Myanmar’s Army Makes Gains Against Kachin Rebels

Government troops in Myanmar captured a strategic hilltop position outside the headquarters of ethnic Kachin rebels on Saturday, a photographer and another observer in the area reported. The takeover of the hilltop would be a significant advance in a long and bloody campaign near the border with China.

The intense fighting near the town of Laiza, the rebel base, comes amid increased foreign criticism of the military campaign and heightened tensions between the Burmese ethnic majority and minority groups, who make up one-third of the country’s population.

A spokesman for the government, Ye Htut, said that he was not aware if the hilltop position, Hkayabum, had been taken but that government troops were “very close to the post and heavy fighting is ongoing.”

In comments that are likely to anger Myanmar’s minorities, the country’s opposition leader, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, expressed admiration for the military during a visit to Hawaii over the weekend.

China Sends Troops to Burmese Border

China has sent soldiers to its border with Myanmar amid concern that escalating violence between the Southeast Asian country's government and ethnic separatists is spilling over, an official Chinese newspaper reported on Friday.

The Global Times said that troops were sent to the border between China's Yunnan Province and Myanmar's northern Kachin State "to understand the situation". It did not give any details on the number or type of soldiers.

"On the night of the 9th, there was shelling in Kachin, and residents of the unstable area quickly ran inside the Chinese border to pass the night in peace," the report said. Yunnan is home to an ethnic Kachin population.

The Communist Party's official newspaper, the People's Daily, carried an article on its website from the Changjiang Daily newspaper describing artillery shells exploding on a mountain in Yingjiang County, which borders Myanmar.

Officials in the Dehong prefecture government, in which the county is located, declined to comment on Friday.


The intensification of the conflict has cast doubt on the intentions of Myanmar's government, which is led by former generals who have been praised for reforms in other areas including elections, media and civil society.

Burma Launches Air Strikes Against Kachin Rebels

The Burmese government has confirmed that it carried out air strikes this week against ethnic rebels in northern Kachin state, raising fresh concerns about the country's reform and fragile peace processes.

In an interview with VOA's Burmese Service on Wednesday, a government spokesperson acknowledged that "training jets" were used against Kachin rebels in response to attacks by the Kachin Independence Organization.

Some government officials had at first denied carrying out an air offensive in rebel-held territory. But officials later said the army used air strikes to help regain a base during an increase in fighting that began last week.

Each side has blamed the other for the escalation in violence, which broke out near rebel headquarters in Laiza, near the Chinese border.

Tens of thousands of people have been displaced since June 2011, when fighting broke out between the army and Kachin rebels, ending a 17-year ceasefire.

Ethnic groups in the northern part of the country have long accused the government of repressing them, and have been fighting for greater autonomy in their traditional states.

China, Myanmar to further military cooperation

Qi Jianguo, deputy chief of general staff of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA), held a meeting with Soe Win, the visiting deputy commander-in-chief of the Myanmar Armed Forces and commander of the Myanmar Army，in Beijing on the morning of November 16, 2012.

Qi Jianguo and his Myanmar guest had in-depth exchange of views on regional security situation, the China-Myanmar relations, the military-to-military relations between the two countries and other issues of common concern, with significant consensus being achieved.

The China-Myanmar relations have withstood tests from the changeable international situations in the past 60-odd years since the establishment of the diplomatic relations, and the long-term mutual understanding and mutual support between the two countries have achieved fruitful accomplishments, Qi Jianguo said.

The relations between the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) and the Myanmar Armed Forces are an important component in the relations between the two countries. The Chinese PLA and the Myanmar Armed Forces have conducted in-depth and pragmatic communications in terms of high-level exchange of visits, equipment technological cooperation, personnel training, border control and so on, which have exerted active effects in promoting the comprehensive development of the relations between the two countries, Qi Jianguo added.

Myanmar Could Join U.S.-led Cobra Gold Exercises

 The United States plans to invite Myanmar to a major regional military exercise next year, host country Thailand said Oct. 19, reflecting a dramatic easing of tensions between the former foes.

The move would see Myanmar’s military, which ruled the nation with an iron fist for almost half a century and is accused of a litany of human rights abuses, join the annual Cobra Gold drills as an observer.

