Tuesday, June 6, 2017

The Irrawaddy Magazine

The Irrawaddy Magazine

Journalists Launch Campaign, Call for Termination of Article 66(d)

Posted: 06 Jun 2017 07:06 AM PDT

RANGOON – More than 100 journalists in Rangoon demanded on Tuesday that the government withdraw lawsuits filed against reporters under the country's controversial Article 66(d) of the Telecommunications Law.

The media representatives gathered at the Orchid Hotel in light of the recent arrest of The Voice Daily's chief editor, U Kyaw Min Swe, and columnist Ko Kyaw Zwa Naing. The two are charged with defamation, as is outlined in Article 66(d), after the military complained of an article in the publication that satirized the country's armed struggle and peace process.

Ko Tha Lun Zaung Htet, from the Democratic Voice of Burma, organized the conference and temporarily formed the Committee for the Protection of Journalists (Myanmar), which has 21 members from various news outlets.

On Tuesday afternoon, the committee released a statement with three points: firstly, to terminate statutes like 66(d) which threaten freedom of the press, to drop the lawsuits under this law which are being conducted by the Burma Army and other authorities, and to collaborate with civil society organizations to ensure that these demands are met.

According to committee members, journalists will begin a white armband campaign entitled "Freedom of Press" on June 8, the day of the upcoming court hearing in Bahan Township for The Voice Daily's detained staff.

The journalists will march from The Voice's office to the Bahan courthouse on that day and wear the armbands, but the committee stated that it would avoid any conduct that could be construed by authorities as a demonstration, for which permission must be obtained beforehand.

Ko Tha Lun Zaung Htet said, "Our movement is not a protest. We will just go to encourage [U Kyaw Min Swe and Ko Kyaw Zwa Naing]."

According to the Research Team on the Telecommunications Law, led by activist Maung Saung Kha—a poet who was himself sentenced and jailed in 2016 under Article 66(d)—seven cases were filed under the law during former President Thein Sein's administration, which created the statute. However, charges have been filed in 68 cases during the first year of the National League for Democracy's (NLD) government. Among those accused, around a dozen have been journalists.

Rangoon Chief Minister U Phyo Min Thein, the Burma Army, and even some NLD lawmakers have used Article 66(d) to initiate lawsuits. Several journalists have criticized the NLD-dominated Parliament for not yet moving to amend or repeal the law.

Myanmar Journalist Network's General Secretary U Zayar Hlaing urged the government to urgently amend the law, citing a muzzling of the freedom of expression of the public, as well as the media industry.

"Detaining people before conviction by a judge is really inappropriate. I would like to say that this law should be immediately amended," he said.

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Finance Minister Predicts ‘Take Off’ for Burma Economy 

Posted: 06 Jun 2017 05:23 AM PDT

NAYPYIDAW — The finance minister attempted to reassure investors that Burma's economy is on a promising trajectory at a trade conference on Tuesday, despite business owners' concerns that the economy has become tepid.

Minister for Planning and Finance U Kyaw Win told the first Myanmar Investment Forum in Naypyidaw that the government would improve its management of economic growth to counter high inflation, a poor trade deficit and higher inflation inherited from the previous administration.

"We see that last year the country's economy was like a plane moving on the runaway," he said. "Now this year, we will defy gravity with jet power, meaning this is the year economic development will take off."

However, not all of the 500 or so investors and businesspeople at the forum were convinced of the government's economic strategy. U Thein Tun, chairman of the Tun Foundation Bank, told The Irrawaddy he was unsatisfied with the country's recent economic growth and thought its policies were too broad.

"If the government has drawn, for instance, a five-year master plan for economic development, it should also ensure a yearly operation plan and measure its plan with a key performance indicator—this is essential," he said. "It needs to instill confidence in the investors who are worried about coming here."

The National League for Democracy (NLD) government published its 12-point economic policy last August, placing national reconciliation at the forefront of its approach toward the economy.

Last October it released a more detailed plan to expedite growth, including a promised clampdown on corruption and the promotion of investment in agriculture, small and medium sized enterprises, banking, health care and infrastructure projects.

"We have been relying on our natural resources sector to find earnings," said U Kyaw Kyaw Win, chairman of both Sinma Furnishing Co., Ltd and the ASEAN Furniture Industries Council. "So there are many problems to solve when changing the system and developing the manufacturing sector."

He said local manufacturers have faced many hurdles in trying to attract investors, such as a lack of infrastructure and an unfair tax system.

Khin Maung Aye, chairman of the Myanmar Investors Development Association, and CB Bank, hoped for "concrete discussions" at the forum, which runs from June 6-7.

He emphasized the importance of the private sector to the conference and added that Burma was ready to welcome investors.

The World Bank expected economic growth in Burma to decrease from 7.3 percent in 2015-2016 to 6.5 percent in 2016-2017 and projected medium-term growth to average at 7.1 percent per year.

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Burma Will Join Asean Forest Cooperation Organization

Posted: 06 Jun 2017 04:57 AM PDT

The Union Parliament on Tuesday approved the signing of the regional agreement for the establishment of the Asean Forest Cooperation Organization (AFoCO), after President U Htin Kyaw put forward the proposal.

Burma's Ministry of Natural Resources and Environmental Conservation presented the proposal to Parliament last month.

