BurmaNet News, June 3, 2010

[Editor]

June 3, 2010, Issue #3975

INSIDE BURMA
Irrawaddy: Wen Jiabao talks elections and ethnic issues with Than Shwe
Irrawaddy: Ethnic leaders dividing community: critics
DVB: Rohingya debate ‘to go international’
DVB: Rangoon photographer facing two charges
Mizzima: NLD member given five years’ jail

ON THE BORDER
Reuters: China signs agreement with Myanmar on border stability

BUSINESS / TRADE
The Daily Star, (Bangladesh): Myanmar's motivations
Irrawaddy: Naypyidaw experiences electricity shortage
Mizzima: Half Five Star’s crew abandons shipping line
Mizzima: Fire destroys 406 shops in Monywa

INTERNATIONAL
AFP: US senator cancels Myanmar trip on nuclear suspicions
Earth Times: EU neighbours sign up to Myanmar sanctions

OPINION / OTHER
Irrawaddy: China's power grab: Wong Aung
The Globe and Mail (Canada): Caught between a vote and a hard place - Mark
MacKinnon

ANNOUCEMENT
Al Jazeera: Myanmar's military ambitions

____________________________________
INSIDE BURMA

June 3, Irrawaddy
Wen Jiabao talks elections and ethnic issues with Than Shwe - Wai Moe

Although no official announcement of the discussions is expected to be
made, diplomatic sources said that when Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao met
with Burma's junta chief Snr-Gen Than Shwe in Naypyidaw on Thursday, Wen
Jiabao brought up both Burma's announced election and ethnic issues
surrounding the Sino-Burmese border.

The state media of Burma and China did not mention any political issues in
reporting on both Wen Jiabao's agenda and his discussions with Burmese
officials, but diplomatic sources in Burma said that the Chinese premier
spoke to Than Shwe about inclusiveness in Burma's 2010 elections and
stability in the border areas.

When contacted by The Irrawaddy, the Chinese embassy in Rangoon neither
confirmed nor denied reports of discussions on these two issues, both
sensitive topics for Burma's military regime.

In the past, Beijing was seen as unwilling to even privately discuss
sensitive political issues with the junta that did not directly involve
Chinese interests.

But observers say that following the junta's September 2007 crackdown
against the mass demonstrations and the August 2009 Kokang offensive,
which resulted in an exodus of refugees into China, the relationship
between Beijing and Naypyidaw has changed, with China becoming a
relatively “more responsible” partner which is willing, at least
privately, to criticize the regime.

Analysts believe that Wen Jiabao’s comments to Than Shwe regarding Burma’s
election repeated the position of the international community reflected in
a statement by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon following a March 25
meeting in New York of the “Group of Friends on Burma,” which consists of
17 countries including China, India and the United States, as well as the
leadership of the European Union.

“The Group stressed the need for elections to be inclusive, participatory
and transparent in order to advance the prospects of stability, democracy
and development for all the people of Myanmar [Burma],” said Ban Ki-moon.

This call was similar to the message that Wen Jiabao previously
communicated to Burmese Prime Minister Thein Sein in a bilateral meeting
held during the 15th summit of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations
in October 2009.

According to the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs web site, Wen Jiabao
told Thein Sein at the time that China hoped Burma “will achieve
stability, national reconciliation and development.”

With respect to discussions between Wen Jiabao and Than Shwe regarding
ethnic issues related to the Sino-Burmese border, there has been no word
of what message Wen Jiabao communicated. But there was a public report on
the issue following Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping's visit to Burma in
December.

“China believes the Myanmar side would settle the relevant problems
through peaceful ways such as dialogues and consultation so as to
guarantee the stability in its border area with China,” China’s Xinhua
news agency then quoted Xi Jinping as saying.

At the time, official Burmese sources in Naypyidaw said the regime's top
generals were angry at this public statement by Xi Jinping.

Although Beijing publicly proclaims that it avoids interfering in other
country's internal affairs, analysts said China has often, directly or
indirectly, involved itself in Burma's internal affairs during their
60-year relationship.

Following the 1967 riot against minority Chinese living in Burma, the
ruling Chinese Communist Party provided military and logistic support to
Communist Party of Burma (CPB) troops. When Deng Xiaoping took over the
Chinese leadership in 1981, Beijing organized a failed dialogue between
the Burmese communists and the Burmese regime of late dictator Ne Win.

In 1989, observers said China played a significant role in the uprising of
ethnic troops within the CPB against its leadership, which led to
ceasefire agreements between former CPB ethnic troops and the Burmese
junta, as well as the boosting of border trade between the two countries.

In addition, since 1988, China has become Burma's closest ally and has
sold the regime massive amounts of arms, which has significantly impacted
Burma's internal affairs. Human rights groups have alleged that the junta
has used Chinese weapons to oppress the people of Burma.

“During 60 years of the Sino-Burma relationship, the Chinese government
always interferes in Burma’s affairs, though it has said ‘No’,” said Aung
Kyaw Zaw, a Burmese observer in Yunnan, China who is a former communist
guerrilla. “But all Chinese’s involvement in Burma is for their own
interests.”

Although both Chinese and Burmese state media were silent Thursday
regarding sensitive political topics, they did report on less
controversial and more innocuous issues surrounding Wen Jiabao's visit.

Xinhua news agency reported that Wen Jiabao remarked in Naypyidaw on
Thursday about “the consensus and agreements” reached with the Burmese
leadership during his meeting with Than Shwe. Xinhua also reported that
Wen Jiabao and Thein Sein witnessed a signing ceremony for 15 cooperation
documents covering areas such as a natural gas pipeline, hydropower
station and grant aid.

