BurmaNet News, September 14, 2007

[Editor]

September 14, 2007 Issue # 3292

INSIDE BURMA
Mizzima News: Junta to blame for economic deterioration, protests: NLD
AP: Myanmar junta pressing campaign to discourage monk protests
IMNA: Military officials in Mandalay thrown out by monks
KNG: Commander Ohn Myint lambasts Kachin students for poster movement
IMNA: Land confiscation continues unabated in Mon State
Irrawaddy: Burmese junta increases security around restless monasteries,
towns

BUSINESS / TRADE
Xinhua: Myanmar-Thailand negotiating joint venture gas pipeline
Xinhua: CNPC: unknown about Myanmar gas deal

DRUGS
IPS: Burma: Poppy farming cuts - 'UN praise misplaced'

REGIONAL
Reuters: China urges Myanmar to pursue "democracy process"
DPA: Indian foreign minister grilled on Myanmar
AFP: NKorea, Myanmar move to closer ties

INTERNATIONAL
Mizizma News: American labor chief calls for release of activists
Mizzima News: U.N. leaders appeal for international assistance; India
loathe to comply
Irrawaddy: Burma ranks 'zero' in worldwide governance indicators

OPINION / OTHER
Irrawaddy: Is a new crackdown signaled by severance of key phone lines? -
Kyaw Zwa Moe
Irrawaddy: Many firsts with China - Aung Zaw

____________________________________
INSIDE BURMA

September 14, Mizzima News
Junta to blame for economic deterioration, protests: NLD

The blame for the economic deterioration in Burma has been laid squarely
on the military junta's door by the main opposition political party in the
country. The National League for Democracy pointed out today that the
economic downslide has tested the peoples' patience who have been forced
to take to the streets in protest.

The National League for Democracy, the party which swept the 1990
elections led by detained Nobel Peace Laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, in a
statement on Friday said the junta is responsible for the peoples'
desperation and the consequent protests. It urged the regime to find a
solution through political dialogue which would kick-start the process of
national reconciliation.

The NLD said, in view of a long term political solution the party has
several times proposed to the ruling State Peace and Development Council
to start a dialogue to find a genuine political solution that will mark
the beginning of social and economic reforms in the country.

"We [NLD] even agreed to announce the SPDC as Burma's de jure government
if the SPDC was willing to convene the peoples' parliament," NLD
spokesperson Nyan Win said.

However, with the junta failing to accept the offer it has pushed the
country into a deep economic abyss which has doubled the sufferings of the
general people and finally triggered protests on the streets, Nyan Win
added.

Meanwhile, the junta in its mouthpiece, the New Light of Myanmar
newspaper, has accused the NLD and 88 generation students, most of whose
leaders were arrested and detained last month, of instigating unrest and
riots in Rangoon and parts of Burma.

Following the junta's unannounced decision on August 15 to raise prices of
diesel, petrol and compressed natural gas – transport fares and food
prices skyrocketed.

Following the impact of the price rise, Burmese people led by former
student leaders, including Min Ko Naing and Ko Ko Gyi took to the streets
on August 19. The public protests, which the authorities allowed
initially, paved the way for further protests in former capital Rangoon
and parts of Burma.

The NLD statement, released this afternoon, said the peaceful
demonstrations are the outcome of the peoples' desperation and the party,
though it stands with the people, is not involved in masterminding the
protests.

The NLD, condemning the junta for its heavy-handed crackdown on peaceful
protesters, further said peaceful demonstrations are the basic rights of
citizens that have been guaranteed in the universal declaration of human
rights. It called on the junta to find an alternative to solve the problem
rather than by suppression of protests through violence.

"By cracking down on dissidents and activists, the problems of Burma
cannot be solved. But if the SPDC genuinely wants to solve the problem, it
should come to the negotiating table and begin a dialogue that will start
a national reconciliation process," Nyan Win said.

The junta has, however, said that the increase in fuel prices is in
keeping with global fuel price rise and Burma's oil prices are much lower
compared to its immediate neighbours Thailand and China.

The junta in its mouth piece, the New Light of Myanmar, has repeatedly
said that in order to earn more revenue, which Burma needs for its various
development projects, the government had no other choice but to scrap
subsidies on oil.

But critics and economic experts, including a Burmese economist from the
Union of Myanmar Federation of Chamber of Commerce said, Burma's economic
problems cannot be merely described as the problems of fuel price rise but
is a reflection of the overall economic deterioration that has sapped
peoples' patience.

____________________________________

September 14, Associated Press
Myanmar junta pressing campaign to discourage monk protests

A state-controlled Myanmar newspaper urged Buddhist monks Friday not to
join anti-government protests sweeping the country.

A column in the Kyemon daily, purportedly by a monk writing under a
pseudonym, said monks - some of whom have recently taken part in militant
protests against economic conditions - should refrain because the ruling
junta firmly supports their religion.

It was the latest salvo in a government campaign to crush Myanmar's most
sustained protests in a decade.

The protests began Aug. 19 after the government sharply raised fuel
prices, putting the squeeze on already impoverished citizens. The protests
have continued despite the detention of more than 100 demonstrators and
rough treatment of others.

The newspaper column said unspecified anti-government elements have
encouraged monks to demonstrate. It emphasized the government strongly
supports and helps Buddhism with activities like building monasteries and
donating robes to monks.

