BurmaNet News, May 26, 2010

[Editor]

May 26, 2010, Issue #3970


INSIDE BURMA
DVB: 60 arrested over Kachin dam bombs
Irrawaddy: Jailed poet released
Irrawaddy: USDP handing out 'incentives' in Shan State
SHAN: Shan army: We stand by 1990 election results

ASEAN
AFP: EU seeking deal on election mission to Burma

REGIONAL
AFP: China's Wen to meet with Burma junta leaders

INTERNATIONAL
Narinjara: Burmese to demonstrate against election
AP: US senator to visit Myanmar

OPINION / OTHER
Los Angeles Times: Myanmar boycott is misguided – Matthew Frankel
Asian Tribune: Is Burma the first Causality of Chinese Imperialism? –
Kanbawza Win

INTERVIEW
San Francisco Chronicle: The true cost of Chevron in Burma




____________________________________
INSIDE BURMA

May 26, Democratic Voice of Burma
60 arrested over Kachin dam bombs – AKT

A major police operation in Burma’s northernmost Kachin state netted
around 60 people last night suspected to have been involved in the bombing
of the Myitsone dam in April.

A resident of Myitkyina, capital of Kachin state, told DVB that the
operation involved police, ward officials and anti-narcotics agents, as
well as the tactical operations commander of the Burmese army’s Northern
Command.

At least three bombs exploded at the controversial Myitsone dam site,
killing three and injuring 20. The explosions occurred in the compounds of
the Asia World Co. Ltd, which is building the dam and all three victims
were company employees. The compound is located 18 miles north of
Myitkyina.

Posters were placed around Myitkyina displaying sketches of the suspects
and announcing rewards for their capture.

“Last night alone, about 60 people were taken into custody from [Kya Zu]
ward. They usually surround an area about midnight before the arrests take
place,” said the resident.

“Some of the detainees were freed later. The arrests are not the same for
different wards; some names on their lists remain in prison. Their main
objective is to suppress the people.”

He added that authorities were “taking advantage of the bombings” to
arrest people who had protested the construction of the dam which is
likely to displace up to 10,000 people and has been strongly opposed by
Kachin locals.

The project is being funded in part by the Chinese state-owned China Power
Investment Corporation and China Southern Power Grid Corporation (CSG).

____________________________________

May 26, Irrawaddy
Jailed poet released – Ba Kaung

A Burmese poet who was imprisoned for mocking regime chief Snr-Gen Than
Shwe was released on Wednesday after 28 months in prison, his wife said.

Saw Wai, 50, was arrested in 2008 following the publication of his poem,
“14th February,” which contains seven lines in which the first word from
each line forms a vertical message reading “Than Shwe is foolish with
power” in Burmese. The poem, which was ostensibly a Valentine’s Day verse,
was published in Love Journal, a weekly Rangoon magazine, in January that
year.

Saw Wai was charged with harming “public tranquility” and sentenced to two
years in prison. His release comes almost four months after his two-year
sentence expired in January.

“My husband is on his way home,” said his wife. “He will be back home
tonight.” He was released from Yamethin Prison, located in Mandalay
Division.

During his time in prison last year, the poet was presented in absentia a
Hellman/ Mammett award by the US-based Human Rights Watch for his courage.

At the time of the 1988 uprising, Saw Wai was on the staff at the
communications office in Pegu Division, but was sacked after taking part
in demonstrations. Before his arrest in 2008, he was the leader of White
Rainbow, a social group organized by artists and writers to help care for
orphans whose parents had died from HIV/AIDS.

A 30-year-old blogger, Nay Phone Latt, who was arrested the same month as
Saw Wai, is still behind bars serving 20 years and 6 months of a sentence
for allegedly “creating public alarm.” Their arrests took place in the
aftermath of the 2007 anti-government protests led by Buddhist monks. A
number of Burmese reporters working for exiled media have also been jailed
this year.

Of the more than 2,000 political prisoners in Burma, at least 30 are
poets, writers, journalists and bloggers, according to the Thailand-based
Association of Assistance for Political Prisoners (Burma).

____________________________________

May 26, Irrawaddy
USDP handing out 'incentives' in Shan State – Kyaw Thein Kha

The Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) is canvassing for votes
and passing out “incentives” in townships and villages in Northern Shan
State,  local sources said on Wednesday.

