There were hardly any nominations of “Made in Asia†movies at the 82nd Academy Awards which were presented in Hollywood (USA) on Sunday. From 4 films that were nominated with Asia-focused topics, only a single film, The Cove could win the Oscar. The other three movies were- “Kaviâ€, “Burma VJ†and “China’s Unnatural Disaster: The [...]
Posts Tagged ‘Burma’
US to begin its engagement with Myanmar next week: Campbell
October 23rd, 2009 |
No Comments
The United States will begin its engagement with Myanmar after a decade-long freeze next week by sending a top diplomat to Yangon, but said it will actively consult India along with China on its new strategy.
Assistant Secretary of State for East Asia and Pacific Affairs Kurt Campbell will head to Myanmar as Washington warns that [...]
US to engage in directs talks with Burma’s reluctant Military junta
September 30th, 2009 |
No Comments
In a bid to build better relations with Burma, the Obama administration has vowed to directly engage in with the southeast Asian country’s military regime, and increase its humanitarian aid.
The Washington Post quoted Assistant Secretary of State Kurt Campbell as saying that the United States will leave in place existing U.S. sanctions on Burma [...]
Burma deports Suu Kyi US ‘guest’
August 16th, 2009 |
No Comments
The American man jailed for visiting Burma’s detained pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi is expected to be deported from the country shortly.
Visiting US Senator Jim Webb said after meeting Burma’s (Myanmar’s) military ruler Than Shwe on Saturday that he would leave with John Yettaw on Sunday.
Senator Webb also met pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi.
Mr Yettaw was jailed for seven years over the visit and Ms Suu Kyi’s house arrest was extended by 18 months.
The US state department has welcomed Mr Yettaw’s imminent release.
"It is my hope that we can take advantage of these gestures as a way to begin laying a foundation of goodwill and confidence-building in the future"
Senator Jim Webb
Burmese junta’s tactical manoeuvre Profile: Aung San Suu Kyi intruderMr Yettaw’s wife, Betty, told the Associated Press that she had not received any official notice that he would be returning home.
"If it’s true, of course I’m extremely happy, and we’re ecstatic," she said by telephone from their home in Camdenton, central Missouri.
However, Burmese dissidents say Senator Webb’s trip could be seen as an endorsement of the poor treatment received by Ms Suu Kyi and more than 2,000 other political prisoners.
Senator Webb’s office said Mr Yettaw would be officially deported on Sunday morning and that the senator would bring him out of the country on a military aircraft that was returning to Bangkok.
After his arrest, Mr Yettaw, said he had been sent by God to deliver a warning to Ms Suu Kyi that she would be assassinated.
Senator Webb, who also asked for the release of Ms Suu Kyi, was the most senior US official to meet the Burmese leader, his office said.
"I am grateful to the Myanmar government for honouring these requests," he said in a statement announcing Mr Yettaw’s release.
"It is my hope that we can take advantage of these gestures as a way to begin laying a foundation of goodwill and confidence-building in the future," Senator Webb added.
‘Sacrifices’
Earlier, Ms Suu Kyi was taken to a state guesthouse near her home to meet Senator Webb, where the two held talks lasting about 40 minutes.
The Democratic senator described the meeting as "an opportunity for me to convey my deep respect to Aung San Suu Kyi for the sacrifices she has made on behalf of democracy around the world".
Ms Suu Kyi went on trial in May after Mr Yettaw swam to her lakeside home with homemade flippers, evading guards.
She was charged with breaking the terms of her house arrest by sheltering Mr Yettaw and, after many delays, was sentenced on Tuesday to three years in prison.
Although the sentence was commuted to 18 months’ house arrest by Than Shwe, it ensures the opposition leader cannot take part in planned elections next year.
Ms Suu Kyi, 64, has spent 14 of the past 20 years under house arrest.
Senator Webb, who chairs the Senate Foreign Relations subcommittee on East Asia and Pacific affairs, has previously called for more "constructive" US engagement with Burma.
He said in July that the trial of Ms Suu Kyi would make this difficult.
The UN Security Council expressed "serious concern" following Ms Suu Kyi’s conviction earlier this week and urged the release of all political prisoners, while the EU extended sanctions against Burma.
But Burma’s neighbour China said the world should respect its laws.
Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva, who is the current chairman of the Association of South East Asian Nations (Asean) told the BBC that imposing sanctions could lead to problems and that it was important to take a balanced approach to dealing with Burma.
This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.
Thai elephant wounded by landmine gets artificial leg
August 16th, 2009 |
No Comments
A 48-year-old Thai elephant is due to be fitted with an permanent artificial leg, 10 years after losing a limb from treading on a land mine.
