Friday, August 29, 2014

Democratic Voice of Burma

Democratic Voice of Burma


Bullet Points: 29 August 2014

Posted: 29 Aug 2014 04:53 AM PDT

On today's edition of Bullet Points:

100 female soldiers graduate in Rangoon.

Burmese migrant workers strike in the northern Thai city of Chiang Mai.

American investment to fund two giant solar energy plants in central Burma.

You can watch Bullet Points every weeknight on DVB TV after the 7 o'clock news.

Trapped Burmese migrant workers strike in Chiang Mai

Posted: 29 Aug 2014 04:53 AM PDT

Burmese migrant workers are on strike in the northern Thai city of Chiang Mai. They say they are being held in bonded labour, and that their employer is holding their passports, forcing them to work for as little as 270 Thai baht (US$5) per day. That is half of Thailand's legal minimum wage.

The striking workers say they are often not paid for months on end, despite them being due their wage on a fortnightly basis.

Forty Burmese workers say they are trapped on the site. With no documents and no money, they have little other choice. They say twenty others did manage to reclaim their passports, and have since returned to Burma.

“I want to get my passport back," says one infuriated worker. "The owner has been delaying our pay, telling us it will come today or tomorrow. We want to get paid regularly and we want to keep our passports.”

Women have it hardest, as the lowest-paid workers on the site. Their meager pay offers little else than run-down temporary houses in the centre of Thailand's second largest city.

"Today, nobody goes to work because we were not paid," says a striking female worker.  "We, the women, get 170 baht. The owner has kept our passports for about three months. He said he would give them back, but he still hasn't.”

Often it takes a local workers' rights watchdog to pressure owners to pay migrant labourers.

Chiang Mai-based migrant rights activist Johny Adhikari said the Burmese Embassy in Bangkok should be capable of stamping out abuse such as this.

"There are officers in the [Burmese] embassy appointed by the government for assisting migrant workers," he said.

"They should come and investigate, and they should help the workers to get their rights and salaries. The migrants should not be paid only 170- 200 baht when the Thai minimum wage for a worker is 300 baht."

"I want the [Burmese] embassy to know what is happening here."

The Thai economy hinges on some two million Burmese living and working in the country. However, after the Thai military took power in a bloodless coup in May, a crackdown on Burmese migrants in Chiang Mai saw many deported home. The junta has since pledged to care for Burmese migrant workers.

 They have extended the time frame for unregistered migrant workers to obtain documents, and have set up offices to process claims in one step.

 

BURMA BUSINESS WEEKLY – 29 August 2014

Posted: 29 Aug 2014 03:59 AM PDT

Ups and downs

Burma's currency was stable again this week; the buying rate for Burmese kyat on Friday was 973 to the US dollar. The price of gold rose slightly to 671,300 kyat per tical, up from 669,000 kyat last week. Fuel and rice prices remained steady.

 

Coal plant to be built near Rangoon

A 300 megawatt coal power plant is soon to be built in Thaung Khng village, 40 km south of Rangoon, local media reported on Sunday. Eleven Media cited project officials who said that villagers have been informed of the project, which will be managed by Kaung Myat Thaw Myay Company, a subsidiary of Asia World. The project will comprise two 150 MW stations and could be expanded to include three other facilities. It is intended to provide electricity primarily to Rangoon.

 

India to sign Free Trade Agreement with Burma

India's Ministry of Commerce and Industry expects to sign a long-awaited Free Trade Agreement with the Southeast Asian trade bloc later this month, The New Indian Express reported on Monday. Minister of State Nirmala Sitharaman will travel to the Burmese capital Naypyidaw on 26-27 August for an ASEAN-Indian ministerial meeting, where the treaty will be signed. The agreement indicates India's interest in a Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership plan that extends further across Asia and the Pacific, the report said.

 

Govt pulls plug on several junta-era dams

Several hydropower projects initiated by Burma's former ruling junta have been indefinitely stopped, according to Deputy Minister of Electric Power Maw Thar Htwe. Speaking to reporters in Shan State on 23 August, the deputy minister said that two dams in Arakan State, one in Kachin State and another in Tenasserim Division have been halted because they are no longer relevant. He added that the ministry is seeking new partners to develop some other unspecified hydro projects.

