Thai unrest, Burma cloud ASEAN summit

April 8, 2010
IAN TIMBERLAKE
AFP

Southeast Asian leaders open talks on Thursday with their vision of building a regional "community" of nations overshadowed by major unrest in Thailand and Burma's widely criticised election plans.

On the eve of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations summit in the Vietnam capital, Thailand's premier declared a state of emergency as protesters stormed parliament in a dramatic escalation of an anti-government campaign.

Thailand's long-running political drama is among the domestic issues within the 10-member ASEAN bloc which are distracting it from moving forward collectively, observers say.

Focused on economic issues for most of its existence, ASEAN in 2008 adopted a charter committing it to tighter links. The group aims to form by 2015 a free market entity of 600 million people, committed to democratic ideals.

"The building of the economic community will be one of the focal points during the summit," said Vietnam's assistant foreign minister Pham Quang Vinh.

Although the two-day meeting's slogan is "from vision to action", analysts say ASEAN is weighed down by wide development gaps within the region, entrenched domestic interests and the perennial distraction of Burma's failure to embrace democracy.

"I don't see any potential for their vision of an ASEAN community coming through by 2015," said Christopher Roberts, from the University of Canberra.

ASEAN's diverse membership ranges from Laos, one of Asia's poorest nations, to the Westernised city-state of Singapore, the absolute monarchy of Brunei and the vibrant democracy of Indonesia.

Other members are Cambodia, the Philippines and Malaysia.

But it is military-ruled Burma, accused of widespread rights abuses and preparing to hold its first elections in two decades later this year, which has been the bloc's most troublesome issue.

ASEAN members are divided on how to respond to Burma - which is under European Union and United States sanctions - but has always escaped formal censure from ASEAN, which adheres to a principle of non-interference in internal affairs of its members.

Analysts expect this time to be no different, despite a call by 105 Southeast Asian lawmakers to impose sanctions on Burma and consider its expulsion over its election laws, which effectively barred opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi from participating.

Global rights watchdog Amnesty International said Burma is in "serious breach" of its rights obligations under the ASEAN charter and called on the bloc to act urgently.

Despite such issues within its membership, ASEAN must remain focused on establishing greater unity, said Simon Tay, chairman of the Singapore Institute of International Affairs.

"The group as a whole must deepen cooperation in order to meaningfully engage the regional powers and the USA," he said in a statement.

Ahead of the summit, ASEAN on Wednesday took another step towards addressing long-neglected human rights concerns with the inauguration of a commission to address the rights of women and children.

But economic issues will remain a focus of the leaders' summit.

In a draft statement seen by AFP, they call on regional governments to prepare to wind down economic stimulus measures brought in during the global financial crisis.

The leaders also say they want vital road, sea and air links completed more quickly to complement efforts to integrate regional economies, according to the draft of the statement, to be issued on Friday.

In a separate draft document, the leaders also call for a legally binding global pact on climate change.

ASEAN summit aims for 'community' amid Thai unrest

By Bill Tarrant

HANOI, April 8 (Reuters) - Southeast Asian leaders will talk about building a strong economic and political community on Thursday at an annual summit clouded by unrest in Thailand and Myanmar's widely derided election plans.

Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva was due to arrive for the Association of Southeast Asian Nations' summit after declaring a state of emergency on Wednesday to control a month-long anti-government protest aimed at forcing an election.

The 10-member ASEAN has been largely focused on economic and diplomatic issues since it was founded in 1967 at the height of the Vietnam War.

But in 2008, it adopted a charter that turned the region of 580 million people with a combined GDP of $2.7 trillion into a rules-based bloc that aims to become a political, economic and security community over the next five years.

Foreign and economic ministers on Wednesday agreed on a number of technical issues relating to their Charter, including a Dispute Settlement Mechanism. A statement issued on Thursday described it as "an important document that, among others, serves to complete the legal framework as laid down by the Charter".

It allows an ASEAN country, disputing how a fellow member is implementing the charter, to take the issue to a third party for mediation.

The mechanism could be used to help settle territorial disputes. For instance, Thailand and Cambodia have skirmished along their border over ownership of an ancient Hindu temple.

But it could also be used to pile pressure on Myanmar to uphold its human rights commitments ahead of elections, the Jakarta Post reported on Thursday.

The newspaper quoted Rafendi Djamin, Indonesia's representative on the ASEAN human rights commission, as saying the dispute mechanism was an option Jakarta could resort to if the junta doesn't hold inclusive elections -- including allowing detailed opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi to participate.

MYANMAR GRILLING

Myanmar will be asked to explain its widely dismissed election plans when the leaders meet on Thursday and Friday, Thailand's Foreign Minister Kasit Piromya told reporters after arriving in Hanoi on Wednesday.

He said ASEAN foreign ministers at a working dinner on Wednesday would question their Myanmar colleague about an election that ASEAN has repeatedly demanded be "fair and inclusive".

"Questions about elections and how it would affect ASEAN will be raised. There are still points we want to make. We want to see a free, fair and inclusive election and the big question is whether that can be achieved and how," Kasit said.

Indonesia and the Philippines have been highly critical of Myanmar's election laws, which ban political prisoners, such as opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, from running.

Her National League for Democracy, which won the last polls in 1990 by a landslide but was kept from governing, is boycotting this one. The junta has so far kept the polling date a secret.

Vietnam, a one-party communist state that has jailed a number of dissidents recently, is not keen to see Myanmar in the spotlight over its record when it chairs the annual ASEAN leaders meeting. Like Myanmar itself, Hanoi does not believe in interfering in another country's internal affairs.

ASEAN has never censured Myanmar over its rights record and is unlikely to do so this time. But Kasit's comments are a strong indication that Myanmar will feature on the summit agenda.

"The Myanmar issue still presents a problem when we want to take ASEAN forward to negotiate and deal with other groupings and countries," Kasit said. "It presents a major limitation for us."

"Myanmar knows very well what the issues and reservations are. A few countries in ASEAN have been speaking quite directly about these issues so we hope to hear from them."

(Additional reporting by Ambika Ahuja; Editing by Sugita Katyal)

U.N. must try Burmese leaders for genocide

Burma's ruling generals - including Than Shwe, Maung Aye and Thura Shwe Mann [Reuters]

Sunday, June 1, 2008
JOEL BRINKLEY
Posted by the San Francisco Chronicle (California, USA)

Almost 30 years ago, my editor dispatched me to Cambodia to cover the fall of the Khmer Rouge regime and the resulting refugee holocaust. The images of babies with swollen bellies and only a few days left to live, emaciated and lethargic adults dying from typhoid, cholera or worse have hung with me to this day.

Now, three decades later, the United Nations and the Cambodian government are staging a genocide tribunal for several surviving Khmer Rouge leaders. Nearly 2 million Cambodians died during the Khmer Rouge reign - most of them from disease and starvation.

One country away, in Burma, more than 1 million survivors of Cyclone Nargis have now gone without food, medicine, clean water or sanitation services for more than four weeks. Though Burma's military dictators won't allow anyone to see, babies' bellies are beginning to swell, and listless adults are slipping away, victims of cholera, dysentery or worse. Tens of thousands are likely to die - most of them from disease and starvation.