The Burmese state newspapers published on Thursday a picture of Wen Jiabao
sitting with young Burmese students at a famous school in Rangoon, the
No.1 Middle School of Dagon Township, where the Chinese premier was
welcomed by Burmese Foreign Minister Nyan Win and the commander of Rangoon
Regional Military Command, Maj-Gen Win Myint.

____________________________________

June 3, Irrawaddy
Ethnic leaders dividing community: critics

Seven leading ethnic political leaders inside and outside Burma have been
criticized for their election activities by a Rangoon-based group called
the Burma Ethnic Politics Watch Network (BEPWN).

“We strongly condemned these seven people and their political movement,
which helps the Burmese regime stay in power and delay democratic reform
in Burma,” said a statement released by the BEPWN on May 22.

“Their actions could divide unity among the ethnic political movement
inside and outside Burma and also mislead understanding in the
international community in its support to the democracy movement in
Burma,” the statement said. The organization accused the seven leaders of
being “self-interest seekers” and ignoring the plight of ethnic people in
Burma.

The statement by the Rangoon-based network has been widely circulated
through the Internet. The statement received by The Irrawaddy  named of
seven ethnic leaders and criticized their political background and
activities.

They are Harn Yawnghwe (Shan), the executive director of the
Brussels-based Euro-Burma Office; Dr. Lian H. Sakhong (Chin) of the Ethnic
Nationalities Council; Dr. Saw Simon Tha, a Karen
physician-turn-politician; Sai Aik Pao, former secretary of the Shan
Nationalities League for Democracy (SNLD); San Tha Aung of the Khami
National Solidarity Organization; Dr. Saboi Jum, a peace broker between
the Burmese regime and Kachin Independence Organization (KIO), and Wa
politician Philip Sem, who will contest in the general election.

According to the statement, Harn Yawnghwe of the Euro-Burma Office (EBO)
has funded a number of ethnic individuals or organizations in order to
form parties or contest in the general election.

The network said Harn has requested funds from the European Commission
(EC) to finance ethnic politicians in Burma who plann to contest in the
election.  The statement said he is misusing the money intended for
humaniatrian projects.

In an interview with The Irrawaddy in Dec. 2009, Harn said the EBO would
provide financial support to opposition parties or ethnic groups that will
contest in the general elections in 2010 if they need support, but it
should not be misconstrued as EBO support for the Burmese regime 2008
Constitution and planned 2010 election.

The aim of supporting the groups is to let them strive for democracy and
ethnic rights within any political space that might be opened up by the
Burmese regime, he said.

When contacted by The Irrawaddy this week, Harn Yawnghwe said the group's
allegations were not accurate, and his organization has not provided money
to people to contest in the election.

“We give education to them about the election law,” he said. “But, we
don't provide money to them.”

The Rangoon-based network said that Dr. Saw Simon Tha, a committee member
of the newly formed Kayin People's Party, supported the Burmese regime and
ignoring the plight of Karen who have been displaced for decades in the
jungle in Karen State due to military government attacks.

Simon Tha and 15 Karen politicians in Rangoon registered the KPP to
contest in the general elections in 2010.

He was accused of dividing the Karen community in Karen State and those in
other parts of Burma.

In an interview with The Irrawaddy in March, Simon Tha said his party will
contest in Irrawaddy, Rangoon and Pegu divisions and Mon State, but not
Karen State. He said that his party will represent all Karen people in
Burma.

Simon Tha is well-known as a peace negotiator between Karen rebel groups
and the Burmese regime. In 2004, he arranged peace talks in Rangoon
between the Karen National Union, led by the late Gen Saw Bo Mya, and a
government delegation led by former Burmese Premier Gen Khin Nyunt.

The statement said that Chin politician Lian H. Sakhong, the EBO research
director, abused democracy and worked for his own interests. Sakhong is
active in the United Nationalities League for Democracy (UNLD-LA), and the
Ethnic Nationalities Council (ENC) based in Thailand.

The statement said Shan politician Sai Aik Pao supported the Burmese
regime. He is a former secretary of the Shan Nationalities League for
Democracy (SNLD) which won a majority of seats in the Shan State in 1990
election. The statement said he was a hand-picked ethnic representative of
the Burmese junta national convention from 1993-1996. He is leading the
Shan Democratic Party that will contest in the election in 2010.

The statement said that Saboi Jum was close to the Burmese authorities and
provided them with secret information about the KIO. He is a founder of
the Nyein Foundation in Kachin State and a peace broker between the
Burmese regime and KIO.

The statement said ethnic Wa politician Saw Philip, also known as U Philip
Sam, is a leading member of the Wa Democratic Party which supports the
Burmese regime, and supported the junta's national convention.

The statement said that San Tha Aung, who will contest in the election for
the Arakan National Party, was a hand-picked representative of the junta
and supported it in the national convention.

____________________________________

June 2, Democratic Voice of Burma
Rohingya debate ‘to go international’ - Francis Wade

The Bangladeshi government has said that it will take the fiery debate
over the crisis afflicting the country’s nearly 400,000 Burmese-origin
Rohingya refugees to an international forum if bilateral negotiations
fail.

Bangladesh’s food and disaster management minister Abdur Razzaque told
reporters at the Dhaka-based National Press Club yesterday that the
government “won’t hesitate to move to international bodies for a solution”
if talks with the Burmese junta continue to prove fruitless.

A former Bangladeshi ambassador, Muhammad Zamir, said that the UN General
Assembly should adopt the issue, given Burma’s membership, and that the UN
refugee agency should set up camps inside Burma for the Rohingya.