 

Burma's rice exports up 40 percent

Burma's rice exports have risen by 41 percent during the current fiscal year, according to the Ministry of Commerce. Industry news site Oryza reported that officials said that US$196 million in rice was exported from 1 April to 15 August, a total of 530,000 tons. The rise was attributed to increased demand from Russia, which countered lower exports to China since a ban was put in place at the start of the fiscal year. The freeze on exports to China has steeply devalued Burmese rice, but officials said that Burma and China are working on a new agreement to allow legal trade in the near future.

Read more here.

 

Burma's companies slacking off on taxes

Nearly half of Burma's registered companies filed income tax documents this year, according to a senior tax official. The Internal Revenue Department announced a 30 June deadline to declare all assets, with penalties for late submissions. Despite the announcements published in state media, many companies filed two months past the deadline while others simply didn't file at all. Last year, income tax in Rangoon alone generated about 710 billion kyat (US$710 million).

 

Thailand expecting trade surplus with Burma by 2016

Thailand is expecting to have a bilateral trade surplus with Burma by 2016 because of economic growth and an increase in cross-border trade, according to a senior executive of Bangkok Bank. While the first half of the fiscal year indicated a trade deficit of 40 billion baht (US$1.33 billion), the figure is expected to drop by half by the end of the year, he said. In previous years, Thailand maintained a steady trade deficit with its neighbours, largely due to vast natural gas imports. But the executive predicted increased demand for Thai products in Burma are likely to even out trade figures.

Read more here.

 

South Korea to increase fruit imports from Burma

South Korea is set to increase Burmese agricultural imports, according to Burma's Ministry of Commerce. Korean government officials and representatives of the ASEAN-Korea Centre met with the ministry on Tuesday to iron out plans to begin the import of four fruits: dragonfruit, mango, mangosteen and pomelo. Prior to the deal, Burma has maintained other successful trade relations with South Korea. Various pulses, tobacco leaves, dried fruit and raw materials used for traditional medicine are regularly exported to South Korea.

Read more here.

 

Foreign banks apply for full-operation status

Twenty-five of the 43 foreign banks that currently have representative offices in Burma have applied for full-operational status within the national banking system. About five to ten of those companies will be selected in September, according to an official from the Banks and Financial Development subcommittee. Selected banks will be able to open branches and carry out all customer services, whereas the current representative banks primarily act as liaison for investors.

Read more here.

 

Trade between ASEAN and Canada hits $16.5bn

Bilateral trade between Canada and ASEAN reached US$16.5 billion in fiscal year 2013, state media reported on Thursday. Citing Canada's Minister of International Trade, in Burma for the 3rd ASEAN Economic Ministers Summit in Naypyidaw, The New Light of Myanmar said that bilateral trade is growing by more than seven percent each year. Stock of Canadian direct investments in ASEAN increased by 34 percent to $5.7 billion, the report said.

 

12 Foreign companies bid for Kyaukphyu SEZ contracts

Twelve companies from seven countries have submitted proposals for the development of a Special Economic Zone in Kyaukphyu, western Burma, according to the SEZ selection committee. Proposals include plans to develop factories, housing projects and the completion of a deep sea port. A call for tenders was announced earlier this year and the bidding window closed on 25 August, the secretary of the committee, Aung Kyaw Than, said.

Read more here.

Gap’s report on supplier factories detail problems

Posted: 29 Aug 2014 01:46 AM PDT

The US Embassy of Burma released a report on Thursday voluntarily submitted by US retailer Gap Inc. detailing the compliance issues found in their two factories initially and the improvements made.

Gap announced its entry into Burma in June, making it the first US clothing company to source products from its garment sector since the US government eased economic sanctions.

Yangon Pan Pacific International and Myanmar Glogon are the two South Korean factories chosen in Rangoon to produce finished outerwear for Gap.

According to the report, titled "Responsible Sourcing in Myanmar", which Gap submitted to the US State Department on August 25, the two factories had to instate improvements as they had several compliance issues.

These problems include excessive working hours and inconsistent payment of overtime, an unclear policy on the hiring of underage workers, inappropriate behaviours from supervisors towards workers, and certain safety issues regarding health and fire prevention.

Through third party audits and numerous follow-ups, Gap said in the report that the factories improved significantly before they began producing clothing orders, with one of the factories successfully resolving all the main issues by June.

