BurmaNet News, September 10, 2010

[Editor]

September 10, 2010 Issue #4039


INSIDE BURMA
AFP: Myanmar riot fears after two men shot by troops
AP: Myanmar media denounce those who push vote boycott
Irrawaddy: Opposition leader: China’s Burma policy could backfire
DVB: Footage shows scorched earth Karen state
Irrawaddy: No political prisoners in Insein release
AFP: Myanmar's Bob Marley seeks freedom in reggae

ON THE BORDER
Irrawaddy: Burmese workers continue 3rd day of strike

BUSINESS / TRADE
Reuters: CNPC to ready Myanmar pipelines, refinery by 2013

ASEAN
Kyodo News: ASEAN, U.S. leaders to touch on S. China Sea, Myanmar in N.Y.

REGIONAL
AFP: China's pariah friends worth the risk: experts

OPINION / OTHER
Irrawaddy: Back off, Beijing – Editorial
The Nation (Thailand): Life is no easier for legal Burmese migrants in
Thailand – Andy Hall



____________________________________
INSIDE BURMA

September 10, Agence France Presse
Myanmar riot fears after two men shot by troops

Yangon — Fears that the deaths of two young men shot in a quarrel with
troops could spark unrest prompted Myanmar state media to insist Friday
that the incident was "not a fight" between the army and the public.

As authorities try to avoid anti-government feeling ahead of the country's
first elections in two decades, the New Light of Myanmar said the violence
that killed Soe Paing Zaw, 19, and Aung Thu Hein, 23, was "just a drunken
brawl".

The paper claimed there was a "plot" to use the incident to provoke riots
in the country, adding people wanted to help the state "wipe out such
elements provoking mass protests for political gains".

"The government is now gearing up hand in hand with the people... (to
take) action against those elements deceiving the people into taking to
the streets with the intention of destroying State stability and peace,"
it said.

Soe Paing Zaw and Aung Thu Hein, who were shot dead on Saturday night in
Bago, north of Yangon, were hurriedly cremated in the town on Tuesday
afternoon amid tight security, according to witnesses.

A memorial service at their homes in the town on Saturday is also expected
to be heavily guarded as the junta tries to avoid unrest ahead of the
November 7 vote -- although there have not been any reported protests so
far.

An unnamed Myanmar security officer said authorities would keep tight
control over the situation as they "do not want any unrest ahead of the
election".

The pair were killed after a taxi they were travelling in with five others
was hit by a motorcycle carrying two army officers, who had been drinking
beer nearby.

According to the report, one officer ran away from the fight and came back
with four security troops from Bago Railway Station, one of whom fired the
fatal shots.

"In reality, it was just a drunken brawl in the street between some young
soldiers and some young civilians, not a fight between the Tatmadaw and
the public," the paper said, using the term for Myanmar's feared military.

"Such cases take place sometimes," it added.

The report said that a lawsuit had been filed against the servicemen
involved and stressed a "fine tradition" of punitive action being taken
against offending soldiers.

It did not mention how many people would face the lawsuit, but soldiers
who are to be prosecuted are thought likely to be dismissed from the army
before facing criminal proceedings.

"Officers concerned called at the houses of the two victims to beg the
pardon of their parents," the paper said.

Myanmar, which has been ruled by the military since 1962, has seen
sporadic eruptions of civil unrest over the years, but most have ended in
a bloody victory for the junta.

The country has banned civilians from holding any weapons and strictly
controls press and other freedoms to maintain an iron grip on power.

Upcoming elections -- the first since democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi was
denied power after her party's landslide victory in the 1990 polls -- have
been criticised as a sham aimed at putting a civilian face on military
rule.
____________________________________

September 10, Associated Press
Myanmar media denounce those who push vote boycott

Yangon, Myanmar — Myanmar's state media denounced on Friday people who
advocate not voting in the upcoming elections as irresponsible and
antidemocratic, even though critics say the military government is using
the vote to cement its grip on power.

There is no open, organized boycott movement, which would likely draw the
ire of the ruling junta. But detained pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu
Kyi has said that people have the right not to vote, and her National
League for Democracy party is boycotting the election.

The party has called the vote unfair and undemocratic because of its
restrictions, including ones that bar the Nobel peace laureate from
running. Because it refused to register for the election, the party has
been legally dissolved.