“The USDP members are canvassing in the villages in Namhsang Township.
They choose organizers in each village and ask them to tell people to vote
for the USDP,” a source in Namhsang told The Irrawaddy.
Prime Minister Thein Sein

Khun Pont, a senior USDP member in Namhsang, and other members reportedly
have been canvassing in the townships and villages in the area since
April, sources said.

Similarly, USDP members are canvassing villagers in the Nanhkan Township
area, according to a villager in Mansat in Nanhkan Township, who asked to
remain anonymous.

“The authorities brought USDP application forms to us last week. They came
yesterday and collected the forms and took  photographs of us,” said the
source.

“It's not possible to canvass everybody with money,” said a source in
Mansak village. “We don't know where the USDP gets its money from.”

“They gave incentives to canvass organizers in the villages, and said that
the USDP will back them up with a computer, mobile phones and
transportation fees if they bring people to the polling stations who will
vote for the  USDP,” he said.

One villager said that the USDP membership card was being used as an
incentive. “If we become  USDP members, they say we will be given money,
and those who don't have a national identification card can easily travel
across the country,” said one source.

The source said it was unclear if the USDP would give out incentives
before the election or after.

Canvassing for votes by using local village authorities is illegal,
according to Aung Thein, a prominent lawyer in Rangoon.

“Using the power of village authorities means that the USDP is violating
the election laws,” said Aung Thein. “But, as they [the USDP] are acting
like an elected party, nobody dares complain about their activities.”
In Yanangyaung Township in Magway Division, a USDP membership fee is 1,
000 kyat (US $1) and 500 kyat for a photograph, according to a source in
Yanangyaung.


The USDP was founded by key junta leaders who are also members of the
Union Solidarity and Development Association (USDA), which was created by
the government in 1993 as a civic and social organization.

On April 29, Burmese Prime Minister Thein Sein and 26 military leaders
registered the USDP as a political party. Observers say the government
ministers have violated the election laws because they failed to resign
their administrative posts in the government.

Article 4 of Political Party Registration Law bars a government official
from forming a political party.

____________________________________

May 26, Shan Herald Agency for News
Shan army: We stand by 1990 election results

The Restoration Council of Shan State (RCSS), the political wing of the
anti-Naypyitaw Shan State Army (SSA) South, released a statement saying it
is standing by the 1990 election results and will not “support and
recognize” the upcoming 2010 elections being planned by Naypyitaw.

“Shan State citizens who are standing for elections for the Union
Solidarity and Development Party (USDP), the offshoot of the Union
Solidarity and Development Association, and the (former Burma Socialist
Program Party turned) National Unity Party (NUP) will not be recognized
and supported by the RCSS,” it says.
[SSA leader Lt-Gen Yawdserk]

The RCSS is also against new parties being set up to contest the
elections. “It means the Shan Nationals Democratic Party (set up last
month by Sai Ai Pao) cannot expect any assistance from the group,” said a
member of the SNDP on the Sino-Burma border.

The crunch of the matter is the constitution drawn up by the Burmese
junta, according to the SSA South, which “is not in line with the
aspirations of the people of Shan State.” It is therefore against the
elections planned to implement the said charter, it says.

The statement also covers other relevant topics:

    * The RCSS opposes the Border Guard Force (BGF) program

    * The RCSS will not meddle with Thailand’s internal affairs

    * The RCSS calls for Asean and UN human rights bodies to investigate
human rights violations of the Burma Army in Shan State and the rest
of the Union

The SSA South had just held the 52nd anniversary of the Shan Resistance
Day on 21 May.

Although it was opposed to the planned elections, it would not start any
hostilities with the Burma Army “except in defense,” the Thai PBS Channel
reported on 23 May, quoting the SSA leader Lt-Gen Yawdserk. His words were
apparently aimed at assuring concerns expressed by Burma’s neighbors, the
Channel commented.

____________________________________
ASEAN

May 26, Agence France Presse
EU seeking deal on election mission to Burma

The European Union is seeking a deal with Burma to send a mission to
Rangoon to discuss the country's upcoming elections, a Spanish official
said Wednesday during an EU-Asean conference in Madrid.

