News & Articles on Burma, Monday, 20 July 2009
Jul 20th, 2009
ASEAN renews pressure on N. Korea, Myanmar
MYANMAR: Taking bets on increased poverty
SE Asia defends ‘toothless’ rights watchdog
Asean meeting kicks off in Phuket
Asean not in favour of sanctions against Myanmar
ASEAN ministers to OK human rights body
SE Asian nations face anger over new rights body
Europe, SEA share a vision for peace and security
Abhisit rejects possible Burma sanctions
China boosts Myanmar’s FDI more than five-fold in 2008-09
Mass opposition arrest on Martyrs’ Day
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ASEAN renews pressure on N. Korea, Myanmar
PHUKET, Thailand, July 20 KYODO
Foreign ministers from Southeast Asia condemned anew Monday North Korea’s nuclear tests and renewed pressure from the 10-member bloc for Pyongyang to abandon its nuclear ambitions.
The ministers of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations reminded North Korea the recent underground nuclear test and subsequent missile launches ”constitute clear violations” of the six-party agreement on North Korea’s nuclear program and U.N. Security Council resolutions against the country.
”We urged (North Korea) to fully comply with its obligations and relevant UNSC resolutions,” a joint communique released at the end of a day-long ASEAN foreign ministerial meeting in Thailand, said.
As in past statements, the ministers again urged North Korea and all the concerned parties to ”return to the six-party talks process as soon as possible,” stressing the need to ”fully implement their commitments” made in previous round of denuclearization talks.
The six countries in the process are North and South Korea, the United States, Japan, China and Russia.
”We encourage all concerned parties to actively pursue (peace and stability in the Korean Peninsula),” the communique said.
On Myanmar, the ministers urged its ruling generals to hold ”free, fair and inclusive elections next year,” saying this will ”lay down a good foundation for future social and economic development.”
And once again, the ministers urged Myanmar to free all political detainees, including Nobel Peace laureate Aung San Suu Kyi.
This year Myanmar Foreign Minister Nyan Win briefed his colleagues on the recent visit of U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki Moon to Myanmar.
During the briefing, Nyan Win told the ministers, ”Pressure from the outside and economic sanctions were hampering Myanmar’s democratization and development efforts,” the communique said.
The ministers said ASEAN remains ”constructively engaged” with Myanmar, adding the country is confronted with ”many complex challenges.”
As in past ministerial meetings, the concerns about the Korean Peninsula and Myanmar’s refusal to free political activists led by Suu Kyi have dominated the agenda.
The twin bombings in Jakarta last Friday prompted the ministers to include a paragraph that ‘’strongly condemned” the blasts and offered ASEAN’s resources ”to help bring the perpetrators, organizers, financiers and sponsors” of the terror acts to justice.
In the past, the disputed Spratly Islands in the South China Sea has caused tension among some ASEAN claimants and China, but that issue has somewhat faded since a Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea was signed in 2002.
Still, the ministers again ”encouraged” all claimant-countries to continue to exercise self-restraint and promote confidence-building measures in the area.
”We looked forward to the eventual conclusion of a Regional Code of Conduct in the (area),” the ministers said.
The ministers also reviewed the implementation of the ASEAN Charter that entered into force in December and other issues that will cement the bloc’s goal to evolve into an ASEAN community in six years or so.
They also appreciated Japan’s support in building an ASEAN community and efforts to narrow the gap between ASEAN’s rich and poor.
ASEAN, they added, should ”remain the primary driving force in our region.”
Earlier, they endorsed the terms of reference for the ASEAN human rights body — the ASEAN Intergovernmental Commission on Human Rights — to be launched in October during the 15th ASEAN summit.
Responding to criticisms the human rights body is ”toothless,” the ministers discussed a proposal to issue a political declaration at the October summit and agreed that during the five-year ”review period” the terms of reference for the body will be strengthened.
The ASEAN members are Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.
