VOA - Burma Embassy Protesters Mark 2nd Anniversary of Military Crackdown

By Daniel Schearf Bangkok 26 September 2009

Demonstrators enact a mock beating during a demonstration outside the Burmese Embassy in Bangkok, Thailand, 26 Sep 2009

Protesters have demonstrated in front of the Burmese Embassy in Bangkok to mark the second anniversary of the military crackdown on Buddhist monk-led calls for democracy.

About 30 protesters, including Buddhist monks, chant slogans outside the gates of the Burmese Embassy in Bangkok.

The demonstrators wear red bandanas and hold posters calling for democracy and the release of political prisoners.

Several wear T-shirts with photos of detained Burmese democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

The monks also pray for peace in Burma.

They are marking two years since Burma's military government violently put down a Buddhist monk-led democracy movement, killing at least 31 people.

A few demonstrators are dressed as soldiers and pretend to beat the protesters with rolled up newspapers.

Ashin Teza is with the All Burma Monks Alliance, one of the groups organizing the protest. He says the military crackdown was also an attack on religious freedom.

"The military dictatorship, military regime, slandered veneration and the people's religion rights," said Ashin Teza.

Burma's military government arrested hundreds of people who took part in the 2007 calls for democracy including Buddhist monks.

The movement became known as the "Saffron Revolution" named after the robes worn by the monks.

Human Rights Watch said in a report this week that about 240 Buddhist monks are still imprisoned in Burma while thousands have been forcibly disrobed or are under constant government surveillance.

Burma's military government is suffering economic and diplomatic sanctions from the United States for locking up dissidents and refusing to allow for democracy.

But, this week the U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said while keeping sanctions in place Washington would begin engaging with Burma's rulers.

Ashin Teza said the All Burma Monks Alliance did not support the dialogue.

"We don't dare to believe U.N. and United States because now they call to military government to come to their country," he said. "That is not suitable for our country, also our people."

However, the Burmese government in exile and detained democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi say they support Washington's move to engage the military government.

Aung San Suu Kyi has also written a letter to Burma's top military commander General Than Shwe saying she was prepared to work with him towards ending the economic sanctions.

But, they say the United States must also meet with opposition parties and stay firm on demands that political prisoners be released and democracy returned to Burma.

Burma's Junta Ratchets Up Pressure on Ethnic Minorities - washingtonpost.com

Image by Dan Bennett "Soggydan" via Flickr

Bringing Autonomous Ethnic Enclaves Back Into Fold Poses Major Challenges

Washington Post Foreign Service
Friday, September 25, 2009

MONG LA, Burma -- The maps say that the town of Mong La is in Burma, but to the casual observer, it could be China. The shop names are in Chinese. The shopkeepers are mostly Chinese, and they accept only the Chinese yuan. A suggestion of a meeting at 4 o'clock is met with a question: "Burma time or China time?"

Mong La is the capital of an area known as Shan Special Region No. 4, one of 13 autonomous enclaves carved out of Burma's mountainous east over the past 20 years as part of cease-fire deals that armed rebel ethnic groups have signed with the generals who run the country.

While central Burma has been driven into penury by economic mismanagement and sanctions, areas such as Mong La have thrived, along with the National Democratic Alliance Army-Eastern Shan State, which controls it. The region has over the years profited from drugs -- it lies at the heart of the opium-producing Golden Triangle -- and more recently from gambling.

In rebel territory, late-model Japanese sedans ferry Chinese punters from Mong La to the neon oasis of Mong Ma, 12 miles away, where they sip French brandy and play baccarat with stacks of 10,000-yuan chips. On the way, they pass the neoclassic pile that Sai Leun, commander of the National Democratic Alliance Army, has built for himself, complete with a golf course.

But Mong La's days as a tributary to the river of China's economic growth could be ending. Last month, a few hours to the north of Mong La, government troops attacked Special Region No. 1, which was run by the Kokang militia, driving about 37,000 residents over the border into China. Today, 80 percent of the shops in Mong La are shuttered, and their owners, taking refuge in China, are waiting to see whether Special Region No. 4 will be the government's next target.

Areas such as Mong La lie at the heart of the strategic conundrum that is Burma.