EU foreign affairs chief Catherine Ashton, pictured on May 25, hopes to
"finalise" agreement on an "exploratory" EU mission during talks in the
Spanish capital with Burma Foreign Minister U Nyan Win, said the official,
Jose Eugenio Salarich, in charge of Asia-Pacific affairs at the Spanish
foreign ministry.

The EU said last month it hopes to send a team to Burma to discuss the
elections, scheduled by the end of November, amid concerns the vote will
not be free and fair.

The National League for Democracy (NLD), party of Burma's detained
pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi, is boycotting the polls, the first
for 20 years, as it would have been forced to oust its iconic leader and
recognise the junta's constitution if it had signed up.

Suu Kyi's NLD won the last elections in 1990, but the military junta, in
power since 1962, refused to recognise those results.

Since then the Nobel Peace prize winner has spent much of the time under
house arrest.

Ashton will make clear to U Nyan Win that "if the Burma authorities want a
credible political process they have to respect a minimum standard of
democracy," Salarich said.

The junta in Rangoon must include "all political parties -- government
parties and opposition parties" and also "release Suu Kyi and other
political prisoners," he said.

But he warned that the EU mission would be "very complicated, very
delicate" with "no guarantees" that it will be able to see opposition
leaders.

Burma said earlier this month that it does not want foreign election
observers at the polls.

The talks between Ashton and U Nyan Win are scheduled on the sidelines of
a one-day ministerial conference between foreign ministers and senior
officials from the 27 EU members and the 10 members of the Association of
Southeast Asian Nations (Asean).

The global economic crisis, security issues and climate change are also on
the agenda.

Spanish Foreign Minister Miguel Angel Moratinos, whose country holds the
EU's rotating presidency, opened the conference with a call for greater
cooperation to confront the crisis.

"Our friends in Asean are emerging (from the crisis) with less problems
than Europe is experiencing, thanks to its dynamism and the general
situation in Asia and the Pacific," he told the delegates.

He said EU hopes Asean can take "an open and comprehensive attitude to
jointly confront the temptations of protectionism, open markets, create a
favourable environment for investments and cooperate in efforts the
economic and institutional framework at a global financial level."

The ministers are also expected to discuss relations with China, given the
role that the Asian giant plays in trade with both the EU and Asean.

An Asean-China free trade pact came into effect earlier this year,
establishing the world's biggest free-trade zone in terms of population,
covering nearly two billion consumers.

The European Union is the world's largest market for Chinese exports, but
the bloc has voiced concerns about growing protectionism and unequal
treatment for European firms in China.

Salarich said the ministers will also discuss the tensions between North
and South Korea.

But he said the recent turmoil in Thailand is not on the agenda as it is
an "internal situation" in a member country, although the country's
representative at the talks, Jitriya Pinthong, deputy permanent secretary
of the foreign ministry, may make a statement about it.

Asean groups Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Burma, the
Philippines, Singapore and Thailand and Vietnam.

____________________________________
REGIONAL

May 26, Agence France Presse
China's Wen to meet with Burma junta leaders

Chinese Prime Minister Wen Jiabao will meet with leaders of Burma's junta
to discuss energy cooperation and aid to the southeast Asian nation during
a visit next week, a top diplomat said Wednesday.

During the June 2-3 visit, Wen will hold talks with reclusive junta chief
General Than Shwe, Prime Minister Thein Sein and other top officials, Vice
Foreign Minister Zhang Zhijun told reporters.

"The two countries will sign a number of cooperation documents covering
economy, trade, finance, energy, science and technology," Zhang said,
without offering specifics.

Last year, bilateral trade between the neighbours reached 2.91 billion
dollars, up 10.7 percent year-on-year, as progress was made in joint
projects involving energy, transportation and power supply, Zhang said.

China is the isolated state's sole major ally on the diplomatic stage and
one of its key trading partners.

Energy-hungry China is an eager buyer of Burma's sizeable natural gas
reserves and has in the past tried to shield its ruling junta from
international sanctions imposed over its poor human rights record.

"We will offer help to Burma, to help it grow its economy and improve the
well-being of its people," Zhang said.

"We will offer assistance as our ability permits to the national
development of Burma, particularly in those areas that will benefit the
general public, such as transport and education."

Wen's visit to Burma will be the final stop of a four-nation tour that
will take him to South Korea, Japan and Mongolia starting Friday.

In April, Wen postponed a trip to Burma, Brunei and Indonesia due to a
huge earthquake in northwestern China that killed more than 2,000 people.