==Kyodo http://home.kyodo.co.jp/
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MYANMAR: Taking bets on increased poverty
YANGON, 20 July 2009 (IRIN) – Illegal lotteries are growing in popularity in Myanmar, fuelled by a sense of hopelessness and exacerbating the widespread economic hardship, say aid workers.
On the streets of Yangon, the former capital, the so-called “two digits” illegal lottery is so popular that development workers call it one of the most serious problems facing the children of poor families. It is especially popular among the poorest, who can least afford to lose their daily wages of US$1-$3.
Agents willing to take bets are everywhere – in cities, market towns and rural areas across Southeast Asia’s second-largest nation of 58 million. But there is no social safety net, nothing to stop a family from going under when the betting losses add up.
“They bet because they think they’ll get a big win, and then their troubles will be over,” said a Burmese community worker, who runs self-help groups for poor women living in temporary shelters around Yangon.
“When they’ve lost everything they must give up their house, take their children out of school and send them to work. Often they will end up begging.”
Economic burden
”When they’ve lost everything they must give up their house, take their children out of school and send them to work. Often they will end up begging.”
Myanmar’s citizens are no better off now than 20 years ago, and most subsist on an average annual income of less than $200 per capita, the US State Department reports.
According to a 2005 UN Development Programme (UNDP) household survey, one-third of Myanmar’s population lives below the poverty line.
Inflation is adding to the economic burden, with the price of rice, for example, up by 30 percent over the past year alone.
In an extensive survey by an international NGO, Myanmar children cited gambling as one of their biggest problems.
“Children said gambling happens everywhere, at home, at school, in the village. They also said everyone gambles: fathers, mothers, aunts, uncles, grandparents,” said a child protection expert at the NGO, who did not want to be identified because illegal gambling is a sensitive political issue.
“The children said the gambling drained the family economy, created an unhappy household and led to domestic violence.”
Paying with child labour
Children also said they could be used in negotiations over debt – parents often sell their children’s labour in return for credit.
“In Mandalay, some teashop owners told us that children who came to work in their restaurants usually came from families who had lost their assets betting on the two digits and three digits lottery,” the child protection worker told IRIN.
It is common for gambling addicts to lose their homes, or be forced to mortgage their houses to the government, burdening them with a monthly debt, aid workers say.
The two digits lottery is an illegal scheme based on the last two digits of the closing price of the Bangkok stock exchange, unpredictable numbers that appear each day on the Thai television news, beamed into Myanmar by satellite.
The higher-risk, and higher-reward, “three digits” lottery is based on numbers from Thailand’s own national lottery.
Kyaw Kyaw, 35, is a typical gambler. He lives in the rundown Yangon township of Daubon, repairing small motors and generators on the ground floor of his small brick house. He bets about a third of his daily income of some $3. Like all Myanmar’s small-time betters, he usually loses.
But he does not see it that way: “Twice a day I have hope,” he says.
Saleswomen for the betting agents come round to the house every day, collecting cash. They take a 10 percent cut and will often offer credit – pushing families dangerously into debt.
Awareness raising
The business is illegal, and anyone caught gambling or taking bets could receive a prison sentence of between three months and two years.
But gamblers say a bribe will get rid of most policemen, who will also expect a cut if someone in the neighbourhood has had a big win.
NGOs say they want to start to tackle the problem at community level, by raising awareness in education, child protection or micro-finance programmes. This would give community members an opportunity to share experiences and to recognize how gambling affects their lives.
“Only the bookmakers get rich,” said the community worker. “But if they could see what we see, how it ruins people’s lives, then I hope they would stop.”
http://www.irinnews.org/
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SE Asia defends ‘toothless’ rights watchdog
AFP
SE Asia defends ‘toothless’ rights watchdog AFP/File – High-ranking army officers from Myanmar’s military during Armed Forces Day in the administrative …
by Martin Abbugao Martin Abbugao – 2 hrs 53 mins ago
PHUKET, Thailand (AFP) – Southeast Asian nations Monday defended the region’s first human rights watchdog against criticisms that it would be powerless to tackle rogue members such as military-ruled Myanmar.
