BurmaNet News, August 18, 2006

[Editor]

August 18, 2006 Issue # 3028


INSIDE BURMA
Xinhua: Myanmar, UNICEF to cooperate in multi-sector country program

ON THE BORDER
SHAN: Watchers forecast looming border war

HEALTH / AIDS
Irrawaddy: Junta evicts AIDS patients

BUSINESS / TRADE
Mizzima News: Gas evacuation from Burma in 2010: GAIL
Mizzima News: Htoo Trading; only company with timber export license

REGIONAL
Irrawaddy: Yadana pipeline protest case dismissed
Narinjara News: A hundred Burmese languish in Cox's Bazaar Jail

INTERNATIONAL
Agence France Presse: US official to examine refugee issues in Asia

OPINION / OTHER
Irrawaddy: The myth of Chinese non-interference - Nyein Chan Aye

____________________________________
INSIDE BURMA

August 18, Xinhua General News Service
Myanmar, UNICEF to cooperate in multi-sector country program

Yangon: Myanmar and the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) will
cooperate in implementing a country program action plan which covers a
number of sectors, the official newspaper New Light of Myanmar reported
Friday.

Under the action plan worked out by the Myanmar Ministry of National
Planning and Economic Development (NPED) and the UNICEF, the two parties
will jointly conduct study and supervisory tasks on health and nutrition
matters, water availability, hygienic environment, education, child
protection and social matters, the report said.

Since 1996, Myanmar has been implementing child protection project with
the coordination and cooperation with the UNICEF.

In November last year, the two sides launched a national seminar on social
work and child protection to enhance social work services in the country.
The seminar produced a set of recommended strategies to strengthen
community-based social work responses to protect vulnerable children.

Myanmar became a signatory to the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child
in 1991, enacting the Child Law in July 1993 and forming the National
Committee on the Rights of the Child in September the same year.

Meanwhile, the Myanmar government has formed a Central Coordination
Committee (CCC) to work with UN agencies and non- governmental
organizations operating in the country with their aid projects.

____________________________________
ON THE BORDER

August 18, Shan Herald Agency for News
Watchers forecast looming border war

As the monsoon draws to a close, both Thai and Shan sources predict that
hostilities are imminent between the Shan State Army (SSA) South and the
Burma Army.

For months the Burma Army has been consulting Google - earth, the
satellite map on the Internet, to pinpoint SSA bases and installations
along the Thai border for precision bombings and shelling, said a veteran
Thai source. "I'm pretty certain the junta's target is Loi Taileng (the
SSA's main base opposite Maehongson province)," he told S.H.A.N.

Another source, however, begged to differ. "We don't see any significant
Burma Army preparations underway in areas surrounding Loi Taileng," he
said. "But around Loi Kawwan (opposite Chiangrai province) we are
witnessing more bunkers and there is greater demand for construction
materials from Maesai these days."

One regular S.H.A.N. source in southern Shan State also reported seeing 20
six-wheel trucks on August 12 each carrying some 30-fully armed soldiers
traveling across the Salween and heading for Kengtung, where the Burma
Army's Triangle Region Command is headquartered. The news coincided with
another report that Maj-Gen Min Aung Hlaing, the regional commander, was
holding a council of war with area commanders in Tachilek the next day.
"The target is Loikawwan", he said. "And D-Day will be some time between
the end of August and the end of September."

S.H.A.N. was unable to reach SSA commanders at the time of reporting.
(09:30 Thai standard time)

The last major conflict between the SSA and the Burma Army took place in
2002, when the latter retreated after sustaining heavy casualties. The
former later promised the Thai government that if any future hostilities
were to take place on the border, it would not be the SSA which started
them.

____________________________________
HEALTH / AIDS

August 18, Irrawaddy
Junta evicts AIDS patients - Khun Sam

Social workers in Rangoon say that Burmese authorities drove out six
people with HIV/AIDS on Thursday from a home they were taking refuge in
for treatment in Thaketa Township.

The six patients were refused permission for an overnight stay in the home
they intended to rent from the owner, according to local social workers
who assisted the patients in getting medical treatment and accommodation.

“The patients regularly sought permission for overnight stays, but the
authorities refused them and forced them to leave the house,” said Than
Naing, a social worker, who added that authorities have also put pressure
on the house owner.

