BurmaNet News, July 9-11, 2005

[Editor]

July 9-11, 2005 Issue # 2757


INSIDE BURMA
SHAN: Ceasefire commander cancels trip to Rangoon
Narinjara News: Burmese army turns to rice growing on land confiscated
from the people
Irrawaddy: Three receive prison terms for watching Suu Kyi tape
Kao Wao: Island dweller to be affected by Salween Dam project

ON THE BORDER
Mizzima: Militancy, bands hit Indo-Burma border trade

BUSINESS / FINANCE
Times of India: Yangon offers India a role in oil hunt
Kyodo: Myanmar, China sign $290 mil. trade deals

INTERNATIONAL
AP: US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice urges Thailand to push for
democracy in Myanmar
Kyodo: Rice to skip ASEAN talks because of 'essential' trip

OPINION / OTHER
Mizzima: Escaping the political quagmire in Burma
International Herald Tribune: No Rice for Asean this year

JOB ANNOUNCEMENT
Mizzima: Journalist job announcement for Thailand-based journalists


____________________________________
INSIDE BURMA

July 11, Shan Herald Agency for News
Ceasefire commander cancels trip to Rangoon

The two ceasefire commanders who had already been reported as departing
for Rangoon to serve as witnesses for their imprisoned leader were stopped
at the last minute from leaving their base in Hsipaw, Northern Shan State,
reported insider sources yesterday.

Col Gaifah, Deputy Commander in Chief of the Shan State Army “North,” and
Secretary General Col Sai Du, were advised it would be too risky for them
under the circumstances.

On 5 July, Gaifah’s car, coming back to Lashio from Muse, was searched and
4 of his companions were taken away by the authorities. (SHAN’s source had
mistakenly reported as 5 followers)

The next day Wan Hai in Tangyan Township, an SSA village, was raided by a
Burma Army unit and some of the officers’ homes searched.

“Such things had never happened before with the SSA-North,” he said.

The latest news say Harn Lieng, Gaifah’s son-in-law, and Ah Thay Lay, his
Burmese friend at Lashio golf club, being civilians, were under police
custody in Muse. Two others, Kham Parng and Jaw Moeng, his personal aides,
meanwhile are languishing in the Lashio penitentiary. The source from
northern Shan State is unsure whether or not the latter two had already
been sentenced.

“The overall situation is quite tense,” said the source in eastern Shan
State.

The SSA-North’s former ally, Shan State National Army, citing pressures by
the Burma Army to surrender their arms, has already rejoined the armed
struggle since May.

____________________________________

July 9, Narinjara News
Burmese army turns to rice growing on land confiscated from the people

Burmese troops are going to grow rice by themselves on land confiscated
from the people in Kyauk Taw Township. Instead of leasing out to the local
farmers to cultivate rice during the monsoon season as before, the
military personnel have decided to farm the land themselves.

Military sources said the higher authority ordered them not to lease out
the land, but to work on it by themselves.

Last year the troops leased out the army-owned land to the local farmers
for 50 baskets of rice per acre per cultivating season.

The military in Arakan state has been “cashing in” with leases and
sharecrop arrangements with the farmers, from land that had been
confiscated without any compensation.

In Buthee Daung, Maung Daw and Kyauk Taw Townships, the forcefully
confiscated land under various battalions is more than 4500 acres
according to sources close to the Land Survey Department in Arakan.

Most of the confiscated land had been hereditarily owned by a generation
of Arakanese farmers. These farms were seized because they were said to be
in the vicinity of the encampment areas, according to the local sources.
These farms were later leased out to the former owners as sharecroppers
with their own equipment and cattle.

The local people, who had already lost their inherited land, while they
are worried about the loss of income from the new arrangement, are more
concerned about the forced labour they will have to perform under the new
directive of farming the army-owned land.

____________________________________

July 11, Irrawaddy
Three receive prison terms for watching Suu Kyi tape – Khun Sam

A senior member of the opposition National League for Democracy and two
sympathizers have been jailed on a charge of distributing a video tape of
speeches by the party leader Aung San Suu Kyi, according to a NLD
spokesman.

