BurmaNet News, August 20, 2008

[Editor]

August 20, 2008 Issue # 3538


INSIDE BURMA
Mizzima News: Resentment simmers in Burma a year after unabated
Irrawaddy: Earthquake raises concern over mega dams
Irrawaddy: Children die in Chin state famine
Narinjara: Authority claims monks from Saffron Revolution are impostors

BUSINESS / TRADE
Telegraph: Leading insurers Chubb and XL Capital quit
Bangkok Post: Pacts spur Japanese ventures
AP: Footwear trade group spent $235,825 lobbying in 2Q

ASEAN
ABC: ASEAN considers observer status for Burma's elected government

INTERNATIONAL
AP: UN chief expected to visit Myanmar in December

PRESS RELEASE
PR Newswire: Chubb responds to BCUK

OPINION / OTHER
Irrawaddy: UN Envoy Visits bring less interest - Kyaw Zwa Moe

____________________________________
INSIDE BURMA

August 20, Mizzima News
Resentment simmers in Burma a year after unabated

The unabated crackdown by the military junta notwithstanding, resentment
against the regime is not likely to diminish, activists and opposition
forces inside Burma said on Tuesday.

Members of Burma's main opposition party – the National League for
Democracy - students and activists said on the first anniversary of the
Saffron Revolution against the sudden fuel price hike and soaring
essential commodity prices, that resentment is ever increasing despite the
junta's brutal crackdown.

"The discontent and resentment among people simmers. People are
dissatisfied with the current situation," Nyan Win, spokesman of the NLD
said.

Aung Moe Hein, an activist operating secretly in Rangoon, said, "The
resentment against oppression by the junta boils in the heart and soul of
each person. We are determined to continue our struggle till victory is
achieved."

Nyan Win said, the violent crackdown by the ruling junta on protesters
cannot resolve the current economic crisis. It is akin to wrong treatment
for a severely ill patient.

"This treatment cannot cure the root cause of the disease. They should not
arrest individuals. They should strive for the betterment and development
of the economy to stem unrests," he said.

On August 19, 2007, several 88 Generation Students including Min Ko Naing
led a peaceful protest march in solidarity with poor people who were
hardest hit by the sudden fuel price hike that caused prices of basic
commodities to escalate.

However, the regime deploying its puppet civilian organizations – the
Union Solidarity and Development Association and Swan Arrshin – cracked
down on sporadic protests that started since August 19, 2007.

The regime reacted swiftly crushing protests by arresting 13 of the key 88
generation student leaders including Min Ko Naing during a midnight raid
on August 21.

Despite the junta's attempt to put down the protests, the discontent of
the people eventually snowballed when the peaceful protests were joined by
Buddhist monks. It inflamed further when Burmese Army troops harshly
cracked down on protesting monks in the central Burmese town of Pakokku.

This led to the monks calling for a nation-wide boycott of the ruling
junta and ignited what was to be known later as the 'Saffron Revolution'.

But the junta, which has a history of brutality in dealing with public
protests, violently cracked down on protesting monks and civilians, by
opening fire on the marching crowds on September 26, 2007.

While the United Nations has gone on record as saying that the junta
killed at least 30 people, opposition parties and observers said more than
200 were killed while over 6,000 people were detained.

Activists said, despite a year having gone by, the junta continues to
arrest activists and protesters and keeps a close watch on activists and
politicians.

"I can see a lot of people around my house keeping watch over my movement.
 There are about three or four people keeping vigil round the clock near
my house including at bus stops," a woman member of the 88 Generation
Students said.

A NLD Youth member who took part in the 1988 popular uprising and 2007
September protests told Mizzima that they live under constant fear and
anxiety over their safety. He said that they could be arrested by the
junta any time, anywhere.

"Whenever I wake up, I wonder whether I will still see my friend whom I
talked to yesterday or whether he will be arrested. I also fear whether it
will be my friends or me who will be arrested first. I am in constant fear
wondering when they will come and arrest me," he said.

Despite the junta's unabated efforts to arrest and search for activists,
those including NLD youth members and 88 Generation Students said the
crackdown will not break their spirit and will not stop their activities.
They would continue their struggle for change.