The house had been contracted by the social workers for ten months—of
which, five remain. But local authorities intervened to persuade the
landlord to cancel the contract. “According to our contract, we still had
five months left,” said Than Naing. “But the landlord refunded our rent on
August 11 and forced our patients to leave yesterday.”

In Rangoon’s South Dagon Township, authorities have issued a letter to
Phyu Phyu Thin—one of the 11 National League for Democracy youth members
briefly detained last Monday while trying to organize a ceremony for
HIV/AIDS patients at a Rangoon monastery. The letter requested his
presence at local government offices to discuss the housing of patients in
private residences.

“We also have a problem,” Phyu Phyu Thin said. “The authorities don’t want
patients to stay in our homes.” Eight people, including five patients and
three care givers, have been living in her home in Dagon Township for the
last 10 months.

Pressure on HIV/AIDS patients and their caregivers has increased in recent
days, following the disruption of a planned merit-making ceremony by a
group calling itself “Friends with a Red Ribbon.” Authorities raided the
monastery the evening before the scheduled event and arrested 11 youth NLD
members for not securing permission to stay overnight at the monastery.

Subsequent plans to hold a ceremony for Than Lwin, a 44-year-old NLD
member who died of HIV/AIDS last week have also hit a snag over permission
for an overnight stay. “When I went to seek permission for an overnight
stay, authorities scolded me publicly and said that I had brought disease
into Burma from outside,” said Khin Htay Lwin. “They refused me
permission. What am I supposed to do when they treat me like this?” she
added.

The group Friends with a Red Ribbon comprises some 50 HIV/AIDS patients,
some of whom are former political prisoners who believe they contracted
the disease while in custody. HIV infection rates in Burmese prisons are
reportedly high due to communal use of syringes for medical treatment.

The NLD and the ’88 Generation Students group have called on Burmese
authorities to stop the intimidation of HIV/AIDS patients and their
supporters. “We are just helping them as much as we can,” said Than Naing.
“But we need the authorities to stop their shameful harassment.”

_____________________________________
BUSINESS / TRADE

August 18, Mizzima News
Gas evacuation from Burma in 2010: GAIL - Syed Ali Mujtaba

Commercial production of gas in Burma's two blocks will start in mid 2010,
Chairman and managing director of Gail India, Proshanto Banerjee said on
Wednesday in New Delhi.

"Shwe and Shwe Phyu in Block A-1, two gas blocks where GAIL holds 10 per
cent stakes, has a reserve of 161 to 283 billion cubic meters and its
production will start from July 2010," Banerjee said.

The feasibility study for field development showed that the three fields,
Shwe and Shwe Phyu in Block A-1, and Mya field in Block A-3 could yield
about 16 million cubic meters of gas daily for 20 to 25 years, the GAIL MD
said.

"GAIL estimates that during the course of commercial production 16 million
cubic meters of gas would be produced per day."

"GAIL is still studying how to ship gas from the two blocks to India and
one of the proposals is to build a pipeline from Burma to northeast India
bypassing Bangladesh," he added.

____________________________________

August 17, Mizzima News
Htoo Trading; only company with timber export license - Myo Gyi

Ten trucks laden with timber on Wednesday night crossed the Sino-Burmese
border from the Burmese border town of Muse in northern Shan State and
headed for Kyae Gaung in China, sources on the border told Mizzima.

The trucks, which can carry at least 15 logs each, are owned by Tayza, a
Rangoon based Burmese business tycoon, according to sources.

Tayza's Htoo trading company, which is reportedly the only company that
has obtained the license to export timber to China, has been exporting
timber at least twice a month and in return imports construction material
such as cement and hardware.

However, an official of Htoo trading in Rangoon rejected reports of
exporting timber to China and dismissed rumours of being the only timber
exporting license holder.

"Its nothing like that, Htoo receives contracts for timber and every buyer
takes them to their respective countries. It depends on which country
buys. If China imports timber than the company would export to China," an
official of Htoo trading in Rangoon, Win Oo told Mizzima.

"There has been no export of timber to China in recent times. We are
mainly focusing on India and Bangladesh. And our company does not actually
export it but companies from other countries come and buy them. It depends
on which country is buying," added Win Oo.

Meanwhile, over 1,000 tons of timber, apart from over 3,000 tons of timber
seized by the authorities in northern Shan State town of Muse, will soon
be auctioned, according to a businessman in the border town.