“Myanmar is on the list of observers but it’s not finalized yet,” Thai Defense Ministry spokesman Colonel Thanathip Sawangsang said, adding that the participants would discuss the idea at a meeting later this month.

Cobra Gold is the United States’ largest multilateral exercise in the Asia-Pacific region, bringing together thousands of troops from the United States, Thailand and other countries for field training.

Singapore, Japan, South Korea, Indonesia and Malaysia are expected to participate next year along with 13 observer nations, Thai officials said.

Past survival training sessions have seen troops drink snake blood and behead chickens.

The proposal to invite Myanmar was Washington’s initiative, according to a senior Thai military official who did not want to be named.

“If all members agree ... it will become official,” he said.

A U.S. embassy spokesman declined to comment.

Myanmar Ends Political, Religious Media Censorship

The Information Ministry of Myanmar cancelled censorship for media publishing political and religious information, Thailand's Kom Chad Luek newspaper said in its online edition on Monday.

An international non-governmental organization, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), ranked Myanmar seventh in this year’s list of ten most censored countries in the world.
“Starting from August 20 all media publishing political and religious information are exempt from the obligation to get the approval of the information ministry’s Department of media control and registration before publishing,” a ministry spokesman said in a statement.
The reform, the latest in a series of pro-democratic changes, might lead to an end to the country’s censorship history that lasted for more than five decades.
According to media reports, the parliament is expected to cancel the country’s 1962 Printer and Publisher Act this year.

Saudi Arabia gives $50 mln aid to Myanmar Muslims

Saudi Arabia’s King Abdullah has ordered $50 million in aid be sent to a Muslim minority in Myanmar which a human rights group said has been targeted by the authorities since sectarian riots in June.
A report on the Saudi state news agency said the Rohingya community had been “exposed to many violations of human rights including ethnic cleansing, murder, rape and forced displacement”.
“King Abdullah … has ordered that assistance of the amount of $50 million be provided to the Rohingya Muslim citizens in Myanmar,” said the report which was carried by Saudi media on Sunday. It did not say who was to blame for the abuses.
However, Human Rights Watch said on Aug 1 that the Rohingyas had suffered mass arrests, killings and rapes at the hands of the Myanmar security forces.

Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan threaten Myanmar over Rohingya

The Pakistani Taliban Thursday threatened to attack Myanmar to avenge crimes against the Muslim Rohingya, unless Pakistan halts all relations with the government and shuts its embassy in Islamabad.
In a rare statement focused on the plight of Muslims abroad, the umbrella Tehrik-i-Taliban (TTP) group sought to present itself as a defender of Muslim men and women in Myanmar, saying “we will take revenge of your blood”.
Spokesman Ehsanullah Ehsan demanded that the Pakistani government halt all relations with Myanmar and close down its embassy in Islamabad.
“Otherwise we will not only attack Burmese interests anywhere but will also attack the Pakistani fellows of Burma one by one,” he said in a statement.
The Myanmar embassy in Islamabad was not immediately reachable for comment.
The TTP frequently claims attacks on security forces in Pakistan but its ability to wage violence in countries further afield has been questioned.
But US officials say there is evidence the group was behind a failed 2010 attempt to bomb Times Square in New York, for which Pakistani-American Faisal Shahzad was jailed for life.

Myanmar’s Rohingyas being targeted

BANGKOK: Communal violence is continuing in western Myanmar six weeks after the government declared a state of emergency there, and much of it is being directed at minority Muslim Rohingyas who have been beaten, killed and raped, Amnesty International said Friday.
The rights group accused both security forces and ethnic Rakhine Buddhists living in the region of carrying out fresh attacks against Rohingyas, who are seen as foreigners by the ethnic majority and denied citizenship by the government because it considers them illegal settlers from neighboring Bangladesh.
After a series of isolated killings starting in late May that left victims on both sides, bloody skirmishes quickly spread across much of Myanmar’s coastal Rakhine state. The government declared a state of emergency June 10, deploying troops to quell the unrest and protect both mosques and monasteries.
The worst of the violence subsided two weeks later, and authorities said at least 78 people were killed and thousands of homes were burned down or destroyed — with damages roughly split evenly between Buddhists and Muslims.