The fault for all of this lies squarely on Gen. Than Shwe's shoulders. It's past time that the United Nations started planning a genocide tribunal for Shwe, the Burmese leader, and his fellow thugs. The case is clear, the verdict already known.

In Cambodia, prosecutors are digging through musty, incomplete records and relying on testimony from feeble, octogenarian witnesses. In Burma, all the evidence prosecutors would need is in the newspapers and on TV. Put together, it displays a callous disregard for human life so stunning that it would probably embarrass Kim Jung Il, Robert Mugabe - perhaps even Omar al-Bashir, the president of Sudan.

Here's the dossier: On May 20, Shwe promised Ban Ki-moon, the U.N. secretary-general, he would finally allow aid workers to deliver food and medicine to cyclone victims - three weeks after the storm.

The next day, Shwe ordered his troops to sweep through the Irrawaddy Delta and evict cyclone victims from the few buildings that remained standing so they could be used as polling places. Then soldiers pushed and prodded hungry and sick Burmese to vote in a sham referendum intended to extend Shwe's time in office - and sometimes filled in their ballots for them.

Last Sunday, soldiers ordered cyclone victims to dismantle makeshift shelters they had put up near main roads to escape the floodwaters. The soldiers said they were unsightly.

Meanwhile, the International Red Cross reported that rivers and ponds in the delta remained clotted with corpses. On Tuesday, UNICEF noted that Burmese children were drinking from these fetid ponds. They had no other source of water. Even before the storm, Save the Children said it had identified 30,000 malnourished children in the affected areas. Many of them, the group said a few days ago, "may already be dying for lack of food."

In Rangoon, meanwhile, when Ban proposed a donors conference for reconstruction aid, Shwe's government suddenly perked up and said Burma would be delighted to host it. Save our people, no; give us money - sure!

Representatives from more than 50 countries attended the conference last Sunday. Gen. Thein Sein, the Burmese prime minister, told them he would happily take their money. As for finally allowing aid workers in, he said, "we will consider allowing them in if they wish to engage in rehabilitation and reconstruction work."

The government's relief operations have come to an end, he insisted. Burma is shifting its focus to rebuilding and reconstruction. So much for Shwe's promise to Ban. So much for 100,000 sick and dying people. Last week, Burma admitted about 40 more aid workers - while throwing up onerous restrictions on their work.

For weeks, Shwe had refused even to take Ban's phone calls. Finally, Ban decided simply to show up. So the military set up a Potemkin refugee camp complete with crisp green tents and shiny new cookware. When Sein took Ban there a week later, reporters noticed that cooking oil jars remained sealed and store labels were still affixed to the frying pans.

The New York Times reported that soldiers had used dynamite to rid the streams of unsightly corpses in the areas Ban visited.

Now, a month after the storm, the United Nations estimates that fewer than half of the sick and starving cyclone victims have received even the first dollop of aid, while the generals insist that it's time to give up on the victims and start putting up new buildings.

If the world were a just place, then the first building project would be a prison to hold Shwe and his fellow thugs - after their genocide trial.

Joel Brinkley is a professor of journalism at Stanford University and a former foreign policy correspondent for the New York Times. E-mail him at brinkley@foreign-matters.com. Contact us at insight@sfchronicle.com.

Burma's military says new constitution enacted [-It's surprising that it didn't get 101% endorsement]

Fri May 30, 2008
ABC Radio Australia

Burma's state television is reporting the nation's new constitution has been confirmed and enacted.

A referendum on the issue was held this month.

Military government leader Than Shwe said in a statement broadcast on state television the constitutional draft has now been adopted.

The announcement said 92 per cent of voters had endorsed the charter, and that voter turnout was 91 per cent.

Earlier, Burma said the constitution would only take effect in two years, once a new parliament convenes following planned elections.

It ignored international calls to delay the referendum held on May 10 and 24 despite the devastation caused by Cyclone Nargis.

The disaster has left more than 133,000 people dead or missing.

Politiktoons No. 14: "The Virus-Food"

Cartoon by Sacrava (on the web at http://www.politiktoons.blogspot.com
and also at http://sacrava.blogspot.com)

"We have three neighbors: Laos, Cambodia and Myanmar...We use their resources, all three of them": Samak Sundaravej

In this photo released by the Thai Spokesman Office, Thailand's Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej, left, talks with Myanmar's Chairman of State Peace and Development Council Senior Gen. Than Shwe, right, during their meeting in Naypyitaw, Myanmar Friday, March 14, 2008. Samak was in Myanmar for a one-day visit in a bid to shore up economic ties between the two countries as Thailand is one of the biggest foreign investors and trading partners of military-ruled Myanmar. (AP Photo/Thai Spokesman Office, HO)

Thailand's new PM scolds Western nations for picking on Myanmar's ruling junta

Sunday, March 16, 2008
The Associated Press

BANGKOK, Thailand: Thailand's new prime minister said Sunday that Westerners are overly critical of Myanmar and he has newfound respect for the ruling junta after learning that they meditate like good Buddhists should.

"Westerners have a saying, 'Look at both sides of the coin,' but Westerners only look at one side," Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej said in his weekly television talk show, two days after an official visit to Myanmar.

"Myanmar is a Buddhist country. Myanmar's leaders meditate. They say the country lives in peace," Samak said, noting that he has studied Myanmar for decades but just learned that the junta meditates. Both countries are predominantly Buddhist.

Myanmar's junta has come under global criticism for its deadly crackdown on pro-democracy protesters last year and its detention of pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi, but Samak said he preferred to talk about bilateral trade not democracy during talks with junta chief, Senior Gen. Than Shwe.

Many Western nations, including the United States and members of the European Union, maintain economic and political sanctions against the regime for its poor human rights record and failure to hand over power to a democratically elected government.

But Thailand and most other Southeast Asian nations are less critical and encourage companies to do business there.

Samak said he discussed investment opportunities for Thai companies in Myanmar, especially in the area of production and exploitation of natural gas and hydropower projects.

"We want to do something about dams. Than Shwe told me, 'You can do it here and here and here. Find the investors and do it," said Samak, whose coalition government took office last month. "Myanmar only uses a small amount of electricity. Thailand needs electricity."

Blackouts and power cuts are common in Myanmar, where the military regime has distributed electricity under a rationing system for the past decade, barely keeping up with rising demand.

The power rationing does not affect so-called "VIP areas" where senior government and military officials reside.

Thai state-owned energy companies are the largest purchasers of gas from Myanmar, contributing almost US$2 billion (€1.3 billion) a year to the military regime.

"They found new gas resources. I negotiated with them so we can sign contracts," Samak said, adding that the junta wants to build a pipeline to its largest city, Yangon. "Myanmar doesn't have money to build the pipeline. Thai companies will do that for them."

He said Thailand's approach to dealing with Myanmar was in the spirit of good neighborly relations.

"We have three neighbors: Laos, Cambodia and Myanmar," he said. "We use their resources, all three of them. If we have this great relationship, why should we pick on them?"

Thailand also borders Malaysia.

US Treasury slaps more sanctions on Myanmar firms

WASHINGTON, Feb 25 (Reuters) - The Bush administration, seeking to boost pressure on Myanmar over human rights abuses, on Monday announced more economic sanctions against businesses and individuals linked to the country's military leaders.