Currently, a ton of timber on the border costs over 8,000 Chinese Yuan
(approximately US $ 1,000).

The businessman added that the business community on the Sino-Burmese
border are hopeful that timber logging and exporting to China would be
back to normal once the cases of the Chinese workers, who were arrested by
Burmese authorities, is settled.

Following a report released by Global Witness on the deteriorating
environmental situation in Burma caused by logging, the Chinese
authorities since early this year banned logging and import of timber from
Burma.

The Burmese authorities reciprocated the move by banning all logging
companies, including ethnic ceasefire groups, who engage in illegal
logging, from exporting timber to China.

____________________________________

August 18, Irrawaddy
Wanted traders on the run in Muse area

More than 30 traders are still being hunted by authorities in the area of
Muse, on the Burma-China border, in connection with corruption and illegal
trading.

Residents in Muse said on Friday they had seen a list with the names of
about 50 accused traders who run private businesses in the area. Nineteen
of them were sentenced in Lashio prison, northern Shan State, this week to
terms of imprisonment ranging from seven to 42 years. Thirty four of the
people on the wanted list were still at large and suspected of seeking
refuge in China.

Among well-known local businessmen on the list are Win Thein Kyaw, who has
an transportation company, Tin Pe, of Kyaw Kyaw Thein Trading, Thet
Khaing, of Saytamann transportaion, Aung Min, of Tharaphy Commpany, and
Kyi Aung, of God’s Son Company.

The arrests and investigations in the Muse area follow crackdowns on
Customs Department officials and businesspeople in other parts of the
country. In several cases in August, more than 80 Customs Department
officials and 200 traders were sentenced to prison terms of up to 21
years.

In late July about two dozen businesspeople were arrested in Myawaddy, the
Burmese border town opposite Thailand’s Mae Sot and charged with tax
evasion and possessing illegal goods. They included the president of the
Myawaddy Chamber of Commerce.

____________________________________
REGIONAL

August 18, Irrawaddy
Yadana pipeline protest case dismissed - Sai Silp

The case against prominent Thai social activist Sulak Sivaraksa, accused
with other protestors six years ago of disrupting the building of a gas
pipeline crossing part of Burma, has been dismissed by Thailand’s criminal
court.

Sulak was charged with obstructing the pipeline when it was being built in
1998. It now transmits gas from the Yadana field in Burmese offshore
waters to Thai power plants, via Mon and Karen areas. The pipeline was
being built by state-controlled oil ands gas conglomerate PTT, formerly
the Petroleum Authority of Thailand.

Sulak said the outcome was a victory for justice of sorts, but the issues
of compensation for villagers in Burma whose land was taken and the misuse
of the income from the gas by the Burmese regime remained unanswered.

“The pipeline project has not provided benefit for local people both Thai
and Burma,” he told The Irrawaddy on Friday.  “It is a shameful project.
The Thai government has to pay US$ 400 million per year to the Burmese
government and they use this money to abuse and threaten ethnic people in
their country.”

The case was dropped because the law under which Sulak was charged related
to the former state-owned Petroleum Authority of Thailand which had since
been partially privatized as PTT plc.

PTT implied that it might still pursue Sulak. “We have not decided yet
whether to move on in the legal process or not. [PTT] executives will
discuss the matter after we have got the official report from Office of
the Attorney General,” a company legal department spokesman said.

It is widely known that much of the income from Burma’s gas, which now
totals about US $1 billion from Thailand alone, goes to buy military
equipment and weapons. Activists say this helps the junta harass ethnic
groups opposed to the regime.

Sulak Sivaraksa is a high profile social commentator and environmental
campaigner. In 2005, was nominated for Nobel Peace Prize for his social
work among Thai communities, including the Assembly of the Poor,
indigenous peoples and Buddhist groups.

____________________________________

August 18, Narinjara News
A hundred Burmese languish in Cox's Bazaar Jail

It is a sad tale of people jailed and forgotten with little hope of
returning to their homeland.

At least 100 Burmese citizens are languishing in Bangladesh's Cox's Bazaar
jail and are having to provide back breaking labour, said an inmate from
the jail.

About 60 of the 100 are Buddhist Burmese while the remaining 40 are
Muslims, says U Nural Hal, who is himself a Burmese Muslim currently an
inmate in the Cox's Bazaar jail.

