Friday, October 5, 2018

The Irrawaddy Magazine

The Irrawaddy Magazine

‘Safe, Dignified and Sustainable Return’ of Refugees Not Yet Possible: UNHCR

Posted: 05 Oct 2018 07:17 AM PDT

YANGON–Despite government representatives citing Myanmar's readiness to take back Rohingya refugees at the recent UN General Assembly in New York, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees’ spokesman Andrej Mahecic mentioned in a statement on Friday that current conditions in northern Rakhine State’s strife-torn Maungdaw District are “not conducive for safe, dignified and sustainable return” of Rohingya refugees currently in neighboring Bangladesh.

This UN agency's statement came after an informal discussion between Myanmar and Bangladesh facilitated by the Chinese foreign affairs minister Wang Yi on the sideline of the General Assembly. The meeting focused on creating a roadmap and timetable for the repatriation of the Rohingya people and implementing the repatriation of the first batch of refugees as soon as possible. After the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA)—formerly known as Al-Yaqin (Faith Movement)—sabotaged several dozen government border outposts, Myanmar Army’s counter-operations caused nearly 700,000 Rohingya to flee to Bangladesh's Cox's Bazar district.

The UN Fact-Finding Mission labeled the actions of the military during Rohingya crisis as having "genocidal intent" and called for the commander-in-chief of the Myanmar military (or Tatmadaw), Sen-Gen Min Aung Hlaing, to be prosecuted at the International Criminal Court for his role in the handling of the Rohingya crisis. The EU recently imposed targeted sanctions against a number of Tatmadaw generals and is currently considering imposing trade sanctions on Myanmar over the crisis. Social welfare minister U Win Myat Aye, a key person in de-facto leader Daw Aung San Suu Kyi's Union Enterprise for Humanitarian Assistance, Resettlement and Development in Rakhine, participated the UN General Assembly in New York but could not be reached for comment for this article on Friday.

The UNHCR issued two statements today relating to the recent deportation of seven Rohingya from India and explaining its very first on-ground assessments which were completed a few weeks ago. The UN refugee agency’s officials stated that they noted the efforts of authorities to facilitate initial assessment although agencies were limited in scope and in the locations visited. According to the official, the team has learned the serious effects of the communities, including on the local economy and diminishing livelihoods, which significantly increases the vulnerability of the community.

In Maungdaw post-conflict, the situation remains difficult with restrictions to travel, access to livelihoods and basic services. Residents from different communities that spoke with the UN assessment team expressed that sometimes they felt restricted because of their safety concerns and fears of neighboring communities. Particularly, Muslim communities are not allowed to move freely there. The statement also mentioned that mistrust between different groups also impacts access to education, health and other basic services.

"It also limits interactions between communities, hindering prospects for confidence-building and social cohesion,” Andrej Mahecic was quoted in the statement.

Residents from Muslim, Arakanese and non-Muslim groups, when asked by the assessment team, expressed their hope for peace in Rakhine and willingness to incrementally restore relations. The statement says that confidence-building and improving conditions will be essential to bring people together, to alleviate poverty, to oversee health and education disparities alongside making tangible progress to address root causes. The agency hopes that their assessments also help to identify community initiatives which could assist government efforts to improve the lives of conflict suffered communities, trust-building and social cohesion.

The refugee agency spokesperson added that his agency looks to have effective access and rapid expansions of assessments to all areas in Rakhine covered by the tri-parties Memorandum of Understanding (MOU). As of this morning, UNHCR and UNDP teams have been traveling in Maungdaw, Buthidaung and Rathedaung for their second phase of assessments after gaining travel permissions from local authorities.

Although the UN agencies partly unveiled their firsthand accounts in the statement, it did not explain the condition of physical arrangements made by the government in Maungdaw for the implementation of “model villages for returnees” or village plans for a long-term solution for the returnees. It’s unclear whether the authorities and UN agencies had talks on these issues.

Maungdaw District administrative official U Ye Htoo told The Irrawaddy early this week that they are working on two projects: building modest houses for the refugees and a new model village plan. The structures are being built in 19 locations for Rohingya and some non-Muslim groups and the government has 12 prioritized sites for new model villages with each village expected to include a market, school, public park and clinic.

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China Taking Active Steps to Counter Western Influence in Myanmar: U.S. Report

Posted: 05 Oct 2018 07:04 AM PDT

YANGON—A recent U.S. report portrays China as seeking privileged access and influence inside Myanmar in order to further its geostrategic interests, while taking steps to counter the influence of Western countries—particularly the U.S.—especially along the China-Myanmar border.

In its report "China's Role in Myanmar's Internal Conflicts", the United States Institute of Peace (USIP) mentions that a Chinese ambassador to Myanmar told his U.S. counterpart not to go to conflict-torn northern and eastern Myanmar, where China wields influence over ethnic armed organizations (EAOs).

"In early 2016, for instance, the newly arrived PRC ambassador repeatedly (and unsuccessfully) urged the US ambassador not to travel to Kachin or eastern parts of Shan states because the United States 'should respect China's interests,'" the report says.

It interpreted the statement as implying that "China deserved to have predominant presence and influence in these areas, if not elsewhere in Myanmar, regardless of the wishes or interests of Myanmar, let alone the interests of other countries."

When asked for comment, U.S. Embassy spokesperson Aryani Manring told The Irrawaddy that "U.S. ambassadors are accredited to the entire country, and regularly travel to all parts of the country.‎"

She did not deny the existence of the statement cited in the report, however; nor would she identify the U.S. ambassador to whom it was addressed.

However, the ambassador in question is likely Derek Mitchell, who was posted in Myanmar until March 2016 and was the predecessor to current U.S. Ambassador Scot Marciel. Mitchell, formerly one of the U.S.'s most senior diplomats, also co-chairs USIP's China-Myanmar Senior Study Group. Meanwhile, the "newly arrived PRC ambassador" may be Hong Liang, who has been Beijing's envoy to Myanmar since July 2015.

The Chinese Embassy in Yangon didn't respond to The Irrawaddy's request for comment on Thursday.

The preface of the USIP report highlights the importance of Myanmar's position at the crossroads of South and East Asia, and its coastline stretching along the Bay of Bengal. "Myanmar's location makes the country a unique case, particularly in regard to U.S.-China cooperation," it says. "It's well known that China harbors a singular sensitivity to Western activity along its extensive border."

In 2012, Mitchell became the first U.S. ambassador posted to Myanmar after two decades of low-level bilateral relations. Five months after his arrival in Yangon, he made his first official trip to Kachin State, where fighting between government troops and the ethnic Kachin Independence Army (KIA) was raging, to learn how the U.S. might help refugees there.

He would make at least two more trips to the state, which shares a border with China.

Then-U.S. Ambassador Derek Mitchell visits Kachin State in December 2012.

On the other hand, with several clear strategic interests in Myanmar—ranging from stability on its shared border to access to the Indian Ocean to a wide variety of economic interests—Beijing has been playing a key role in Naypyitaw's internal security affairs and in peace negotiations with ethnic armed groups. It has both a direct and indirect influence on the dynamics of conflict and peace in northern Myanmar. Beijing supports the Myanmar government and its peace process, but at the same time provides shelter, weapons, and other assistance to some of the ethnic armed organizations, according to the USIP report.

Until recently, China had been worried about a possible deterioration in relations with Myanmar under the government led by State Counselor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, given her longstanding ties to the West. This concern has eased of late, however, as Western governments become increasingly critical of her silence on the Rohingya crisis, while China has shielded Myanmar from international condemnation over the issue at the U.N.

Despite the ongoing peace process initiated by the previous government, several ethnic armed groups including the KIA, the United Wa State Army and the Ta'ang National Liberation Army (TNLA) have refused to joined the government's Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement (NCA). Most of the non-signatories are from the northern border with China, in particular Kachin and northern Shan states.