That has left an opposition vacuum, with no other party able to
effectively confront the military. Not voting — which is legal — thus
represents an alternative way to show opposition to the regime, which
seized power five decades ago.

But a commentary in state-run New Light of Myanmar newspaper urged
everyone to vote in the Nov. 7 polls and accused foreign radio stations
and activists of trying to dissuade people.

"Those deceiving the people into refusing to enjoy the right to vote right
are none other than anti-democracy activists," it said, without singling
out any culprits. "If a citizen, despite having the right to vote, does
not participate in elections, such a person may be deemed to be an
irresponsible opportunist."

It warned that whoever is found guilty of hindering people from voting can
face a one-year prison sentence or a fine of 100,000 kyats ($100).

In all, 43 political parties have registered to contest a total of 1,163
seats, including 498 seats in Myanmar's two-chamber Union Parliament and
665 seats spread among 14 regional parliaments.
____________________________________

September 10, Irrawaddy
Opposition leader: China’s Burma policy could backfire – Wai Moe

Beijing’s advocacy on behalf of the Burmese junta could negatively impact
both China’s long-term interest in Burma and the perception of China as a
“responsible stakeholder” within the international community, said a
prominent Burmese opposition leader on Friday.

Win Tin, a leader of the National League for Democracy (NLD) who spent 19
years in prison, told The Irrawaddy on Friday that as one of the most
powerful nations in the world and the country with the world's second
largest economy, China must take a more responsive role in Burma affairs
with respect to such issues as stability, democratization and ethnic
minority rights.

“If the Chinese leaders praise the regime while not being more responsive
on issues that affect the people of Burma, China will fail to win the
hearts of the people and this could effect China's long term interests in
the country. It could also undermine hope in the international community
for China to become a responsive stakeholder in international affairs,”
said Win Tin.

He said China’s promotion of Burma's repressive regime and unfair
elections through a non-inclusive political process could spark more
anti-Chinese sentiment among Burmese which in turn could threaten the
stability of Chinese investments in Burma.

China’s policy on Burma focuses primarily on stability, but a political
process based on elections that are not free, fair and inclusive will
cause instability in Burma and negatively effect China's interests in the
country, Win Tin said.

Meanwhile, upon junta chief Snr-Gen Than Shwe's arrival in Beijing on
Sept.7, Chinese government spokeswoman Jiang Yu said at a press conference
that the Chinese leaders would not talk about Burma’s election in meetings
with the top general.

 “The general election in Myanmar [Burma] is its internal affairs. We
always uphold the principle of non-interference in others' internal
affairs,” she said.

She added that China hoped the international community would provide
constructive help for the Burmese elections by refraining from taking any
action that has a “negative impact on its [Burma's] domestic political
process as well as regional peace and stability.”

She said a peaceful, stable and progressing Burma serves not only the
Burmese people but also  the countries in the region. She added that
Burma’s internal issues “should be independently resolved” by the Burmese
regime and people.

According to reports by China’s Xinhua News Agency, Chinese leaders such
as President Hu Jintao, No. 2 leader Wu Bangguo and Premier Wen Jiabao did
not directly mention the elections in Burma during meetings with Than Shwe
and the Burmese delegation on Sept. 8 and 9, talking only about the
concrete ties between the two countries.

“The [Burma] policy will remain unchanged regardless of changes in the
international situation,” Hu said, adding that it was China's unswerving
policy to solidify and develop good neighborly cooperation with Burma.

On Thursday, Than Shwe affirmed to the Chinese leaders his commitment to
“developing strategic relations with China” in the post-election period,
including in the formation of the new government.

Bates Gill, a China expert and the director of the Stockholm International
Peace Research Institute, said in his report, “China Becoming a
Responsible Stakeholder,” that China’s trend towards becoming a
responsible stakeholder looked set to continue for the near- to
medium-term, because it is so clearly in Chinese interests to maintain and
even strengthen this posture.

“China’s more responsible approach to world affairs in the past
decade-plus can be attributed to three powerful motivations for the
Chinese leadership: (1) alleviate external tensions in order to better
address domestic challenges; (2) reassure neighbors about a growing
China’s peaceful intentions and defuse the emergence of soft containment
or other counterbalancing against China; and (3) work to balance, but not
confront, the United States,” he said.

However, “On questions of human rights, and particularly Beijing’s support
for abusive governments around the world, China’s hoped-for acceptance as
a 'responsible great power' falters most,” Gill said.

