Weekly Diary, No. 285 (18 – 24 January 2008)

• JUNTA TIGHTENING SCREWS ON DIPLOMATS NGOS!
• A FRIEND THAT BEIJING HATES TO LOVE!
• THAI SPDC DISBANDS AFTER 16-MONTHS!
• KNOW HOW MUCH JUNTA SPENDS ON EDUCATION AND HEALTH?

Think Piece
When you love yourself more than others, you harm yourself.

_{Saying and Words of Wisdom in English, Chulalongkorn University Press (2005)}

The World
18 January 2008
Wall Street falls for a fourth day. (Reuters)

International Relations
18 January 2008
There have been unusually long delays in the visa process for some embassy staff, NGO workers and UN officials based in Burma, say sources. The regime appears to have tightened it visa rules on western diplomats and their family members. Passports of two Burmese staff members at the US embassy were seized by Rangoon authorities on their return from an overseas trip in December. (Irrawaddy)
 
18 January 2008
The ICRC that terminated its prison visits in December 2005, when the USDA insisted on accompanying it in its prison visits, says it has 2 programmes still continuing, according to Thierry Ribaux, deputy head of ICRC delegation in Burma:

• One, support to orthopedics prospective facility
• Another, support family visiting (detainees) programme

(Mizzima)
 
18 January 2008
UN Security Council that meets today regrets “slow rate of progress” in Burma and notes “an early visit” to Burma by Gambari could help facilitate further progress. (UN News Service) Pyinmana has said it prefers he visits in mid-April. (UN News Center)
 
18 January 2008
It is not without tension. Most of the energy and transportation plans are only at the agreement stage. “China is a partner of last resort,” says Derek Mitchell, Center for Strategic and International Studies. “They don’t like it, but it helps them stay in power.” (IPS)
 
18 January 2008
_{Piero Fassino}
Piero Fassino, EU special envoy to the region, says its main focus is on encouraging steps towards democracy rather than exerting pressure with sanctions. (Guardian Unlimited) He is set to visit Thailand and Indonesia next week, India and Russia in February, Vietnam and Cambodia in early March and Japan in spring. (DPA)
 
19 January 2008
Chinese diplomats say Beijing has been gradually changing its Burma policy since the removal of Khin Nyunt in 2004 and the recent crackdown. The shift however will be slow and well-calculated. The two top men are more intransigent than the late Ne Win and often do “incredibly silly things,” according to a Chinese official. “China knows Burma will not prosper under their leadership.” (Irrawaddy)
 
19 January 2008
Aid workers from the international NGO, were summoned by the health ministry to Pyinmana last week and warned to strictly follow the rules:

• They have to report details of their field trips to the junta
• They are required to accompany with a ministry liaison officer when traveling round the country
• They are prohibited from collecting data other than those related to public health

More than 30 NGO implementing health related projects are currently operating in Burma. (BBC)
 
21 January 2008
_{Raymond Lim}
Raymond Lim, Second Minister for Foreign Affairs, tells Singaporean Parliament Burma wants to deal with the UN directly about its problems and does not “want Asean to play any political role. Once it takes this position, Asean could not proceed.” (AP)
 
22 January 2008
_{Jiang Yu}
Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu, during a news conference, calls on Burma to set a timetable for UN envoy Ibrahim Gambari’s visit. (Reuters)
 
24 January 2008
UK, US and French foreign ministers meeting at the World Economic Forum in Davos issue joint statement urging Burma for transition to democracy and improved human rights. (Statement)
 
24 January 2008
_{Aung San Suu Kyi}
Aung San Suu Kyi awarded “Abogados de Atocha”, a Spanish prize for her work for national reconciliation. It is received by an exile activist Bo Hla Tint. (Irrawaddy)

Thai-Burma Relations
22 January 2008
Some Thai-based Burmese activists are concerned over their campaign for Burma after the newly elected People’s Power Party, believed to be a proxy of deposed Thaksin Shinawatra’s Thai Rak Thai Party, comes to power. (Irrawaddy)
 
22 January 2008
Thailand’s Council for National Security (CNS) that engineered the coup on 19 September 2006 disbands itself after 16 months in power. (Bangkok Post)

Politics/ Inside Burma
21 January 2008
Sasana Moli, formed by Ven Panya Vamsa, has 14 branches with 300 members in various countries, he says: US, UK, Canada, Bangladesh, New Zealand, Australia, Taiwan, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Sri Lanka and India. (Mizzima)
 
21 January 2008
The most senior Burmese democracy leader to escape arrest so far, who calls himself Phoenix, acting leader of the 88 Generation Group, says he still believes people power can overthrow the military regime. (South China Morning Post)
 
24 January 2008
_{Win Tin}
Win Tin, 78, who has been detained since 1989, admitted to a hospital for treatment to a hernia. There are more than 1,890 political prisoners, according to AAPP. (Irrawaddy)
 
24 January 2008
MP Than Lwin, who was punched in the face and arrested last year, has totally lost sight in one of his eyes, says his wife Daw Khin Thi. (Mizzima)
 
24 January 2008
Maj-Gen Khin Zaw, Commander of Central Region Command, visits 4 lecturing monasteries in Pakokku and gives donations. His visit is short. He doesn’t have time even to take off his shoes, according to a monk. (DVB)

Shans/ Shan State
19-21 January 2008
Shan conference on the Thai-Burma border vows to work closely with non-Shans and protect minority rights. It elects veteran Shan activists Perng Fa, Peun Kham and Hseng Noung as Convenor, Co-ordinator and Joint Coordinator respectively. (SHAN)

Economy/ Business
18 January 2008
Myanmar Times reports Burma is delivering on liberalizing the import of fuel by allowing the private sector to undertake the business. So far only government-affiliated organizations and companies including UMEH and Htoo Trading may import fuel directly. Market prices quoted as high as K4,600 ($3.7) per gallon for petrol and K4,800 ($3.8) for diesel since August. (Xinhua)
 