Spokesman Nyan Win said in a phone interview that the NLD chairman of
Kin-U Township, Sagaing Division, Dr Win Aung was last Friday sentenced to
10 years imprisonment, while two other Suu Kyi supporters, Soe Win and
Khin Maung Win, were sentenced to 10 years and three years. The three were
convicted of offences under the Video Act and Print Act.

The three were arrested on July 6 at Win Aung’s home in Kin-U Township
while they watched a video recording of Aung San Suu Kyi on her campaign
tour to Mogok and Monywa. They were sentenced on Friday.

The arrests were made on the day the military junta released about 400
prisoners, most of whom had been jailed for political offences. Among the
political prisoners released were veteran politician Hla Shwe, who had
served eight years of a 14 year sentence, and two successful NLD
candidates in the 1990 election, Sein Hla Oo and Dr Khin Zaw Win.

The arrests of Win Aung, Soe Win and Khin Maung Win were condemned by
spokesman Nyan Win, who said: “It’s not  fair to impose these very heavy
prison sentences for such matters, (at a time) when we are looking forward
to better a situation.”

Meanwhile, it was reported from Rangoon that Naw Ohn Hla, an NLD member
expelled from the party for participating in non-sanctioned activities,
had been briefly detained by the authorities on July 5.

____________________________________

July 12, Kaowao News Group
Island dweller to be affected by Salween Dam project

Mon farmers who live on small islands along the coast will be affected by
the construction of the Salween dam, says an environmental activist team
after doing research on the outcome of the construction.

“There are over 20 small islands near the capital of Mon Sate, Moulmein,”
the activist team leader said.  “We are able to make a living on this farm
land and we don’t have to go to neighboring country Thailand,” he quoted
one Mon farmer as saying.

These islands are in Moulmein and Paung townships, Mon State.  There are
over 2000 households on the islands and each island is home to
approximately about 100 households.  The majority of the island dwellers
are Mon.

“They are not aware that the dam construction will totally affect their
traditional natural resource-based livelihood.  They have no other skills
with which to subsist on other than farming, their traditional way of life
with be destroyed by the construction,” he added.

Geographically, these islands are located near to the mouth of the Salween
River.  The Salween flows north to south through Karen and Mon State where
many Mon, Karen, and other ethnic people live in southern Pha Ann
Township, such as Thong Ang (Htone Ai in Burmese) and the capital of Karen
State, all of which will be affected by the dam construction.

 “We will surely be affected by the dam construction,” said a Mon
community leader from Thong Ang to Kaowao. Thong Ang, located along the
Salween River, has 3000 households with over 90% Mon; the other groups
are Burman and Karen.

“We can only grow food on about two and a half or three acres in which we
earn roughly two hundred thousand Kyats per year. Then depending on market
forces bring home about one hundred thousand Kyats in total,” a Mon farmer
said.

According to the Mon environment activist and community leaders, the water
level will be low if the dam is constructed, the irrigation system managed
by the local people will be disrupted and the farmers will face difficulty
in their plantations.  In particular, several Mon villages in Karen state
situated along the river will be displaced after the construction, the
watershed area will be severely affected and the farmers will receive no
compensation for the loss of traditional resources.

Mon farmers have lived on the islands for years as subsistence farmers
living on vegetables and fruit.

____________________________________
ON THE BORDER

July 8, Mizzima News
Militancy, bands hit Indo-Burma border trade – Hrishikesh Saikia

Indo-Burma trade has been seriously hit by the perennial insurgency
problem and the frequent bandhs called by various organizations. Things
have come to such a pass that Moreh, which is among the major trade points
in the North-east, has been left with very little trade due to the
prevailing situation in Manipur.

The past several months have seen a dip in export and import between India
and Burma through Moreh - and have made the Manipur Government sit up.

"I am not at all satisfied with the present volume of trade through the
Moreh trade centre. It should definitely have been more," Mangi Singh,
Trade and Commerce Minister of Manipur told this correspondent. He felt
that both the Indian and Burmese governments should play a more pro-active
role to boost trade between the countries.

