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Myanmar
FM visits India to talk economic ties
Chittagong, January19: Myanmar Foreign Minister
U Win Maung arrives in New Delhi today on a six-day visit to
deepen the economic content in relations with India; Bangladesh
could be left behind to reap the benefit from developmental
spin-offs in infrastructure and energy sectors according to the
Daily Star.
Cooperation in building of roads, a port in
Myanmar and a gas pipeline will be high on the agenda of U Win
during his talks with the Indian leadership. India has proposed
construction of two roads from Mizoram to Myanmar's Chin area in
order to provide easier and cheaper transportation from mainland
India to other Northeastern Indian states, the newspaper further
said.
Myanmar, say officials, is keen on the road
construction proposal in view of the revenue to be generated
from transit trade. This, they point out, will also take care of
Bangladesh's reluctance to give transit facility to India, the
Daily Star further added.
India has already built a road connecting Moreh
(in Indian state of Manipur) and Kalemyo (in Myanmar) for border
trade, which has picked up in recent months.
During U Win's talks with Indian leaders, the
two sides will discuss the progress in a multi-modal transport
project over the Kalandan River that flows through Mizoram and
Myanmar before falling into the Bay of Bengal.
The project seeks to tone up the port facility
at the confluence of Kaladan and Bay of Bengal at Sittwe and
will benefit transportation of goods from ports in Kolkata and
other parts of India to northeastern Indian states, the Daily
Star said.
India, Myanmar and Thailand are already in the
task of building a road connecting northeastern India and
Thailand.
The development of road links between India and
Myanmar assume importance in view of the stalemate in proposal
for transit through Bangladesh.
A plan is also on the drawing board to build a
gas pipeline along the Kaladan River to India and officials of
India and Myanmar have already done the preliminary surveys for
this.
India's state-owned Oil and Natural Gas
Corporation and Gas Authority of India Limited, along with South
Korean company Daewoo International, are likely to search for
energy in Myanmar's Rakhine province.
American energy major UNOCAL proposes an energy
grid connecting Myanmar, northeastern and eastern parts of
India, the paper said.
The two Indian oil majors have decided to pick
up stakes in energy exploration inRakhine.Once gas pipeline
between Myanmar and India materializes, it will reduce India's
dependence on possible gas export from Bangladesh.
With the existing and proposed infrastructure
and energy cooperation projects between India and Myanmar,
Yangon is expected to play a more influential economic role in
the region and further smoothen India's access to south East
Asia, analysts here say.
In recent months, India and Myanmar have also
strengthened their diplomatic presence in each other's
territories. New Delhi has opened a consulate in Mandalay in
Arakan of Myanmar and Yangon has set up one in Kolkata. As part
of his India visit, the Myanmar Foreign Minister will also visit
Hyderabad, one of India's information technology hubs, and
Kolkata, said in the paper.
Source: Kaladan Press Network,( Editor ) , January 19 , 2003.
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Condolences of ARNO, on dismiss of Mrs.Sao Shwe Theike
Mr. Tiger Yawnghwe, Mr. Chao Tzang Yawnghwe, Mr. Harm
Yawnghwe and other family Members of late President Sao Shwe
Thaike
We are shocked at the demise of your loving mother Mahadevi
Sao Heam Kham, who was a great woman parliamentarian and leader
struggled against the military dictatorship in the interest of
the oppressed and persecuted peoples of Burma.
Please accept our sincere condolences to you and other
members of the bereaved family.
Nurul Islam
President,
Arakan Rohingya National Organisation,
Arakan.
Source: ARNO, Press & Publication Department, January 18 , 2003.
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Former
woman leader of Shans joins late husband
Sao Hearn Kham, Burma's First Lady (1948 - 51),
passed away in exile at her home in Canada last evening (17
January) at 18:30 (09:00 Rangoon time today). She was 86.
