BurmaNet News, January 13-16, 2007

[Editor]

January 13-16, 2007 Issue # 3121


INSIDE BURMA
Irrawaddy: China, Russia failed Burma, says opposition
Agence France Presse: UN veto on Myanmar could embolden regime: analysts
Japan Economic Newswire: Myanmar thanks China, Russia for veto at UNSC
DVB: Than Shwe on TV amid illness rumours
AFP: Myanmar says letter bomb was meant for police
DVB: Prayer campaigners bashed at Shwedagon pagoda

ON THE BORDER
AP: Activists from Myanmar, India and Zimbabwe to share World's Children's
Prize

BUSINESS / TRADE
AFP: China's CNPC inks exploration deal for Myanmar oil, gas

ASEAN
AFP: ASEAN says it must take lead on Myanmar
DPA: Asean adopts Burma 'humanitarian crisis’

INTERNATIONAL
New York Times: U.S. rebuke to Myanmar is defeated by U.N. vetoes
AFP: US 'deeply disappointed' by Myanmar resolution veto
Sunday Times (South Africa): SA under fire on Myanmar

OPINION / OTHER
The Nation: A victory for the Burmese junta
Khaleej Times (United Arab Emirates): Myopia on Myanmar
Jakarta Post: Pragmatism guiding RI diplomacy on Myanmar - Meidyatama
Suryodiningrat

____________________________________
INSIDE BURMA

January 15, Irrawaddy
China, Russia failed Burma, says opposition - Shah Paung

Burma’s main opposition groups criticized China and Russia for their veto
of a US-drafted resolution on Burma in the UN Security Council on Friday.

The resolution didn’t demand punitive actions against Burma’s military
regime but called on the junta to release all political prisoners, begin
dialogue and end its military attacks and human rights violations against
ethnic minorities.

“We are not happy with the veto. We want to raise a question: Did they
vote for the benefit of the Burmese people or for their own sake?” said
Jimmy, a leader of the 88 Generation Students group.

The US- and UK-sponsored resolution received nine votes: Belgium, France,
Ghana, Italy, Panama, Peru, Slovakia, the UK and the US. China and Russia,
both permanent members of the UNSC, vetoed the measure, and non-permanent
member South Africa followed their lead. Indonesia, Qatar and the Republic
of Congo abstained.

“China and Russia have known that Burmese people have been suffering
hardships. They should thoroughly reconsider their veto against the
resolution. They are responsible for their stance,” Jimmy added by phone
from Rangoon.

He said that the veto would negatively impact the country’s national
reconciliation process.

The main opposition National League for Democracy demanded in a statement
issued on Monday that China and Russia reconsider their veto for the sake
of the Burmese people.

US Acting Ambassador Alejandro Wolff and UK Ambassador Emyr Jones Parry
both expressed their disappointment, saying the resolution would have sent
a much-needed signal from Council members.

“The United States is deeply disappointed by the failure of the council to
adopt the resolution,” Wolff said in his speech to the council after the
vote.

He added that the junta “arbitrarily arrests, tortures, rapes and executes
its own people, wages war on minorities within its own borders, and builds
itself new cities while looking the other way as refugee flows increase,
narcotics and human trafficking grow, and communicable diseases remain
untreated.”

Meanwhile, state-run New Light of Myanmar hailed the failure of the
US-draft resolution at the UNSC. The newspaper said on Sunday it was “the
victory for the people of the international community and the people of
Myanmar [Burma] who love truthfulness.”

The New Light report added: “All the people of Myanmar are intolerant of
the US and British governments, which are using the UNSC to meddle in
Myanmar’s internal affairs by leveling lopsided accusations.”

The 88 Generation Students group said that the group won’t be discouraged
by the veto, but they would work harder on the democracy movement. “We
will rely on ourselves to put out the fire in our house,” 88 Generation
leader Min Ko Naing said.

____________________________________

January 14, Agence France Presse
UN veto on Myanmar could embolden regime: analysts - Charlotte
McDonald-Gibson

Bangkok: Myanmar has claimed victory after the veto of a UN resolution
urging democratic reforms in the military-ruled nation, which analysts
warn could embolden the repressive junta.

Russia and China on Friday vetoed the Security Council resolution brought
by the United States and Britain calling on Myanmar's generals to free
political prisoners, end sexual violence by the military and speed up
democratic reform.

"It's not only a victory of Myanmar people and people of international
countries, but also a victory for the reality of Myanmar," the junta said
in a statement broadcast on state television and radio.

Activists fear the "reality of Myanmar" could indeed become much darker
after the veto, as it could give the regime the confidence to continue
with its repressive and isolationist stance.

"It emboldens the regime to misbehave further," said Debbie Stothard, of
the Alternative ASEAN Network on Burma, an advocacy group.

Stothard said that resolutions by other UN bodies such as the Human Rights
Council had proved ineffective, and the world had to go back to the
Security Council if they were to have any effect on Myanmar, formerly
known as Burma.

"As the rest of the international community realise the Security Council
is the way to go, we think that China and Russia will realise they will
have to toe the line," she told AFP.

The vote produced the first double veto at the Council in more than 20 years.

China, which is keen to tap Myanmar's vast natural resources, and Russia,
which wants to exert its influence in the region, have always indicated
that they will block any attempts by the 15-member Council to criticise
the regime.