Replying to a question about the spurt in militant activities in Moreh, he
said that the State Government had already taken a slew of measures to
contain the problem. "It will take some time. We have appealed to the
insurgent groups to come to the negotiating table for talks," he added.

India and Burma had signed a trade agreement in 1994 and it was made
operational in 1995. But the volume of trade across the trade point is
still poor. The export growth is around seven per cent against the import
of 32 per cent. The poor export growth is apparently due to the free flow
of third country goods.

On poor export growth rate, Singh revealed that several items are going
illegally to Burma. "Medicine, cosmetics and garments are smuggled to
Burma. To overcome the problem, more items should be included in the list
of trade which would definitely reduce the volume of illegal trade," he
added.

Meanwhile, several trade organizations involved in export and import
business have urged the Commerce Ministry to provide more security to the
traders. The Indo-Myanmar Traders' Union vice-president, W.N. Singh said
that a peaceful atmosphere was a must for smooth operation of trade. The
Indo-Myanmar Friendship Centre also demanded relaxing of norms in order to
facilitate smooth flow of trade.

_____________________________________
BUSINESS / FINANCE

July 9, The Times of India
Yangon offers India a role in oil hunt

India's continued courtship of Myanmar seems to be paying off, with Yangon
agreeing to consider giving Indian oil firms a role in their hydrocarbon
hunt in the northern region without going through international bidding
and initiate the process of importing diesel from Assam as a pilot
project.

This sweetness, however, was absent on the issue of allowing Indian firms
any leeway in other exploration blocks, on which Myanmar's approach was
strictly business.

The move to grant an exploration block on nomination basis will be
initiated after Yangon goes through the report of a geological study of
the area being conducted by India.

The report is ready and will be submitted shortly, oil minister Mani
Shankar Aiyar said after meeting his Myanmar counterpart Lun Thi on
Wednesday.

"It has been decided that once the geological study (is examined), we
(Aiyar and Lun Thi) will visit the north Myanmar areas bordering Assam
towards end-October and take a view on giving a field on nomination
basis," Aiyar said. As a sweetener, Aiyar offered a $ 20-million loan to
Myanmar for refurbishing Thanlyin refinery.

The money will be utilised by Yangon locally and only part of it will go
towards paying for some specialised services from Indian oil firms.

The two sides agreed to weigh options of laying a shallow-water pipeline
as well as shipping gas in liquefied or compressed form from Myanmar's A1,
A3 and other blocks to "quickly monetise the gas."

A tripartite agreement, brokered by Aiyar on January 13, for laying a
pipeline through Bangladesh is hanging fire owing to disagreement between
New Delhi and Dhaka over including bilateral issues in the draft MoU.

Myanmar expressed interest in starting a pilot project of importing diesel
from Numaligarh refinery in Assam and work out point of delivery, pricing
and mode of payment. Indian exports are expected to begin with 12,000
tonnes and could go up to 1.2 million tonne, roughly Myanmar's entire
need.

____________________________________

July 9, Kyodo News Service
Myanmar, China sign $290 mil. trade deals

Myanmar and China signed $290 million worth of trade deals last week to
boost bilateral trade, the state-run newspaper New Light of Myanmar
reported Saturday.

Traders of the two countries signed $290 million worth of trade contracts
and memoranda July 4 in a ceremony in Kunming, capital of China's
southwestern Yunnan Province, the paper said.

Commerce and fisheries ministers from Myanmar witnessed the ceremony.

Under the new deals, Myanmar will boost marine and agricultural exports to
China at international prices, but other details of the deal were not in
the report.

Normally, most of the marine and agricultural products from Myanmar are
exported to China through border trade with undervalued prices.

The two countries agreed to raise the current bilateral trade volume of
about $1.15 billion to $1.50 billion by the end of this year.