Officials meeting in the Thai resort island of Phuket ahead of the continent’s main security forum later this week are also expected to discuss the hotel bombings in Jakarta and North Korea’s nuclear programme.
But the main focus was on the new rights body which Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) foreign ministers were set to endorse later Monday, amid apparent divisions over its final form.
Rights groups condemned the proposed watchdog for lacking powers to punish violators and for only being able to insist that member nations provide an internal report on their rights situations.
Human rights have been a perennial challenge for ASEAN since it was founded as a bulwark against communism 42 years ago. Its members now include Myanmar and communist Vietnam and Laos, which have all been accused of rights abuses.
Thai Prime Minister and current ASEAN chairman Abhisit Vejjajiva said the rights body would develop “more teeth” after it was formally launched by leaders of the 10-member bloc at a summit in October.
“It’s better to make a start than to leave this hanging with no progress at all,” Abihsit told reporters, adding that the body would focus for now on “promotion and protection” of human rights.
“What we want to do is establish a body that begins with the issue of promotion, and then the next step obviously once that is put into place, is that there will be more teeth for the body in terms of protection,” he said.
However Indonesian Foreign Minister Hassan Wirajuda led a strong last-minute push to give the body further powers at a meeting on Sunday, nearly scuttling its endorsement, officials said.
Wirajuda insisted that the bloc issue a political declaration in October noting Jakarta’s concerns over the current terms of reference, Indonesian diplomat Imron Cotan said.
A senior regional diplomat said on condition of anonymity that some of Indonesia’s proposals were “not acceptable” to countries such as Myanmar.
Myanmar caused fresh headaches for ASEAN after the ruling junta put democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi on trial over an incident in which an American man swam to her lakeside house in May. She faces up to five years in jail.
The country has been the group’s so-called problem child since it joined in 1997 because of its detention of thousands of political dissidents.
Rights groups said the new body’s remit fell short of international standards and sent a letter to Thai Foreign Minister Kasit Piromya asking for a meeting.
“The human rights body is born, but it needs a lot of careful care so that it can become a mechanism with teeth and not become toothless,” Rafendi Djamin, of the regional group Solidarity for Asian People’s Advocacy, told AFP.
Kasit on Sunday admitted that there had been compromises to ensure that Myanmar signed on for the rights body, but insisted it was still an important step for the region.
ASEAN Secretary General Surin Pitsuwan said endorsing the body would be a “good beginning.”
A draft of the rights panel’s terms of reference affirms ASEAN’s underlying principle of non-interference in domestic affairs, which has been used by some members to fend off criticism about rights abuses.
The annual ASEAN foreign ministers’ meeting on Monday comes ahead of the 27-member ASEAN regional forum later this week, which groups the bloc’s members along with the United States, the EU, China, Japan and other countries.
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is due in Phuket on Wednesday for talks that are likely to include the standoff over North Korea’s nuclear programme.
The twin suicide bombings at hotels in the Indonesian capital on Friday are also set for discussion, officials said.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/
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Asean meeting kicks off in Phuket
Writer: BangkokPost.com and AFP
Published: 20/07/2009 at 03:41 PM
Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva defended the region’s first human rights watchdog against criticism that it would be powerless to tackle rogue members such as military-ruled Burma as he opened the 42nd Asean Ministerial Meeting on Monday.
He said the rights body would develop “more teeth” after it was formally launched by leaders of the 10-member bloc at a summit in Phuket in October.
Asean foreign ministers were set to endorse the new rights body later on Monday, amid apparent divisions over its final form.
Rights groups have criticised the proposed watchdog, saying it lacks the power to punish violators and can only insist that member nations provide an internal report on their rights situation.
“It’s better to make a start than to leave this hanging with no progress at all,” Mr Abihsit told reporters, adding that the body would focus for now on “promotion and protection” of human rights.
“What we want to do is establish a body that begins with the issue of promotion, and then the next step obviously once that is put into place, is that there will be more teeth for the body in terms of protection,” he said.
Indonesian Foreign Minister Hassan Wirajuda led a strong last-minute push to give the body further power at a meeting on Sunday, nearly scuttling its endorsement, officials said.