Chinese Special Envoy Sun Guo-xiang has urged the EAOs to attend the government's peace conferences, including groups still engaged in fighting with the Myanmar military (or Tatmadaw) and who oppose the NCA. In May 2017 and July this year, Sun flew members of non-signatory groups from Kunming, China to Naypyitaw on a chartered Chinese plane. Many representatives of the EAOs said they attended solely because China pressured them to do so, according to the USIP report.

Chinese Special Envoy Sun Guoxiang attends the Panglong Peace Conference along with other international diplomats in Naypyitaw on July 11, 2018. / Myo Min Soe / The Irrawaddy

To secure its interests, China is attempting to apply pressure not on the U.S. but on the EAOs.

Brigadier-General Tar Bone Kyaw, the general secretary of the TNLA, a non-signatory to the NCA, said the group had held frequent meetings with Sun. During the meetings, he said, the Chinese special envoy stressed border stability and Myanmar's importance to the success of Beijing's Belt and Road Initiative, while discouraging ethnic armed groups from putting much hope in the West's involvement in the peace process.

"He pressured us to have nothing to do with the West if possible. He urged us to join Panglong [the government's ongoing peace conference] in a positive manner and get along with the government as best as we can," Brig-Gen. Tar Bone Kyaw said.

Myanmar's peace process also receives support from the wider international community, however. The Joint Peace Fund (JPF), set up by mainly Western donors including the U.S. to support peace in Myanmar, takes a holistic approach, supporting a broad range of stakeholders and projects at all levels of society. These donors have collectively pledged just over USD100 million to be disbursed through 2021.

While Chinese involvement in Myanmar's peace process has focused on border stability, as well as economic and geostrategic interests, the U.S.'s approach seems more holistic with a focus on humanitarian aid, and nationwide peace building based on a culture of dialogue aimed at an inclusive, sustainable end to armed conflict.

According to a U.S. Embassy statement issued in November last year, Washington has provided over USD60 million since 2012 to deepen and sustain reform, and to foster legitimate and inclusive peace building nationally, including support to diverse civil society groups. Ambassador Marciel has visited Kachin State at least twice, most recently in February this year to meet war victims and civil society organizations as part of the U.S. support for the peace process, according to media reports at the time.

The USIP report recommends the U.S. government encourage Beijing to be more transparent about its peace strategy and engagement with various players, including the EAOs along its border.

"In the process, China should avoid any actions or policies that obstruct or inhibit furtherance of peace inside Myanmar due to narrow consideration of its own national interests," it said.

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Govt, Military Relations ‘Good’: Govt Spokesman

Posted: 05 Oct 2018 06:37 AM PDT

YANGON — A spokesman for the President’s Office said the government and military were on good terms, citing a forthcoming meeting between State Counselor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, Myanmar military chief Senior General Min Aung Hlaing and selected leaders of the country's ethnic armed organizations (EAOs).

Calling the meeting a “retreat” during a press conference on Friday, U Zaw Htay said the military chief's participation was a clear sign that the military’s relations with the government were positive.

"Why would he be there if the relationship was not good?" he said.

The five-day meeting set to start on Oct. 15 in Poppa, a part of Mandalay Region famous for its lush green flora and dormant volcano, is a chance for the three sides to try and settle disagreements that have lately stalled the country’s peace process.

It will be the first time the top leaders of the government, military and EAOs will have sat at one table since the peace process was launched in 2011 under then-President Thein Sein.

U Zaw Htay said Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and Snr. Gen. Min Aung Hlaing have had prior private meetings to discuss issues ranging from the International Criminal Court to the Rohingya crisis even though no press statements were issued.

"Apart from the ‘four eyes meetings,'” he said, referring to the pair’s private talks, “there were also discussions with the president and group meetings."

The spokesman’s news of the unannounced meetings was a revelation. The last publicized meeting between the state counselor and military chief was in June to discuss the Rohingya crisis and was attended by 13 other military officers.

Before that, the two met three times in 2015 and 2016. Those meeting were made public.

In Myanmar, where the military plays a powerful role in politics, relations between the military chief and the country's de facto leader are something of a political barometer for observers at home and abroad. In the wake of the international condemnation of the army for its late-2017 crackdown in northern Rakhine State, speculation mounted that the relationship had soured.

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Rising Burmese Talent: Singer-Songwriter Youn Ni Ko

Posted: 05 Oct 2018 06:30 AM PDT

YANGON—Youn Ni Ko, fresh talent in the Myanmar music scene, is already turning heads, reveling in plenty of praise and love after the online release of her new song called "B" which fuses old school and modern hip-hop with electronic music. Her next move? Sharing stage space and the limelight with Myanmar's most famous music talent later this month.

"B," though only recently unleashed on her official Facebook page has quickly racked up 4,100 reactions, 119,000 views and over 2,000 shares.

The once little-known young singer had previously released a few songs but didn't receive much notice for her talent until she began putting herself out there, performing a series of small gigs and underground concerts in Yangon.

Following the giant leap into fame and success brought about by her latest track, she has a scheduled performance on the same stage as Myanmar's most sensational local hip-hop artists including J Me, Yan Yan Chan, G Tone and others, on Oct. 24.

So who is Youn Ni Ko?

Youn Ni Ko was born in Yangon 21 years ago and her family moved to Cyprus when she was one year old. She grew up and studied in Cyprus before moving back to Yangon three years ago.

"We moved Cyprus for my father's work and I lived there about 17 years. Now my family has moved back to Myanmar and yes, now I'm here," said Youn Ni Ko, who has long black hair, multiple piercings and lots of small tattoos on both hands.

The 21-year-old talent is a newbie in the Myanmar music industry, but a glamorous rising star who is already well-known among Youtube's Burmese audience with her song "B."

It all started out when, on her 13th birthday, she got a guitar as a gift from her dad's friend and promised, "One day, I going to play this guitar and sing my own song."

And so her music journey began.

"I had been into music before but the present made me sure I wanted to make music."

She learned to play guitar using Youtube videos and wrote her first song "Boy" on a visit to Yangon.

"I don't remember my exact age; maybe I was around 16 or 17. When I was on a visit to Myanmar, I missed the one who I had left in Cyprus and wrote 'Boy' for him," she said.

"Boy" is a pretty, indie love song with English lyrics. All of her songs are in English, exact "B" which has both Burmese and English lyrics.

"I can't read or write Burmese because I didn't have a chance to learn it as I studied in Cyprus and spoke Burmese at home only. I can speak Burmese, but not very well. That's why most of my songs are in English," Youn Ni Ko said.

Now she is learning Burmese from the basics, aiming to be able to write songs in Burmese in the future.

"I also want to sing songs in Burmese. I'm learning now. I believe I can create a really good Burmese song if I can write the language so I'll keep trying," she said.

All music and lyrics are her own creations.

"When I lived in Cyprus, I didn't have a chance to make music because I had to study. I just covered some songs and uploaded them on my YouTube channel. After coming to Yangon, my mind was messed up and upset almost all the time and those feelings came out in songs," she said.

When she moved back to Yangon, she experienced a big culture shock and found it difficult to communicate with people.

"As you know, the culture is different. People are honest but hard to communicate with. I don't mean everyone but I didn't have friends and wasn't close with my relatives, so those days were hard for me but I'm ok now. I'm used to Burmese culture now and made many friends from this music industry. I don't want to go back to Cyprus," she said.

She released about seven tracks on YouTube and Facebook in recent years and the song genres are not always the same.

"I don't want to label my music because people will judge it wrongly. I want to make a new fusion music style. My favorite genres are hip-hop and R&B but it depends on my mood," she said.

Explaining why she still hasn't made an album she said, "I have six or seven songs and want to make more. I am waiting for the right timing and a good producer to re-produce my songs. But I will release my EP at the end of this year or the beginning of 2019."

Before releasing her EP, she said she will promote herself on social media to let everyone know who she is.

"If many people don't know me, releasing an album is a waste. No one would buy my songs," she said.