_____________________________________
INTERNATIONAL

July 11, Associated Press
US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice urges Thailand to push for
democracy in Myanmar –Alisa Tang

U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on Monday urged Thailand to press
the junta in neighboring Myanmar to release political prisoners -
including Nobel Peace laureate Aung San Suu Kyi - and move toward greater
openness and democracy.

She arrived late Sunday after talks in Beijing with Chinese leaders during
a four-nation tour through Asia focused primarily on how to get North
Korea to give up nuclear weapons development. Pyongyang said Saturday it
will abandon a yearlong boycott and resume disarmament talks this month -
a major breakthrough.

After a working brunch Monday hosted by Thai Prime Minister Thaksin
Shinawatra, Rice held talks with Foreign Minister Kantathi Suphamongkhon
at the start of a one-day visit to review Thailand's efforts to rebuild
coastal areas battered by the Dec. 26 tsunami.

"I have asked that our Thai friends who have relations with Burma and
dialogue with Burma to continue to press the case of those who are held,
including Aung San Suu Kyi, and to press the Burmese toward a more open
society," she told reporters. Myanmar was formerly known as Burma.

Thaksin's government has been criticized for taking a conciliatory
approach toward Myanmar, which has been ruled by the military for more
than four decades and has been subject to U.S. and European sanctions over
its poor human rights record and failure to introduce democracy.

Myanmar's military rulers are believed to be holding an estimated 1,300
political prisoners. The country's pro-democracy icon, Suu Kyi, has been
under detention most recently since May 2003, when her convoy was attacked
by a pro-government mob in the country's north.

Rice said the United States was "encouraging all of our partners, not just
Thailand, but all of our partners who have contacts with Burma to press
the case for human rights, to press the case for greater openness, to
press the case for human rights activists like Aung San Suu Kyi."

She said Suu Kyi was "someone who represents the possibility of
reconciliation" for Myanmar.

Myanmar's junta has pledged to restore democracy, but has made little
visible progress. Opposition figures have refused to attend a
constitution-drafting meeting convened by the military government as part
of a so-called road map to democracy, dismissing it as a sham.

Also Monday, Rice said she would not attend a gathering of Asia and
Pacific foreign ministers held each year after the summer meeting of the
Association of Southeast Asian Nations. Laos will host the 2005 meetings,
set for July 24-29.

"I think this is a vital organization in which we want to engage more. I
do have other essential travel in roughly the same time frame," she said,
without elaborating.

Secretaries of state without exception have attended the conclaves, known
as the ASEAN Regional Forum, for many years.

The United States has previously suggested that it won't send a
representative to next year's ASEAN meetings if Myanmar becomes chair of
the body. Rice did not comment on the issue Monday.

Washington shuns Myanmar's junta for its poor human rights record and
failure to hand over power to a democratically elected government.

_____________________________________

July 11, Kyodo News Service
Rice to skip ASEAN talks because of 'essential' trip

U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Monday she will not visit
Laos later this month to participate in annual talks with Asia-Pacific
foreign ministers because she has to make an 'essential' trip elsewhere.

'It's just a matter of other essential travel elsewhere. It's going to be
difficult for me to be in Laos at that period of time,' Rice told a press
conference after a breakfast meeting with Thai Prime Minister Thaksin
Shinawatra in a hotel on the resort island of Phuket.

Rice, who was in Thailand on the second leg of her four-nation Asian tour,
did not disclose her destination but Thai officials said she would tour
Africa.

Rice said her deputy Robert Zoellick will represent her in Vientiane talks
set for July 24 to 29, which include Asia-Pacific security consultations
in the ASEAN Regional Forum.

ARF brings together ministers from the Association of Southeast Asian
Nations and ministers from Australia, Canada, China, the European Union,
India, Japan, Mongolia, New Zealand, South Korea, North Korea, Papua New
Guinea, Russia and the United States.

ASEAN groups Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the
Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

Rice said she also held separate talks with Thaksin and Foreign Minister
Kantathi Suphamongkhon on the situation in Myanmar and North Korea.

'We talked about the need to have the Burmese government make progress. We
hear from time to time representations that there will be progress, but
there seems never to be progress,' she said.

