps.”

This year, the United Nations-backed Global Fund To Fight AIDS,
Tuberculosis and Malaria has applied for government permits to bring
antiretroviral drugs into Myanmar, and the number of people receiving
treatment is likely to rise.

But that will only be one step. Fewer than 20 percent of those who need
the drugs receive them, either from international groups or, in very small
amounts, from the government, Médecins Sans Frontières said in a report
released in November.

When a photographer visited a clinic a few months ago, he found anguish
and fatalism among the people who had not received the drugs.

“I can only live longer if I have ART,” said one 28-year-old woman,
referring to the antiretroviral treatment she needs. “Most of the money
and possessions I had are already gone. My family sends me food from the
village, but they cannot support my treatment. If I get ART I will be able
to live, if not, I will die.”

In one room the photographer found a 49-year-old man, gaunt and weak,
sitting on the side of a bed. He had no family, and because of the stigma
of the disease he was ashamed to tell his friends or co-workers about it.

“The worst thing for me is the loneliness,” he said.

Two weeks after his picture was taken, he was dead.

____________________________________
REGIONAL

April 1, Voice of America
Thailand criticized for treatment of migrants, refugees

A United-Nations-commissioned report criticizes Thailand for its treatment
of migrants and refugees. Thailand is a major destination for Southeast
Asian migrants, most of them from Burma.

In a report released Tuesday, the International Organization for Migration
says Thailand has more than two million migrants in the country, most of
them working in manual labor.

But, despite their contributing more than $2 billion, annually, to the
Thai economy, many migrants still face discrimination and exploitation.

UN Resident Coordinator GWI-Yeop Son at Foreign Correspondents Club of
Gwi-Yeop Son, the United Nations' resident coordinator in Thailand, says
the country has good laws for protecting migrants, but that they are not
enforced well.

"Migrants often don't receive the minimum wage prescribed by Thai labor
law," she said. "On the other hand, migrants often don't dare to complain
about their treatment, out of fear of dismissal, arrest, and deportation."
About two-thirds of migrants in Thailand are here illegally.

The U.N.-commissioned report says Thailand's migrant registration process
is becoming more restrictive, so the numbers of undocumented migrants who
are easily exploited is increasing.

An author of the report, Rosalia Sciortino, says there is a false
perception that migrants take jobs from Thais.

"Those jobs are too low or considered too bad paid by Thai workers. So,
this is something important to consider, because there will be more
pressure for sending migrants home with the argument that Thai workers are
without a job," said Sciortino. "This is not proven by past history." U.N.
Resident Coordinator Gwi-Yeop Son says as many as 80 percent of Thailand's
migrants are from Burma, where thousands of refugees have fled persecution
and poverty.

Thailand has sheltered 150,000 refugees from Burma in border camps and
worked with the U.N. to help resettle them abroad.

The United States has accepted the largest number of refugees from
Thailand. From 2004 to 2007, more than 30,000 Burmese and Lao Hmong
received U.S. resettlement.

The report criticizes Thailand for limiting U.N. access to some refugee
groups, such as the Shan, Hmong, Rohingya and North Koreans.

The United Nations is encouraging Thailand to ratify international
conventions on protecting migrant workers and refugees and to allow the
U.N. refugee agency to independently meet with and assess potential
refugees.

____________________________________
OPINION / OTHER

April 1, Boston Globe
Standing firm on Burma – Judd Gregg

SECRETARY OF STATE Hillary Clinton recently announced that the
administration will undertake a Burma policy review.

Over the years, Congress and various administrations have imposed economic
sanctions and aid restrictions against the State Peace and Development
Council, as the misfit military junta in Burma calls itself. Some question
whether US actions have had any result in lessening the junta's death grip
over that country.

Clinton should seek to answer that question by soliciting the opinions of
those who matter most: the people of Burma and their elected
representatives from the National League for Democracy. In 1990, the
League won parliamentary elections that were ignored by the junta, and its
key leaders, including Aung San Suu Kyi, were jailed - or worse. Despite
the military junta's campaign of brutality, democrats in Burma have
refused to give up.

Clinton will hear predictable answers from diplomats who will insist that
a policy shift toward greater economic engagement with the SPDC is in
order, regardless of the fact that Transparency International lists Burma
as the second-most corrupt country in the world.

