BurmaNet News, April 18-20, 2009

[Editor]

April 18-20, 2009, Issue #3693


INSIDE BURMA
Mizzima: UWSA goals remain elusive after 20 years
Mizzima: Food scarcity likely to worsen in Chin State – Aid group
IMNA: Students mount protest campaign during water festival in Mon State
Irrawaddy: Burmese Soccer League an election ploy?
IRIN: Counting the chickens in Ayeyarwady Delta
DVB: Police refuse to arrest attackers of opposition members

BUSINESS / TRADE
Irrawaddy: Weekly business roundup
China View: Myanmar PM invites more Chinese entrepreneurs to invest in
Myanmar
Kachin News Group: Chinese tycoon imports timber from northern Burma

HEALTH / AIDS
Earth Times: Global Fund faces 4 billion dollar budget shortfall next year

REGIONAL
Mizzima News: China pays lip service to Burmese junta: observer

INTERNATIONAL
Irrawaddy: Making friends with Tyrants

OPINION / OTHER
Washington Post: What Burma needs from the White House - Desmond Tutu
Irrawaddy: NLD still represents moral strength for the powerless - Yeni

OBITUARY
Mizzima: Leader of ethnic ceasefire group assassinated

____________________________________
INSIDE BURMA

April 20, Mizzima News
UWSA goals remain elusive after 20 years - Solomon

One of Burma’s major ethnic ceasefire groups – United Wa State Army (UWSA)
– has acknowledged it has failed over the past two decades to achieve its
primary objective of gaining autonomy for all Wa inhabited regions.

While the armed group has been able to carry out a certain level of
development projects during the twenty years of ceasefire with Burma’s
ruling junta, a UWSA official said it has not been able to achieve its
political objective.

“We have not been able to gain total control over all Wa territories,”
said the official, who for security reasons did not wish to be named.

UWSA broke away from the former Burma Communist Party (BCP) in 1989,
subsequently signing a peace agreement with Burma’s ruling junta.

Since then it has maintained control over the town of Panghsang, the
former communist stronghold on the Chinese border, and surrounding areas
in Wa Special Region (2) in northern Shan state. But it has continued in
its demand for a greater area of control.

“We want to have autonomy and self-governance over our entire territory,”
the official added.

The official was speaking to Mizzima after the UWSA celebrated its 20th
anniversary in Panghsang on April 17th.

The official said that during the twenty years of the ceasefire agreement
it has been able to help develop the Wa region in terms of constructing
roads and other infrastructure projects.

The group said it has also been able successfully implement the effective
eradication of poppy cultivation in the region, since 2005, helping
villagers to grow substitute crops.

But Aung Kyaw Zaw, a Sino-Burmese border based analyst, said while the
UWSA was successful in reducing poppy cultivation, drug production has not
decreased, having only shifted to the production of synthetic drugs such
as ecstasy pills.

But, he admits that the UWSA has been able to strengthen itself
economically and make its army stronger over the years.

“They have been able to make their army stronger within these years and to
strengthen their position economically,” said Aung Kyaw Zaw.

In recent months the UWSA has been facing increasing pressure from the
junta to lay down their arms and join the 2010 election process.

“There is continuing pressure from them [junta] regarding disarming and
serving under their direct command, but we hope that we will be able to
solve our differences peacefully,” the UWSA official explained.

He added that the UWSA will not lay down their arms, while continuing to
engage in a process of peaceful negotiation with the junta, until their
political demands are achieved.

____________________________________

April 20, Mizzima News
Food scarcity likely to worsen in Chin State – Aid group - Salai Pi Pi

The scarcity of food in rat-infested Chin State in western Burma, is
likely to escalate during the monsoons, according to a relief group in
exile.

Salai Cinzah, Chairman of the Chin Humanitarian Relief Committee (CHRC),
in exile, said on Monday, the villagers, the victims of food shortage
caused by rat infestation in Chin state, were worried as the coming
monsoons would disrupt the ongoing relief assistance by the International
Non-government Organizations (INGOs) and NGOs.

“They [villagers] are worried that the shortage of food will get worse in
the monsoons, as the weather will make it difficult to access the places,
where they are staying and the inflow of aid from outside and inside Burma
would be hampered,” Cinzah told Mizzima.

The rat infested Chin state, is the most backward and least developed
state in military ruled Burma, where only a few villages can be accessed
by car during the rainy season, making transportation of food and other
commodities difficult and expensive.

Most of the affected areas are over 160 kilometres away from the places
where most of the relief agencies’ field offices are established in Chin
state.

Cinzah said, though there are some INGOs and NGOs distributing aid and
money to the most critical areas in southern Chin state, there are a lot
of affected villages facing shortage of food and which needs to be given
assistance.

“Although, some villages have received aid from INGOs and NGOs, a lot of
villages are still facing insufficiency of food and need help,” he said.

He added, “The worst thing is that there is no sign of reduction in the
number of rats that damage the crops on the field, consume food grains and
other food items.”

Last month, the World Food Program (WFP) in its report said, the food
scarcity of vulnerable households in Chin state remains precarious as
their purchasing power continues to be limited due to the loss of crops,
while the situation of early 2009 seems to be stabilizing, with the relief
aid of the international community.