Motola was measured up at an elephant hospital on Saturday before experts made the leg.
The elephant has been walking with the help of a temporary artificial leg made of canvas, the Associated Press news agency reports.
A much younger elephant at the same hospital already has a false leg.
Outgrown
Motola was injured in 1999 while working at a logging camp along the Thai-Burmese border. Her front left foot was so badly damaged it had to be amputated.
Her permanent leg is being made by the Prostheses Foundation.
Motola and a three-year-old elephant, Mosha, have both been cared for by an elephant hospital run by the Friends of the Asian Elephant (FAE).
Mosha, who is three, lost part of her right front leg as a seven-month-old. Because Mosha is growing fast, she has already outgrown three of her prosthetic limbs.
Thailand’s borders with Burma and Cambodia are littered with unexploded landmines, the result of decades of conflict.
The FAE says many elephants, often domesticated ones used in the logging trade, are injured by mines every year as they work in remote forests close to the borders.
This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.
US senator ‘meets Burmese leader’
August 15th, 2009 |
No Comments
US Senator Jim Webb has arrived in Burma on a visit during which he is to meet military ruler Than Shwe.
He would be the most senior US official to meet Than Shwe, the Democratic senator’s office said in a statement.
His visit comes days after pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi was given 18 more months of house arrest.
Adding to international condemnation, the UN Security Council has expressed its "serious concern" and the EU extended its sanctions against Burma.
Mr Webb, who is close to US President Barack Obama, is due to meet Than Shwe on Saturday, a Burmese official said.
He is not expected to meet Ms Suu Kyi or American John Yettaw, whose uninvited visit to her home led to the trial which ended on Tuesday.
Mr Webb chairs the Senate Foreign Relations subcommittee on East Asia and Pacific affairs.
‘Watered-down’ statement
Ms Suu Kyi was put on trial in May after Mr Yettaw swam to her lakeside home, evading guards. She was charged with breaking the terms of her house arrest by sheltering Mr Yettaw and after many delays, was sentenced on Tuesday to three years in prison.
Although the sentence was commuted to 18 months house arrest by Than Shwe, it ensures the opposition leader cannot take in planned elections next year.
Ms Suu Kyi, 64, has spent 14 of the past 20 years under house arrest.
A UN Security Council statement on Thursday expressed "serious concern" at the sentence and urged the release of all political prisoners.
Correspondents said the statement was watered down from an original US draft, which "condemned" the verdict and demanded that Burma’s military junta free Ms Suu Kyi.
The main reason for the weaker language was China – a powerful permanent member of the council, with close ties to Burma’s rulers, says the BBC’s Tom Lane at the UN.
Together with Russia it has blocked strongly-worded condemnations in the past, our correspondent adds.
The US, Britain and France were among countries to condemn the verdict, but Burma’s neighbour China said the world should respect Burma’s laws.
The EU said judges involved in Ms Suu Kyi’s sentencing would now join military and government figures in having their overseas assets frozen and travel to the EU banned.
Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva, who is the current chairman of the Association of South East Asian Nations (Asean) told the BBC that imposing sanctions could lead to problems and that it was important to take a balanced approach to dealing with Burma.
This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.
Forgotten heroes
August 14th, 2009 |
No Comments
British documentary makers Robin Forestier-Walker and Oliver Owen have been tracing Nigerians who fought against the Japanese in Burma during World War II.
On VJ Day, the anniversary of victory over Japan, they tell the veterans’ story.
Mohammed was just 16 when he was pressed into British military service in northern Nigeria against his will.
Now, almost 70 years on, the old war veteran claims he hid his true identity from the recruiting officer.
It was as Private African Banana that he went on to travel 6,300 miles (10,100km) to the jungles of Burma in the Royal West African Frontier Force.
And he has been known as African Banana ever since.
The contribution of West Africans was played down in official versions of the Allied war in Asia, and until now, few have had an opportunity to tell their tale.
In fact, only two in 10 of the soldiers who fought in Burma were white.
The role of Indians and Gurkhas is known. But when Allied commander General William Slim thanked his 14th army at the end of the campaign, he did not even mention the Africans.
Jungle warfare
Nigerians made up more than half of the total force of 90,000 West African soldiers deployed to South East Asia after 1943 as part of the British Army’s 81st and 82nd (West Africa) Divisions.
Although the Burma campaign ended 64 years ago, many remain bitter that their contribution was never adequately recognised.
"Initially I saw the white man as someone better than me. But after the war, I considered him an equal"
Former infantryman Dauda Kafanchan
They were central to the push to clear Japanese forces out of the jungle and mountain ranges of Burma, from where they threatened British India.