"Without a political settlement that addresses ethnic minority needs and goals, it is extremely unlikely there will be peace and democracy in Burma," the Transnational Institute, an Amsterdam-based research organization, said in a recent report.

For 15 years, the United Nations has advocated a three-way dialogue among the military government, the democratic opposition and the country's ethnic minorities, but given many of the groups' history of drug involvement, it has been a hard policy to promote in Western capitals.

In recent months, the world has focused on the role of Aung San Suu Kyi, the imprisoned opposition leader and Nobel Peace Prize winner, but although she is a key figure, her freedom is unlikely to solve Burma's long-standing political problems on its own.

Ethnic minorities make up about 40 percent of the country's 60 million people, dominating the mountainous regions that surround the flood plains where most of the majority-Burman population live. The minorities have no faith in the government and resent the majority's domination of politics. Several young Shan professionals used the same word -- "tricky" -- to describe the Burmans.

The Burmese government has been trying to unify the country since it gained independence from Britain in 1948, a crusade that has taken precedence over all other concerns, including democracy, and is still the driving force behind the current government led by Senior Gen. Than Shwe.

"When Than Shwe wakes up at night, he isn't worrying about democracy or international pressure," said a Western diplomat who spoke on the condition of anonymity. "He's worrying about the ethnic groups."

But the generals who run the country cannot afford to anger China, their most significant ally and investor, in the process.

Over the past 20 years, the Burmese authorities have signed cease-fire agreements with 27 key opposition groups, most of which are ethnically based.

China played a key role in persuading the groups to talk to the government. Many were part of the Beijing-sponsored Burma Communist Party, which controlled most of the territory along the Chinese border until it imploded in the late 1980s. At the time, Beijing's interests lay in keeping the groups as a buffer, but that policy came at a cost as many Burmese warlords established mini-states, funding themselves through drugs and gambling and spreading addiction, disease and crime into China's southern borderlands.

Many analysts now say that the Chinese are eager to see Burma reunified under a central government, pointing out that Beijing wants to build pipelines through Burma to import oil and gas from the Andaman Sea to the populous but relatively poor province of Yunnan and to open trade routes to the lucrative markets of India.

Signs are growing that the groups China used to see as a strategic buffer it now regards as a barrier to trade. When the Burmese army moved against the Kokang militia, one of the weaker groups, the Chinese government rebuked it over the refugees who were driven across the border. Beijing urged the junta to "properly deal with its domestic issues to safeguard the regional stability of its bordering area with China." Some analysts say, however, that the rebuke reflected displeasure over how the takeover was handled rather than the takeover itself.

Bringing Mong La and other cease-fire areas back into the Burmese fold poses significant challenges for the Burmese as well as the Chinese.

The Burmese authorities have called on the cease-fire groups to disband their militias and take part in elections set for next year, but the groups, which have received little assistance from the central government, are loath to give up the leverage provided by their armed wings, although many have said they are not intrinsically opposed to participating in the elections.

The groups seem more inclined to maintain their militias and use them to help force a better deal from the new government. The biggest cease-fire group, the United Wa State Army, is estimated to maintain 20,000 men under arms.

However, with their move against the Kokang militia, the generals have ratcheted up the pressure, and many residents of the border areas, like the Chinese traders in Mong La, think the authorities could move against other groups, picking them off one by one.

The stakes are high. As the Transnational Institute points out, if the cease-fire groups are not defeated decisively, they will simply retreat to the mountainous border territory, where they are likely to resume wholesale narcotics trading to fund a renewed guerrilla campaign, intensifying regional instability.

The Resistance of the Monks - Human Rights Watch

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Buddhism and Activism in Burma

September 22, 2009

This 99-page report written by longtime Burma watcher Bertil Lintner, describes the repression Burma's monks experienced after they led demonstrations against the government in September 2007. The report tells the stories of individual monks who were arrested, beaten and detained. Two years after Buddhist monks marched down the street of the detained opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, hundreds of monks are in prison and thousands remain fearful of military repression. Many have left their monasteries and returned to their villages or sought refuge abroad, while those who remained in their monasteries live under constant surveillance.