Moreover, in addition to emergency food assistance, WFP which serves as a
coordinating agency of several relief agencies in Chin state also said,
“Some agencies have begun to distribute seeds for winter crops, and take
preventive measures against future infestations.”

WFP and its coordinating relief agencies have responded to the food crisis
in Chin state by projecting a “Food for Work” programme in 3 townships and
“Food plus Cash for Work” programme in 5 townships.

The report said, “The activities focus on improving productive assets that
increase their food security, such as agricultural land development,
construction of trafficable roads, as well as other projects identified by
the communities themselves.”

WFP also expected that the assistance project, of USD 708,000 given by
United Kingdom’s Department for International Development (DFID) and
Denmark, would benefit a total of 6,360 households in 50 villages and
added, it had requested European Commission’s Humanitarian Aid Office
(ECHO) to support another additional 7,500 beneficiaries with 203 tons of
food as well as to carry out a food security survey.

Meanwhile, Terah, another relief worker from the Chin Famine Emergency
Relief Committee (CFERC) told Mizzima that the new symptoms of food
scarcity was found in the areas of Chin’s southern township Paletwa near
northern Arakan state.

“We are told that some villages in Paletwa Township near Arakan state also
experienced shortage of food as rats began damaging the crops in the
fields,” said Terah.

____________________________________

April 20, Independent Mon News Agency
Students mount protest campaign during water festival in Mon State - Mon Son

Students in Mon State lead a bandana campaign to protest rule by Burma’s
military government during last week’s water festival. According to a
protest organizer, over a thousand bandanas bearing the slogan, in
English, “No free, no happy” were distributed in three townships.

On April 15th, protest organizers distributed 1,500 bandanas to residents
of Moulmein, Mon State’s capital city, and nearby Mudon and Thanbyuzayat
Townships. The campaign fell on the mid-point of Burma’s “Thingyin” New
Years festival, when people across the country took days off to throw
water on each other, sing and dance.

“The reason we distributed this bandana: we want people know, if we don’t
have freedom we also will not have happiness,” one of the organizers told
IMNA. “Because we are living under military control, we have no freedom –
no freedom of speech, no freedom of expression.”

Moulemin residents told IMNA they saw many youth on trucks and cars wear
the bandana. A youth in Mudon Town agreed, but added that some of his
friends did not know what the English-language slogan meant.

“I saw many people wearing the bandana during the festival,” said the
youth. “Some of my friends didn’t know what the slogan meant. And it was
free. But for other people, they knew what it means but they were still
not afraid to wear it.”

IMNA has not received any reports of arrests related to the campaign.
Prior to Thingyin, state-run television in Burma announced that people
were prohibited from wearing “political” clothing.

____________________________________

April 20, 2009, Irrawaddy
Burmese Soccer League an election ploy?

The military government’s move to introduce the first professional
football league in Burma may be a political tactic linked to the 2010
national elections, according to observers in Rangoon.

Myo Min Tin of Burma fights for the ball against Singapore during the
Asean Football Federation Suzuki Cup 2008 in Jakarta. (Photo: Reuters)
Senior officials have regularly attempted to create a national football
league in recent years, sources said. But it wasn’t until junta chief
Snr-Gen Than Shwe gave his support for the plan in March that the soccer
league was finally given the green light and bids were tendered to allow
leading businessmen to sponsor soccer clubs.

“It is quite obvious that the government wants the public to vote for
military-sponsored parties in next year’s election,” said one observer.
“It will therefore provide things that the public like, such as football
and pagodas.

“In that way, they can grab everyone’s attention,” he said.

The military authorities have approved the founding of eight new soccer
clubs, which will represent eight different regions of the country. Four
of the clubs will play in the Northern League while four others compete in
the Southern League. The first matches of the National League Cup will be
contested on May 16.

The Northern League teams are:

• Yadanarpone FC, representing Mandalay Division (owned/ sponsored/
chaired by Dr Sai Sam Htun of drinking water company Alpine);

• Magway FC, representing Magwe Division (owned by Tun Myint Naing,
managing director of construction company Asia World);

• Zeya Shwe Myay FC, representing Sagaing Division (owned by Win Myint of
Shwe Nager Min);

• Kanbawza FC, representing Shan State (owned by Aung Ko Win, chairman of
Kanbawza Bank).

The Southern League teams are:

• Yangon United FC, representing Rangoon Division (owned by tycoon Tay Za
of Htoo Trading Co.);

• Okkthar United FC, representing Pegu Division (owned by Aung Moe Kyaw,
owner of IBTC whisky distillery);

• Southern Myanmar United FC, representing Tenasserim Division (owned by
Htay Myint, head of Yuzana real estate firm);

• Delta United FC, representing Irrawaddy Division (owned by Chit Khaing
of Eden, a leading construction and exploration company).

Each professional club was reputedly formed for a minimum of 200 million
kyat (US $204,080), according to newspapers in Rangoon. The investment
apparently covers costs such as salaries, transportation and equipment,
but does not include the clubs stadiums, which are all nationalized.

Although the inaugural soccer league kicks off in just a few weeks, not
everyone is impressed.