Sao Hearn Kham, known as "Sao Mae" (Royal
Mother) or Mahadevi, was the daughter of one of the famous Shan
prince warriors, Khun Sang Tonhoong. She was married to Sao Shwe
Thaike, Prince of Yawnghwe, who became the first president of
Burma and died under what was described as mysterious
circumstances during detention following Gen Ne Win's coup in
1962.
She also served as a member of Parliament from
1956 - 1960. After Sao Shwe Thaike's death, she joined the
resistance and was elected as president of the Shan State War
Council, the office she held until 1969 when she went into exile
in Canada.
She is survived by her sons Tiger, Chao Tzang
and Harn, and her daughters Sao Ying Sita and Sao Ying
Hseng Leun.
The Mahadevi is immortalized in The White
Umbrella, "the story of Burma as she lived it," according to
author Patricia Elliot.
Source: Shan Herald Agency for News, January 18 , 2003.
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Two arrested "pseudo nuns" received NLD support: Myanmar junta
Myanmar's military junta on Friday accused two
"pseudo nuns" arrested for protesting against the government of
receiving support from exiled members of Aung San Suu Kyi's
opposition National League for Democracy (NLD).
"This was the work of NLD (National League for
Democracy) terrorists in exile, who used religion to
deliberately incite unrest in the country," said Brigadier
General Than Tun, from the office of the chief of military
intelligence.
Than Thun also said that several members of the
NLD in exile "who had infiltrated Myanmar with the purpose of
creating unrest in Yangon as well as Mandalay" had been arrested
last month. He did not specify numbers, but said there were
other "pseudo Buddhist nuns" among the group.
Than Tun described the two arrested women, Than
Htay and Thin Thin Oo, as "pseudo nuns" and said they had
demonstrated Thursday in front of Yangon's city hall, shouting
pro-democracy and anti-government slogans and demanding the
release of political prisoners.
"We confiscated two of the fighting peacock
flags they were brandishing as well as a portrait of General
Aung San," he said.
General Aung San -- the father of democracy
leader Aung San Suu Kyi -- is considered the mastermind behind
Myanmar's independence from Britain, while the fighting peacock
is a symbol of the country's democracy movement.
One woman had become a nun a year ago, while the
other had begun wearing nun's robes just 15 days ago, Than Thun
said.
"That's why I say that both these people have
been pretending to be Buddhist nuns and were creating unrest,"
he said.
"According to investigations both these persons
attended a training course on democracy and human rights held at
Mae Sot (in Thailand's north) by the NLD in exile," he said.
Two major exiled NLD groups in Thailand told AFP
they had not heard of the women.
Myanmar's junta strictly forbids demonstrations
of any kind, however individuals are intermittently arrested in
the capital for protesting in public, usually against the
ongoing rule of the regime.
Some 85 percent of Myanmar's population is
Buddhist, and monks are highly respected.
Myanmar's monks have played an important role in
the country's pro-democracy movement. Some 30 of them were
reportedly shot dead in the August 1988 uprising by
pro-democracy protestors in Yangon, the nation's capital.
Source: Agence France-Presse , January 17 , 2003.
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New Visa Regulations for Burmese
Burmese citizens in Thailand will have to find
creative ways to extend their stays in the Kingdom.
On Dec 29, the Thai government changed the list
of countries for which no visa is required to enter the Kingdom
for 30 days and for those that can receive an automatic 15-day
visa on arrival. Burma is not on either list, meaning that
Burmese passport holders must now apply for a Thai visa before
entering Thailand.
A Thai Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokeswoman
refused to comment when asked why the ministry ordered the
directive, but said that the list of countries eligible for
visas on arrival and automatic 30-day visits was subject to
change.
Previously, Burmese democracy supporters and
other citizens could leave Thailand—usually via border
checkpoints with Cambodia and Laos—and in a couple of hours
receive an automatic 30 days legal time upon reentering the
Kingdom.Now, however, they must travel to a third country to
apply for a visa.
But the ministry has reportedly ordered the Thai
Embassies in Cambodia and Laos to not issue any visas to Burmese
passport holders. Earlier this month, a Burmese dissident was
turned back at the Cambodian border checkpoint at Poipet and
visa agencies in Thailand have confirmed the move. A
spokesperson for the Thai Embassy in Phnom Penh, however, said
that they were issuing about five transit visas per day to
people from Burma. Conflicting reports continue to circulate
around Thailand.