The U.S. Treasury Department said it was banning Americans from doing business with Asia World Co Ltd, a Myanmar company controlled by Steven Law and his father, Lo Hsing Han, which the Treasury described as "financial operatives" of the Myanmar regime.

The action, marking the fourth round of sanctions under an executive order last year after Myanmar's military crackdowns against protesters, also seeks to freeze any assets the firms and individuals may have under U.S. jurisdiction.

Myanmar's junta in September crushed the biggest pro-democracy protests in nearly 20 years, killing at least 20 people, according to Human Rights Watch. Western governments say the toll is likely to be much higher.

"The situation in Burma remains deplorable," U.S. President George W. Bush said in a statement released by the White House. "The regime has rejected calls from its own people and the international community to begin a genuine dialogue with the opposition and ethnic minority groups. Arrests and secret trials of peaceful political activists continue."

Bush called for concerted international pressure on Myanmar to achieve a "genuine transition to democracy."

The Treasury said Law and his father, Lo, have a history of illicit activities that have supported the Myanmar junta. It described Lo as the "Godfather of Heroin" who has been one of the world's top traffickers of the the drug since the early 1970s. In 1992, Lo founded Asia World Co Ltd. a company that has received numerous lucrative government concessions, including construction of ports, highways and government facilities, the Treasury said.

Law now serves as managing director of the company, and the sanctions were extended to his wife, Cecelia Ng. The Treasury also blacklisted 10 Singapore-based companies owned by Ng, including property firm Golden Aaron Pte Ltd.

The Treasury also designated two hotel chains owned by Myanmar tycoon Tay Za, who was blacklisted in an earlier round of financial sanctions, the Aureum Palace Hotels and Resorts and Myanmar Treasure Resorts

The U.S. sanctions have met with a less than enthusiastic public reaction from Myanmar's southeast Asian neighbors, including Singapore, a key financial center for the region. Impoverished Laos and Cambodia have denounced the U.S. designations.

Nonetheless, Adam Szubin director of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets control, said some governments in the were quietly cooperating.

"It's incumbent on financial institutions and governments to take steps to keep dirty money out of their banks and their financial systems. We see indeed financial institutions and goovernments taking those steps, sometimes not in the public view," Szubin told reporters.

Smart sanctions target Myanmar tycoon

Feb 21, 2008
By Brian McCartan
Asia Times (Hong Kong)

CHIANG MAI - The United States Treasury Department announced earlier this month that it will expand the personal and business sanctions it imposed on individual family members of Myanmar's ruling State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) last year. Those included among the newly blacklisted were members and individuals associated with businessman Tay Za's state-linked commercial empire.

The recent sanctions are part of Washington's new so-called "smart sanctions" regime, designed to target specific generals and their associated business interests rather than the entire population. Before this month's announcement, the US had imposed sanctions on 30 individuals and seven businesses connected to the junta.

Designed in response to the junta's continued human rights abuses and political repression, including last year’s brutal crackdown on anti-government street protests, the sanctions in effect freeze any assets of targeted individuals or companies which might have parked them in US financial institutions and prohibits any financial or commercial transactions between American individuals and Myanmar firms named in the sanctions order. The persons named are also barred from entering the US .

The latest set of sanctions specifically target Tay Za's Htoo Trading Company Limited, also known as the Htoo Group of Companies. Tay Za was described by the US Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) as "an arms dealer and financial henchman of Burma's [Myanmar’s] repressive regime". In announcing the latest sanctions, White House press secretary Dana Perino said on February 4 that "the actions of [junta leader] Than Shwe and his associates remain unacceptable to all those who value freedom."

Tay Za, his wife, Thida Zaw, his eldest son Pye Phyo Za and five of his companies were previously named in the US sanction order of October 18, 2007. The new sanctions add Tay Za partners Aung Thet Mann, Thiha and U Kyaw Thein, as well as the Htoo Group of Companies, which includes Ayer Shwe Wah Company Ltd, Myanmar Avia Export Company Ltd and Pavo Aircraft Leasing Company Ltd, to the list.

Aung That Mann, the son of General Thura Shwe Mann who is the Joint Chief of Staff of the Myanmar armed forces and the third-ranking member of the SPDC, is also a director of Ayer Shwe Wah Co Ltd and Htoo Trading Company Ltd. Thiha, meanwhile, is Tay Za's brother and business partner, as well as a director of the Htoo Group of Companies and Htoo Trading Co Ltd.

U Kyaw Thein is a Singapore resident and known to manage Tay Za's business offices there. He currently serves as a director for Air Bagan Holdings Company Ltd, Htoo Wood Products Company Ltd, Pavo Aircraft Leasing Co Ltd and Pavo Trading Co Ltd. Also named in the new sanctions order were Khin Lay Thet, wife of General Thura Shwe Mann, Myint Myint Ko, wife of Construction Minister Mon Saw Tun, Tin Lin Myint, wife of Lieutenant General Ye Myint, the head of Military Affairs Security, and Myint Myint Soe, wife of Foreign Minister Nyan Win.

Junta's helping hand

Tay Za and his business empire have long been in the US's sights, due to the tycoon's extraordinary wealth and perceived influence with Myanmar's ruling Senior General Than Shwe and General Thura Shwe Mann, as well as other high-ranking members of the military regime. Born in 1964, the 43-year-old Tay Za originally aimed at a career in the military, for which he attended the Defense Services Academy .

He dropped out before completing his studies in 1987 to elope with his girlfriend, Thida Zaw, and subsequently took over her family's rice milling business. He eventually set up his own company in 1990 to export timber with an initial capital investment of US$333,333. By cultivating connections with senior generals and government officials, some of whom he met during his time at the academy, Tay Za gained logging rights to vast swathes of virgin hardwood forest, including areas of the Karen State, Pegu Division and Tenasserim Division which previously were under the control of the rebel Karen National Union (KNU).

According to opposition groups, Tay Za reportedly maintains most of his wealth in Singapore bank accounts. He is known to own several luxury apartments in the city-state, where his sons, Pye Phyo Za and Htet Tay Za, both live and attend elite private schools. Htet Tay Za attends the United World College of South East Asia, one of Singapore's most expensive.

The 19-year-old Htet Tay Za caused a stir in the aftermath of last year's pro-democracy protests in Myanmar and the brutal crackdown that ensued when an e-mail attributed to him and reviewed by Asia Times Online announced, "US bans us, we're still fucking cool in Singapore. We're sitting on the whole Burma GDP. We've got timber, gems and gas to be sold to other countries like Singapore, China, India and Russia."

The eldest of Tay Za’s privileged sons is apparently "rocking" in his "red brand-new Lamborghini with hot sexy Western chicks" while the younger one needs "another Ferrari to rock on", according to the e-mail, which has been posted widely on blogs and referred to in exile media reports. Tay Za himself lives in a large neo-classical mansion in the old capital of Yangon on the corner of Inya Road and University Avenue, where he parks his Bentley, Ferrari, Mercedes and Lexus, all of which he has had shipped in from Singapore.

Apart from expensive tastes, Tay Za is also possessed by keen business acumen. The businessman has greatly diversified his business empire since his initial investment in timber exports. Through the Htoo Trading Company Ltd, his first company and the group's flagship, his business interests now encompass property development, construction, palm oil production, arms dealing and aviation.