Speaking to The Irrawaddy on Monday, a sports journal editor in Rangoon
said, “Each soccer club is located in a different region, because the club
chairman will be expected to deal with and influence local people in the
campaign leading up to next year’s election.

“But I am not sure if people will be interested in this government ploy,”
he said. “I think Burmese football supporters would rather stay home and
watch English Premier League football on TV.”


____________________________________

April 20, IRIN
Counting the chickens in Ayeyarwady Delta

Khin Shwe, 37, lost her prized pig and dozens of ducks and chickens valued
at over US$300 in Cyclone Nargis, which left some 140,000 people dead or
missing nearly a year ago.  "All I have are these two hens,” the
mother-of-five told IRIN, pointing to the two birds (purchased after
selling her son’s jeans) on the floor of her makeshift hut.

Prior to the cyclone, Khin Shwe earned $10-$20 per month from her backyard
livestock farming business, while her fisherman husband earned $15 more.  
She had hoped the two chickens would help her re-establish herself, but so
far that is not happening. Like other residents of Kayinisu, a village in
Dedaye Township in Myanmar’s badly affected Ayeyarwady Delta, she barely
has enough money for three meals a day.

According to the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), more than
68,000 pigs, 525,000 ducks, 7,500 goats, 1.5 million chickens, and 227,000
draught animals were lost to Nargis.

To address this, the government and international community have donated
chickens, ducks and pigs to small-scale farmers, targeting the very poor,
the landless, or female-headed households. But given the size of the
losses, much more is needed.  "Despite the assistance of all stakeholders,
so far only a small percentage of the required animals have been covered,"
Yan Naing Soe, FAO’s national consultant for livestock, told IRIN in
Yangon, the former Myanmar capital.

Just 1 percent of the chickens, 20 percent of the ducks and 12 percent of
the pigs lost have been replaced, according to the latest figures from
FAO. Just 3 percent of buffaloes and cattle - critical for many
small-scale farmers in tilling their fields - have been replaced.

It is a huge challenge to restore the backyard livestock farming sector,
FAO’s Yan Naing Soe said, adding that it might take more than three years
to bring animal numbers back to pre-cyclone levels.  "Since backyard
livestock farming is one of the main income generators for some of the
poorer cyclone-affected households, we should all keep supporting them,”
Yan Naing Soe said.

Incomes in these households have diminished, undermining food security in
the area. "Some days we have to skip one or two meals,” 43-year old Myint
Than from Kayinisu, who relied on her livestock trade before the cyclone,
said.

They have not had any free food distributed since November last year, and
no draught animals, poultry, or pigs had been distributed in their village
so far, she complained.

Local economy depressed

According to the Post-Nargis Recovery and Preparedness Plan (PONREPP), a
three-year medium-term recovery plan released earlier this year, the local
economy in much of the affected area remains depressed.  Cash grants and
microcredit need to be made available to households which are falling into
debt, experts say.

Many have yet to pay off pre-Nargis loans and will have no choice but to
borrow again if they want to continue their agriculture, fishing and
small-scale livestock businesses.  Reduced incomes - apart from affecting
education and health care - could lead to reduced spending on non-rice
food items, increasing the risk of an unbalanced diet, the PONREPP report
said.

____________________________________

April 20, Democratic Voice of Burma
Police refuse to arrest attackers of opposition members - Yee May Aung and
Khin Hnin Htet


Police have told opposition party members who were attacked by a mob led
by a government official that their assailants will not be arrested
because government authorities have not permissed them to do so.

Two members of the National League for Democracy’s youth wing were
attacked on 18 April whilst on their way to a religious new year ceremony
in Rangoon’s Twente township.

The youth coordinator of Twente NLD, Ye Htut Khaung, said that the two
members, a male and a female, were set upon by about 30 local people led
by a ward official named Pauk Pauk.

“The mob trapped them in front of a nearby monastery and started throwing
punches at them,” said Ye Htut Khaung.

Other NLD youth members who arrived at the scene shortly after were told
by the ward official that the attack was done out of a hatred of the NLD.

Yet when the incident was reported to police, the victims were told that
police had no authority to conduct an arrest.

“Deputy police chief Thein Zaw Oo at the station told them they could not
arrest the attackers as they didn’t get permission from [Twente Peace and
Development Council] chairman, Aung Zan Thar, to do so,” said Ye Htut
Khaung.

This attack followed a separate incident on 12 April in Twente in which
another NLD youth member was attacked by a group of seven men led by a
local Union Solidarity and Development Association member.

The USDA is a government-affiliated social organisation.

No action was taken by the police after Win Kyaing reported the incident,
but he was himself charged yesterday for obscenity and assault.

In another separate incident, NLD central executive committee member and
1990-elected people’s parliament representative, Thein Nyunt, was
hospitalised last week after being attacked by a man at his house in
Thingangyun, Rangoon, said his son.

“The police gave full attention to our report and they sent a detective to
the hospital,” said Khine Min, who added that the motive behind the
assault was unclear.

____________________________________
BUSINESS / TRADE

April 20, Irrawaddy
Weekly business roundup - Willam Boot

Burma to Benefit from China Aid Package

Burma is one of three countries of the Association of Southeast Asian
Nations (Asean) to benefit from a Chinese financial package designed to
reboot regional growth in the wake of the global slump.