This was achieved through a gruelling campaign of jungle marches, battles and ambushes, in which supplies were delivered entirely by air.
Usman Katsina remembers it well.
"Everything that was meant to be used – your food, your clothes, everything – was given to you and you were required to carry it, on your head and back. Some even died from exhaustion, from travelling long distances, with a heavy load," he says.
Some of those who earned the coveted Burma Star had already fought against Mussolini’s forces in East Africa.
West Africans also joined special Chindit units under the command of General Orde Wingate.
The Chindits fought deep inside Japanese-held territory to disrupt lines of communication.
Their enemy was an extremely dangerous opponent. Japanese soldiers were trained well in the art of jungle warfare, where the first rule was concealment.
It was a skill the Nigerian troops had to learn too.
"The Japanese in the jungle were just like snakes – they hid before you could see them, it was very hard," recalls 97-year-old Hassan Sokoto.
‘Lack of recognition’
Umaru Yola fought in the 4th Battalion, Nigeria Regiment. He described how he was hit in the head with a piece of shrapnel that left him with a hole in his skull.
"I didn’t die, so God must have decided to give me a long life," he says.
African recruits served as drivers, artillerymen, engineers, medics and clerks, as well as infantrymen and carriers.
Officer positions were reserved for white expatriates from Britain and other parts of the empire, with only one notable exception: Lieutenant Seth Anthony from the Gold Coast was the British Army’s first African officer.
Despite the hierarchy, the war in Burma played some part in breaking down the race barriers of the era.
"Initially I saw the white man as someone better than me. But after the war, I considered him an equal," recalls former infantryman Dauda Kafanchan.
In post-war Nigeria, the colonial government gave some veterans land to begin new lives as farmers. The project was also a scheme to reduce their potential impact as a new political force.
"We wanted work. But what could we do We were under colonial rule and we couldn’t change anything," said veteran Dangombe, who found himself without prospects at the war’s end.
Nigerian soldiers who chose to continue their military careers went on to form the core of independent Nigeria’s national army, which retains the 81st and 82nd Divisions to this day.
Private Banana later served as a peacekeeper in the Congo and Chad. And he returned to the frontline alongside many of his former comrades in Nigeria’s bloody 1967-1970 civil war.
But many of his former comrades feel the British abandoned their responsibilities to their former servicemen.
Although they were paid off for their service, some claim they were promised allowances which were never paid, despite their repeated efforts over the years.
And it is not only the money – some veterans are still bitter over what they see as a lack of recognition.
"We were supposed to get Long Service and British Empire Medals" says Dangombe.
"But up until now – nothing."
This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.
India and Asean sign trade deal
August 13th, 2009 |
No Comments
India and the 10-country South East Asian bloc Asean have signed a free trade agreement after more than six years of talks.
Tariffs on electronics, chemicals, machinery and textiles will be reduced and eventually eliminated.
These products make up 80% of goods traded between India and Asean.
But India has been allowed to continue protecting its farm sector, and has excluded 489 products, including rubber, from the trade deal.
Computer software and information technology are also exempt.
A smaller list of products, described as "highly sensitive", such as palm oil and coffee, will see tariffs reduced over about 10 years, but only modestly.
‘Win-win’
The deal was signed in Bangkok at a meeting of economic ministers of the Association of South East Asian Nations – made up of Brunei, Burma, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.
Asean is India’s fourth-largest trading partner. The value of trade between the two was $47bn (£28bn) in 2008.
Secretary-general of the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry, Amit Mitra, said the agreement, which comes into effect form January next year, was "a win-win for both sides".
"Our minds have met. Of course, a few will lose, but many more will gain."
This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.
Asian regrets at Suu Kyi verdict
August 12th, 2009 |
No Comments
A key group of Burma’s South East Asian neighbours has issued a rare statement condemning the conviction of Burma’s pro-democracy leader, Aung San Suu Kyi.
She was found guilty on Tuesday of breaking the terms of her house arrest.
In the past the Asean group has been criticised for not taking a tougher stance on Burma’s rights record.
The US, the EU, Britain and France are among those who have condemned the verdict, but neighbour China said the world should respect Burma’s laws.
Beijing’s statement has led many to believe that China will not back any UN action proposed against Burma, says the BBC’s Karishma Vaswani, reporting from the Thai capital, Bangkok.
Mrs Suu Kyi’s lawyers have told the BBC’s Burmese Service they plan to appeal against the verdict.
Trading partners
Thailand, the chair of the Association of South East Asian Nations (Asean), said it had learned with deep disappointment that Mrs Suu Kyi was sentenced to 18 months of house arrest with limited freedom.