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Table of Contents

• The Resistance of the Monks
• Map of Burma
• I. Summary
• II. Burma: A Long Tradition of Buddhist Activism
• III. The Role of the Sangha in the 1988 Uprising and After the 1990 Election
• IV. Aung San Suu Kyi and Buddhism
• V. The SPDC and Buddhism
• VI. The Reemergence of Buddhist Political Activism in Burma
• VII. The September 2007 Crackdown
• VIII. Cyclone Nargis and Its Aftermath
• IX. International Networks
• X. Conclusion
• XI. Recommendations
• Acknowledgments
• Appendix I: Terminology and Abbreviations
• Appendix II: Letter to the Penang Sayadaw U Bhaddantapannyavamsa from the Burmese Foreign Ministry, October 27, 2007[195]
• Appendix III: Statement by Sasana Moli, the International Burmese Monks Organization, May 2008

Visit by Top Burmese Official Signals Softening of U.S. Policy - washingtonpost.com

By John Pomfret
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, September 23, 2009

For the first time in nine years, the United States allowed Burma's foreign minister to come to Washington, a sign of softening U.S. policy toward the military junta that has run that Asian nation for nearly five decades.

Maj. Gen. Nyan Win quietly arrived in Washington on Friday night and left the next day after meetings with Burmese Embassy staffers, a U.S.-Asian business council and Sen. James Webb, the Virginia Democrat who has advocated closer ties to the junta, according to Kyaw Win, an embassy spokesman. The foreign minister also took in some sightseeing, visiting the White House, the Lincoln Memorial and the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum. A State Department spokesman said Nyan Win did not meet with administration officials.

The main goal of the trip was to evaluate the Burmese Embassy, which needs repairs, Kyaw Win said. "The approval is a good sign though," he said. "We didn't get permission for many years."

Nyan Win's 24-hour sojourn appears to be part of a new policy by the Obama administration toward Burma, said officials and sources familiar with the trip. The policy encourages U.S. officials to engage the government of Burma, also known as Myanmar, on a higher level.

To that end, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton is scheduled to attend a meeting of the Group of Friends of Burma, established by U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, on Wednesday. In addition, Burma's prime minister, Gen. Thein Sein, will appear at the ongoing U.N. General Assembly, making him the most senior junta member to attend the annual gathering since the nation's second-in-command did so in 1995. He is expected to meet there with Kurt M. Campbell, assistant secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific affairs, according to a source briefed by U.S. officials.

U.S. policy toward Burma has been under review for nine months; American officials met Friday to iron out the final details, and the results are expected to be announced soon.

U.S. officials and other sources said the Obama administration decided that economic sanctions first imposed on the junta in the 1990s will not be lifted but will not be tightened either. More humanitarian aid may be approved, too. Administration officials would not comment on the possible changes.

The United States had been considering bolder moves, including resuming military-to-military relations and counter-narcotics cooperation, according to a Senate source familiar with the administration's deliberations. But earlier this year the junta again arrested and convicted opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi on security charges, sentencing her to an additional 18 months of house arrest. Most international observers view the sentence as a way to keep the Nobel Peace Prize winner off the campaign trail during next year's elections. Suu Kyi has been detained for 14 of the past 20 years and the junta is committed to avoiding a repeat of 1990, when her party, the National League for Democracy, won a landslide victory.

The charges against Suu Kyi stemmed from an incident in May, in which an American, John W. Yettaw, swam to her lakeside home in Rangoon and stayed there for two days. Yettaw said that he had a vision that Suu Kyi was to be killed by terrorists and that he wanted to warn her. He was detained and later deported after Webb visited Burma in August and secured his release.

Burma recently launched a charm offensive in what some officials call an attempt to improve ties with the West. Over the past two weeks, The junta has released 119 political prisoners out of an estimated 2,000.

Since the late 1990s, as part of the sanctions, Burmese officials have been banned from traveling to the United States and the European Union except to attend meetings of international organizations such as the United Nations. Under the 2003 Burmese Freedom and Democracy Act, the White House needs to approve a waiver to allow Burmese officials attending the U.N. General Assembly to travel more than 25 miles out of New York.

Webb Sets Hearing on U.S. Policy Toward Myanmar

Senate Foreign Relations East Asian and Pacific Affairs Subcommittee Chairman Jim Webb (D-VA) has announced in a press release a hearing on United States policy toward Myanmar (Burma).