But the vetoes came not because of disputes over the scope of the abuses
in Myanmar, but because of disagreement over whether the situation poses a
risk to regional peace and security, Thailand-based Myanmar analyst Win
Min said.

"I was expecting that both China and Russia would use their veto because
they regard this as not belonging at the Security Council, not a threat to
peace and security," he said.

However, one Western diplomat said that despite the predictable outcome,
the United States was keen to make clear its commitment to democratic
reform and human rights in Myanmar, which has been ruled by the military
since 1962.

"It seems to me that for the last two years... anti-junta groups in the US
have been able to link up more than before with the Bush entourage," said
the diplomat.

"They have made the issue of Burma one of the priorities" for the Bush
administration, he told AFP.

The United States has accused the regime of torturing, raping and
executing its own people, waging war on ethnic minorities and looking the
other way as drug and human trafficking grows.

The United Nations estimates there are some 1,100 political prisoners in
Myanmar, including Nobel Peace Prize winner and democracy leader Aung San
Suu Kyi.

Her National League for Democracy overwhelmingly won 1990 elections, but
were never allowed to take office, and Aung San Suu Kyi has now spent more
than a decade under house arrest.

Many Myanmar watchers now question what the international community can do.

Southeast Asian nations said Sunday they must take responsibility for
pressing Myanmar to reform and "make greater progress towards national
reconciliation".

The 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), which has
been at odds over how to handle its most notorious member, said the
unresolved issue had put its own credibility at stake.

Win Min said the United States would likely now take the issue to the UN
Secretary General's office, but said this would not carry the same weight
as a Security Council resolution.

"I don't think the regime will much care about this. You won't see the
release of political prisoners," he said.

____________________________________

January 14, Japan Economic Newswire
Myanmar thanks China, Russia for veto at UNSC

Yangon: Myanmar's military government thanked China and Russia on Sunday
for vetoing a draft resolution on Myanmar the United States tabled Friday
at the U.N. Security Council, hailing the vetoes.

"It can be deduced that it was the victory of the people of the
international community and the people of Myanmar who love truthfulness,"
an official statement published in all three state-run newspapers Sunday
said.

"Myanmar people show their sincere thanks to the People's Republic of
China and Russian Federation for their veto of the resolution submitted to
the UNSC and the Republic of South Africa for her casting vote against the
resolution," the statement added.

China and Russia vetoed a draft resolution the United States tabled Friday
at the council urging the release of all political prisoners in Myanmar.

China, Russia and South Africa voted against the draft, while the United
States, Britain, France and six other countries voted for, with three
countries -- Indonesia, Qatar and Congo -- abstaining.

China's veto is the first since February 1999 and Russia's the first since
April 2004.

Since the 1945 founding of the United Nations, China's veto marks just its
sixth. Russia's was its 123rd.
The official junta statement Sunday accused the United States and Briton
of trying to adopt a resolution at the UNSC with the intention of
interfering in Myanmar's internal affairs.

"All the people of Myanmar are intolerant of the U.S. and British
governments, which are using the UNSC to meddle in the Myanmar's internal
affairs by leveling lopsided accusations," the statement said.

The U.S. draft resolution expressed "deep concern at the slow pace of
tangible progress in the process of national reconciliation in Myanmar and
at the continuing detention of political prisoners."

The prisoners include Nobel Peace laureate and National League for
Democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

The draft also called on Myanmar's military government "to take concrete
steps to allow full freedom of expression, association, and movement by
unconditionally releasing Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and all political
prisoners...and allowing the National League of Democracy and other
political parties to operate freely."

It also urged an end to "military attacks against civilians in ethnic
minority regions and...an end to the associated human rights and
humanitarian law violations against persons belonging to ethnic
nationalities, including widespread rape and other forms of sexual
violence carried out by members of the armed forces."

It also expressed "deep concern at the transnational risks posed by the
situation in Myanmar, in particular, HIV/AIDS, avian flu and trafficking
in narcotics and people."

The draft called on U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki Moon to report to the
Security Council on the situation within six months after adoption.

Suu Kyi, 61, has been under house arrest since May 2003 and has spent 10
of the last 17 years in confinement.

Her party, the NLD, won the 1990 general election by a landslide but was
blocked by the junta from taking power.

____________________________________

January 16, Democratic Voice of Burma
Than Shwe on TV amid illness rumours

Top Burmese military leader senior general Than Shwe, who recently spent
nearly two weeks in a Singapore hospital, appeared on state-run TV
yesterday quashing rumours he was seriously ill.

Television footage aired in Burma yesterday of Than Shwe looking well at a
quarterly military meeting in Naypyidaw, surrounded deputy senior general
Maung Aye and general Thura Shwe Mann.

Since reports emerged on December 31 that Than Shwe had flown to Singapore
to be treated for intestinal cancer, analysts have speculated about the
gravity of his condition.

But a source close to the Burmese military told DVB today that reports the
junta leader had been treated for cancer of the large intestine were
false.

“Actually it turned out there was no cancer. It is a less serious
[illness],” the well-placed source said on condition of anonymity.

Win Min, a Burmese analyst based in Thailand, said Than Shwe’s TV
appearance was part of a ploy by the military leader to prove he was still
capable of running the country.

“From my point of view, both appearances of Than Shwe attending the
quarterly meeting in MRTV last night and then the New Light of Myanmar
this morning, seems in a way like there's no sign he is going to step
down. Mainly, he was trying to prove he can still take charge of
everything . . .,” Win Min said.