A Western diplomatic source said that the move
could be a pretext to scrutinize Burmese passports and cautioned
that Burmese could not be guaranteed a Thai visa from an embassy
in another country. This isparticular worrisome for senior and
well-known leaders of the Burmese democracy movement in exile
who could get stranded outside Thailand, says a Western
specialist on migration issues in Thailand.
The visa restrictions are the latest in a series
of Thai decisions that many believe are aimed at accommodating
Burma’s military government. In August, authorities arrested 31
Burmese dissidents in Sangklaburi and most Burmese democracy
organizations in the border town have shut their offices
altogether. Last month, the US-trained Task Force 399 was
relieved of its drug suppression role because Rangoon seemed to
regard it with suspicion.
And in recent months, the two sides have been
discussing a series of development projects along the Thai-Burma
border.
Sunai Pasuk, a researcher at the Bangkok-based
human rights organization Forum-Asia, said that they new visa
regulations are part of a systematic move to rid Thailand of
Burmese pro-democracy groups. He and others observers in
Thailand add that by vowing to clean up its illegal immigrant
problem, the Thai government could conduct an across the board
crackdown on dissidents in the Kingdom.
Others believe that Bangkok delivered the order
as a tit-for-tat with Rangoon. Last July 15 Thai journalists
were blacklisted from entering Burma, but other Thais have also
had difficulties entering the country, according to an NGO
worker in Bangkok.
Source: Irrawaddy ,(By Shawn L. Nance), January 17 , 2003.
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Buddhist
nuns arrested in Myanmar for protest
Myanmar's military government arrested two
Buddhist nuns on Thursday when they staged a protest in the
capital Yangon against surging prices and called for political
change, witnesses said.
Dressed in light pink robes and waving a peacock
flag, a symbol for Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi's National
League for Democracy (NLD), the nuns were in front of Yangon
City Hall shouting slogans against the rocketing cost of living
in Myanmar.
"They were shouting 'A fall in prices is the
people's cause,"' one witness told Reuters.
The witnesses said the nuns also held sheets of
paper on which they had written demands, including a call for
the release of political prisoners and the end of a political
impasse between the military junta and the NLD.
The NLD swept to a landslide election victory in
1990, but has never been allowed to rule by the military, which
has held a tight grip on power for over four decades.
Under intense international pressure, the junta
freed Suu Kyi from house arrest in May, raising hopes for a
democratic transition, but has not yet started talks with the
NLD about political change.
Myanmar's military junta raised prices and
charges in some state-owned sectors by over 400 percent at the
beginning of the year, sending prices of everyday items such as
newspapers and airline tickets soaring.
A free-falling kyat currency has added to
inflationary pressures. According to dealers, the military has
detained at least a dozen black-market currency and gold dealers
in the last few days in an effort to halt the kyat's slide.
According to dealers, the kyat is trading at
1,050 to the U.S. dollar on the black market, up 31 percent from
last April.
The official rate is 6.9 kyats to the U.S.
dollar.
Source: Reuters, January 16 , 2003.
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Burmese gas through Bangladesh
Dhaka, 15 January 03: Addressing a weekly
meeting of Rotary Club of Metropolitan Dhaka at a city hotel on
12 January the State Minister for Energy and Mineral Resources,
A K M Mosharraf Hossain said that a proposal for the
cross-border Tripura - Bangladesh gas pipeline for Burmese gas
was sent to the Prime Minister on 11th January, according to
news agencies here. The government of Bangladesh has been
reported to be planning to privatize the problem-ridden losing
petroleum sector gradually for 'effective management', the
sources said.
The proposed gas pipeline will carry the gas
from Burma's Rakhine State to West Bengal through a pipeline
entering India through its north-east frontier and cross
Bangladesh. The discovery last October stirred a lot of high
hopes in the circle of multinational energy giants.