Youn Ni Ko said she doesn't need much time to finish a song if she concentrates on the project.

"If I really want to make music, it won't take too long to finish a song. Sometimes my mind blows away and finishing music takes more time," she said.

She added that, "I'm not in a rush with music, I want to find out what my music taste is and I'm still in the experimental stage."

For example, when she starts out making a pop song the result might come out more R&B. Everything depends on her mood, she said.

"Even though the target and result are different, I still love the final result. That's why I make the music with my emotions and moods," she added.

Myanmar doesn't have too many girls in the hip-hop music industry and most people look down on girls who make street style music. Youn Ni Ko also had those problems at the beginning.

She said, "Hip-hop and rap don't have to be male-only. Girls can do it as well. I do whatever I want and I want to show how strong women can be. That's my main thing, that's my goal."

Even when you do good things, there are people who don't like you and will talk badly about you so do whatever you want, she said.

Currently, she is working at a music management agency called '360beatz' so music is always involved in her daily life.

"Today, the music scene in Myanmar is kind of left behind but we can't blame anyone for that. The country right now is progressing and the new generations are trying out new stuff. I feel like they have potential. Attacking each other is a waste of time and improving together is better."

Mainstream musicians are doing a good job as well, she said, but she wants to collaborate with musicians from the underground music scene because they have more potential, so much talent and passion for their music.

She will make her music as best she can and wants to reach both international and local audiences with her creations.

"I have a vision that I know I will make it someday. That's why I'm not in a rush—because I believe in myself. I try really hard and I'm not saying that I'm over-confident, but I know there's something inside me and I have the passion," she said.

Watch two performances of Youn Ni Ko's songs, "In-Denial" and "Boy," videoed live during her interview with The Irrawaddy below.

 

The post Rising Burmese Talent: Singer-Songwriter Youn Ni Ko appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

TIMELINE: Eight Decades of Myanmar-Japan Relations at a Glance

Posted: 05 Oct 2018 06:07 AM PDT

Myanmar State Counselor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi left Myanmar for Japan on Friday. It is her third visit to the Land of the Rising Sun since 2013. Prior to that she had not visited the country since her sojourn at Kyoto University as a researcher in 1985-86. This year marks the 64th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Myanmar and Japan. But the two countries' modern relations can be traced back further, to the arrival of Japanese military officer Colonel Keiji Suzuki in Rangoon in 1940. The colonel met with Daw Aung San Suu Kyi's father, Myanmar independence hero General Aung San, who with 29 other youths would receive military training by the Japanese on Hainan Island in 1941 with the aim of overthrowing British rule in Burma. Fast-forward more than seven decades; Japan is one of the countries that has assisted Myanmar most consistently in nearly every sector from development to health to education since it achieved independence in 1948, and the countries continue to maintain warm relations. Here is The Irrawaddy's timeline of the key events that have shaped bilateral relations for the past 78 years.

1940

 

Col. Keiji Suzuki / Public Domain

May: Colonel Keiji Suzuki arrives in Rangoon on a mission that will ultimately lay the groundwork for the Japanese occupation of Burma.

November: Aung San meets Col. Suzuki in Tokyo to request Japanese support for Burmese independence.

1941

Some of the Thirty Comrades: Front row, from left to right: Bo Zeya, Bo Aung, Nagai, Bo Teza, Bo Moegyo, Bo Ne Win and Bo La Yaung / Public Domain

February: Aung San returns to Burma to recruit the Thirty Comrades, with an offer of arms and financial support from the Fumimaro Konoe government of Japan. He returns briefly to Japan to receive more military training, accompanied by the first batch of young revolutionaries, who come to be known as the Thirty Comrades.

Aung San (right) and his colleagues during military training in Japan / Public Domain

Mid-year: Minami Kikan begins training the Thirty Comrades on Hainan Island.

Dec. 8: The Burma Independence Army (BIA) is formally established in Bangkok, headed by General Aung San.

1942 

January: Japanese forces capture Kawthaung, Tavoy, Mergui and Moulmein, assisted by the BIA. Rangoon falls in March. Mandalay and Lashio are captured and the Burma Road is cut. The British end the Burma Campaign.

June: Japan establishes the provisional Burmese government with Dr. Ba Maw as chancellor. The BIA is dissolved and replaced by the Burma Defense Army (BDA), headed by General Aung San.

1943

 Aug. 1: Japanese Premier Hideki Tojo declares Burma's "independence" within the greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere.

1944

August: General Aung San establishes the Anti-Fascist Organization. It is later transformed into a united front, including communists and socialists, and renamed the Anti-Fascist People's Freedom League (AFPFL).

1945

March 27: General Aung San leads the Burma National Army in an uprising against the Japanese, accompanied by the British. The day is recognized as Revolutionary Day, and later as Armed Forces Day.

Aug. 15: Japan surrenders. The British-run Civil Affairs Service (Burma) rules the country.

1947

July 19: Gen. Aung San, six of his cabinet ministers, a cabinet secretary and a bodyguard are assassinated by his political rival U Saw.

1948

Jan. 4: The Union of Burma achieves independence from British colonial rule. U Nu becomes the first prime minister of Burma under the provisions of the 1947 Constitution of the Union of Burma.

1954

Nov. 4: Two years after the end of the Allied occupation of Japan, the Union of Burma and Japan sign a peace treaty and reach agreement on war reparations of USD250 million.

Nov. 5: Diplomatic relations between Burma and Japan are established after the signing of the peace treaty between the two countries.

1960

March: The first phase of the Baluchaung hydropower project in Kayah State is completed; the project is funded through the Japanese government's Official Development Assistance (ODA) program.

1962

March 2: General Ne Win overthrows the U Nu government in a coup d'etat. The Revolutionary Council is established and presides over the launch of a state socialist economy.

1963

March 30: Japan and Burma sign the Agreement on Economic and Technical Cooperation and Protocol, addressing Burma's claim to additional reparations. The agreement comes into force after the two sides resolve a conflict over the payment of pure reparations.

1965-77

Japan pays additional war reparations to Burma totaling USD140 million.

 1966

 Chairman of the Revolutionary Council Gen. Ne Win visits Japan, meeting with Emperor Hirohito and Prime Minister Eisaku Sato. The meeting focuses on Japan's future support for the agricultural sector in Burma. Gen. Ne Win and Sato declare the 1963 agreement a success and hail its contribution to Burma's development.

1967

Sept. 20-22: Prime Minister Sato visits Myanmar at the invitation of Gen. Ne Win.

1970

April: Gen. Ne Win makes his second visit to Prime Minister Sato in Tokyo. They agreed to promote trade and technical cooperation.

1973

November: Gen. Ne Win makes his third visit to Japan. He requests bilateral assistance, as well as Tokyo's support in securing assistance from international financial institutions including the World Bank, the Asia Development Bank (ADB) and major donors. After policy changes in the early 1970s, Burma-Japan relations are quite active with frequent exchanges of visits by officials, business leaders and technical experts on development projects.

1974

Burma joins the ADB, in which Japan is the largest shareholder.

1981

Gen. Ne Win's government awards Burma's highest military honor to seven Japanese for their sacrifices and work on behalf of the country.

1985-1986

Daw Aung San Suu Kyi works as a researcher at the Center for Southeast Asian Studies at Kyoto University.

1988

April: Burmese Deputy Prime Minister U Tin Tun meets the Japanese prime minister and finance minister in Tokyo.

March-early September: The 8888 pro-democracy protests erupt in Rangoon and other cities. Also known as the 8-8-88 Uprising, the protests aim to oust the dictatorship of Gen. Ne Win and climax on Aug. 8 1988.

Sept. 13: Tokyo announces an ODA "freeze" due to "political instability."

Sept. 18: The Burmese military stages a coup d'etat. General Saw Maung becomes the leader of the country and a new government, the State Law and Order Restoration Council (SLORC), is announced.