The organization was proposed by Korea in 2009 and an agreement for its establishment was signed in 2012 at the 14th Asean-Republic of Korea Summit. Establishment of AFoCO was adopted in Sept. 2015.

Prior to that, South Korea had been providing technical support for forestry management, restoration and rehabilitation to Asean countries, including Burma, from 2009-11.

U Ohn Win, the minister of natural resources and environmental conservation, shared his gratitude to parliamentarians on Tuesday for their support. He reassured them that joining the regional organization would promote Burma's forestry sector, watershed preservation and ecotourism.

"Greater benefits will be yielded from the collaboration," minister U Ohn Win said, not only in international relations, but also in the sharing of technology and experience.

The AFoCO aims to improve sustainable forest management, preserve biodiversity, reduce climate change effects, prevent desertification, and promote research and exchange programs, explained U Hlaing Min Maung, from the office of the ministry.

The AFoCO is based in Korea. Bhutan, Kazakhstan, Mongolia, Timor-Leste and seven Asean countries have signed the pact to date.

"Although [Burma] is not yet directly facing desertification, this is long-term preparation as a preventative measure," U Hlaing Min Maung said, discussing the future possibility of unfertile land due to mismanagement.

Burma was approximately 60 percent forest area in 1990. That number was down 26 percent in 2015 due to deforestation, mainly from illegal timber logging, according to a UNODC report.

Burma will also benefit from the Regional Educational Training Center, which will promote capacity building and skill sharing after construction is completed on the building in Rangoon later this year.

"It will also help boost the country's image," minister U Ohn Win said, referring to a time when Burma was a destination for forestry scholars in the mid-1900s.

Nineteen lawmakers discussed the proposal favorably in Parliament on May 23.

Lawmakers supported the proposal, highlighting Burma's need to sign the agreement for the sake of forest sustainability. Lawmakers also discussed the pragmatic implementation of the proposal and the need for collaboration from civil society groups.

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KIA’s Lamai Gum Ja: Kachin IDPs Live With Fear

Posted: 06 Jun 2017 04:04 AM PDT

Tuesday marks six years since a 1994 bilateral ceasefire broke down and fighting renewed between the Burma Army and the Kachin Independence Army (KIA). Thousands of ethnic Kachin remain displaced, living in poor conditions in camps with no idea when they will be able to return home. Burma's peace process may be ongoing, but fighting has persisted in Kachin State where Burma Army soldiers have been accused of human rights abuses.

The KIA recently joined armed groups in Northern Burma—the United Wa State Army, the Ta'ang National Liberation Army, the Myanmar Democratic Alliance Army, the National Democratic Alliance Army, the Arakan Army, and the Shan State Army-North—in denouncing the government's nationwide ceasefire agreement (NCA).

To mark the anniversary of renewed hostilities, The Irrawaddy spoke to Lamai Gum Ja, a representative of the KIA's political wing, the Kachin Independence Organization, which has been advising on negotiating peace between the armed group and the Tatmadaw.

What is your opinion on the current peace process? Is peace getting closer or further away?

It is very difficult for us to predict—this is our situation. The United Nationalities Federal Council (UNFC) is negotiating for groups to sign the NCA. This is one way [to approach the peace process].

There has been a lot of fighting on the ground, and we and other ethnic armed groups saw that the Burma Army launched military offensives to put political pressure on groups to sign the NCA. Because of this, the Northern Alliance seeks another way to stop offensives from the Burma Army. This is my point of view.

All our ethnic armed groups seek peace, and do not want to use fighting to solve political conflict. It is hard to predict how the government will react to this new alliance of northern ethnic armed groups.

Conflict between the Burma Army and the KIA renewed in 2011, what were your thoughts when the ceasefire first broke down?

To begin with, we believed that we could solve this conflict through negotiations. But, the situation got worse year by year. So, we began along the NCA path, which we believed could let us negotiate for peace. But, our belief was not realized as fighting broke out again in KIA areas.

The KIA and the Northern Alliance seek a new way to make peace negotiations. We will try to negotiate to solve the conflict peacefully. We do not use fighting to solve the conflict. But, the Burma Army only accepts the NCA, and it seems to me that they do not accept the Northern Alliance's new way of approaching peace.

If we look at the current conditions, it seems to me we could have high tension again, especially as both the government and the Tatmadaw are important entities in the peace process…it depends on how they will accept the Northern Alliance's new approach. They are the 'parents' of the country—they should have an open mind in order to find the best way to peace.

What is your message to internally displaced civilians who are exhausted from living in camps for such a long time?

Both the government and the ethnic armed groups should take pity on civilians and negotiate the best they can for them. Without negotiations, our civilians have no guaranteed safety in their work or daily life: they will live with fear and eat with fear. So, the best thing is for both sides is to find a solution that truly benefits civilians.

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Karen Refugees in Canada Raise Concerns Over State Counselor’s Visit 

Posted: 06 Jun 2017 02:03 AM PDT

Ethnic Karen refugees in Canada released an open letter on the arrival of Burma's State Counselor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, raising concerns over the militarization in Karen State while the Union government pushes ahead with the peace process.

The Karen Community of Canada (KCC), an organization representing ethnic Karen refugees from Burma, said in the statement on Monday that it was concerned that this visit would be a "feel-good celebration," ignoring ongoing militarization and human rights abuses in ethnic areas, which Daw Aung San Suu Kyi’s government has done "virtually nothing to alleviate."