“If he’s in good health, he will neither step down, nor get ousted. It
depends on his health. But if his health condition is not good, there are
likely chances he might get ousted even if he refused to step down.”

DVB’s source close to the military said Than Shwe was worried about
securing a peaceful transition from power when he is no longer fit for the
job.

“Now he is not safe. He is very afraid. Not only because he is sick . . .
He might have already organised some mechanism (for his successor),” the
source said.

____________________________________

January 16, Agence France Presse
Myanmar says letter bomb was meant for police

Yangon:  A parcel bomb that exploded at a Yangon post office, injuring a
postal worker, was addressed from an embassy and to the national police
headquarters, state media said Tuesday.

The bomb was inside a small parcel and exploded Monday afternoon while
Kyaw Than Win, 58, was sorting the mail, the official New Light of Myanmar
said.

Kyaw Than Win suffered injuries to his face and thigh, but was not in a
critical condition, the paper added.
The return address on the parcel was for an embassy in Yangon, but the
paper did not say which one.

"The explosion was a timely attempt with the aim of disrupting the
stability in the country," the New Light of Myanmar said, blaming the
blast on unnamed "internal and external destructive elements."

No one has claimed responsibility for the bomb, which caused little damage.

The blast came after the veto on Friday of a US-led United Nations
Security Council resolution urging democratic reform here.

Yangon periodically suffers small bombings. Officials usually blame the
blasts on opponents of the military government -- either armed ethnic
rebel groups or the pro-democracy opposition.

____________________________________

January 16, Democratic Voice of Burma
Prayer campaigners bashed at Shwedagon pagoda

A group of activists attending a regular Tuesday prayer vigil for
political prisoners at Shwedagon pagoda today were beaten by special
police.

Ko Than Zaw Myint, who was at the prayer meeting, told DVB he was grabbed
and assaulted by three men.

“Two grabbed my shoulders and said, ‘Don’t hang around. Leave here’. I
told them I was there not to leave but to pray on the pagoda. They said,
‘You want to die?’ and gave me a punch across my face,” Ko Than Zaw Myint
said.

Activist Ko Tun Tun said he was physically driven out of the highly
revered pagoda by about 200 pagoda police, Union Solidarity and
Development Association members and special police.

“They said, ‘We don't want you here, get out’ and then they reached to the
point where they drove us out of the pagoda compound,” Ko Tun Tun said.

Head of the Shwedagon pagoda police, U Maung Maung, said there were no
scuffles at the pagoda today and that officers were carrying out their
normal duties.

But a witness said USDA members showed up at the pagoda shouting slogans
such as “Destructive elements get out” and pushing people.

“And they’d smack someone on the face, saying ‘Why do you come here?’ . .
. There were a lot of them, including special police and Bahan regional
officials as well. Most of them were carrying mobile phones and were
talking on them,” the witness said.

Bahan township police were not immediately available for comment today.

____________________________________
ON THE BORDER

January 15, Associated Press
Activists from Myanmar, India and Zimbabwe to share World's Children's Prize

Stockholm: Activists from Myanmar, India and Zimbabwe will share this
year's World's Children's Prize for the Rights of the Child, organizers
announced Monday.

Myanmar's Cynthia Maung, India's Inderjit Khurana and Betty Makoni of
Zimbabwe were named the finalists for the prize, which is split into three
parts the Global Friends' Award, the World's Children Prize and an
honorary award. The winners of each award will be announced on April 16,
and the three finalists will split a 1 million kronor (US$140,000;
euro108,000) cash prize.

The prize, honoring those who defend youth rights, was set up in 1999 by
the Swedish Children's World Association, with millions of children
worldwide voting on the winners each year.

Maung fled her native country formally called Burma 18 years ago, and now
runs a medical clinic in Thailand that provides free health care for
refugee children, organizers said.

Khurana was honored for starting and running the organization Ruchika that
runs schools and nurseries for poor children in India, while Makoni's Girl
Child Network help Zimbabwean girls escape trafficking, abuse and child
labor.

The World's Children's Prize is decided by a jury of children who have
been exposed to child labor, slavery, war or poverty, while 5 million
children worldwide will vote on the winner of the Global Friends' Award.

____________________________________
BUSINESS / TRADE

January 16, Agence France Presse
China's CNPC inks exploration deal for Myanmar oil, gas

Beijing: China National Petroleum Corporation, the country's top oil
producer, has signed a major resource exploration deal with Myannar, state
media reported.

Under the agreement, China National Petroleum Corporation and the
state-run Myanmar Oil and Gas Enterprise will carry out oil and gas
exploration in blocks off the Rakhine coast, the official Xinhua news
agency said late Monday.

The total area covers 10,000 square kilometres (4,000 square miles), the
report said.
The report gave no financial details.

China National Petroleum Corporation spokesman Liu Weijiang confirmed the
deal to AFP but declined to provide further details.

Between late 2004 and early 2005, a consortium led by China National
Offshore Oil Company, a rival state-run firm, signed a series of
agreements with Myanmar for gas exploration.

That agreement will see onshore searches in Rakhine and in Sagaing as well
as the Mottama offshore area.

Myanmar has proven recoverable gas reserves of 510 billion cubic meters
(1.7 trillion cubic feet) and 3.2 billion barrels of crude oil reserves,
the report said.

The two nation's are also mulling building a pipeline across Myanmar that
would tap the nation's offshore natural gas deposits.