This week, top officials have been making high-profile donations to
Buddhist monasteries, according to the state-controlled media.

In northern Myanmar last week, young monks - angry at being beaten up for
protesting economic conditions - briefly took officials hostage, torched
their vehicles and later smashed a shop and a house belonging to junta
supporters.

Monks have been at the forefront of political protests in Myanmar since
British colonial times. Because they are so revered by the public,
repressing them carries political risk. The junta is wary that
demonstrations could gain momentum if monks keep joining.

Unconfirmed reports by Myanmar's exiled opposition say monks have
threatened to refuse alms from the military and ignore junta officials and
supporters at official functions if the government fails to apologize by
next week for last the recent mistreatment in the northern town of
Pakokku.

The monks - said to have united in a new group called the National Front
of Monks - are also demanding that authorities cut fuel prices, release
all political prisoners and begin negotiations with detained opposition
leader Aung San Suu Kyi and other democratic leaders.

____________________________________

September 14, Independent Mon News Agency
Military officials in Mandalay thrown out by monks

A group of military officials were thrown out by monks when they were
tried to enter a temple in Phayarkyi quarter in Mandalay, Burma with
donations to appease the angry monks.

The officials were shouted out by the monks from the temple when they
tried to enter. They turned back.

"The incident occurred about 3 p.m. yesterday. The monks did want their
donation and did not accept what the military government wanted them to
do," a resident in Phayarkyi quarter, Mandalay said.

Maj. Gen Khin Zaw was in the team that tried to enter the temple, said the
resident.

The junta is now approaching senior monks to calm monk activists by trying
to give donations to temples.  The authorities in each state are currently
approaching senior abbots in their division to tell their monk to stay
away from the protests.

According to the Union Solidarity and Development Association Maj. Gen
Khin Zaw and party donated to 102 temples in seven townships of Mandalay
division last Tuesday, the day the underground monk association Sangha
Thamaggi announced they would protest.

Now Maj. Gen Thet Naing Win and USDA members are now approaching monks in
Moulmein not to join the September 17 protest. The protesters want an
apology from the junta for violence having been perpetrated by the
pro-junta Union Solidarity and Development Association (USDA) and Pyithu
Swan Arr Shin on monks in Pakokku.

____________________________________

September 14, Kachin News Group
Commander Ohn Myint lambasts Kachin students for poster movement

An irate Commander Maj-Gen Ohn Myint has lashed out at Kachin students
after they set in motion a poster campaign since early this week in
Myitkyina Township, capital of Kachin State, Northern Burma. The posters
are targeted at the Burmese military junta.

On Monday all Kachin students of the Myitkyina University, were picked up
and forcibly made to appear in font of Commander Ohn Myint. He warned them
and asked them desist from the poster movement, said university sources.

Between Tuesday and Wednesday IX and X grade students from every high
school around Myitkyina were forcibly picked up from their schools. They
were severely scolded for the poster movement by Maj-Gen Ohn Myint, said a
high school student in Myitkyina.

During the meeting between Commander Ohn Myint and high school students in
No. (3) State High School in Myitkyina downtown, a Kachin grade X
schoolboy was badly treated by the Commander for his race and his frail
physique, said school sources.

Maj-Gen Ohn Myint lambasted the schoolboy saying, "You're a handful for me
and I'll kill you now!  Your Kachins are going to disappear" when the
schoolboy simply rose when the Commander Ohn Myint ordered all Kachin
students in the meeting to stand, according to the school sources.

Last weekend, Myitkyina University students led by the Burma student wing
of All Kachin Students and Youth Union (AKSYU) pasted 500 posters with a
five-point charter of demands in four high schools including Myitkyina
University, Colleges and township to village level junta's administrative
offices.

In Myiktyina, tomorrow's biggest meeting to support the outcome of the
National Convention in Myitkyina has been rescheduled to late this month 
in fear of resumption of protests by monks in lower Burma, said local
residents.

____________________________________

September 14, Independent Mon News Agency
Land confiscation continues unabated in Mon State - Banyol Kin

The Burmese Army unit led by Lt. Gen Maung Bo has confiscated nearly 1,000
acres of land in Mon State for new military bases in southern Burma
recently.

Physic nuts will be planted on the seized land. It is the biggest project
the regime has conceived and is encouraging people to cultivate the nut on
their land and also in the military barracks in the area.

Lt. Gen Maung Bo made a lot of trips around parts of Burma to select sites
for physic nut cultivation and confiscated many acres of land belonging to
residents. The junta controlled newspapers often report that the state is
planting physic nuts on uncultivated land.

According to villagers, Lt. Gen Maung Bo ordered seizures in an area from
Nut Kyi Chaung to Nwa Labou Taung pagoda along the highway on the
Moulmein-Rangoon stretch in Paung Township about 13 miles from Moulmein,
the capital of Mon State.

The land belonged to villagers from seven villages in this area and they
had been growing rubber. Some of the rubber plantations are almost five
years old. They also had orchards.

The authorities have told the local people and land owners in the area not
to touch anything on the land.

 "We have not got any compensation for our land. We cannot even visit our
plantations. If some one destroys the plantation, the former owners will
have to pay fine to the authorities," a villager who had land confiscated
said.