Myanmar Learning From Philippines’ Democratic Transition

In pursuing democratic reforms, Myanmar may take a leaf from the experience of the Philippines’ difficult transition from authoritarianism to democracy. But as demonstrated by the Philippine case, democracy alone cannot address all the challenges besetting Myanmar.

By Julius Cesar I. Trajano
Philippine President Benigno Aquino III offered his government’s assistance in Myanmar’s democratisation during the visit of Myanmar’s Foreign Minister Wunna Maung Lwin on 14-15 June 2012. Aquino related to him the Philippines’ democratic transition and pledged Filipinos’ readiness to share their experience.

Myanmar (Burma)

The Philippines was once one of the harshest critics of Myanmar’s human rights record. Filipino human rights officials plan to visit Napyidaw to train their counterparts in the recently-established Myanmar human rights commission. Indeed, Myanmar can draw some valuable lessons from the strengths and shortcomings of the Philippines’ democratisation.

Military’s involvement in politics

During the authoritarian rule of Ferdinand Marcos (1972-86), military officers were deeply embedded in politics; they were appointed to many civilian posts in government agencies; and were involved in rigged elections and suppressing anti-dictatorship movements.
The restoration of democracy after the 1986 People Power Revolution did not stop some factions in the military from conspiring to seize political power and/or influence political decisions from outside the democratic institutions. Rebel soldiers launched seven coup attempts during the term of President Corazon Aquino (1986-92). During the presidency of Gloria Arroyo (2001-10), two instances of military mutiny were staged against her by a faction of junior officers denouncing corruption in the military and demanding reforms.
The Philippines’ democratisation process had a hard task putting the military under effective civilian control. Moreover, many self-serving politicians used some factions in the military to cause political destabilisation in democratically-elected presidencies, highlighting the failure to bring political nonpartisanship to the military.
In Myanmar President Thein Sein’s political reforms could still be undermined given the wide political power that the military still has. Immediately before Aung San Suu Kyi and her partymates took their parliamentary oath in May, the military filled its 25% membership quota in the parliament with high-ranking officers in order to bolster its influence in legislation. In order to prevent any military coup like what happened in post-1986 Philippines, Myanmar needs to steadily establish civilian control over the military, take over its businesses and begin professionalising its ranks.
Despite pronouncements about political and economic reforms, President Thein Sein has never talked about military self-financing. Aside from its bloated budget, the military also sources its funds from the revenues of its conglomerates: the Union of Myanmar Economic Holdings and the Myanmar Economic Corp. Myanmar’s oil export revenues reached US$2.9 billion last year which were deposited to off-shore bank accounts owned by the military. It will be hard for the civilian government to control the military if the latter has its own sources of funds.

Upholding human rights

Upholding the rights of all ethnic groups is crucial for national reconciliation and political stability. However, there is no guarantee that human rights are protected until an independent and effective judiciary is in place in the country. Myanmar needs to look at the not-so-good human rights record of the Philippines in order to realise the importance of strengthening an impartial judiciary and prosecuting violators.
Despite the introduction of democratic reforms human rights violations continue to be reported in Myanmar. In the first 14 months of the Thein Sein presidency NGOs recorded 85 cases of torture, 59 cases of forced labour and 114 cases of confiscation or destruction of property. Most of the abuses are related to the continuing armed conflicts in some parts of the country, the most recent ones in Kachin and Rakhine states.
In the Philippines, despite President Aquino’s promise of reforms, extrajudicial killings of journalists and political activists, allegedly committed by state security forces, continue to threaten human rights. Upon his assumption of office in 2010, he inherited 150 unresolved cases of politically-motivated killings, while more than 10 cases occurred under his watch. Among the challenges in the prosecution of human rights cases are the reluctance of the Philippine military to cooperate in investigations and weak judiciary and law enforcement agencies.