Burma, Laos and Cambodia will share US$39 million for projects expected to
be infrastructure developments such as roads and railways— aid which will
also benefit China’s trade links to the sea from its landlocked southwest
region.

The “poorest nations” aid is part of an overall investment and credit
package worth $25 billion proposed by China to boost trade with the 10
Asean countries and help their economies.

China’s Prime Minister Wen Jiabao had planned to unveil the package at the
disrupted Asia summit in Thailand’s resort town of Pattaya.

The package was instead revealed later to media by the China foreign
ministry.

It includes a $10 billion China-Asean investment cooperation fund to
promote infrastructure, and credit of $15 billion for Asean countries.

The Pattaya meeting was billed as Asia’s version of the recent G-20 summit
of major economies in London, which China also attended.

Thailand’s government was acutely embarrassed by the Pattaya summit’s
abandonment, which was the second time in five months it has failed.

The summit was originally planned for Bangkok last December but was
postponed because of other street protests which also closed the capital’s
airports.

Bangladesh Plans Deep Port as Regional Hub

The Bangladesh government is planning to develop a deep draft port to
handle the world’s biggest cargo ships and tankers in a bid to become a
regional transit hub for China and northeast India.

The plan is to build the facility alongside existing Chittagong port,
Shipping Minister Afsarul Amin told Dhaka newspapers.

A feasibility report by Japanese infrastructure firm Pacific Consultant
International has said the new port could be developed in three phases,
with the first one completed by 2016, Amin said.

The cost has been estimated at US $1.2 billion—considerably more than the
$120 million India is spending to redevelop Burma’s west coast port of
Sittwe and Kaladan River. The river flows from India’s Mizoram state
adjoining both Burma and Bangladesh.

The deep sea port plan was announced after Bangladesh said it was seeking
financial aid from China for a 128 kilometer railway track between
Chittagong and Ramu, adjacent to the border with Burma at Cox’s Bazaar.

The track is intended to be part of the trans-Asia railway scheme being
pushed by the United Nations to help develop the region.

The Burmese military government has shown reluctance to support the plan,
said the Daily Star newspaper in Dhaka.

Bangladesh says China is keen to develop a railway network that would
eventually link the Bay of Bengal port of Chittagong with Kunming, capital
of China’s southwest Yunnan province, which borders northern Burma.

India’s UBI State Bank Works with Burmese Banks

The state United Bank of India is working with Burmese banks to provide
banking facilities to help improve cross border trade, India’s ambassador
to Burma, Alok Sen, announced.

The bank cooperation is one of several measures being taken to improve
trade, which the envoy said last week suffered from “certain operational
problems.”

Alok Sen has been visiting border areas between the two countries to find
out about persistent problems afflicting commerce, said India’s Sangai
Express newspaper.

Indian media said Sen spent a week in Mizoram examining several issues,
including plans for a river transport improvement project on the Kaladan
waterway down to the Burmese port of Sittwe.

India is funding several cross-border transport improvement projects to
help trade grow as part of New Delhi’s so-called Look East policy.

Burma Little Affected by Global Financial Crisis, Says PM

The global financial crisis has had only an “insignificant” effect on
Burma, according to Burmese Prime Minister Gen Thein Sein.

Burma’s success in avoiding the worst of the crisis is due to the absence
of links between its financial institutions and the Western banking system
blamed for triggering the crisis, Thein Sein was quoted by China’s
official news agency Xinhua as saying.

He was commenting in the context of a regional economic conference which
took place at the weekend, on the southern Chinese island province of
Hainan.

Thein Sein represented Burma at the Boao Forum, a meeting of Asian leaders
named after the town where it has been held annually since 2002.

This year’s theme was “managing beyond crisis.”

The Boao Forum involves China, Japan, Australia, countries from south and
central Asia, and the 10 members of the Association of Southeast Asian
Nations.

____________________________________

April 20, 2009, China View
Myanmar PM invites more Chinese entrepreneurs to invest in Myanmar

Myanmar's Prime Minister Thein Sein Sunday expressed thanks for the help
the Chinese government has offered to Myanmar and hoped more Chinese
entrepreneurs would make investment in Myanmar.  Thein Sein made the
comments during his visit in Xiamen, capital city of southeast China's
Fujian Province, from April 18 to 20.

China and Myanmar have carried out cooperation in the fields of oil and
gas, hydropower and mining, which not only brought benefits to the two
countries but also promoted the friendship between the two nations, Thein
Sein said.

Fujian governor Huang Xiaojing said there were plenty of room to promote
wide-ranging cooperation in areas including mining, infrastructure,
hydropower and agriculture between Fujian and Myanmar. Huang hoped the two
sides would enhance exchange and cooperation in the future.

Thein Sein led a group of 34 people to Xiamen after attending the annual
conference of the Boao Forum for Asia in Boao, Hainan Province. The group
was to fly to Kunming on Monday morning.

____________________________________

April 18, Kachin News Group
Chinese tycoon imports timber from northern Burma

A well known Chinese tycoon, Lau Ying with business interests in northern
Burma is resuming import of timber to China from Burma's northern Kachin
State since last month, said local sources.