The predominantly Buddhist Burmese government refuses to recognise the
approximately 800,000-strong Muslim Rohingya minority as Burmese, and thus
denies them legal rights in the country. The Paris-based medical aid group
Medicins Sans Frontiers (MSF) has described the Rohingya as one of the
world populations ‘most in danger of extinction’.

Out of an estimated 400,000 Rohingya refugees living in Bangladesh’s
eastern Cox’s Bazaar, less than 30,000 are registered by the UN and
allowed to live in UN-run camps, where they can access food and
healthcare. Dhaka is believed to have resisted attempts by the UN to
register those remaining, claiming that it would trigger an influx of more
Rohingya into the country.

Bangladesh is already one of the world’s most densely populated countries,
and the Bangladeshi government has said that the swelling refugee
population is straining the country’s resources. The Physicians for Human
Rights aid group in March said that thousands of Rohingya in Cox’s Bazaar
were suffering acute malnutrition, while several apparently coordinated
outbreaks of violence against the refugees have been reported.

Muhammad Zamir, a former Bangladeshi ambassador, told the conference that
the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) was “not making enough
effort” to stem the flow of Rohingya into Bangladesh from Myanmar.

UNHCR spokesperson Kitty McKinsey told DVB however that the agency ran a
number of activities inside northern Arakan state, where the Rohingya
originate, “to benefit the people there”.

“And as for what we do in Bangladesh, we do what the government allows us
to do,” she said, refusing to comment on whether Dhaka had blocked
attempts by the UNHCR to register more refugees.

____________________________________

June 3, Democratic Voice of Burma
Rangoon photographer facing two charges - Khin Hnin Htet

A man arrested by Burmese police after photographing the deadly Rangoon
bombings in April appeared in court on Tuesday on two charges of breaching
immigration laws and alliances with ‘unlawful’ groups.

Details of the charges are unclear, but judges reportedly claimed that
Sithu Zeya, who along with his father was arrested shortly after the 15
April attacks which killed nine people, had crossed into Burma illegally.
His Rangoon-based legal advisor, Aung Thein, said that he had been charged
under the Unlawful Associations Act and the Immigration Act.

“Just taking photos of the bombing is not a good enough reason for the
prosecution,” said Aung Thein. “However, throughout the interrogation,
[the authorities] found other reasons and used the Unlawful Association
Act instead.

“There are many cases of people being charged after interrogation under
different laws than the ones initially planned by the authorities,” he
added.

The trial is due to formally begin on 4 June; he is being prosecuted by
the Burmese government’s Special Intelligence Department.

His father, Maung Maung Zeya, meanwhile appeared in court on 31 May where
his remand was extended for another week, his wife and mother of Sithu
Zeya said. He is facing charges under the Electronics Acts and the
Unlawful Associations Act.

“He is in Bahan court [in Rangoon],” his wife Yee Yee Tint said.
“Previously I heard that he was going to be sent to Insein prison. Neither
me nor the lawyers understand [the processing by the authorities] – he
should have been sent [home] by this time.

“He’s not really okay [in detention]. He is being held with other people
of various crimes. But he said he was trying to get along with them and is
also giving them moral support for their problems
I gave him some liver
medicine.”

Meanwhile, another man arrested in connection with the bombing, engineer
Phyo Wei Aung, also had his remand extended on 31 May. Phyo Wei Aung has
Hepatitis B and the authorities are yet to respond his family’s request to
give him medical assistance.

Another man, named Myo Gyi was arrested on 20 April also in connection
with the bombing and is now being charged at Kamaryut township court in
Rangoon division.

His brother said however that Myo Gyi was at a religious retreat around
the time of the bombings and there was no evidence that he had connection
with the incident, arguing instead that he was “being tried
for something
he did in the past”.

Myo Gyi, a 27-year-old university graduate, was charged under the
Immigration Act and the Unlawful Association Act, along with another
youth, Thaw Zin.

Sources closed to Insein prison said that authorities could not find any
evidence of a link to the bombings for the other youths, also detained in
the prison, and who were now being charged for use of drugs.

Additional reporting by Yee May Aung

____________________________________

June 2, Mizzima News
NLD member given five years’ jail - Myint Maung

New Delhi– A former member of the National League for Democracy (Liberated
Area) Malaysia branch was sentenced to a five-year jail term in an eastern
Rangoon court for illegally entering the country and alleged contact with
an illegal group, according to a family friend.

Than Myint Aung, 31, was sentenced to two years under the Emergency
Immigration Act and three years under the Illegal Associations Act by
Judge Nyunt Nyunt Win of the Thingangyun Township court.

“His e-mail account was investigated by the officers during the
interrogation period, in which they found supporting evidence that he was
a member of NLD LA Malaysia branch”, a person who close to Than Myint
Aung’s family said.

He has also been charged with violating the Electronics Act, section 33
(a), which contains provisions that establish long prison terms for
disseminating news considered to tarnish the junta’s image. It has been
increasingly used to silence opposition voices. That case will be heard at
Tamwe East District Court on Friday.

Police said they had arrested him on March 4 at a bus stop in Tamwe
Township on suspicion of involvement in a bomb blast in Rangoon. He had
applied for a passport to work in Malaysia again before he was arrested.

The previous day bombs had exploded in Padomma Park, Sanchaung Township
and no casualties were reported. In this case, the police linked him to
the bomb blast but failed to produce evidence, and the charge was
expunged.

Than Myint Aung worked in Malaysia from 2002 to 2008 and was a member of
National League for Democracy (Liberated Area) Malaysia branch, the
sources said.

