Weekly Diary, No. 260 (28 July – 3 August 2007)

Weekly Diary, No. 260 (28 July – 3 August 2007)
 
·         SETTING UP ASEAN RIGHTS BODY RESTS WITH BURMA!
·         JUNTA WANTS US ARMS, HATES CHINESE PRODUCTS!
·         BIRD FLU AGAIN!
·         NEITHER SANCTIONS NOR ENGAGEMENTS WORK?
 
Think Piece
I realized that (what's happening in Burma) doesn't simply end because of one media trip or one more film lobbying for a cause.

_{Veteran actor Walter Koenig, who played Russian navigator Pavel Chekov in Star Trek, following a visit to the Karen refugee camps, Bangkok Post, 2 April 2007}
 
If (America) stops paying attention to (Asean), we have only one suitor and only one option.

_{Singapore's PM Lee Hsieng Loong to the United States, quoted by Newsweek, 30 April 2007}

 
The World
30 June – 6 July 2007
Military reckoning
                        Armed forces*,m        Nuclear warheads                   Aircraft carriers
                                                            (approx.)         
US                   1.5                               5,163                                       12
Britain             0.2                               200                                          3
China               2.3                               400                                          0
France             0.3                               350                                          2
India                1.3                               50                                            1
Japan               0.2                               0                                              0
Russia              1.0                               5,830                                       1
Source: IISS "Military Balance" 2007                        *Not including reservists
(The Economist)
 
2 August 2007

Rescuers search for as many as 30 people unaccounted for in a US highway bridge collapse that send vehicles tumbling into the Missisippi river. Death toll confirmed at 4. About 60 injured. (Reuters)

 
International Relations
27 July 2007
Burma has objected to a proposal to create a regional rights body under the draft Asean Charter, say diplomats. (AP)

27 July 2007
_{Matthew Daley}
Matthew Daley, president of the US Association of Asean Business Council says US must change tactics to bring about reforms in Burma. He thinks US sanctions have failed. (AFP)
 
30 July 2007
Disagreement over the creation of a human rights body and decision-making by voting has hobbled the charter drafting of Asean, say officials. (DPA) Asean foreign ministers agree today to set up a regional human rights commission. (AP)
 
31 July 2007
_{Alexander Downer}
Australian FM Alexander Downer says both sanctions and engagement have failed to end abuses and set up the country along the road to democracy. He urges China and India to pressure Burma and its "insensitive" leaders. (AP)
 
1 August 2007
New Light of Myanmar reports U Thein Lwin will be serving concurrently as ambassador to China and North Korea. This is the first time since 1983 that Burma has an ambassador with North Korea. (Irrawaddy)
 
2 August 2007
_{Thaung Tun}
Thaung Tun, member of Burmese delegation at the Asean meeting in Manila, says the grouping's human rights body should be a consultative one first, not one that would "shame and blame". (AP)
 
2 August 2007
_{Gorge W. Bush}
President Bush renews economic sanctions against Burma for one more year. (Irrawaddy)
 
3 August 2007
_{Ibrahim Gambari}
UN special representative to Burma Ibrahim Gambari will arrive in Southeast Asia next week to discuss Burma. (Irrawaddy)

 
Thai-Burma Relations
30 July 2007
Up to 80% of the 492 diarrhea patients during the past two months along the Thai-Burma border in Tak were Burmese migrant workers, according to Patjuban Hemhongsa, head of Tak public health office. Instructions for local officials to map out measures to stop the disease from spreading, particularly through water, have been issued. (Bangkok Post)
 
1 August 2007
'Myanmar' is Thailand's 19th top trading partner:
                                    2006                            2007 (Jan-March)
Total trade value         $ 3.075 billion             $ 280 million
Exports                        $ 755 million               $ 227.7 million
Imports                        $ 2.320 billion             $ 52.7 million
Major import from Burma is gas and major export to Burma is refined oil. (Bangkok Post)
 
1 August 2007
_{Thaksin Shinawatra}
Thailand's Assets Scrutiny Committee (ASC) agrees to press criminal charges against former PM Thaksin Shinawatra for abuse of his position in ordering an increase in the amount of the Export-Import Bang's soft loan to Burma, from 3-4 billion baht (then $75million-100 million). (Bangkok Post)
 
2 August 2007
The MoU on Employment Cooperation between the two neighbors in 2003 came into a complete halt in September last year. Vasant Sathorn, director of the Labor Ministry's Bureau of Illegal Migrant Workers Management, said Burma insisted the migrants must return to the verification process, brushing aside Thailand's request that it fields its officials on Thai soil to carry out the verification, similar to what Cambodia and Laos are doing. (Bangkok Post)

 
Politics/ Inside Burma
26 July 2007
The regime has pressured businessmen to donate from 100,000 kyat ($80) to 1 million kyat ($800) to the National Convention. The New Light of Myanmar says businessmen have donated cash and commodities valued at $ 42,000. (Irrawaddy)
 