____________________________________
INTERNATIONAL

May 26, Narinjara
Burmese to demonstrate against election – Nava Thakuria

Pro-democracy Burmese in exile around the world will voice their
resentment against the election imposed by the junta in Burma. The Burmese
groups in exile will hold a public rally and protest meetings in front of
the Burmese Embassy, United Nations Building and other public places on
May 27 to draw the attention of the international community.

The India-based Burmese democratic groups have also joined hands to
organize a rally at Jantar Mantar, New Delhi on Thursday morning.

“We, Burmese in exile have called Global Day of Action Against Burma’s
2010 Military Election on 27  May 2010 urging for a real election, not a
military selection,” said Pu Kim, a Burmese political activist based in
New Delhi.

It can be recalled that Global Day of Action for Burma was an initiative
by Burma Campaign UK with the support from US Campaign for Burma, Amnesty
International, Avaaz.org and also Buddhist monks from different parts of
the globe during the 2007 anti junta protests in Burma, which was
simultaneously organized in over 100 cities of 30 countries.

The peaceful protests were aimed to create public awareness regarding the
plight of Burmese people including the monks, and finally the
international community to raise its voice against the junta.

Meanwhile, 10 alliances namely National Council of the Union of Burma,
Democratic Alliance of Burma, National Democratic Front, National League
for Democracy-Liberated Area, Members of Parliamentary Union, National
Coalition Government of the Union of Burma, Forum for Democracy in Burma,
Women’s League of Burma, Students and Youth Congress of Burma and
Nationalities Youth Forum have announced protest programmes in other
countries as well.

The protest rallies, some of which have already started, since May 25 and
will continue till the end of May. They are being organized in Tokyo
(Japan), Taipei (Taiwan), Seoul (South Korea), Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia),
Colombo (Sri Lanka), Melbourne (Australia), Paris (France), Geneva
(Switzerland), Stockholm ( Sweden), San Francisco (USA) etc.

It may be mentioned that National League for Democracy and other
democratic parties of Burma recorded a landslide victory in the general
elections on May 27, 1990. Of course, it was shocking that the junta did
not recognize the outcome of the polls and hence did not hand over power.
Rather, the group of generals imprisoned many opposition political leaders
and many elected representatives left the country to take refuge in
foreign nations.

Twenty years later, the junta has declared holding another general
election sometime later this year. But the electoral laws released prior
to the exercise indicated that the junta was still uncomfortable with the
pro-democracy icon Daw Aung San Suu Kyi. Over 2000 political activists are
still behind bars in Burma and they will never be allowed to take part in
the election. In conclusion, one can guess that the present brand of junta
named the State Peace and Development Council wants to ensure their rule
even after the polls.

The Nobel laureate Suu Kyi and her party National League for Democracy
with many other opposition parties have already expressed their strong
resentment against the election and also the 2008 Constitution. These
parties will not join the polls as a mark of protest against the flawed
electoral laws.

“We expect an unified worldwide action against the military rulers of
Burma would finally help in denouncing the proposed sham election. We also
want the election result not be recognized by the international
community,” said Thin Thin Aung, a lady Burmese exile in India.

She also added, “We demand the release of all political prisoners
including Suu Kyi, cessation of hostilities against ethnic and democracy
groups and review of the 2008 constitution.

____________________________________

May 26, Associated Press
US senator to visit Myanmar

Yangon, Myanmar — A U.S. senator who secured the release of an American
prisoner convicted of sneaking into the house of pro-democracy leader Aung
San Suu Kyi will return to Myanmar for talks with the country's military
rulers, his office said Wednesday.

Sen. Jim Webb, a Democrat from Virginia who serves on the Senate Committee
on Foreign Relations, is likely to press for opposition leader Suu Kyi's
release from detention during a three-day visit starting June 4.

His visit is part of an Asian tour that will also include South Korea and
Thailand, his office said.

"Webb's trip comes at a time of great unrest in the region following the
North Korean torpedo attack on a South Korean vessel, violent protests in
Thailand and provocations from the Burmese regime," a statement from his
office said. Myanmar is also known as Burma.

Webb's trip to Myanmar follows a visit by top U.S. official Kurt Campbell
last month and will come on the heels of that of Premier Wen Jiabao of
China, Myanmar's closest and most powerful ally. Wen is due to visit June
2.