"We are making sacrifices for the Burmese people. We will continue our
struggle to achieve the goal of democracy and restoration of human rights.
This is our task. To arrest us is their task," Aung Moe Hein said.

"We shall win one day. I firmly hope and believe that the people standing
and fighting for truth and justice shall someday prevail," he added.

____________________________________

August 20, Irrawaddy
Earthquake raises concern over mega dams – Violet Cho

Frequent earthquakes in North Burma this year have raised more concern
over the military government’s plan to build a series of mega dams on the
Irrawaddy River to generate electricity.
A 5.3 magnitude earthquake struck near the Burma-China border on
Wednesday, according to the US Geological Survey (USGS). No deaths were
reported.
The quake was reported at 5:35 a.m. (2135 GMT) located 224 kilometers from
Dali in southwest China and 65 kilometers from Myitkyina in Burma,
according to a statement on the USGS Web site.

Aung Wa, the chairman of the Kachin Development Network Group (KDNG) who
is based in Laiza on the Burma-China border, said four earthquakes have
struck in Kachin State so far this year.

Naw Lar, the coordinator of the KDNG dam research project, said military
authorities should reconsider plans to build dams on the Irrawaddy River,
Burma’s most important commercial waterway.

“Burma’s military regime should learn from China,” said Naw Lar. “It is
not too late for the regime to re-think and halt its planned dam projects
if they seriously think about the impact of earthquakes in Sichuan
Province in southwest China.”

The Sichuan earthquake in May killed more than 40,000 people and millions
of people in the earthquake zone lived in fear of the potential failure of
hydroelectric power dams there. One dam was seriously threatened, but none
failed.

Meanwhile, a joint inspection team from China and Burma are engaged in
surveying the seven dam projects, which will generate an estimated 13,360
MW in Kachin State in North Burma, a region that is on an earthquake fault
line that runs through China's Yunnan Province.

Naw Lar said Burma and China should abandon the dam scheduled to be
constructed near Myitsone on a confluence of the Irrawaddy River. The dam,
the largest of the proposed structures, is considered to be the most
vulnerable to earthquakes.

According to a KDRG report, “Damming the Irrawaddy,” the Myitsone dam is
located less than 100 kilometers from a fault line where the Eurasia and
India tectonic plates meet.

Since 2006, the dam projects have been in a roll out phase by the
Hydropower Project Implementation Department under the Ministry of
Electric Power (1) and China Power Investment Corporation (CPI).

"If the Myitsone dam is built and breached by an earthquake, Myitkyina,
the capital of Kachin State with more than 140,000 people, will be at risk
and hundreds of thousands of people in Waingmaw, Sinbo and Bhamo Townships
along the Irrawaddy River will be under water,” said Naw Lar.

China’s state-run Xinhua News Agency said the tremor on Wednesday
destroyed buildings and about 1,200 people were forced to evacuate their
homes near the epicenter, an area populated by large numbers of ethnic
minorities.

Many homes collapsed in Sudian, China, and other towns reported damage,
Xinhua reported.
The Burmese community in Laiza said the quake was stronger than others in
the recent past.

____________________________________

August 20, Irrawaddy
Children die in Chin state famine – Saw Yan Naing

More than 30 children have died in a famine in Chin state, western Burma,
according to the Chin National Council, an exile rights group.

The famine was caused by a plague of rats, which ate rice stocks in many
of the state’s villages.
Another Chin group, the Chin Human Rights Organization, said the famine
had hit about 20 percent of the state’s population, or at least 100,000
people.

“They have no food,” said Lian H Sakhong, a leader of the Chin
Humanitarian and Relief Committee. “Unless we provide sufficient relief
soon, the situation will become worse.”

He pleaded with donors to contact the Chin Humanitarian and Relief
Committee so that relief can be rushed to the stricken areas.

The famine occurs about every 50 years when the flowering of a native
species of bamboo gives rise to an explosion in the rat population. The
International Rice Research Institute has warned of “widespread food
shortages” because of the crisis.

___________________________________

August 20, Narinjara
Authority claims monks from Saffron Revolution are Impostors

Burmese military authorities in Arakan State produced a video related to
last year's Saffron Revolution and presented it on Sunday to senior monks
in Sittwe, said an abbot.