Expanding the role of civil society

While the Philippines’ democratisation suffered shortcomings in important reform areas, a thriving civil society has been regarded as the country’s biggest democratic achievement which can be emulated by Myanmar. NGOs have been deeply involved in providing public goods such as housing, education, health care, environment protection, and combating corruption, among others. In developing countries like the Philippines, civil society assumes the role of helping the state in providing basic and social services. This can be adopted in Myanmar, given the bureaucratic and financial limitations faced by its government in improving the country’s economic and human development.
Under the Thein Sein administration, Myanmar’s civil society remains vulnerable to government control. Bound by the Law of Founding an Organisation, NGOs face restrictions in the registration process such as the prohibition on them to be involved in politics and advocate for good governance; the steep registration fee of US$600, and regular submissions to the government on their activities and finances. Hence, many local NGOs are not registered with the government. By the end of 2011, around 280 NGOs had registered, out of the estimated total of 20,000 NGOs in the country. The challenge now for the Thein Sein administration is to allow local NGOs to operate independently from the government and constructively participate in political affairs by easing the stringent requirements for NGO registration.
While Myanmar may take a completely different path in pursuing democratisation, there are still ample opportunities for the Burmese people to learn from the shortcomings and potentials of Philippine democracy. As seen in the case of the Philippines, democracy alone is not a silver bullet that will solve all political, economic and social ills. Democratic reforms must be complemented with transparency, accountability and good governance.

Myanmar tells Suu Kyi not to call country ‘Burma’

Myanmar has undergone dramatic change over the last year, but one thing won’t be changing anytime soon, the country’s name.    
Authorities in the Southeast Asian nation issued a stern warning to opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi on Friday, telling the political prisoner-turned parliamentarian to stop calling the country “Burma.”
Instead, they said, she should use the constitutionally decreed title, the Republic of the Union of Myanmar.
The country’s former military rulers changed the name in English from Burma to Myanmar in 1989, ostensibly to better reflect the country’s ethnic diversity.
The term Burma connotes Burman, the dominant ethnic group in the country, to the exclusion of ethnic minorities.
But regime opponents and exile groups from a range of ethnic groups, as well as foreign governments including the United States, have persisted in using the word Burma as a sign of protest and defiance against an undemocratic regime they long saw as illegitimate.
Myanmar’s election commission, which supervises laws dealing with political parties, issued the complaint in the state-run New Light of Myanmar newspaper.
The statement cited Suu Kyi’s repeated reference to the country as Burma during her landmark trips in recent weeks to Thailand and Europe, and said she and her National League for Democracy Party must ”respect the constitution” and use the proper name.
It’s not clear whether there are any legal consequences for not doing so.
Suu Kyi became a lawmaker after her party won dozens of parliament seats in April by-elections, a vote that was symbolic of the post-junta changes that have swept the country under the leadership of President Thein Sein.
Weeks later, she and her opposition colleagues took the oath of office, which includes an official vow to uphold the constitution.
Suu Kyi’s party spokesman Nyan Win said the election commission’s complaint was a non-issue.
“Referring to the country as Burma does not amount to disrespecting the constitution,” he said.
In the official state language, the country and its people are both pronounced Myanmar.

Burma State Media Offers Praise of Aung San Suu Kyi

by VOA News
Burmese state media praised longtime democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi in an editorial that would have been unthinkable just months ago under the reforming country's strict censorship laws.
In an article entitled, "To the leaders who are the hope of Myanmar," the New Light of Myanmar said Tuesday that the future of the country "depends completely" on the cooperation of Aung San Suu Kyi and President Thein Sein.
The paper, owned by the government and published by the ministry of information, has given little coverage to the newly elected opposition lawmaker since she was released from house arrest in 2010.
The Nobel laureate returned home Sunday after visiting Thailand in what was her first foreign trip in 24 years. The trip was seen as a sign of her confidence in Burma's recent political reforms, since she previously refused to leave out of fear authorities would not let her return.
But the paper criticized Aung San Suu Kyi for telling delegates an economic forum in Bangkok that they should not be overly optimistic about the country's political and economic progress under its new nominally civilian government.
The author said that "nobody should raise doubts and uncertainties" about Burma that could affect the confidence of foreign investors, who are seen as a key part of the country's reformation as it opens up to the outside world.
There were some concerns over a possible rift between President Thein Sein and Aung San Suu Kyi after the president's unexplained last-minute cancellation of an official visit to Thailand last week.
The editorial said that mutual trust between the two leaders was key to Burma's future and that it hopes they can work together on the basis of mutual trust and understanding.