"These improvements are encouraging, especially considering how new many of the practices and more rigorous standards are for these factories and the garment industry in Myanmar," the report said.

These issues are familiar within Burma's garment sector. The report even detailed how Gap took the extra step of ensuring that each factory's lands were not part of any dispute, as land confiscation during the military regime is now a big cause for protests by farmers and former owners demanding the land back.

Debbie Mesloh, Gap Inc's senior director of government and public affairs, said in an email that her company recognises the role they play as the first American retailer to begin sourcing from Burma, which is officially known as Myanmar.

"Gap Inc. is committed to Myanmar and we want to be part of building a sustainable, healthy garment industry in the country," she said. "We have a long-standing partnership with our vendors in Myanmar and intend to continue working in the country as long as our vendors meet our Code of Vendor Conduct and the country continues its path to democratic reform as outlined by the United States government."

Gap has previously declined to disclose their investment value into the two factories. However, Myint Soe, chairman of the Myanmar Garment Manufacturers Association, said last week that garment exports to the US will increase dramatically this year, from $1.96 million in 2013 to at least $50 million.

The company is also now part of a new initiative between the two countries, announced on Thursday by a US trade representative, Michael Froman. This programme's aim is to promote and implement fundamental labour rights and good working conditions on the ground, while also developing a strategy for labour law reforms.

Sai Khing Myo Tun, the spokesman for the Myanmar Trade Union Federation, said that he welcomed Gap's efforts to improve the factories.

"We welcome them if they are concerned about labour rights," Sai Khing Myo Tun said. "We do need the investment and we need investors who take responsibility when they come into the country."

 

 

Unity five launch last appeal against harsh sentence

Posted: 29 Aug 2014 12:47 AM PDT

A final appeal against the verdict for five Unity Weekly journal employees — who were sentenced to ten years in prison with hard labour in July — was submitted to Magwe regional court on Thursday.

Following the January publication of a report about an alleged secret chemical weapons facility in central Burma, the four reporters and the journal's CEO were arrested and charged for trespassing and violation of the colonial-era Official Secrets Act. Lost time and expenses associated with months of legal proceedings have since caused the journal to cease operations.

The five were convicted and sentenced on 10 July, immediately prompting public outcry both within and beyond Burma.

The group's legal counsel, Robert San Aung, submitted the latest appeal to the regional judge, Myint Thein, on Thursday on the grounds that they are innocent. He requested that the four reporters be released from prison and that the sentence of Tint San, the journal's executive, be reduced by half.

"I appealed to the court that my clients did not commit a crime," said Robert San Aung. "Dictators believe that journalists should write whatever the government wants. This view has no place in a progressive society. I told them that."

"Furthermore," he added, "the area had no signage indicating that it was prohibited. The farmland in this area was seized without any compensation. My clients did not commit a crime. The verdict was wrong and they should be freed."

Robert San Aung said he hopes that his clients —  reporters Lu Maw Naing, Sithu Soe, Aung Thura, Yazar Oo, and CEO Tint Hsan – will be granted amnesty, as President Thein Sein recently vowed to the Interim Press Council that he would try to increase protections for journalists.

The court is expected to issue a decision about the appeal within one month, Robert San Aung said.

US to build two solar energy plants in Burma

Posted: 28 Aug 2014 11:39 PM PDT

The United States has reached an agreement with the Burmese government to develop two solar energy plants, the office of the US Trade Representative announced on Thursday.

Two 150 megawatt solar energy plants will be constructed, one in Meikhtila and one in Myingyan.

The project will require an investment of about US$480 million, making it one of the largest US-funded investments in Burma to date. Convalt Energy, part of the ACO Investment Group, has been selected as the managing company.

The company estimates that the project will create about 400 temporary construction jobs and 100 permanent positions, the statement said.

An estimated 10-12 percent of the nation's power generation is expected to come from the two projects upon its completion in 2016.

 

12 Foreign companies await results on Kyaukphyu SEZ

Posted: 28 Aug 2014 10:53 PM PDT

Twelve companies from seven countries have submitted proposals for the development of a Special Economic Zone in Kyaukphyu, western Burma, according to the SEZ selection committee.

Proposals include plans to develop factories, housing projects and the completion of a deep sea port.