On Thursday, October 1 at 10:00am, Senator Jim Webb (D-VA) will chair a hearing of the Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee on East Asian and Pacific Affairs, entitled “U.S. Policy toward Burma: Its Impact and Effectiveness.” Webb serves as chairman of the Subcommittee.

Senator Webb intends the comprehensive hearing to evaluate the effectiveness of U.S. policy toward Burma. It will examine Burma’s current economic and political situation and discuss how the country’s long history of internal turmoil and ethnic conflicts has affected the development of democracy. In addition, it will review the current policy of U.S.-imposed economic sanctions unmatched by many other countries, discuss what role the United States can and should play in promoting democratic reform in Burma, and hear testimony on how to frame a new direction for U.S.-Burma relations.

The Burmese military authority has continued arresting Arakanese youth and students on Monday

Arrests Continue in Arakan

9/23/2009
Sittwe: The Burmese military authority has continued arresting Arakanese youth and students on Monday, with the number arrested reaching 16 after a youth from Buthidaung Township in northern Arakan was taken into custody on Monday.

21-year-old Maung Naing Soe, the son of U Maung Tha Pru from Nyung Chaung Village in Buthidaung Township was arrested by officers from Special Police Force No. 2 in Rangoon.

A relative of the youth told Narinjara over the phone that a special force police officer from Rangoon came to the village of Nyung Chaung and arrested him with the help of local police.

Afterwards, Maung Naing Soe was taken to Buthidaung and detained at the police lock-up there.

According to the source, the youth will be brought on Tuesday from Buthidaung to Rangoon where at least ten Arakanese youth have been detained since the first week of this month. The Burmese special police force has arrested many Arakanese youth in Rangoon and Arakan State since early this month on suspicion that they have connections with exiled Arakanese student groups based on the Thai-Burma border.

On 7 September, special police forces arrested seven Arakanese youth and students from Layden Ward near the former University of Rangoon Art and Science in a raid of a hostel where they were living.

The youth and students were identified as Ko Tun Lin, Ko Kyaw Zaw Oo, Ko Kyaw Win, Ko Khin Maung Htay, Ko Kyaw San Hlaing, Ko Zaw Tun Oo, along with one other unidentified youth. All are from Arakan State and some of them are college graduates.

On 13 September, special police forces arrested another four youths in Sittwe, the capital of Arakan State. Those youth are Htoo Htoo Chay, Khing Moe Zaw, Kalur Chay, and Maung Thu.

Among them, Htoo Htoo Chay is a son of well-known businessman U Kyaw Thein, who is known by local Arakanese people as Kiss Kyaw Thein. Htoo Htoo Chay is also a singer and owner of the Kiss Internet Cafe in Sittwe. A student from Sittwe said a police team raided his internet cafe and seized many documents from the shop after he was arrested.

On 15 September, two youths from Mrauk U, the ancient city of Arakan, were arrested by Special Police Force No. 2 in their town and were brought to Rangoon for interrogation.

On 19 September, Ko Aung Moe Zaw and another unidentified student, both from Ponna Kyunt 20 miles north of Sittwe, were arrested by special police forces.

A lawyer from Sittwe confirmed the arrest and said that all the youths will be brought to Rangoon for interrogation because the case is being investigated by police there.

Because authorities have been arresting Arakanese youth and activists in Arakan, many other youth and students have gone into hiding to avoid arrest themselves.

It has also been learned that a youth who had been working at the Thai-Burma border revealed the inside networks of the All Arakan Student’s and Youth Congress to the Burmese military junta after he surrendered and was taken into custody. The arrests began shortly thereafter.

Narinjara

Thai leader says US moving toward engaging Myanmar - Yahoo! News

By FOSTER KLUG, Associated Press Writer Foster Klug, Associated Press Writer Tue Sep 22, 6:15 pm ET

NEW YORK – Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva said Tuesday that the United States and Europe appeared toward engaging Myanmar rather than a policy of sanctions only as a means of encouraging political change in the military-run country.

Thailand shares a long border with Myanmar, and Abhisit told an audience at Columbia University he believes talks with the country's military leaders are the best way to affect political change, improve human rights and stem drug trafficking.

Senior lawmakers from both political parties in the United States favor a tough sanctions regime, but the Obama administration is reviewing a policy that top officials acknowledge has not produced results in Myanmar. The country, also known as Burma, has been ruled by military juntas since 1962.