China, which is scouring the world for energy resources to power its
booming economy, is one of Myanmar's closest political and economic
allies.

The relationship is vital for Myanmar's military rulers amid enduring
Western economic sanctions and international isolation over the lack of
democracy and allegations of widespread human rights abuses in the
country.

____________________________________

January 14, Agence France Presse
Chinese province urges Myanmar to loosen visa rules for trade

Yangon: China's southwestern Yunnan province has asked neighbouring
Myanmar to loosen visa rules for Chinese merchants to boost trade between
the countries, the Myanmar Times newspaper reported Sunday.

Myanmar merchants are allowed to stay in Yunnan for up to six months, and
pay lower visa fees than their Chinese counterparts, the provincial
commerce ministry's deputy chief Le Kyar Shu was quoted as saying in the
semi-official weekly.

"Currently, Myanmar authorities only issue one-day permits for merchants
from Yunnan province who cross into Myanmar... for trade purposes," he
said in the paper.

"However, our government allows anyone from Myanmar to stay for six months
within Yunnan province for dealing in trade with our Chinese merchants,"
he said, according to the paper.

"We're convinced that trade volume between our two countries will increase
if Chinese traders are allowed to stay in Myanmar for longer periods
longer to conduct business," he added.

He was speaking at a December 18 meeting of a joint border trade committee
in the town of Muse near the Chinese border, the Myanmar Times said.

Trade between the countries reached 1.2 billion dollars in 2005, according
to Chinese government statistics, and is set to continue booming as China
considers building a pipeline across Myanmar to tap the nation's offshore
natural gas deposits.

The trade is vital for Myanmar's military rulers amid enduring Western
economic sanctions and international isolation over the lack of democracy
and widespread human rights abuses in the country.

China on Friday joined Russia in vetoing a US-backed resolution at the UN
Security Council that would have pushed Myanmar to make democratic
reforms.

____________________________________
ASEAN

January 14, Agence France Presse
ASEAN says it must take lead on Myanmar - Martin Abbugao

Cebu: Southeast Asian nations said Sunday they must take responsibility
for handling Myanmar, after it escaped US-led pressure from the UN
Security Council over its human rights record.

The 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), which has
been at odds over how to handle its most notorious member, said the
unresolved issue had put its own credibility at stake.

"We agreed on the need to preserve ASEAN's credibility as an effective
regional organisation by demonstrating a capacity to manage important
issues in the region," it said in a summit statement issued Sunday.

The statement also encouraged the military-ruled nation to "make greater
progress towards national reconciliation." It called for the release of
detainees and for effective dialogue with all parties concerned.

The statement had been promised for Saturday during the group's annual
summit in the Philippines, and the delay underlined lingering doubts about
ASEAN's political will to hold its own members to account.

The bloc is preparing a charter to transform it from an informal group
that operates by consensus to a rules-based entity like the European
Union, but one stumbling block has been how much pressure it can put on
nations like Myanmar.

China and Russia used a rare double veto in the Council on Friday to sink
a US resolution that would have called on the junta to free the estimated
1,000 political prisoners in the impoverished country.

Myanmar's generals, who have ruled the country since 1962 and kept
democracy activist and Nobel peace laureate Aung San Suu Kyi in detention
for much of the past two decades, have repeatedly pledged to move towards
democracy.

But their self-declared democratic "road map" has been denounced as a sham
by the United Nations, the United States and the European Union.

China is a major economic and political supporter of Myanmar. It defended
its veto by saying that the situation was not a "threat to international
security" -- the UN charter's language to justify Council action.
Several ASEAN members had also expressed unhappiness about the UN resolution.

The sentence in ASEAN's statement taking responsibility for Myanmar was
not in the draft version last week, and a Southeast Asian diplomatic
source said it was basically added in response to the UN resolution.

He said it was one of the issues that delayed the statement's release.

The paragraph, the source said, was a quid pro quo sought by Myanmar to
balance out last week's call by ASEAN foreign ministers for the release of
Aung San Suu Kyi.

In the end, she was not named in the subsequent leaders' statement.

More than half of foreign investment in Myanmar comes from fellow ASEAN
members. The body has long been under fire for what activists see as its
weak stance and some members admit Myanmar is an international
embarrassment.

"The situation in Myanmar is impacting upon the image and credibility of
ASEAN," Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi told a meeting of
the bloc's foreign ministers in July.

"ASEAN will not relinquish its proper role in addressing a domestic
situation with regional implications," M.C. Abad, spokesman for the body's
secretariat, told AFP Sunday.

____________________________________

January 15, Deutsche Press Agentur
Asean adopts Burma 'humanitarian crisis’ - Girlie Linao

Cebu: Despite being frustrated by the slow pace of democratic reforms in
Burma, its Southeast Asian neighbours have started to shift their
attention to the humanitarian "crisis" plaguing the military-ruled
country.

While leaders of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations still stressed
the need for Burma to "make greater progress towards national
reconciliation," they also offered various assistance in alleviating
humanitarian problems there.

But democracy activists stressed that all the humanitarian problems
plaguing the people of Burma were "directly and indirectly caused" by the
military junta of General Than Shwe.

"There is definitely a humanitarian crisis in Burma. Unfortunately, the
main cause of this crisis is the military regime," Debbie Stothardt,
coordinator of the Bangkok-based pro-democracy Alternative Asean Network,
told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa in a telephone interview.

