UNSG Mr. Ban Ki-moon to visit Myanmar in April

[postlink] https://burmacampaignjapanteam.blogspot.com/2012/04/unsg-mr-ban-ki-moon-to-visit-myanmar-in.html [/postlink]

United Nations Secretary General Mr. Ban Ki-moon is due to pay a visit to Myanmar in the last week of April, according to the source of the United Nations.

It is likely that Secretary General Mr. Ban Ki-moon will meet not only with high ranking officials but also with prominent persons of Myanmar’s political affairs during his short visit to Myanmar. Secretary General Mr. Ban Ki-moon, on 23 March said that he would possibly make a visit to visit Myanmar during April.

President of the Republic of the Union of Myanmar U Thein Sein and UN Secretary General Mr. Ban Ki-moon met  and discussed in Bali of Indonesia on 19 November 2011. The meeting focused on full cooperation matters between Myanmar and the United Nations and possible visit of Secretary General Mr. Ban Ki-moon to Myanmar at an opportune time.

The UN Secretary General  on 2 April congratulated Myanmar government and its people for holding the by-elections  on 1 April in free, fair and transparent manner.

Mr. Ban Ki-moon also praised the bravery of President U Thein Sein following a landslide victory of NLD led by Daw Aung San Suu Kyi in the by-elections.

In addition, Mr. Ban Ki-moon urged Myanmar government and all political forces  to cooperate in the democratic reforms based on the important triumphs experienced from the by-elections.

Mr. Ban Ki-moon also urged the international community to render assistance to Myanmar as the country is currently in preparation for ASEAN alternate chairmanship in 2014.

Mr. Ban Ki-moon’s upcoming visit to Myanmar will be his third time. Mr. Ban Ki-moon made a visit to Myanmar in May 2008 for the first time and in July 2009 for the second time.

The UN delegation led by Mr. Ban Ki-moon flew to Yangon on 22 May 2008 to provide humanitarian assistance to Nargis storm victims of Myanmar and also met with Head of State Senior General Than Shwe at Bayintnaung Yeiktha in Nay Pyi Taw at 10.30 am on 23 May 2008.

Mr. Ban Ki-moon, during his second visit to Myanmar, met with Senior General Than Shwe at Bayintnaung Yeiktha in Nay Pyi Taw for about two hours starting from 2 pm on 3 July 2009.

Reported by Translated and Edited by Win Htut + MYA   

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Burma tourism set to boom

[postlink] https://burmacampaignjapanteam.blogspot.com/2012/04/burma-tourism-set-to-boom.html [/postlink]

Tourism in Burma is expected to surge twofold this year as curious foreigners explore the long-isolated country in the wake of landmark reforms which look set to make the nation more accessible to the world.

11:56AM BST 14 Apr 2012

According to the Ministry of Tourism, roughly 425,000 foreign visitors came to Burma during the 2010-2011 fiscal year, and now tour operators say that number could increase to 640,000, or even close to a million people this year.

With about 600 hotels across the country capable of housing roughly 25,000 guests, projects are underway in the capital Naypyitaw and in Yangon to build more guest-houses to cope with increasing demand.

In the country's largest city of Yangon, a popular tourist site is the bustling Bogyoke Aung San Market, formerly known as "Scott's Market".

Shoppers crowd the outdoor shopping bazaar which is full of makeshift tents selling traditional clothing, antiques, souvenirs and other trinkets. Local residents welcome visiting tourists and the extra business they bring.

For a number of tourists in the area, recent reforms have spurred intrigue in the country.

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New Footage Depicts Self-Immolation in Tibet

[postlink] https://burmacampaignjapanteam.blogspot.com/2012/04/new-footage-depicts-self-immolation-in.html [/postlink] April 17, 2012

An exile Tibetan woman cries after Jampa Yeshi, a Tibetan self immolated during a protest, in New Delhi, India, FILE March 26, 2012.

A pro-Tibetan advocacy group says it has obtained video of one of the dozens of Tibetans who have set themselves on fire this year to protest against China's repressive rule.
The International Campaign for Tibet says the video shows the self-immolation of Losang Jamyang on the streets of the western Chinese city of Aba back in January as witnesses look on in horror.  The footage shows the man running in circles while engulfed in flames, before a police officer knocks him to the ground using a pushcart.  Other officers then converge on the man and douse him with fire extinguishers.
Tibetan advocacy groups say more than 30 people have set themselves on fire in Tibet over the past year, mostly Buddhist monks and nuns.  Kate Saunders, the ICT's London-based communications director, tells VOA the video of Losang Jamyang's self-immolation challenges the very idea of China's legitimacy in the region.