"Engagement is more productive than alienation and isolation," said Abhisit, speaking on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly.

The United States and the European Union, he said, appear to be questioning the "thinking that more and more sanctions" will cause change. He did not elaborate.

Abhisit also addressed Thailand's tumultuous politics, which have been in chaos since demonstrations three years ago helped spark a military coup that ousted Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra. Last year, after Thaksin's allies returned to power, demonstrators occupied the prime minister's office for three months and seized the capital's two airports for a week.

Abhisit, a Thaksin rival, took office after those demonstrations. He said that despite the chaos and occasional violence, Thailand has achieved greater stability under his rule. Recent conflict and political anger, he said, are not reflections of a failed democracy but one that is "vibrantly at work."

On Saturday in Bangkok, about 20,000 pro-Thaksin demonstrators marked the third anniversary of the military coup, which they believe set back the cause of democracy. They urge Abhisit to step down, claiming he came to power illegitimately.

Thaksin, who is in self-imposed exile, says Thailand "has gone backward to dictatorship."

International Crisis Group - China’s Myanmar Dilemma

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China’s Myanmar Dilemma

Asia Report N°177
14 September 2009

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Each time global attention is focused on events in Myanmar, concerned stakeholders turn to China to influence the military government to undertake reforms. Yet simply calling on Beijing to apply more pressure is unlikely to result in change. While China has substantial political, economic and strategic stakes in Myanmar, its influence is overstated. The insular and nationalistic leaders in the military government do not take orders from anyone, including Beijing. China also diverges from the West in the goals for which it is prepared to use its influence. By continuing to simply expect China to take the lead in solving the problem, a workable international approach will remain elusive as Myanmar continues to play China and the West against each other. After two decades of failed international approaches to Myanmar, Western countries and Beijing must find better ways to work together to pursue a wide array of issues that reflect the concerns of both sides.

Related content Advocacy page Myanmar: Normalising Aid Relations All Crisis Group North East Asia reports All Crisis Group Burma/Myanmar reports

The relationship between China and Myanmar is best characterised as a marriage of convenience rather than a love match. The dependence is asymmetric – Myanmar has more to lose should the relationship sour: a protector in the Security Council, support from a large neighbour amid international isolation, a key economic partner and a source of investment. While China sees major problems with the status quo, particularly with regards to Myanmar’s economic policy and ethnic relations, its preferred solution is gradual adjustment of policy by a strong central government, not federalism or liberal democracy and certainly not regime change. In this way, it can continue to protect its economic and strategic interests in the country. In addition to energy and other investments, Myanmar’s strategic location allows China access to the Indian Ocean and South East Asia.

But Beijing’s policy might ultimately have an adverse effect on Myanmar’s stability and on China’s ability to leverage the advantages it holds. Political instability and uncertainty have resulted in a lack of confidence in Myanmar’s investment environment, and weak governance and widespread corruption have made it difficult for even strong Chinese companies to operate there. Myanmar’s borders continue to leak all sorts of problems – not just insurgency, but also drugs, HIV/AIDS and, recently, tens of thousands of refugees. Chinese companies have been cited for environmental and ecological destruction as well as forced relocation and human rights abuses carried out by the Myanmar military. These problems are aggravated by differences in approach between Beijing and the provincial government in Yunnan’s capital Kunming, which implements policies towards the ethnic ceasefire groups.

At the same time, resentment towards China, rooted in past invasions and prior Chinese support to the Communist Party of Burma, is growing. Myanmar’s leaders fear domination by their larger neighbour, and have traditionally pursued policies of non-alignment and multilateralism to balance Chinese influence. Increasing competition among regional actors for access to resources and economic relationships has allowed Myanmar to counterbalance China by strengthening cooperation with other countries such as India, Russia, Thailand, Singapore, North Korea and Malaysia. The military government is intensely nationalistic, unpredictable and resistant to external criticism, making it often impervious to outside influence.