"According to our estimates this is the biggest confiscation of land in
upper Moulmein after we started documenting seizures from 1999 to 2003 in
lower Moulmein in a public report called "No Land To Farm," said Nai Aue
Mon a human right activist of the Human Rights Foundation of Mon Land
(HURFOM).

____________________________________

September 14, Irrawaddy
Burmese junta increases security around restless monasteries, towns - Shah
Paung

The Burmese military government has beefed up security across the country
in fear of more demonstrations by monks and activists.

Local residents say security has been tightened in Pegu, Mandalay,
Sagaing, Haka in Chin State and Kawthaung Township in Tenasserim Division.

A resident in Kawthaung, Maung Htoo, said six-man security teams, each
carrying a gun, have been positioned in many areas of the town.

A senior member of the National League for Democracy in Mandalay told The
Irrawaddy on Friday that security teams of about 20-men each, including
members of the Union Solidarity and Development Association, local firemen
and members of Swan Arr Shin in full uniform, can be seen positioned
around the Mandalay moat.

Police declared an official “state of emergency” in all police divisions
on September 6 and ordered all incidents of demonstrations and
anti-government actions to be reported to superiors.

A senior member of NLD in Mandalay said some youth members in Mandalay
have gone into hiding because local authorities accused them of
distributing a controversial pamphlet.

An organization describing themselves “the alliance of all Burmese
Buddhist monks” issued a pamphlet this week calling for an apology to
monks for the recent crackdown in Pakokku in Magwe Division. If an apology
is not issued by September 17, the pamphlet said, monks should refuse alms
offered by members of the military regime by enacting a “patam nikkuijana
kamma,” or refusal of alms, which denies merit to the donor.

In Pegu, a senior member of the NLD told The Irrawaddy on Friday that
authorities have increased security in areas around monasteries.

He said a small group of monks threw stones at an office of local
authorities on Thursday night, after security men questioned them about
being outside the monastery after 9 p.m.

Also, sources say authorities in Pegu have ordered each household to
provide one person to help officials patrol the town; households that do
not comply are fined 500 kyat (US 37 cents).

Meanwhile, NLD members in several cities say the authorities have
increased surveillance on their movements. A senior NLD member in Sagaing
said security men sleep in front of her home and follow her when she
leaves the house.

____________________________________
BUSINESS / TRADE

September 14, Xinhua General News Service
Myanmar-Thailand negotiating joint venture gas pipeline

Energy authorities of Myanmar and Thailand are negotiating for the
construction of a marine joint venture natural gas pipeline for export of
gas to Thailand from M- 9 block in Myanmar's Mottama offshore area,
according to sources with the Myanmar energy ministry Friday.

The M-9 field development project is expected to need a total investment
of 1 billion U.S. dollars, the local Myanmar Times also said.

The Thai PTT Exploration and Production (PTTEP) Public Co Ltd, which has
been engaged in gas exploration at block M-9 in the offshore area, has so
far found large and commercial gas deposits at seven test wells since
2005.

With a total estimated gas reserve of more than 8 trillion cubic-feet
(TCF) or 226.5 billion cubic-meters (BCM) and a production rate of about
300 million cubic-feet (MCF) or 8.49 million cubic-meters (MCM) per day,
the M-9 field is expected to be able to produce gas and export to Thailand
by late 2011 the earliest.

The seven test wells where gas deposit was discovered are Zawtika-1,
Gawthaka-1, Karkonna-1, Zawtika-2, Zawtika-3, Zawtika-4 and Zawtika-5. Of
them, and the last Zawtika-5 was found in July this year yielding at 38.36
MCF (1.08 MCM) per day from up to a depth of 7,414 feet (2,224 meters) and
33 MCF (0.934 MCM) per day from up to a depth of 5,199 feet (1,559
meters), according to a then official report.

The authorities described the gas deposit discovery as being similar to
that in three other huge gas fields of Yadana, Yetagun and Shwe previously
explored and developed.

The PTTEP has already been engaged in four other gas projects in Myanmar
in blocks M-7, M-3, M-4 and M-11 in the same Mottama offshore area.

Myanmar has abundance of natural gas resources especially in the offshore
areas. With three main large offshore oil and gas fields and 19 onshore
ones, Myanmar has proven recoverable reserve of 18.012 TCF ( 510 BCM) out
of 89.722 TCF or 2.54 trillion cubic- meters (TCM)'s estimated reserve of
offshore and onshore gas, experts said.

The country is also estimated to have 3.2 billion barrels of recoverable
crude oil reserve, official statistics indicate.

The Myanmar figures also show that in the fiscal year 2005-06, the country
produced 7.962 million barrels of crude oil and 11.45 BCM of gas. Gas
export during the year went to 9.138 BCM, earning over 1 billion U.S.
dollars.

In the first three quarter of 2006-07 which ended in March, Myanmar
produced 5.822 million barrels of crude oil and 9.819 BCM of gas, with he
latest statistics also showing that gas export during the period went to
8.124 BCM, gaining 1.24 billion dollars.

Other statistics reveal that foreign investment in Myanmar's oil and gas
sector had reached 2.769 billion dollars as of the end of 2006 since the
country opened to such investment in late 1988, standing the second in the
country's foreign investment sectorally after electric power.