In a report on the discovery of an offshore gas
field near Burma's border with Bangladesh the weekly Myanmar
Times cited Daewoo International last October that, the gas
reserve in the new field could be more than double those found
at the Yadana or Yetagun gas fields that have reserves of 6,7
and 3.2 trillion cubic feet respectively. It also added that
the gas could eventually be piped to India.
H D Lee, deputy managing director of Affiliate
Myanmar Daewoo told the weekly that the gas reserve in the new
findings could be around 13.4 to 47.3 trillion cubic feet of
natural gas. Though the official did not disclose the exact
location of the new site, it is clear that the said gas field
lies at a point between Kyaukpru Island and Sittwe in Rakhine
State in western part of Burma.
The company has been reported to have signed a
production-sharing contact with Burma's Ministry of Energy in
August 2000 and in the following January assigned 20 percent and
10 percent stakes respectively to India's Oil and Natural Gas
Commission and Gas Authority.
The issue of the construction of gas pipeline in
Burma is controversial since the ruling junta have been using
large scale forced labour in construction of gas pipelines.
France's TotalFinaElf and its American partner Unocal have faced
accusations that they used forced labour in the construction of
the Yadana pipeline, which carries Burmese gas to Thailand.
An estimated 150 million dollars Burma receives
annually from the Yadana pipeline is used by the ruling Burmese
junta for violations of human rights, it is alleged. In the
western part of Burma, the use of forced labour has been seen as
state-sponsored slavery, said a retired judge at Sittwe while
our correspondent from there was talking to him. There is a
wide fear for the use of forced labour in the 'proposed
pipeline'. Even at present there is large-scale use of forced
labour across the western state.
For the people of Rakhine State, the poorest
state in Burma not because of lack of resources but because of
systematic campaign of neglect and repression by Burmese juntas
since the Burmese independence in 1948, the gas pipeline will
only bring sufferings, the judge added. Though Rakhine State
has a large highly-potential waterfall at Sandin, in the
northern area, there is no hydro-electric project and 99.8
percent of the state goes without any source of electricity - so
though there is an uproar among governments and multinational
oil giants there will be nothing left for the people of the
state, not even a gas-powered generator except getting squeezed
dry, he concluded.
Source: Narinjara News , January 15 , 2003.
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The fall and fall
of health service
Local residents in Rangoon told the DVB that
local Rangoon government hospitals are no more useful for people
in need. Before 1988, people didn’t have to pay money for their
treatments in hospital. Then, the hospitals charged people who
had money with the motto ‘Share the cost, which is people’s
health service’. An anonymous doctor told the DVB that now; this
motto is no longer exists. Everybody has to pay. Many patients
died because the hospitals could not treat them and they could
not buy medicines. Medical equipments often broke down. At the
moment, the machine for the treatments of cancer patients has
broken down and the patients are queuing for their turn. The
government hospitals are suffering from lacks of medicines and
medical equipments and the existing ones are not used for
majority of people. Rangoon Children Hospital’s incubators for
babies who are born prematurely which were donated by Mitsubishi
Company are reserved for the children of the rich. Usually
hospital room for mothers and babies costs 1000-1500 kyats a day
but because of the shortage of rooms, mothers and babies are
crammed into unhygienic rooms. The VIP room in the hospital is
available to all those who have money and patients with no link
to the top are not allowed to be treated in it. The actress
Khine Thin Kyi hired the room for a month and a half to treat
her premature baby, and as soon she left the room was locked,
according to a witness. Some doctors and nurses in government
hospitals are known to be very bad [socially and
professionally]. Despite their motto ‘treat the patients
warmly’, the doctors and nurses tend to be rude to patients and
some patients died from negligence. In the said Rangoon Children
Hospital, recently, a child died within days from being given
the wrong blood. The government hospitals are useless for people
in really need and the outside clinics are too expensive for
them.
"You have to spend 450,000 kyats at the clinics
to give birth to babies," a mother told the DVB. A medical
check-up with a normal doctor costs 500 kyats and a check-up
with a specialist doctor costs between 1000 and 5000 kyats
there.