'We are encouraging all our partners, not just Thailand but all of our
partners who have contacts with Burma, to press the case for human rights,
to press the case for greater openness, and to press the case for human
rights activists like Aung San Suu Kyi, someone who represents the
possibility of reconciliation for the people of Burma,' she added.

Kantathi told the same news conference that Thailand shares the same goal
as the United States to see Myanmar achieve democracy and national
reconciliation as soon as possible. Suu Kyi is now under house arrest.

Noting that Bangkok has had good relations with Pyongyang for years
through trade, Rice said she discussed with Kantathi the upcoming
resumption of six-party talks on North Korea's nuclear weapons program.

'There are contacts between Thailand and North Korea that have been going
on for some time. They will be put into use, I think, as the entire world
looks to make progress of the (six-party) talks,' she said.

Kantathi was scheduled to visit North Korea from July 8 to 12 to
commemorate the 30th year of bilateral relations. However, he postponed
the trip to receive Rice for a less-than-20-hour visit.

North Korea has agreed to return to the six-party nuclear talks among
North and South Korea, the United States, China, Japan and Russia in the
week beginning July 25. The talks have been stalled for a year.

Deputy Prime Minister Surakiart Sathirathai, a Thai candidate to succeed
U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan, meanwhile, escorted Rice to tour
Thailand's southern coastline, which was devastated by the Indian Ocean
tsunami on Dec. 26 last year. He was to host a luncheon for Rice before
she leaves for Tokyo later Monday.

She will also visit South Korea.

_____________________________________
OPINION / OTHER

July 9, Mizzima News
Escaping the political quagmire in Burma – Dr. Sein Myint

One can hardly avoid junk mail these days if you do not have spam
protection in your computer.  There is unsolicited mail from product
vendors, mortgage brokers, financial advisors, offers for prescriptions
and educational ads, and the rest. You can pick up some interesting
offers, particularly from financial experts/advisors offering schemes to
become an instant millionaire, but of course it comes with a price.

That raises an irresistible question in one's mind - if these
experts/advisors know ways and means to become millionaires overnight then
why are they not millionaires themselves? Or perhaps, are these generous
and kind hearted experts giving away their "get rich remedies" to others
for a token price, purely on charitable grounds? They must be joking.  Not
in a dissimilar manner, the remedies/strategies, proposed by those
political gurus and experts with long titles and impeccable resumes - to
help resolve sensitive political dead locks and issues - makes one wonder
why these pundits are sitting on the side lines rather than being on the
playing field.  Easier said than done!

Resolutions to Burma's political problems have been at an impasse for more
than a decade and seemingly easy solutions have not been forthcoming,
including remedies and strategies offered by many political scientists and
experts. Due to a lack of progress on this impasse, some frustrated
experts have started losing sight of the charted course on a genuine
reconciliation process in Burma and have instead resorted to "blame game".
 A Burmese "expert" in exile recently proposed boldly to the military
junta that Daw Aung San Suu Kyi be included in the National Defence and
Security Council or considered for appointment as the head of the National
Reconciliation Commission, to oversee all reconciliation efforts. In
return, Suu Kyi would have to concede to some of the junta's demands.

This would indeed be a 'win-win' remedy for everyone.  Unfortunately, the
author failed to grasp the realities of realpolitiks and the magnitude of
what is at stake.  It is highly unlikely that the State Peace and
Development Council (SPDC), the current power holder, is prepared to yield
and accommodate such compromises, even with a guarantee of immunity once
they relinquish power. Such fears were echoed recently by the ex-prime
minister of Malaysia, Dr. Mahathir Mohammad, when he called for amnesty
for military leaders who committed crimes while they were in power. 
Making such frivolous gestures and proposals without a mandate from either
party is counter productive and conveys the wrong message to the
stakeholders inside the country, as well as to the regional and
international political groups.