Currently, 13 foreign oil companies, mainly from Australia, Britain,
Canada, China, Indonesia, India, South Korea, Malaysia, Thailand and
Russia, are operating 33 onshore and offshore projects in Myanmar,
official sources disclosed.

____________________________________

September 14, Xinhua Economic News Service
CNPC: unknown about Myanmar gas deal

In a response to media reports that Myanmar has picked up China as a gas
buyer from the A-1 and A-3 fields off the Rakhine coast, CNPC Foreign
Affairs Department told China Business News it has not received such news
from its subsidiary that is operating the bid for Myanmar gas.

Jointly held by Republic of Korea’s Daewoo International, Korea Gas
Corporation, India’s Oil & Natural Gas Corporation and Indian Gail, the
A-1 and A-3 fields off the Rakhine coast have proven reserves of 5.7
trillion to 10 trillion cubic feet. China, India and Thailand have been
biding to buy gas from the above blocks through pipelines.

Despite CNPC’s saying, market experts expect Myanmar gas would eventually
be able to feed southeastern region of China.

The Myanmar gas to China would also pose pressure on Russian side in the
ongoing Sino-Russian negotiation on pumping Russian natural gas to China,
experts believe.

CNPC in January ever signed an agreement with the energy department of
Myanmar on exploring AD-1, AD-6 and AD-8 deepwater blocks off Myanmar
western coast.

Myanmar has at least 90 trillion cubic feet of gas reserves, ranking the
10 in gas reserve in the world.

____________________________________
DRUGS

September 14, Inter Press Service
Burma: Poppy farming cuts - 'UN praise misplaced' - Marwaan Macan-Markar

Praise from the United Nations for continued drop in poppy cultivation in
military-ruled Burma paints a false picture of success, say members of the
Shan ethnic community and human rights activists. What cannot be ignored,
they add, is how profitable the narcotics trade remains for the local
commanders of the junta.

Plans to eradicate poppy cultivation will fail until this connection is
addressed, says Khuensai Jaiyen, editor of the Shan Herald Agency for News
(SHAN), a news outlet based in Thailand that covers the Shan, a people who
come from Burma’s north-eastern Shan state. ''The root cause of the
problem is the same: the Burmese army is involved in the drug trade.’’

‘’With the Burmese army profiting at every level, no wonder the junta is
not serious about eradicating drugs,’’ he added during a release of a
report this week on poppy cultivation in the Shan state. ‘’More poppy is
grown today in areas under the control of the Burmese army than in other
areas.’’

The increase in the number of Burmese military battalions suggests how
lucrative this nexus is, he noted making a presentation here at the
Foreign Correspondents’ Club of Thailand. ‘’Before 1988 there were 33
Burmese military battalions in the Shan state; now there are 141.’’

This link between poppy cultivation and increased troop strength stems
from the Burmese junta’s policy of self-reliance, he explained to IPS.
‘’Each military unit has to raise money locally to pay for its expenses.
So money from drugs helps to meet these needs. The officers profit the
most.’’

Human rights activists are as troubled over ‘’development’’ programmes
that have been introduced by U.N. agencies to wean away the estimated
250,000 to 300,000 people involved in poppy cultivation in areas
controlled by the Burmese military and elsewhere in the Shan state. ‘’The
people are not being given the freedom to choose the projects they
consider best; these projects are often imposed,’’ says David Scott
Mathieson, Burma consultant for Human Rights Watch, the New York-based
global rights lobby.

‘’That is not the way to pursue proper development,’’ he added during an
interview. ''It is a very top down approach. Community participation
should come first, because the local people need to have the complete
freedom to be fully involved in local development projects.’’

Research done in the local area reveals that the development projects to
replace poppy cultivation ‘’treats the locals as passive recipients of
assistance,’’ he added. ‘’Some of the projects failed because the people
were not involved on their own terms.’’

In June, the U.N. Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) singled out Burma for
praise in its annual report. The South-east Asian country’s poppy
cultivation had fallen by 35 percent in 2006, covering only 21,500
hectares, stated the report stated. This meant there had been an 83
percent drop in nearly a decade, it added.

‘’Since 1998, South-east Asia’s share of world opium poppy cultivation has
fallen from 67 percent to only 12 percent in 2006,’’ it revealed. ‘’Much
of this has been due to large declines in cultivation in Myanmar.’’

Burma, which has been run by successive military regimes since a coup in
1962, is part of the infamous Golden Triangle poppy-growing area. The
other areas include parts of Laos and north-east Thailand. Burma’s ruling
junta, which changed then name of the country to Myanmar, has used its
campaign against narcotics to win international praise and assistance.

Burma’s armed forces, which number over 400,000, have played a decisive
role in crushing the country’s political environment. The military has
also waged campaigns against the country’s many ethnic rebel movements,
some of whom are based in the Shan state.

The anti-opium drive in the Shan state began in 1999 following an
agreement between the junta and Shan ethnic groups, some of whom were
former separatist rebels, to make the area free of poppy cultivation by
2014.

These plans received a shot in the arm in 2005, when Burma’s drug barons
and former rebel leaders from the ethnic Wa community, immediate
neighbours of the Shan, announced plans to eradicate the poppy fields in
the areas they control.