Sept. 28: Japanese Ambassador Hiroshi Ohtaka states that resumption of ODA flows will depend on political stabilization.

1989

Jan. 4: Along with other diplomats, Ambassador Ohtaka boycotts SLORC's Independence Day celebrations.

Feb. 25: Japan formally recognizes SLORC. Some committed ODA funds are released.

July 20: The military places Daw Aung San Suu Kyi under house arrest.

1989-1990

The sale of part of the grounds of the Burmese Embassy in Tokyo provides SLORC with about USD435 million in much-needed hard currency.

1990

May 27: General elections are held in Myanmar. They are the first multi-party elections since the military dictatorship began in 1960. Daw Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy (NLD) wins the election in a landslide, but the military junta refuses to recognize the results.

Aug. 30: Watanabe Michio, a leading member of Japan's ruling Liberal Democratic Party, visits Yangon and urges Daw Aung San Suu Kyi's release during a meeting with Myanmar authorities.

November: Ogata Sadako, a Japanese diplomat serving as the UN's independent expert on the human rights situation in Myanmar, visits Yangon to inspect the rights situation. An anti-Japanese campaign begins in the state-run media.

1990-2000

Japan extends debt-relief grants to Myanmar totaling USD544 million.

1991

October: Daw Aung San Suu Kyi is awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. The Japanese government urges her release from house arrest.

June: General Khin Nyunt, Secretary 1 of the SLORC, visits Japan.

1995 

July 10: Daw Aung San Suu Kyi is released from house arrest.

October: Japan announces a grant of 1.6 billion yen for the renovation of the Rangoon Nursing Institute. 

1996

Direct flights between Rangoon and Kansai Airport near Osaka begin after All Nippon Airways petitions the Japanese government to open the route.

1998

Feb. 28: The Japanese government formally announces 2.5 billion yen in loans for the modernization of Rangoon airport, classified as humanitarian aid.

1997

 "Letters from Burma", a book of essays by Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, is published in 1997. The book is published in English and Japanese. The essays are published serially in the Monday morning editions of the Japanese newspapers Mainichi Shimbun and Mainichi Daily News from Nov. 27, 1995 to Dec. 9, 1996.

April: The Japanese government formally announces 3.5 billion yen in ODA loans for the repair of the Baluchaung hydroelectric plant following the opening of dialogue between Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and the SLORC.

2002

Japanese Foreign Minister Yoriko Kawaguchi visits Myanmar.

2003

May 30: Foreign Minister Kawaguchi expresses disappointment over an incident in which Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and her supporters are attacked by state-sponsored thugs near Depayin.

January: Japanese Senior Vice Minister for Foreign Affairs Tetsuro Yano visits Myanmar.

Then Prime Minister Gen. Khin Nyunt (right) meets his Japanese counterpart Junichiro Koizumi in Tokyo on Dec. 11, 2003. / REUTERS

December: Prime Minister Gen. Khin Nyunt visits Japan.

Then pro-democracy leader Daw Aung San Suu Kyi talks to reporters after meeting with Japanese Foreign Minister Koichiro Gemba (right) at her home in Yangon on Dec. 26. / REUTERS

December: Minister for Foreign Affairs U Win Aung visits Japan.

 2004

June: Japan provides human resource development scholarships worth about USD4.86 million.

July: Tokyo announces an ODA grant of USD3.15 billion to fund a reforestation project in central Myanmar. To date, Tokyo has provided nearly 30 small ODA grants to non-governmental organizations for various operations in Myanmar.

Nov. 5: Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi holds a summit meeting with Myanmar Prime Minister Senior-General Than Shwe. Koizumi states his expectation that efforts toward democratization would continue, while noting the role of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi.

Nov. 23-24: The Workshop on Japan-Myanmar Cooperation for Structural Adjustment of the Myanmar Economy is held in Yangon. It is cosponsored by the government of Japan and the government of Myanmar.

2005

May: Minister for Foreign Affairs U Nyan Win visits Japan.

2007

Japanese photojournalist Kenji Nagai is shot dead in downtown Yangon as soldiers open fire on Saffron Revolution demonstrators.

2008

January: Minister for Foreign Affairs U Nyan Win visits Japan.

May: Japanese Senior Vice Minister for Foreign Affairs Hitoshi Kimura visits Myanmar.

2009

November: Prime Minister U Thein Sein visits Japan.

2010

January: Minister for Foreign Affairs U Nyan Win visits Japan.

2011

January: The Japanese-backed Thilawa Special Economic Zone is announced. Located south of Yangon, the project has an estimated cost of USD3.28 billion.

June: Parliamentary Vice Minister for Foreign Affairs Makiko Kikuta visits Myanmar (Yangon and Naypyitaw) and exchanges views with both government officials and leaders of the pro-democracy movement including Daw Aung San Suu Kyi.

October: Minister for Foreign Affairs U Wunna Maung Lwin visits Japan.

Nov. 18: Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda holds a meeting with President Thein Sein in Bali, Indonesia, on the sidelines of an ASEAN summit. The bilateral meeting marked the first summit talks between the two countries since the transfer of power to a civilian government in Myanmar.

Dec. 25: Japanese Foreign Minister Koichiro Gemba visits Myanmar. It is the first visit by a Japanese foreign minister in nine years.

Dec. 26: Gemba holds a morning meeting with President Thein Sein in Naypyitaw to discuss Myanmar's democratization and national reconciliation process. That evening, he meets with Daw Aung San Suu Kyi to discuss future free and fair elections, conditions attached to the NLD's political activities, and the release of more political prisoners.

2012

January: Japanese Economy, Trade and Industry Minister Yukio Edano meets with NLD chair Daw Aung San Suu Kyi at her home in Yangon.

March: At the invitation of the Myanmar government, Japan dispatches three electoral monitors from the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Japanese Embassy to observe the legislative by-election in Myanmar scheduled for Sunday, April 1. The Japanese government announces that it expects the by-election to be held freely and fairly.

April: President Thein Sein visits Japan. Tokyo extends grant aid for two projects in Myanmar of up to 583 million yen and 251 million yen, respectively.

May: Upper House Speaker U Khin Aung Myint visits Japan.

July: Minister for Foreign Affairs U Wunna Maung Lwin visits Japan and meets with Foreign Minister Gemba.

Nov. 19: Japanese Prime Minister Noda meets with President Thein Sein in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, during an ASEAN summit.

Nov. 21: Japan supplies emergency relief goods (blankets, sleeping pads, plastic sheets and generators) worth 10 million yen (around USD125,000) to Myanmar through the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) in response to an earthquake in Myanmar.

 2013

January: Japanese Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Taro Aso visits Myanmar

February: A Japan-Myanmar Human Rights dialogue is held in Naypyitaw.

April: NLD chairperson Daw Aung San Suu Kyi visits Japan for the first time in 27 years.

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe (center) and his wife Akie stand with their delegation as they pay homage at the Martyrs' Mausoleum in Yangon on May 25, 2013. / REUTERS

May: Shinzo Abe makes the first official visit to Myanmar by a Japanese prime minister in 36 years. During the visit leaders agree to further promote people-to-people and cultural exchanges between the two countries. Japan pledges USD5.7 billion in loans.

November: Lower House Speaker Thura U Shwe Mann visits Japan.

December: President Thein Sein visits Japan to attend the ASEAN-Japan Commemorative Summit Meeting. Prime Minister Abe promises that both the public and private sectors in Japan will support Myanmar in its efforts at reform of various kinds.

2014

March: Japanese Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida visits Myanmar.

May: The second Japan-Myanmar Human Rights Dialogue is held in Naypyitaw.

The two countries exchange views on the human rights situation including the release of prisoners of conscience, freedom of opinion and expression, democratic transition and establishing the rule of law, the 2015 elections, the activities of the National Human Rights Commission and peace negotiations.

August: Japanese Foreign Minister Kishida visits Myanmar to attend an ASEAN Foreign Ministers' Meeting.