Chinese tycoon Lau YingLau Ying's employees are felling teak and hardwood
from the government reserved forests in the east and west river banks of
Irrawaddy River also known as Mali Hka in Kachin language near Sinbo after
crossing the Sino-Burma border east of Kachin State, said sources close to
Lau Ying.

For logging permission in those forests, Lau Ying has to dole out millions
of kyat as bribe to the Burmese junta's Northern Command in Kachin State
commander Brig-Gen Soe Win as well as Burmese Army bases around the
logging track, according local timber traders close to Lau Ying.

Border traders said timber transportation was stopped for some time
because Maj-Gen Thar Aye, a new commander of the junta's No. 1 Bureau of
Special Operation Command inspected Bhamo and Myitkyina Districts late
last month before the Water Festival (Thingyan).

At the moment, Lau Ying is a major timber importer to China from northern
Burma. He is based in Yingjiang, China's border town in the country's
southwest Yunnan province.

Lau Ying, an ordinary man became rich after he borrowed money from the
Chinese government and bought logging permits from Kachin State-based
Kachin Independence Organization (KIO), which had signed a ceasefire
agreement with the junta in 1994, said local timber businessmen.

Lau Ying has also been distributing electricity in Laiza, the border
business centre and headquarters of KIO since 2005.

He has a contract with KIO's Buga Company, which supplies electricity to
Kachin State's capital Myitkyina and nearby Waingmaw town from its Mali
River (not Irrawaddy River) hydropower plant.  Lau Ying provides
Chinese-made electric cables and poles, said Buga Company sources.

Before 2006, Lau Ying mainly dealt with the KIO but he got closer to the
junta's Northern Command Headquarters based in Myitkyina and Naypyitaw
directly because the KIO's revenue has been curtailed following pressure
from the junta, said local businessmen.

____________________________________
HEALTH / AIDS

April 20, Earth Times
Global Fund faces 4 billion dollar budget shortfall next year

Global Fund - the main multilateral donor for health programs combatting
HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria - is facing a 4-billion-dollar budget
shortfall next year, the fund's executive director said Monday. "We are
facing a financial crisis," Global Fund executive director Michel
Kazatchkine said. "We estimate our funding gap in 2010 to be somewhere
around 4 billion."

Kazatchkine said Global Fund had requested 2.7 billion dollars from the
US, which normally contributes about 30 per cent of the fund's budget, but
was uncertain of the outcome given the economic crisis among developed
nations.  "Times of crisis are times when we should supply more funding,
not less," Kazatchkine told a press conference kicking off the Harm
Reduction 2009 conference in Bangkok.

Besides funding programmes fighting HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaraia,
Global Fund is also the leading multilateral donor worldwide to harm
reduction for intravenous drug users such as programmes providing
methadone, safe needle exchange and access to anti-retro viral to addicts.

While the Asian region has made progress in providing anti-retro-viral
drugs to HIV/AIDS patients, it has shown less success in harm reduction
for drug addicts.  In Thailand, often cited as a success story in its
fight against HIV/AIDS, some 30 to 40 per cent of the country's estimated
200,000 intravenous drug users are HIV/AIDS positive, said Pratin
Dharmarak, country representative for Population Services International.
"Services for IV drug users has been overlooked," Pratin said.

Thailand has this year received 100 million dollars from the Global Fund
to combat HIV/AIDS, a portion of which will go towards harm reduction
programmes for drug users.  But with a budget shortfall expected next
year, similar programmes in the region are likely to be cut.  "We are
facing challenges in being able to fund the next applications that are
coming in what we call Round 9," Kazatchkine said.

He acknowledged that Myanmar was expected to be one of the countries
applying for funding this year.  The Global Fund pulled out of Myanmar in
2006, blaming a lack of access to information on how its money was being
spent in the military-dictatorship.

A Global Fund team was sent to Myanmar, also called Burma, last month to
help authorities reapply for funding. Myanmar has one of the highest
HIV/AIDS rates in the region, and one of the worst public health systems. 
"I do hope very much that Burma will apply and will be successful,"
Kazatchkine said.

____________________________________
REGIONAL

April 19, Mizzima News
China pays lip service to Burmese junta: observer - Salai Pi Pi

China, saying it wishes to see political stability in Burma, is tantamount
to paying lip-service as it does not care for genuine change because its
stands to gain with the military junta in the seat of power, a
Sino-Burmese observer said.

Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao on Friday told Burmese Prime Minister General
Thein Sein that it wishes to see Burma usher in political stability and
national reconciliation.

Thein Sein, who is in Hainan province of China to attend the Boao Forum of
the Asia Annual conference 2009, met Wen Jiabao on Friday, according to a
Xinhua report.

“China sincerely hopes for Myanmar [Burma]'s political stability, economic
development and national reconciliation,” Wen was quoted as saying to
Thein Sein.

But Aung Kyaw Zaw, an observer based on the Sino-Burma border said Wen’s
words carry little weight because China in reality prefers to see Burma
stable under the current regime as it stand to benefit tremendously
through its bilateral cooperation on various sectors including investment
in energy and trade.

“It is just lip service. Actually they want to see stability of the regime
in power,” said Aung Kyaw Zaw.