Mr Wirajuda insisted that the bloc issue a political declaration in October noting Jakarta’s concerns over the current terms of reference, Indonesian diplomat Imron Cotan said.
A senior regional diplomat said on condition of anonymity that some of Indonesia’s proposals were “not acceptable” to countries such as Burma.
Burma caused fresh headaches for Asean after the ruling junta put democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi on trial over an incident in which an American man swam to her lakeside house in May. She faces up to five years in jail.
The country has been the group’s problem child since it joined the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) in 1997 because of its detention of thousands of political dissidents.
Rights groups said the new rights body’s remit fell short of international standards, and they sent a letter to Foreign Minister Kasit Piromya asking for a meeting.
“The human rights body is born, but it needs a lot of careful care so that it can become a mechanism with teeth and not become toothless,” Rafendi Djamin, of the regional group Solidarity for Asian People’s Advocacy, said.
Mr Kasit on Sunday admitted that there had been compromises to ensure that Burma signed on for the rights body, but insisted it was still an important step for the region.
Asean secretary-general Surin Pitsuwan said endorsing the body would be a “good beginning”.
A draft of the rights panel’s terms of reference affirms Asean’s underlying principle of non-interference in domestic affairs, which has been used by some members to fend off criticism about rights abuses.
The annual Asean foreign ministers’ meeting on Monday comes ahead of the 27-member Asean regional forum later this week, which groups the bloc’s members along with the United States, the EU, China, Japan and other countries.
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is due in Phuket on Wednesday for talks that are likely to include the standoff over North Korea’s nuclear programme.
The twin suicide bombings at hotels in the Indonesian capital on Friday are also set for discussion, officials said.
During Mr Abhisit’s opening speech, he also vowed that the Asean nations will stand firm against protectionism and revive economy in the region.
“In response to the global economic and financial crisis, we agreed…to stand firm against protectionism; and to work closely with our friends in the international community, such as those in the G-20, to bring about global economic recovery,” Mr Abhisit said in his speech when opening the meeting.
“The world is now closely watching Asean, pinning on us the hope that we will be a dynamic growth pole for the global economy in this time of crisis,” he said.
Thailand is hosting the 42nd Asean Ministerial Meeting, Post Ministerial Conferences and 16th Asean Regional Forum in the southern province of Phuket throughout the week.
“The Asean meetings will run smoothly, and will help restore foreigners’ confidence and revive the tourism sector,” Mr Abhisit said before leaving to Phuket from Suvarnabhumi airport on Monday morning.
Mr Abhisit was greeted by 10 foreign ministers of Asean countries after arriving at the meeting venue at the Sheraton Grand Laguna Hotel at 10am.
Mr Abhisit said this meeting will discuss regional developments, the implementation of the Asean charter, the promotion of human rights, and plans to make Asean more accessible to the people.
He hoped the Asean member countries, despite their differences of ideas, would all move in the same direction.
“The Asean must show the global community that they are ready and capable to overcome problems promptly, especially the A(H1N1) flu outbreak together with trade and logistics challenges,” he said.
http://www.bangkokpost.com/
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Updated: Monday July 20, 2009 MYT 3:25:06 PM
Asean not in favour of sanctions against Myanmar
PHUKET: Asean has ruled out sanctions or further alienating Myanmar, widely condemned for its human rights abuses and clampdown of pro-democracy movements in Myanmar.
Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva, the current chairman of the 10-member regional grouping that includes Myanmar, said Asean still had exchanges at all levels with the Myanmar Government.
Anifah Aman, Malaysia’s minister of foreign affairs, left, shakes hands with Abhisit Vejjajiva, Thailand’s prime minister, during the Association of Southeast Asian Nations summit in Phuket, Thailand, on Monday.
“We learn their point of view, what they are doing and we take note of concerns raised by international communities.
“This approach is more productive than sanctions or alienating them further,” he told a news conference after opening the 42nd Asean Foreign Ministers’ Meeting here.