November: Japanese Prime Minister Abe visits Myanmar to attend an ASEAN summit.

2015

July: President U Thein Sein visits Japan.

Then-President Thein Sein (right) shakes hands with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe (left) prior to their talks at the Akasaka State Guest House in Tokyo on July 4, 2015. / REUTERS

September: Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Aso visits Myanmar.

October: The Yangon Stock Exchange opens at the former Central Bank of Myanmar and Myawaddy Bank headquarters in Yangon. (Two Japanese firms, Daiwa Institute of Research—the research arm of Daiwa Securities Group—and Japan Exchange Group, established a joint venture with state-owned Myanmar Economic Bank to set up the exchange in December 2014.)

November: The NLD wins the general election in a landslide on Nov. 8. Two weeks later, U Nyan Win, party spokesman and Central Executive Committee member, visits Japan and meets with Foreign Minister Kishida. Japan seeks to exchange opinions with the NLD in order to support democratization and development in Myanmar and strengthen bilateral relations.

2016

 January: Minister for Foreign Affairs U Wunna Maung Lwin visits Japan to attend a Foreign Ministers' Meeting.

 May: Foreign Minister Kishida visits Myanmar to show support for the newly elected government, whose de facto leader is State Counselor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi.

June: The ADB announces it will lend Myanmar about USD1.75 billion in low-interest loans from 2017 over five years to improve infrastructure, education and rural development.

September: State Counselor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi meets with Japanese Prime Minister Abe in Laos during an ASEAN summit.

Myanmar State Counselor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi (center), accompanied by Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, reviews a guard of honor before their meeting at the State Guesthouse in Tokyo on Nov. 2, 2016. / REUTERS

Nov. 1-5: State Counselor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi makes an official visit to Japan. Prime Minister Abe pledges a loan provision of up to 10.787 billion yen for the Hydropower Plants Rehabilitation Project. He also announces an 800-billion-yen (USD7.7 billion) aid, loans and investment package to promote development and reconciliation in Myanmar.

Daw Aung San Suu Kyi (left) and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe shake hands after a joint press announcement following summit talks at the Akasaka State Guesthouse in Tokyo, Japan, on Nov. 2, 2016. / REUTERS

2017

September: Iwao Horii, Japan's parliamentary vice minister for foreign affairs, visits Myanmar to exchange views regarding the situation in northern Rakhine State.

Japan extends emergency grant aid of USD4 million through international agencies to assist those in Myanmar and Bangladesh affected by the Rohingya crisis.

Nov. 14: Japanese Prime Minister Abe meets with State Counselor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi during a visit to the Philippines to attend an ASEAN summit.

Nov. 20: Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, commander-in-chief of the Defense Services of Myanmar, meets with Kazuyuki Nakane, Japan's state minister for foreign affairs, in Naypyitaw during the ASEM Foreign Ministers' Meeting.

Dec. 14: President Htin Kyaw meets with Japanese Prime Minister Abe during a visit to Japan.

2018

Jan. 12: Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Kono meets with State Counselor Daw Aung Suu Kyi in Naypyitaw. During his trip he also meets Myanmar military chief Sen-Gen. Min Aung Hlaing.

Japan extends Emergency Grant Aid of 330 million yen (USD3 million) to Myanmar to assist displaced persons returning to Myanmar from Bangladesh, in accordance with a repatriation agreement signed on Nov. 23, 2017 by Myanmar and Bangladesh.

Jan. 13: Japanese Foreign Minister Kono visits Maungdaw Township, Rakhine State. He is accompanied by Prof. Dr. Win Myat Aye, Union minister for social welfare, relief and resettlement, and Rakhine State Chief Minister U Nyi Pu.

March 23: Japanese Parliamentary Vice Minister Iwao Horii holds a series of meetings in Naypyitaw with military chief Sen-Gen. Min Aung Hlaing; Kyaw Tint Swe, Union minister for the Office of the State Counselor; and Soe Aung, deputy Union minister for social welfare, relief and resettlement. The meetings emphasize the importance of steady implementation of the safe, voluntary and dignified return of displaced persons, the easing of tensions and the promotion of reconciliation between the communities in Rakhine State.

May 28: State Counselor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi talks by telephone with Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Kono to discuss the situation in Rakhine State.

July 30: Myanmar establishes a commission of inquiry to probe allegations of human rights abuses in conflict-torn Rakhine State. The President's Office names four people to serve on the commission, include two international experts: Philippine diplomat Rosario Manalo and former Japanese Ambassador to the UN Kenzo Oshima.

State Counselor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Kono hold talks in Naypyitaw on Aug. 6., 2018. / State Counselor's Office

Aug. 6: Japanese Foreign Minister Kono visits Myanmar. He meets with President U Win Myint and holds a joint press conference with State Counselor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi. He also meets military chief Sen-Gen. Min Aung Hlaing, Union Minister for International Cooperation U Kyaw Tin and Union Minister for the Office of the State Counselor Kyaw Tint Swe in Naypyitaw.

State Counselor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi appears at Naypyitaw airport prior to traveling to Tokyo for the 10th Mekong-Japan Summit on Oct. 5, 2018. / State Counselor's Office

Oct. 5-9: State Counselor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi visits Japan to attend the 10th Mekong-Japan Summit.

Sources: "Burma and Japan since 1940" by Donald Seekins; the Japanese Foreign Ministry's Japan-Myanmar Relations archive; "Myanmar-Japan Relations (1962-74)" by Daw Khin Ma Ma Myo; and "Japan-Myanmar: A 'Special' Economic Relationship" by Chandrima Chaudhuri.

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Dhaka Roundtable Calls Out China Over Rohingya Crisis

Posted: 05 Oct 2018 05:35 AM PDT

DHAKA — Former diplomats and strategic analysts in Bangladesh on Thursday called on the government and the international community to convince Beijing to resolve the Rohingya crisis and warned that China would be among those to feel the fallout of a drawn-out debacle.

In a roundtable titled “Durable Solutions of Rohingya Crisis” hosted by Bangladesh’s National Human Rights Commission in Dhaka, the analysts and ex-diplomats vented their frustrations, claiming that neither “friendly” India nor “trusted” China” have done much to help solve a crisis that was threatening regional security.

They argued that the US and EU were the true champions of a durable solution to the problem and were doing their part.

"We must convince China," said retired Brigadier General M Sakhawat Hossain. "Though it is very difficult to convince China as it has invested a great deal of money in a deep-water port in Myanmar."

Sakhawat Hossain, now a national security and defense researcher, said India did not carry nearly as much weight on this issue as China, and that China would face problems if the Rohingya crises were to drag on for 10 or 15 years.

"If the crisis is not resolved, in 10 years this area will turn into some sort of a proxy battlefield," he warned.

"None of us know how the crisis will be solved," he added. "Myanmar is not going to resolve it unless she is forced.”

"This was a long-planned program by Myanmar," said Sakhawat, a graduate of the United States Army Command and General Staff College.

He said the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army — which launched the attacks on security forces in Rakhine State in August 2017 that triggered the Myanmar military’s crackdown — had few resources, but noted that the country’s armed forces were contending with several other ethnic armed groups at the same time.

Former Bangladeshi Foreign Secretary Mohiuddin Ahmed said Dhaka had yet to take a clear position on whether it wanted to see the crisis settled bilaterally or multilaterally.

"China is pushing for a bilateral solution to the crisis. Are we going to listen to China or will we approach it multilaterally?" he asked.

The ex-diplomat suggested that Myanmar had little reason to worry about international blowback over the Rohingya crisis so long as China was in its corner.

Though China has forged friendly relations with Bangladesh over the years, it supplied arms to Pakistan during the 1971 Liberation War that led to Bangladesh’s independence.

According to the Chinese Embassy in Bangladesh, the value of engineering, procurement and construction contracts going to Chinese companies in the country during the first 10 months of 2017 shot up some 24 percent year on year to $6.4 billion.

