Myanmar Ethnic Clashes Put Spotlight on China
MAE SOT, Thailand — On June 9, deadly clashes broke out in northern Myanmar between the country’s army and the ethnic minority Kachin Independence Army (KIA). The fighting reportedly erupted after Myanmar’s military moved to secure the Tarpein Hydropower Project, a Chinese-built dam that came online in January. The plant, which sits on a tributary...
Cambodia sees Suu Kyi release as positive step
THE Cambodian government has hailed the release of Myanmar democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi after years of house arrest, describing it as an important step on the road towards democracy for the troubled country. “The government of Cambodia welcomes the release of Aung San Suu Kyi in Myanmar,” said Koy Kuong, spokesman for the...
Cambodia maintains distance on Myanmar poll
THE Cambodian government has adopted a wait-and-see approach to the upcoming elections in Myanmar, amid mounting criticism of a process many observers see as a charade to legitimise military rule.
Myanmar election offers no comfort for refugees
MAE LA REFUGEE CAMP, THAILAND—IT’S no wonder that Saw Tun Wai has little desire to return to Myanmar, even after upcoming elections that its military rulers describe as a step toward democracy. The wiry 52-year-old teacher fled to Thailand on foot over rugged mountain terrain in 2006, escaping a vicious and largely unseen army campaign...
After Burma poll, conflict looms
Burma’s history is marked by insurgencies and ethnic tension. Next month’s poll could see them bubble over into armed conflict.
Burma’s nuclear venture
The Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB) reports that the Burmese military government is attempting to acquire nuclear weapons technology as a deterrent against Western military actions. The allegations have been substantiated by Sai Thein Win, a former major in the Burmese army who served as a defence engineer and missile expert. According to DVB, he...
Armed Forces Day
Occasionally, a copy of the New Light of Myanmar — the Burmese government’s official mouthpiece — winds up in our office and gets passed around for laughs. The paper on March 25, commemorating Armed Forces Day, which marks the start of the Burmese army’s resistance to the Japanese occupation in 1945, was particularly amusing. In...
A city in the Burmese junta’s image
BURMA’S new capital city lies about 10 hours’ drive – or a short, white-knuckled flight on an ageing Fokker-27 – from Rangoon, the country’s largest city and former capital. A vast, empty plain of snaking arterial roads and low-density development, Naypyidaw is unlikely to experience anything approaching the so-called “Saffron Revolution” that brought central Rangoon...
Burmese days
The following were taken during my three weeks roaming across Burma last month. Click here to see my set of photos from Naypyidaw, the Burmese junta’s remote new capital city.
REVIEW: ‘The Golden Triangle’, by Ko-Lin Chin
BURMA’S United Wa State Army is seen by many Western law enforcement agencies as one of the most powerful drug-trafficking organizations in the world. Since signing a cease-fire agreement with the Burmese government in 1989, the 20,000-strong UWSA has been granted control of Wa Special State—an isolated and mountainous region of Shan State in Burma’s...