____________________________________
ON THE BORDER

June 3, Reuters
China signs agreement with Myanmar on border stability - Aung Hla Tun

Yangon - Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao reached broad agreement with Myanmar
about maintaining stability in restless border regions during a visit on
Thursday that he said marked a new stage in ties, media reported.

Wen said he and Myanmar Prime Minister Thein Sein "reached a broad
understanding on protecting the peace and stability of the (Myanmar)
border regions" and signed agreements that Wen said "signified another
step forward in bilateral relations", China's official Xinhua news agency
reported.

"We are willing to deepen our friendship with Myanmar and expand
cooperation, always acting as a good neighbour, good friend and good
partner," Wen told Myanmar's prime minister.

China is one of the few countries that keeps close ties with the Southeast
Asian nation once called Burma, ruled by a military junta largely shunned
by the West. But relations have been frayed by unrest along Myanmar's
remote borderlands with China.

Many of the hilly, remote areas on Myanmar's side of the border are run by
armed groups drawn from a patchwork of ethnic minorities resistant to
direct rule by the military government.

Some are narco-states producing and selling drugs into China, and the
Myanmar military over ran one of the weakest groups last year, sending
about 37,000 refugees streaming into China.

The agreements signed in the two leaders' presence included ones on a
natural gas pipeline, a hydro project, trade and finance, reported Xinhua.
China also offered more aid, the news agency said, without giving details.

The deals were signed while Wen was in Myanmar's new capital Naypyidaw,
where he also had a meeting with Senior General Than Shwe, chairman of the
State Peace and Development Council, the military-led body that controls
the country.

The two countries should strive to ensure that major energy and transport
projects that China had underway in Myanmar were completed on time, said
Wen, according to Xinhua.

ENERGY PROJECT

In October, China's state energy group CNPC started building a crude oil
port in Myanmar, part of a pipeline project aimed at cutting out the long
detour oil cargoes take through the congested and strategically vulnerable
Malacca Strait. [ID:nPEK34572] [ID:nTOE60D08W]

Although short on specifics, the Chinese reports suggested the two
countries were moving closer, despite China's jitters about elections
planned for Myanmar this year, which observers say could ignite fresh
tension in the borderlands.

The election, a date for which has not been set, has been widely dismissed
by opponents as a move by the military to extend its five decade hold on
power by creating a facade of civilian rule. They also fear it could also
become an opportunity for the junta to press for control of border areas.

Myanmar's government wants ethnic minority groups to take part in the
election and early this year told militias to disarm and join a
government-run border patrol force or be wiped out, although it now
appears to have backed down slightly.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu would not confirm whether
Wen discussed the elections with his hosts. She repeated Beijing's call
for a trouble-free vote.

"We hope that all sides in Myanmar can steadily advance democratic
development through reconciliation and cooperation," Jiang told a regular
news conference in Beijing.

The West imposed broad sanctions on Myanmar in 1988, after a military
crackdown on pro-democracy protests. China stepped into the void,
providing aid and weapons and ramping up trade. (Additional reporting and
writing by Chris Buckley in Beijing; Editing by Robert Birsel)

____________________________________
BUSINESS / TRADE

June 3, The Daily Star, (Bangladesh)
Myanmar's motivations - Jared Bissinger

Corruption and political uncertainties have created incentives for
Myanmar's junta to quickly settle the maritime boundary dispute with
Bangladesh so that they, not their successors, can enjoy the spoils of
offshore natural gas exploitation that the unresolved maritime boundary is
blocking. These internal political pressures could lead to a settlement
that is both quick and more favourable for Dhaka.

Myanmar's push to settle the maritime boundary comes from the small group
of junta members who control the country's notoriously corrupt gas exports
and stand to benefit from exports from the disputed area. In 2009, gas
exports brought in about US $2.5 billion; however, little of this money
found its way into the government's official budget.

That is because proceeds from natural gas sales are converted to kyat,
Myanmar's local currency, at a market exchange rate of around 1,000/USD.
But the transactions are recorded in the country's budget at the much
lower official rate, currently 6.51 kyat/USD. This multi-tiered exchange
rate helps the junta omit over 99% of the country's actual gas revenues
from the official budget, and would likely be used for gas exports from
the disputed area.

The fruits of Myanmar's creative accounting are spent by the junta and its
cronies for personal and political purposes. Personal uses include
mansions for top generals in the new capital Naypyidaw, special events
such as the wedding of Than Shwe's daughter (which included wedding gifts
worth an estimated US $50 million), and frequent travel to Singapore for,
among other things, doctors visits or shopping excursions. Political
projects funded by gas revenues include the construction of Naypyidaw in
rural Myanmar, far from the dissent-prone former capital of Yangon, as
well as the pursuit of nuclear technologies and a tunnel network. Gas
revenues have also funded weapons purchases and allowed the junta to exert
greater control over the country's military, the Tatmadaw. Gas revenues
have given Myanmar's junta significantly more comfort and security, and
additional revenues from the disputed area would likely only further
enrich the junta.

Yet, the future for the junta and its cronies is rife with uncertainties
about access to the corrupt stream of gas revenues. There is strong
internal competition among the junta, other current and retired military
officers, bureaucrats and the business class. The major uncertainty is not
whether the junta will retain power, but who within the junta will retain
power. These unknowns have intensified recently because of upcoming
elections and the possible retirement of senior junta members. This
instability gives the current junta a sense of urgency in its
undertakings, especially those that could secure revenue. Few projects in
Myanmar hold as great a promise of potential revenues as developing
natural gas resources subsequent to settling the maritime boundary.