Burmese Prime Minister Soe Win welcomed the offers of aid from his Asean
counterparts and briefed them on the progress of his government's
seven-step roadmap to democracy during their annual summit in the central
Philippines, an Asian diplomat said Sunday.

But Soe Win's report piqued some of the Asean leaders, who noted that
there was "nothing new" or concrete about the implementation of democratic
reforms, another diplomat said.

The meeting occurred just a day after the a US-proposed resolution to
declare the situation in Burma a threat to regional security was defeated
in the United Nations Security Council after China and Russia vetoed it.

Asean leaders said they believed that the region should be allowed to deal
with the problems in Burma first before it was taken up in international
forums such as the UN.

According to a briefing paper on the meetings held in Cebu province, 585
kilometres south of Manila, Asean leaders expressed their desire to "work
with Burma in improving the human security situation in the country" -
using the military's junta word for Burma.

"If the government of Myanmar would let us, we are willing to play a role
in alleviating the humanitarian problems faced by Myanmar, such as
HIV/Aids, tuberculosis and malaria, internal displacement due to conflict
between government forces and insurgents, and poverty," the confidential
paper added.

The document noted that since it was the "humanitarian crisis" that
brought the situation in Myanmar to the attention of the United Nations,
it was time for Asean to re-examine its approach to the situation in
Myanmar.

"Up to this point, Asean has dwelt too much on political and economic
engagement with Myanmar," the paper said.

The UN's focus on the humanitarian situation in Burma "should spur Asean
to reflect on what role it envisages for itself in improving the
humanitarian situation in its member countries, especially in light of its
efforts to draw up its charter and to evolve an Asean socio-cultural
community, where human, cultural and natural resources are developed and
shared for the community interest of Asean peoples," it added.

Asean has often been criticised for failing to take stronger action
against Burma, whose failure to implement democratic reforms and dismal
human rights record have been an irritant in relations with key dialogue
partners, such as the European Union and the United States.

In a statement at the end of their summit, Asean leaders called for the
release of those placed under detention and for effective dialogue with
all parties concerned.

"Furthermore, we agreed on the need to preserve Asean's credibility as an
effective regional organisation by demonstrating a capacity to manage
important issues within the region," the statement added.

Stothardt said any effort to help the Burmese people must be done side by
side with pressuring the military junta to implement democratic reforms
and stop repressive policies.

She noted that people in Burma were poor not because of the lack of funds
or resources, but because "the regime is prioritising the military,
splurging on fighter jets and military hardware and not on education,
health and other services."

According to international organisations, the military junta only spends
0.3 per cent of its gross domestic product on education and even less,
0.19 per cent, for public health services.

Stothardt added that according to the World Health Organisation, Burma is
ranked 190th among 191 countries in its public health services.

"The Burmese people are facing a very terrible, very horrible situation
there because of the military junta's bad governance, economic neglect and
lack of democracy," she said.

"The bigger disaster in Burma is not natural, it's a military-made
disaster," she added. "The humanitarian situation in Burma will be
resolved once the military stops attacking the people and subjecting them
to repressive acts. They don't even have to spend money.".

____________________________________
INTERNATIONAL

January 13, The New York Times
U.S. rebuke to Myanmar is defeated by U.N. vetoes - Warren Hoge

United Nations: China and Russia vetoed an American-drafted resolution on
Friday calling for the military rulers of Myanmar to release all political
prisoners, cease attacks on ethnic minorities and speed a transition to
democracy.

The vote was 9 to 3 with South Africa joining China and Russia in
opposition, and three other countries, Congo Republic, Indonesia and
Qatar, abstaining.

The Security Council's five permanent members -- Britain, China, France,
Russia and the United States -- hold veto power over most resolutions.

China and Russia argued that they shared concerns about conditions in
Myanmar but considered them internal matters that did not constitute
threats to international peace and security, the category of crisis
subject to Security Council action.

''Not a single one of the neighboring countries regards the situation in
Myanmar as a threat to them, and on the basis of that, there were no
grounds for the Security Council to consider the matter,'' said Vitaly I.
Churkin, Russia's ambassador.

Wang Guangya, the Chinese ambassador, said, ''Of course there are problems
in Myanmar, but we believe that these problems do not constitute a threat
to international peace and security.''

Alejandro D. Wolff, the acting American ambassador, said he was ''deeply
disappointed'' at the outcome but noted even countries voting against the
measure made clear in explanatory statements that they were not defending
Myanmar's government. ''This was a jurisdictional issue behind the split
vote here,'' he said.

''There was no disagreement about the content and substance behind this
resolution.''

Mr. Wolff was asked why the United States risked dividing the Council and
muddling its message to the repressive rulers of Myanmar, formerly known
as Burma.

''The only mixed message here is whether this issue deserved to be on the
Security Council agenda,'' he said. ''There is no mixed message, no mixed
signal at all, about how the international community, how this Council
feels about the situation in Burma.''

The resolution mentioned by name the most prominent political prisoner,
Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, the Nobel Peace Prize-winning opposition leader, who
is under house arrest.

It also accused Myanmar's armed forces of attacking and raping civilians
from the country's ethnic minorities and causing a refugee crisis in the
region, enabling narcotics traffic and permitting international
transmission of communicable diseases like H.I.V./AIDS and avian flu.