“China knows they will get more opportunities to invest and extract
resources from Burma if the regime maintains its stranglehold on power,”
he added.

Wen on Friday also called for enhancing bilateral cooperation between
China and Burma on energy and transport network constructions, saying
China will help Burma to cope with the problems brought on by the global
financial crisis.

Aung Kyaw Zaw said, China’s current interest is to immediately implement
the construction of the gas pipeline that will connect Burma’s Arakan
state and China’s Yunnan state.

Besides, Wen is likely to raise the issue of ethnic armed rebel groups
operating along the Sino-Burma border with Thein Sein, as it is a major
concern for China along its border.

“I think they will talk on the issue of pipeline construction and ethnic
armed groups particularly the Kachin Independence Organization (KIO) and
United Wa State Army (UWSA),” he said.

Aung Kyaw Zaw said Burma probably will urge China to crackdown on Burmese
ethnic armed groups to secure bilateral trade and construction of
pipelines.

Nyo Ohn Myint, in-charge of Foreign Affairs Committee of the National
League for Democracy (NLD) in exile said, China could be worried over
opposition groups’ and ceasefire groups’ boycott of the Burmese junta’s
proposed 2010 general elections as it could undermine its legitimacy.

“I think the Chinese government is worried that NLD and ceasefire groups
are boycotting the 2010 elections,” Nyo Ohn Myint said.

He also said Thein Sein is likely to use his presence in Hainan to
campaign for support of the international community regarding the election
to be held in 2010.

“He will also take the opportunity in the forum to convince the delegates
that the 2010 elections will be inclusive, free and fair,” Nyo Ohn Myint
said.

China is one of the few countries that have maintained friendly relations
with Burma’s military rulers. In its support of the regime, China along
with Russia had vetoed a United Nations Security Council Resolution on
Burma in January 2007.

____________________________________
INTERNATIONAL

April 20, 2009, Irrawaddy News
Making friends with Tyrants

Recently, US President Obama has been extending an olive branch to the
“axis of evil” and “outposts of tyranny” so loudly condemned by his
predecessor, George W. Bush.

At the Summit of Americas last week, Obama said that his administration
would take a new approach with one of America’s most outspoken critics,
President Hugo Chavez of Venezuela. In return, Chavez said, “I want to be
your friend.”   On Cuba, Obama announced the opening of a new page in
history at the two-day summit, offering Havana a “new beginning” in
relations with the US.

Since January, Obama has attempted to reverse many aspects of Bush’s
foreign policy, promising a policy review and a new approach to relations
with countries like Iran, North Korea and Burma.

However, critics have noted that Obama’s new approach faces some serious
challenges.   This became abundantly obvious when North Korea recently
fired a long-range rocket in violation of United Nations restrictions and
an Iranian court sentenced a US journalist to eight years’ imprisonment on
charges of spying for the US.

What about Burma, designated by the Bush administration as one of the
“outposts of tyranny,” along with Belarus, Cuba, Iran, North Korea and
Zimbabwe? Will the Burmese junta prove to be as difficult to crack as some
of the world’s other despotic regimes?   Even before Obama was sworn in as
the 44th president of the United States on January 20, three
representatives from the Democratic Party reportedly traveled to Rangoon
to meet with Burmese intellectuals and government officials there.

The purpose of the trip was to sound out the Burmese perspective on US
policy, particularly US sanctions.  In February, US Secretary of State
Hillary Clinton spoke out about the Burma policy review during her East
Asia trip. She said neither sanctions nor engagement had succeeded in
bringing about change in Burma.

“Obama and Clinton are looking into changing the Burma policy, but they
have not decided anything for certain yet,” said a Washington-based US
State Department staffer who spoke on condition of anonymity.  “Many
people at the State Department feel convinced that Burma will not easily
liberalize. Especially after Cyclone Nargis, they felt sure about it,” the
staffer said.

In March, Stephen Blake, director of the US State Department’s Office of
Mainland Southeast Asia, visited the junta’s remote capital, Naypyidaw. He
was the highest-ranking US official to visit the capital in recent years. 
Burma’s state-run media reported that Blake and Burmese Foreign Minister
Nyan Win discussed issues of mutual interest and the promotion of
bilateral relations.  The visit and Clinton’s remarks on Burma stirred
speculation and rumors of a policy shift on Burma.

Deputy Secretary of State Jim Steinberg said at the National Bureau of
Asian Research think tank on April 1 that the US was open to setting up
new “flexible” frameworks similar to the six party talks on North Korea’s
nuclear.

Some analysts said that a six-party talks program might help to resolve
the Burmese crisis, but pointed out that the same arrangement has so far
failed to solve the situation in North Korea.   The generals in Naypyidaw
are eager to improve relations with the US. The trouble is that Burma
still holds over 2,100 political prisoners, including Nobel Peace Prize
winner Aung San Suu Kyi, and there are no signs that the regime is going
to free prisoners and embark on genuine political reforms.

The US is concerned about the detention of political prisoners and the
long sentences imposed on monks, relief workers and others who engaged in
non-violent dissent, said Jeff Kingston, director of Asian Studies at
Temple University, Japan Campus.