Webb met democracy icon Suu Kyi last year and secured the release of John
Yettaw, an American man sentenced to seven years in prison for secretly
swimming to her house.

Suu Kyi, who has been detained for 14 of the last 20 years, was sentenced
by a court to three years in prison with hard labor for violating her
house arrest as a result of Yettaw's intrusion, but the punishment was
reduced to 18 months of house arrest by the junta's chief, Senior Gen.
Than Shwe.

____________________________________
OPINION / OTHER

May 26, Los Angeles Times
Myanmar boycott is misguided – Matthew Frankel

The opposition movement would do better to participate in upcoming
parliamentary elections. Protest from the sidelines rarely works.

On the face of it, it's easy to support the courageous decision of the
beleaguered Burmese opposition to boycott upcoming parliamentary elections
in Myanmar (formerly Burma), even though the decision led to the
dissolution of its National League for Democracy party. The elections are
the first to be held since 1990, when the repressive military junta took
control and renamed the country. A new law bars prisoners from being
members of political parties, so the opposition decided to fold its tent
rather than jettison incarcerated opposition icon and party co-founder
Aung San Suu Kyi. Better to dissolve in protest than legitimize the ruling
regime is the opposition's view.

For opposition parties facing authoritarian regimes, the choice of whether
to participate in or boycott an election is akin to deciding whether to
hit or stand in blackjack when holding 16 against a face card; neither
option is likely to end in success. That said, recent history demonstrates
that by choosing to boycott, the opposition has chosen the wrong path. My
analysis of 171 threatened and actual electoral boycotts since 1990 found
that they are not an effective method to bring about favorable
governmental change. In fact, more often than not, they serve to further
entrench the ruling party.

The other major negative outcome of electoral boycotts is the
marginalization of the boycotting party, and this is doubly true in this
case. Not only has the NLD forgone parliamentary participation, it now has
ceased to exist. Although a new splinter party has emerged examples such
as Cameroon, Gambia, Venezuela and Zambia suggest that the chances of the
opposition regaining its previous relevance are minimal. Elements of the
party still insist they will contest the election under a new name, but
even Suu Kyi has publicly criticized the new party and strengthened her
call for a boycott.

The Burmese opposition — like most aggrieved opposition parties — is
gambling that its action will energize the international community to step
up the pressure on the ruling regime. NLD executive committee member and
co-founder U Win Tin wrote an impassioned plea in the Washington Post in
March asking the world to support the boycott and reject the elections.
The problem with this strategy is that outside forces rarely make a
difference in these cases, especially in low-profile locations like
Myanmar. For example, then-Secretary of State Madeleine Albright referred
to Mali as a relative bastion of democracy in Western Africa just 18
months after a controversial and widely boycotted election in the late
1990s, and the U.S. quickly recognized the results of the 2003
presidential elections in Azerbaijan despite an opposition boycott and
weeks of postelection protests.

It is also unclear how much more pressure the West can put on the ruling
junta. The Myanmar government is already a world pariah and has weathered
ongoing sanctions. A recent U.S. Senate resolution calling for the junta
to release Suu Kyi, while noble, is unlikely to have the government
quaking in its boots. The regime has marketed these elections as the first
step toward democracy, making it harder for the international community to
take a strong stand.

In the rare cases in which electoral boycotts resulted in positive
outcomes, the drivers were almost entirely internal and occurred in
existing democracies, not under authoritarian regimes. The clearest
victory for a boycotting opposition party was in Peru in 2000-01, when the
opposition was able to mobilize massive popular protests and strikes, in
addition to the boycott, to hasten the demise of the Alberto Fujimori
regime. International pressure played at most a minor role.

The best course of action for the opposition is to participate in this
year's elections, even without Suu Kyi. The newly created National
Democratic Force, which plans to participate, should be supported. Even if
the system is skewed toward the junta, a unified opposition — which won
392 seats in the 1990 election before it was annulled by the military —
probably would still earn a considerable stake in the parliament.

Zimbabwe might be a useful parallel here. The opposition chose to boycott
the 1995 election to protest President Robert Mugabe's unfair practices,
leading to a near-sweep by the ruling party. Having learned its lesson,
the opposition participated in the 2000 elections and won 57 seats, just
five fewer than the ruling party.