The video show was presented by authorities during a typical ceremony to
offer food to 18 senior monks at Wai Zanyardar hall in Lawkananda temple
in Sittwe.

"During the show, the authority explained to us that the arrested monks in
Sittwe and other parts of Burma during the Saffron Revolution were not
real monks, but were impostors. They also showed some monks sitting with
women and collecting money from people for their person interest," said
the abbot.

Many high officials from several government departments and well-known
businessmen in Sittwe attended the food offering ceremony on the
invitation of the authorities so they could also watch the video.

The abbot said, "I do not know who took the video documentary of the
monks, but I suppose some parts of the documentary are not real, and some
show phony facts."

Moreover, the abbot said that they "were watching the video completely
without any complaint," because the abbots were afraid the authority would
take action against them if they asked questions.

During the food offering ceremony, the authority also tried to persuade
the abbots to oppose those monks who are preparing to stage demonstrations
in Sittwe against the government.

In Sittwe, monks had been preparing to stage demonstrations on 8 and 9
August, but the protests were foiled after authorities received a tip-off
before they could organize in the streets.

Since then, the authority has been deploying many armed forces, including
army soldiers and riot police, at key places in Sittwe to prevent any
future demonstrations from forming.

Since Sittwe is a city that has had significant anti-government sentiment
and protests, it is believed that the video was produced with the intent
of persuading monks from Sittwe to not support any demonstrations against
the military government. #

_____________________________________
BUSINESS / TRADE

August 20, The Telegraph (UK)
Leading insurers Chubb and XL Capital quit Burma – Jamie Dunkley

Two leading insurance companies are pulling out of the Burmese market in
response to human rights offences being committed by the country's
military dictatorship.

The insurers, Chubb and XL Capital, announced their withdrawals in
separate statements today.

It comes just three weeks after a Burma Campaign UK report, Insuring
Repression, which highlighted the flow of billions of dollars from
insurance companies to the Burmese regime.

US insurer Chubb, which has a UK operation, said it now "bars its member
companies from maintaining an office in Burma, from directly writing
insurance in Burma or providing insurance into Burma from outside the
country" after conducting a review.

XL, which owns reinsurer XL Re and Lloyd's of London syndicate XL London
Market, said its new policy mean it no longer "seeks to insure Burmese
companies or operations of companies in Burma".

Johnny Chatterton, campaign officer at the Burma Campaign UK group, said
the withdrawals were a "major embarrassment" to Lloyd's of London, which
it accused of "failing to take the issue seriously" and not seeing "any
problem with helping to finance Burma's brutal dictatorship".

The group's report claimed Lloyd's operators were helping to insure the
military junta's state-owned airline Myanma Airways earlier this year and
sharing the risk of its shipping interests.

A spokeswoman from Lloyd's of London said: "Unless there are relevant or
appropriate sanctions in place, we cannot tell these companies where they
can or cannot trade. As far as we are aware, there are no UK, European
Union or United Nations sanctions in place."

The Association of British Insurers said it had no members operating in
Burma and had written to its them seeking clarification earlier this year.

Maung Maung, general secretary of the Federation of Trade Unions Burma,
said insurance companies were indirectly supporting the Burmese regime.

He said: "We welcome the news that XL and Chubb have pulled out, and will
no longer help to fund the regime, but we strongly condemn all insurers
that remain involved in our military junta run country."

"They help keep the generals in power, and condemn Burma's 50 million
people to lives of poverty and fear. There is no excuse for the likes of
Lloyd's of London being involved, they are helping to fund a brutal
dictatorship."

Information appearing on telegraph.co.uk is the copyright of Telegraph
Media Group Limited and must not be reproduced in any medium without
licence.

____________________________________

August 20, Bangkok Post
Pacts spur Japanese ventures – Phusadee Arunmas

More Japanese-Thai joint ventures in the textile and garment industry are
likely as Japanese firms look to cash in on regional free trade pacts,
says Dej Pathanasethpong, president of Thai Garment Manufacturers
Association.

He said investment opportunities were growing in Southeast Asia for
Japanese companies looking to supply their home country, one of the
world's biggest garment importing markets.
Interest has increased mainly because of the Japan-Thailand Economic
Partnership Agreement (JTEPA) and the Asean-Japan Free Trade Area
Agreement.