22 January 2008

Gem trade in Burma has slumped due to the sanctions especially the December JADE Act by the US Congress, according to gem and jade traders in Maesod, Rangoon and the Sino-Burma border. The gem markets have been quiet for three months. Usually, junta media would announce the amount of sales made and the income generated from the gem fairs, according to a Maesod trader. But this time they don’t. “It’s obvious they didn’t sell much.” (Irrawaddy)
 
22 January 2008
Burma’s economy is in shambles and the future is bleak, says Asia-Pacific Economic Update 2007 released by US Armed Forces Pacific Command:

• GDP 2.9%, lower than any other country in the Greater Mekong Sub-region (GMS)
• Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) has dropped from an average of $217 million annually in 2000-2004, to $35.7 million in the year 2005-2006
• Only 1,775 megawatts of power for 53 million people in 2006 (in Thailand, it was 26,000 megawatts for 63 million people)
• Burma spent only 1.3% of its 2002 budget for education; only 40% of all children enrolled in secondary schools in 2005 (Average for East Asia and the Pacific was 71%)
• The regime devotes only 0.1% of its annual budget to public health; life expectancy was 60 in 2004, compared to 70 in East Asia and the Pacific

(www.asia-studies.com)
 
23 January 2008
The price of GSM phone has fallen following the military authorities’ plan to expand the telecommunications industry in the country:

• Price (in one’s own name)               K2.86 million ($2,280)
• Price (in another person’s name)        K2.6 million ($2,080)
• Recent price                                    K1.75 million ($1,400)

(Irrawaddy)

Human Rights
21 January 2008
New regulations that start today says HIV/AIDS sufferers who receive treatment at Rangoon Infectious Disease Hospital must pay for tests plus a donation fee:

• Xray or blood test       K3,000-4,000($2.3-3.1)
• Donation                     K500($0.39)

(Irrawaddy)
 
21 January 2008
The New Light of Myanmar reports Minister of Industry #1 Aung Thaung, during the opening ceremony in Kyaukse of a new pharmaceutical factory, saying Burmese medicines have been ranked the best in Southeast Asia. He did not say who had done the ranking. (Irrawaddy)
 
23 January 2008
Between 270-400 children die daily in Burma, says Dr Osamu Kunii, a nutrition expert for the UN. The figures are the second-worst mortality rate for children in Asia except for Afghanistan and 40th highest rate in the world. (Press Association)
 
23 January 2008
4 children, age between 12-15, in Kemmendine, Rangoon, detained by market security guards and sold to an army recruiter Sgt Soe Myint, who pays K15,000 ($12) for each. (DVB)
 
23 January 2008
Three Burmese men, who broke into a house in Saudi Arabia and robbed, beheaded in Mecca. (AFP)
 
23 January 2008

Poet Saw Way arrested. His poem, taken together, the first words of each line read: General Than Shwe is crazy with power. Last year an advertisement which carried a hidden message “Killer Than Shwe” appeared in Burma’s main papers. (BBC)
 
23 January 2008
Order issued by Rangoon Division Transport Administration Committee says taxi drivers have to fix meters within 6 months:
Meter cost                   K200,000($156)
Meter fares                  K500 ($0.39)basic
                                    K150 ($0.12) per mile
Daily hiring fee           K7,000 ($5.40)
There are 3 operating companies: Aye Family, Sakura and Lynx. (Irrawaddy)
 
23 January 2008
_{Aung Myo Min}
Noe Noe, who escaped from human traffickers in Maesod, says she had been sold to the traffickers by her mother for K500,000($390). Aung Myo Min, director of Human Rights Education Institute of Burma (HREIB) says Noe Noe’s story reflects the struggle facing many families in Burma. (DVB)

Environment
18 January 2008
EU research center says bio fuel costs outweigh benefits. The report concludes significantly greater greenhouse gas savings could be achieved by imposing only an overall biomass-use target instead of a separate one for transport. (AFP)
 
21 January 2008
Is Burma the only supplier of cheap timber to China? No, there are many African countries doing the same thing, including Tanzania, Gabon, Congo and Mozambique. “China is a market that is impossible to satisfy,” says Rogers Malimbwi, a Tanzanian professor. (National Geographic/ Bangkok Post)
 
22 January 2008
_{Rajendra Pachauri}
Do you know that meat is a very carbon intensive commodity? Eat less meat, ride a bike and be a frugal shopper – that’s how you can help brake global warming, says Rajendra Pachauri, head of the UN’s Nobel prize winning Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). (AFP/Bangkok Post)
 
23 January 2008
Speaking at regional forum on bio energy, Regan Suzuki of the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) says while bio fuels are better for the environment than fossil fuels and boost energy security for many countries, it is also causing a spike in the price of crops and can worsen water shortages and force poor communities off their land. (AP)

Drugs
20 January 2008
_{Surayud Chulanont}
No evidence has been found that would enable punishment of those involved in the extra-judicialling killings during the War on Drugs waged by the Thaksin government, says PM Surayud Chulanont. Witnesses had refused to come forward to provide vital information to the investigators. (Bangkok Post)

War
22 January 2008
Analysts suspect the military itself for the 4 blasts that took place last week:

• The train schedule was not disrupted after the first explosion
• A number of previous bombings are believed to have been the result of intra-mural battles inside the junta, eg:

                -Bombings that killed Lt-Gen Tin Oo’s daughter and himself
                -Bombing in April 1997 at the Defense Services Academy(DSA) that killed 15 and wounded 10
                -Three simultaneous bombings that left at least 19 dead and 162 injured on 7 May 2005
(Asia Sentinel)