In fact, Myanmar briefed Asean Leaders during the 14th Asean Summit last February where they showed commitment to releasing a number of political prisoners, he said, adding that Asean would continue to assess and review the situation there.
“Whether the progress is satisfactory to any country is another matter. We will continue to talk.
“Even UN Secretary-General (Ban Kim Moon) adopted this (approach)…although he was disappointed with a number of things,” Abhisit said, referring to Ban’s visit to Myanmar this month where he was denied access to democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi. Asked what Asean would do if Suu Kii was found guilty at her ongoing trial for “harbouring” an American while under house arrest, Abhisit said it was too early to speculate on the outcome.
“We can’t speculate about the trial. Clearly the Myanmar government has insisted it’s a court matter. But we will look at legal possibilities, we can’t interfere in the internal process. But we will see other options,” he said.
Thailand’s Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva addresses at the opening ceremony of the 42nd Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Ministerial Meeting Monday.
On the Asean Inter-Govermental Commission on Human Rights, Abhisit said it was a good start although many critics considered it as toothless without any provision on protection or sanction of abuses.
“We want to make a start, with three principles credibility, realistic and evolutionary. Better make a start than no progress at all.”
When asked how Asean expected such a body to be effective when members like Myanmar could ignore the United Nations, he said he believed that there would be more responses in the future and the country was ready to achieve goals set up by the road map, including having a general election next year.
He also said that Thailand, which is facing insurgency in the southern provinces where more than 3,500 people have died in the past five years, was ready to have a regional human rights commission investigating any alleged human rights abuses.
“First of all, we have an independent human rights commission, we are a very open country and there are right groups working in Thailand. They monitor human rights and submit reports which we take seriously,” he said. – Bernama http://thestar.com.my/news/
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ASEAN ministers to OK human rights body
by Martin Abbugao, Agence France-Presse | 07/20/2009 12:00 PM
PHUKET – Southeast Asian foreign ministers were set to endorse the region’s first ever human rights body Monday, despite criticisms that it will be toothless to tackle rogue members like Myanmar.
Officials meeting in the Thai resort island of Phuket ahead of the continent’s main security forum later this week are also expected to discuss the deadly hotel bombings in Jakarta and North Korea’s nuclear programme.
But the main focus will be on the landmark watchdog proposed by the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), for which ministers will agree final terms before its official launch by leaders of the bloc in October.
According to a draft seen by AFP, the rights body will lack powers to punish violators such as military-ruled Myanmar, and can at best require its 10 member nations to provide reports on their internal rights situations.
Rights groups said in a joint letter to Thailand’s foreign minister Kasit Piromya that the new body’s remit would “fall far too short of international standards” and asked to meet Kasit to discuss their points.
The rights body in its current form “may not only disappoint all peoples in ASEAN, but also risks compromising the international standing of ASEAN,” said the letter signed by Forum-Asia and Solidarity for Asian People’s Advocacy, two leading regional advocacy groups.
ASEAN has faced persistent criticism for failing to censure military-ruled Myanmar — the group’s so-called problem child since it joined in 1997 — for its treatment of democracy activists including detained Aung San Suu Kyi.
The ruling junta sparked fresh international outrage in May by putting the Nobel Peace laureate on trial following a bizarre incident in which an American man swam to her lakeside house.
On Sunday, Myanmar authorities arrested around 20 members of Aung San Suu Kyi’s party after they had marked the anniversary of her father’s death in 1947.
But a draft of the rights body’s terms of reference affirms ASEAN’s underlying principle of non-interference in domestic affairs, which has been used by some members to fend off criticism about rights abuses.
It lists no sanctions for countries that fail to provide the required reports on their rights situa
http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/
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SE Asian nations face anger over new rights body
Martin Abbugao
July 20, 2009 – 1:59PM
Southeast Asian foreign ministers were set to endorse the region’s first ever human rights body Monday, despite criticisms that it will be toothless to tackle rogue members like Myanmar.