Source: Democratic Voice of Burma , January 14 , 2003.
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New
Weapons arriving from China
During the visit of the Chairman of the SPDC,
Senior General Than Shwe and group to China, it is reported that
Chinese made air force weapons are arriving to Burma via the
border. Three sealed military trucks believed to be carrying air
force weapons and equipment came from a Chinese border town,
passed the Burmese border town Mu-se and drove directly to
Meikhtila Air Base, according to observers on the border.
Among the weapons are many spare parts for jet
fighters and they were accepted by the Meikhtila Aircraft
Maintenance and Repair department. Similar purchases of
military equipments were done during September and November last
year and 200 military trucks, each capable of dragging 20 ton
heavy artillery were purchased from China. During 2001, 40 heavy
artillery transport vehicles and 300 FAW soldiers transporting
vehicles were purchased from the Chinese. It is not clear
whether these batches of weapons are of the ones bought from
this trip or of the remaining from the previous purchase of 1000
million dollars. According to the latest news, Chinese military
engineers are also arriving at Burmese military bases and they
are teaching communication and new technology courses to Burmese
soldiers.
Source: Democratic Voice of Burma , January 10 , 2003.
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More Russian Mig-29 fighter jets arrive in Meiktila
Some more MiG-29 fighters purchased from Russia
have arrived recently at Meiktila's Shante Air Base. According
to military sources at the border,four more fighters are
believed to have arrived in late December. Observers say that a
total of six MiG-29 fighters, including the four latest planes,
have arrived at Shante Air Base.
Russian pilots have arrived in Meiktila to give
training on flying fighter jets. Also present there are Chinese
and French military engineers, according to observers. The
fighter jets are carrying out test flights to air bases along
the Thai-Burma border and they have flown test flights up to
Mergui Air Base.
The SPDC State Peace and Development Council
military government has bought 10 Russian MiG-29 fighters at the
cost of 130m US dollars. The remaining four jet fighters are
expected to arrive next month, according to a military source at
the border.
Source: Democratic Voice of Burma , January 9 , 2003.
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CRPP
accepts new members
The CRPP held a regular meeting today and two
applicants, a party and independent MP were accepted as new
members. During the meeting, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi also explained
her experiences in Arakan trip to other members. The members
also discussed and assessed the price hikes of commodities and
air, train and bus fares. U Aye Tha Aung, the Secretary of the
CRPP explained to the DVB as follows:
U Aye Tha Aung : It is the regular meeting. The
main agenda was to accept a new party, the Patriotic Veterans
and an independent MP, U Thein Pe of Kantbalu Township, Sagaing
Division.
DVB : They are the people who were not accepted
at the previous meeting?
U Aye Tha Aung : Yes.
DVB : Are there any new applicants?
U Aye Tha Aung : Yes, there is one group, the
United Nationalities League for Democracy (UNLD). It is a league
made up of 21 ethnic nationality groups. They have sent their
application form.
DVB : When are you going to accept them?
U Aye Tha Aung : It will be discussed and
decided in the coming meetings.
DVB : In this meeting, what did you manage to
discuss?
U Aye Tha Aung : We discussed and assessed the
current economical and political situations. We discussed the
quadruple price hikes of commodities, air, train and bus fares
and the like. Daw Aung San Suu Kyi also explained to other
members about her experiences in Arakan State.
DVB : You mentioned the price hikes of air,
train and bus fares. What is the reason for that?
U Aye Tha Aung : The official excuse for the
price hikes is given as thehigher value of the American dollar
and the increasing price of fuel. That is the indication that
the prices of general goods will rise.
DVB : This is the first regular meeting of the
CRPP in the year 2003? Did you discuss what the CRPP would do in
2003?
U Aye Tha Aung : In 2003, the CRPP is intending
to clearly and precisely stand on its principles. We did not
discuss about it.
Source: Democratic Voice of Burma , January 8 , 2003.