These high stakes explain the junta's motivation to settle the boundary
quickly so that they, not their successors, can enjoy the spoils. The
junta's urgency to settle the maritime boundary dispute should be
recognised by Bangladesh as a result of the country's domestic political
pressures. Myanmar, a natural gas exporter, should have the leverage to
secure a more favourable settlement than Bangladesh, which is in the
throes of a worsening electricity crisis caused by gas shortfalls.
However, corruption and political uncertainty have mitigated this leverage
and made it difficult for Myanmar to prolong the dispute settlement
process. This should help Bangladesh secure both a quick and more
favourable settlement to the maritime boundary dispute. However, for Dhaka
would be wise not to wait for legal proceedings to run their course, but
instead should be proactive in pushing for a faster settlement.

Jared Bissinger, is Research Fellow, National Bureau of Asian Research, in
Seattle, USA. He can be reached at jaredbissinger at gmail.com.

____________________________________

June 3, Irrawaddy
Naypyidaw experiences electricity shortage - Aung Thet Wine

Rangoon—Naypyidaw, the capital of Burma, which has always received normal
electricity service, is now facing a shortage of electricity, said a
government official.

Most of the government ministries in Nepyidaw, since mid-May, have been
facing electricity shortages.

Rangoon, Mandalay and other major cities are facing the worst shortages of
electricity, said an official at the Myanmar Electric Power Enterprise
(MEPE).

The official said, “Even in the ministry offices, the power supply went
off. I've been working here since we moved from Rangoon in 2006. I've
never seen an electricity shortage here.”

In Rangoon and Mandalay, electricity is scarce to non-existent, with many
people receiving only one to three hours service a day. Pegu, Sagaing,
Magwe divisions and other areas are experiencing a total halt in
electricity, according to sources.

In Mandalay located in the middle of the country, electricity frequently
appears for only one hour a day. Zaygyo, the city's well-known market, has
had no electricity for several days, said a resident.

According to sources in Rangoon, all traffic lights, schools, and even
government hospitals are frequently without any electricity service.

Apparently, the government is alternating limited service on a rotation
basis in many areas.

“Every ward in a neighborhood gets electricity for an hour to pump water,”
said an engineer at the MEPE Rangoon office.

Officials at the Ministry of Electric Power-2 said that the electricity
shortage is due to a natural gas pipeline leak, problems with
hydro-electric generators and low-water levels in reservoirs.

The Ministry of Electric Power-2 is responsible for distributing
electricity, and the Ministry of Electric Power-1 manages power plants.
The pipeline leak occurred near Mudon Township in Mon State, according to
sources.

“Another problem is that Chinese-made hydro-electric generators are always
breaking and sometimes there’s not a sufficient amount of water to run the
generators,” an official at the Ministry of Electric Power-2 said.

In Pegu Division, electricity has been completely cutoff for days, and
local people in almost all townships have turned to rented diesel
generators in order to pump water for daily use, said one source.

“We are renting the diesel engines to pump out water and when raining, we
collected rainwater. We haven’t had electricity for nearly one month,”
said a resident in Oatpho Township.

____________________________________

June 3, Mizzima News
Half Five Star’s crew abandons shipping line - Salai Han Thar San

New Delhi – About half of the total workforce at Burmese shipping’s Five
Star Line have quit their posts as of Tuesday, saying they would seek
better pay as crewmen for foreign lines.

Union of Myanmar Economic Holdings Limited (UMEHL), established to finance
the Burmese military, took over the Burmese shipping line, which was
operating freight and passenger transport services, on April 1. Two months
after the takeover, at least 550 sailors out of total 1,227 sailors, have
submitted their resignations.

“We are continuing the appointments of old employees who wished to
continue their service 
 after 
 seeking and receiving their consent,” a
senior Five Star official told Mizzima. “And we let the employees who do
not wish to continue service 
 resign from their jobs.”

The resigned sailors represented 350 deckhands and 200 from engine rooms.
The Continuous Discharge Certificates (CDC) of those who resigned will
today be transferred completely to the Seamen Employment Control Division
(SECD) in Dawbon Township, Rangoon, a source said.

The CDC verifies that the person holding it is a seaman according to the
International Convention on Standards of Training, Certification and
Watch-keeping for Seafarers (STCW). Every seafarer must carry this log
while on board ship, which is also an official and legal record of his sea
experience, along with captains’ remarks.

Five Star Line has nine freighters in international waters and 16 coastal
passenger ships but only 14 ships are in a serviceable condition.

After the takeover, UMEHL tried to retain employees by raising salaries
under four ship-group divisions, but the move obviously failed.

Group I contains ocean-going freighters Coco Island, Kyaukphyu and
Keungtung. Group II contains short-haul ocean-going ships the Tavoy,
Manaung, Pegu, Sagaing, Magwe and Mandalay. Group III contains
Mawlamyaing, Sittwe and Ocean Brave. Group IV contains coastal domestic
passenger ships including the Myitkyina and the Taunggyi.

According to the new pay-scale starting from June 1, the highest paid
group of employees – captains and chief engineers in Group I ships – will
get US$5,000 a month and the same ranks in Group II and Group III ships
will be paid US$4,700 and US$3,500 respectively. The same ranks in Group
IV will be paid Ks. 750,000 Kyats (US$750) a month.

But the seamen had complained that even this new pay scale was still less
than the rates offered by foreign shipping lines.

Under state management, the Five Star Line has made losses for many years
and faced redundancy problems. However the line conducted a recruitment
drive recently so it would avoid serious crew shortages in its operations,
a line official claimed.

operates freight and passenger services along the 1,199-mile
(1,930-kilometre) coastline from Arakan (Rakhine) State in the west to
Tanintharyi State in the south.

