Weekly Diary, No. 332 (13 – 27 December 2008)

• HAPPY NEW YEAR!
• RUSSIA NOT TOO HAPPY WITH JUNTA!
• UNGA BLASTS JUNTA!
• SHAN STATE CONGRESS FORMED!

Cartoon
Tips for the Senior General
 

Think Piece
Conquer anger by love, evil by good; conquer the miser with generosity, and the liar with truth.
The Buddha
 
The World
15 December 2008
Asean foreign ministers sign charter making the bloc a legal entity for the first time. (AP)

International Relations
6 December 2008
_{Mikhail Mgeladze}
Mikhail Mgeladze, Russian ambassador to Burma, tells FM Nyan Win Moscow will be in a better position to support the regime if it cooperates with UN envoy Ibrahim Gambari. In the meanwhile, Russian position is that:

• Release of political prisoners, opening of dialogue and presence of monitors at 2010 elections are internal matters
• No support for six-party talks on Burma

(Irrawaddy)
 
16 December 2008
_{Prince Alwaleed}
Prince Alwaleed, Chairman of Kingdom Holding Company (KHC), receives Khin Zaw Win, ambassador to Saudi Arabia. (UAE Daily)
 
17 December 2008
_{Ban Ki-moon}
UN chief Ban Ki-moon criticizes Burma for its failure to engage in democratic dialogue and release its political prisoner. (VOA)
 
18 December 2008
The European Commission decides to give an extra $ 58.9 million aid for 2 million vulnerables in Burma. (AFP)
 
20 December 2008
_{Aung San Suu Kyi}
Washington-based Council of Women World Leaders nominates Aung San Suu Kyi as honorary member of the group. (Mizzima)
 
22 December 2008
Doctors Without Borders (MSF) includes Burma in its Top Ten humanitarian crises for 2008. Others include Sudan and Somalia. (Independent Mon News Agency)
 
23 December 2008
Seoul Bar Association of human rights lawyers say it will send a petition to Burma calling for the release of 19 North Korean refugees arrested in Burma this month. (AFP)
 
24 December 2008
UN General Assembly adopts resolution calling on Burma to free all political prisoners and criticizing its human rights record. Among Burma’s neighbors:

• Indonesia, Philippines, Singapore and Thailand abstain
• Cambodia absent
• Brunei, Laos, Malaysia, Vietnam, China, India and Russia vote against

(Irrawaddy)

Thai-Burma Relations
15 December 2008
Saw Kyaw Kyaw Min, 29, one of the 4 defense lawyers convicted of contempt of court, gives a press conference in Maesod two weeks after escaping to Thailand. The other three are being detained. “No fair trials in Burma,” he says. (Irrawaddy)
 
15 December 2008
_{Abhisit Vejjajiwa}
Abhisit Vejjajiwa, 44, becomes Thailand’s 27th prime minister. (Agencies)
 
18 December 2008
30 Burmese refugees living in Thailand has been accepted, according to Japanese officials. (AFP)
 
22 December 2008
Thai authorities arrest 10 members of an unknown armed group including women who reportedly say they were sent by the Burmese government. (BBC/Irrawaddy)
 
24 December 2008
The United Wa State Army (UWSA), suspected of counterfeiting Thai currency, offers assistance in the crackdown of the culprits. (SHAN)

Politics/ Inside Burma
12 December 2008
Sanda Win, daughter of Gen Ne Win, released. She has been under house arrest since 2002. (AFP) One Naypyitaw source claims there was a give-and-take between her and the junta prior to her release - Editor
 
15 December 2008
The SPDC recently promoted a number of officers:

• Maj-Gen Maung Shein  Commander, Western Region Command  - Chief, Defense Service Inspection and Auditor
• Khin Zaw        Bureau of Special Operations                                    - Lt-Gen
• Tha Aye          Bureau of Special Operations                                   - Lt-Gen
• Thura Myint Aung Adjutant General                                                 - Lt-Gen