That year, the UNODC revealed that poppy cultivation across the hilly
terrain in the Shan area was spread over 32,800 ha, down from 44,200 ha
the previous year.

UNODC has been working in tandem with the World Food Programme (WFP) to
help communities who joined forces in this anti-narcotics drive by trading
the cultivation of poppy for another crop or livelihood. This shift away
from growing poppy has seen some families losing 60 percent of their
income, causing economic hardship and a spread of poverty.

The U.N. food relief agency’s programme in the Shan state is part of a
country-wide aid effort in border areas, covering over one million people.
Yet the WFP does not enjoy a free hand is distributing food and working
with the local communities. ‘’The difficulty in the Shan state is that we
can only operate in areas the government permits us to do so,’’ says Paul
Risley, spokesman for WFP’s Asia division.

The situation on the ground is far from hospitable for local farmers who
have begun cultivating crops other than poppy, he added during an
interview. ‘’The checkpoints and roadblocks make it very difficult for the
passage of food and this affects farmers who are trying to sell a new
product.’’

For its part, the UNODC conceded that a restrictive climate and the
absence of peace in Burma combine to undermine a successful programme.
‘’There is no possibility of eradicating opium poppy cultivation unless
there is peace and security in Myanmar,’’ says Xavier Bouan, the regional
illicit crop-monitoring expert at the U.N. agency’s office in Burma.

____________________________________
REGIONAL

September 14, Reuters
China urges Myanmar to pursue "democracy process"

China urged troubled Myanmar to press forward with a "democracy process
that is appropriate for the country", cautiously adding its weight to
international pressure on the Southeast Asian junta to defuse public
unrest.

Senior Chinese diplomat Tang Jiaxuan made the comments to Myanmar Foreign
Minister U Nyan Win, who was visiting Beijing for talks on Thursday, the
official Xinhua news agency reported.

Since August, Myanmar, formerly called Burma, has sought to stamp out
public protests sparked by fuel price rises but reflecting frustration at
the military's harsh rule.

The crackdown has been one of the harshest since the army crushed a
nationwide pro-democracy uprising in 1988. Two years later, it refused to
recognise a landslide election win by Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi's
National League for Democracy.

Early this month, the junta completed the first stage of drawing up a new
constitution but left unclear when and how it will allow the document to
be written.

Domestic critics of the generals who have ruled the poor Southeast Asian
country for 45 years, as well as Washington and Brussels, have called the
process a sham and a distraction from engaging the democratic opposition
forces.

But China backed the process as a way of defusing volatile tensions.

"China whole-heartedly hopes that Myanmar will push forward a democracy
process that is appropriate for the country," Tang told the minister,
according to Xinhua on Friday.

Tang, who as state councillor acts as a foreign policy adviser, said China
"hoped Myanmar would restore internal stability as soon as possible,
properly handle issues and actively promote national reconciliation".

Beijing is one of the few foreign capitals with friendly ties to Myanmar.
China is generally hostile to Western pressure for political relaxation in
other states.

China has sold millions of dollars of arms to Myanmar. It has also
invested in helping the country upgrade Indian Ocean naval facilities and
is a big importer of its timber and minerals.

The United States and Indonesia have said China and India should do more
to pressure the junta.

Tang's comments are a further sign that China wants to prod Myanmar to
temper its actions without turning against the junta.

He said the democracy process was "in the fundamental interests of the
people of Myanmar and conducive to regional peace, stability and
development".

In a sign Myanmar may even be testing Beijing's patience, earlier this
year China's Foreign Ministry published an unflattering account of
Myanmar's new jungle capital, complaining it was remote, isolated and
barren.

____________________________________

September 14, Deutsche Presse-Agentur
Indian foreign minister grilled on Myanmar

Visiting Indian Foreign Minister Pranab Mukherjee was grilled Friday on
his country's close relations with Myanmar's military regime after
delivering a speech in Bangkok on India's "Look East" policy.

Both the US and British ambassadors to Thailand, who attended the academic
gathering at Chulalongkorn University's Institute for Security and
International Studies (ISIS), questioned India's close ties with Myanmar's
ruling junta and refusal to pressure the regime to introduce democratic
reforms.

"The cardinal principle of our foreign policy is non-interference in the
domestic affairs of any country," said Mukherjee.

When asked how India, one of the few democratic success stories in Asia,
could support a regime that has one of the world's worst records for human
rights abuses and suppression of the most basic political rights, the
foreign minister answered, "It is essentially the job of the people in the
country to decide what government they want."

Myanmar's people have already decided they don't want the current regime
but their decision has not been honoured.

In the last general election Myanmar held in 1990 the people provided a
landslide victory to the opposition National League of Democracy (NLD)
party led by Aung San Suu Kyi, the daughter of independence hero Aung San.

But after the election, Myanmar's junta refused to hand over power to the
NLD, claiming that the country first needed a new constitution before it
would be safe for civilians to rule.

Suu Kyi has been kept under house arrest for 11 of the past 17 years,
thousands of NLD members have been arrested since 1990 and the regime
continues to crack down on the slightest show of dissent, such as recent
protests against a steep hike in fuel prices.