But analysts say it is unlikely that Burma’s leaders will pay much attention to Asean’s statement.
"Keeping Aung San Suu Kyi under arrest… does not serve the proclaimed national interest"
Ton van Lierop
EU spokesman
They are believed to be far more concerned about the opinions of their big neighbours – specifically leading trading partners China and India, says our correspondent.
Both countries have been accused by critics of propping up Burma’s military government, especially in recent years, as growing economic sanctions have strangled Burma’s trade relationship with the West.
After Tuesday’s verdict the UN called for the immediate release of the 64-year-old pro-democracy leader – who has spent 14 of the past 20 years under house arrest.
Critics of Burma’s military regime say the verdict is designed to prevent Ms Suu Kyi from taking part in elections scheduled for 2010.
Ibrahim Gambari, the UN’s special envoy to Burma, told the BBC that free and fair elections could not take place without her.
"[Aung San Suu Kyi] is absolutely indispensable to the resumption of a political process that can lead to national reconciliation," in Burma, Mr Gambari told the BBC.
Hard labour
The UN Security Council adjourned an emergency session without agreeing a response to the sentencing, and will resume deliberations later on Wednesday.
Britain’s ambassador to the UN, John Sawers, who is head of the Security Council this month, said some countries, including China and Russia, had asked for more time to consider a draft statement condemning the verdict.
A statement from the office of Nicolas Sarkozy said the French president was calling on the European Union to impose new sanctions on Burma.
Ms Suu Kyi was on trial for allowing a US national, John Yettaw, into her lakeside home after he swam there uninvited.
Mr Yettaw was jailed for seven years, including four years of hard labour.
Mrs Suu Kyi’s previous period of house arrest expired on 27 May.
This new term will mean she is still in detention during the polls, which are expected to take place next May.
Her party, the National League for Democracy, won the last elections in 1990 but was never allowed to take power.
Are you in Burma What’s your reaction to the verdict Send us your views using the form below. You can also send a comment to our debate
This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.
Burma’s Aung San Suu Kyi ‘guilty’
August 11th, 2009 |
No Comments
Burmese pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi has been sentenced to an additional 18 months house arrest by a court in Rangoon.
Ms Suu Kyi, a Nobel peace laureate, was convicted of violating state security laws by allowing a US national into her lakeside home after he swam there.
She was jailed for three years with hard labour, but this was commuted to house arrest, an official said.
American John Yettaw was jailed for seven years, four with hard labour.
Ms Suu Kyi, who has spent nearly 14 of the past 20 years in detention, had denied the charge but said she expected to be convicted.
Journalists had unexpectedly been allowed to enter the courtroom in Rangoon’s Insein prison shortly before the sentence was announced.
Following the reading of Ms Suu Kyi’s sentence there was a five-minute recess before the country’s home minister entered the courtroom and read out a special order from Burma’s military ruler Than Shwe.
The order said he was commuting the sentence and that it could be served under house arrest.
The trial has brought international condemnation, with critics accusing Burma’s military government of trying to keep Ms Suu Kyi out of elections next year.
Mr Yettaw, 54, swam to Ms Suu Kyi’s lakeside house in Rangoon and stayed there for two nights in May.
He is believed to have epilepsy, diabetes and post-traumatic stress disorder and has been treated at a Rangoon hospital.
Reports say he was discharged from hospital on Monday night after a week of treatment for epileptic seizures.
Are you in Burma What’s your reaction to the verdict Send us your views.
This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.
India not to reopen key WWII road
August 11th, 2009 |
No Comments
By Subir Bhaumik
BBC News, Calcutta
India has abandoned plans to reopen a World War Two road that could connect its remote north-eastern states to China’s Yunnan province through Burma.
Lawmakers from India’s Assam state have been informed of the Indian decision by its ministry for the development of the north-eastern region.
This comes days after the 13th round of talks between India and China to resolve their border dispute.
The talks failed to break the impasse and both sides agreed to keep talking.
The 1,079-mile-long Stillwell Road was built by American general Joe "Vinegar" Stillwell to supply Kuomintang forces in the war against Japan.
The road begins from Ledo in Assam and ends in China’s Yunnan after traversing through Burma’s Kachin state province.
Assam’s Power Minister Pradyut Bordoloi, who represents a constituency around Ledo in the Assam state assembly, has been a strong advocate of reopening the road.
‘Good for trade’
"This road could easily handle a substantial part of India’s growing bilateral trade with China because of cost and time benefits," Mr Bordoloi, who is from India’s ruling Congress party, said.