Under the prevailing sensitive and receptive political environment, it is
vital that all stakeholders be prepared to start a meaningful dialogue
without preconditions.   Recently the National League for Democracy (NLD)
made repeated calls to the SPDC leaders to start a dialogue without any
preconditions. Similarly, the SPDC urged prominent student leaders,
recently released from detention, to help support the proposed national
reconciliation program initiated by them.  The most logical and
appropriate formal forum to discuss national reconciliation is the
National Convention.  It was reconvened by the SPDC earlier this year,
unfortunately, without the participation of others, namely the NLD and
elected ethnic representatives. It was subsequently shelved.

The SPDC leaders should not miss the opportunity to make a genuine effort
to break the current political deadlock by taking steps to bring about a
conducive political atmosphere to help improve relationships with
opposition dialogue partners. Efforts must be made to include all
stakeholders when the National Convention is restarted.   Any form of
mediation efforts offered by world bodies such as the United Nations
should be considered and welcomed by all parties to help create a
productive environment and start a genuine dialogue. It is important that
any dialogue include discussions to help allay concerns and anxieties of
the SPDC leaders regarding any repercussions during a post military
government established after a general election.

In similar conditions, these dialogues should also provide agendas for the
elected representatives of the 1990 general elections, allowing them to
discuss the framework of the Constitution and establishment of democratic
transitional authorities before the next general elections. Also vitally
important is the inclusion of elected ethnic political leaders, ceasefire
groups and armed groups, in the discussions on the proposed federal and
state constitutions.  The nature of a dialogue is to provide and
accommodate compromises to achieve political settlements, perhaps reaching
agreements to the satisfaction of the majority that may not necessarily be
gratifying to the minority.

However, the dialogue process in Burma should eventually lead to a final
settlement to the satisfaction of all stakeholders. In essence, all
stakeholders in the dialogue must resolve to achieve a successful
political settlement by making compromises and accommodations, in order to
escape from the current political quagmire. Whether the stakeholders are
prepared to take this route is another matter altogether.

Dr.Sein Myint is a Policy Analyst and Director of Justice for Human Rights
in Burma.

_____________________________________

July 9, International Herald Tribune
No Rice for Asean this year – Michael Vatikiotis

The annual foreign minister's meeting and the sessions with external
partners that occur at the same time give the 10-member Association of
Southeast Asian Nations a profile in global affairs that other regional
groupings lack.

That's because for more than 20 years the U.S. secretary of state has
always made it a point to attend. This year, however, Condoleezza Rice
will be represented by her deputy, and Asean will find its stature
diminished. Such is the collateral impact of U.S. power.

It may be that Washington's priorities lie elsewhere, and that Southeast
Asia's strategic significance has diminished since the end of the Cold
War. It may also be true that Asean has made things awkward for Rice by
failing so far to persuade Myanmar to give up its impending Asean
chairmanship. Rice is said to be a passionate critic of Myanmar's military
regime.

But if Washington's new strategic priority in Asia is to contain Beijing,
then snubbing Southeast Asia is a bad move. Calling this a snub, by the
way, is by no means an insult to Deputy Secretary of State Robert
Zoellick, who is an experienced and respected Asia-hand.

The snub is all the more painful since Asean members like Singapore have
gone out of their way to convince the United States that it provides a
vital security blanket for the region. Singapore offered America naval
berthing facilities after the U.S. Navy lost access to bases in the
Philippines, and it has been a stalwart supporter of the global war on
terror.

China, meanwhile, will quietly take great delight in America's downgrade
of engagement with Asean. Beijing has spent the best part of the last
decade carefully preparing to exercise more influence in Southeast Asia.

Many U.S. policy makers tend to dismiss Asian regionalism as ineffective
and therefore harmless to American interests, but there are voices in
Washington saying otherwise. Former Deputy Secretary of State Richard
Armitage told a Japanese newspaper in May that in his view the East Asian
Community was a thinly veiled way to make the point that America is not
totally welcomed in Asia.

Of course, the absence of Condoleezza Rice from the Asean gathering in the
Laotian capital of Vientiane later this month isn't about to damage
America's web of bilateral and multilateral ties in the region. Nor will
Asean fall so easily into China's embrace.