Officials meeting in the Thai resort island of Phuket ahead of the continent’s main security forum later this week are also expected to discuss the deadly hotel bombings in Jakarta and North Korea’s nuclear programme.
But the main focus will be on the landmark watchdog proposed by the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), for which ministers will agree final terms before its official launch by leaders of the bloc in October.
According to a draft seen by AFP, the rights body will lack powers to punish violators such as military-ruled Myanmar, and can at best require its 10 member nations to provide reports on their internal rights situations.
Rights groups said in a joint letter to Thailand’s foreign minister Kasit Piromya that the new body’s remit would “fall far too short of international standards” and asked to meet Kasit to discuss their points.
The rights body in its current form “may not only disappoint all peoples in ASEAN, but also risks compromising the international standing of ASEAN,” said the letter signed by Forum-Asia and Solidarity for Asian People’s Advocacy, two leading regional advocacy groups.
ASEAN has faced persistent criticism for failing to censure military-ruled Myanmar — the group’s so-called problem child since it joined in 1997 — for its treatment of democracy activists including detained Aung San Suu Kyi.
The ruling junta sparked fresh international outrage in May by putting the Nobel Peace laureate on trial following a bizarre incident in which an American man swam to her lakeside house.
On Sunday, Myanmar authorities arrested around 20 members of Aung San Suu Kyi’s party after they had marked the anniversary of her father’s death in 1947.
But a draft of the rights body’s terms of reference affirms ASEAN’s underlying principle of non-interference in domestic affairs, which has been used by some members to fend off criticism about rights abuses.
It lists no sanctions for countries that fail to provide the required reports on their rights situations and it rejects notions of a universal standard of human rights.
The draft says the body will promote rights “within the regional context,” bearing in mind national, historical and religious difference and “taking into account the balance between rights and responsibilities.”
Kasit on Sunday admitted that there had been compromises to ensure that Myanmar signed on for the rights body, but he defended it by saying that it was still an important step for the region.
He said Myanmar had given details to fellow ASEAN nations on Sunday about the junta’s preparations for elections in 2010, including election law and the establishment of an election commission, he said.
ASEAN Secretary General Surin Pitsuwan said endorsing the body would be a “good beginning.”
Human rights have been a perennial challenge for ASEAN in the 42 years since it was founded as a bulwark against the spread of communism. Its members now include an absolute monarchy, a dictatorship and two communist states.
The annual ASEAN foreign ministers meeting on Monday comes ahead of the 27-member ASEAN regional forum later this week, which groups the bloc’s members along with the United States, the EU, China, Japan and other countries.
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is due in Phuket on Wednesday for talks that are likely to include the standoff over North Korea’s nuclear programme.
The twin suicide bombings at hotels in the Indonesian capital on Friday which killed eight people are also set for discussion, officials said.
© 2009 AFP http://news.theage.com.au/
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Europe, SEA share a vision for peace and security
Writer: JAVIER SOLANA
Published: 20/07/2009 at 12:00 AM
Newspaper section: News
Europe’s long-standing relationship with Southeast Asia is shifting into a new gear this year. Our mutual engagement is growing still closer and deeper, particularly in the area of building peace, security and cooperation around the globe. We have reached a milestone in our relations this year with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) in Phnom Penh in May on the accession of the European Union and its member states to the Asean Treaty on Amity and Cooperation. Asean is a vital partner for us and I am delighted with this progress. The EU and its Asian partners have a common resolve to tackle today’s regional and global threats together and a common interest in developing a system of regional integration and global governance. It is with this shared vision that I am travelling to Phuket this week for meetings with the Asean partners and the Asean Regional Forum (ARF).
We see Asean as the key driving force fostering regional integration in Asia. It has emerged as a serious regional player. We have followed with great interest as it has developed into a permanent regional organisation, inspired – at least in part, we believe – by our own example of successful integration in Europe. We welcomed Asean’s historic adoption last December of a new charter creating a legal framework for further integration and we believe that the ambitious road map for an Asean Community will be an important factor in helping to bring about lasting peace, stability, shared prosperity and respect for human rights in the region.