A call for tenders was announced earlier this year and the bidding window closed on 25 August, the secretary of the committee, Aung Kyaw Than, said.

"Twelve conglomerates from seven countries have shown interest in three economic zone projects: the seaport project, a housing project and a factory project. They have submitted all data and logistics for the developments,” he said.

Bids were received from countries across Europe and Asia, but most of the bidders are from Southeast Asian nations. Aung Kyaw Than said that the committee will decide based on which plan can create more opportunities for local businesses.

Kyaukphyu is located on the coast of Arakan State, and is expected to become a major gateway for trade. It is also the starting point of two pipelines built to deliver natural gas and crude oil to southeastern China, one of which came online last year after several years of setbacks. The project, which was envisioned by the former military junta and likely the impetus for development of the SEZ, faced major opposition from local people everywhere from Kyaukphyu to Yunnan.

While many locals have accepted the SEZ project on the promise of development, concerns remain about land loss and unemployment. Most of the local people rely on fishing and farming to earn a living, and many have already issued complaints to local authorities that land has been seized or destroyed. Fishermen, also, have repeatedly claimed that dredging and pollution have taken a heavy toll on their livelihoods. The amount of fish is in rapid decline, and the seaport project has led to restrictions on when and where villagers can fish.

Ba Shwe, chairman of Kyaukphyu SEZ Watch, said that he and his colleagues will continue to monitor the situation closely. The prospect of increased electrical access, better social services and work options are enticing to villagers, but many still doubt that those benefits will ever materialise, as many corporate social responsibility (CSR) projects have failed them in the past. Moreover, some villagers who have lost their land were in turn granted jobs on the port site, which are temporary and poorly paid.

“We can accept the good things, but we are still very worried about possible land seizures and joblessness," said Ba Shwe. "We will keep watching investors”.

The committee said that they hope to begin implementing development of the zone by April 2015. Singaporean CPG Corporation was selected as the leading consultancy firm for the development in March of this year.

Shan family fights to free girl trafficked to China

Posted: 28 Aug 2014 09:47 PM PDT

People smuggling is endemic on Burma's porous northern border with China. In northern centres such as Lashio, Shan State, girls as young as 14 are being stolen from their families and trafficked over the Chinese border, where they are sold into slavery or forced into marriage.

Women are being bought by Chinese men for around US$3,500. An extra payment is often made if the woman becomes pregnant.

In one high-profile case stemming from Naryama, a rural village on the outskirts of Lashio, one family has made progress in their fight to bring back their girl.

“My sister-in-law has two children. She was taken from our village recently," said one family member. “We didn’t realise at first. After 3-4 days, we approached a woman and a Chinese man that we suspected might have kidnapped her."

She enlisted the help of the village chief.

"The Naryama village headman asked them, and he was informed that she was in China," she said. "So the headman sent me to China. I tried to ask where she was and tried to get there. I met her. She was with a Chinese husband. She said she was forced to marry him."

"I couldn't rescue her myself. I had to return home."

The market for Burmese women in China is growing. Women among the 120,000 people displaced by the ongoing civil war in Burma's north are exceptionally vulnerable, as are women from families gripped by poverty, who are often tricked by the promise of a well-paid job in China. Lashio's representative in Naypyidaw, Sai San Min, said that while the region faces an urgent trafficking problem, it is not being addressed as other problems —  like the drug trade —  take precedence.

“The trafficking problem gets bigger and bigger," said Sai San Min of the Shan Nationalities League for Democracy. "But the trafficking issue is not treated as seriously as the drug trade. This needs to change.”

The Palaung Women's Organisation (PWO) says the threat to girls pervades every village in a state gripped by war and a rampant opium trade. They said, however, that local law enforcement does seem to be improving.

"This year we have exposed nine cases of forced marriage and one case of forced labour coming out of Lashio," says San San Htay, a local police officer and member of the Lashio branch of the state anti-trafficking task force.

"Among those cases," she continued, "we arrested eight male suspects and 20 female suspects. A total of 28 people have been charged.

 "The majority of trafficking victims are women and children," she confirmed. "Trafficking to China represents around 80 percent of cases. Internal trafficking accounts for four percent. About 16 percent are trafficked to Thailand."