"I was jailed for passport fraud. Nearly every Burmese here has served
their sentences. However, there is no one to take us back, so the prison
authorities will not release us. I served my term eight years ago. Like
me, most of us have served our prison terms," he said.

"Bengali inmates do not have to perform hard job. Their families pay
bribes to prison authorities so that they don't have to do anything. We
Burmese have to do all kinds of hard work in the prison, such as cutting
wood, crushing bricks, cleaning toilets, cooking, and washing the prison,"
he continues.

"Emotionally the hardest thing for us is that every time the Bangladeshi
government tries to repatriate us to Burma, our Burmese government refuses
to accept us. We might even have to spend our whole lives inside this
Bangladeshi prison," he added.

A former Bangladeshi inmate commented that "if the Burmese government
keeps on refusing to accept them, they will have to end their lives in the
Bangladeshi prison. They have no other hope. Bengali inmates call them
life-less inmates."

There are currently about 500 Burmese nationals in Bangladeshi jails and
most have been unable to return to their homeland, as the Burmese military
authorities deny that they are citizens of their country.

_____________________________________
INTERNATIONAL

August 17, Agence France Presse
US official to examine refugee issues in Asia

The US official in charge of refugee affairs will travel to Malaysia,
Bangladesh and Thailand next week to examine refugee issues, the State
Department said Thursday.

Ellen Sauerbrey, assistant secretary of state for population, refugees and
migration affairs, will be accompanied by the United Nations High
Commissioner for Refugees, Antonio Guterres, on the Thai portion of the
trip.

The objective of the trip to the three Asian nations, from August 21 to
September 2, was to "examine refugee programs and policy, including a
number of high-profile refugee issues," a State Department statement said,
without giving details.

It will be Sauerbrey's first trip to the region since her appointment in
January, US officials said.

She will meet officials and review US-funded refugee programs in the three
countries, they said.

Thailand is saddled with 140,000 refugees from military-ruled Myanmar as
well as several thousand ethnic Hmong believed from neighbouring Laos.

The refugees from Myanmar are living in nine border camps in Thailand,
many of whom have been there for up to 20 years. Some of them fled
fighting between the Karen National Union, the oldest and largest rebel
force, against Myanmar's military regime.

Thailand had also been running refugee camps for several thousand ethnic
Hmong.

Since last year, Bangkok has been investigating the cases of nearly 7,000
Hmong, many of whom allegedly crossed the border with Laos from April
2004.

Some Hmong were allied with the United States during the Vietnam War and
formed a Central Intelligence Agency-backed secret army when the war
spilled into Laos.

When the United States withdrew in 1975, many Hmong feared persecution by
the communist government of Laos and fled to Thailand, where they lived in
refugee camps.

_____________________________________
OPINION / OTHER

August 18, Irrawaddy
The myth of Chinese non-interference - Nyein Chan Aye

China is a growing power in world affairs. In Chinese policy circles, this
is characterized as a “peaceful rise”—a benign and unthreatening process
where China modernizes itself and takes its place alongside the leading
nations of the world, but without subjugating others in the pursuit of
imperial ambitions or causing conflicts or instability. An integral part
of this peaceful rise entails taking the world very much as China finds
it, developing relationships with existing governments in various
countries without raising questions about the legitimacy or credibility of
the rulers it deals with. In official-speak, this is the policy of
non-interference. Any controversial issues relating to foreign governments
are consigned to the category of “internal matters,” upon which China has
no right or desire to make comment.


>From the standpoint of an emerging power like China, such a policy of

non-interference makes good sense. Unlike the US, China does not yet
possess the economic, political or military clout to pursue its national
interests in an overt or aggressive manner. It will take years to build up
such power, and at an astronomical cost. For the time being, appeasement
works well, especially with regimes that have their differences with the
US.  By assuring a stance of non-interference in others’ domestic affairs,
the Chinese have been able to secure cooperation from a series of
governments in Asia, Latin America and Africa, thereby advancing Chinese
interests significantly, and all at a very modest cost.

While undoubtedly of benefit to Chinese interests, it must be asked if
this policy of non-interference really has a neutral impact on the
countries China has relations with. By saying and doing nothing about the
internal affairs of a country, is China really refraining from
interfering? Or is it doing precisely the reverse?