But one of arguments for changing the US policy is to balance China’s
growing influence in Burma, which occupies a strategically important
position in the Indian Ocean region. Some observers said that Washington’s
two decades of distant relations with the regime in Burma under the
principle of democracy and human rights has pushed Burma into Beijing’s
sphere of influence.

On the other hand, many critics and observers are still skeptical of
Obama’s policy review on tyrannical regimes and warned that the US’s
softly, softly approach with tyrannies such as Naypyidaw, Pyongyang and
Khartoum may only serve to legitimate brutal dictators.

“America should engage Burma, but it should not engage in wishful
thinking,” wrote Desmond Tutu, a South African anti-apartheid leader who
has become one of the staunchest international critics of the Burmese
junta, in an article that appeared in The Washington Post on Monday.
“Nothing in our experience suggests that offers of aid will cause Burma’s
generals to change course; unlike some authoritarian regimes, this one
seems to care not a bit for the economic well being of its country.”

____________________________________
OPINION / OTHER

April 20, The Washington Post
What Burma needs from President Barack Obama - Archbishop Desmond Tutu

When President Obama was elected, I was filled with hope that America
would regain the moral standing to aid those who are impoverished and
oppressed around the world. I have since rejoiced to see him reversing the
most obnoxious policies of the Bush administration -- by ending torture,
announcing the closure of the detention camp at Guantanamo Bay and
engaging the world on climate change, to name just a few. But there is
another issue on which America's moral leadership is desperately needed,
and here, it must be acknowledged, President Bush was on the side of the
angels: the struggle for human rights and justice in Burma.

Last year, when a cyclone struck Burma, we watched in horror as the
country's military government refused offers of help to save thousands of
people clinging to survival. Not everyone noticed what the government was
focused on in those terrible days -- a referendum to ratify a new
constitution, designed to entrench its rule forever. As villagers in
affected areas fought to stay alive and the rest of the country anguished
over their fate, the government mobilized its forces not for rescue but to
herd people to the polls. Of course, this was not a real referendum; it
was illegal for any Burmese to urge a "no" vote, and the results were
rigged in any case. But it was a real manifestation of the heartlessness
of those who rule Burma.

Now the Obama administration is reviewing America's policy toward Burma. A
thoughtful review is needed; as Secretary of State Hillary Clinton
recently said, neither economic pressure nor diplomacy has yet achieved
the change we seek in Burma. It stands to reason that every aspect of U.S.
engagement with this country needs to be made more effective, more
targeted and more broadly supported by key countries around the world. But
as we wait for the results of this thought process, as America's allies
wait, as the United Nations waits, as the Burmese people wait, we should
remember that the Burmese government is not waiting. Each day, it moves a
step closer to its goal of eliminating opposition and consolidating power,
with another stage-managed "election" looming in 2010. The administration
does not have the luxury of considering its options and then starting to
lead; it must somehow think and lead at the same time, before it loses the
initiative, and misimpressions about where it stands spread.

As the administration reviews its policy, I hope it will remember that the
voices of those with the most at stake cannot easily be heard. My sister
Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, the heroic and beloved leader of the
Burmese democracy movement, remains under house arrest and cannot speak to
the world. In recent months, hundreds of prominent activists, Buddhist
monks and nuns, journalists, labor activists, and bloggers who want the
world to maintain pressure on their government have been sentenced to
years, even decades, in isolated jungle prisons, where not even their
families can visit. Meanwhile, those who support or have resigned
themselves to their government's approach are free to speak out. This
repression cannot be rewarded; the voices of those it has silenced must be
heard as if the walls of their jails did not exist.

I hope that the Obama administration will energize global diplomacy on
Burma. It should be willing to talk to Burma's leaders, to work
intensively with Burma's neighbors and to make clear that there is a
dignified way forward for all those in Burma who are willing to
compromise. It should support carefully monitored humanitarian assistance
directed to help Burma's people, so aid reaches them and does not
reinforce corruption or result in other unintended consequences.

So yes -- America should engage Burma, but it should not engage in wishful
thinking. Nothing in our experience suggests that offers of aid will cause
Burma's generals to change course; unlike some authoritarian regimes, this
one seems to care not a bit for the economic well being of its country. It
would probably interpret an easing of sanctions as an acknowledgment that
it has won the struggle with its people and proved its right to rule.
Indeed, all our experience suggests that diplomatic engagement is likely
to succeed only when sanctions have truly hit their mark. In South Africa,
it was only when sanctions became targeted and were implemented in a
sophisticated way that a negotiated solution -- one that seemed impossible
for many long years -- finally took shape.
Injustice and oppression will not have the last word in Burma (or
Zimbabwe, or Sudan), any more than they did in South Africa, Poland, Chile
or anywhere else the human spirit is alive. The brave Burmese people who
have struggled for their freedom believe this is a moral universe, where
right and wrong still matter. They need to know that the world's most
powerful democracy still believes it, too.

____________________________________

April 20, Irrawaddy
NLD still represents moral strength for the powerless - Yeni

Next week, the National League for Democracy (NLD), Burma’s leading
political party, which has its legitimacy through a landslide victory in
the 1990 election, plans to hold a national-level special meeting. The
party executive, those NLD members who were successful in the 1990
election, senior members and representatives of the women’s and youth
sections of the party from throughout the country have been invited to
attend.