“Close and supportive relations with countries such as Burma and Zimbabwe,
while coming under some reconsideration in Beijing, are not consistent
with the responsible stakeholder concept,” he said.
____________________________________

September 10, Democratic Voice of Burma
Footage shows scorched earth Karen state

Footage has been released that shows the shocking aftermath of a recent
scorched earth campaign by the Burmese army in eastern Karen state.

More than 900 people escaped into the surrounding jungle after the village
of Dutado (or Tha Dah Der) in Hpapun district came under artillery fire on
23 July. A member of the Thailand-based Back Pack Health Worker Team was
shot dead by troops, and the village was razed to the ground. Eye-witness
reports said that the artillery fire lasted for around four hours.

The Burmese army left the village the following afternoon as the ruins of
some 70 houses, a school and a church were left smouldering. A report
released today by the Free Burma Rangers medical group said that “the
troops occupied the village through the next day, burning, looting and
killing livestock.”

Landmines had reportedly been laid to prevent anyone from returning, a
tactic often used to assume indirect control over an area. Karen state is
littered with landmines laid by both the Burmese army and armed opposition
groups.

Graphic images have also been released of a similar incident that happened
on 22 March this year in Nyaunglebin district of Bago division, which
borders Hpapun. Villagers from Hoh Lu had been returning from a nearby
village, when they encountered a number of Burmese troops from an army
base close to Hoh Lu.

The troops opened fire, killing a five-month-old boy and another
five-year-old. The mother of one of the children managed to escape.
Specific details of the incident and the reasons for the killings remain
unclear, but Karen civilians are regularly accused of collaborating with
armed rebel groups in the border region, much of which is a shoot-to-kill
zone.

Karen state has hosted one of the world’s longest-running civil wars as
the Karen National Union (KNU) and its armed wing, the Karen National
Liberation Army (KNLA), vie for autonomy from the ruling junta. More than
six decades of low-intensity conflict has forced millions from their
homes, while villages are regularly burnt to the ground by the Burmese
army.

The 12,000-strong KNLA’s wide support base in Karen state means that the
Burmese army often exploits a perceived blurred line between civilian and
KNLA collaborator, leading to incidents such as these where innocent
children are killed. Junta chief Than Shwe, who has presided over Burma’s
estimated 500,000-strong army, is now facing calls to be investigated for
war crimes and crimes against humanity.

____________________________________

September 10, Irrawaddy
No political prisoners in Insein release

Nearly 100 prisoners were released from Burma's notorious Insein Prison on
Friday afternoon, but no political prisoners were among them, sources in
Rangoon said.

The international community has called for the release of all political
prisoners, including pro-democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi, ahead of the
country's first election in 20 years. However, only convicted criminals,
most of whom had served their sentences, were released on Friday.

“Seventy were male prisoners and the rest were female,” said a source
close to prison officials. “Some of them still had a month or so of their
sentences left to serve. The source said that plainclothes police
authorities were documenting the release of the prisoners at the gates of
the prison.

Faced with a call for the release of more than 2,000 political prisoners,
the Burmese authorities routinely release convicted criminals and
publicize their release in the state media.

The US and oppositions groups have said that the upcoming election in
November will be void of legitimacy without the release of all political
prisoners.

____________________________________

September 10, Agence France Presse
Myanmar's Bob Marley seeks freedom in reggae – Rob Bryan

Yangon — With dreadlocks, denim and the Rastafarian colours of red, green
and gold, singer Saw Phoe Kwar's homage to reggae legend Bob Marley is
hard to miss as his band "One Love" strikes up in a Yangon bar.

But the 42-year-old says comparisons with his late Jamaican hero should
only go so far.

"In Myanmar a lot of people call me Bob... I like that! But Bob Marley had
more freedom in Jamaica to express himself with his music. Here in Myanmar
I can't do it like that. I'm more limited," he explains.

Musicians in the military-ruled nation must submit all their song lyrics
to a tough board of censors who ban anything they deem to be anti-regime
or at odds with the Buddhist country's values.

Saw Phoe Kwar has come up against their diktats repeatedly since producing
his debut solo album ten years ago, in which three of the songs he wrote
were judged taboo.

"(The lyrics) said we need to talk about things and express ourselves and
act truly for the future, for the next generation. That's why the songs
were banned," he says.