The EU is proud to be in the Asean Regional Forum (ARF), which is the only regional forum in Asia devoted solely to security issues.
We are stepping up our involvement with ARF, which has contributed to peace and security in Asia over the past 15 years, because we regard it as an essential venue for dialogue.
The need for Europe and Asia to discuss global strategies is all the greater this year, given the multiple crises currently facing the world: “food, fuel, flu and financial – the four Fs”, as UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said recently. The EU has vital interests in the region. Its trade with East Asia has overtaken its trade with the US and it is Asean’s biggest trading partner.
That is why Thursday’s ARF meeting in Phuket is so important to us. The Asean Regional Forum is a central pillar in the evolving regional security architecture and with our ARF partners, now and in future, we will share our vision of working together, as part of a global, rules-based multilateral system, to promote peace and stability through confidence-building action and preventive diplomacy.
The EU’s philosophy is that threats must be prevented early on from becoming sources of conflict. Developed and developing countries alike are coping with the dangers and insecurities brought in the wake of globalisation, along with the new-found opportunities it also creates for us all.
The EU is looking forward to discussing both traditional and new security threats at the ARF meeting, ranging from terrorist attacks to the need to reduce nuclear arsenals and prevent more countries from acquiring nuclear weapons; to natural disasters likely to be caused by climate change. We should look at oil and gas supplies, piracy and failed states. None of these threats stop at national borders and all of them are as relevant to our Asian partners as they are to the European Union.
The EU is making its mark in helping to create a more secure world and we can and must work closely with Asia in this. We will continue to support concrete, action-oriented cooperation focused not only on confidence-building measures but also on conflict resolution.
Over the past decade, under the European Security and Defence Policy, we have deployed more than 20 operations in response to crises in Europe, Africa and Asia. These range from the successful post-tsunami peace-building mission in Aceh, Indonesia, where we worked closely and very successfully with participating Asean nations, to our first-ever naval task force, Operation EU Navfor Atalanta, fighting piracy off the coast of Somalia. We currently have another mission in Asia, training and mentoring the Afghan police.
Lasting solutions to conflict must bind together all regional players with a common stake in peace. This is what the European project is about and this is what our deepening relationship with Asia is about. We firmly believe that strong ties between different regional groups in the world are crucial for global peace and security. We are committed to stepping up our engagement in Asia’s regional integration processes, including the East Asia Summit. We share with you a vision that by 2020 the Asia-Pacific region will be an area of lasting peace, stability, friendship and prosperity based on a foundation of mutual trust, where preventive diplomacy pursues the ultimate goal of conflict resolution. It is vital, especially for the ARF, to make this vision a political reality.
Javier Solana is EU foreign policy chief.
Relate Search: Asean Regional Forum, Asean in Phnom Penh
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Abhisit rejects possible Burma sanctions
Published: 20/07/2009 at 12:00 AM
Newspaper section: News
Sanctions will not solve problems in Burma and should not be applied, Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva says.
Speaking on his weekly radio and TV programme in his capacity as chairman of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, Mr Abhisit yesterday said some Western dialogue partners might want sanctions to be applied against Burma, so all Asean countries should help express Asean’s stance against such measures.
Thailand is hosting an Asean foreign ministers meeting until Saturday in Phuket. The forum will discuss Burma after the junta barred United Nations secretary-general Ban Ki-moon from meeting jailed opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi during his visit two weeks ago.
Mrs Suu Kyi is charged with breaching the terms of her house arrest after an American swam across a lake to her house a few months ago.
Mr Abhisit said even though Asean had protested against Burma’s treatment of Mrs Suu Kyi, it would not do anything to meddle in its internal affairs.
Asean wanted Burma to know how the international community felt about human rights there.
“The junta should use this occasion to improve Asean’s understanding of the situation in the country,” he said.
http://www.bangkokpost.com/
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China boosts Myanmar’s FDI more than five-fold in 2008-09
Yangon (PTI) A single dose of investment from close ally, China boosted military-ruled Myanmar’s foreign direct investment (FDI) five-fold to nearly USD 1 billion last fiscal, according to latest official figures.