He is also now bidding to move into telecommunications and banking. Htoo Trading is currently Myanmar's fifth largest exporter, with official earnings of US$65.1 million in the 2006-2007 fiscal year. The Ministry of Commerce's website lists the company as the second largest in export earnings of the top 20 import-export companies in Myanmar in 2006-2007.

Htoo Trading was one of two main companies granted contracts for the construction of Naypyidaw, the new capital city where in late 2005 the junta abruptly moved all government offices from the old capital of Yangon. Another controversial Htoo Trading construction project was the 60-meter-high tower and nearby 150-room hotel in Bagan, the site of a famous temple complex and renowned international tourist attraction. The tower came under harsh international criticism by UNESCO and others for damaging the aesthetics of the site.

The company's timber business has also been criticized for causing the large-scale destruction of Myanmar's forests. A 2002 report by environmental watchdog Global Witness stated that the Htoo Trading Company's logging operations were largely responsible for much of the environmental degradation in the country. The company has also been known to provide heavy machinery to smaller logging operations, which in turn sell their logs to Htoo Trading for exports. (The company also has one of the few government-granted export licenses for raw timber.)

Since 2006, Htoo Trading has become increasingly involved in jade mining in the Hpakant area of the northern Kachin State. The move has been done on the quiet with the company gaining mining blocks through cooperative agreements with other smaller mining companies. In a move similar to his logging business deals, Htoo Trading provides the smaller operators with heavy machinery in exchange for stones. In what may be designed to show a degree of corporate social responsibility, according to the Kachin News Agency, Tay Za has provided each family displaced by the mining operation one million kyat (US$755) in compensation.

More recently, Htoo Trading has negotiated a concession from Alcatel Shanghai Bell to cooperate on projects in the new Yadanabon cyber-city, currently under construction in the vicinity of the new capital. The company has submitted a proposal to acquire four acres of land for GSM telecom services and recently submitted a proposal with Russia's CBOSS to acquire an "incubation center for prepaid software", also in Yadanabon.

The company was recently granted a license to import fuel directly as a part of the SPDC's efforts to privatize the fuel industry. In pursuit of that plan, the junta rolled back fuel subsidies last August, which set in motion the mass anti-government protests the junta cracked down on with brutal force.

Another of Tay Za's business concession gems is Air Bagan, Myanmar's first privately invested airline and currently the country's third largest after Air Mandalay and Yangon Airways. The budget airline initially flew only domestically; it added international flights in 2007, first in May to Bangkok, then in September to Singapore. Since then it has added routes to China, Cambodia, and South Korea and has announced interest in establishing routes to Osaka, Dhaka and Chennai.

Tay Za has several businesses in Singapore. Htoo Wood Products sells furniture and other wood products. Pavo Trading is involved in the selling of wholesale cut timber and plywood products and is involved in the frozen seafood business, which one business listing site claims has annual sales in the US$10 million to US$50 million range and is seeking distributors in China.

In Myanmar, Tay Za's other companies include Htoo Transportation Services, which specializes in heavy duty land and marine transport, and he has built the high-class Myanmar Shopping Center in Yangon, which sells top international brands to Myanmar's military elite. Together with a French businessman, Tay Za opened the Le Moliere French restaurant in Yangon in October 2004.

Controversial dealings

Tay Za has over the years endeavored to put a friendly face on many of his business activities. He has claimed publicly that his companies have over the past decade donated US$6 million to various social causes, including outlays for schools, hospitals and pagodas. Funds have also gone to the sponsorship of athletics and sports competitions and to scholarships for students to study overseas. Air Bagan reportedly puts aside US$1 from each international ticket and 500 kyat from each domestic ticket to fund future social projects.

On the other hand, several of his businesses have also propped the military government which continues to enrich itself at the population's expense. In particular his Yangon-based Myanmar Avia Export Company Ltd has come under scrutiny and criticism. Tay Za apparently began the company in 1993 in order to supply spare parts to the military for their aircraft. The US Treasury, along with many independent Myanmar analysts, claim that Tay Za has since used the company to buy aircraft and helicopters for the Myanmar Armed Forces.

Through Myanmar Avia Export Co Ltd, Tay Za is Myanmar's representative for Russia's major state-owned military aircraft manufacturer MAPO, of which MiG is a subsidiary, and for Russian helicopter company Rostvertol, which in 2006 merged with Mil and Kamov to become Oboronprom Corporation. Opposition groups and military analysts say Tay Za’s position at Avia Export made him instrumental in the military's purchase in 2001 of 10 MiG 29 jet fighters valued at US$130 million. Tay Za was also included in a delegation headed by SPDC number two and head of the army, General Maung Aye, when he visited Russia to reportedly discuss arms purchases in 2006. Tay Za, for his part, has consistently denied having any role as an arms broker for the SPDC.

Tay Za is known to have especially close ties to junta leader General Than Shwe and has more recently cultivated a personal relationship with SPDC No 3 and Joint Chief of Staff, General Thura Shwe Mann. General Shwe Mann is widely seen as being groomed as Than Shwe's eventual successor and he currently holds a position on the board of directors of Htoo Trading, as does his son, Aung Thet Mann. Aung Thet Mann's company, Ayer Shwe Wah, came under the wing of Htoo Trading in 1997 and the commercial relationship has been profitable for both parties.

Tay Za's rise to prominence, however, has not come without controversy. Many Myanmar businessmen are known to resent his close relations to senior junta members - especially Generals Than Shwe and Shwe Mann - and the exclusive business opportunities he has allegedly cornered in various sectors through those personal ties. At the same time, he also has a potentially formidable foe in General Maung Aye, the SPDC’s second-ranking official.

In 2006, Maung Aye used his position as chairman of the Trade Policy Council to instruct the Minister of Finance and Revenue to raise taxes on several businesses owned by Tay Za. A move to examine the accounts of Tay Za's companies by state auditors, however, was apparently blocked by friends in high places. Prior to this, in 2005, Tay Za's offices were searched, though no wrongdoing was uncovered. It's unclear how his businesses might be affected if Maung Aye rather than Shwe Mann takes power after the ailing Than Shwe fades from the scene.

The US hopes that by targeting Tay Za's businesses it will - by association - financially hit the SPDC. So far, the biggest impact the new sanctions imposed last October have had is on Air Bagan, which was informed at the time by its Singapore bank that it will no longer deal with the company. Although Singaporean banks are not legally obliged to support US financial sanctions, they apparently preferred not to risk their international reputation to maintain relations with Tay Za.

The banking cut-off made it difficult for the airline to purchase spare parts and pay staff, according to news reports. Those troubles were compounded by falling bookings in the wake of the September crackdown in Myanmar and on November 4 the airline was forced to cancel its Singapore flights. Singapore Airlines, which had provided engineers to the airline, recalled them in November.

Tay Za, at the time condemned the sanctions as "wrongful". At a gathering for the third anniversary of Air Bagan, he claimed that they would hurt only working people and would have little effect on the government they targeted. He conceded that the sanctions had caused "myriad problems" at Air Bagan, but stated the government owned no shares in the airline. He further said Air Bagan's capital was in no way related to drug trafficking, arms sales or money laundering and went on to promise to "tackle sanctions by fair and rightful means".