India and China, two of the world's fastest growing economies with keen
interests in Myanmar's vast natural gas reserves, have come under
increasing diplomatic criticism for failing to use their close relations
with Myanmar's military to pressure for political change in the country.

Myanmar, formerly known as Burma, has been under military rule since 1962,
when former strongman General Ne Win overthrew the elected government of
Ne Win, the country's first post-independence prime minister.

Mukherjee, deflecting a chorus of criticisms from diplomats and
journalists in Bangkok, noted that anyone familiar with South Asian
history will know that India has had to learn to live with military
regimes as neighbours for quite some time.

The foreign minister was scheduled to meet with his Thai counterpart Nitya
Pibulsonggram later Friday.

____________________________________

September 14, Agence France Presse
NKorea, Myanmar move to closer ties

North Korea and Myanmar signed an agreement Friday on cooperation between
their foreign ministries as two of the world's most repressive regimes
took further steps towards closer ties.

"An agreement on cooperation between the foreign ministries of the DPRK
(North Korea) and Myanmar was inked here on Friday," the North's Korean
Central News Agency said in a report from Pyongyang.

The two nations agreed in April to restore relations. Yangon severed ties
in 1983 following a failed assassination attempt by North Korean agents on
then-South Korean President Chun Doo-Hwan during his visit to Myanmar.

The bombing killed 17 of Chun's entourage including cabinet ministers
while four Myanmar officials also died.

Friday's agreement was signed by the North's Vice Foreign Minister Kim
Yong-Il and his Myanmarese counterpart Kyaw Thu, the official news agency
said.

Myanmar, which has been ruled by the military since 1962, and North Korea
have been branded "outposts of tyranny" by the United States, which
imposes sanctions on both.

____________________________________
INTERNATIONAL

September 14, Mizizma News
American labor chief calls for release of activists

The head of a leading American labor rights organization has appealed to
the Burmese government for the release of six Burmese labor activists
wrongfully accused of crimes against the state and subsequently sentenced
to lengthy prison terms.

John Sweeney, President of the American Federation of Labor and Congress
of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO), issued his appeal in a letter,
Wednesday, addressed to Senior General Than Shwe.

"As is well known to your Government, detaining and sentencing workers who

exercise their right to freedom of association is a blatant violation of
international labor standards, including ILO Convention 87, which has been
ratified by your country," Sweeney wrote in his correspondence to the
Burmese Head of State.

Referring to the six activists in question as "our colleagues," Sweeney
brought attention to the fact that critical in the convictions of those
accused was the establishment of a link between them and the Federation of
Trade Unions of Burma (FTUB). However, Sweeney notes that the FTUB is
legitimately recognized as a labor rights organization by the
international trade union movement, to which the AFL-CIO is party.

The accusations against four of the labor activists stem from their intent
to hold a meeting to discuss labor issues at the American Center in
Rangoon following May Day celebrations earlier this year. The other two
stand guilty of trying to bring the detention of their colleagues to the
attention of the international community.

The six, convicted in a September 7th trial in Insein Prison and facing
sentences ranging from 20 to 28 years, are: Thurein Aung, Wai Lin, Myo
Min, Kyaw Win, Nyi Nyi Zaw and Kyaw Kyaw.

On Wednesday, Kari Tapiola, executive director of the Geneva-based
International Labour Organization (ILO), issued a statement calling for
the immediate release of the six prisoners.

In her statement, Tapiola drew attention to the pattern of engagement that
has existed between the Burmese junta and ILO – a rarity for an
international organization in Burma – and raised concern that the
sentencing of the six labor activists brought into jeopardy the status of
Naypyidaw's relationship with the ILO.

With an aim of empowering workers by providing them with a voice, the
AFL-CIO, established in 1955, strives "to bring economic justice to the
workplace and social justice to the nation."

____________________________________

September 14, Mizzima News
U.N. leaders appeal for international assistance; India loathe to comply

Three noted United Nations representatives, on Thursday, called on Burmese
and international leaders to work toward the release of all political
prisoners arrested as a result of peacefully protesting the recent
government-imposed price-hikes; while an Indian official unequivocally
gave notice that any change was up to the people of Burma alone.

In a statement, the Special Rapporteur on human rights in Myanmar, Paulo
Sérgio Pinheiro, the Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of
the right to freedom of opinion and expression, Ambeyi Ligabo, and the
Special Rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers, Leandro
Despouy, warned that the recent arrests "are in violation of
internationally recognized human rights standards and should not be
tolerated by the international community."

The Rapporteur's highlighted the role, and arrests, of women, monk and
student leaders in the protests.

They beseeched the Burmese regime to be "proud" of those exercising their
fundamental rights within civil society, and encouraged the junta to
embark on a "road map for a healthy and empowered democratic society."

In seeking to rally support from the junta and international community,
the statement sounded both a legal and moral note, reading, "Myanmar and
the international community have a responsibility to safeguard the
universal right to freedom of expression and association."

The Rapporteur's also directly called on regional bodies and the United
Nations Human Rights Council, recently reconvened for their sixth session,
to take up the issue of Burma.

No country, according to the three officials, can play host to a vibrant,
rights respecting civil society if there exists no space in which ordinary
citizens can exercise those very basic rights.

Yet Indian Foreign Minister Pranab Mukherjee, speaking today in Bangkok,
gave no indication that India, a vital economic partner to the Burmese
regime, was up to the task of pressuring the junta down the road of
reform.