The Karen community organization also urged Canadian government officials to pay attention to the suffering of ethnic minorities under Daw Aung San Suu Kyi's government.

"We urge you, as our elected representatives in Canada, to heed the cries of Karen and other ethnic people in Burma, who continue to suffer under military occupation," read the statement.

The Karen refugee community also urged Canadian government officials to ask Daw Aung San Suu Kyi some tough questions including how her government plans to ensure a safe return for Burmese refugees in Thailand and how her government will respond to refugees' calls for the withdrawal of Burma Army troops in Karen State.

Last month, internally displaced people in Karen State held a protest calling for the withdrawal of Burma Army units near their villages so that they could return home safely.

Although the Karen armed group the Karen National Union (KNU) signed a bilateral ceasefire agreement with the previous government in 2012, the Burma Army has reinforced its bases and built additional ones in the region, according to the statement.

The Karen community in Canada is also upset with KNU vice chairman Padoh Kwe Htoo Win who is visiting Canada on a federalism study tour but is not meeting with Karen refugee communities due to a "tight schedule."

Slone Phan, chairman of the KCC in Canada, asserted the group's disappointment with the KNU vice chairman for failing to visit the community.

Although the vice chairman did not meet the Karen community, he and other ethnic leaders did visit Niagara Falls.

The KCC also said they were concerned over a meeting between Burma Army chief Snr-Gen Min Aung Hlaing and Canadian Ambassador Karen MacArthur last January, where they discussed potential Canadian investment in hydropower projects that fuel ongoing war, displacement, and human rights abuses in Burma.

"This general [Min Aung Hlaing] and his army are responsible for obstructing peace and conducting campaigns of terror against Karen and other ethnic communities, so we are dismayed that Ambassador MacArthur would discuss cooperating with him," read the statement.

The Karen Community of Canada (KCC) is an umbrella organization that represents Karen people across Canada, promoting Karen culture, human rights and democracy.

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Top US Diplomat in China Quits Over Trump Climate Policy

Posted: 05 Jun 2017 10:45 PM PDT

WASHINGTON, USA — David Rank, the chargé d'affaires of the US Embassy in Beijing, has left the State Department over the Trump administration's decision to quit the 2015 Paris agreement to fight climate change, a senior US official said on Monday.

A State Department spokeswoman confirmed Rank's departure, but said she was unable to verify Twitter posts that said he resigned as he felt unable to deliver a formal notification to China of the US decision last week to quit the agreement.

"He has retired from the foreign service," said Anna Richey-Allen, a spokeswoman for the department's East Asia Bureau. "Mr Rank has made a personal decision. We appreciate his years of dedicated service to the State Department."

Iowa Governor Terry Branstad, President Donald Trump's pick as the next US ambassador to Beijing, is expected to take up the post later this month.

A tweet from China expert John Pomfret quoted unnamed sources as saying that Rank had resigned as he could not support Trump's decision last week to withdraw from the Paris agreement.

Another tweet from Pomfret said Rank called a town hall meeting to announce his decision to embassy staff and explained that he could not deliver a diplomatic note informing the Chinese government of the US decision.

A senior US official confirmed the account given in the tweets but added that after Rank announced his intention to retire on Monday in Beijing, he was told by the State Department to leave his post immediately. The official spoke on condition of anonymity.

On June 1, the US State Department accepted the resignation of its top personnel officer, who had been among its few remaining senior Obama administration political appointees, another US official said.

Arnold Chacon had served as the director general of the foreign service and director of human resources.

The official said Chacon had tendered his resignation when Trump was inaugurated on Jan. 20, along with all presidential appointees, who serve at the pleasure of the president and secretary of state.

The acceptance of Chacon's resignation was first reported by the DiploPundit website.

It was not immediately clear whether he would be offered another post at the department.

Other than Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, his deputy John Sullivan and Undersecretary of State for Political Affairs Tom Shannon, the third-ranking US diplomat, most of the State Department's senior posts are currently vacant or filled by acting officials.

Chacon and Rank, a career foreign service officer who took over the post of deputy chief of mission in Beijing in January 2016, could not immediately be reached for comment.

Jonathan Fritz, the embassy's economics councilor, would serve as chargé in his place, Richey-Allen said.

Rank had been with the department for 27 years and served as the political councilor at the US Embassy in Afghanistan from 2011 to 2012.

 

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‘Himalayan Viagra’ is Threatened by Fervent Chinese Demand and Climate Change

Posted: 05 Jun 2017 09:46 PM PDT

At the beginning of the Himalayan summer, when the snows start to melt, all the schools close for the season and Nepali parents and children move to the grasslands with enough food for a month-long journey on a quest for a herb more valuable than gold.

To find yarsagumba, families crawl through muddy fields hoping to spot a yellowish-green mummified caterpillar that resembles a disproportionate unicorn, with a dark-colored elongated fungus growing out of a larva's head.

In Chinese, the two-faced creature is called dong chong xia cao, which translates as "winter worm, summer grass." During the winter, yarsagumba is worm-like, but by the summer, invaded by fungus, it looks more like a plant.

Mature yarsagumba resembles nothing so much as a matchstick, thin and slender, projecting two to three centimeters above the ground across the alpine meadows of the Himalayas.