This is not to say that opposition participation in the election will
result in a more democratic or more open Myanmar, but it is still better
than the alternative.

Matthew Frankel is a fellow at the Brookings Institution in Washington and
the author of "Threaten but Participate: Why Election Boycotts Are a Bad
Idea."

____________________________________

May 26, Asian Tribune
Is Burma the first Causality of Chinese Imperialism? – Kanbawza Win

Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao, is schedule to arrive in Burma, on June 2nd on
the last leg of his tour to the four Asian countries. China which shares
1,370 miles (2,190 kilometres) of common border with Burma and is the
third largest foreign trade partner with an estimated annually of $2
billion while the Chinese population residing is Burma is roughly about 5
million tan amounting to one tent of the country’s population.

“Imperialism” a dead word of the 19th and 20th centuries, where the West
used to colonise the Afro Asian countries, has make its presence felt
again only this time it has taken the form of economic sphere. The men on
the Dragon throne are practicing a very sophisticated 21st century version
of imperialism, in which Imperial China loans Afro Asian countries
billions of dollars, in exchange for encumbering natural resources. These
resources range from oil and natural gas to copper, cobalt, and titanium.
As part of its debt encumbrance strategy, Imperial China gets to reduce
its unemployment rate by using a large Chinese construction workforce to
actually do the work – rather than relying so much on the native
population and teaching them the technical know-how.

The Imperial Chinese Communist government has set-up uneven economic
playing fields domestically and globally through currency manipulation,
protectionism, worker mistreatment, lax regulation--if any at all--and
ignoring product piracy within its borders e.g. 80% of pirate products
seized in North America come from Imperial China. Such practices have
fueled Imperial China's economic growth at an unsustainable pace. Throwing
in a growing appetite for natural resources, both its own and those of
other countries, Imperial China seems to be a ravenous beast, not easily
sated. Its economic needs affect its judgment as the pressure to maintain
the rate of economic growth encourages the maintenance of the same unfair
and immoral practices.

Given the way Imperial China operates is no surprise to learn that it
makes no moral ties to its economic needs abroad; looking the other way
when dealing with dictators in Africa, Burma, Iran or North Korea for
natural resources in exchange for weapons or help with infrastructure,
which in turn helps Imperial China extract the rare natural resources.
Environmental issues are also not high on their list of priorities. 18 of
the 20 smoggiest cities are in China and that so-called "chog" finds its
way into the air of its Asian neighbors. Then there is the disastrous
treatment of the Chinese waterways: the Yellow River is often also blue,
green or red; the three Gorges Dams is proving to be an environmental and
health disaster. One wonders if the coverage of the upcoming Beijing
Olympics will reveal such things for the world to see.

It has been known that large-scale hydroelectric dams have long been
decried for the immense damage they do to the environment and rural
communities and mega-dams outweigh their benefits. However on the other
side, dams are a reliable supply of electricity, without which no country
can hope to survive in the modern world. But in Burma this is not true.
Not only do massive dam-building projects take an especially high toll on
people’s lives—besides destroying villages and the environment, they
result in intensifying human rights abuses and make diseases such as
malaria more prevalent—they also come without a payoff for the general
population.

The dams are part of a systematic plan by the military government to gain
control over natural resource-rich ethnic areas to create wealth and to
consolidate its political power base. This is not a new state of affairs.
As the world already knows there is no rule of law in Burma, and the
generals do not adhere to legal frameworks. They use the law not to
protect people’s rights, but to control the population and to serve the
economic interests of the Burmese government primarily through extracting
wealth. The country’s major income comes from selling off natural
resources, including billions of dollars from gas, and hydropower
development. In a post-election context, one is quite sure of on-going
human rights abuses and natural resource exploitation in the pursuit of
economic development, as the markets will be increasingly opened up to
foreign investment are purely for the economic benefit of the investors
and the state and lead to disruption of local livelihoods and
environmental destruction.

The 55 million people of Burma are among the most power-starved in the
world. In Rangoon, many households, offices and workplaces receive no more
than three or four hours of electricity a day. Power cuts are frequent and
productivity is severely disrupted. Neighbourhoods band together to buy
generators; families eat dinner and read books at night by kerosene lamps.
A classic example is in a country that is now a key supplier of energy
resources to its neighbours, is when Mandalay, hosted the ASEAN conference
on energy cooperation last July, the electricity department had to
purchase 300 MW of electricity from the Chinese border town of Ruili
(Shweli in Burmese) to light up the city.