''Thailand, as the integrated production base for the textile and garment
industry from downstream to upstream, offers advantages in drawing foreign
investments in this industry,'' he said.

Thailand itself is also now developing networks in the region both in
production and fashion products, he said.

One of the industry's biggest regional showcases, the Bangkok
International Fashion Fair and Bangkok International Leather Fair 2008
(BIFF & BIL 2008), will take place from Aug 27 to 31 at the Bangkok
International Trade and Exhibition Center (Bitec) in Bang Na. The event
will be open to the trade industry from Aug 27-29 and to the general
public from Aug 30-31

The fair will also feature meetings involving Japan, South Korea, China
and Thailand under the Asia Fashion Federation forum.

More than 400 million baht is expected to be spent at the fair.

Wallop Witanakorn, secretary-general of the Thai Garment Manufacturers
Association, said some leading Japanese trading firms had expressed
interest in partnering with Thai entrepreneurs to develop garment products
to supply to the Japanese market.

He said the booming garment industry in China had led Chinese producers to
focus more on their home market, which would create opportunities for Thai
businesses.

More than 90% of Japan's garment imports come from China, leaving the
market open if China switches focus.

According to Mr Wallop, given a shortage of labour in Thailand, more
investment expansion by Thai producers was likely in Burma, Laos, and
Cambodia.

According to Rachane Potjanasuntorn, the director-general of the Export
Promotion Department, Thailand's fashion, textile and garment exports are
expected to grow by 5-10% this year from 943 billion baht last year.

____________________________________

August 20, Associated Press
Footwear trade group spent $235,825 lobbying in 2Q:

The American Apparel & Footwear Association spent $235,825 in the second
quarter to lobby on a number of issues including an extension to an
amendment that requires the Pentagon to give preference to domestically
made products, according to a recent disclosure report.

The trade group _ whose members include Hanesbrands Inc., Wolverine World
Wide Inc. and Perry Ellis International Inc. _ also lobbied on legislation
involving the affordable footwear, fair currency standards, Burma
sanctions, and pending footwear trade associations in Korea, Panama and
Colombia.

In the April-June period, the trade group lobbied Congress, the Consumer
Product Safety Commission, Department of Defense, Federal Trade Commission
and other agencies, according to the report filed July 21 with the House
clerk's office.

____________________________________
ASEAN

August 20, Australia Broadcasting Corporation
ASEAN considers observer status for Burma's elected government

Burma's government in exile is waiting for Senior General Than Shwe and
his military SPDC government to allow 1990 election results.

ASEAN members meeting in Singapore this week will consider the admission
of members of Burma's civilian government in exile as observers of the
group.

A delegation of Burmese politicians living in exile has travelled to
Singapore to meet with members on the sidelines.

Radio Australia's Katie Hamann reports one of their strongest allies is
Indonesia and last week they were invited to the capital Jakarta where
they attended a session of parliament.

Last Friday Teddy Buri and four other exiled MP's stepped into the
Indonesian House of Representatives for a plenary session marking the 63rd
anniversary of the archipelago's independence.

Teddy Buri's 18 years as an elected member of Burma's civilian government
has led him everywhere but the seat of power in his homeland.

Elected in 1990 but unable to form government he was driven from Burma by
the military junta in 1994.

"I've been out of Burma for nearly 15 years," Mr Buri said.

"It's impossible for me to return unless, you know, I surrender but that's
out of the question so in other words I'm unable to return to Burma at
all."

Dividing his time between Thailand and Australia he now serves as
President of the Burmese Members of Parliament Union or MPU.

Last Friday's invitation was the first time exiled Burmese MP's had
attended the government session of an ASEAN member state, on this occasion
as the official guests of the house speaker Agung Laksono.

"We got invited officially, which reflects, we believe, Indonesia's
support for the Burmese democracy movement and that it also wants to see
change in Burma.

"We see Indonesia as the third largest democracy in the world and the
largest democracy in the region, so we really see it as very significant,"
Mr Buri said.

Symbolic, not official

Dr Jason Abbott, a Burma specialist at Briton's University of Surrey, says
the delegations visit to Jakarta was mainly a symbolic gesture.