His attempt at a second album met with a more bizarre response.

"The whole thing was cancelled because they didn't know what reggae was.
When they realised reggae was not to do with politics they let it go, but
they made me pay 5,000 kyat (five dollars) for every use of the word
reggae".

Despite these restrictions, he thinks reggae offers a more liberating form
of expression than the more popular genres of hip hop, rock and pop, which
dominate Myanmar's youth music scene.

"I want to live my life freely and I saw freedom in reggae," he says.
"When you compose a reggae song you don't need to use a lot of words but
they are very meaningful words... We have more freedom than in other kinds
of music."

The father-of-two, born in Yangon, owned his first Bob Marley tape at the
age of 15, but it was during a job on a cargo ship in the early 90s with
numerous reggae-mad West Indian colleagues that his passion took off.

He now concentrates on his music, choosing to sing "messages of peace" to
his fans in Myanmar, but he takes care not to overstep the boundaries.

"I sing about Myanmar indirectly. If I sang directly I would not be here,"
he says with a laugh.

Myanmar, under military rule since 1962, is holding its first election in
20 years on November 7. Outside critics have dismissed the polls as a sham
that will change little in the isolated nation, while few citizens seem
optimistic.

Music obsessive Saw Phoe Kwar hasn't given much attention to the process.

"I just focus on my own role," he says. "I have to do my own thing."

Censors are not the only challenge for singers trying to make it in the
country, particularly those working in lesser-known genres such as reggae,
according to a Yangon-based events director who goes by the name of Ice
Man.

"There are thousands of musicians waiting for their time to perform on
stage. It can be 5,000 dollars to put on a concert," he says. "Not a lot
of people are willing to put on events."

While the music scene is increasingly lively in the main city and former
capital Yangon, about two thirds of the population live in rural areas and
many are mired in poverty after decades of economic mismanagement by the
junta.

"The country is thinking about eating, finding somewhere to live,"
39-year-old Ice Man explains. "You go to entertainment if you have extra
money. People cannot afford to go to concerts."

Those who do have the cash are more likely to chose rock over reggae, but
Ice Man believes that is changing.

"I think reggae for Myanmar is coming soon, maybe in one year," he says.
"Even Myanmar's best DJ didn't know about reggae, but now everyone is
talking about it" -- a trend he largely puts down to Saw Phoe Kwar.

"He will always be a legend for Myanmar," says Ice Man. "He introduced
reggae."

The singer himself hopes this won't be his only legacy.

"I want to help close the gap between the people and the government. When
the gap is closed, the other artists and I can compose more freely. I hope
the gap will close in my lifetime," he says.

____________________________________
ON THE BORDER

September 10, Irrawaddy
Burmese workers continue 3rd day of strike

More than 1,000 Burmese workers at the Dechapanich Fishing Net Factory in
Khon Kaen, Thailand, have been on strike for three days in support of six
fellow workers who were fired for taking more than three days leave a
month, according to a migrant rights group, the Migrant Assistance Program
Foundation (MAP).

When the six workers were fired on Wednesday, they demanded the return of
their personal documents and found that the word “cancel” had been written
next to their visa.

Also, their government overseas workers Identification card, issued by
Burma’s Ministry of Labor, had clearly been tampered with as the photos
and information did not match and the official stamps were not
continuously drawn.
The six workers now face imminent deportation, which has been endorsed by
their employer, the Labor Protection Office and the Department of
Employment.

The striking 1,000 workers have asked that the visas of their six
colleagues be reinstated and for their Overseas Workers ID cards to be
confirmed and verified. The protesters also asked for all workers to be
given their personal documents, including passports, overseas workers ID
cards and work permits, as is required by law.

The workers have been unable to meet their employer to negotiate their
requests so far, however.

At a recent meeting held between the Labor Protection Office, the employer
and the immigration and the MAP Foundation, the demands of the workers
were presented but no agreements were reached.

The employer, however, has insisted that the immigration authorities had
cancelled the workers' visas, and that they were therefore unable to work
and must be deported.

In order for immigration to cancel a visa, an employer must inform the
Labor Protection Office which must then officially inform the immigration
department. Any cancellation must include a reason and the signature of
the authorizing officer, the MAP Foundation said.

“MAP Foundation is concerned for the safety of all the workers in the
Deepanachit Fishing Net Factory and in particular for the safety of the
six leaders,” the rights group said in its statement on Friday.