Year after year, Burmese authorities at the state and national level report human trafficking cases in the hundreds. However, according to women's rights groups such as the PWO and the Women's League of Burma, the number of women stolen away to China each year could be much higher.

National News

National News


Human rights less important than ‘nationalism’, says senior monk

Posted: 28 Aug 2014 09:38 PM PDT

A Senior Buddhist monk has urged political parties to prioritise "nationalism" – or "the interest of national ethnic groups and citizens" – over human rights.

City of dreams: Regional govt draws fire on city expansion contract

Posted: 28 Aug 2014 09:33 PM PDT

The Yangon Region government's proposal for a massive city expansion project with a mysterious public company linked to Chinese interests has sparked intense debate.

Peace team to get hluttaw approval for ceasefire text

Posted: 28 Aug 2014 09:19 PM PDT

The government has promised armed ethnic groups that agreements arising out of the nationwide ceasefire and subsequent political dialogue will be enshrined in legislation, peace negotiators from both sides say.

Govt backtracks on city expansion project

Posted: 28 Aug 2014 09:16 PM PDT

The Yangon Region government has backtracked on its controversial decision to award the contract for a 30,000-acre city expansion project to a little-known public company, announcing that it would instead conduct a tender.

Health ministry proposes higher alcohol taxes to reduce drinking

Posted: 28 Aug 2014 09:12 PM PDT

Health chiefs are planning to rein in alcohol use through a five-point plan to improve the nation's health – and maybe cut crime. 

Senior general orders investigation into Lahu militia death

Posted: 28 Aug 2014 07:34 PM PDT

Commander-in-chief Senior General Min Aung Hlaing has launched an investigation into the killing of a member of a Lahu people's militia in eastern Shan State in June, sources in the area say.

US firm’s $480m investment to tackle Mandalay power woes

Posted: 28 Aug 2014 07:25 PM PDT

Myanmar will see a boost in power from a solar project that backers say could produce up to 12 percent of the country's power generation when it becomes fully operational.

Shan Herald Agency for News

Shan Herald Agency for News


Will the Foreign Policy Success of Obama place Burma in the Proxy Hot War?

Posted: 29 Aug 2014 01:26 AM PDT

President's Obama's foreign policy struggles in Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, Syria, Palestine and most of the Middle East, not to mention Ukraine and the Pacific rim nations is a cause for "a palpable sense of disappointment on the world stage as well."[1] Having failed elsewhere in the world, Obama finds his foreign policy assailed by critics, and his legacy on the global stage in doubt. [2] Details of Secretary of State John Kerry's talks with both Thein Sein and Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, were kept Hush even though Kerry offered a slightly more critical assessment in remarks at the East-West Center in Honolulu following his trip to Burma, with the remark that in the end the leadership will have to make the critical choices.[3]



Next year's elections will be a key indicator of how Burma want to move forward, with many an assessment of the reform process hinging on the outcome "all in" on a questionable hand? [4]Among those who will be keenly watching the election returns will be no doubt President Barack Obama, as his stakes are the highest in its foreign policy barometer, as underneath all the rhetoric of democracy, human rights, and free and fair elections, land grabbing, crony economy there is major US commercial and strategic interest in resource-rich country with a growing energetic young population vis a vis China.

American businesses are coming to Burma in what looks like an increasingly unstoppable tide, and to facilitate investment, most of the blacklisted tycoons will be whitewash as Secretary of State Kerry demonstrated by putting up in a blacklisted tycoon's hotel.[5] It is also known that a senior State Department officials met privately with some of these tycoons, known by their acronym as SDNs (Specially Designated Nationals) telling them to put forward a request to have their names cleared.[6] At least in name they would have to sever ties with the military, avoid involvement in land seizures and respect civilian rule. And they will be removed from the blacklist, having been sufficiently rehabilitated in the eyes of US officials at the Treasury Department. But whether they would be posthumously be granted to the two gentlemen of Rangoon (Khun Sa and Lo Hse Han) is still to be seen. However, Canada has rolled out the red carpet welcome to Lo Hse Han's son Stephen Lo. Such is the North-American standard of "Business always overrules the conscience", the established arsenal of democracy.