Mohiuddin said Chinese companies were winning most of the big contracts in Bangladesh but faced little criticism when they missed deadlines. And he warned that China would try to establish a strategic foothold in Rakhine State after losing one in the Maldives following recent elections there.

While making a strong pitch to hold those responsible for the violence against the Rohingya to account, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, in a lecture on “Global Challenges, Global Solutions” in New Delhi on Tuesday, said India could help tackle the Rohingya crisis by backing Bangladesh with humanitarian aid and using its influence over Myanmar to promote reconciliation.

"Guterres has to persuade [Indian Prime Minister Narendra] Modi on the issue. It is assumed that our friendly neighbor [India] never pays heed to our calls," Mohiuddin said.

National Human Rights Commission Chairman Kazi Reazul Hoque also criticized China’s behavior over the crisis.

A former Bangladeshi envoy to China, Azizul Hoque, in turn accused Myanmar of breaking all the commitments it makes to other countries. He said Bangladesh should be encouraging the International Criminal Court to prosecute Myanmar’s military officials, believing it would make Myanmar more amenable to a speedy repatriation process.

Bangladeshi Foreign Secretary Shahidul Hoque was invited to the roundtable but did not attend.

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Military Road Construction Through UWSA and RCSS Areas Sparks Fear of Attacks

Posted: 05 Oct 2018 04:49 AM PDT

A Shan rights group has reported that the Tatmadaw (Myanmar Army) is building a new military strategic road in southern Shan State which threatens the safety of 200 Shan internally displaced persons (IDPs) in the Loi Lam area, near the northern Thai border.

The Tatmadaw has used a drone to fly over the area of Loi Lam which is under the control of the ethnic armed group Restoration Council of Shan State (RCSS), and IDPs living in the area fear fighting may break out soon, according to the Shan Human Rights Foundation (SHRF) which is based in Chiang Mai, Thailand.

The ongoing road-building project will connect the village of Mong Hta to the Salween River, and is expected to be complete within two months.

"The road construction has almost reached the Salween River. They have been working on it for two or three months," said Sai Yord Luen, a spokesperson for the SHRF.

The Tatmadaw took the opportunity to build this road after the RCSS signed the ceasefire in 2011. The new strategic road will link up to the town of Mong Pan, where the Myanmar army's No. 17 Military Operations Command is based.

The SHRF statement said they are concerned about the safety of the 200 ethnic Shan IDPs living in the camp at Loi Lam.

Members of the Tatmadaw's Infantry Battalion 293, used a drone to fly over the area of the IDP camp in mid-September. On Sept. 23, after Triangle Regional Commander Brigadier-General Khin Hlaing had arrived in a convoy of seven army trucks from the Infantry Battalion 249 base in Mong Taw, they again launched a drone from the same military camp.

"We are worried about the food supply and safety of the IDPs if fighting breaks out between the Tatmadaw and the RCSS," said Sai Yord Luen.

International aid organizations stopped supplying aid to the IDPs last year, he said.

There are also United Wa State Army (UWSA) bases along the new road project, reported the SHRF. The new road project will make it easier for the Tatmadaw to attack the RCSS and the UWSA outposts and could also support contentious investments such as the planned Mong Ton Dam on the Salween River, where Chinese engineers from the Three Gorges Corporation have been surveying in secrecy since early 2018, according to the SHRF.

The Mong Ton Dam, a joint Chinese-Thai investment, is the largest of three dams planned on the Salween River in Shan State. 90 percent of the power produced will be exported to Thailand.

Loi Lam is one of six IDP and refugee camps along the Shan-Thai border, which house a total of over 6,000 displaced people, mostly women and children. International donors cut off food aid to these camps in October 2017, despite ongoing militarization and conflict in Shan State, which is preventing the IDPs and refugees from returning home.

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USDP Will Regain International Respect for Myanmar: Party Chairman

Posted: 05 Oct 2018 03:19 AM PDT

NAYPYITAW—The Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) will ensure Myanmar can hold her head high on the international stage if it regains power, said party chairman U Than Htay.

In his address to USDP party supporters during a by-election campaign event in Magwe Region's Sagu Township on Thursday, U Than Htay criticized foreign intervention in Myanmar's internal affairs which has increased under the government of National League for Democracy (NLD).

There is international pressure and foreigners are getting involved in the Rakhine issue and other problems of the country, he said. The intervention of international agencies in internal issues of Myanmar is too large to the extent that it harms the dignity of the country, he added.

"There are many foreign individuals in the administrative mechanism of the current government. We are not the ruling party so we can't make a decision on that, so I urge the people to reassign us. We are able to make sure Myanmar can stand tall and that nobody gives us orders," the party chairman told supporters.

The generals and the military-backed USDP have ruled the country and have had a considerable length of time to develop the country if they had genuine goodwill, said a member of the Arakan National Party's central executive committee U Pe Than, adding that what the USDP party chair said is mere rhetoric.

"They have experience in nation-building, but they could not accomplish it successfully. Nobody can say if they will regain power. Even if they do, it is impossible to develop the country, which is facing a lot of challenges, overnight," said U Pe Than, who is also a legislator in the Lower House for Rakhine State's Myebon Township.

People have chosen the NLD and not the USDP mainly because they want honest people, said former Lower House lawmaker U Ye Htun.

"The NLD can have a thumbs up compared to the previous government in that regard. If you ask me if it has shortcomings and weaknesses, there are many. But in the eyes of the people, [their honesty] is the main difference," he said.

U Than Htay said the USDP government had to sell the country's natural resources because of economic sanctions and was branded by the opposition as a party that steals natural resources. He asked if the current government is not selling natural resources.

"If [the NLD] accused us of stealing those [resources], [they] can choose not to do so now. You can see many logs piled by the roadside [at present]. They are not extracted by the USDP government. The jade and gems emporium in Naypyitaw has not stopped [operating] yet. Are those not resources? And don't they sell natural gas? Why did they say USDP sold our natural resources?" he asked.

The foundations of development which the USDP government built over five years are already shaking two years into NLD's administration, he claimed.

USDP leaders told The Irrawaddy that the party would not contest in the November by-election in the ethnic constituencies but hopes to win all the seats it contests in non-ethnic areas.

It appears that the USDP is trying to make alliances with ethnic parties for the 2020 general elections as it is unlikely to win in the ethnic constituencies, said U Pe Than.

"The NLD's image regarding nationalism has not been very good as it is a party that focuses more on democracy and human rights. We rely more on the USDP than the NLD regarding nationalism, the perpetuity of sovereignty, and the Rakhine issue. I believe they will be able to make greater efforts in nationalism with a strong nationalist spirit," he said.

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Daw Aung San Suu Kyi to Meet With Japanese PM Abe During Summit Trip

Posted: 05 Oct 2018 02:00 AM PDT

YANGON — State Counselor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi will hold a bilateral meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Tuesday evening in Tokyo on the sidelines of the 10th Mekong-Japan Summit, according to Japan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The two will discuss Japan's efforts to help Myanmar develop and democratize as well as the Rohingya crisis in Rakhine State.

Japan has been providing aid for the safe return of the 700,000 mostly Muslim Rohingya who have fled military-led violence into Bangladesh. In July it gave Myanmar a 330 million yen ($2.9 million) emergency aid grant to help the refugees who return.

Daw Aung San Suu Kyi left for Japan from Naypyitaw Friday morning. On Saturday she will visit a farm in Fukushima Prefecture to learn how Japan's agricultural sector has been tackling a labor shortage, a problem afflicting Myanmar as well.

On Monday she will meet with officials from the Japan International Cooperation Agency, the country’s official aid arm, to discuss its development assistance to Myanmar.

Joining Japan and Myanmar at the summit, to be chaired by Abe, will be Cambodia, Laos, Thailand and Vietnam. Discussion will focus on the Free and Open Indo-Pacific Strategy, Japan’s plan to counterbalance China’s growing influence in the region via its Belt and Road Initiative by promoting quality infrastructure development in the countries along the Mekong River.