(A) The stroma and sclerotium sections; (B, C) The complex of mycelial cortices and attached soil particles outside the sclerotium as indicated by arrows. (Photo: Zhang et al, 2010 / Author provided)

Himalayan Viagra

To locals, the hunt is well worth it. Just one kilogram of yarsagumba can fetch up to US$100,000. In rural Nepal, where jobs are limited, the majority of families living at high altitudes, as well as those in neighboring regions, earn their living by collecting this herb, making it by far the most valuable commodity around.

Bu why is it so lucrative? The name is a hint: yarsagumba is also known as "Himalayan Viagra" due to the aphrodisiac medley of caterpillar and fungus.

It is believed that cattlemen first discovered the pharmacological benefits of the caterpillar-fungus more than a thousand years ago after noticing their yaks becoming energized from feeding on the herb.

Starting in the 1960s, people began making tea and soups out of this mythological little plant-animal, and stuffing the belly of a duck with yarsagumba herbs before roasting.

This magic fungus was widely popularized in the 1990s, when a Chinese runner who ate it broke two world records. Since then, research on the caterpillar-fungus has intensified.

A market selling 'Himalayan Viagra' in Bhutan, and a close up of this complex chimera. (Photo: The Conversation)

The main chemical constituents of natural Cordyceps's 28 saturated and unsaturated fatty acids are palmitic acid, linoleic acid, oleic acid, stearic acid, and ergo sterol. It also includes vitamins and inorganic elements.

Chinese medicine now asserts that that yarsagumba can cure impotence, increase libido, and resolve joint pains, as well as treat cancer and obesity.

Some of these claims have been substantiated. According to a 2016 paper in the journal Pharmacognosy Review, the authors found evidence "illustrating that O. sinensis can enhance libido and sexual performance, and can restore impaired reproductive functions, such as impotency or infertility, in both sexes."

Fungus Through the Looking Glass

As Lewis Carroll writes in his book Through the Looking Glass, "It takes all the running you can do, to stay in the same place." That seems the perfect metaphor for the yarsagumba, a living relationship in which a host and a parasite are involved in a continuous arms race.

Biologically speaking, this complex chimera consists of ghost moth larvae (the Thitarodes species in caterpillar stage) infected by the parasitic entomogenous ascomycete, Ophiocordyceps sinensis.

Ghost moths are relatively large moths known for their reduced adult mouth parts and distinctive subterranean larvae, which are root-feeders of grassland soil, meaning they can feed on any parts of a plant.

The caterpillars spend several years of their lives remaining dormant in winter, and emerge as adults after pupating in early summer. Then, alas, they die; the average adult lifespan of Thitarodes is two to five days.

Thitarodes are the only hosts to the O. sinensis parasite, and young caterpillars infected by the fungal spores perish before pupation, a wildly growing mycelium having consumed the body of the larva.

After two to four weeks, a slender, sprouting body emerges from behind the head of the larva. It is an eerie death, to be sure.

Scientists do not entirely understand this spectacular co-evolutionary process. Because the fungus is highly host-specific and it is very difficult to rear moths in laboratories, its infection pathway is still under investigation.

(A) Male adult moth; (B) Female adult moth; (C) Late-instar larva; (D) Pupa. (Photo: Cannon et al, 2009)

Humans: The Final Threat

In this biotrophic system in which the parasite must kill its host to survive, humans may be considered a third trophic level: we parasitize this parasitic complex.

As the medicinal value of yarsagumba is increasingly hyped, China's massive consumer market is clamoring for the product, causing its price to rise and spurring a veritable gold rush to Nepal's Himalayan belt.

But collecting these fungi before they mature prevents dispersal of their spores, and the availability of yarsagumba is declining yearly. From a 2009 peak to 2011, the trade fell by half per annum. Due to a lack of proper regulation, over-harvesting is increasingly common.

The fungi are also vulnerable to climate change. As global temperatures rise and snowfall in the Himalayas decreases, their natural habitat suffers, limiting the breeding period.

There is a darker side to the fungus fad, too. Every year, as families race to the hills for their annual yarsagumba quest, some fungus hunters—both adults and school children—lose their lives to turf wars and the precipitous, unforgiving mountains.

In June 2009, seven Nepalese men who had climbed up the mountains to pick yarsagumba were attacked with sticks and knives, and their bodies thrown into the deep ravines.

Local Buddhists, especially those of the older generation, believe that to pick yarsagumba is a sin, in keeping with the Buddha's teaching that this seemingly natural treasure is actually a curse. China's consumers don't seem to mind.

Prayan Pokharel is a doctoral student at the Institute for Insect Biotechnology, University of Giessen. This article was originally published in The Conversation and is republished by kind agreement.

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Myanmar Deserves More Than a Miserable Media Environment

Posted: 05 Jun 2017 09:21 PM PDT

According to the recently-released 2017 World Press Freedom Index compiled by Reporters Without Borders (RSF), Myanmar moved up 12 places in the rankings since last year and stands at 131 among 180 countries. In making its assessment, RSF acknowledged that the National League for Democracy (NLD)-led government amnestied journalists imprisoned under Thein Sein's government and repealed the state of emergency law. But it also pointed out, correctly, that "… self-censorship continues in connection to government officials and military officers. The authorities continue to exert pressure on the media and even intervene directly to get editorial policies changed."