Myanmar Armed Forces

Myanmar's secret military tunnel network - with North Korean help

Burmese Navy in Historic Visit to Vietnam

The Burmese navy ended its first ever port call to Vietnam on Tuesday after the three-day visit of two destroyers.
The UMS Mahar Bandoola and UMS Mahar Thiha Thura, each with 11 officers and 112 crew members, docked at Tien Sa Port in Da Nang on Sunday, according to Vietnamese state news agency VNA.
Burmese naval officers reportedly visited the High Command of Navy Region 3 and the Da Nang Municipal People's Committee.

The two ships arrived the same day as Vietnamese Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh held talks with his Burmese counterpart Wunna Maung Lwin and was received by President Thein Sein and several other key figures in Naypyidaw.
The foreign ministers discussed defense and security cooperation, according to a statement by the Vietnamese Foreign Ministry. “The two sides shared the importance of securing peace and stability in the South China Sea,” the statement said.

China, whose territorial claims in the South China Sea clash with Vietnam, has so far been arguing for third-party nations not to get involved in the dispute.

Myanmar Navy Received Two Chinese Type 053H1 Frigate

Two photos were posted onmilitaryphotos.net indicating that China handed over two Type 053H1 frigates to Myanmar Navy. In the Myanmar Navy ships have hull numbers F21 and F23.

Frigates Type 053H1 Jianghu-2 (development of the Type 053H1 Jianghu-one - the modified MRS Soviet D.50) were built in China inthe years 1981-88 at the shipyard Hudong Shipyard in Shanghai.Results for the Chinese navy was built 10 of these ships, including one ship in 1989 sold to Bangladesh and was named F18 Osman. Also in the years 1984-85 were built two frigates for the Navy Type 053H1 Egypt (951 Najim Al-Zafir and 956 El Nasser).

Features

Displacement, standard / full - 1565/1960 ton

Length - 103.22 m

Breadth - 10.83 m

Draft - 3.19 m

Powerplant - Two-shafted, two diesel 12E390VA (16,000 hp), 2 DG12PA6V280 BTC

Speed ​​- 25.5 knots

Range - 3,000 miles at a speed of 18 knots and 1750 miles at a speed of 25 knots

The crew - 195 people (including 30 officers)

Armament:
2x2 launchers of SY-1 antiship missiles;
2x2 100-mm gun mounts Type 79A;
6x2 37-mm gun mounts Type 61 or Type 76;
2x5 240-mm ASW rocket launchers Type 81 (30 depth charge rockets RGB-12) or 2x6 ASW rocket launchers Type 3200 (36 depth charge rockets);
2 depth charge mortars Type 64;
2 depth charge racks

Myanmar Army getting MBT2000 / VT1A?

Recently, the Myanmar Army posted a video of what appears to be a Norinco MBT2000 / VT1A under trial. If they indeed procured the MBT2000, they might face-off with Bangladesh army's MTB2000 in the future. Should be interesting to see.

China sells used Type 053 frigates to Burma and Bangladesh

China has recently sold used frigates to Myanmar and Bangladesh, two nations that have had naval disputes with each other in the past. Burma got two Type 53H1 frigates, built in the 1980s. The Burmese Type 53s are 2,000 ton ships armed with four anti-ship missiles, two 100mm guns, and lots of depth charges. Bangladesh is getting two Type 53H2, which were built in the early 1990s and are generally the same as the 53H1s but carry eight anti-ship missiles. Both nations paid very little for their Type 53s (probably free), but compared to what these two fleets already had, the used frigates were a step up.

China built 53 Type 53 frigates (that's a lot). Based on the older Soviet Riga class frigates, the Chinese expanded the original 1,400 ton design (armed with depth charges, three 100mm guns, and torpedoes) to a missile laden 2,000-2,500 ton vessel equipped with modern electronics. The latest version, called the F-22, is built only for export. The primary customer is Pakistan (four sold so far). The remaining Type 53s are mainly used for coastal patrol.

Burma Navy