"The cardinal principle of our foreign policy is non-interference in the
domestic affairs of any country," Mukherjee told an audience of assembled
dignitaries and journalists at Chulalongkorn University. He went on to say
it was up to the people in Burma to decide what they want.

The Indian Foreign Minister also implied that the existence of
authoritarian governments in the region was a normality that India had
come to accept.

His comments came following his talk on India's "Look East Policy", which
drew attention to India's growing economic interests and priorities
regarding the situation in Burma.

____________________________________

September 14, Irrawaddy
Burma ranks 'zero' in worldwide governance indicators - Violet Cho

Burma has been ranked ‘zero,’ the worst government in the world according
to the amount of freedom citizens have to voice opinions and select a
government, according to the latest Worldwide Governance Indicators
report.

Countries with the best overall rankings included Denmark, 100; Canada,
94; and Australia, 93.

Countries with the worst overall rankings included Burma 0, China 4 and
Vietnam 8.

The Worldwide Governance Indicators (WGI) research project, covering 212
countries and territories, measured six areas of governance between 1996
and 2006 to make its rankings: Voice and Accountability, Political
Stability and Absence of Violence, Government Effectiveness, Regulatory
Quality, Rule of Law and Control of Corruption.

In the Voice and Accountability category, Burma has ranked near ‘zero’
since 1996.

Among Burma's neighbors: India ranked 58; Thailand, 32 and China, 4.

Laos was ranked 6; Cambodia, 21; Malaysia, 38; Indonesia, 41; Philippines,
44; and Singapore 46.

The Worldwide Governance Indicators are produced by researchers from the
World Bank Institute and the World Bank Development Economics Research
Group.

The aggregate indicators combine the views of a large number of
enterprises, citizens and experts in industrial and developing countries.
The individual data sources underlying the aggregate indicators are drawn
from a variety of survey institutes, think tanks, non-governmental
organizations and international organizations.

____________________________________
OPINION / OTHER

September 14, Irrawaddy
Is a new crackdown signaled by severance of key phone lines? - Kyaw Zwa Moe

The latest enemy of the Burmese junta isn’t even alive, but it has the
power to make the generals furious enough. This fiend carries information
the generals don’t want disclosed to the outside world.

This enemy can’t be sent to prison along with other forces of opposition,
but it can be eliminated, silenced, cut dead. Anywhere else in the world
it’s a harmless means of communication. In Burma, it’s a telephone—and
highly suspect.

Dozens of landline and mobile phone services have been cut off in recent
days. The latest victim is the only phone line of the opposition National
League for Democracy headquarters in Rangoon.

The numbers of phone lines now being severed by a paranoiac regime might
appear insignificant when compared to the hundreds of thousands still in
operation throughout Burma. But they represent the main lines of
communication that provide essential information to the outside world.

Since the beginning of this week, the junta has cut off dozens of phones
used by leading activists of the 88 Generation Students group, senior NLD
members and other prominent activists.

The junta’s anger isn’t really surprising, in view of the capability of a
phone call to disclose official abuses, to report on the violent
suppression of recent protest demonstrations and to carry the
politically-provoking thoughts of leading activists.

The junta’s new clampdown on information exchange comes after prominent
activists such as Su Su Nway, Nilar Thein and Htay Kywe of the 88
Generation Students group informed news agencies and reporters within and
outside Burma about official excesses in breaking up the demonstrations.

Thanks to the information they passed on and the interviews they gave, the
international community could be kept informed about what was really going
on.

By cutting targeted phone lines, the regime has now made it even more
difficult than ever to gather information about what is happening in
Burma.

There was another purpose behind the regime action, which was to cut
communications between the NLD headquarters, leading members of dissident
groups in Rangoon and their branches and members based in other cities
across the country.

The junta is probably also planning a cunning campaign in coming days, as
the Monday deadline approaches for the authorities to apologize for their
use of violence last month against protesting monks in Pakokku, some 370
km north of Rangoon. Several monks were beaten with rifle butts and
bludgeons by security forces and junta-organized thugs.

An organization calling itself “The Alliance of All Burmese Buddhist
Monks” has enjoined monks to refuse alms offered by members of the
military regime unless authorities apologize by September 17.

If no apology is forthcoming, the group says monks should stage a patam
nikkujjana kamma, or boycott of alms, effectively denying the granting of
merit, from members of the armed forces and their families.

History shows that the generals will take no heed of ultimatums. Instead,
the junta will launch a crackdown on monks who participate in an alms
boycott. Any violence against the monks will create public anger.

Those in the outside world who care about Burma are waiting with
apprehension, but their ability to be fully informed about a possible new
crisis is being hampered by the severance of important phone lines—which
was probably ordered precisely to prevent the international community from
being told about expected new human rights abuses by the regime.

It can’t be said with certainty that the severance of the phone lines
represents a preparation for a new crackdown, but nor can that possibility
be ruled out. We can only hope that it’s not the case and that no new
violence against innocent civilians and monks is to be feared.

____________________________________

September 14, Irrawaddy
Many firsts with China - Aung Zaw

The late veteran Burmese journalist Chit Tun once wrote in the Far Eastern
Economic Review that there had been many “firsts” between Burma and China.