(Irrawaddy)
 
16 December 2008
U Thumingala’s sermons are being banned in Rangoon. The abbot, 40, is from Mandalay. (Mizzima)
 
18 December 2008
Sources close to the junta says the USDA is unlikely to contest the 2010 elections, owing to a poor public perception of the group. It was the decision of junta leader Than Shwe, one source says. Instead USDA members will be incorporated into other parties. (Mizzima)
 
19 December 2008
_{Larry Jagan}
The junta is likely to announce the Election Law in January, most likely on Independence Day on 4 January, says Larry Jagan. (Mizzima)
 
23 December 2008
New Mon State Party (NMSP) marks 50th anniversary of its founding in Waizin, 9 km from Ye. (Irrawaddy)
 
25 December 2008
Number 9 was the satanic mark of the late Ne Win regime. But Number 11 has become the new symbol of Than Shwe power:

• Release of 9,002 (9+0+0+2=11) prisoners
• Importance placed on 2009 (2+0+0+9 = 11)

(Irrawaddy)

Shans/ Shan State
21-23 December 2008
Shan State Army (SSA) South and 4 other anti-Naypyitaw groups hold conference, sets up alliance provisionally named Shan State Congress. (SHAN)
 
26 December 2008

History of Shan State, written by Shan historian Sai Aung Tun on sale. (SHAN)
 
26 December 2008
The 2004 tsunami remembered by quakes in Manhio, opposite China’s Ruili. Tremors felt as far as Lashio some 120 miles south. (SHAN)
 
27 December 2008
Chiangmai Literature and Culture Society holds 3rd meeting in preparation for the October 2009 International Conference on Shan Studies (ICSS). (SHAN)

Economy/ Business
13 December 2008
Myanma Alin says a new gem auction will be held 5-9 January. (AFP)

Human Rights
16 December 2008
Three Kachin students in Monywa university sentenced to one year in prison in September following a brawl that resulted in a Burmese student killed. The charge however was not murder but racialism. (KNG)
 
16 December 2008
Since the beginning of December, authorities in Pegu division’s Nyaunglebin district have been forcing farmers to grow sunflowers or face confiscation of their lands. The new crop interferes with their other crops already planted, say farmers. (DVB) Nay Kya (Sunflower) literally means (sunlotus). It can also mean (lengthy existence). – Editor
 
17 December 2008
40 migrant workers in Malaysia deported after a protest against tightening regulations. (DVB)
 
19 December 2008
SPDC is cracking down on relatives who “commit the crime” of exchanging letters with their loved ones in jail:

• 17 December   Zaw Naing Htwe given a year prison sentence after receiving a letter from his detained brother Kyaw Kyaw Htwe. Three prison guards who helped him to send the letters were also jailed.
• 15 December   Thant Zin Oo receives a 6 month sentence for reading out a letter to his detained brother Thant Zin Myo.

(Irrawaddy)
 
22 December 2008
Chinese and Burmese police officials open offices of anti-trafficking offices:

• One in Jiang Phong in Dehong prefecture
• The other in Loije, Bhamo district

(Kachin News Group)

Environment
17 December 2008

First Contact in the Greater Mekong, a report by World Wildlife Fund (WWF) indentifies 1,068 species in areas around the river. (Christian Science Monitor)
 
17 December 2008
Since the beginning of the month, over 300 Chinese trucks have been coming in and out of Bhamo and the logging business has re-started say local residents. (Kachin News Group)

Drugs
23 December 2008
Ai Long Khammwe, Lahu Democratic Front, accuses Burma Army of collecting taxes and forcing people to grow poppies. (Mizzima)

War
15 December 2008
Burmese officials say exploration of AD-7 test well under dispute between Bangladesh and Burma has failed to confirm commercially viable deposits. (Reuters)
 
17 December 2008
_{P.Chidambaram}
Many insurgent groups are operating from Bangladesh and Burma, says Indian home minister P.Chidambaram. (The Hindu)