In the two decades since the 1990 election, the NLD has been able to hold
only two large-scale meetings, once before the country went to the polls
and a second in 1997. An attempt to arrange a meeting in August 1998 of
members elected in the 1990 poll failed when the junta arrested several
who had planned to take part. Restrictions were also placed on members’
travel.

With the memory of August 1998 in mind, NLD members and observers inside
and outside the country are anxiously waiting to see how the authorities
react to next week’s planned meeting.

According to the invitations to the special meeting sent out earlier this
month by the NLD's 91-year-old chairman Aung Shwe, the party's executive
committee would read “a paper” to participants. Although the contents of
the paper have not been disclosed, it is expected to cover several issues
confronting the party—especially the proposed 2010 general election.

The NLD's current position on the 2010 election is to show readiness to
negotiate with the Burmese generals if Naypyidaw agrees to review the
constitution, which guarantees the continuation of military domination of
the country’s political future, and to free the imprisoned members and
leaders of the party.

In an Armed Forces Day speech to the nation on March 27, Burma's supremo
Snr-Gen Than Shwe rejected the NLD demands, seeing no need for compromise
over his so-called "roadmap to democracy." The junta's deputy leader, Vice
Snr-Gen Maung Aye, also urged military officers recently to take
responsibility for the success of the 2010 election.

According to the election law of 1990, a political party which can not
provide candidates for at least three constituencies must disband. This
may represent a serious threat if NLD decides to boycott the 2010
elections, and the junta naturally wants to see all opposition groups fall
into this trap. Afterward the military will not hesitate to crack down on
them, regardless of the reaction of the international community.

The regime won’t have it all its own way, however, if the NLD agrees to
participate in the 2010 election. Observers point out that there is no
political party other than the NLD that could win a landslide. The regime
would be forced to use traditional techniques—physical abuse and
harassments of the opposition parties and their supporters; and electoral
fraud—in order to block an NLD victory.

In its 20 years’ existence, the NLD has been a frequent target of the
regime. Some elected members for parliament have died and some have fled
into exile. Party leaders such as Aung San Suu Kyi and Tin Oo have been
detained and imprisoned. NLD offices across the country have been closed
down, their members harassed and forced to leave the party.

Burma's main opposition party realizes that it must continue to carry out
its task of tackling the economic and political problems of the country as
a leading political party that still has nationwide influence. It knows
that its toughest challenge is to confront a brutal, malicious regime.

But the NLD should also know that it is still an organization which could
strike fear into the hearts of heavily armed men.

Nevertheless it must remember that whether or not it agrees to participate
in the 2010 election NLD will still represent moral strength for the
country’s powerless.

____________________________________
OBITUARY

April 20, Mizzima News
Leader of ethnic ceasefire group assassinated - Phanida

A leader of the New Mon State Party (NMSP), an ethnic armed rebel group
that has a ceasefire agreement with Burma’s ruling junta, was assassinated
on Saturday by an unidentified gunman, party sources said.

Dr. Min Naung (a.k.a. Naing Min Naung), age 40, a member of the NMSP’s
district committee, was shot dead while on his way to buy rations for the
party after withdrawing 18 million kyat (approximately US$ 16,360) from a
bank in Moulmine, capital of Mon state in Southern Burma.

“He was shot dead in the evening while returning from the bank. He was
shot from behind and his chest was wide open. But his money was not taken.
The police had confiscated the money,” an office worker at the NMSP office
in Moulemine told Mizzima.

The staff member said Min Naung was shot from behind with a pistol while
driving his motorbike as he returned to Kamarwut village from Moulmine.

The identity and motivation of the gunman remain unknown.

Nai Rarjar, in-charge of the NMSP office in Rangoon, said, “He [Min Naung]
died while buying rations for the party before the monsoon. He died while
serving the party. We are still investigating into the assassination.

“So far we don’t know who the gunman is and which organization is behind
the incident,” he added.

According to the Independent Mon News Agency (IMNA), Naing Min Naung was a
native of Kamarwut village in Mudon district of Mon state. He was a
student at Yesin University in central Burma when he joined the NMSP in
1992.

After serving as a Military Intelligence officer in the NMSP, he was
promoted to the district committee during the seventh party conference
where he was elected as secretary of the NMSP’s central committee on
relief and development. He was shot dead while buying food, mainly rice,
for displaced Mon villagers, according to the IMNA.

Naing Rarjar said that looking at the evidence, particularly the bullets,
indications are the weapon used by the gunman came from neighboring
Thailand.

“It is a great loss for us. It also threatens us from moving around. We
don’t know who did it and the reason for doing it. And this has left us
worried,” he added.

Meanwhile, a NMSP party member, who declined to be named, told Mizzima
that Naing Min Naung could have been assassinated by a drug syndicate, as
he had effectively worked toward the elimination of drug trafficking while
serving as NMSP secretary of Three Pagoda Pass township.

He further said the assassin obviously had greater reasons than monetary
ones for the attack, as the 18 million kyat he was carrying was left
untouched.

The money and motorbike were reportedly taken to Moulmine police station,
while Naing Min Naung’s body was cremated at Moulmine Cemetery.