Its “Far-East” services visit Japan, Hong Kong, China, South Korea and the
line operates on Southeast Asian routes that take in Malaysia, Thailand,
Indonesia, Philippines and Vietnam. The company also carries freight to
India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Pakistan, the United Arab Emirates and other
Middle Eastern countries.

____________________________________

June 3, Mizzima News
Fire destroys 406 shops in Monywa - Myint Maung

New Delhi - A devastating fire swept through New Chindwin Yadana Market in
Monywa on Thursday morning, gutting 406 shops and destroying goods worth
over 165.6 million Kyats (US $ 165,600), Monywa Central Fire Department
sources said.

The fire started at 3:30 a.m. on Thursday and raged till 10:30 a.m. The
blaze razed 406 shops in the market, which sold fish paste (used in
Burmese cuisine), dry fish, gold, clothes, footwear, and a variety of food
items.

“The fire was extinguished at 10:30 a.m. but 253 shops on the ground floor
and 153 shops on the first floor of the two-storey market building were
gutted. Goods worth 165.6 million Kyat (US $ 165,000)”, was destroyed, an
official of the Monywa Central Fire Department said.

“The shop owners were unable to save any of the goods because the fire
blocked the entrances. The fire broke out after midnight and almost
everything was burnt,” a person living near the market told Mizzima.

The market has two buildings located on the east and west of Bogyoke Road,
the main road in Monywa. There are around 1600 rooms in the market. The
fire destroyed the building in the east. The building on the west is
closed.

About 39 fire engines from Monywa, Sarlingyi, Pearl, Myinmu, and Alone
fought the blaze. Some firefighters were still extinguishing the
smouldering remains till 3 p.m.

The market security personnel believe the fire started from an electrical
short circuit. The Monywa Central Fire Department said it started from an
inverter.

Fire breaking out in markets in Burma is becoming common. On May 24, fire
gutted 845 shops in Mingala Market, Rangoon Division and destroyed goods
worth about 20,000 million Kyat. In February, fire razed 651 shops in
Thingangyun Market in Rangoon Division.

____________________________________
INTERNATIONAL

June 3, Agence France Presse
US senator cancels Myanmar trip on nuclear suspicions - Rachel O'Brien

Bangkok – A prominent US Senator abruptly cancelled a trip to
military-ruled Myanmar on Thursday after new allegations that the junta is
working with North Korea to develop a nuclear program.

Democratic lawmaker Jim Webb, who had been due to arrive in the capital
Naypyidaw late Thursday, released a statement saying it would be "unwise
and potentially counter-productive" to visit in light of the latest
suspicions.

He had been due to hold talks with detained democracy leader Aung San Suu
Kyi and the country's reclusive military junta.

Previous details of possible links between nuclear-armed North Korea and
Myanmar, formerly known as Burma, prompted Washington to express concern,
even though it has pursued a new policy of engagement with the junta.

"News reports published today contain new allegations regarding the
possibility that the Burmese government has been working in conjunction
with North Korea in order to develop a nuclear programme," Webb said.

He later told journalists that the documentary, to be aired by news
network Al Jazeera on Friday, contained claims by a former Myanmar
military officer reported to have "hundreds of files" revealing the
junta's ambitions.

Webb also referred to an allegation by US Assistant Secretary of State for
East Asian and Pacific Affairs Kurt Campbell last month, on his way out of
Myanmar, that the junta had violated a UN ban on all North Korean arms
exports.

The alleged violation of UN Security Council Resolution 1874 was "in
respect to a shipment that may have contained arms from North Korea to
Burma," Webb said at a Bangkok press conference.

"There are now two unresolved matters related to activities of serious
concern between these two countries," he said, while stressing that he did
not know the validity of the two allegations.

"Until there is further clarification on these matters, I believe it would
be unwise and potentially counter-productive for me to visit Burma."

The senator from Virginia, a strong supporter of engaging Myanmar, will
now return to Washington on Friday.

He became the first senior US official to meet junta chief Than Shwe in
August, winning the release of eccentric American John Yettaw, who was
jailed for swimming to Suu Kyi's house.

President Barack Obama's administration last year launched a dialogue with
Myanmar's military rulers, after concluding that Western attempts to
isolate the regime had met with little success.

But Washington has sharply criticised preparations for this year's
elections -- the first in twenty years -- which have been condemned by
critics as a ploy to legitimise the military rulers' grip on power.

Following his visit to see top Myanmar officials in May, Assistant
Secretary of State Campbell called for "immediate steps" to address fears
the polls would lack legitimacy.

He also called for a "transparent process" to be put in place as a way for
Myanmar to assure the international community of its commitments to the
resolution on North Korean arms.

Myanmar severed ties with Pyongyang in 1983 following a failed
assassination attempt by North Korean agents on then-South Korean
president Chun Doo-Hwan as he visited the Southeast Asian nation. The
attempt left 21 people dead.

But with both countries branded "outposts of tyranny" by the United States
they have tried rebuilding relations in recent years.

During a visit to Thailand last July, US Secretary of State Hillary
Clinton said North Korea could be sharing atomic technology with Myanmar.

The junta did not make any comment on Thursday.

"I still strongly believe that a continuation of a dialogue between the
United States and the government of... Myanmar is very important for the
balance in this region," said Webb after cancelling his trip.

____________________________________

June 3, Earth Times
EU neighbours sign up to Myanmar sanctions

Brussels - Countries neighbouring the European Union, from Iceland to
Armenia, have signed up to the bloc's decision to keep trade and visa bans
on the Myanmar regime, the EU said Thursday.