"We shouldn't forget that Indonesia is the largest democracy in ASEAN so
there is some symbolic import from this visit.

"I think it's more signficant to the MPU and perhaps to the junta then it
is to the Indonesian government as a whole although it is symbolic from
the point of view of Indonesian parliamentarians," Mr Abbott said.

"But the fact that it's not an official invitation from the Government
itself or from the President means that we should caution against reading
too much into this."

Perhaps deliberately, Indonesia's President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono
didn't raise the issue of Burma in his address to the house.

As Indonesia's representative at this weeks ASEAN meeting in Singapore, Mr
Laksono, however, is one of several South East Asian leaders lobbying for
the MPU to be admitted to ASEAN as observers, a proposal first tabled by
Indonesia in 2006.

Teddy Buri says he expects it will be rejected because the ASEAN executive
committees requires consensus based decisions.

"We are pretty sure that Burma's going to oppose our participation, so
it's a foregone conclusion that we are not going to be accorded observer
status.

"But still the fact that we have some members that are speaking on our
behalf sends a very strong message to the other members as well as the
SPDC that there is a need for change in Burma," he said.

You can find the full story at the Connect Asia website:
www.radioaustralia.net.au/connectasia

_____________________________________
INTERNATIONAL

August 20, Associated Press
UN chief expected to visit Myanmar in December

YANGON, Myanmar — U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon is planning to visit
Myanmar at the end of this year to hold talks on the country's political
problems, the main opposition party said Wednesday.

National League for Democracy party spokesman Nyan Win said it was
informed of the planned talks by visiting U.N. special envoy Ibrahim
Gambari.

Gambari met Wednesday with five executive committee members of the party,
which is led by detained Nobel peace laureate Aung San Suu Kyi. He arrived
Monday on a five-day mission to promote national reconciliation and
political reform.

It is Gambari's fourth trip to the military-ruled country since a deadly
crackdown on anti-government protesters last September sparked a global
outcry.

Ban last visited Myanmar in May to lobby for the country's rulers to open
up to more foreign assistance and aid workers in the wake of the
devastating Cyclone Nargis, which killed more than 84,537 people and left
more than 1 million homeless.

The U.N. chief avoided political issues during that trip, which Gambari
described as "humanitarian," according to Nyan Win. He said the envoy told
party officials that the visit planned for the last week of December would
be solely political.

Myanmar, also known as Burma, has been in a political deadlock since 1990,
when Suu Kyi's party won a general election but was not allowed to take
power by the military, which instead has dictated the terms and timing of
a return to democracy.
Gambari told the party executives that Ban's visit was one of five matters
he was tackling during his current visit, according to Nyan Win. The
others matters include seeking the release of political prisoners,
including Suu Kyi.

Gambari had been expected to meet with Suu Kyi on Wednesday, but did not
do so. However, he told the party officials he would try to see her. Suu
Kyi has spent more than 12 of the past 19 years under house arrest.

Gambari on Tuesday toured cyclone-hit Kunyangone township south of Yangon
and met the government spokesmen team set up to liaise with the U.N., the
state-run New Light of Myanmar newspaper reported.

The military has ruled the Southeast Asian nation since 1962 and has been
widely criticized for suppressing basic freedoms and human rights.

The United Nations has a poor record in Myanmar. Its envoys have visited
the country nearly 40 times since 1990, along with other senior officials,
while the U.N. General Assembly has passed numerous resolutions calling
for change.

To date, the ruling generals have virtually ignored such pressure.

____________________________________
PRESS RELEASE

August 19, PR Newswire
Chubb responds to the Burma Campaign UK's inaccurate

PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- In response to a news release, "XL, Chubb Pull
Out Of Burma," issued today by The Burma Campaign UK, The Chubb
Corporation issued the following statement:

The news release issued today by The Burma Campaign UK contains numerous
inaccuracies with respect to The Chubb Corporation  and its response to
The Burma Campaign UK's inquiry. For at least 11 years, Chubb has had in
effect a policy that bars its member companies from maintaining an office
in Burma, directly writing insurance in Burma, providing insurance into
Burma from outside the country or entering into any transaction with the
government of Burma.