Strong words, but Tay Za is on a European Union list of individuals blocked from entry or transit through the EU. His Htoo Trading was targeted by enhanced EU sanctions imposed against Myanmar in December 2007. His wife, brother and oldest son are also on the list. In addition, he and his family members are also named in a December 2007 Canadian Special Economic Measures Regulations announcement that sanctioned imports and exports from Myanmar, including investment, transfer of technical data and provisions for the freezing of assets.

Whether these will be enough to upend Myanmar's top businessman and hit the ruling junta's finances is yet to be seen. Following a June 2007 meeting between Myanmar's Minister of Transportation Major General Then Swe and top business leaders, Tay Za secured a US$10 million loan from the SPDC to buy a used freighter and a tanker to start Myanmar's first private international shipping line. He recently reportedly traveled to Pusan, South Korea, to purchase the ships. Things are even looking up again for Air Bagan, which began a new route to South Korea in December and has since announced that it will resume its cancelled Singapore route in September.

Brian McCartan is a Thailand-based freelance journalist. He may be contacted through brianpm@comcast.net.

Thailand to raise Myanmar issue at ASEAN retreat

BANGKOK, Feb 19 (TNA) - Thailand's Foreign Minister assured a visiting senior United Nations official on Tuesday that the country is willing to support UN efforts to restore national reconciliation in Myanmar and that the kingdom will raise the issue at a regional ministerial meeting in Singapore.

Speaking to journalists after UN Deputy Secretary-General Asha-Rose Migiro paid a courtesy call on him here, Foreign Minister Noppadon Pattama reaffirmed that Thailand, as an incoming chair of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), would raise the Myanmar issue in discussions with his counterparts in the Singapore retreat.

ASEAN foreign ministers gather at Singapore's Sentosa Island Tuesday for their annual retreat focussing on implementation of the 10-nation group's charter and speeding-up its integration.

The two-day gathering is also to focus on regional developments, a statement from Singapore's Foreign Affairs Ministry said.

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

Mr. Noppodon also said that he assured Ms. Migiro that Thailand is willing to support the mission of UN special envoy to Myanmar Ibrahim Gambari as he returns to the neighbouring country.

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon assigned Mr. Gambari as his special adviser, to pursue continued cooperation with the Myanmar leaders and all relevant parties to the national reconciliation process to making tangible progress towards the restoration of democracy and the protection of human rights in Myanmar.

Mr. Gambari returned to Myanmar for his second visit last November since the September anti-government protests in which scores of protesters were killed.

The UN deputy secretary-general urged Thailand to play an active role in a process which will transform Myanmar to democracy and national reconciliation through a national referendum on a draft constitution in May that will lead to a general election which she described as a positive move, the Thai foreign minister said.

Myanmar's leaders announced in early February that they would hold a referendum on a new constitution in May followed by elections in 2010, a move critics said was aimed at deflecting pressure after last year's crackdown on pro-democracy protesters in the Asian country.

Phnom Penh and Vientiane condemned new US sanctions linked to Burma rulers

Newly appointed Burma Prime Minister Lieutenant General Thein Sein (front R) and Lieutenant General Thiha Thura Tin Aung Myint Oo (front L) October 18, 2007. ( Khin Maung Win/AFP/Getty Images)

U.S. Imposes New Sanctions Linked to Burma Rulers

Feb 05, 2008
Reuters

WASHINGTON—The Bush administration Tuesday imposed more financial sanctions against a business tycoon linked to Burma's military rulers, targeting companies used to purchase helicopters and other military equipment. (Burma was renamed "Myanmar" by the military junta.)

The action designates three firms controlled by Tay Za and his Htoo Trading conglomerate, including a subsidiary based in Singapore, as supporters of human rights violations in Burma, the U.S. Treasury Department said.

The action is the third package of U.S. sanctions aimed at putting pressure on Burma's leaders since a massive government crackdown on protesters late last year.

"The president has made clear that we will continue to take action against the military junta and those who who prop it up so long as human rights violations continue and democracy is suppressed," said Adam Szubin, director of the Treasury's sanctions arm, the Office of Foreign Assets Control.

The action prohibits Americans from doing business with the companies and with seven newly designated individuals, and seeks to freeze any assets they may have under U.S. jurisdiction.

Tay Za and five of his other companies, including tourist airline Air Bagan, were blacklisted by the Treasury in October.

The firms designated Tuesday included Myanmar Avia Export Co. Ltd., which the Treasury said was used to purchase helicopters and aircraft on behalf of Burma's military. It also designated Ayer Shwe Wah Co. Ltd, a firm for which the son of a senior Myanmar general serves as a director, and Pavo Aircraft Leasing Pte. Ltd., a Singapore-based company that directs Htoo business ventures in the city-state.

Singapore state broadcaster Channel New Asia in November quoted Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong as speaking out against sanctions against Burma, saying nobody supported them in southeast Asia.

Myanmar's impoverished neighbors, Laos and Cambodia, also have condemned the sanctions.

White House spokeswoman Dana Perino said previous rounds of sanctions have had an effect on Burma.

"We do know that sanctions can have an impact. They help curtail economic activity and further isolate the junta, which is part of getting them to recognize that they need to open up and allow their democratically elected leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, to be able to meet with the leaders as they said the would allow her to do," Perino said.

"They say they are going to do things that they don't follow up on," she said.

Burma's junta in September crushed the biggest pro-democracy protests in nearly 20 years, killing at least 15 people.

'Prepare for the worst,' Aung San Suu Kyi advises Myanmar

Wed, 30 Jan 2008
DPA

Yangon- Myanmar opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi on Wednesday advised the nation to "hope for the best but prepare for the worst," in a rare meeting with her National League for Democracy (NLD) party. The ruling junta allowed Suu Kyi a rare respite from house arrest to meet with members of the NLD for about two hours Wednesday afternoon at the Sein Le Kanthar State Guest House where she held talks with NLD chairman Aung Shwe and seven others and government liasion minister Aung Kyi.

Following the meeting, NLD spokesman Nyan Win told correspondents that Suu Kyi had criticized the government's so-called dialogue process for not including representatives of the various ethnic minority nationalities and failing to set a deadline.

Suu Kyi, who won the Nobel peace prize in 1991 for her heroic struggle for democracy in her country, cautioned Myanmar's downtrodden population "to hope for the best prepare for the worst," said Nyan Win.

Suu Kyi has been kept under house arrest in her family's Yangon compound since May, 2003.

It was not clear why Myanmar's military regime allowed her to meet with the NLD leaders but the conciliatory gesture comes at a time when the junta is under increasing pressure to show progress in its political dialogue with the opposition.

European Union special envoy for Myanmar Piero Fussino was in Bangkok earlier this week calling on all Asian governments to unite in putting pressure on Myanmar's junta.

"It is necessary to open a new phase of more constructive and more concise. We need a real dialogue between the junta and the opposition and all different sectors of Myanmar society," said Fassino.

Fassino has already visited Beijing to discuss the Myanmar issue, and plans to travel to Indonesia, India, Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia and Japan to solidify Asian support in what has become a fairly universal call on the military rulers of Myanmar to speed up their political dialogue with opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi and other suppressed segments of Myanmar society.