The EU first brought in sanctions in 2006 in a bid to push the junta
towards democracy. In April, it extended them for a year, arguing a "lack
of improvement in the human rights situation and the absence of
substantive progress towards an inclusive democratisation process."

Albania, Armenia, Bosnia, Croatia, Georgia, Iceland, Liechtenstein,
Macedonia, Moldova, Montenegro and Norway "have declared that they share
the objectives" of the sanctions regime and "will ensure that their
national policies conform" to it, an EU statement said.

The sanctions include measures such as a ban on the import of wood and
metals from Myanmar, a ban on arms exports, a ban on financial links with
over 1,200 regime-linked companies, and a visa ban on some 400 regime
figures and their families.

____________________________________
OPINION / OTHER

June 2, Irrawaddy
China's power grab: Wong Aung

At a time when frequent power outages are disrupting people’s lives and
businesses in Burma, Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao is now in Naypidaw, in all
likelihood forging deals to export  more energy resources from the
country.

We, members of the Shwe Gas Movement, ask a simple question: what benefit
will Premier Jiabao’s visit bring to the people of Burma?

In addition to the regular disruption of people’s daily activities, an
acute lack of access to grid electricity—and the related financial burden
of purchasing diesel fuel and generators—has been detrimental to economic
development in Burma.

Just last week the Ministry of Energy discontinued the supply of
electricity to industrial zones across Rangoon Division, potentially
leading to the layoff of thousands of workers. It is ironic that in the
same week when Premier Jiabao is making deals with the military junta to
export energy resources to China, local businesses in Rangoon are forced
to shut-down their operations due to lack of access to electricity.

While the details of the meeting between the Chinese premier and junta
officials have not been made public, it is likely that exploitation and
export of Burma’s natural resources will occupy the bulk of the
discussion.

China will be making bids to begin more extractive industry developments
in Burma in order to satisfy the nation’s rising energy needs and to
fulfill its energy security strategy. A major pillar of this strategy is
the construction of the Trans-Burma Corridor from Arakan State to Yunnan
Province. The corridor will include twin pipelines which will transport
natural gas from the Bay of Bengal as well as crude oil from further
afield. Having access to the Indian Ocean is crucial for China because it
will allow the by-passing of the Malacca Strait during the transport of
resources and goods from the Middle East and Africa.

Chinese forays into the extractive industry in Burma have in the past led
to a multitude of negative impacts for the local communities including
human rights abuses, destruction of local livelihoods and environmental
degradation. China National Petroleum Company (CNPC), a Chinese
state-owned firm, is the lead partner in a number of extractive industries
including a string of hydro-electric dams on the Salween and Irrawaddy
rivers, mining and forestry in Kachin State, and the aforementioned
Trans-Burma pipelines.

The construction of the pipelines started in late 2009, and even at this
early stage negative impacts on local communities have been documented by
Shwe Gas Movement fact-finders, including human rights abuses such as
forced eviction and relocation, land confiscation and forced labor.

During the initial phases of construction in Arakan State, the land and
houses of local villagers have been confiscated and they have been forced
to relocate away from the pipeline route without compensation. More than
1,000 acres of paddy land has been confiscated in the Kyaukphyu Township
area alone, leaving the local farmers with no other means to make a
living.


>From Arakan State, the 771-km pipeline will pass through densely populated

Magwe and Mandalay divisions in central Burma, and Shan State in the
northeast of the country.

A recent statement by Ye Dabo, the Chinese ambassador to Burma,
highlighted the government’s commitment to support the Burmese junta in
achieving “the realization of national reconciliation, social stability,
economic development and the upgrading of people's living standards.”

In reality, the current domestic energy crisis combined with human rights
abuses perpetrated by the Burmese army in areas hosting extractive
industry developments are a recipe for future conflicts and the
displacement of refugees to neighboring countries, including China.

Rather than leading to “national reconciliation, social stability,
economic development and the upgrading of people's living standards” these
projects are in fact increasing instability and anti-Chinese sentiment
within Burma. The ambassador has clarified the Chinese government position
that “a stable and healthy China-Myanmar [Burma] relationship is not only
in the fundamental interests of both countries, but also conducive to
peace and stability in the region.”

Unfortunately, when China is engaging with the Burmese military regime in
implementation of extractive development projects without proper impact
assessments, this stability remains elusive.

Wong Aung is global coordinator of  the Thailand-based Shwe Gas Movement,
which is concerned with the impact of natural gas pipeline projects
presently unfolding in Arakan State in western Burma.

____________________________________

June 3, The Globe and Mail (Canada)
Caught between a vote and a hard place; Suu Kyi's democracy party
splinters over decision whether to contest coming election under junta's
harsh rules - Mark MacKinnon

Chiang Mai, Thailand - After clinging for two decades to their stolen
victory in a 1990 election, Myanmar's main opposition party - led by Nobel
peace laureate Aung San Suu Kyi is suddenly fragmenting and may be
dissolved altogether, ironically over the prospect of another election.

When the military regime in Myanmar, also known as Burma, announced that
it was altering the country's constitution and would hold its first
election since Ms. Suu Kyi and her party won a landslide victory in the
1990 vote, it presented her National League for Democracy with a stark
choice. It could take part in elections it had no chance of winning under
the military's rules, or boycott and ignore the first hint of political
opening the repressive junta has allowed in 20 years.

Taking part would mean renouncing the 1990 election results, as well as
expelling the revered Ms. Suu Kyi - who has been under some form of arrest
for most of the past two decades - and other political prisoners from the
party, since no one with a conviction on their record is allowed to be a
member of any party running in the elections.