Daw Aung San Suu Kyi accepted the invitation to the summit from Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Kono during his visit in August to discuss ways Japan could help Myanmar resolve the Rohingya crisis. At a joint press conference in Naypyitaw, the state counselor said her trip would strengthen Myanmar-Japan relations. Kono said Japan would continue to help Myanmar solve its problems.

In 2013, while leader of Myanmar's opposition, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi visited Japan for the first time in 27 years. She conducted research at Kyoto University from 1985 to 1986.

She last visited Japan in 2016, as state counselor. During that trip she met with Abe to discuss economic assistance for Myanmar and the country's peace process.

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Veteran Cubist Adds Street Scenes, Abstracts to His Palette

Posted: 05 Oct 2018 01:36 AM PDT

YANGON — Artist Tin Maung Oo has presented Myanmar with a world of beauty. It is a world of fluttering cubism glittering with colors and cubes. He has made his name as a cubist depicting Myanmar culture and tradition.

His cubist portrayals of rural and traditional subjects such as monasteries, monks, moorings, stilt house, lion statues, rinceau and traditional dancers have won the applause of art lovers and fellow painters alike.

Now, for his 11th solo exhibition, at the OK gallery at Yangon’s Aung San Stadium, the artist has added abstract and urban scenes to his oeuvre.

"Primarily I illustrate rural customs, pagodas, monasteries and markets. But this exhibition features a few urban scenes, for example roadside stalls beneath trees. Those stalls will not exist in the future," said Tin Maung Oo.

He has also added paintings that focus on color rather than subject. The titles he has given those works are quite simple — "Homage to Pink," "Homage to Blue," and so on.

"Sometimes I don't want to draw subjects only. There are abstract paintings focusing on colors and patterns in this exhibition," he said.

The show will run through Tuesday and features more than 30 paintings priced between 1 million kyats and 3.5 million kyats.

Tin Maung Oo studied under the likes of Ko Shwe Aung Thein, Paw Oo Thet and Bo Kyi, all regarded as pioneers of Myanmar modernism. He has devoted himself to cubism for more than 30 years and has held dozens of exhibitions at home and abroad.

"His style is similar to those of Kin Maung [Bank] and Paw Oo Thet but different from them in the way that his paintings include features like romance and abstraction like Western cubist painter Fernand Léger," said veteran artist Aung Myint.

Translated from Burmese by Thet Ko Ko.

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Right to Information and the Need for Reform

Posted: 05 Oct 2018 01:10 AM PDT

We call on the government to address two major issues with governance, the lack of respect for the right to information and the continued existence of unjust and undemocratic laws.

The government has a responsibility to improve access to information. The right to information is a vital part of a democracy and it is critical for civil society to keep an eye on those in power. Despite working on prison issues for almost two decades, I cannot get information on prisons from the government. Information such as prisoner numbers, the location of labor camps and even the recently announced standard operating procedures should not be secret. It is in the public interest that this information is shared with civil society and the public. Not having such information makes it much harder to analyze the situation and see changes in the prison system. Transparency and accountability are all part of good governance.

The lack of information is not just related to government institutions and developments but also laws. Article 505(b) of the widely used Penal Code has a section that states "whoever makes, publishes or circulates any statement, rumor or report, with intent to cause, or which is likely to cause, fear or alarm to the public or to any section of the public whereby any person may be induced to commit an offense against the State or against the public tranquility."

Yet there are no criteria as to what constitutes fear or alarm to the public. Which words go against public tranquility and which don't? What can be said and what cannot? How does not knowing what a criminal act is benefit society or lead to a stronger rule of law?

These laws are vague and their ambiguity allows for a wide interpretation with the result being a stifling of media and investigative reporting. These laws are inherently wrong and completely out of touch with modern day international standards.

The main reason for this is because Myanmar's penal system is a hangover from the British colonial system, and as such is not a system designed for justice, but rather a system designed to repress and maintain the status quo. Now, 70 years since Myanmar gained independence in 1947, the unjust system remains. How can people follow unjust laws? How do they protect the people?

Reform is long overdue. In 1989, the UK repealed the Official Secrets Act of 1911, which was similar to our own 1923 Secret Act, in order to make it more equitable and to bring it up to date. Their new act still ensures state secrets are kept secret, but it stops abuses of power and the curtailment of basic freedoms under vague notions of national security. It is high time Myanmar's lawmakers do the same.

Reform is not limited to the Official Secrets Act; there is a whole list of colonial-era laws that are out of date and not fit for a democracy. For example, the Unlawful Association Act was designed to suppress rebellion by a colonial power, not with the aim of protecting the public and law and order.

Another issue is that reform takes so long. Talk of reform of the 1894 prison law has been floated, with a draft amended bill being brought to Parliament in 2015, but since then, little has been heard. Moreover, the tabled amendments still fall down short of human rights standards and leave much to be desired. Revamps of the law addressed minor concerns, leaving the anti-democratic norms of it untouched. Parliament and lawmakers must update these laws systematically. They must be updated in a timely and holistic fashion. Minor adjustments cannot turn an undemocratic law into a democratic law.

Bo Kyi is the joint secretary of the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP).

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Myanmar Torches Illegal Wildlife Stockpile Worth $1.3M to Deter Smugglers

Posted: 04 Oct 2018 09:43 PM PDT

YANGON — Myanmar authorities destroyed hundreds of seized elephant tusks, pangolin scales and other animal parts, worth a total of $1.3 million on the black market, on Thursday as part of a crackdown on illegal wildlife trafficking.

Authorities set fire to pyres stacked with 277 pieces of elephant ivory, 1,544 antelope horns, 180 tiger bones and other confiscated items weighing more than 1.4 tons at a government compound in the capital, Naypyitaw.

"It is crucial to sustainably conserve our country’s natural resources, including land, water, forest, mountains and wildlife, for the sake of our future generations," Minister of Natural Resources and Environmental Conservation U Ohn Win said during the ceremony.

Myanmar, which lies in the notorious "Golden Triangle" region bordering Thailand and Laos, is at the heart of the global trade in illicit wildlife, with goods smuggled mostly to China.

A report by conservation group Save the Elephants this week said China’s recent ban on the ivory trade had done little to stop the "prolific growth" in trade in the Myanmar-China border town of Mong La, where there has been a 60 percent growth in new ivory items seen for sale in the past three years.

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Pentagon Sees China as ‘Growing Risk’ to US Defense Industry

Posted: 04 Oct 2018 09:32 PM PDT

WASHINGTON — China represents a “significant and growing risk” to the supply of materials vital to the US military, according to a new Pentagon-led report that seeks to mend weaknesses in core US industries vital to national security.

The nearly 150-page report, seen by Reuters on Thursday ahead of its formal release on Friday, concluded there are nearly 300 vulnerabilities that could affect critical materials and components essential to the US military.

Reuters was first to report on the study’s major conclusions on Tuesday.

The analysis included a series of recommendations to strengthen American industry, including by expanding direct investment in sectors deemed critical. The specific plans were listed in an unreleased, classified annex.

China was given heavy emphasis in the report. It was singled out for dominating the global supply of rare earth minerals critical in US military applications. The report also noted China’s global profile in the supply of certain kinds of electronics as well as chemicals used in US munitions.

“A key finding of this report is that China represents a significant and growing risk to the supply of materials and technologies deemed strategic and critical to US national security,” the report said.

Relations with China are already fraught, with a bitter trade war between the world’s two largest economies adding to tensions over cyber spying, self-ruled Taiwan and freedom of navigation in the South China Sea.

The report could add to trade tensions with China, bolstering the Trump administration’s “Buy American” initiative, which aims to help drum up billions of dollars more in arms sales for US manufacturers and create more jobs.