The action by The Burma Campaign UK to place Chubb on its list of
noncompliant companies was based on an out-of-date, erroneous list of
independent service providers on Chubb's website, which has since been
corrected. Chubb so informed The Burma Campaign UK on August 8, and Chubb
subsequently received a letter from The Burma Campaign UK that it has
corrected the report on its website to remove Chubb from its noncompliant
list.

Chubb is therefore at a loss to understand why The Burma Campaign UK would
on August 19 issue a news release which clearly implies -- incorrectly --
that Chubb has an office in Burma and that Chubb only now is revising its
Burma policy and "pulling out of Burma" in response to Chubb being
included on The Burma Campaign UK's noncompliant list. We have asked The
Burma Campaign UK to correct its misleading news release.

CONTACT: Mark Greenberg of Chubb, +1-908-903-2682

____________________________________
OPINION / OTHER

August 20, Irrawaddy
UN Envoy Visits bring less interest - Kyaw Zwa Moe

Public interest in the latest visits of two UN special envoys to Burma,
intended to help fix the country’s miserable political landscape and its
disgraceful human rights record, is at its lowest level in decades.

Nigerian diplomat Ibrahim Gambari, the UN special envoy to Burma, arrived in
Rangoon on Monday. It’s his sixth trip to try to help build national
reconciliation between the military rulers and opposition groups.

In early August, newly appointed UN Human Rights Special Rapporteur Tomas
Ojea Quintana ended his first visit to take on human rights issues.

In the past, people inside Burma and the international diplomatic
community have had their hopes raised with each visit by a UN envoy. Tiny
tea leaves are routinely sifted for meaningful signs of change.

During the two latest trips, however, the feeling has been, “Ho, hum, it’s
more business as usual”—which translate to zero progress.

So far, Gambari met with the foreign minister and information minister on
Tuesday and visited Kungyangone Township, one of many which were severely
affected by Cyclone Nargis in May.

Gambari’s goal this trip revolves around whether he can make progress in
facilitating a meaningful dialogue between the junta’s leaders and
detained democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi and whether he can nudge the
generals to enter into talks with members of the National League for
Democracy, which Suu Kyi heads.

So far, Suu Kyi’s has had five meetings with the junta’s liaison officer,
Minister Aung Kyi, from October to January. There is a growing sense that
the meetings are part of the regime’s typical stalling tactics.

Gambari was scheduled to meet with Suu Kyi on Wednesday, but the meeting
didn’t occur, according to an NLD spokesperson in Rangoon. The envoy did
meet with other NLD leaders in a government guesthouse. On this basis
alone his trip might be deemed a success. Such are the low expectations
involving the UN’s efforts.

The regime’s steadfast adherence to its seven-step roadmap to “democracy”
has proved to be a formidable obstacle to the goal of “reconciliation.” UN
suggestions are countered by the regime’s assertion that the roadmap is on
course. The fourth step—approving a constitution that was drawn up by its
handpicked delegates—was completed in May.

The fifth step, the general elections scheduled for 2010, is moving along,
with the junta’s civic organization, the Union Solidarity and Development
Association (USDA), preparing to form a National Prosperity Party. The
USDA is notorious for its thuggish attacks on Suu Kyi supporters and
pro-democracy activists.

Other pro-regime organizations expected to emerge as political groups
include the Wuntharnu (patriotic) National League for Democracy, formed by
a few former members of Suu Kyi’s NLD and the 88 Generation Student Youths
(Union of Myanmar).

The National Unity Party, a transformation of the Burma Socialist
Programme Party which ruled the country for 26 years until 1988, is also
among the pro-junta political parties. The junta’s strategy is to complete
national elections in 2010 and form a “civilian” government of its
supporters under the framework of a “disciplined democracy.”

At this late stage, the diplomatic suggestions by Gambari will not move
the generals from their course. Similar efforts for the past 20 years have
all failed. Since the 1988 pro-democracy uprising, eight UN envoys have
made more than 30 diplomatic visits to Burma to discuss the same basic
issues.

It’s not surprising that the visits by the latest two UN envoys have
aroused little interest or expectation, knowing they have no new strategy
to coax the generals to do the right thing.