Burma is an instructive case exposing the myth of such non-interference.
As it is well known, the Chinese have consistently refused to comment on
the political situation in Burma, insisting always that any problems are
internal matters that should be handled by political players within the
country itself. Even more, China has argued forcefully that this principle
be respected by the international community, using its influence on the
international stage and most critically, the UN Security Council, to block
international attempts to assist in the resolution of the political crisis
in Burma.

But in pursuing this policy of non-interference, are the Chinese really
remaining neutral? Far from it. You see, a hands-off approach leaving the
disputing parties to sort things out themselves is fine if the parties
involved are relatively equal. But the disposition of political forces in
Burma right now is anything but that. There is a dominant and powerful
military machine facing off a weak and fragmented opposition. Under such
circumstances, non-interference simply creates an opportunity for the
military to exercise its dominance with fewer inhibitions, and thus crush
the opposition. Through non-interference, the Chinese are effectively
creating the conditions for an eventual State Peace and Development
Council victory.

The prospect of such a victory is all the more likely since Chinese
non-interference also implies a denial of any role or assistance from the
international community in the political process. Typically, such external
mediation or assistance will be a lifeline to a weaker opposition
movement, recognizing it as a critical stakeholder in the political
process and ensuring it a voice to influence developments. The Chinese
doctrine of non-interference, however, closes this avenue off and leaves
the opposition with stark alternatives. Without recourse to external
mediation, the only game in town is the military-controlled process. The
opposition can submit to the military regime and play the game according
to its rules and conditions, or it can reject the military-dominated
process but run the risk of marginalization, persecution and eventual
extinction. Whatever the alternative, the opposition is effectively
silenced. Yet again, Chinese non-interference delivers the SPDC the upper
hand.

If this is not enough, it must also be remembered that despite the
rhetoric about non-interference, the Chinese have been very generous
supporters of the SPDC, showering the regime with aid, soft loans and
materiel. Significant Chinese investment has also poured into Burma, and
directly or indirectly, this has bolstered the fortunes of the SPDC.
Hence, while the Chinese may speak of non-interference, they are
hypocritically providing the SPDC with the economic sustenance to wage
their political struggle more effectively. At the same time, support of
any kind to the opposition, be it moral or material, is denounced as
external interference in the internal affairs of Burma.

It is important to make one final point, as this has a bearing not only on
the immediate political struggle but the longer-term economic and
political future of Burma. In the developing economic relationship between
China and Burma, it is worrying to see that Burma is primarily a source of
resources for China and a market for her manufactured goods. Over time, it
is likely this economic pattern will intensify, as China's voracious
appetite for resources sees it extend itself further into Burma, while its
highly competitive manufactures decimate local Burmese industry. What
might emerge in the end is an economy that is heavily dependent on China,
and this will have tremendous implications for any government in power in
Burma. With that high level of dependence, the room for maneuver for any
government will be severely constrained. Even if the SPDC were removed,
any incoming government will find it extremely difficult to break out of
economic—and perhaps even political—servitude to China. So, when the
Chinese speak of non-interference and happily conduct their business deals
in Burma, it might be wise to be cautious. The economic relations being
forged now may be the basis for an even grander interference in the future
affairs of Burma.

For the time being, Beijing is getting away with this illusion. But over
time, the deception will be recognized and will exact a heavy toll. China
risks a heavy backlash against its economic, political and diplomatic
interests as it dawns on many it has had less than honorable intentions in
advocating non-interference. It will also place its own nationals in Burma
and many other countries around the world at risk. Far from a peaceful
rise, China's emergence may be accompanied by conflict, tension and
instability.

Whether born of naivety or by design, China's policy of non-interference
cannot be sustained. China needs to openly acknowledge its role as a key
player affecting economic and political developments in countries it has
relations with. It cannot keep ducking for cover under the pretext of
non-interference while selfishly continuing to reap the economic benefits
of its relations. As part of its rise to become a global power, China has
also a responsibility to assist in finding solutions to conflicts in
countries with which it is engaging and bring about a more peaceful, just,
and prosperous world. Sadly, this is a responsibility it is now shirking
by clinging to a stance of non-interference.

Nyein Chan Aye is a pseudonym for a non-Burmese businessperson working in
Asean countries, who regularly visits, and has access to, Burma’s business
circles.