Vice President Mike Pence accused China on Thursday of efforts to undermine President Donald Trump ahead of the Nov. 6 congressional elections, saying that Beijing was “meddling in America’s democracy.”

Pence’s comments echoed those of Trump himself in remarks at the United Nations last month, when Trump said that “China has been attempting to interfere in our upcoming 2018 election.” Chinese officials rejected the charge.

The report also examined US shortcomings that contribute to weakness in domestic industry, including roller-coaster US defense budgets that make it difficult for US companies to predict government demand. Another weakness cited was in US science and technology education.

“Although its findings are not likely to move markets, they present an alarming picture of US industrial decay driven by both domestic and foreign factors,” wrote defense consultant Loren Thompson, who has close ties to Boeing Co. and other companies.

A senior US administration official, speaking to reporters on condition of anonymity, cited several new steps to ensure US military’s supplies. These include an effort to build up stockpiled reserves of scarce materials and expand US manufacturing capabilities in things such as lithium sea-water batteries that are critical for anti-submarine warfare.

“There have just been market failures here. And so we can create new incentives to drive investment in areas to help diversify ourselves,” said Eric Chewning, a deputy assistant secretary of defense who oversees industrial base policy.

Chinese dumping

Pentagon officials see national security risks from Beijing’s growing military and economic clout and want to be sure China is not able to hobble America’s military by cutting off supplies of materials or by sabotaging technology it exports.

The report noted that 90 percent of the world’s printed circuit boards are now produced in Asia, with over half of that occurring in China, presenting a risk to US defense.

“With the migration of advanced board manufacturing offshore, [the Department of Defense] risks losing visibility into the manufacturing provenance of its products,” the report said.

The Pentagon has long fretted that “kill switches” could be embedded in transistors that could turn off sensitive US systems in a conflict. The report cited the risk of “‘Trojan’ chips and viruses infiltrating US defense systems.”

US intelligence officials also warned this year about the possibility China could use Chinese-made mobile phones and network equipment to spy on Americans.

The report cited what it said were sometimes unfair and unlawful Chinese efforts to undermine US industry through a host of strategies, including by subsidizing exports at artificially low prices and stealing US technology.

The report identified multiple cases where the sole remaining US producer of critical materials was on the verge of shutting down and importing lower-cost materials “from the same foreign producer county who is forcing them out of domestic production.”

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Indian Campaigner Wins Award for Helping Women Facing Violence

Posted: 04 Oct 2018 09:30 PM PDT

LONDON — An Indian campaigner supporting women survivors of violence in northeast India was named on Thursday as one of two winners of an annual award recognizing female human rights workers.

Binalakshmi Nepram shared the Reach All Women in WAR (RAW in WAR) Anna Politkovskaya Award with Nobel literature laureate Svetlana Alexievich, an investigative journalist and writer from Belarus.

The award recognized the women’s bravery in speaking out and defying “injustice, violence and extremism … in ‘forgotten’ armed conflict in their regions”, said RAW in WAR, a UK-based charity supporting women human rights defenders and war victims.

Both women have suffered death threats or persecution that forced them to leave their home countries.

Nepram said she had to leave India about a year ago for her own security and now lives in the United States.

“I do not want to be a statistic in a body bag,” she told the Thomson Reuters Foundation by phone.

Nepram, who once worked for Oxfam, co-founded in 2004 the Control Arms Foundation of India (CAFI), a civil society organization working on disarmament and opposing militarization.

Three years later she launched the Manipur Women Gun Survivors Network, which has helped more than 20,000 women deal with decades of armed conflicts and ethnic violence in the northeast Indian state of Manipur on the border with Myanmar.

She set the group up after seeing the fallout of the killing of a 27-year-old man in a village in southern Manipur, who left behind his young wife Rebika Akham. Nepram helped Akham buy a sewing machine so that she could secure a living.

But Nepram said the group’s work has extended beyond helping those who have lost fathers, husbands and sons in the violence to also assist women and girls raped and sexually assaulted in the ongoing conflict.

“Every day the violence continues unabated … with our region seeing some of the highest numbers of rape and women trafficked in the country,” she said.

“In this conflict, a lot of girls and women are subjected to sexual abuse and there is a climate of impunity.”

Her co-winner, Alexievich, 70, won the 2015 Nobel Prize for Literature for her portrayal of the lives of Soviet women during World War Two, as well as the impact of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster and the Soviet military adventure in Afghanistan.

She lived in exile for many years because of her criticism of the Belarusian government but returned home in 2011.

The award marks the 12th anniversary of the killing of Politkovskaya, a Russian investigative reporter who uncovered state corruption and rights abuses, especially in Chechnya.

She was shot dead in the lobby of her Moscow apartment block at the age of 48 on October 7, 2006.

The post Indian Campaigner Wins Award for Helping Women Facing Violence appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Apple, Amazon Deny Bloomberg Report on Chinese Hardware Attack

Posted: 04 Oct 2018 09:18 PM PDT

Apple Inc and Amazon.com Inc denied a Bloomberg Businessweek report on Thursday that said their systems had been infiltrated by malicious computer chips inserted by Chinese intelligence agents.

Bloomberg cited 17 unidentified sources from intelligence agencies and businesses to support claims that Chinese spies had placed computer chips inside equipment used by about 30 companies and multiple US government agencies, which would give Beijing secret access to internal networks.

China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs did not respond to a written request for comment. Beijing has previously denied allegations of orchestrating cyber attacks against Western companies.

Security experts who have worked for government agencies and large corporations told Reuters that they were surprised by the stark discrepancy between the claims in the Bloomberg article and the strongly worded denials from Apple and Amazon.com Inc’s Amazon Web Services. Some said that certain allegations were plausible, but that the strong denials from companies cited in the piece left them with doubts about whether the attacks had happened.

“There is no truth” to claims in the story that Apple found malicious chips in its servers in 2015, the said in a statement. “This is untrue,” Amazon said in a blog post.

Bloomberg defended its reporting.

“Seventeen individual sources, including government officials and insiders at the companies, confirmed the manipulation of hardware and other elements of the attacks,” Bloomberg said in a statement. “We stand by our story and are confident in our reporting and sources.”

The report said that a unit of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army infiltrated the supply chain of computer hardware maker Super Micro Computer Inc to plant malicious chips that could be used to steal corporate and government secrets.

Super Micro Computer shares fell 38 percent to $13.26 in Pink Sheet trading.

San Jose, California-based Super Micro strongly denied that it sold servers to customers that contained malicious microchips in the motherboards of those systems. It said it has never found any malicious chips, had not been informed that such chips were found by any customer, and had never been contacted by government agencies on the matter.

Bloomberg reported that Amazon uncovered the malicious chips in 2015 when examining servers manufactured by a company known as Elemental Technologies, which Amazon eventually acquired.

The investigation found that Elemental servers, which were assembled by Super Micro, were tainted with tiny microchips that were not part of their design, Bloomberg said. Amazon reported the matter to US authorities, who determined that the chips allowed attackers to create “a stealth doorway” into networks using those servers, the story said.

AWS told Bloomberg it had reviewed its records related to the Elemental acquisition and “found no evidence to support claims of malicious chips or hardware modifications.”

Bloomberg also reported that Apple in 2015 found malicious chips in servers it purchased from the hardware maker, citing three unidentified company insiders.

Apple denied the account, saying it had investigated Bloomberg’s claims.

Representatives with the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the US Department of Homeland Security did not respond to requests for comment. A US National Security Agency spokeswoman said she had no immediate comment.

While the companies disputed the facts in the story, security experts noted that there is growing concern that hackers could launch cyber attacks by inserting malicious chips into hardware sold to government agencies and businesses.

“Extended, complex, global supply chains create a risk for malicious cyber activity that companies must take into account,” said Michael Daniel, chief executive of the non-profit Cyber Threat Alliance.

The post Apple, Amazon Deny Bloomberg Report on Chinese Hardware Attack appeared first on The Irrawaddy.
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