RSF is right in saying that self-censorship still prevails, especially when it comes to government officials and military officers as there continued to be troubling media cases during the past year, such as "watch-gate." This was an ugly fight between Yangon Division Chief Minister U Phyo Min Thein and Eleven Media Group, where the latter essentially accused the former of corruption. This eventually led to the detention of its CEO and Editor-in-Chief for some time. While they were both released on bail, they are still facing trial. Since then, it has been rare to see anyone critically write or talk about this case and even Eleven Media itself has been silent about it.

Is Myanmar's media landscape better off now than two years ago? The answer will surely be controversial. If you are a government official or a pro-government person, you will definitely say "yes." If you are media personnel such as a reporter, producer, editor, or someone who is running a media organization, you will no doubt answer that question with reservations.

Does Myanmar's media not have freedom of speech now? The answer is yes and no. Is there any repression of the media now? The answer to this is also yes and no. In fact, Myanmar's media is enjoying a certain level of freedom and is much better off than neighbors like China and Thailand, and even better than regional neighbors such as the richest and most developed country in the region, Singapore, or the rising star, Vietnam. According to RSF's ranking, Myanmar now ranks third in press freedom among ASEAN countries after Indonesia (124) and the Philippines (127).

Since the NLD-led government took power, there has been no obvious repression of the media, as there was in the past. Myanmar has moved up from being labelled one of the worst violators of freedom of the press to one of 20 countries where a "difficult situation" still exists. That category includes all of Myanmar's neighbor countries, except China and Laos, which are labelled under "very serious situation" according to RSF.

But, is this incremental improvement good enough? Does Myanmar's media deserve only that? Does the country deserve only that? In the point of view of this author, the answer is much more than "no." Myanmar's media deserves much more than that and the country and the people also deserve more.

Myanmar people have been fighting for freedom from all kinds of fears, and for human dignity and human rights. But for a long time, we have had no idea of what freedom, human dignity or human rights would look like, let alone what media freedom or freedom of the press would entail. Many generations of Myanmar people have lived under oppressive regimes in one form or another. Throughout their entire lives, they have been familiar with government-controlled media, with little or no access to other sources of information.

The worst thing is that for generations the authorities have taken the position of assuming themselves to be superhuman. For example, during the one-party rule of the Burma Socialist Programme Party (BSPP), led by the late dictator Gen Ne Win, people were not allowed to participate freely in political, social, or economic matters in the country. He controlled practically every aspect of people's daily lives. Through this era and later military governments, the authorities set the rules, made decisions for others as to what was good and bad, and created and practiced whatever policies they liked.  The reason they gave was the interest of the country and the people, and there was no space for the public to question these claims or file complaints.

There are many examples to prove this point, but one recent one stands out in particular. In May 2008, Cyclone Nargis hit Myanmar hard. In the hours and days after, thousands of people were presumed dead and hundreds of thousands or more lost their livelihoods. The international community offered assistance right away. But, the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC), led by former Sen-Gen Than Shwe, denied their offers in the early stages of the aftermath, when people were in urgent need of help. Even worse, the SPDC forcibly conducted a referendum on the 2008 Constitution just after Nargis, when people were still in dire need. This showed yet again how those in power controlled people's lives.

That "black-out period" (in terms of media and information access, but also in terms of people's ability to live meaningful lives more generally) spanned more than a generation. During this time, people had to live under the supervision of those who had appointed themselves as "guardians of the public."

It is an undeniable fact that the situation is much better now than in those days. But, can we say there are not people today who act superhuman and set the rules for others, make decisions for others regarding what is good and bad and create and practice policies they choose, stating that it is for the benefit of the people? These people still exist, though not as many and not in such distinguished ways as before.

The question, then, to those government officials and pro-government people who defend the government's action or inaction, especially on press freedom, is whether this government is doing enough to guarantee press freedom and to nurture independent media so the public can be free from the hands of those superhuman beings? The answer apparently is "no" and it is a sad story.

As everyone knows, the military in Myanmar controls 25 percent of the seats at all levels of Parliament and three major ministries (Defense, Border Affairs and Home Affairs), which hold guns. This means that Myanmar's democratization work (including press freedom) can only progress 75 percent. Even in that 75 percent, progress is limited because the bureaucracy inherited from previous regimes is gigantic and still well-protected. After subtracting an additional percentage because of that gigantic bureaucracy, is the rest of the government committed to making progress on press freedom? The answer again is "no" and it is an even more sad story.

There were reports that NLD lawmakers were asked by the party hierarchy not to talk to the media on certain issues and not to appear on particular discussion programs. The right to information has still not improved, even though the NLD-led government has appointed most of the ministers. The government-owned media is still running full throttle and is even extending its reach. On the other hand, the independent media is struggling to compete with government media, especially on the revenue front.

Why is it that the so-called "people's party," the NLD, which used to be at the forefront of fighting against those "superhuman beings," has not done more for freedom of the press? What are they afraid of? Why can't they let independent media fully blossom and play its crucial role in providing information for the public to be free from fear, to fully enjoy human dignity and human rights? What are they concerned about?

As long as those questions are not answered fully and comprehensively, Myanmar's media will remain in a miserable state.