She will hear some aid workers insist that America causes the Burmese
people's suffering through its sanctions, never mind the SPDC's
well-documented record of economic mismanagement, failed governance, and
gross human-rights abuses.

And the secretary will hear a repeated refrain in foreign capitals that
"China and India won't" or "the Association of Southeast Asian Nations
can't" when it comes to holding the junta accountable for its contemptible
misrule, at a time when President Obama has much of the world eager to
reinvigorate diplomacy with America.

However, the voice Clinton must listen hardest to is the one she is likely
to hear least. Suu Kyi remains under house arrest in Rangoon. While it may
be expedient for some diplomats and aid workers to marginalize the
National League for Democracy, Clinton must recognize that no political
reconciliation in Burma is possible without that party's full
participation along with ethnic representatives who remain imprisoned.

Burma is more than just a human-rights problem. Illicit drugs, diseases,
and refugees migrate to neighboring countries, creating major social - and
financial - burdens on local and national governments. Geostrategic
interests, including natural resources and access to deep water ports for
a growing Chinese navy, should be of increasing concern to the region, as
well as the United States and Europe.

During the review, the administration should stay the course on current US
policy toward Burma. Assistance provided in the wake of Cyclone Nargis
should be monitored closely to ensure that none is siphoned off by the
regime, and ongoing programs that seek to address the most basic of needs
to the people of Burma - inside and along the border with Thailand -
should continue at increased funding levels to address currency and
commodity price fluctuations. Finally, no one should believe that
elections scheduled for next year will be transformational so long as Suu
Kyi, the National League for Democracy, and ethnic nationalities remain
shackled, and barred from political participation by the junta's Draconian
constitution. The call for the immediate and unconditional release of Suu
Kyi and all prisoners of conscience must continue.

America has stood by Suu Kyi and the National League for Democracy for
over two decades. Any policy change that calls for a deviation from this
support must be weighed carefully. It is far from certain that engagement
with the military junta will produce any significant reward (tigers don't
change their stripes), and the United States is not in a position to
effectively counter China's growing presence in Burma, whether through
high-risk investments or security assistance. The best antidote to a
growing Chinese footprint is transparent and accountable governance, long
championed by the NLD and one of America's best exports to the region.
Further, history demonstrates that the people of Burma have no misguided
affections for their northern neighbor.

To paraphrase former British prime minister Winston Churchill, the price
of America's greatness is a responsibility to stand by courageous
democrats in Burma. Congress has done so in the past, and should continue
to do so as long as they struggle for justice and freedom in their
country.

Republican Senator Judd Gregg of New Hampshire is a ranking member of the
State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs Appropriations
Subcommittee.

____________________________________

April 1, Washington Independent
When Burma policy is really China policy – Mike Lillis

Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton made headlines in February when,
during a spin through Asia, she revealed that the Obama administration is
reviewing its Burma policy, in search of more effective ways to sway the
tyrannical military regime.

“Clearly, the path we have taken in imposing sanctions hasn’t influenced
the Burmese junta,” she told students at Tokyo University.

Today, Sen. Judd Gregg (R-N.H.) weighs in with a message for the White
House: “Stay the course” on Burma policy, particularly as it pertains to
support for Aung San Suu Kyi, the Nobel-Prize winning head of the National
League for Democracy who’s been under house arrest on and off (mostly on)
since 1990. From an op-ed in The Boston Globe today:

While it may be expedient for some diplomats and aid workers to
marginalize the National League for Democracy, Clinton must recognize that
no political reconciliation in Burma is possible without that party’s full
participation along with ethnic representatives who remain imprisoned.

Further down, Gregg reveals what this issue, in his mind, is really about:
Stemming the spread of Chinese influence in Southeast Asia.

Burma is more than just a human-rights problem. Illicit drugs, diseases,
and refugees migrate to neighboring countries, creating major social — and
financial — burdens on local and national governments. Geostrategic
interests, including natural resources and access to deep water ports for
a growing Chinese navy, should be of increasing concern to the region, as
well as the United States and Europe. [...]

It is far from certain that engagement with the military junta will
produce any significant reward (tigers don’t change their stripes), and
the United States is not in a position to effectively counter China’s
growing presence in Burma, whether through high-risk investments or
security assistance. The best antidote to a growing Chinese footprint is
transparent and accountable governance, long championed by the NLD and one
of America’s best exports to the region.