27 July 2007
High profile protester Htin Kyaw and 4 other activists, who had been held since 22 April after protest against high commodity prices, released. (DVB)
 
29 July 2007
Rangoon court defers hearing of a defamation case against Weekly Eleven to 13 August. The journal's editors, in response to the lawsuit by the Cultural Ministry, had decided to present the censorship board as a witness to defend them. (Mizzima)
 
2 August 2007
Lawyer Aung Thein appeals to the military to allow a public hearing for six May Day activists on trial inside Insein prison. (DVB)

 
Shans/ Shan State
27 July 2007
Shan Democratic Union issues statement supporting KIO's 19-point proposal to the National Convention. (SHAN)
 
1 August 2007
The SOAS Center of Buddhist Studies and the Shan Cultural Association UK (SCA-UK) are organizing the first ever Conference on Shan Buddhism and Culture at the University of London on 8-9 December. It will coincide with the celebration of the Shan New Year. Those who are interested can contact the Organizing Committee, Email: jk53@soas.ac.uk. (Circular)

 
Economy/ Business
29 July 2007
Myanmar Times reports Burma is concerned about the safety of imported food and medicine from China. They are cheaper but of a lower standard than the products China exports to the US and Europe, according to Burmese traders. (AP)

 
Human Rights
27 July 2007
20 villagers from Pwint Phyu township, Magwe division, say they had filed a forced labor complaint with the ILO on 30 June. The local authorities had forced them to work on a five-acre castor crop owned by the military for 5 days or pay 1,200 kyat ($0.9) per day. (DVB)
 
29 July 2007
More than 400 Burmese prisoners are languishing in several Bangladeshi prisons because Burmese authorities refuse to recognize them as citizens and take them back, according to jail officials. (Narinjara)
 
30 July 2007
Min Min, who was arrested in Pegu on 10 July for conducting a human rights workshop, sentenced to 34 years in prison and fined 30,000 kyat ($23) by the Prome court. (DVB)

 
Environment
28 July 2007
Some 3,500 dams in the US are unsafe. It will take $ 30 billion to bring all 79,000 dams into full safety compliance. (Time)
 
29 July 2007
The Mirror reported on 24 July fresh outbreak of bird flu in Thanbyuzayat, Mon State, 300 km south of Rangoon. Some 300 chickens in two farms were slaughtered by health officials. (AFP)
 
31 July 2007
_{Phyu Phyu Thin}
Phyu Phyu Thin, HIV activist, who was released on 3 July, says the number of people seeking help from the small HIV treatment clinic the NLD runs have risen from 30 to 60. (DVB)
 
31 July 2007
A 5.7 magnitude quake, with its epicenter just 65km away from Pyinmana, occurs at 05:12. No injuries or damage reported. (Irrawaddy)
 
31 July 2007
Over 50,000 people will become homeless if the junta forges ahead with its construction of a series of dams on the Irrawaddy confluence in collaboration with China, say Kachin activists who stage a rally in New Delhi. (Mizzima)
 
1 August 2007
Junta ban on logging of hardwood is flouted by its own army personnel in Chin State. Soldiers of LIB 268 in Falam are felling trees and selling them to compensate for insufficient rations provided by the Army. (Khonumthung)
 
3 August 2007
Flooding in Mandalay division is forcing residents from their homes near the swollen Irrawaddy. Worst hit are Amarapura and Thabeikkyin townships as well as areas in the neighboring Sagaing division. (Irrawaddy)
 
4 August 2007
Human rights abuses have rendered Burma's health system incapable of responding to infectious diseases and other health risks. (The Lancet)

 
Drugs

War
18-25 July 2007
12-wheeled Nissan trucks tightly wrapped in plastic covers enter the Northern Region Command HQ in Myitkyina from China. The Kachin Independence Army (KIA) has also started fresh recruitment in its controlled areas in response to the regional commander's rejection of its demand for an autonomous status. (Kachin News Group)
 
30 July 2007
Private Maung Maung, 22, of LIB 296, who recently fled to Maehongson from Mae Aw, Homong sub-township, says he was forcibly recruited to become a soldier in 2001, at the age of 15. (Kantarawaddy Times)
 
30 July 2007
_{Alberto Romulo}
Asean will be setting up a nuclear watchdog to ensure that plants in the region are not used to produce weapons or aid rogue groups, says Philippine FM Alberto Romulo. The Asean's Southeast Asia Nuclear Free Zone treaty came into force in 1997. (Irrawaddy)
 
2 August 2007
The Burma Army is not in love with China in terms of arms and ammunitions manufactured in China. It is because "We have no way of getting American arms", according to a colonel working for Gen Khin Nyunt. (Mizzima)

 
Obituary
1 August 2007
Dr Hla Pe, 93, leading Burmese literati scholar, dies at his home in Moulmein. (Irrawaddy)
 
2 August 2007
Daw Khin Saw, 101, wife of U Ba Win and Aung San Suu Kyi's aunt-in-law, dies of old age. Ba Win was assassinated together with brother Aung San in 1947. (DPA)