Kyaw Kyaw Thein is a broadcast journalist with more than 11 years of experience in the field. The views expressed here are solely his own and do not reflect the views and policies of the media organization for which he is currently working.

This article originally appeared in Tea Circle, a forum hosted at Oxford University for emerging research and perspectives on Burma/Myanmar.

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China and Burma: Not Only Pauk-Phaw

Posted: 05 Jun 2017 07:30 PM PDT

Part 2 of a 5-part series.

1962 to 1978: Brothers No More

It is generally assumed that Sino-Burmese relations took a turn for the worse in 1967, when anti-Chinese riots broke out in Rangoon. The fervor of the Cultural Revolution influenced the Chinese community in the Burmese capital and many young Sino-Burmese began wearing red Mao badges.

This violated an official Burmese regulation banning the display of such political symbols in public, and the young "Red Guards" were ordered to take off their badges. When some of them resisted, anti-Chinese riots broke out in June and July that year.

Chinese shops and homes were ransacked and looted, and many Sino-Burmese were killed. A mob even attacked the Chinese embassy in Rangoon before the situation was brought under control. However, the role of the authorities in this affair was a matter of dispute: the Chinatown riots in Rangoon came at a time when there were acute shortages of rice and basic food supplies in Rangoon. According to eyewitnesses, the police did not interfere with the killings and the looting until the Chinese embassy was attacked. It is widely believed that Burma's military government encouraged the riots in order to deflect attention from the country's internal problems at that time.

The incident was followed by the withdrawal of ambassadors from both capitals and the expulsion of the "Xinhua" (New China News Agency) correspondent in Rangoon. Beijing also suspended its aid program to Burma, granted under the 1960 friendship treaty. Radio Beijing began broadcasting fierce attacks on the Ne Win government branding it "fascist." On January 1968, heavily armed CPB units crossed from China into northeast Burma. The Chinese Communist Party decided to lend all-out support to its fellow communist Burmese-sister party.

However, more thorough research into Sino-Burmese relations indicates that the 1967 incident was little more than a convenient excuse for the Chinese to intervene directly in Burma's internal affairs. In reality, the new era in Sino-Burmese relations began in 1962 when General Ne Win seized power. The military takeover had upset the regional stability that existed by virtue of Burma's weak but neutral democratic government.

Furthermore, China had long been wary of the ambitious and unpredictable general in Rangoon. Six important events took place immediately after the coup in Rangoon: 1.) In the early fifties, several groups of CPB cadres had trekked to China to request assistance for their armed insurrection in Burma. However, as long as U Nu was in power, these Burmese communists—in all 143 people—were housed in Sichuan Province. There they attended communist party schools, but received no other support, and certainly not arms and military training. The leader of these CPB exiles in China was Thakin Ba Thein Tin, who later became the chairman of the CPB. He resided mostly in Beijing where he became close to Mao Zedong, and the two developed a long-lasting, personal relationship. Following Ne Win's takeover in Rangoon, the CPB was for the first time allowed to print propaganda leaflets and other material in Beijing. On August 1, 1962, Beijing-and Sichuan-based exiles published a document titled "Some Facts about Ne Win's Military Government," denouncing the new regime.

Former Communist Party of Burma Chairman Thakin Ba Thein Tin. (Photo: Hseng Noung Lintner)

2.) The most urgent task for the CPB exiles in Beijing was to find a way to contact the CPB units in the old base area located in the Pegu Yoma mountains of central Burma, north of Rangoon, where the once strong communist army was crumbling. There had been no links between the CPB units in Burma and the CPB exiles in China since the latter had trekked to Yunnan in the early fifties.

By a strange twist of historical events, it was the new military regime in Rangoon that unwittingly provided an opportunity for the CPB exiles in China to re-establish these links. Probably hoping that the insurgents would give up when faced with the massive force of the military government, the Ne Win regime called for peace talks after about a year in power. On July 14, 1963, the CPB, Thakin Soe's much smaller "Red Flag" communist party, the Karen, Mon, Shan, Kachin ethnic rebel armies, and some smaller groups attended the negotiations in Rangoon with guarantees of free and safe passage to and from the peace parley, regardless of the outcome.

The colorful Thakin Soe probably attracted the most attention when he arrived accompanied by a team of attractive young girls in khaki uniforms. He placed a portrait of Stalin in front of him on the negotiating table and then began attacking the "revisionism" of Soviet leader Khrushchev and the "opportunism" of Mao Zedong's China (Thakin Soe was soon excluded from the talks). However, 29 veterans from the main CPB exiles in China also arrived in Rangoon, purportedly to participate in the peace talks. Among the "Beijing Returnees," as they came to be known, were "yebaw" (comrade) Aung Gyi, Thakin Bo, Bo Zeya­—and Thakin Ba Thein Tin who did not actually participate in the talks but seized the opportunity to visit the CPB's headquarters in the Pegu Yoma, bringing with him radio transmitters and other aid from China.

According to CPB documents, the Burmese government demanded that the communists should concentrate all their troops and party members inside an area stipulated by the authorities, inform the government if there were any remaining guerrillas or cadres elsewhere, stop all organizational activities of the party and cease fund-raising. The intransigence of the military regime was a blessing in disguise for the CPB. The talks broke down in November and the various insurgents returned to their respective jungle camps. Thakin Ba Thein Tin and another CPB cadre returned to Beijing, while the other 27 returnees stayed in the Pegu Yoma where they assumed de facto leadership of the party at home.