R. Nicholas Burns, the under secretary of state for political affairs,
said he had no doubt that the abuses by Myanmar posed a threat beyond its
borders. ''When a million people flee the country because of the abusive
practices of the government, that's a threat to international peace and
security,'' he said in a telephone interview from Washington.

''When you have a political movement jailed,'' he said, ''led by a woman
who is one of the greatest people in the world, that's a threat to
international peace and security.''

He dismissed suggestions that the proper United Nations forum for Myanmar
was the Geneva-based Human Rights Council, not the Security Council. ''We
forced this onto the agenda for one reason,'' he said. ''The Security
Council is the only place that can deal with human rights. The Human
Rights Council is a discredited institution. All it has done is to bash
Israel; it has ignored North Korea, it has ignored Sudan and it has
ignored Burma.''

After the vote, Kyaw Tint Swe, Myanmar's ambassador, thanked China and
Russia for blocking the move and said the charges against his country in
the resolution were ''patently false.''

The double veto was the first multiple veto in the Security Council since
1989, when Britain, France and the United States blocked a resolution on
Panama.

____________________________________

January 13, Agence France Presse
US 'deeply disappointed' by Myanmar resolution veto

Washington: The United States expressed deep disappointment Friday over
the vetoes of its UN draft resolution on Myanmar, saying the text would
have been a "powerful tool" in efforts to end the suffering of the
military-ruled country's people.

"The United States is deeply disappointed by the failure of the United
Nations Security Council today to adopt the resolution on Burma," State
Department deputy spokesman Tom Casey said in a statement, using Myanmar's
former name.

"We believe the proposed resolution would have been a powerful tool in our
efforts to help the long-suffering people of Burma," Casey said.

Earlier, China and Russia vetoed the draft UN Security Council resolution,
which urged Myanmar's rulers to free all political detainees and end
military sexual violence.

The rare double veto by China and Russia, which often worked hand in hand
to rein in the only remaining superpower, came despite attempts by the
United States to water down the draft's language.

Nine countries backed the text, which was co-sponsored by Britain.

"The Security Council has an obligation to uphold the universal values of
human rights as enshrined in the UN Charter," Casey said.

"The United States will continue to work for effective Security Council
action to defend human rights worldwide," he said.

Also opposing the text Friday was South Africa, which early this month
joined the council as a non-permanent member.

Indonesia, like Myanmar a member of the Association of Southeast Asian
Nations (ASEAN), Qatar and Congo abstained.

Opponents of the text said the Myanmar issue did not represent a threat to
international peace and security and was best handled by the Geneva-based
UN Human Rights Council.

"Although Security Council members disagreed whether to adopt a Security
Council resolution on Burma, every Security Council member affirmed that
the situation in Burma remains unacceptable," Casey said.

He said the regime continued to hold over 1,100 political prisoners,
including Aung San Suu Kyi and other key civil society leaders, and
supported violence against ethnic minorities.

The adverse conditions have caused more than one million Burmese to flee
to neighboring countries, he added.

"The United States stands with the people of Burma in their efforts to
build a free and peaceful future. We will continue to work with all our
partners and allies to address the deplorable conditions in Burma," he
said.

____________________________________

January 14, Sunday Times (South Africa)
SA under fire on Myanmar

South Africa’s decision to join China and Russia in voting against a
United Nations Security Council’s resolution - calling on the military
junta in Myanmar to stop human rights abuses including ethnic killings,
rapes and forced labour - has been questioned by the official opposition
Democratic Alliance (DA).

The motion - put to the council at the weekend - was proposed by the
United States. Nine states voted for the resolution while Qatar, the
Republic of the Congo and Indonesia abstained. As permanent members of the
council China and Russia have veto powers.

DA chief whip and foreign affairs spokesman, Douglas Gibson, said in a
statement on Monday: "South Africa’s first significant vote since taking
up its non-permanent seat on the United Nations security council raises a
question - will South Africa ever meet a dictator it does not like?"

Gibson suggested that the decision appeared to be a continuation of South
Africa’s "quiet diplomacy" approach to dictatorships and their human
rights abuses.

Gibson noted that South Africa’s United Nations envoy, Dumisani Kumalo,
was at pains to point out that South Africa was indeed concerned about the
situation in Myanmar, but did not feel that a strongly worded resolution
was the appropriate way of engaging with the government in that country.

Gibson said while he may have a point in this case, this "softly softly"
approach brings back uncomfortable memories of previous situations where
South Africa should have taken a tough stance against dictatorship,
electoral fraud and human rights abuses, but chose instead to adopt a mild
line.

"In the case of Zimbabwe, South Africa’s ’quiet diplomacy’ has been an
outright failure, and one wonders when South Africa will realise that
Africa and the world is looking to it to lead the way when it comes to
taking tough measures against misgovernance on our own back doorstep."

South Africa’s Security Council vote on Myanmar - previously known as
Burma - "can only leave those who are campaigning for human rights and
good governance with an uncomfortable feeling of déj€ vu. Several human
rights organisations have expressed alarm and surprise at the way South
Africa voted".

The military government first crushed the democratic movement in the late
1980s of Aung San Suu Kyi who has been in detention for much of the
period.

"Our delegation at the United Nations must be careful not to send the
wrong message to the world about where we stand on issues of misgovernance
and human rights abuses," charged Gibson.

Prior to the vote, Anglican Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu warned that
he would be deeply disappointed if South Africa voted against a
non-punitive resolution. He told Business Day that the history of the
struggle meant South Africa should side with people "who are victims of
one of the most repressive regimes".