Myanmar, under sanctions by the United States and European Union for incarcerating a number of political activists, including pro-democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi, received USD 985 million during fiscal 2008-2009, ended March 31 this year, up 5.7 times from fiscal 2007-2008’s USD 173 million, the official statistics released by the National Planning Ministry showed.
The increase was mainly from an USD 856 million package from China that went into country’s mining sector in July last year, boosting the FDI inflow by a whopping 87 per cent last fiscal, Kyodo news agency reported.
Russia and Vietnam were the second and third largest investors in Myanmar with USD 94 million and USD 20 million invested in the oil and gas sector in September 2008.
China Non-Ferrous Metal Group Co. and Myanmar’s state-run mining enterprise signed a production sharing contract in July last year to produce nickel in central Myanmar, according to state media reports last year.
Myanmar’s military has ruled the country since 1962 and kept Suu Kyi in detention for most of the last two decades.
Her party won the country’s last elections in 1990 but was never allowed to take office.
China boosts Myanmar’s FDI more than five-fold in 2008-09
Yangon (PTI) A single dose of investment from close ally, China boosted military-ruled Myanmar’s foreign direct investment (FDI) five-fold to nearly USD 1 billion last fiscal, according to latest official figures.
Myanmar, under sanctions by the United States and European Union for incarcerating a number of political activists, including pro-democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi, received USD 985 million during fiscal 2008-2009, ended March 31 this year, up 5.7 times from fiscal 2007-2008’s USD 173 million, the official statistics released by the National Planning Ministry showed.
The increase was mainly from an USD 856 million package from China that went into country’s mining sector in July last year, boosting the FDI inflow by a whopping 87 per cent last fiscal, Kyodo news agency reported.
Russia and Vietnam were the second and third largest investors in Myanmar with USD 94 million and USD 20 million invested in the oil and gas sector in September 2008.
China Non-Ferrous Metal Group Co. and Myanmar’s state-run mining enterprise signed a production sharing contract in July last year to produce nickel in central Myanmar, according to state media reports last year.
Myanmar’s military has ruled the country since 1962 and kept Suu Kyi in detention for most of the last two decades.
Her party won the country’s last elections in 1990 but was never allowed to take office.
http://www.hindu.com/thehindu/
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Mass opposition arrest on Martyrs’ Day
July 20, 2009 (DVB)–Around 20 members of Burma’s opposition National League for Democracy party were briefly detained yesterday whilst returning from an annual celebration marking Martyrs’ Day.
Around 50 National League for Democracy (NLD) members had marched to the Martyr’s Mausoleum in Rangoon to pay their respects to General Aung San, Burma’s independence leader and father of Aung San Suu Kyi, and other national heroes.
The event was marred by tight security, and 20 people were arrested on their return, said NLD spokesperson Nyan Win.
“About 30 to 40 people who went to the Martyrs’ Hill this morning were nabbed in a truck but all were released after about 30 minutes,” he said.
“Apparently they were detained for wearing t-shirts with pictures of General Aung San and Daw Aung San Suu Kyi.”
According to one NLD member, security officials had also collected personal information from each person as they entered the mausoleum.
“They also check our bags for digital equipments such as mobile phones, cameras and voice recorders and didn’t allow us to take those into the mausoleum,” he said.
“I felt so disturbed about it; I wanted to salute our national leaders who brought us independence without any restriction.”
Suu Kyi, who is on trial at Rangoon’s Insein prison on charges of breaching conditions of her house arrest, marked the day by sending food to patients inside the prison hospital.
Government officials also visited the mausoleum and laid wreaths in remembrance.
General Aung San was instrumental in setting in motion Burmese independence from British rule, although he was assassinated in July 1947, six months before it was successfully achieved.
As a revered symbol of civilian rule, the military government is now reportedly removing references to General Aung San from school textbooks.
Reporting by Thurein Soe and Ahunt Phone Myat
http://english.dvb.no/news.
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July 22nd, 2009 at 1:32 am
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