           But it is a fact that 58 percent of Americans disapproving of his foreign policy, according to a June poll, claiming credit for the move toward democracy, such as it is, won't sit well with the skeptics who assert that reforms remain incomplete and the military and its former generals are still calling the shots in a country that is far from a success story. Many in the dissident's circles have warned that there should be a Plan B.[7]

Indeed, many Burmese were counting on the United States to inject some life into a reform program increasingly viewed as stalled. Whatever lingering moral authority remaining in the administration of Barack Obama may fell to dust. In a country like Burma; one is immediately struck by the staggering glibness that tore a great many people to pieces, among them many innocents, particularly the non Myanmar ethnic nationalities. As bad as the "some folks" gambit was, this, this right here, is where the moral authority of the American president and his administration became a dumpster fire. The moral failure on Burma in this is so vast as to be bottomless. President Obama isn't going to get any static from them on the issue; which the Myanmar had inflicted on their enemies.

President Obama has done nothing to bring those responsible to justice surely he knows that former Generals now in mufti, have never admitted their mistakes, nor asked for forgiveness, let alone punishing them, this explicitly means that they will repeat the same atrocities, as they had done for more than half a century, if things doesn't go their way. Now by lining up with and defending these Generals, he has added his name to the roll call of shame that continues to dishonor the American nation whose hall marks is democracy and human rights. The cruel and despicable a practice which the Burmese Junta has imposed on its own people is not yet lost and it acted that these people are the "real patriots." "The administration can do more on this issue. As we tie a nice bow on what we call a success story, we need to make sure we aren't a cheap date when it comes to human rights." said representative, Jim McGovern of Worcester.[8] And warned conditions in Burma had taken "a sharp turn for the worse" and urged more restrictive measures, such as targeted sanctions. More than 70 lawmakers signed on, including all House members from Massachusetts. The Worcester congressman pushed a separate resolution through the House in May that highlighted the Rohingya's plight, a move he labeled a "friendly reminder" for the White House.

Unblemished it is no more. The legalised assault on Unity Journal's brave journalists was just like the bad old days. Courageous journalism who had known all the time that the Tatmadaw has used chemical weapons against the ethnic freedom fighters was made bare. Now in Burma suddenly became very much harder to report the truth because as I have often described that the corner stone of the Tatmadaw was "To tell lies against the very concept of truth." is their unwritten rule in the Tatmadaw. Now that the sanctions are all gone but the job of reform is only half done?[9] In the past three months, a coalition of opposition forces has been holding rallies to demand radical reform of the 2008 Nargis Constitution, designed to cut back the dominating role of the military – they hold 25 per cent of parliamentary seats, and remove the arbitrary rule that prevents Daw Aung San Suu Kyi from running for president.[10] A petition demanding these changes has gathered five million signatures.[11] But Thein Sein and his colleagues have shown no interest whatsoever in even discussing them and yet President Obama is said to be considering a second visit later in the year to this lonely outpost of presidential achievement.

As the United States insists that military engagement with Burma is crucial to promote political reforms, human rights activists and ethnic nationalities are raising who will take responsibility if US assistance to Burma's armed forces is used to oppress, rather than help, the Burmese people? The ethnic nationalities combined together which formed the majority of the population has been victims of brutal military campaigns and have sent a letter to the US Consulate in Thailand's Chiang Mai last month, saying they believed US military engagement in the country was premature. "We don't even know what will happen in 2015. We don't know whether the election will be free and fair. Now, proportional representation (PR) is being debated and we don't know how things will develop,"[12] said Khun Htun Oo and there is every possibility that the American technologies will be used for ethnic cleansing as they have done in the past. The classic example is the Tatmadaw has signed bilateral ceasefires with most ethnic armed groups since 2012, but over the past three years clashes in northern Burma have left more than 100,000 people displaced. Cherry Zahau, an ethnic Chin human rights activist accused the US that it is due to the geopolitical importance of Burma for US national security and that the Tatmadaw has continuously been a hindrance to reforms by waging battles "It is ridiculous that the US is engaging with the Burmese military to encourage reforms,"[13] she said.