While China shares the aspiration for a stable and prosperous Myanmar, it differs from the West on how to achieve such goals. China will not engage with Myanmar on terms dictated by the West. To bring Beijing on board, the wider international community will need to pursue a plausible strategy that takes advantage of areas of common interest. This strategy must be based on a realistic assessment of China’s engagement with Myanmar, its actual influence, and its economic and strategic interests. The West could better engage China to encourage Myanmar’s government to commit to a truly inclusive dialogue with the opposition and ethnic groups. In addition to talks on national reconciliation, dialogue should also address the economic and humanitarian crisis that hampers reconciliation at all levels of society. At the same time, China should act both directly and in close cooperation with ASEAN member countries to continue support for the good offices of the United Nations as well as to persuade the military to open up.

Myanmar is heading towards elections in 2010 which, despite major shortcomings, are likely to create opportunities for generational and institutional changes. International policy towards Myanmar accordingly deserves careful reassessment. China is encouraging the government to make the process genuinely inclusive, but will certainly accept almost any result that does not involve major instability. While its capacity and willingness to influence Myanmar’s domestic politics is limited, the international community should continue to encourage Beijing as well as other regional stakeholders to take part in a meaningful and concerted effort to address the transition in Myanmar.

Beijing/Jakarta/Brussels, 14 September 2009

Burma’s Forgotten Prisoners | Human Rights Watch

Burma’s Forgotten Prisoners

September 16, 2009

The 35-page report showcases dozens of prominent political activists, Buddhist monks, labor activists, journalists, and artists arrested since peaceful political protests in 2007 and sentenced to draconian prison terms after unfair trials. The report was released on September 16, 2009 at a Capitol Hill news conference hosted by Senator Barbara Boxer.

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ISBN: 1-56432-517-2

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Table of Contents

• Burma’s Forgotten Prisoners
• Map of Burma
• Key facts about Burma’s Political Prisoners
• Secret trials of political prisoners in late 2008
• The September 2007 Crackdown
• The Cyclone
• The 88 Generation Students
• About Burmese Names
• What can the international community do?
• What can you do?
• Acknowledgements

Take Myanmar's Military Ambition Seriously: BIPSS

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Bangladesh needs to seriously take the issue of Myanmar's reinforced military presence along the border to safeguard its national security, a Dhaka-based think-tank says.

The Bangladesh Institute of Peace and Security Studies (BIPSS), a think-tank that deals with security issues in South and Southeast Asia, in a publication has suggested that there are many contentious issues with neighbour Myanmar and those need to be resolved for the national interest.

The issues such as Rohiynga and dispute over maritime boundary have daunted the relations between the two neighbours in recent times, says an article of its publication, BIPSS FOCUS.

It says Myanmar's recent strengthening of military presence in the Rakhine state, which borders Bangladesh, is a big concern.

"Bangladesh needs to take Myanmar's recent military ambition seriously," the publication says in an article, titled "Bangladesh –Myanmar Relations: The Security Dimension".

It says Myanmar has increased movement of troops while construction of concrete pillars and barbed-wire fences along the border has been sped up.

The military junta in Myanmar has also extended the runway of Sitwee Airport enabling it for operation of MiG-29 multi-role combat aircraft and all 12 MiG-29 aircraft of Myanmar Air Force are presently deployed at Sitwee, the article says. Land has also been acquired for construction of airport at Buthidaung, it adds.

The article says massive repair and reconstruction of road, bridges and culverts are going on in Western Command area while regular disembarkation of tanks, artillery guns, Recoilles Rifles, mortars in Buthidaung river jetty is going on.

Saying that such developments are "alarming" for Bangladesh, the article further says that Myanmar has commenced barbed-wire fencing along the border with Bangladesh since March 2009, and so far approximately 38 kilometer fencing is completed till end of July this year.

Considering all these issues, the article says: "It is observed that Bangladesh-Myanmar relations have developed through phases of cooperation and conflict."

"Conflict in this case is not meant in the sense of confrontation, but only in the sense of conflict of interests and resultant diplomatic face-off," it says.

The article warns that "unfriendly relations with Myanmar can benefit small insurgent groups living in the hilly jungle areas of the southern portion of the Chittagong Hill Tract, which can cause some degree of instability in the area and become a serious concern for national security."

The article also suggests that Bangladesh can benefit in ways by maintaining a good relation with Myanmar, which has a good friendship with China.

"It (Myanmar) is the potential gateway for an alternative land route opening towards China and Southeast Asia other than the sea," it says. "Such road link has the potentiality for a greater communication network between Bangladesh and Southeast Asian countries including Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore."