Rangoon itself is dark at night but Burma's energy output has increased
from 529 megawatts (MW) to 2,556 MW, since the bloody coup in 1988, with
most of this going directly into China's power grid. Why aren't they using
more energy? Part of the problem is that the Burmese economy has barely
budged for decades and is more profitable to sell to neighbouring
countries than to domestic consumers. A typical Burmese household relies
on an array of equipment to meet its energy needs, including car
batteries, chargers, inverters, generators and transformers all made in
China for the Burma market. For most Burmese, life is almost unthinkable
without all the extra gadgets that help them to make the most of their
limited access to electricity. Some may even feel a grudging gratitude
toward China for supplying many of the things that make life bearable in
one of the world's most power-starved countries.

Hospitals, shopping centers, small businesses and industry zones, most of
which will provide their own electricity supply through the use of private
cheap generators from Imperial China. In Rangoon and Mandalay, electricity
has been distributed under a rationing system for the past eight years,
because authorities have not been able to keep up with rising demand.
Rangoon’s 5 million residents need about 450 megawatts daily.

The only benefit the Burmese people can expect to get from the electricity
they generate remains as scarce as ever. Conspicuously absent from these
plans is any indication of how the dams will help Burma to address its own
energy needs? Experts estimate that Burma has a total hydroelectric
capacity of 45,000 MW per annum if it is fully realized. However, the
people of Burma, who must bear the social and environmental costs
associated with mega-dams, will see little, if any, of this energy as long
as government policy remains focused on catering to countries that help to
keep the Burmese generals in power.

For its part, Imperial China’s chief concern is to ensure that it
maximizes the return on its investment—something that doesn’t depend on
tapping into Burmese demand. “Burma is a smaller country with less
population relative to Imperial China, Most of the electricity generated
cannot be consumed domestically. So for Chinese companies, they have to
consider power transmission back to China when developing Burma’s
hydropower resources.” was said by Zhou to China Investment. Obviously the
military elite and their cronies will rake in massive rewards for their
part in the sell-off. Revenue from electricity sales from the Myitsone

Dam alone is estimated to be at least $558 million per year, hence not
only Chinese imperialism but economic colonialism is felt as the men on
the dragon throne successfully create its own economic colony without
empire. Perhaps the next step would be like Tibet that Burma will soon
became an autonomous region of greater Imperial China.

Imperial China now enjoys a strong lead in the race to claim a lion’s
share of Burma’s rich natural resources. There are fewer than 69 Imperial
Chinese multinational corporations involved in at least 90 hydropower,
mining, and oil and natural gas projects in Burma. In return Imperial
China has provided Burma with political support, military armaments and
financial support in the form of conditions-free loans.

Burmese colony fits in neatly into Imperial China's “Two-Ocean Strategy”,
under which Beijing is attempting to expand its influence to the Indian
Ocean to enhance its security, such as establishment of a strategic
network of road, rail and air transport and core pipelines of water, oil
and gas between Yunnan Province and Kyaukpyu. An important component of
the strategy is the Sino-Burmese gas and oil pipeline project from
Kyaukpyu to Yunnan’s capital of Kunming will carry 80 percent of China’s
imported oil from North Africa and the Middle East, as well as Burma’s
natural gas from the Bay of Bengal.

To assume that China will overtake the US in 20 to 30 years, as some
speculate, is to presume that the impressive Chinese economic growth of
the past three decades can be maintained. Also the idea that China can be
somehow become a “responsible stakeholder,” can be seen Wen Jaibao visit
to Burma. His visit comes as the Junta prepares for an illegal general
election sometime this year and it is to be seen whether the Chinese can
influence the irregularities of the Burmese regime?

Wen Jiabao’s agenda in Burma is likely to focus on stability and national
reconciliation in Burma ahead of the election to be held later in 2010.
Points of discussion are expected to include the election, ethnic issues
on the Sino-Burmese border and ties between Burma and North Korea. Wen
Jiabao’s trip could be part of the international community’s efforts to
influence the Burmese military junta. Beijing and Washington have
cooperated on Burma issues in recent years, and the Chinese Premier's trip
to Burma follows closely the trip by US Assistant Secretary of State Kurt
Campbell, who visited Burma on May 9-10 and immediately Campbell visited
Beijing and met with senior Chinese officials.