Daw Aung San Suu Kyi is also very disappointed with US policy in Burma, especially its policy of military-to-military engagement.[14] Not only the United States, but also the United Kingdom and Australia appear convinced that military engagement is crucial in this time of political reform. They have all already sent military leaders to meet with top-brass officials from the Tatmadaw, Obviously, the Obama administration and other Western countries are eager to work with Burma's quasi-military government (if they can work with Assad of Syria in face of ISIS threat Burma is a small fry). After half a century of military dictatorship, their rationale is that they want to encourage political reforms and more equitable development for the country's people. Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and other dissident leaders clearly do not oppose these goals, or the diplomatic engagement that is likely necessary to achieve them. But whether the international community should go so far as to engage with Burma's military is a major question, especially lately, when it increasingly appears that the government's political reforms have stalled.

           In the past, when Suu Kyi said something, world leaders listened. Their policy reflected well on her words.[15] But now, the situation is different. It is sad to witness that these days, Washington and other Western governments seem to need Thein Sein more, while Suu Kyi is becoming a mere symbol for the international community. Foreign diplomats aren't missing meetings with the Nobel Peace Prize laureate, but their meetings are more and more appearing as courtesy calls. It is important to listen to both sides. Burmese officials are skilled manipulators, that genuine democracy is not on their agenda, and that the military here still enjoys economic and political privileges. If the United States and others in the international community do not pay attention to these warnings—if they continue to court the president and the armed forces—sooner or later they will witness a proxy hot war.

            It's a pity that Obama and his experts did not know what is the crux of the Burmese problem? The Myanmar race which control the imperial Tatmadaw wanted to colonise all the non-Myanmar ethnic nationalities and that is the sole reason of the struggle as every ethnic race in Burma is fighting against the Myanmar dominated central government (note there is no horizontal struggle between the ethnic like in former Yugoslavia). A vertical struggle indicates that all these want some sort of genuine federalism. More than half a century since 1962, the Myanmar military dominated central government refused to grant them and now because of the unsurmountable pressure from China it has no choice but to go along with the Western democratic standards and began to negotiate grudgingly with the ethnic nationalities. The successful "Divide and Rule" policy of the Burmese government was able to coax the Southern Alliance composed of Karen, the Chin, the Mon, the Karenni and the Southern Shan and the All Burma Student Democratic Front to a cease fire after bribing their leaders outright and giving them some autonomy and economic incentives, however, the Northern Alliance composed mainly of Kachin, WA, the Palong (Tang), the Nagas, the Northern Shan and perhaps the Arakanese want genuine federalism and once it is clear that the Myanmar will not grant them may form their North Federal Military Alliance to resist the pressure. What proof is more wanted when the Central Government has waged an all-out war against the Kachin?

It is also a fact that Northern alliance have to rely on the narco-production to finance their war efforts and Burma ranks only second to Afghanistan in narco-production.[16] So with the active support of the US, (now that there is a military cooperation between the two countries of USA and Burma) it may launch an all-out war against the Northern Alliance as the imperial Tatmadaw has done to the Kachin. But the WA traditional supporters are the Chinese who has already given them some sophisticated weapons including helicopters gunships. Hence, there is every possibility that President's Obama's foreign policy on Burma will lead to a proxy hot war in the impending Cold War with China just like Korea. In an address at West Point in May, President Obama claimed, "We're now supporting reform and badly needed national reconciliation through assistance and investment through coaxing and, at times, public criticism. And progress there could be reversed, but if Burma succeeds, we will have gained a new partner without having fired a shot."

Mr. President, the ethnic nationalities of Burma desire genuine federalism within the Union of Burma and does not want to be a slave in an ivory tower of development but rather be a free man staying in a small hut. We are not asking development or even democracy what we want is to live a free men and die a free men even though we may be poor and wretched. Neither your development scheme prevails or democracy establish as the narco production will not lack until and unless it is tackle at the source of it by listening to the local leaders and giving them a better choice. It's time to rethink you foreign policy objectives in Burma.

To Hopeland and Back - Day 4

Posted: 28 Aug 2014 09:26 PM PDT

Day Four. Wednesday, 20 August 2014.

Unlike most Shans, I'm not a lover of festivities. Some may say that's because I'm only three-quarter Shan. The remaining one-quarter is Chinese from my father's side.

However, I had decided to attend the preparatory meeting for the Shan New Year 2109 which falls on 22 November for this year. The reason is simple: this year's celebrations will be joined by Shans far and near. And since Taunggyi is the capital of Shan State, they will be observed by people from neighboring states and countries as well as tourists visiting there.

 Most importantly, how Shans run the show will greatly affect the ongoing peace process, even though it is no more than a cultural event.