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Bangladesh, Myanmar feeder shipping service in the offing
A feeder shipping service between Bangladesh and
neighbouring Burma is in the offing to boost bilateral trade,
official sources said Monday, according to today's the
independent quoted AFP, Chittagong.
The sources in Chittagong Port and Mercantile
Marine Department said the government had already asked a
private shipping company to start operating its feeder container
vessels on the Chittagong-Rangoon route as soon as possible to
increase bilateral trade.
"A high-level meeting to this effect was held
recently on this issue and if the service starts on this route,
the trade gap between the two countries will come down to a
great extent," one port official said.
Imports from Burma include timber, maize, rice
and fish, while exports include fertiliser, cement and
medicines, but there are no official estimates bilateral trade,
which is said to be very small. Smuggling also takes place
across the border.
The official said the step was a follow up to
the landmark visit by Burma Senior General Than Shwe in December
when the countries pledged to boost bilateral ties to overcome
economic challenges facing them both. "The Burma government has
also agreed to place a container vessel on the route," he said.
Shipping sources said due to a lack of vessels,
the state-owned Bangladesh Shipping Corporation was unable to
provide the service immediately, so the government opted for the
private HRC Shipping Lines, which is already operating feeder
vessels between Chittagong and Sri Lanka as well as Malaysia.
Than Shwe was the first leader of Burma's junta
to visit Bangladesh. The last leader to come was the then
Burmese President U San Yu in 1986.
Burma was among the first countries to recognise
Bangladesh after it won independence from Pakistan in 1971. But
relations were strained in the early 1990s when around 250,000
Rohingya Muslims flooded into Bangladesh from Burma, claiming
atrocities by the junta.
Ties have improved since then, with the
repatriation of most of the refugees under a United Nations
agreement, but more than 20,000 still live in camps in
Bangladesh
Source: Narinjara News , January 7 , 2003.
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Bangladesh, Myanmar feeder service in the offing to boost trade
A feeder shipping service between Bangladesh and
neighbouring Myanmar is in the offing to boost bilateral trade,
official sources said Monday.
The sources in Chittagong Port and Mercantile
Marine Department said the government had already asked a
private shipping company to start operating its feeder container
vessels on the Chittagong-Myanmar route as soon as possible to
increase bilateral trade.
"A high-level meeting to this effect was held
recently on this issue and if the service starts on this route,
the trade gap between the two countries will come down to a
great extent," one port official said.
Imports from Myanmar include timber, maize, rice
and fish, while exports include fertiliser, cement and
medicines, but there are no official estimates bilateral trade,
which is said to be very small. Smuggling also takes place
across the border.
The official said the step was a follow up to
the landmark visit by Myanmar Senior General Than Shwe in
December when the countries pledged to boost bilateral ties to
overcome economic challenges facing them both.
"The Myanmar government has also agreed to place
a container vessel on the route," he said.
Shipping sources said due to a lack of vessels,
the state-owned Bangladesh Shipping Corporation was unable to
provide the service immediately, so the government opted for the
private HRC Shipping Lines, which is already operating feeder
vessels between Chittagong and Sri Lanka as well as Malaysia.
Than Shwe was the first leader of Myanmar's
junta to visit Bangladesh. The last leader to come was the then
Burmese president Yu San Wu in 1986.
Myanmar, formerly Burma, was among the first
countries to recognise Bangladesh after it won independence from
Pakistan in 1971.
But relations were strained in the early 1990s
when around 250,000 Rohingya Muslims flooded into Bangladesh
from Myanmar, claiming atrocities by the junta.
Ties have improved since then, with the
repatriation of most of the refugees under a United Nations
agreement, but more than 20,000 still live in camps in
Bangladesh.
Source: Agence France-Presse , January 6, 2003.
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Burma junta leader visits China
Burma is grateful for 14 years of Chinese
support Burma's junta leader Senior General Than Shwe has
arrived in China for a six day visit to Burma's most important
economic and military ally.
He is expected to hold talks with President
Jiang Zemin and with the president's expected successor Hu
Jintao, who took over as Communist Party leader in November.