“The regularization of migrants through the issuing of passports and visas
should provide protection to workers, but it appears to be used as a
method of control and further exploit them,” the statement said.

The Burmese workers said that they received 140 baht (US $4.50) a day. The
minimum official wage in Khon Kaen is 157 baht a day.

The MAP Foundation has made an official request to the Committee on the
Administration of Irregular Workers and the Ministry of Labor to ensure
that the migrant workers are not unlawfully deported.

The foundation also asked for their case to be investigated, particularly
with reference to the unauthorized cancellation of their visas and the
tampering of their overseas identification cards.

____________________________________
BUSINESS / TRADE

September 10, Reuters
CNPC to ready Myanmar pipelines, refinery by 2013 – Jim Bai and Chen Aizhu

Beijing – CNPC, China's top oil and gas firm, said on Friday it plans to
complete the China section of pipelines from military-ruled Myanmar and a
related refinery by 2013, putting the pipeline a year behind schedule.

The announcement by China National Petroleum Corp is the first timing it
has given for the refinery, which will process only crude imported via the
China-Myanmar pipeline.

It comes as the former Burma's reclusive leader, General Than Shwe, is on
a state visit to China, where President Hu Jintao assured him of Beijing's
support for the diplomatically isolated country ahead of controversial
elections in November.

Chinese state news agency Xinhua quoted Than Shwe, 77, as saying in
Shanghai that he wanted to learn from China's experience at economic
reform, and that in the future "Myanmar must become an important trade
partner of China's".

CNPC, the parent of PetroChina (0857.HK)(601857.SS)(PTR.N) started
official construction of the Chinese section of the oil and gas pipelines
on Friday, after kicking off the Myanmar section in early June.

At the same time, it held a ground-breaking ceremony for the 200,000
barrel-per-day (bpd) refinery in Kunming, capital of southwestern Yunnan
province, CNPC said in a statement.

The projects will help diversify China's energy import routes, cutting its
dependence on shipments via the potentially risky Malacca Strait, through
which some 80 percent of the country's oil imports now pass.

China calls this the "Malacca Strait dilemma", fearing that during a
conflict, a hostile power could choke off energy supplies that are taken
on supertankers through the narrow strait between Malaysia and Indonesia.

"The strategic significance of the pipelines cannot be overstated," energy
expert Zhou Dadi told the Economic Information Daily.

The oil pipeline, with capacity of 440,000-bpd, winds 771 km through
Myanmar and then stretches another 1,631 km in China before it reaches
Chongqing.

The gas pipeline, with 12 bcm capacity, spans 793 km in Myanmar and 1,727
km in China, and ends in the southern region of Guangxi.

The company did not disclose whether or when all three projects would
receive final approval from the National Development and Reform
Commission, China's powerful ministry in charge of economic planning and
pricing.

The projects will boost CNPC's presence in southwest China after it
started running the 200,000-bpd Qinzhou refinery in Guangxi on Wednesday.

Sinopec Corp is the leading oil supplier in the southern Chinese market.

China is one of the few countries willing to do business with Myanmar,
though its ruling generals also have close economic ties with Thailand and
have been seeking support from India to balance the influence of Myanmar's
powerful northern neighbour.

Beijing covets not only Myanmar's natural resources but also the access
the country provides to the Indian Ocean for poor and landlocked
southwestern Chinese provinces, and wants to maintain stability there at
all costs. (Additional reporting by Ben Blanchard)

____________________________________
ASEAN

September 10, Kyodo News
ASEAN, U.S. leaders to touch on S. China Sea, Myanmar in N.Y.

Phnom Penh – Leaders of the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian
Nations and the United States will hold talks later this month in New
York, touching on a number of regional and international issues, including
sensitive ones in Asia such as disputes in the South China Sea and
reconciliation in Myanmar, diplomatic sources said Friday.

They said after the leaders' meeting on Sept. 24 a joint statement will be
released that will include results from discussions on those and other
regional issues of concern.

On the South China Sea, the sources cited a draft of the statement as
saying, "We reaffirmed the importance of regional peace and stability,
freedom of navigation and unimpeded commerce, and respect for
international law in the South China Sea."

"The U.S. expressed support for the 2002 ASEAN-China Declaration on the
conduct of Parties in the South China Sea..."