The meeting, attended by some 150 participants, is held at the Meeting Hall of the Shan Literary and Culture Society on the Main Road (now renamed Bogyoke Road during my 40 year plus absence) at 09:00.

It is presided over by Sai Tun Mya, 64, one of Burma's construction tycoons. For three successive years, he has been elected as chairman of the Shan New Year Festival Steering Committee, as he has been able to collect huge financial contributions for the society.
He opens the meeting by declaring the upcoming festival must be an event of substance and that he has invited the Shan Vice-President of U Thein Sein's union government Sai Mawk Kham to preside over the New Year ceremony.

Sai Kham Nood, joint secretary of the Steering Committee (who happens to be my nephew-in-law), then reads out the 35 planned activities that will be carried out by 35 sub-committees.

They include, among others:
Information and documentation
Health
Accommodation for guests coming from afar
Entertainment
Cultural seminar
Miss Shan Culture contest
Transportation
Games
Cultural Exhibitions
Sanitation

The participants, most of who are from southern Shan State, with only 4 from eastern Shan State, report the preparations that have been undertaken, the problems they are facing and suggestions.
Among them, many useful suggestions come from eastern Shan State, where the 4 participants had been part of the steering committee that had organized the first all Shan State New Year festival two years earlier. They explain the problems that they had beset them, notably in the fields of  entertainment, transportation, sanitation and cultural seminar. "(For instance,) the date we had chosen for the seminar," he says, "was on the last day of the festival. Naturally, there were only few attendees, because most of them were returning home."

My contribution is little. Quoting Sun Wu's "Governing a large number as though governing a small number is a matter of division into groups", I suggest that the 35 sub-committees be regrouped into 5-7 sections to be supervised by vice chairpersons and assistant secretaries. "All of you know the famous Shan saying: If you want chaos, organize a festival. If you want to sleep alone, have a minor wife." They all laugh but I cannot be sure whether they'll take my suggestion seriously though I hope so.

We have a pleasant dinner party afterward.  I don't eat after three, but drink a little with them, before taking leave.

Shan IDPs petition President Thein Sein for Burma Army withdrawal from their homes

Posted: 28 Aug 2014 09:22 PM PDT

About 300 displaced villagers sent a petition letter today to President Thein Sein, calling for the withdrawal of Burma Army troops from their village Wan Pasaung in Ke See township, and demanding compensation for damage to their homes and farms during the past two months.
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Since June 2014, about 3,000 Burmese government troops have been deployed to Ke See, Murng Hsu and Tangyan townships, in an offensive to seize territories of the Shan State Army-North/Shan State Progressive Party (SSPP), in violation of an existing ceasefire agreement. On June 26, the Burma Army began occupying and firing shells from the village of Wan Pasaung, causing about 300 people to flee to the nearby village of Wan Warp. Over 500 heavily armed troops remain stationed in Wan Pasaung until today, causing destruction of property and crops.

On August 7, 14 Shan community based organisations sent an open letter to US Secretary of State John Kerry, requesting him to raise concerns about this new offensive in Shan State during his visit to Burma. However, the Burma Army continued their military operations during his visit, clashing with SSPP on August 8 and 9 only four miles south of Wan Pasaung. Most recently, on August 22, Burmese government troops again intruded into SSPP territory, firing mortar shells at SSPP troops about six miles
north of Wan Pasaung.

The IDPs are sheltering in a temple in Wan Warp, relying on donations of food and other supplies. They are being guarded and their movements restricted by Burmese troops. A deaf villager was beaten and kicked when he was unable to hear an order from the troops. In their petition to President Thein Sein, 291 IDPs have requested compensation for damage caused by the occupation of their village, including destruction of 422.5 acres of farmlands, such as rice, peanut and corn fields, and loss of cattle, pigs and chicken, which have been killed and eaten by the Burma Army troops.

Copies of the letter have also been sent to the Burma Army Commander-in-Chief Min Aung Hlaing, the four Regional Military Commanders in Shan State, the Shan State Chief Minister, as well as to the Shan political parties.

A copy of the petition is attached, and can also be viewed on www.shanhumanrights.org
Contact person: Nang Kwarn Lake: +66: (0) 84-668-0984 / 66: (0) 93-297-7754 (Burmes, English)