Although Beijing never publicly talks about Burma politics, Chinese
officials have said privately that their government is disappointed in
Burma’s electoral laws banning dissidents, including Daw Aung San Suu Kyi
and the 88 Generation Students group, from the election. And analysts have
noted that the Junta’s electoral laws are in opposition to calls by China
and other countries for an inclusive political process in Burma to promote
national reconciliation.

To a greater or lesser extent, countries see the world in terms of
national interest, and Imperial China is no exception but it tries to work
within the existing international order, such as it is, to the extent that
it suits Imperial China. But where this conflicts with Chinese interests,
Beijing will look for an alternative. The recent Copenhagen climate summit
China sees Western exhortations to act “responsibly” in Africa or with
regard to Burma, Iran or North Korea, as cover for the West asking
Imperial China to emasculate itself. Obviously rising powers do not
usually allow themselves to be constrained by the norms and institutions
set up by those they are trying to rival or even replace.

And amid the struggles in the West to cope with the global economic
downturn, Imperial China now can portray its authoritarian state
capitalist model as one to be emulated, irrespective of the implications
for human rights and democracy in Imperial China and beyond. We should
better ask Google, which has threatened to leave China due to censorship
and alleged state hacking of its e-mail service. Every day, Chinese
economic imperialism is climbing higher and higher and one of the
barometers of whether Imperial China will act responsibly or not can be
seen in Wen Jerboa’s trip to Burma of what will be its result.

____________________________________
INTERVIEW

May 26, San Francisco Chronicle
The true cost of Chevron in Burma

Naing Htoo speaks about Chevron human rights abuses in Burma.

Rainforest Action Network

Naing Htoo speaks about Chevron human rights abuses in Burma.

An interview with Naing Htoo, Earth Rights International, Burma

Naing Htoo arrived in Houston, TX last night after a 2-day journey from
his home in Thailand. In a press conference outside Chevron's Houston
offices today, he spoke powerfully about Chevron's human rights violations
in his homeland of Burma.

Since the early 1990s, Chevron (formerly Unocal), has partnered with the
state-owned Myanmar Oil and Gas Enterprise (MOGE) on the Yadana natural
gas project. The Yadana project is one of the world's most controversial
resource development projects and is widely recognized as a textbook
example of corporate complicity in human rights abuses.

What is the history of Chevron in Burma? In the 1990s Chevron bought
Unocal and took over its operations on a highly controversial natural gas
project, the Yadana Project. First, the soldiers moved into the area.
Then, they built military camps and forced relocation of the villagers.
Then, forced labor. Killing, torture, and rape have become a way of life.
All this to protect Chevron's project.

What was the area around the pipeline like before Chevron and its partners
came? It was very peaceful. There was almost no military presence. But,
then there were at least 1,000 military in one area who came to clean out
the project corridor. The military forced villagers to work for them. In
the name of security, they forced people to carry things across the
jungle. Many people have disappeared and are left to die in the jungle.
All in the name of project security.

You work directly with villagers in the area. Are there any stories you
can share? Forced labor is a part of everyday life. Chevron says no slave
labor happens, but that is a lie. Also, just this year, the project
security killed two people.

Chevron shareholders are voting on a resolution about revenue transparency
at tomorrow's annual meeting. Why is this an issue in Burma? Chevron and
the other project companies have contracts with Burma. Burma spends 60% of
its budget on its military and 40% of the country's money comes from gas.
So, Chevron and its partners are helping to fund a military regime, but
they refuse to disclose how much they are paying. When we asked Chevron to
disclose revenue transparency they refused. People in Burma deserve to
know who is funding the military regime.

Chevron is touting a new human rights policy. What do you think of it? It
is only pages. A human rights policy must not only be on paper, but must
also be on the ground. And, we just don’t see that for the people of
Burma. We want a human rights policy that will actually benefit the people
of Burma.

Naing Htoo is one of nearly 40 people from around the globe who are in
Houston for Chevron's annual shareholder meeting this week. This is the
third in a series of 'City Brights' interviews I will conduct with these
global community leaders. Tune in tomorrow for more of their stories.