Beijing has been one of Rangoon's closest allies
since 1988 when the army seized power in a bloody coup.
Burma is shunned by the West over its human
rights record and the junta's failure to hand power to the
pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi, whose National League for
Democracy overwhelmingly won 1990 elections.
The BBC's Larry Jagan says the fact that Than
Shwe is making this rare trip abroad emphasises the importance
Rangoon places on the relationship with Rangoon.
Burma has relied heavily on China for economic
support and weapons. China is officially Burma's third most
important trading partner after Singapore and Thailand - though
the figure probably underestimates informal trade across their
shared border.
China also remains Burma's most important
defence ally, supplying most of its military hardware and
training.
Reform urged Analysts say China has boosted its
influence in Burma, also known as Myanmar, since it offers a
potential path to the Indian Ocean. It is also thought to be
keen to offset India's growing links with Burma.
China has stood steadfastly behind Burma, though
in the past year senior Chinese Government officials have been
urging reform. They have told the Burmese that they must
introduce political and economic reforms or face the increasing
possibility of social unrest.
Our correspondent says China's leaders are
likely to reiterate that message during Than Shwe's visit.
The Burmese leader is accompanied by his wife
and a 63-member delegation that includes military intelligence
chief General Khin Nyunt, officials said.
China's official Xinhua news agency said Than
Shwe was to hold talks with Mr Jiang, Mr Hu and Premier Zhu
Rongji before visiting the south-western city of Chengdu.
Source: British Broadcasting System, January 6,
2003.
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Myanmar junta
leader to visit China
Myanmar junta leader Senior General Than Shwe is
to pay an official visit to China later this month, officials
said Friday.
The January 6-11 visit will be Than Shwe's
second as chairman of the ruling State Peace and Development
Council (SPDC), a government official told AFP.
He will be accompanied by the chief of military
intelligence General Khin Nyunt and several ministers including
Foreign Minister Win Aung. "This latest visit will provide new
opportunities for enhancing mutual understanding, extending
common views and strengthening friendly cooperation between the
two neighbours," said a Chinese diplomatic source.
The source said the goodwill visit was
especially significant in light of the advent of a new
leadership in China under Hu Jintao, who is expected to succeed
President Jiang Zemin.
Sino-Myanmar relations have always been strong,
except for a brief period during the 1960s when the "Cultural
Revolution" swept across China and spilled over the border into
Myanmar.
Ties took a turn for the better after the 1998
military coup when Myanmar was shunned by most other nations,
obliging to turn towards its big northern neighbour to help
develop its infrastructure.
Than Shwe, number two in the military hierarchy
at that time, was the first high-level Myanmar visitor to China
after the takeover, leading a huge delegation there in 1989.
His latest visit comes at a time when the
junta's staunchest critics, led by the United States, are
renewing calls for it to revive a dialogue with the opposition
led by Nobel peace laureate Aung San Suu Kyi.
Jiang made his first visit to Myanmar in
December 2001, when the two countries signed cooperation
agreements in the agriculture, natural and human resources, and
infrastructure sector, in addition to agreeing on new soft
loans.
Analysts say China has boosted its influence in
Myanmar a bid to secure strategic access to the Andaman Sea,
where it is funding a sea port. It is also interested in
offsetting India's growing links with the junta, they say.
To improve ties, China has helped Myanmar expand
its military capabilities, providing it with dozens of light and
medium battle tanks, hundreds of armored personnel carriers as
well as jets and naval craft.
Source: Agence France-Presse , January 3, 2003.
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Accidental bomb explosion kills officer, maimed 10 cadets in
Maymyo
A bomb accidentally exploded during a rehearsal
by the final year cadets of the Defence Services Academy in
Maymyo on 29 December, 2002.
The bomb killed an officer and injured 10
trainees. The explosion took place during a long-distance march
by the final year cadets. Details of the incident have not been
received.
According to a report received by the DVB,
Vice-Chairman of the SPDC (State Peace and Development Council)
Gen Maung Aye arrived in Maymyo soon after the incident and
carried out investigations for 2 days.
Meanwhile, telephone lines in Maymyo were cut
and were restored only yesterday.
The bomb explosion killed an officer instantly
and maimed 10 cadets.
Source: Democratic Voice of Burma , January 2,
2003.
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South Eastern ties not a shift in Bangladesh foreign policy: FM
Bangladesh's recent foreign policy initiatives
with southeast Asian countries, dubbed "Looking East," is not a
shift in policy but an expansion of its diplomatic horizons, the
foreign minister said Thursday.
Bangladesh in recent weeks has been pursuing
ties with Southeast Asian nations mainly to boost its export
markets."No, it is not a policy shift, but rather having a
policy in that sphere," Foreign Minister Morshed Khan told
reporters. "There is no shift in our focus in the already
existing areas, but now we are encompassing larger areas as well
as further expanding diplomatic horizons for the benefit of the
people.
Khan reiterated that Bangladesh was well located
to be a bridge between the South Asia Association for Regional
Cooperation (SAARC), of which it is a member, and the
Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).
"We are now following an aggressive foreign
policy and want to put our best both in SAARC and the ASEAN
region," Khan said.
"We must take advantage of this" geopolitical
location, the minister said.
ASEAN groups Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos,
Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and
Vietnam, while SAARC combines of Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, the
Maldives, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Pakistan.
In the past few weeks Myanmar junta leader
Senior General Than Shwe and Thai Prime Minister Thaksin
Shinawatra have visited Dhaka, while Bangladeshi Prime Minister
Khaleda Zia has been to Bangkok and China.
Khan said the "Looking East" policy would not be
at the cost of existing ties with neighbours or other countries.
"We fully realise the potential of our friendly
ties with the United States and other western countries...
relations with the United States remain a major focus," he said.
"Bangladesh is keen to develop relations with
India in the New Year on the basis of mutual trust, due
recognition of the legitimate concerns of Bangladesh and common
challenges that the two countries must face together, especially
for poverty eradication and promoting the prospect for regional
stability," Khan said.
Ties with New Delhi were strained at the end of
2002 over number of issues, mainly when Indian leaders accused
Dhaka of harbouring Islamic extremists. Dhaka has consistently
denied the charges as "baseless and motivated."
Source: Agence France-Presse,( By Nadeem Qadir),
January 2, 2003.
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Thai Carrier
Launches Service to Mandalay
A ceremony at Mandalay International Airport on
December 16 welcomed the inaugural flight from Bangkok of
Thailand’s Phuket Airlines, the fifth carrier to launch a
service to Myanmar in 2002. The 45 passengers aboard the Phuket
Airlines flight included the carrier’s chairman, Mr. Vikrom
Aisiri, who told the ceremony that the service would further
strengthen the friendship between the peoples of both countries.
An airline official said the service would also contribute to
the development of tourism in Myanmar. Phuket Airlines’ Myanmar
branch manager added that the direct flights from Bangkok to
Mandalay would be convenient for foreign travelers who wanted to
visit such destinations as Bagan, Inle Lake and Taunggyi.
Phuket Airlines will operate the flights between
Bangkok and Mandalay on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, using a
Boeing 737-200 which can carry up to 118 passengers. The flights
are the second international service to be operated by the
airline, which began flying between Bangkok and Chittagong in
Bangladesh earlier this year. The airline also operates flights
from Bangkok to Phuket Krabi and Ranong in southern Thailand.
Phuket Airlines becomes the second foreign carrier after Chinese
airline Yunnan Air to launch flights to Mandalay in 2002. Yunnan
Air operates flights to the city from Kunming. Another three
airlines began flights to Yangon in 2002.
They are Lauda Air (Italy), which operates a
Milan-Yangon-Phuket service,Lauda Air (Austria) which has
flights linking Vienna, Yangon and Phuket and the Bhutanese
carrier, Druk Air, which flies a Paro-Dhaka-Yangon-Bangkok
route.
Source: Myanmar Information Committee,
December 31, 2002.
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