During the ASEAN Regional Forum in Hanoi in July, U.S. Secretary of State
Hillary Clinton and Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi traded barbs over
the South China Sea question.

Clinton raised the issue by urging China to respect international laws
through "full respect" of the freedom of navigation and to resolve
disputes peacefully, without coercion.

But Yang said the issue should not be "internationalized" and should be
seen as a "bilateral dispute" among claimant states that are China's
neighbors.

Several ASEAN countries -- Vietnam, Malaysia, the Philippines and Brunei
-- have territorial disputes with China in the South China Sea,
particularly over the resource-rich Spratly islands.

Myanmar will also get mention in the statement after the summit, the
sources said.

They quoted the draft as saying, "ASEAN leaders welcomed the continued
U.S. engagement with the government of Myanmar. We expressed our hope that
ASEAN and U.S. engagement encourages Myanmar to undertake political and
economic reforms to facilitate national reconciliation."

"We also emphasized the need for Myanmar to continue working with ASEAN
and the United Nations in the process of national reconciliation," it
continues.

Myanmar's ruling generals are to hold elections Nov. 7, but there are
still concerns the voting will be neither free, fair nor transparent,
particularly because democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi and her National
League for Democracy are unable to contesting any seats.

The NLD won the last elections in 1990 by a landslide, but the generals
refused to cede power and Suu Kyi has been detained for most of the two
decades since then.

The upcoming meeting will be the second ASEAN-U.S. summit. The first was
in November last year in Singapore.

ASEAN groups Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the
Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

ARF is made up of Japan, South Korea, China, India, Australia, New
Zealand, the United States, Canada, Russia, the European Union, North
Korea, Pakistan, Papua New Guinea, Bangladesh, East Timor, Mongolia and
Sri Lanka plus the 10 ASEAN members.

____________________________________
REGIONAL

September 10, Agence France Presse
China's pariah friends worth the risk: experts

Beijing – China has since June hosted the leaders of North Korea, Myanmar
and Iran, showing none of the West's reluctance to deal with pariah states
when its strategic interests are at stake, experts say.

China, under increasing pressure to play a role on the global stage
commensurate with its economic might, could see its image sullied by
welcoming three strongmen whose regimes are under international sanctions,
they say.

But close ties with Pyongyang, Tehran and the military junta in the former
Burma -- whose leader Than Shwe is in China this week -- afford Beijing
both access to key natural resources and a bit of diplomatic wiggle room,
they add.

"Today, China is following its own path. It is integrating with the world
on its own terms, while maintaining its autonomy and values," said Xu
Tiebing, a professor of international relations at the Communication
University of China.

"It has decided to defend its fundamental interests without worrying too
much about what the West thinks."

China has rolled out the red carpet for the state visit by Than Shwe,
calling Myanmar a "friendly neighbour" and saying its November 7 election
-- a contest widely derided in the West -- is an "important step" towards
democracy.

Two weeks ago, North Korea's reclusive Kim Jong-Il made his second visit
to China -- the only country where he travels -- in less than four months,
perhaps to win Beijing's blessing for plans to transfer power to his son
Kim Jong-Un.

In June, two days after the UN Security Council imposed fresh sanctions on
Tehran, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad used an appearance at the
World Expo in Shanghai to blast world powers for "monopolising" atomic
technology.

While the firebrand leader did not come to Beijing for talks with senior
leaders, China said on the day of his arrival that it "highly values
relations with Iran".

"While Beijing is aware of the potentially devastating consequences some
of its close allies can have on its image, it does not want to diminish
the room to manoeuvre these countries can afford it on the global stage,"
said Valerie Niquet, a China expert at the Foundation for Strategic
Research in Paris.

Jean-Pierre Cabestan, a professor of international studies at Hong Kong
Baptist University, explained that North Korea, Myanmar and Iran all had
"tricky relations with the US and its European and Japanese allies".

As a result, the three countries are "pawns in the bipolar chess game that
China is playing with the United States", said Cabestan, who has just
published a book on Chinese foreign policy.

Niquet however noted that Beijing's strategy of being the key intermediary
between its controversial allies and the West sometimes had limits.

"Washington now seems more sceptical about the positive role played by
Beijing on the issue of North Korea," which has not returned to stalled
nuclear disarmament talks despite the efforts of host China, she said.