“Burma has had many ‘firsts’ with China,” he wrote. “It was the first
nation outside the Communist bloc to recognize the People’s Republic in
1949; the first to conclude a Treaty of Friendship and Mutual
Non-Aggression in 1961; the first to achieve a boundary settlement with
China in 1961; and one of the first to patch up relations with Peking
[Beijing] after the Cultural Revolution.”

If Chit Tun were still alive, he could probably add many more “firsts”
between the two nations as they continued to develop friendly relations.
In his absence, I can confirm that many more firsts between China and
Burma have been added to the list in the last 20 years.

Burma’s ruling leaders were the first to express sympathy for Beijing’s
crackdown on demonstrators in Tiananmen Square in 1989. The remarks of
Burma’s intelligence chief and Secretary one at the time, Brig Gen Khin
Nyunt’s, were quite significant. “We sympathize with the People’s Republic
of China as disturbances similar to those in Myanmar last year [recently
also] broke out in the People’s Republic,” he said in 1989.

Two years later, in 1991, China was the first country to sell arms, jet
fighters, frigates and other major military supplies to Burma.

On Thursday, the Burmese junta sent a special envoy to China to meet
Chinese leaders and brief them on the situation in Burma. Foreign Minister
Nyan Win made an unpublicized visit to China, where he met Chinese State
Councilor Tang Jiaxuan in Zhongnanhai, the headquarters of the Chinese
government.

According to a report by China’s Xinhua news agency, Tang said China, as a
friendly neighbor of Burma, sincerely hoped the country would restore
internal stability as soon as possible, properly handle issues and
actively promote national reconciliation.

Tang also said the democracy process was in the fundamental interests of
the people of Burma and conducive to regional peace, stability and
development.

There is no doubt that Nyan Win’s visit to China as the envoy of junta
leader Snr-Gen Than Shwe further signaled Beijing’s influential role in
Burma’s internal affairs.

The trip was doubtless undertaken to explain to China the events of recent
weeks in Burma. The regime’s heavy handed crackdown on demonstrators was
roundly condemned by the UN and the international community, but not by
China and India.

The crisis in Burma was treated so seriously by the regime that it
cancelled a planned visit to Bangladesh by the junta’s number two, Vice
Snr-Gen Maung Aye. But it could not ignore the Chinese.

Nyan Win’s surprise visit to brief the Chinese on the situation in Burma
clearly demonstrated once more that Burma heavily depends on China and may
even seek that country’s support if the Burma issue is again discussed at
the UN.

My reading of the meeting between Nyan Win and Tang is simple. The Burmese
foreign minister would probably have told Tang of “development” and
“success” in the recently concluded National Convention; he may even have
told the Chinese that “destructive elements,” supported by the West and
exiled groups out to destabilize Burma and sabotage the “road map,” were
behind the rare protests. He may also have assured Tang that “disciplined
democracy” would soon flourish in Burma.

Nyan Win’s visit is not the first time Burmese envoys have briefed Chinese
leaders on the situation in Burma. In December 2005, at a meeting in Kuala
Lumpur, Malaysia, then Prime Minister Gen Soe Win briefed Chinese Prime
Minister Wen Jiabao on Burma’s internal situation.

Wen Jiabao, who was attending the 9th Asean-plus-China summit, indicated
that what happened inside Burma was an internal matter and should be
properly handled by the Burmese government and people independently
through consultations. The international community should offer
constructive assistance for Burma to independently resolve its domestic
issues, Wen Jiabao said.

The Chinese premier also said China believed the Burmese government and
people could successfully resolve their own issues and advance the process
of domestic national reconciliation.

The truth is that, aside from packages of aid and business deals, Burmese
leaders can’t bark or bite without China’s political and moral support.
Political pundits noted that China’s decision, together with Russia, to
shoot down the US initiative for the Burma issue to be raised at the UN
Security Council, was interpreted by hardliners in the Burmese regime as
strong signals of support.

As a result, organized thugs roamed at will, tasked with maintaining “law
and order,” in incidents that increased in number and ferocity as the year
advanced.

Yet China appears to be becoming impatient with the slow pace of change in
Burma. Its frustration and desire to see some positive change is evident.

In June, China hosted an unpublicized meeting between senior US State
Department officials and Burmese ministers in Beijing. This rare meeting
sent a signal that Washington, a vocal critic of the Burmese regime, would
like to engage with China in encouraging change in Burma. China appears
happy to accommodate the US.

This Chinese desire to see a politically stable Burma was also evident at the
meeting between Tang and Nyan Win. As Xinhua reported: “China
whole-heartedly hopes that Myanmar [Burma] will push forward a democracy
process that is appropriate for the country.”

It is to be hoped that Tang’s message is not an empty one and that it will
carry some meaning.

During the Cultural Revolution, China’s support for the Communist Party of
Burma was easy to understand. China wanted to spread communism and its
ideology and forge party- to-party relations.

Beijing’s unconditional support for the regime in Burma, however, has been
a disgrace. There is a chance now for Beijing to reverse its policy by
signaling to Burma’s military rulers that they can expect only conditional
support in the future.

Then we can be sure that many more “firsts” will follow in the story of
Chinese-Burmese fraternal friendship.