"Both sides would save much in transport costs in exporting and importing goods meant for India’s eastern and north-eastern region and China’s remote southwest."
The road, built at the cost of $137m in 1944, handled up to 65,000 tonnes of cargo during World War Two.
Many war historians say this road kept Kuomintang in the war.
"This road will be capable of handling between 15% and 20% of the Sino-Indian bilateral trade," says Nazeeb Arif, a former secretary-general of the Indian Chamber of Commerce who hails from Assam.
Mr Arif says he has done an extensive survey on the potential of the Stillwell Road.
"If this road was opened, it would have encouraged Indian industry to invest in production hubs in our under-developed north-eastern states to make goods meant for export to China. Our economies would have thrived," Mr Arif said.
Nagaland’s Chief Minister Neiphue Rio echoed a similar sentiment.
"That is what Delhi does not very often understand. Border trade can be very good for states like ours," he said.
India reopened the 15,000-foot-high Nathu La pass in the Himalayan state of Sikkim for border trade with China in July 2006.
But trade has been poor because the pass is under snow for a few months during the winter and cannot take heavy container traffic.
Stillwell Road does not suffer freezing because its passes are much lower than Nathu La.
Burma, however, has not been very keen on reopening the road because it passes through the Kachin state, which its army has barely controlled since Independence.
Large parts of the Kachin state were controlled by the separatist Kachin Independence Army (KIA) since the 1960s.
Though the KIA has been maintaining a ceasefire with the Burmese army since 1994, it continues to control border trade in gems, timber and other precious stones like jade.
This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.
Strong quakes hit Japan and India
August 11th, 2009 |
No Comments
A strong earthquake has struck Tokyo and central Japan, halting train services, closing motorways and causing a nuclear power station to shut down.
At least 43 people were injured by the magnitude 6.4 quake, many of them by falling objects, officials said. No deaths have been reported.
Separately, there was another powerful earthquake off India’s Andaman Islands in the Indian Ocean.
Both earthquakes triggered tsunami alerts, which were later cancelled.
‘Huge tremble’
In Japan, the magnitude 6.4 quake shook buildings, threw objects from shelves and jolted people from their sleep in Tokyo area at 0507 (2007 GMT Monday).
The quake was centred in the Pacific Ocean, about 170km (105 miles) south-west of Tokyo, the US Geological Survey reported.
Of those injured, at least three people are thought to be in a serious condition.
"It was a huge tremble, like nothing I had experienced before," said Tadao Negami, a 69-year-old resident of Mishima city in Shizuoka.
"I couldn’t stay seated on a chair. My daughter and my grandchildren were scared and surprised and they rushed downstairs," AFP news agency quoted him as saying.
A large landslide triggered by the quake damaged a highway at Makinohara, Shizuoka, causing long traffic jams, television footage showed.
The Hamaoka nuclear plant in Shizuoka immediately shut down two reactors after the quake, and the Shinkansen bullet train service was briefly suspended.
‘Big one’ expected
While officials said there was no risk of a tsunami in Japan, another earthquake in India’s Andaman Islands, prompted tsunami warnings there.
The US Geological Survey said the quake – unrelated to Japan’s – with a 7.6 magnitude hit the Indian Ocean about 257km (160 miles) north of Port Blair in the Andaman Islands.
A tsunami watch called for India, Burma, Indonesia, Thailand and Bangladesh was later lifted without any tsunami being recorded.
An earlier earthquake of magnitude 6.9 hit Japan on Sunday, but caused no damage or casualties.
Japan is one of the world’s most earthquake-prone countries, and experts believe Tokyo has a 90% chance of being hit by a major quake over the next 50 years.
This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.
The junta’s choice
July 31st, 2009 |
No Comments
By Kate McGeown
BBC News
Burma’s Senior General Than Shwe faces a dilemma.
He desperately wants to keep his most influential opponent away from the Burmese public, yet he fears the uproar that will ensue if he keeps her locked up.
Than Shwe and his ruling generals have already procrastinated over Aung San Suu Kyi’s latest trial. Most court hearings in Burma last a few days at most, but this one has been going on for more than two months.
Now they’ve stalled again, postponing the verdict until 11 August.
Unlike the other 2,000 political prisoners – whom the Burmese military seem to keep in jail without much thought for public opinion – it is evident that Burma’s officials do not know what to do with this demure 64-year-old woman.
Revered and respected
Aung San Suu Kyi is not an ordinary prisoner. As the daughter of Burma’s independence hero General Aung San, she was always going to command people’s respect.
But as the rightful winner of the country’s last democratic elections in 1990 – which the military refused to recognise – she gained credibility in her own right.