Beyond the complex diplomatic ties, China has a tangle of economic
interests in the mix: Iran's oil; major investments in Myanmar's natural
gas, teak, minerals and gems; a deal with neighbour North Korea to develop
its Yellow Sea port Rajin; and arms sales to all three countries.

China is also extending its influence in those nations by building
pipelines, roads and rails. In Myanmar, it is looking to secure access to
the Indian Ocean.

As a result, Beijing "has a network of client states which are more or
less dependent upon it, and which it would not want to jeopardise by
betraying one of those states," Niquet said.

The three nations sometimes benefit from China's veto-wielding power on
the UN Security Council, she added.

"The extreme isolation of these countries -- and consequently their deep
dependence on Beijing, notably in the cases of North Korea and Myanmar --
is an asset that China is not willing to give up," Niquet said.

____________________________________
OPINION / OTHER

September 10, Irrawaddy
Back off, Beijing

Snr-Gen Than Shwe’s recent visit to China has shown again that Burma is
China’s satellite state.

The aging dictator called China his country's “most important friendly
neighbor” and promised to continue to develop its strategic relations with
Beijing after the election.

The senior general was quite right to highlight China's key role in
supporting the regime that came to power in 1988.

Shortly after the military crushed Burma's pro-democracy movement 22 years
ago, China was one of the first neighboring countries to back the newly
installed junta, providing it with arms, jet fighters, naval ships and
ammunition. Since then, its unswerving support of the regime in Burma has
only grown.

During the visit, Chen Bingde, chief of the general staff of the People's
Liberation Army, called for developing stable bilateral ties and military
cooperation between the nations after he had a meeting with Thura Shwe
Mann, the regime’s number three man.
In return, Burma has offered strategic access to the Bay of Bengal.
Underlining this deepening strategic cooperation, Chinese naval ships
recently made a port call for the first time to Burma.

Interestingly, the Burmese regime's recent secret military missions to
North Korea have all been made via China. It can safely be said that
Beijing approves of and backs Burma’s desire to develop military contacts
with North Korea. Overall, it looks like China's role as a big brother to
the junta will continue, and we can foresee China and Burma developing
deeper military ties.

Before Than Shwe’s visit to China, Chinese Prime Minister Wen Jiabao
visited Burma, making the first trip by a Chinese leader since 2001. Wen
signed 15 agreements on cooperation in a number of areas, including a
natural gas pipeline, hydropower stations and development assistance.

Today, China is Burma’s third-largest trading partner and investor after
Thailand and Singapore. According to Xinhua, in 2009, bilateral trade
totaled US $2.9 billion. By January 2010, China's investment in Burma
amounted to $1.8 billion, accounting for 11.5 percent of the country’s
then total foreign investment.

By May this year, China made huge investments in hydropower, oil and gas,
totaling $8.17 billion, Xinhua reported, quoting the regime’s statistics.
Burma is an important neighbor, as China is making sure to secure energy
supplies from Burma and elsewhere.
Gas pipelines carrying natural gas and oil are being built from the port
of Kyaukpyu on Burma's western coastline and will entering China at Ruili,
a border city in Yunnan Province.

China is also an important ally for the regime to fend off the
international community and Western governments, which have long
criticized the junta’s appalling human rights records and are now backing
the establishment of a UN Commission of Inquiry into crime against
humanity in Burma. China usually protects the regime and asks Western
critics to back off. At the UN Security Council, China will readily come
and rescue the regime whenever it faces crucial censure or resolution.

Now China is doing its utmost to lend legitimacy to this year's election,
which has already been widely denounced as a sham. Chinese Foreign
Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu told a regular news conference this week
that the coming election in Burma is an internal affair and told critics
not to meddle in the country's affairs.

“We hope the international community can provide constructive help to the
upcoming election and refrain from making any negative impact on the
domestic political process and the regional peace and stability,” she
said.

Chinese leaders know that Than Shwe's clan will continue to rule the
country after the election. During his trip, Than Shwe brought his most
trusted people, including Thura Shwe Mann, who is tipped to become
president, to meet China's top leaders. This trip may be Than Shwe’s last
as Burma's ruler, but his people will continue to foster closer ties with
China.

Thus the Chinese, as the regime's strongest ally, are the first to meet
Than Shwe’s future successor. It is likely that China will back the poll
result in Burma and welcome the incoming government—even if it is just a
snake shedding its own skin or Than Shwe himself who appoints the new
president.

Sadly, it won’t matter to China how many innocent activists are locked up
in Burma's prisons or how many civilian and ethnic minorities are being
murdered by Chinese-made weapons—as long as the regime is stable and
China’s national interests are untouched, Beijing is happy to back the
repressive junta in Burma.

Thus, understandably, Than Shwe needs to make sure Burma continues to
forge deeper and closer military, diplomatic and strategic relations with
its giant neighbor.

Unlike China, however, the people of Burma do not support the regime.
While the generals laud China's role in helping them to hold onto power,
ordinary Burmese have only grown more resentful of China's meddling in
their country's affairs.

It is thus highly ironic that Chinese leaders are lecturing the rest of
the world about the need to stay out of Burma's business, when most
Burmese feel that China has interfered in Burma's internal affairs more
than any other country.

It's time to tell China to back off and stop meddling in Burma.

____________________________________

September 10, The Nation (Thailand)
Life is no easier for legal Burmese migrants in Thailand

However, recently we were able to document the experiences of a Burmese
migrant worker with a passport who faced police extortion and treatment
that can surely be classed as degrading.

We offered assistance to this Burmese worker to take the case forward, to
try to prosecute the police officers concerned. We also offered to assist
in taking this case to the Burmese embassy, but the migrant concerned said
he does not want to become "busy" with such processes, as he is relatively
unharmed.

This is the usual response of such workers in Thailand, and it is made out
of fear. We believe the case study below is symbolic of the degrading
conditions and treatment that migrants continue to face in Thailand -
because, in particular, of systematic corruption in all issues relating to
migrants, combined with impunity against prosecution for such abuses.

Mong Miw is a 21-year-old Karen migrant worker from Burma who possesses a
temporary passport and who has completed the Thai government's nationality
verification process at much personal expense. He works at a furniture
factory in Samut Sakhon.

On September 5 at around 11.30am Mong Miw was travelling back to Samut
Sakhon from his brother's house at Baan Bo in Bangkok on a public bus. The
bus from Baan Bo does not go direct to Samut Sakhon (Mahachai) so he got
off outside the Lotus store on Rama II Road to wait for another bus. While
waiting at the bus stop, two police officers dressed in uniforms parked
their car opposite Mong Miw. The officers got out of the car and talked to
him to establish that he was from Burma. Then they immediately ordered
Mong Miw to get into the car, without demanding to inspect his documents.
They said nothing, but tied his hands together with plastic rope. Inside
the car, the police officers then thought that two other people waiting at
the bus stop might also be from Burma, so they got out again to inspect
the documents of those people. However, they found that these two people
were in fact Thai. The police then returned to the car to interrogate Mong
Miw.

When interrogating Mong Miw, the two police officers used threatening
words and slapped him on the head. Mong Miw produced his passport but the
police were not interested in inspecting it; instead they simply
confiscated it. The officers then proceeded to demand Bt3,000 from Mong
Miw, but he had only Bt400 with him. They then ordered Mong Miw to contact
a relative to bring money to ensure his release and the return of his
passport.

Mong Miw used a mobile phone belonging to one of the police officers to
call his older brother, which enabled Mong Miw to get a record of the
number that the police officer was using.

After Mong Miw had spoken to his brother, the police drove the car to Soi
71, where his elder brother negotiated with the police to pay Bt2,000 for
Mong Miw's release. The police then allowed Mong Miw to go, but at the
same time, ripped up his passport before giving it back to him.

Mong Miw was shaken at this treatment, even though he had spent so much
money to complete the government's nationality verification process. The
only compensation from this episode was that he was able to glue his
passport back together and is still able to use it.

Migrant workers who pass the Thai government's nationality verification
process are able legally to travel anywhere within Thailand, are able to
access social security systems and can also apply for a motorbike license.
However, migrants travelling outside their province of registration often
report continued police extortion. In addition, in the past few weeks the
provincial authorities of Ranong province have suspended applications for
motorbike licenses from migrants, even those who pass the required tests.
This followed a protest by Thai motorbike taxi-drivers who claimed that
migrants would steal their jobs and use their own motorbikes to ferry
other migrants to various places, thereby reducing the income of local
motorbike taxi-drivers

Andy Hall is a member of the Human Rights and Development Foundation.
Names in this story have been changed to protect identities.