"The self-immolations have raised the stakes in Tibet, both in terms of increased global attention and also in the context of change inside China itself.  These self-immolations, like the one that you can see so vividly in the footage, are a dramatic and a visible counter to the claims of the Chinese communist party to be improving Tibetan lives," said Saunders.

Saunders says the group has obtained several videos of self-immolations smuggled out of Tibet from exiled Tibetan sources, but notes this is the first one depicting a fatality.

The Dalai Lama, Tibet's exiled spiritual leader, recently told reporters there are indications that China is ready to push through political reforms in Tibet. "I think here, one hopeful sign is that Wen Jiabao, last few years, in numbers of locations he expressed that People's Republic of China needs some political reform and in one location he even extended that China needs the western style of democracy," he stated.

The Chinese government has described the self-immolations as barbaric and terrorists acts.  It accuses overseas groups and the Dalai Lama of inciting separatism.  Beijing also has also portrayed those who have set themselves on fire as outcasts and criminals.

by VOA World wide

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Buried since 1945 in Myanmar, British Spitfires to be unearthed

[postlink] https://burmacampaignjapanteam.blogspot.com/2012/04/buried-since-1945-in-myanmar-british.html [/postlink] 04:45 AM Apr 15, 2012

MYANMAR - British Prime Minister David Cameron has reached an agreement with the Myanmar authorities to dig up the remains of up to 20 Royal Air Force Spitfires that were buried in what was then Burma, two weeks before the atomic bomb was dropped on Japan in 1945.

A group of Spitfire enthusiasts, who believe they have identified the whereabouts of the planes at airfields using radar technology, will have the right to start digging.

The agreement, reached with President Thein Sein at his palace in the Myanmar capital of Naypyidaw, raises the prospect of doubling the number of surviving Spitfires in the world. Only 35 of those built remain in a good enough condition to fly today. There are potentially 20 buried in crates under Myanmar soil.

A Downing Street source said: "The Spitfire is arguably the most important plane in the history of aviation, playing a crucial role in World War II."

Shortly before the Americans bombed Hiroshima on Aug 6, 1945, Earl Mountbatten of Burma, fearing the planes might be captured and used by the Japanese, had ordered the Spitfires to be buried. Japan surrendered after the second atomic bomb was dropped on Nagasaki - but the planes appeared to have been forgotten in the Myanmar soil. The Guardian

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Qatar to play Myanmar in Davis Cup group 4 opener

[postlink] https://burmacampaignjapanteam.blogspot.com/2012/04/qatar-to-play-myanmar-in-davis-cup.html [/postlink] Posted On Sunday, 15th April 2012

DOHA QATAR’S predominantly young team will try to use the home conditions and turn in its best display in the Davis Cup Asia/Oceania Zone Group Four, beginning at the Khalifa International Tennis and Squash Complex on Monday at 3.30 pm At a draw at the Al Dana Club on Sunday, supervised by ITF referee Nitin Kannamwar and Tournament Director Saad al Mohannadi, Qatar was grouped with Jordan, Singapore, Myanmar and debutant Cambodia in the Pool B
The Pool A consists of the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Iraq and Turkmenistan.

The Qatari team, led by Jassim al Mulla, has Jabor Ali Mutawa, Mousa Zayed, Abdulrahman al Harib and Mubarak Shannan. Former player Sultan Khalfan is also likely to boost the team if any situation requires his participation.

Barring Cambodia, which is playing the Davis Cup for the first time, all the teams in the Pool B have better win-loss record compared to Qatar’s.

Myanmar, however, is the only team that Qatar had beaten in the last meeting three years ago.

In Dhaka, Bangladesh in the 2009, Qatar had defeated Myanmar 2-1 but now with all the players in the team being young as the team is building, Qatar will of course try to do its best but the results might not be of high significance at the moment.

Qatar’s coach Amine Bustani said: “The draw is good and everybody wants to qualify. This is the way how I look at it. We’ve probably the youngest team, mostly under 18.

This is going to be a good experience. We’re definitely going to go in for qualifying and play hard tennis.

“Another good news is that all the players are injury-free and we’re ready.

We’d have certain home advantage. Our team has played two Davis Cups before so it has got some experience. We’ve improved since then. The young team has a time of two-three years before the players really start giving results,” added Bustani.