Tutu and former Czech president Vaclav Havel commissioned a report two
years ago that recommended a United Nations’ resolution criticising
Burma’s military government.

____________________________________
OPINION / OTHER

January 14, The Nation
A victory for the Burmese junta

Russia and China's vetoes of a Security Council resolution explain the
generals' intransigence

It is not hard to see why Burma's ruling junta has been maintaining its
hard-headed attitude. Rangoon's perseverance against external pressure,
especially from the United Nations Security Council, has finally paid off.
The latest attempt by the council to pass a non-punitive resolution
against Burma failed because of vetoes by Russia and China and also saw a
negative vote from South Africa.

Both Russia and China have long been friendly with the junta because of
the mutual benefits. Russia has committed to build up Burma's defence
system with fighter planes and technological training worth several
hundred million dollars. China has been the main supporter of the junta in
providing food, medicines and a wide range of weapons. Of course, both
countries' veto of the Burma resolution only adds to their long list of
vetoes in past years. The more the two countries exercised their veto
power, the more they displayed how the Security Council's members behave
irresponsibly on issues affecting regional and international peace and
security.

Interestingly, it was the vote of non-permanent council member South
Africa that shattered the international solidarity and goodwill. Nobody in
their right mind would ever have thought that South Africa would offer
strong support to the Burmese junta. South Africa's past struggle to
attain democracy and victory over apartheid would not have been possible
without the goodwill of the international community. It is hard to
understand why it should now protect the oppressive regime in Burma.
Pretoria's action is a shame and must be deplored. World statesmen like
former president Nelson Mandela and Bishop Desmond Tutu of South Africa
must be feeling ashamed of their country's diplomatic conduct. It is sad
that quite frequently in international politics undemocratic regimes are
backed by democratic countries that perceive their own interests as
supreme. They do not seem to care a hoot about the oppression occurring in
other countries.

The Security Council took up the Burmese political situation in December
2005, since when it has been debating the issue and hearing briefings by
senior UN officials without passing any resolution. In the one year since,
the situation in Burma has remained unchanged. The US decided to introduce
a resolution in the council last year that called on Burma to release all
political prisoners and promote national reconciliation. Prior to the
council's vote, the Burmese junta released a number of high-profile
political prisoners to undermine the international effort and ongoing
moves in the council last week. Apparently Rangoon won with a knockout
punch at the council's vote on Friday. Indonesia, a leading Asean member
that only just joined the council this month, decided to abstain. It is
also extremely sad that a young and mushrooming democracy, the world's
third largest, would rather take the easy way out. In past years Asean has
looked to Jakarta to provide leadership on regional issues, especially
Burma.

When the Philippines was a member of the Security Council last year,
Manila showed that Asean would no longer fight for a rogue state, even if
it was a member of the family. Manila was praised because it allowed the
council to debate the situation in Burma unopposed. Jakarta's abstention
this time has sent the wrong signal to Burma as well as to other Asean
members.

Jakarta's action has indeed put restraint on the discussion on Burma at
the ongoing Asean leaders' summit in Cebu. Obviously the Asean leaders,
despite their rhetoric, are still hoping that the junta leaders will do
the right thing from now on to save the grouping from disgrace, such as
releasing all political prisoners, including opposition leader Aung San
Suu Kyi. With Asean commemorating its 40th anniversary this year, the
grouping does not want to increase squabbling among members by
highlighting the Burma issue; it wants instead to promote the theme of
solidarity and dynamism.

Of course, the international community will now have to work harder to
make the junta leaders fulfil their responsibilities. Only genuine
political reform and national reconciliation can save Burma and its
people.

____________________________________

January 16, Khaleej Times (United Arab Emirates)
 Myopia on Myanmar

UN has failed Myanmar yet again, so to say, as is evident from the way it
has side-stepped a censure motion brought forward by the US this week.
Predictably, China and Russia stonewalled the move, the express purpose of
which being to end the persecution of minorities and opposition political
groups in the military-ruled South East Asian state.


The argument that the matter can well be referred, instead, to the UN
Human Rights Commission, has, on the face of it, some merit; but only to a
point. For, the issue of persecution has a wider angle, in as much that it
is happening under a junta that has subverted the people’s will, denied a
democratically-elected leader the right to form government and, instead,
put her under house arrest. To that extent, this persecution comes from a
regime that has no legitimacy at all.

Of significance is the fact that the resolution also sought to free
political prisoners, and desired of Myanmar to move towards democracy. The
more the junta promises about reforms, the more the country’s slide
towards dictatorship and denial of freedom to its citizens. What has come
of the repeated promises to release Aung Saan Suu Kyi from house arrest?
Keeping on extending her incarceration is to keep testing the patience of
the people who elected her to power two decades ago in a telling moment of
democratic upsurge there.

It is one thing to accuse the West of meddling in the internal affairs of
Myanmar, as the captive, state-sponsored media there was quick to react.
It is quite another to respond to positive initiatives from the world
community, and act in ways as to ensure the welfare of the people and the
nation. Why should Myanmar remain behind the bamboo curtain when the rest
of the region is being cited as the best example of human initiative and
progress?

____________________________________

January 14, The Jakarta Post
Pragmatism guiding RI diplomacy on Myanmar - Meidyatama Suryodiningrat

Jakarta: Indonesia's decision not to support a United Nations Security
Council (UNSC) resolution against Myanmar came as a disappointment to
those hoping to see the promotion of democracy as a feature of Indonesian
diplomacy.