3.) In November 1963, shortly after the Sino-Soviet split in the international communist movement, some CPB cadres who had been studying in the Soviet Union—Khin Maung Gyi, San Thu and Thein Aung—returned to Beijing. To direct the work in China, a leading group of five was set up in Beijing shortly after Thakin Ba Thein Tin's return from the peace talks in Rangoon. This group, which became the nucleus of the new leadership of the CPB that emerged during the sixties, consisted of Thakin Ba Thein Tin as leader, with Khin Maung Gyi as his personal secretary and Khin Maung Gyi as the CPB's main theoretician.

4.) In late 1963, San Thu, one of the Moscow returnees, was put in charge of a team that began surveying possible infiltration routes from Yunnan into northeastern Burma. During this period, China built a network of asphalted highways, leading from Kunming to various points along the borders with Burma and with Laos, where another communist movement was active.

5.) Nearly all the CPB cadres in China were well-read Marxist intellectuals with little or no experience in military matters. But in 1950, an ethnic Kachin rebel leader, Naw Seng and 200 to 300 of his followers, had retreated to China where they resettled in Guizhou province as ordinary citizens. Naw Seng was a decorated World War II hero—he had fought brilliantly against the Japanese—and he was exactly the kind of military commander that the CPB intellectuals needed. In early 1963—even before the peace talks in Rangoon—Naw Seng was brought to Sichuan. He was introduced to Thakin Ba Thein Tin and told that the time had come to go back to Burma and fight. Naw Seng, eager to leave his people's commune in Guizhou, readily agreed. He assembled his men and they began military training in Yunnan in 1965. On January 1, 1968, Naw Seng's Kachin warriors at last entered northeastern Burma from the Chinese side, accompanied by Khin Maung Gyi and other political commissars from the CPB.

6.) Since the thirties, small cells of ethnic Chinese communists had been active in towns in central Burma, completely separate from the mainstream Burmese communist movement. In the early sixties these entities were put in touch with the CPB for the first time. They were few in number, but the Chinese embassy in Rangoon arranged for ethnic Chinese from the capital and some small towns in the Irrawaddy delta to visit the CPB's then-base area along the Shweli River (and later to travel to the northeastern base area set up after 1968). The CPB's numbers increased after anti-Chinese communal riots in Rangoon in 1967; these riots may have provided the catalyst for the already planned China-sponsored CPB thrust into Shan State, but they were not the reason for China's support for the Burmese communists.

During the decade that followed, China provided the CPB with assault rifles, machine-guns, rocket launchers, anti-aircraft guns, radio equipment, jeeps, trucks and petrol. Even rice, other food supplies, cooking oil and kitchen utensils were sent across the frontier into the new revolutionary base area that the CPB was establishing along the Sino-Burmese frontier in northeastern Burma. The Chinese also built hydroelectric power stations inside this area, and a clandestine radio station. "The People's Voice of Burma," began transmitting from the Yunnan side of the frontier in April 1971. Thousands of Chinese "volunteers"—mostly youthful Red Guards from China but also regular soldiers from the People's Liberation Army—also streamed across the border to fight alongside their Burmese comrades. Within four years of the first thrust into northeastern Burma on New Year Day 1968, the CPB had wrested control over a 9,000 square mile area along the Sino-Burmese frontier.

During the Cultural Revolution, the Chinese saw themselves as the leaders of the "World Proletarian Revolution" and the massive support they lent to the CPB was only one of several powerful expressions of this policy; however, it was the main element of China's Burma policy until the late seventies. The change towards a less militant foreign policy began when an internal power struggle broke out within the Communist Party of China (CPC) after Mao Zedong's death in 1976. In April of that year, when China's radical Left reasserted itself and ousted Deng Xiaoping, the CPB—unlike other communist parties in the region—spoke out loudly in favor of the hardline Maoists. On the 55th anniversary of the CPC in June 1976, the CPB offered the following congratulatory message:

"The revisionist clique with which Deng was linked headed by Liu Shaoqi has been defeated … The movement to repulse the Right deviationist attempt at reversing correct verdicts, and the decision of the Central Committee of the CPC on measures taken against rightist chieftain Deng Xiaoping, are in full accord with Marxism-Leninism, Mao Zedong thought."

In a second message mourning the death of Mao in September 1976, the CPB stated:

"Guided by Chairman Mao Zedong's proletarian revolutionary line, the Chinese people seized great victories in the socialist revolution and socialist construction in the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution, in criticizing Liu Shaoqi's counter-revolutionary revisionist line, in criticizing Lin Biao and Confucius and in criticizing Deng Xiaoping and repulsing the Right deviationist attempt at reversing correct verdicts and consolidating the dictatorship of the proletariat, thus, consolidating the People's Republic of China—the reliable bulwark of the world proletarian revolution."

The CPB had reason to re-evaluate the reliability of that bulwark the following year when Deng began to return to power in Beijing. The CPB, which once had branded its own "revisionists" Yebaw (Comrade) Htay and Hamendranath Ghoshal as "Burma's Deng Xiaoping" and "Burma's Liu Shaoqi" respectively, became silent. Htay and Ghoshal were two of the founders of the CPB and they had been executed during a series of bloody internal purges in the late sixties. The "Beijing Review" and other official Chinese publications, which had previously published battle views and CPB documents, stopped printing anything about the "revolutionary struggle in Burma."