Not registering for the elections may now lead to the forced dissolution
of the party that has led the struggle for democracy inside the repressive
country since it was founded in 1988. The election law specifies that only
those parties that take part in the elections will be considered legal.
Since the deadline for registration passed, the state-run media has taken
to referring to the NLD as a "former political party."

The decision not to run has split the NLD, with Ms. Suu Kyi and the bulk
of the party deciding to stick to their position that the results of the
1990 election must be honoured, while a smaller faction has decided to
break away from the main pro-democracy movement and to take part in the
election.

The new party, headed by long-time NLD member Than Nyein, has adopted the
name National Democratic Front. A reportedly furious Ms. Suu Kyi said
through her lawyer that the new party was "undemocratic" - since it
ignored a party vote not to take part in the elections - and has asked her
supporters to boycott the election or spoil their ballots.

It's a situation that likely pleases the generals, who have ruled Myanmar
since the end of British colonial rule in 1962. "The government has been
trying to divide the NLD for the past 20 years. Only now can they see that
happening," said Htet Aung, a reporter at The Irrawaddy magazine, a
publication run by Myanmarese exiles that publishes out of Chiang Mai, a
Thai city roughly 100 kilometres from the border with Myanmar.

Like many exiles, Mr. Htet was unsure of where he stood on the issue. "I
understand the NLD's position and Aung San Suu Kyi's position. They are
committed to genuine democracy and when they see no hope for genuine
democracy, they don't want to participate in these elections," he said.
"But on the other hand, when you're under a dictatorship, if you want
democracy you must pass through the election process."

So far, the junta has not set a specific date for the vote, only saying
that it will take place by the end of 2010. Few see the election as
anything but an attempt by the junta to give its rule a coat of legitimacy
that it currently lacks. The election will be conducted under emergency
laws that forbid criticisms of the government and gatherings of more than
five people.

The newly passed election law sets aside one-quarter of the 440 seats in
the lower house for the military, and with the opposition weak and barred
from getting its message out, the generals and their allies look sure to
sweep to a large majority.

General Thein Sein and 22 members of his cabinet recently resigned their
positions in the military to run in the election under the banner of the
junta's Union Solidarity and Development Party. Should, as expected, the
regime control parliament after the election, the junta's senior leader,
General Than Shwe will likely be voted into the powerful new post of
president.

"The regime has 100 per cent of the power now, and they'll try and keep
100 per cent, but with the legitimacy of an elected government. They
wanted the NLD to take part in the elections and then to allow them to win
only 5 per cent of the seats," said Nyo Ohn Myint, the Thailand-based
chair of the NLD foreign affairs committee.

"Political parties [that take part in the election] won't have the
opportunity to do any campaigning, or to criticize, because the election
laws do not allow you to attack the government. You can't talk about the
electricity shortages, you can't talk about the water shortage, you can't
talk about the basic problems of the people, because every problem is
related to the state. You can't criticize, so the election campaign is for
what?"

However, Mr. Nyo admitted the decision not to participate had deeply
divided the party. He characterized those who broke away to form the
National Democratic Front as "moderates" willing to give the junta more
benefit of the doubt than Ms. Suu Kyi and her allies were.

The election comes as both the United States and China have stepped up
diplomatic efforts to engage with the government in Rangoon. Chinese
Premier Wen Jiabao will visit Myanmar this month, and Mr. Nyo said he
feels China, which is worried about ethnic conflicts in the north of
Myanmar spilling over its border, may be able to pass messages between the
regime and the opposition.

The United States, meanwhile, is increasingly concerned by Myanmar's
growing relationship with North Korea, as well as reports that it recently
has been trying to acquire materials that could allow it to follow
Pyongyang's lead by producing nuclear weapons. It's believed that two
nuclear reactors are under construction in Myanmar, which has reportedly
received aid from both Russia and North Korea in the effort.

"Burma could become another problem like North Korea," said Aung Zaw,
editor of The Irrawaddy, who met with U.S. assistant secretary of state
Kurt Campbell before the latter's recent trip to Myanmar. "That's why the
U.S. engagement is no longer about [promoting] democracy alone. It's about
proliferation, too, now."

____________________________________
ANNOUCEMENT

June 3, Al Jazeera
Myanmar's military ambitions

Myanmar's ruling generals have started a programme to build nuclear
weapons. They are trying to develop long-range missiles.

Elections later this year are aimed at convincing the world they are
moving towards democracy. But fearing attack from the US and an uprising
by their own people, Myanmar's generals are instead digging themselves in
with a nationwide network of bunkers.

With top-secret material gathered over five years, this film reveals how
Myanmar is trying to become the next nuclear-armed North Korea.

Key files and other information has been smuggled out by defecting army
Major Sai Thein Win, a former deputy commander of a top-secret military
factory at a town called Myaing.

Before leaving, he smuggled out thousands of files detailing a secret
programme by Myanmar's ruling generals to build nuclear weapons.

To check Sai Thein Win's claims, the Democratic Voice of Burma had him
show the files to Bob Kelley, a former intelligence officer at North
America's nuclear facility Los Alamos and an ex-director of the
International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

Files and photos were also shown to Geoff Forden, a military research
scientist from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

The experts agree Myanmar is a long way from achieving its goals.

But many believe that with its stated intent to one day acquire nuclear
weapons, Myanmar's military ambitions should be taken seriously.

Myanmar's military ambitions can be seen from Friday, June 4, at the
following times GMT: Friday: 0600; Saturday: 1900; Sunday: 0300; Monday:
1400; Tuesday: 0530; Wednesday: 1900; Thursday: 0300.

http://english.aljazeera.net/programmes/general/2010/05/201053110470990951.html?