By imprisoning her for so long, the junta has unwittingly given her even more symbolic significance in the eyes of Burmese people.
"An aura has built up around her," said Maung Zarni, a research fellow at the London School of Economics. "The public view her as the conscience of Burmese society."
It is especially important for the military generals that Aung San Suu Kyi is out of the way ahead of the next elections, which they plan to hold in early 2010.
The polls are widely seen as an attempt to legitimise the regime by increasing its democratic credentials.
But in order for this to work to its favour, the generals need to make sure their allies win.
In the 1990 elections, the military miscalculated in a big way – they were trounced by Ms Suu Kyi’s party, the National League for Democracy. This time they don’t want to take any chances.
When an eccentric American swam to Ms Suu Kyi’s lakeside house in his homemade flippers in May, he gave the generals the excuse they were looking for.
By accusing her of breaking the terms of her house arrest because she let her uninvited well-wisher stay the night, they finally had a reason to extend her detention and keep her safely locked away throughout the election process.
Risky strategy
But even if the junta find some tenuous legal reason to jail Ms Suu Kyi, or extend the terms of her house arrest, they know they will stoke intense public outrage.
"The public view her as the conscience of Burmese society."
Maung Zarni, Research fellow on Burma, London School of Economics
Keeping behind bars a woman who is not only a Nobel Peace Prize laureate but also the world’s most famous political detainee is a high-risk strategy.
Burmese people will be angry and upset if she is found guilty, but according to Mung Pi, who runs a blog site for Burmese exiles, the government knows there is not much that people inside the country can actually do to change things.
"A guilty verdict probably won’t lead to large street protests, because people are still suffering from 2007," he said.
In September 2007 large-scale demonstrations led by monks – the most revered sector of society – were brutally quashed by the military, and the opposition movement is still said to be recovering. The generals know that, right now, their opponents do not have the strength to fight back.
"The opposition movement has the moral backing of the people, but it’s whoever controls the streets, not the moral high ground, who matters," said Maung Zarni.
Coping with the indignation of the international community, though, is a different matter.
On the surface, it seems that the Burmese generals are completely intransigent when it comes to the demands of the rest of the world.
They have ignored recent incentives from US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and refused to let UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon meet Aung San Suu Kyi on a recent visit.
They also remain resolutely unswayed by the constant pleas from celebrities and protest marches.
But there are times when the junta does listen to the outside world.
It belatedly reacted to criticism of its handling of the devastating cyclone last year, letting in foreign aid after initially saying it could manage alone.
And if the military really was oblivious to international reaction, it would surely not have bothered to plan elections – no matter how flawed those elections might be.
Chinese influence
The lengthy delays in Aung San Suu Kyi’s trial are another indication that the recalcitrant generals can sometimes be swayed by foreign influence.
"The regime wants to take its time because of the mounting pressure it’s under," a diplomat in Rangoon told reporters.
"The regime wants to take its time because of the mounting pressure it’s under"
Western diplomat in Rangoon
It is still doubtful the military will take much notice of the West, though. The long years of EU and US sanctions mean that Burma has been thrown into the arms of China and Russia, as well as neighbouring Asian nations.
"When push comes to shove, they can afford to just ignore… what the West thinks. They’re backed by China," said Justin Wintel, the author of a book on Aung San Suu Kyi.
And as long as they can rely on China and Russia to veto any major action by the UN Security Council, and their neighbours at the Asean regional forum to do little more than voice occasional disapproval, the generals probably feel there will be no serious ramifications to keeping Aung San Suu Kyi behind bars.
Which is ultimately why most analysts believe that Ms Suu Kyi will be found guilty; the negatives of having her free outweigh the positives.
But even if he does send her to jail, Than Shwe already knows that she is likely to remain his most potent opponent.
She may be out of sight, but someone as iconic as Aung San Suu Kyi will never be out of Burmese minds. </p
This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.
Verdict delayed in Suu Kyi trial
July 31st, 2009 |
No Comments
Burma’s military rulers have warned supporters of jailed pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi not to protest when her trial verdict is announced.
A verdict is expected on Friday in her trial for breaching the terms of her house arrest by allowing an uninvited US man stay in her home in Rangoon.
State media cautioned against protests, saying "we have to ward off subversive elements and disruptions".
Despite international calls for her release, a guilty verdict is expected.
The official New Light of Myanmar newspaper said: "Look out if some arouse the people to take to the streets to come to power. In reality they are anti-democracy elements, not pro-democracy activists."
‘Vision warning’
Ms Suu Kyi faces five years in jail if she is convicted.
She is accused of allowing American well-wisher John Yettaw to stay in her lakeside home after he swam there, evading her guards.