The EU appointed Fassino as special envoy for Myanmar last year in an effort to increase pressure on the junta to bring about real political change in their country in the aftermath of a brutal crackdown on protests led by Buddhist monks that shocked the world and left at least 31 people dead.

The crackdown reignited international concern about Myanmar, which has been under military rule since 1962, but the growing frustration has thus far accomplished little in terms of forcing the regime into a real political dialogue with Suu Kyi.

United Nations special envoy Ibrahim Gambari has visited Myanmar on several occasions, with the last visit in November, to press for a genuine dialogue but with limited success.

Myanmar junta gives Aung San Suu Kyi a rare break from house arrest

Myanmar's detained democracy leader Aung San Suu Ky, seen here in November 2007. Aung San Suu Kyi on Wednesday was allowed to meet with top members of her National League for Democracy (NLD) party, an official told AFP. (AFP/MNA/HO)

Wed, 30 Jan 2008
DPA

Yangon - Myanmar's ruling junta on Wednesday allowed opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi a rare respite from house arrest to meet with members of her National League for Democracy (NLD) Party, sources said. Suu Kyi was escorted from her family compound in Yangon, where she has been under house arrest since May, 2003, to the Sein Le Kanthar State Guest House where she was allowed to hold talks with NLD chairman Aung Shwe and seven other party executives, opposition sources confirmed.

No details were immediately available on the outcome of the meeting.

Suu Kyi, a Nobel Peace Prize laureate, has been kept under near complete isolation for the past four years.

It was not clear why Myanmar's military regime allowed her to meet with the NLD leaders but the conciliatory gesture comes at a time when the junta is under increasing pressure to show progress in its political dialogue with the opposition.

European Union special envoy for Myanmar Piero Fussino was in Bangkok earlier this week calling on all Asian governments to unite in putting pressure on Myanmar's junta.

"It is necessary to open a new phase of more constructive and more concise. We need a real dialogue between the junta and the opposition and all different sectors of Myanmar society," said Fassino.

Fassino has already visited Beijing to discuss the Myanmar issue, and plans to travel to Indonesia, India, Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia and Japan to solidify Asian support in what has become a fairly universal call on the military rulers of Myanmar to speed up their political dialogue with opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi and other suppressed segments of Myanmar society.

The EU appointed Fassino as special envoy for Myanmar last year in an effort to increase pressure on the junta to bring about real political change in their country in the aftermath of a brutal crackdown on protests led by Buddhist monks that shocked the world and left at least 31 people dead.

The crackdown reignited international concern about Myanmar, which has been under military rule since 1962, but the growing frustration has thus far accomplished little in terms of forcing the regime into a real political dialogue with Suu Kyi.

United Nations special envoy Ibrahim Gambari has visited Myanmar on several occasions, with the last visit in November, to press for a genuine dialogue but with limited success.

Arroyo: [The Philippine] Senate won’t ratify ASEAN Charter if Suu Kyi isn't freed

January 26, 2008
By MARVIN SY
The Philippine Star

President Arroyo reiterated her call for Myanmar’s military junta to free detained political leader Aung San Suu Kyi as part of its commitment to institute democratic reforms.

Speaking at the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) session of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, the President warned Myanmar that the Philippine Senate would not ratify the ASEAN Charter if it fails to make good on its commitment.

The President noted that when the 10 heads of state, including Myanmar, signed the ASEAN Charter in Singapore last year, the military junta had in effect committed to institute political reforms.

Mrs. Arroyo emphasized that the first step in the reform process would be the release of Suu Kyi.

"We must see political reform. We must see Aung San Suu Kyi released. Our present ASEAN knows our position on this," the President said.

"Not only are we committed to seeing political reforms in Myanmar. Our Senate will not ratify the ASEAN Charter, unless they see real political reforms take place in Myanmar. So we must work together to make the tough choices to make ASEAN real and Aung San Suu Kyi free," she added.

The President has been a strong advocate for political reforms in Myanmar and the release of Suu Kyi from detention.

Opposition and administration senators were united in their call for Myanmar to follow the road map of democracy and release Suu Kyi immediately.

Senate Minority Leader Aquilino Pimentel Jr. has been pushing for means to compel Myanmar to become democratic and to release Suu Kyi, including the possible expulsion of the country from ASEAN.

However, several ASEAN nations have strongly adhered to the ASEAN’s policy of non-interference, which has prevented the group from taking any action against Myanmar.

ASEAN is composed of Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

Suu Kyi has been detained since the late 1980s and though she won the general election in 1990, she was barred from assuming office as Prime Minister by the military junta.

Japanese aid snub to Burma

Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam get assistance

January 17, 2008
Supalak G Khundee
The Nation (Thailand)

TOKYO

Sanction-hit Burma got nothing yesterday as Japan pledged approximately US$20 million (Bt662 million) for development projects in the Mekong basin.

Burmese Foreign Minister Nyan Win together with his counterparts from the Mekong region - Cambodia, Laos, Thailand and Vietnam - were in Tokyo for the first Mekong-Japan foreign ministers' meeting.

Japanese Foreign Minister Masahiko Koumura signed a memorandum of understanding with his Laotian counterpart, Thongloun Sisoulith, Cambodia's Hor Namhong and Vietnam's Pham Gia Khiem. It provides financial assistance through the Japan-Asean Integration Fund to those countries.

Japan cancelled nearly $5 million in development assistance to junta-ruled Burma in October last year in response to the military crackdown on street protests in late September. At least 31 were killed, including Japanese news photographer Kenji Nagai.

Some 40 Burmese activists in Japan staged a protest yesterday in front of the meeting venue, and the hotel where Nyan Win is staying.

They are demanding an end to international assistance for the military-ruled country.

They displayed portraits of opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, and posters reading "stop killing in Burma".

The $20-million fund will be spent improving transport and freight along the East-West Economic Corridor, the link from Thailand, via Laos, to Vietnam as well as the Cambodia-Laos-Vietnam Development Triangle.

Japan and the three countries decided on a list of projects, which included a feasibility study of road improvements in Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam.

Thailand is not a recipient, but joined the meeting as a partner with Japan.

Koumura praised Thailand's role in the Mekong-basin development.

The region's countries appreciate Japan and Thailand's continued support for the development of the region, he said.

Thai Foreign Minister Nitya Pibulsonggram said Thailand had contributed some $55 million to neighbours in the region between 1995 and 2006, plus some $200 million for 16 infrastructure projects.

Nitya linked Thailand's brainchild project the Ayeyawady-Chao Phya-Mekong Economic Cooperation Strategy (ACMECS) with Japan's role in developing the region. ACMECS consists of Burma, Laos, Cambodia, Thailand and Vietnam. That was the reason Burma's minister was in Tokyo.

In ACMECS, Thailand is ready to play a role with Japan in undertaking study of development of Laos's Savanakhet Airport, he said.

"Thailand looks forward to working with Japan and cooperation with Mekong countries to identify other projects and areas where trilateral cooperation can be applied," Nitya said.

A key role for Australia in Burma's democratisation

10-Jan-2008
Tony Kevin Eureka Street (Australia)

Following dramatic street protests that came frustratingly close to creating enough public momentum to potentially topple the military-authoritarian regime, Burma seems to have returned to the cruel status quo ante of a cowed population suffering ruthless repression. But is the democracy genie truly back in the bottle? Have the oppressed Burmese people nothing to look forward to but more of the same police-state monitoring and intimidation?

There is one hopeful sign of possible change. Last week, all 15 UN Security Council members agreed a non-binding UNSC presidential statement on Myanmar. The text 'strongly deplores the use of violence against peaceful demonstrators in Myanmar' and calls on Myanmar's military regime and all other parties concerned 'to work together toward a de-escalation of the situation and a peaceful solution'.

This statement is an important benchmark. First, because of its strength and clarity. Second, because it is the first time the UNSC has taken a formal position on Burma; China and Burma having hitherto argued successfully that it is an internal matter outside the council's mandate. Third, because China, the Burmese regime's strongest international protector, endorsed this statement after weeks of negotiating to soften earlier harsher Western drafts.

What persuaded China to support such strong criticism of its client regime? The ferocity of the repression, the victimisation of Buddhist monks, the sharp international distress at events, the forthcoming leadership transitions in China, and next year's Olympic Games in Beijing — all may have played a part in inducing China to ease its hitherto implacable position.

Now, there can be no going back from the new UNSC benchmark. From now on, the UN will have enhanced leverage to press for dialogue between Aung San Suu Kyi and the military leadership, and for more protection of the human rights of peaceful protesters. Out of this, democratisation can begin to take root in Burma.

In some ways, Burma today reminds me of that key moment in Polish history in the mid-1980s, after a bloody suppression of Solidarity strikes in the Gdansk shipyards. Under pressure from a horrified West, the regime agreed to enter into a structured dialogue with Solidarity. Poland moved from iron-fist repression to a softer, more subtle repressive style. Ten years later, an ascendant Solidarity, backed by the Church, negotiated a peaceful transfer of power from a morally bankrupt communist regime.

That kind of future is foreseeable in Burma, but it will require years of determined but sensitive diplomacy, not only by the UNSC but also by China and other interested states — most importantly, the ASEANs and other regional countries like Japan, India and, oddly enough, Australia.

It seems unlikely the US will have a part to play. China is in no mood to tolerate lectures in democracy from its rival for hegemony and from a power that regularly violates human rights norms in the Middle East. In China's eyes, the US simply does not have moral standing in Burma.

The task for regional countries and Australia would be to dialogue with China from a different starting point; one that accepts the major strategic importance of Burma to China. For Burma is a glacis protecting China's vulnerable southern flank. It is also a trade access area to the Indian Ocean (including possible future oil transhipments from friendly Middle Eastern countries, if passage through the Straits of Malacca were ever threatened by a hostile US). And it is a resources-rich hinterland.

So for China it is strategically vital that no anti-Chinese regime under US influence ever be established in Burma. Such an outcome is simply not negotiable.

What is achievable is a gradual softening of the harder edges of the regime — some dialogue on human rights with opposition elements, more freedom in IT applications, more scope for legal opposition politics, and the acceptance of greater foreign investment to raise employment opportunities and living standards.

One is struck by the diversity of China's relationship with bordering states or autonomous regions. These relationships include frankly tributary relationships, like North Korea, Hong Kong, Tibet and Laos. Yet each is very different in character. Then there are non-tributary relationships like Japan, South Korea, Mongolia, Russia, the former Soviet Central Asian republics, Pakistan, India, Nepal, Vietnam … and the troubled relationship with Taiwan.

The point is, there is no single model, but many models Burma might aspire to, as a democratic contiguous state that accepts a degree of Chinese hegemony. The trick would be to persuade China that it can both have its cake and eat it in Burma.

Perhaps next year Kevin Rudd might help open up Chinese thinking on Burma? He has the expertise and standing to do so. It could be the first example in many years (since the UNTAC settlement in Cambodia) of a successful Australian regional diplomacy involving Chinese interests.
--------
Tony Kevin retired from the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade in 1998, after a 30-year public service career in DFAT and Prime Minister's Department. He was Australia's ambassador to Poland (1991–94) and Cambodia (1994–97).

Bush likely to cancel US ASEAN summit over Myanmar: diplomats

WASHINGTON (AFP) — US President George W. Bush likely will cancel a summit he was planning with Southeast Asian leaders, following Myanmar's bloody crackdown on pro-democracy protests, ASEAN diplomats said here Sunday.

American officials indicated at a US-Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) senior officials dialogue in San Francisco about a week ago that "it would be difficult for President Bush to host the summit" which would have been held at his Texas ranch, an ASEAN diplomat told AFP.

"Considering what happened in Myanmar, we understand that it might also be politically sensitive to hold such a summit on US soil, especially during an electoral year," the diplomat said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

Bush made the summit proposal on September 7 when he met several ASEAN leaders at the sidelines of an Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum summit in Sydney.

About three weeks later, Myanmar's military rulers launched a brutal crackdown on peaceful protests led by Buddhist monks which, according to a UN report, leaving at least 31 people dead and 74 missing, and drawing global outrage.

Bush has already ordered two round of sanctions and threatened further US-led global measures against the ruling junta if it continued to ignore calls for a democratic transition.

The US leader usually reserves invitations to his sprawling Texas ranch for important allies but made the surprise invitation to the ASEAN leaders, including an official from Myanmar, in a bid to underline US commitment, which has been persistently questioned in the region.

White House national security spokesman Gordon Johndroe had said at the time that all ASEAN heads of state had been invited, except Myanmar, whose "level of participation is to be determined."

If the Texas summit -- which would have been held in early 2008 -- is canceled, it would be the second time Bush will scrap talks with leaders from the 10 ASEAN member states -- Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

In May, he had agreed to attend a summit highlighting 30 years of official ties between Washington and Southeast Asia in Singapore on his way to the Sydney APEC talks but cancelled at the last minute due to the Iraqi crisis.

US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice had also canceled participation at two ASEAN annual meetings, in 2005 and 2007, drawing criticism from the region which felt its stature had diminished in Washington's eyes.

Some ASEAN diplomats said if the Texas summit was off, Southeast Asian leaders might still try to host a meeting with Bush, adding that Washington was open to such a possibility.

"The fact that US still wants to consider having it in the ASEAN region shows they still understand the importance of engaging with ASEAN," one diplomat said.

Since Singapore holds the current ASEAN chair, it is a logical host for such talks, the official said, eyeing a "window of opportunity" when Bush attends the Beijing Olympics, to be held from August 8 to 24.

"But the crux of the issue -- Myanmar -- remains and it will continue to be messy, especially if Washington insists Myanmar should stay out of the talks and ASEAN surely feeling uncomfortable with that," the official said.

Bush has over the last couple of years met annually with leaders of seven ASEAN states -- Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam -- which are also members of the APEC forum -- at the sidelines of the forum's annual talks.

Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar are not APEC members.

A wounded Hun Sen lashes at the entire UN body to leave his Myanmar buddies alone

Cambodian leader blasts report, says UN should leave Myanmar alone

Wednesday, December 12, 2007
The Associated Press

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia: The U.N. should leave Myanmar alone and stop disrupting the junta's progress toward democracy by issuing critical reports on human rights abuses, Cambodia's leader said Wednesday.

"Myanmar has been moving smoothly ahead," Prime Minister Hun Sen said, becoming perhaps the first national leader to publicly praise the country's military junta since its bloody September crackdown on pro-democracy protests.

Hun Sen, whose government is regularly criticized for human rights abuses, lashed out at a report released Friday by U.N. human rights investigator Paulo Sergio Pinheiro.

The report found that at least 31 people were killed during the Myanmar crackdown, twice the toll acknowledged by the junta. It also said that 650 people remained in custody and another 74 people were missing.

Hun Sen said the report did nothing but "disturb" Myanmar's efforts toward reform.

"If you just keep opposing and pressuring (Myanmar), how can it solve its own problems?" Hun Sen said during a speech at the inauguration of a government women's dormitory.

"Leave them some space to work," Hun Sen said, adding that he believed the junta's goals for the future match the U.N.'s. "They also want to have national reconciliation, democracy and respect for human rights."

Myanmar sparked global outrage in September when troops opened fire on pro-democracy protests that were led by Buddhist monks. The junta has acknowledged killing 15 protesters, but diplomats and dissidents say the toll was much higher.

The U.N. has spearheaded efforts to coax the junta to start reconciliation talks with detained democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi. A Nobel peace laureate, Suu Kyi has been under house arrest for 12 of the last 18 years.

Myanmar and Cambodia are members of the 10-nation Associated of Southeast Asian Nations, which has come under criticism for failure to take a tough public stance against the junta's crackdown. ASEAN has a traditional policy of not interfering in the domestic affairs of its members.

Last week, Hun Sen hosted a visit by Myanmar's prime minister, Lt. Gen. Thein Sein, during which he reiterated a long-standing opposition to economic sanctions against Myanmar.

Sam Rainsy supports sanctions against Burma; Hun Sen doesn't

Left: Sam Rainsy, Aung San Suu Kyi & Democracy; Right: Sein, Sen & Dictatorship

Hun Sen Warns Against Further Burma Sanctions

By Chun Sakada, VOA Khmer
Original report from Phnom Penh
05 December 2007

Following a visit by his Burmese counterpart, Thein Sein, last week, Prime Minister Hun Sen warned against further sanctions against the junta from the international community.

A brutal crackdown in late September that left at least 15 people dead and thousands arrested led to tighter sanctions on the regime, but Hun Sen said Wednesday such sanctions went against the spirit of free trade and globalization.

"How can we talks about globalization when one country puts sanctions on another?" he asked, at a workshop on international trade in Phnom Penh.

And despite the recent crackdown and sanctions, businesses would likely stay, he said.

"Foreign companies will not leave Burma, do not wonder about it," Hun Sen said.

However, opposition leader Sam Rainsy said Wednesday Burma did not participate in global economics.

"If the global economy is to progress, the country should have democracy," he said. "I support sanctions, but only sanctions that affect the interests of individuals like dictators and their families."

Hun Sen opposes sanctions against his friends, the Burmese Military Junta

Cambodian prime minister says sanctions against Myanmar will be futile

AP

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia - Cambodia's prime minister expressed his opposition Wednesday to economic sanctions against Myanmar, saying they would not force the ruling military junta to make reforms.

"The game of sanctions will never lead to any result but will only cause hardship for the poor people," Prime Minister Hun Sen said in a speech at a development meeting in Phnom Penh.

The United States and European Union have been pushing for tougher sanctions against Myanmar in response to its September crackdown on pro-democracy demonstrators that killed at least 15 people.

During a visit to Cambodia last week Ibrahim Gambari _ the U.N.'s special envoy to Myanmar _ called for more cooperation between Myanmar's military rulers and the United Nations in speeding up democratic reforms to avoid sanctions being sought against the regime.

Gambari also called on the government to release detained pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi and include her in the process of reform and reconciliation.

Myanmar Prime Minister Lt. Gen. Thein Sein also visited Cambodia last week and discussed sanctions with Hun Sen.

Hun Sen said he has not been persuaded to side with the Myanmar junta, but that sanctions would not help resolve the political situation there.

The military government will continue to be sustained by foreign companies that are doing business in the country, he said.

Companies from countries such as China and Thailand have invested in natural gas, timber and gem stones in Myanmar, where an estimated 90 percent of the 54 million people live on about US$1 a day.

Myanmar monks prepared for another bloodbath: exiled monk

Hun Sen greeting the PM of the evil Burmese military regime (AP Photo/Khem Sovannara)

12/4/2007
Agence France-Presse

WASHINGTON - Myanmar's Buddhist monks are prepared to face another bloody confrontation with the ruling military junta if the international community fails to force the generals to accept democratic reforms, an exiled monk with links inside Myanmar said Monday.

US-based Ashin Nayaka, a key member of the International Burmese Monks Organization, said monks were a "symbol of hope" for reforms in Myanmar but were "forcibly disrobed, assaulted and killed" by the junta.

"If this continues unaddressed, further bloody confrontation is unavoidable," he told a hearing of the US Commission on International Religious Freedom, a non-partisan panel appointed by the US president and leaders of Congress.

"The very existence of monastic life is being destroyed by the evil military regime and it will face bloodshed again, if the international community, including the UN Security Council, cannot find a collective and effective way to stop this evil regime from killings and arrests," he said.

At least 15 people died and 3,000 were jailed when Myanmar's military and police broke up pro-democracy protests, which saw Buddhist monks lead 100,000 people in the streets of Yangon on successive days.

Nayaka, a visiting scholar at Columbia University, said he had been working closely with U Gambira, the leader of the Alliance of All Burma Buddhist Monks and key leader of the September protests arrested by the junta last month.

He expressed regret that pressure by the international community on the junta had eased even as serious questions remained over the number of monks forcible disrobed, imprisoned and killed following the protests.

"Where has the global outcry gone? This should be of grave concern for all governments worldwide. This is a moral crisis that Americans must stand for," he said.

The United States, which has long imposed a trade and investment ban on Myanmar, has twice tightened sanctions since the clampdown on protests.

It ordered an asset freeze on key junta figures and blacklisted seven companies and five individuals allegedly linked to those companies and the regime.

Aung Din, executive director of the US Campaign for Burma, urged Washington to appoint a full-time sanctions coordinator for Myanmar as it did in the late 1990's against Serbian leader Slobodan Milosevic's regime accused of genocide.

This would enable coordination of global sanctions against Myanmar's junta, he said.

Citing the Australian government which had targeted financial sanctions against 418 Myanmar citizens, including 40 businessmen, he asked the US government to impose restrictions on more Myanmar businessmen who provided money to the junta leaders and their families.

Jared Genser, president of human rights group Freedom House, raised the prospect of Washington imposing sanctions, such as those used against a Macau bank accused of money laundering for nuclear-armed North Korea, on a Southeast Asian state-owned bank suspected of links to Myanmar's military rulers.

The move against Baco Delta Asia in Macau underscored US financial clout and reportedly compelled North Korea back to the negotiating table.

"Anecdotally in conversations with diplomats in ASEAN countries, I know there is a deep concern about the prospects of the United States doing to a state-owned bank what happened to Banco Delta Asia in Macau because of its laundering of North Korean funds," Genser told the hearing.

He did not name the bank.

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations comprises Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.