Indonesia took the "soft option" of remaining technically neutral by
abstaining, but effectively has undermined an initiative which would have
placed further diplomatic pressure on a regime that suppresses the most
basic rights of its people.

It was proof that pragmatism and competition remain the overarching
considerations of Jakarta's diplomatic activism. Furthermore it is
evidence that Indonesian diplomats have not embraced the evolving values
of its own, and international, civil society toward concepts of human
security -- which has human rights at its core -- beyond the realms of
state-centric sovereignty.

Despite being a major issue among civil society groups, the human rights
situation in Myanmar has been noticeably absent from the UNSC's agenda for
a long time.

The U.S. has been pushing for the issue to be placed on the council's
agenda since 2005. After two previous failures, its diplomatic lobby
succeeded last year when 10 of the 15 UNSC members supported the inclusion
of human rights in Myanmar into the permanent agenda (nine votes are
needed for an item to be on the agenda). Permanent members Russia and
China, along with Congo and Qatar opposed the proposal, while Tanzania
abstained.

It was the same two permanent members who vetoed Friday's resolution,
while Indonesia (who become a non-permanent UNSC member this year) joined
Congo and Qatar in abstaining. UNSC members Belgium, Britain, France,
Peru, Ghana, Panama, Italy and Slovakia supported the U.S.-sponsored
resolution.

China and Russia argued that the human rights situation in Myanmar did not
constitute an international security threat, but in reality both countries
had their strategic interests in mind.

Russia is plagued by criticism over its war in Chechnya, hence, it did not
want a precedent set where it could itself be subject to such censure from
the UNSC.

China has similar concerns given its own human rights record and is
suspicious of Washington's moves in the context of the region's dynamics.
As University of Indonesia international relations observer Makmur Keliat
pointed out, Myanmar is the untapped energy frontier of Southeast Asia.
Myanmar also provides China with strategic access to the Indian Ocean.

Indonesian officials repeated the argument that Myanmar did not pose a
threat to security, adding that the recently formed UN Human Rights
Council (UNHRC), not the UNSC, would be a more appropriate forum in which
to raise such issues.

But such a proposition is more likely to be based on competition rather
than propriety. It is no secret that a majority of "Western" states,
especially the U.S., have shunned the 47-seat UNHRC whose watered-down
conventions leave it open to manipulation by countries often cited as
human rights abusers.

Indonesia is a member and strong supporter of the UNHRC. The issuance of a
Myanmar human rights resolution at the UNSC could be seen as a move to
undermine the scope of this new body.

However, advocates of a stronger line against Myanmar believe such an
issue would most likely get bogged down in the protocols of the untenable
body, whose charter does not even categorically acknowledge freedom of
speech.

But Washington may also have made a tactical diplomatic error in the
wording of the draft resolution, which could have swayed Indonesia toward
a more favorable reception of its agenda.

The draft did not fully recognize the role of the Association of Southeast
Asian Nations (ASEAN) and its "constructive engagement" in instigating
political evolution in Myanmar. If the resolution had, for example, placed
ASEAN's initiatives as primary conditions to which Yangon had to cede,
perhaps Jakarta would have been swayed to support the resolution.

But it is also understandable why so many are skeptical of ASEAN, which
for over a decade has tended to condone, rather than censure, a regime
that blatantly denies its people the right to elect their own political
leaders.

The most tragic aspect of Indonesia's argument that Myanmar does not
represent a security threat, is that Jakarta is trapped in an obsolete
mindset regarding the definition of state-monopolized security. It is true
that Myanmar is not about to cause an inter-state conflict, but security
has a wider definition that includes non-traditional, non-conventional and
transnational threats.

In other words, human security.

Canadian politician Lloyd Axworthy, known for his advancement of the
concept of human security, surmised his hope for the world by saying "we
should aim to construct a global society where the safety of the
individual is at the center of international priorities and is a
motivating force for international action; where international human
rights standards and the rule of law are advanced and woven into a
coherent web protecting the individual; where those who violate these
standards are held fully accountable; and where our global, regional and
bilateral institutions -- present and future -- are built and equipped to
enhance and enforce these standards".

Though it has only become popular in international parlance over the last
15 years, in practice even the UNSC's actions have been instinctively
guided by such standards. This was evidenced in 1977 when the council
issued an arms embargo on South Africa after the 1976 Soweto killings.

Hence, Jakarta's claim that human rights issues in Myanmar do not
represent a direct security threat is completely erroneous, and an
indecent act toward those under repression.

Even ASEAN's own Inter-Parliamentary Myanmar Caucus had a broader
comprehension of the term "security" when it concluded, "the deteriorating
situation in Myanmar is affecting not only those within the country but
people outside its borders as well...ethnic conflicts and refugee outflows
to drugs and the unchecked spread of HIV and AIDS have become a serious
cause for concern for ASEAN and the international community".

The passing of the UNSC resolution may not have prompted immediate change
in Myanmar, but it would have placed pressure on ASEAN to move from a
non-interventionist position to one of intolerance toward the ruling
junta. Jakarta's belligerent, fence-sitting mindset does not bode well for
the future, or for its reputation during a time in which the nation's
people are thinking more progressively.

We must always take sides!

"Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim," Nobel Laureate E.
Wiesel once remarked. "Silence encourages the tormenter, never the
tormented."