Two top teams in each pool play off with the runner- up of the other group with two winners advancing to the Asia/Oceania Zone Group III 2013.

Qatar had made its debut in 1992 has played the Asia/Oceania Zone Group III thrice. This is the fifth time that Qatar is hosting the event. The Davis Cup was first held here in 1993.

After that it has taken place in 1994, 1997 and 1999.

Groupings Pool A: The United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Iraq and Turkmenistan.

Pool B: Jordan, Singapore, Myanmar, Qatar and Cambodia.

Monday’s fixtures (starting time 3.30 pm) Saudi Arabia vs Iraq at Court 1 Bahrain vs Turkmenistan at Court 2 Qatar vs Myanmar at Court 3 Singapore vs Cambodia at Court 4

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The Philippines At Asean Summit

[postlink] https://burmacampaignjapanteam.blogspot.com/2012/04/the-philippines-at-asean-summit.html [/postlink]

A Global View

By DR. BETH DAY ROMULO

April 16, 2012, 6:40pm

MANILA, Philippines — The 20th Summit Meeting of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) held this year in Cambodia, concluded on April 4th after two intensive days, in which leaders of the 10 ASEAN countries – Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam – tackled problems of regional security, human rights and illegal drugs. Making his first trip abroad this year to Cambodia, President Aquino pushed for the creation of a legally binding Code of Conduct to address the conflicting claims in the South China Sea. While in Phnom Penh, he also took the occasion to oversee the negotiation of a Free Trade Agreement that would allow tariff-free raw materials to move from one country to another, and he urged North Korea to cancel its rocket launch, suggesting that North Korea could better spend its resources on food security.
The host of this year’s ASEAN summit meeting, Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen, urged fellow members to strengthen their cooperation in preparation for the proposed integration of the 10-nation regional bloc in 2015 and work toward the realization of one ASEAN community which would include a single investment system to facilitate the free flow of goods and services and labor. He also cautioned the other leaders to respect the rights of migrant workers, oversee the scrapping of trade barriers, and ensure that necessary infrastructure is being developed.
ASEAN will launch a $485-million infrastructure fund next month. Co-financed by ASEAN and the Asian Development Bank (ADB), the fund is designed to provide financing for infrastructure projects in the region. The Philippines intends to present several project proposals.
Following the election in Myanmar, on April 1st in which democracy activist Aung San Suu Kyi was elected to a seat in Parliament, the leaders of the ASEAN countries called on Western countries to lift their sanctions on Myanmar “immediately in light of significant positive developments.”
Myanmar’s most powerful ally, China, also welcomed the election victory. During the period when sanctions blocked any investment from the West, China took the opportunity to invest heavily in Myanmar’s inadequate infrastructure, building much-needed hydropower dams and oil and gas pipelines which facilitate the export of Myanmar’s oil and gas reserves, and help with South China’s growing energy needs.

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Militancy will fade if Indo-Myanmar border guarded well: Ibobi

[postlink] https://burmacampaignjapanteam.blogspot.com/2012/04/militancy-will-fade-if-indo-myanmar.html [/postlink] Last Updated: Monday, April 16, 2012, 16:46

New Delhi: If India guards its frontier with Myanmar effectively, militancy in the Northeast will fade away, Manipur Chief Minister Okram Ibobi Singh said here on Monday.

Speaking at the Chief Ministers' conference on internal security here, Singh said his state endorses the central government's proposal to deploy the BSF, replacing the Assam Rifles, to guard the 1,640-kilometre-long border which will help to ensure effective surveillance of this porous frontier.


"We have been consistently and repeatedly drawing attention of the Government of India to the dire need to effectively guard the India-Myanmar border. We are happy to learn that the Ministry of Home Affairs has finalised a proposal to construct 4,585 kms of roads, 113 helipads and two helibases along the Indo-Myanmar border.

"I understand that the proposal is awaiting approval of the Cabinet Committee on Security. We fully endorse MHA's proposal to deploy BSF as the dedicated border guarding force for the Indo-Myanmar border," Singh said.

The chief minister said that this initiative will ensure effective surveillance along the sensitive and porous border which today is "at the core of illegal arms and drugs smuggling and the unchecked trans-border movement of militants" who are a threat to internal security.

"...Allow me to reiterate that if we can guard this border effectively, militancy in the North East will fade away. This is a core issue which Government of India must tackle with clear foresight and in a sustained manner," he said.

The chief minister also said that for an effective guarding of the border, "it is absolutely essential that the border is fenced and a network of roads developed on top most priority".

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