The CPB was mentioned for the last time in November 1976 when Thakin Ba Thein Tin and his Vice Chairman Thakin Pe Tint, were received by the new Chinese Chairman Hua Guofeng in Beijing, who was soon to fall into disgrace. No details about the meeting were disclosed, but it is plausible to assume that the two Burmese communist leaders wanted to ensure continued Chinese support for the CPB in the post-Mao era.

The Burmese military quickly and shrewdly exploited the CPB's rift with Beijing by lending its good offices to China in Cambodia as China shifted its focus to Vietnam's designs on its Indo-Chinese neighbor. In November 1977, Ne Win became the first foreign head of state to visit Phnom Penh after the Khmer Rouge takeover. The Chinese were no doubt behind the unusual visit, hoping to draw the Khmer Rouge out of its diplomatic isolation. Ne Win played along, for his part hoping that Beijing would further reduce its support for the CPB. He was not disappointed. In 1978, the CPB's entire China-based central office, including the "Peoples Voice of Burma" broadcasting station, was forced to move to Panghsang on the Yunnan frontier.  The Chinese "volunteers," who had fought alongside the CPB since 1968, were also recalled.

In September 1979, Burma left the Non-Aligned Movement — which it had helped form in the fifties — at its Havana summit to protest against Cuba assuming the chairmanship and its decision not to let the Khmer Rouge represent Cambodia. Burma's delegate San Yu said in a report to parliament after the Havana meeting: "Every nation has the inalienable right to freely choose its political, economic, social and cultural system without interference in any form by another state…Burma strictly stands for the solution of problems by peaceful means rather than resorting to threats or use of force."  San Yu's remarks were made with a vague reference to Vietnam's December 25, 1978 invasion of Cambodia, but they were also interpreted as a signal to Beijing that Rangoon disapproved of its continued support for the CPB—however limited it had become.

Read Part 1 of the series here. Tomorrow: Part 3. Rapprochement and Stalemate

This article was originally published here by The Project 2049 Institute, a policy group based in the US.

The post China and Burma: Not Only Pauk-Phaw appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Ten Things to Do in Rangoon This Week (June 6)

Posted: 05 Jun 2017 06:35 PM PDT

Clean Yangon Campaign | June 11

This campaign aims to work together to keep the city clean.

June 11, 4 to 6 pm. Maha Bandula Park.

Arker Kyaw Solo Exhibition | June 8-11

The inspiration for these paintings, Arker's pet Arowana fish Luckie, has been transformed by his artistry and imagination into something exotic and elegant.

June 8-11, River Gallery, 38th Street, beside the Strand Hotel.

World Lethwei Championship (WLC 2) | June 10

Burma's second World Lethwei Championship will include nine matches, with the main event featuring Burma's Soe Lin Oo and Poland's Artur Saladiak.

June 10, 6 pm. Thuwunna National Indoor Stadium (1). Tickets between 10,000 and 200,000 kyats are available at 09-451010789 or 09-965010789.

Voice of Youth | June 8

The musical performance from young musicians aims to promote freedom of expression, equality and rights of the youth.

June 8, 6 pm. People's Park. Free Admission.

 

Views for All | June 3-11

Photographer Htein Lin showcases scenery captured on his travels across Burma, Japan and Korea.

June 3-11. 43 Art Gallery, 43rd Street, Botahtaung Tsp.

 

Under Dawg Festival | June 12

This festival features K-Pop singer Cl (2NE1) and US rappers Nelly and Soulja Boy.

June 12, 4 pm until late. Thuwunnabhumi Event Park, Thingangyun Tsp. Tickets priced between 30,000 and 800,000 kyats available at 09-260702700, 09-260702800, 09-454545461, and 09-454545462.

EU International Education Fair | June 9-11

Learn about the EU's scholarship program—ERASMUS—to study at prestigious universities across Europe. ERASMUS scholarships provide free tuition, travel and living costs for the entire duration of the programs.

June 9-11. Starts at 11 am, 11:30 am and 10 am, respectively, on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. Tatmadaw Hall, U Wisara Road.

 

Engineering Career Conference | June 11

Leading engineering companies will be hiring at this event. Make sure you bring more than one CV. Register here. Details at 09-954459183.

June 11, 9 am to 6 pm. Grand Ball Room, Sedona Hotel.

 

Kin Maung Yin's Kin Maung Yin | June 10-12

This art exhibition is held in remembrance of renowned artist Kin Maung Yin who died three years ago. Sixty of his paintings will be on display—20 on each day of the three-day exhibition.

June 10-12. Peace Gallery, Maha Bandula Street, Kyauktada Tsp.

 

Give Peace a Chance | June 3-9

Artist Myint Soe's desperate longing for peace is reflected in his paintings and installations. Half of the proceeds will go to IDP camps in Kachin State.

June 3-9. Nawaday Tharlar Art Gallery, No. 304, 20/B, Yaw Min Gyi Road, Dagon Tsp.

The post Ten Things to Do in Rangoon This Week (June 6) appeared first on The Irrawaddy.
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