But by skipping the meeting Rice will lose an important chance to meet her
Asian peers on neutral ground the foreign ministers of China, Japan and
South Korea will also attend. Rice will also miss a regional security
forum, hosted by Asean at the same time, which North Korea will attend.

As for Asean, Rice's absence makes it harder for the group to sustain its
global profile, and a diminished Asean pushes China closer to the center
of geopolitics in Asia.

In mid-July, for example, China and Indonesia will sign a strategic
partnership between their defense industries. China is offering Indonesia
missile technology, which Indonesia is happy to accept because it cannot
get spare parts or buy weapons from the United States, where Congress is
asking Indonesia to prosecute those accused of human rights abuses in the
former Indonesian territory of East Timor.

It's at this point that a compromise usually emerges to restore the
diplomatic equilibrium. Rice's visit to Thailand on July 12 does not fit
the bill the United States always assumes that strong bilateral ties make
up for a lack of commitment to multilateral institutions. In this case
there really isn't a ready solution short of Rice making it to Vientiane
at the end of July.

Would it help if Myanmar announced that it will not accept the Asean
chairmanship? Perhaps. But the generals in Rangoon may be even less
inclined to help their Asean colleagues out of a bind if it means
appeasing the country that has imposed heavy sanctions on their economy.
They might even be rather pleased that Rice is staying away.

In the larger scheme of things, the dynamics of a ministerial meeting can
hardly be seen as a strategic tipping point. America isn't any less
pre-eminent a power because its top diplomat stays away.

All the same, in a region that relies, in the words of Singapore's Foreign
Minister George Yeo, "on the balancing of forces to optimize its
position," this year's ministerial meeting will surely be off balance, and
therefore one that many ministers will want to forget.

Michael Vatikiotis is a visiting research fellow at the Institute of
Southeast Asian Studies, Singapore.

_____________________________________
JOB ANNOUNCEMENT

July 11, Mizzima News
Journalist job announcement for Thailand-based journalists

Vacancies: News Bureau Chief and Reporter

Job Title: News Bureau Chief Employer
Mizzima News Group Start Date: August 1, 2005
Contact Person:   Soe Myint, Editor In-Chief, Email: editor at mizzima.com,
mizzima at hotmail.com
Location: Chiang Mai, Thailand
Experience and Criteria Required: Should be a working journalist in
Burmese, English and Thai languages.  Should possess knowledge about
Burma/Myanmar and its current affairs and the Burma-related regional
(South East Asia) issues.  Be willing to sign an eight-month contract. 
Should be based in Thailand.  Prefer those who have completed one of the
Internews journalism training courses.
Salary and Benefits: Basic Salary - Thai Bt. 5,000 (Five Thousand Only)
Application Process: Deadline for Application is 20 July 2005
Applicants should send a cover letter explaining why they are interested
in the position, a CV, and two references to editor at mizzima.com or
mizzima at hotmail.com.
Only selected applicants will be interviewed.

Job Title: Reporter
Mizzima News Group Start Date: August 1, 2005
Contact Person: Soe Myint, Editor In-Chief, Email: editor at mizzima.com,
mizzima at hotmail.com
Location: Chiang Mai, Thailand
Mizzima News Group is looking for a reporter for its newly established
Mizzima News Bureau in Chiang Mai, Thailand to contribute news and
articles on Burma and related issues to the Mizzima News (www.mizzima.com)
Experience and Criteria Required: Should posses some experiences for news
reporting and journalism.  Should be able to communicate in Burmese,
English and Thai language and possess experience of office management and
secretariat work.  Be willing to sign an
eight-month contract Prefer those who are based in Chiang Mai, Thailand
Salary and Benefits: Basic Salary - Thai Bt. 3,000 (Three Thousands Only)
Application Process: Deadline for Application is 20 July 2005
Applicants should send a cover letter explaining why they are interested
in the position, a CV, and two references to editor at mizzima.com or
mizzima at hotmail.com
Only selected applicants will be interviewed.