He has said he swam to her home to warn her he had a vision that she would be assassinated.
Lawyers for Ms Suu Kyi have not disputed the events, but say she had no control over the situation and that the guards around her home should have kept Mr Yettaw away.
Timeline: Aung San Suu Kyi trial Profile: Aung San Suu Kyi
Her lawyers have also argued that the law she has been charged under is part of a constitution abolished 25 years ago.
The trial had initially been expected to last a few days, but has now dragged on for more than two months. Defence lawyers gave their final statements on Tuesday, in response to the prosecution’s closing arguments the day before.
Analysts say the Burmese junta may use this trial to make sure the popular pro-democracy leader is still in detention during elections planned for early next year.
Her lawyer, Nyan Win, said Ms Suu Kyi was "preparing for the worst", stockpiling books and medicines.
Ms Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy won elections in 1988 but was never allowed to take power.
The 64-year-old has spent nearly 14 of the last 20 years in detention, much of it at her Rangoon home.
Unusually, diplomats from Japan, Singapore, Thailand and the US were allowed to attend the trial in its closing stages.
Analysts suggested that signalled belated recognition on the part of the government at the level of international anger over Ms Suu Kyi’s prosecution.
This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.
New ‘crisis satellites’ launched
July 29th, 2009 |
No Comments
By Jonathan Amos
Science reporter, BBC News
A Russian Dnepr rocket will place two British-built imaging satellites in orbit on Wednesday.
The UK-DMC2 and Deimos-1 spacecraft will join four platforms already in the sky that together form the Disaster Monitoring Constellation.
The network obtains rapid pictures of areas struck by natural calamities – such as floods, earthquakes and fire.
The imagery is used by governments and aid agencies to co-ordinate relief efforts on the ground.
"After a major disaster, the first thing you need to do is supply the relief workers with an up-to-date map," explained Philip Davies, from manufacturers Surrey Satellite Technology Limited (SSTL).
"If there’s been a big flood, there will be landslides, roads will have been washed away and bridges will be down. So you need a new map that shows you how to get around the area; and it’s the satellite imagery that helps you do that."
The launch from the Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan is scheduled for 1846 GMT.
The two satellites will ride into orbit on a converted Soviet-era SS-18 intercontinental ballistic missile.
UK-DMC2, as the name suggests, is Britain’s second contribution to the constellation. Deimos-1 is owned by a Spanish imaging company.
The pair joins orbital assets that belong to Algeria, China and Nigeria (a Turkish satellite is no longer operational after finishing its mission).
The spacecraft picture the Earth at resolutions between 4m and 32m, across an ultra-wide 600km-plus swath.
When they fly over their home territories, the satellites acquire a range of data for domestic use – everything from urban planning to monitoring locust swarms.
THE DMC SATELLITES- AlSat-1 (Algeria, 2002)
- NigeriaSat-1 (Nigeria, 2003)
- UK-DMC (UK, 2003)
- Beijing-1 (China, 2005)
- BilSat-1 (Turkey, 2006 – not op.)
- Deimos-1 (Spain, 2009)
- UK-DMC2 (UK, 2009)
But when the platforms fly across the rest of the globe, they gather imagery which is pooled and sold on to commercial users.
Every so often, however, a major disaster will strike some part of the globe and the DMC constellation will be tasked with gathering emergency pictures as fast as possible.
Recent deployments have included the Australian bushfires in February this year, and after the major cyclone that hit Burma in May 2008.
"The biggest use of the DMC was after the Asian tsunami is 2004," said Mr Davies.
"We used the fact that it’s a constellation and can cover very wide swaths to image the entire Indian Ocean coastline.
"Other satellites may have been able to deploy high resolutions at particular locations, but we were the only system that could cover the entire coastline at a reasonable resolution."
The UK-DMC2 platform carries some improvements over the previous DMC satellites, including an enhanced camera sensor to deliver better ground resolution, and X-band transmitters that will enable the spacecraft to download data 10 times as fast as its orbital cousins.
The 96kg, 60cm cube is also carrying a student experiment called Poise, which was developed by pupils at Shrewsbury School, in Shropshire.
The experiment will measure variations in the ionosphere – the outermost layer of the atmosphere. These variations can affect the accuracy and safety of satellite navigation (sat-nav) systems.
SSTL is famous for producing the very first spacecraft for Europe’s forthcoming sat-nav system, Galileo.
Jonathan.Amos-INTERNET@bbc.co.uk
This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.
Suu Kyi verdict ‘set for Friday’
July 28th, 2009 |
No Comments
The court presiding over the trial of Burma’s detained opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi will deliver its verdict on Friday, an official has told reporters.