Moreover, the article says, with a rich natural resource base, Myanmar is a country with considerable potential.

"Myanmar's forests and other natural resources like gas, oil, stones are enormous from which Bangladesh can be benefited enormously," it says.

The article suggests the policymakers review the existing defence priorities to suit the magnitude of threat being faced by the nation.

"The policy regarding Myanmar needs to be a careful combination of effective diplomacy while safeguarding our security interests," it says.

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• Big Oil fills the coffers of Myanmar junta (americablog.com)

Beijing Limits Information on Burmese Refugees Remaining in China - NYTimes.com

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By MICHAEL WINES

BEIJING — Chinese officials imposed an information blackout on Tuesday on the situation along its border with Myanmar and began taking down tents that had sheltered an estimated 30,000 refugees who fled into China to escape recent fighting between Myanmar’s military and ethnic rebels.

But news reports stated that many thousands of refugees remained in China, unwilling or unable to return to Myanmar, formerly called Burma, and it was not clear how the Chinese government intended to address their plight.

The Chinese authorities withheld comment on the border situation on Tuesday, aside from saying, in a Foreign Ministry briefing, that “necessary humanitarian assistance” was being provided. And they began ordering foreign journalists to leave the area around Nansan and Genma, Chinese towns on the mountainous border where the refugees have been housed in seven separate camps.

While about 4,000 refugees had returned to Myanmar on Monday, the day after the fighting ended, the pace has since slowed significantly. Only about 30 people crossed the border into Myanmar in a half-hour period on Tuesday morning, The Associated Press reported.

“It seems to be slowing down,” one foreigner near Nansan said in a telephone interview on Tuesday. “There’s still a large number of refugees in and around Nansan, both in the camps and hanging around.” The foreigner, who asked not to be identified, said Chinese Army troops had stepped up patrols in the area.

An unknown number of those who fled to China during the fighting are Chinese citizens who have been conducting business in Myanmar, where China is building dams and other projects and has extensive mining ventures. They are unlikely to return soon.

China has insisted that the northern Myanmar region of Kokang is safe and stable after the fighting last week, in which hundreds of government troops overwhelmed an armed ethnic group, breaking a cease-fire that had prevailed for two decades. Human rights groups and others have warned that the junta’s actions could ignite a wider conflict in the area, where other, better armed, ethnic groups also are resisting government control.

Thai newspapers and The Irrawaddy, an independent magazine that focuses on Myanmar, have reported that the government is sending fresh troops into the northern state of Shan in an attempt to consolidate its control there. The army wants the rebels to disarm and join a government border patrol force, as required under a new Constitution. Most of the rebels have resisted the order, which would effectively place them under government control.

Myanmar’s military junta apparently seeks to take control of the region before elections, the first in almost 20 years, that are scheduled for next year. Outside monitors accuse the military junta of brutal human rights violations as part of its effort to stay in power. The Myanmar government has said that 26 of its soldiers and at least 8 rebels died in three days of battles.

The Myanmar conflict has thrust the Chinese government, one of Myanmar’s only staunch backers, into an awkward situation. China has provided diplomatic support to the junta in exchange for access to its considerable mineral wealth and cooperation in efforts to suppress a growing cross-border trade in heroin and other illicit drugs. The flood of refugees prompted the Chinese to issue muted criticism of the junta, on Friday calling for it to secure Myanmar’s borders.

Myanmar activist says China ignores junta's graft - AP

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MANILA, Philippines — China and other governments with lucrative business deals in Myanmar are ignoring massive corruption by its ruling military junta, a pro-democracy activist said Thursday.

Ka Hsaw Wa said corruption has become the second worst problem in Myanmar after widespread human rights violations and afflicts all levels of its government.

He spoke to The Associated Press in Manila, where he was named one of six recipients of the prestigious Ramon Magsaysay award, considered Asia's version of the Nobel Prize, for documenting human rights and environmental abuses in his country.

Corruption in Myanmar should be dealt with urgently, since most people struggle to afford three meals a day, Ka Hsaw Wa said. But obtaining evidence is almost impossible, he said.

"It's simply economic plunder," Ka Hsaw Wa said, adding that "99.9 percent of the ruling junta, from a normal soldier to the top generals, are completely corrupt."

He said corruption within the military should be apparent to friendly foreign governments like China, but they look the other way.

"We won't turn a blind eye to that (corruption), of course," said Ethan Sun, a spokesman at the Chinese Embassy in Manila. He added, however, that trade and economic cooperation "benefit the peoples of both countries."

China has often supported the junta against international pressure in the past.

Most generals live in sprawling, heavily guarded compounds which are off-limits to the public, he said. When a secret video of the lavish 2006 wedding of senior Gen. Than Shwe's daughter surfaced on YouTube, it caused outrage in his country.

International watchdogs have consistently ranked Myanmar, also known as Burma, among the world's most corrupt nations. Transparency International's 2008 list put it next to last, ahead of only Somalia.

The junta does not publicly respond to accusations of corruption, but it has launched anti-corruption drives mostly targeting low-level offenses. A call to the embassy in Manila was not answered Thursday.

"A lot of countries want to swallow Burma alive, it's so rich in natural resources," Ka Hsaw Wa said. "But they try not to see (corruption) in a way that they can do business there."

While the Myanmar government officially restricts logging, middle-level military officers have cut down huge swaths of rain forests for personal profit, he said.

Ka Hsaw Wa, a member of Myanmar's ethnic Karen minority, was a 17-year-old student activist when the government violently suppressed 1988 pro-democracy demonstrations. After his arrest, he fled to the jungle where he witnessed atrocities committed against villagers, the Ramon Magsaysay Award Foundation said.

EarthRights, the nonprofit group he co-founded, filed a case in the United States in 1996 against the U.S.-based oil company Unocal for alleged complicity in human rights and environmental abuses committed by Myanmar's military in the building of the Yadana gas pipeline. After 10 years of litigation, Unocal agreed to compensate the 11 petitioners.

EarthRights also runs a school in Thailand that trains young people from Myanmar and other countries in nonviolent social change.

Opposition activists launch yellow campaign - Mizzima

New Delhi (Mizzima) – With the second anniversary of the ‘Saffron Revolution’ round the corner, 10 opposition activists launched a campaign in Rangoon last Tuesday to pay tribute to monks, who took part in chanting Metta sutra two years ago.

The activists donned yellow symbols during their weekly so-called 'Tuesday prayer campaign', conducted in Shwedagon pagoda for the release of democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi.

"September is drawing close. So we wore yellow ribbons, yellow hairpins, yellow flowers and yellow dresses as symbols, while paying tribute to the ‘Saffron Revolution’ during our prayer campaign. We prayed for the release of our leader," Naw Ohn Hla, one of the campaigners, told Mizzima.

Officials of the Burmese military junta keep a hawk’s eye on the prayer campaign, suspicious and apprehensive that it would again become part of a growing mass movement against the regime. There have been several instances when campaigners have been arrested.

The activists plan to forge ahead with the yellow campaign with their prayer meetings and prayer services at pagodas every Tuesday until September 25.

"This campaign has started in Rangoon. Other towns and cities can join us. It (junta) cannot do anything to us for just wearing these yellow symbols. So we request all to join us. I'd like to say do not forget our religion and sasana," Naw Ohn Hla said.

Thousands of monks hit the streets in September 2007 and chanted Metta Sutra in Rangoon and other cities. But the security forces came down heavily in a brutal crackdown, killing, maiming and arresting at random, breaking up the demonstrations.

The junta, however, claimed 10 people, including some monks were killed during the movement, but the opposition forces felt that the actual death toll was much higher than the official statistics dished out.

According to the Thai based 'Association for Assistance to Political Prisoners-Burma' (AAPP-B), formed by former Burmese political prisoners, over 200 monks were arrested during the demonstration. More than 2,100 political prisoners are languishing in jails throughout Burma, AAPP said.

Prayer campaigns were also launched in other cities such as Mandalay, Meiktila, Yemethin, Yenanchaung and Pegu by activists yesterday, calling for the release of detained opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi and other political prisoners.

Meanwhile, activists lodged a complaint with the junta supremo Senior Gen. Than Shwe by sending a letter, which says that the local authorities tried to threaten the monasteries where the Naw Ohn Hla led group were conducting prayers and offerings were being made to Buddhist monks.

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