Ms Suu Kyi faces five years in jail if she is convicted of violating the terms of her house arrest by letting a US man stay in her home uninvited.
The trial had initially been expected to last a few days, but has now dragged on for more than two months.
Despite widespread calls for her release, a guilty verdict is expected.
Locked away
Before the start of Tuesday’s session, defence lawyer Nyan Win said he held out hope for a verdict in Ms Suu Kyi’s favour.
"We are confident that we will win the case if things go according to the law, he told reporters.
But analysts say the Burmese junta may use this trial to make sure the pro-democracy leader is still in detention during elections planned by the military government for early next year.
Ms Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy won the last elections in 1988 but was never allowed to take power.
The 64-year-old has spent nearly 14 of the last 20 years in detention, much of it at her Rangoon home.
On Monday international human rights group Amnesty International named her as an "Ambassador of Conscience" – its highest honour – for her efforts to promote democracy. </p
This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.
Suu Kyi awarded Amnesty’s highest honor
July 28th, 2009 |
No Comments
YANGON, Myanmar (AP) — Myanmar’s democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi has won Amnesty International’s highest award for her defense of human rights, underscoring international support for the Nobel laureate whose trial is ending Tuesday.
She is widely expected to be convicted of violating the terms of her house arrest and faces a possible five years [...]
Human Rights Watch: Burma’s Amnesty Claim Sure To Be Yet Another Bluff
July 27th, 2009 |
No Comments
It’s time now for Burma’s allies and trade partners, including Security Council members China and Russia, to act and call Ambassador Than Shwe’s political prisoner amnesty bluff.
Aung San Suu Kyi ‘preparing for worst’
July 27th, 2009 |
No Comments
• Closing arguments due in trial of Burma’s pro-democracy leader
• Verdict not expected for at least a fortnight
The trial of Burma’s pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi entered its final phase today, with both sides expected to present closing arguments before a verdict is delivered in two to three weeks.
Aung San Suu Kyi is charged with breaking the terms of her house arrest by allowing an American man spend two nights at her home in early May. She faces up to five years in prison if found guilty.
John Yettaw, a Vietnam veteran who was described by his wife as eccentric, said he swam across a lake to her home because he wanted to warn her that she was about to be assassinated by “terrorists.”
Aung San Suu Kyi, who has been in detention for 14 of the past 20 years, pleaded with Yettaw to leave and relented only after he claimed to be too ill to swim back.
Reports said Yettaw’s lawyer was due to defend his client today against a trespassing charge, which carries a sentence of up to three months in prison.
Khin Maung Oo, said at the weekend he would attempt to win Yettaw, 53, a lenient sentence. “I will try my best to defend my client. I will argue that he did not violate the restriction order and I will try my utmost to get him lesser punishment,” he said.
Although the prosecution was expected to wind up its case against the Nobel prize winner today, her lawyer said a verdict was not imminent. “I expect all the arguments will be made today but I think the verdict might take as long as two or three weeks,” Nyan Win told Reuters.
Nyan Win said his client was “preparing for the worst” at the end of a trial that the junta’s critics have denounced as an excuse to keep Suu Kyi incarcerated during national elections next year.
Statements were expected from Aung San Suu Kyi’s longtime companions, Khin Khin Win and her daughter Win Ma Ma. The women, members of the National League for Democracy (NLD), also face up to five years in prison.
The NLD won a landslide victory in elections in 1990, but the ruling generals refused to recognise the result.
The junta has so far resisted international calls for Aung San Suu Kyi’s immediate release. Last week, the state-controlled media accused the US secretary of state, Hillary Clinton, of “interference” after she said a satisfactory conclusion to the trial could lead to better economic ties with Washington.
In demanding her release, western critics of the regime were showing “reckless disregard for the law”, the New Light of Myanmar newspaper said. “The court will hand down a reasonable term to her if she is found guilty, and it will release her if she is found not guilty,” it added.
Most of the trial has been conducted behind closed doors since it began on 18 May.
Diplomats have been allowed to witness four hearings, with observers from the US, Singapore, Australia, Japan, the Philippines and Malaysia reportedly granted access to this morning’s proceedings.
A diplomatic source said Aung San Suu Kyi, who is being held at Insein prison in the capital, Rangoon, had appeared “fit, healthy and in sparkling form” when she appeared in court last Friday.
The defence does not deny that Yettaw visited her compound, but argues that she cannot be charged under laws that were abolished in 1988. It blames her bodyguards for failing to apprehend Yettaw, who remained undetected inside the compound for several hours.
guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2009 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds