Siam News Network

British Foreign Secretary William Hague, on a visit to Burma, says European Union economic sanctions will not change until authorities release all political prisoners.  The top British diplomat made the comments after holding separate meetings with democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi and Burma’s military-backed leaders. 

Hague held talks Friday morning with Burma’s opposition and Aung San Suu Kyi at her lakeside home in Rangoon. Hague’s visit is the first in more than 50 years by the former colonial power’s top diplomat.

Following the meeting, the British foreign secretary told reporters it was an exciting time in Burma as there was a real chance for democracy in the country after decades of military rule.

He voiced support for the government’s reform efforts, including opening a dialogue with Aung San Suu Kyi, loosening its iron grip on the media, allowing labor unions, and releasing some political prisoners.

But, Hague said much more needs to be done, in particular, giving freedom to all remaining political prisoners, estimated to be in the hundreds.  He acknowledged widespread disappointment this week with the government’s Independence Day amnesty, which saw only about 30 such prisoners released.

“It is not possible to say a country is free and democratic while people are still in prison on grounds of their political beliefs.  And, so it is vital for such prisoners to be released if European Union restrictive measures are to be changed,” Hague said.

The EU and United States limit diplomatic relations, trade and investments with Burma because of the military’s violent suppression of democracy movements. But expectations are growing that those restrictions could soon be relaxed.

The EU announced Thursday it would open a representative office in Burma to manage humanitarian aid programs and facilitate political dialogue.

Hague met the same day with leaders of the government, including President Thein Sein, who promised all political prisoners would be released without giving a timetable.

His government is also allowing Aung San Suu Kyi and her National League for Democracy to contest by-elections in April after being sidelined from the historic 2010 election.  The Nobel Prize winner told reporters Friday her goals were clear.

“All political prisoners should be released and there should be all efforts made to put an end to ethnic conflict within our country,” she said.  “And, certainly we would like to see free and fair by-elections.  And, I must add I would like to see the NLD winning very well in those elections.”  

Aung San Suu Kyi was under house arrest for most of the past two decades for challenging military rule and was banned from contesting office.

She was released just days after the 2010 election.  Her NLD won Burma’s previous election in 1990 but the military refused to give up power.

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Britain to Maintain Sanctions Until Burma Frees Political Prisoners

Burma’s pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi met late Monday at her lakeside home with billionaire American philanthropist George Soros, the latest public figure to pay the Nobel Prize laureate a visit since her release a year ago from 15 years of on-and-off house arrest.

Soros, whose foundation supports grantees that provide uncensored news on Burma and activists who call public attention to abuse of power, arrives in the wake of a stream of visits, predominantly by senior foreign dignitaries.

Political Science Professor Carl Thayer of the Australian Defense Force Academy says influential business and political leaders are lining up to ride the crest of change in Burma and to reinforce reform efforts.

“As intelligent as she is, she has been relatively isolated,” he says. “And she needs, I think, the advice of people like Soros and others, the financing and foundations, and people on the ground to provide and reinforce her efforts.”

In the past month, Aung San Suu Kyi met with the U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Thailand’s Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra, and foreign ministers from Indonesia and Japan. Later this week, British Foreign Secretary William Hague is expected to visit.

Hague’s visit will coincide with a general amnesty for prisoners announced Monday by Burma’s state media.

In what is typically a regular gesture to mark Burma’s Independence Day, selected prisoners will have their sentences reduced beginning Tuesday. It is not clear how many in jail will be affected by the amnesty or how many political prisoners will be included.

Burma is holding hundreds of people for their political beliefs. Clinton and other officials visiting Burma have joined Aung San Suu Kyi in calling for their immediate release.

Thitinan Pongsudhirak, Director of the Institute of Security and International Studies at Bangkok’s Chulalongkorn University, says Clinton’s visit opened the way for diplomatic engagement with Burma, also known as Myanmar.

“It is a green light for other countries to begin to lift sanctions [and] provide development assistance,” he says. “They have to be careful by not promoting the commercial interests too much too soon. There are some dissident groups that see all of this as a big kind of commercial deal.”

Burma is a major source of natural gas, gems, and timber, but trade is limited by Western countries because of economic sanctions over the military’s suppression of democracy and human rights.

Since the government of President Thein Sein took office in March, replacing overt military rule, it won praise for a series of liberal political and economic moves. President Thein Sein held direct talks with Aung San Suu Kyi after assuming office.

Thitinan says cooperation between the two is vital for the momentum of reform to be sustained. He says there are still hardliners in the government who would derail the process if it goes too fast.

“The momentum that we are seeing is just unprecedented and breathtaking,” he says. “It is going to be difficult to reverse some of it without incurring a great cost to the Myanmar rulers. Even if they want to slow it down, to reverse it, now they are in too deep. Now I think leading up to the Myanmar chairmanship of ASEAN 2014. I expect the reforms to be sustained.”

On Sunday, Burmese authorities hiked gas prices by 30 percent. A similar unannounced price jump in 2007 sparked protests that were later crushed by the military.

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In Burma, Visiting Dignitaries Line Up to Ride Crest of Change

Burma’s military-backed, but nominally civilian, government has surprised critics with its political and economic reforms this past year. The liberal moves resulted in a visit by U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in December. During her trip, VOA’s Daniel Schearf spoke with residents of the main city, Rangoon, about what they think of the changes, so far.

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s December visit to Burma was both a reward and encouragement for authorities after a year of unexpected reforms.

President Thein Sein, despite being a former general, is slowly moving away from decades of military rule and economic problems.

Although still made up of former officers, his government ordered the release of hundreds of political prisoners, relaxed media censorship and held separate talks with ethnic rebel groups and pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

The Nobel Prize winner was released from 15 years of house arrest in 2010 and plans to run for parliament in next year’s by-election.

Meeting with Clinton at the home where she was detained, Aung San Suu Kyi sounded optimistic about the direction of the country.

“This will be the beginning of a new future for all of us, provided we can maintain it. And, we hope to be able to do so,” she said.

Burma was once the star of Southeast Asia but, much like Rangoon’s British colonial-era buildings, crumbled under military rule. Just months ago most people in Burma were too afraid to talk openly about politics, especially to journalists, who are rarely allowed into the country.

But, since March, the new government’s moves toward reform are encouraging some to speak up.

Riding past Rangoon’s colonial Customs House, trishaw driver Maung Than Zaw says, despite reform efforts, he can barely make ends meet. Things have not gotten better for ordinary people like him;  it is getting worse, he says, adding that is difficult to earn four or five dollars per day.

Rangoon fruit vendor Mi Mi Aye says she worries about being arrested, but still wants to criticize the so-called civilian government. She says nothing has changed, the new government is just the same people as before.

There are others who say the economy and the government are improving.

At the Golden Palace jewelry store, in Rangoon’s Chinatown, a crowd of shoppers press against a long glass display case, clamoring for attention from sales staff.

Owner Aung Kyaw Win has one of Burma’s most famous chains of gold and gem stores.  He says business is good and would be even better if European Union and U.S. sanctions were lifted.

“I think our government, economically, they are trying to change a lot. We are sincerely hoping, because we heard from the newspaper and we can able to see they are changing.”

The government is slowly reducing cumbersome regulations and monopolies that crippled the economy. One key step is unifying the exchange rate to curb corruption. The official rate is seven kyat to the dollar. The actual market rate is 100 times higher.

A money counting machine flips through a stack of Burma’s currency.  At this currency exchange center in Rangoon, U.S. dollars are traded for bricks of kyat.

Many in Burma, like Lwin Aung Zaw, are paid in American dollars, but they are not legally allowed to possess foreign currency without a permit and have to exchange their salaries every month or risk jail.

He says they can exchange foreign currency at these counters. But, according to the law, they are not legally allowed to have foreign money.  He believes it would be better if authorities changed this rule.

At a tea shop in Rangoon a young man rolls dough balls into thin pancakes, called roti, and fries them in oil.

Tea shops are a center of Rangoon social life, where people meet for a snack, but also to talk business and about how Burma is changing. Taxi driver Tint Lwin says, like most people, he is focused more on earning a living than politics.

He says he sees a lot of developments.  Because he is a taxi driver he can only comment from a driver’s point of view. The roads are getting better, he says, but they still have heavy traffic jams.

Retired civil servant Thaung Htwe says he hopes Clinton’s visit will spur more reforms. He hopes that Burma will be developed more in the future.  And he  says by having good relations with the United States, they might see development in all sectors; economy, society, politics and so on.

Despite a more open environment, not everyone welcomes foreign journalists asking questions.

In a Rangoon market, an older man approaches VOA and demands we stop video taping, saying we need permission from local authorities.

“I don’t like it.  We don’t like it…Yeah, this [is] the poor area.  Not for news,” he says.  He recommends we go to a wealthier area to show how rich Burma is.

But locals in the market argue back that they are poor.

Although hopes are raised that Burma’s economy may revive and the country may finally turn the corner to democracy the road ahead is still uncertain. Rights groups point out military abuses continue in ethnic areas, including murder and rape.

And, despite reforms so far, there are still hundreds of political prisoners behind bars which authorities have yet to acknowledge.

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Burma’s Year of Change Raises Hopes

The Dalai Lama spoke Saturday at Penguin Books India’s annual lecture in New Delhi, but with ground rules: No political questions.

His Holiness says he no longer sees himself as a political figure and, while speaking at New Delhi’s India Habitat Centre, kept to spiritual matters rather than get embroiled in discussions about China’s displeasure at his presence here.

Read more on India Real Time.

In recent years, China has re-invigorated its support for leading state-owned enterprises in sectors it considers important to “economic security,” explicitly looking to foster globally competitive national champions.

The Chinese government seeks to add energy production capacity from sources other than coal and oil, and is focusing on nuclear and other alternative energy development.

China is the world’s fastest-growing major economy, with an average growth rate of 10% for the past 30 years.

Nevertheless, key bottlenecks continue to constrain growth.

The two sectors have differed in many respects.

The technological level and quality standards of its industry as a whole are still fairly low, notwithstanding a marked change since 2000, spurred in part by foreign investment.

The market-oriented reforms China has implemented over the past two decades have unleashed individual initiative and entrepreneurship, whilst retaining state domination of the economy.

China now ranks as the fifth largest global investor in outbound direct investment (ODI) with a total volume of $56.5 billion, compared to a ranking of 12th in 2008, the Ministry of Commerce said on Sunday.

From January to June, the ODI in financial sectors was up by 44 percent to $17.9 billion, and in July alone, the ODI recorded $8.91 billion, the highest this year.

China reiterated the nation’s goals for the next decade – increasing market share of pure-electric and plug-in electric autos, building world-competitive auto makers and parts manufacturers in the energy-efficient auto sector as well as raising fuel-efficiency to world levels.

China’s challenge in the early 21st century will be to balance its highly centralized political system with an increasingly decentralized economic system.

Even with these improvements, agriculture accounts for only 20% of the nation’s gross national product.

China is the world’s largest producer of rice and wheat and a major producer of sweet potatoes, sorghum, millet, barley, peanuts, corn, soybeans, and potatoes.

Due to improved technology, the fishing industry has grown considerably since the late 1970s.

Oil fields discovered in the 1960s and after made China a net exporter, and by the early 1990s, China was the world’s fifth-ranked oil producer.

There are also deposits of vanadium, magnetite, copper, fluorite, nickel, asbestos, phosphate rock, pyrite, and sulfur.

China also has extensive hydroelectric energy potential, notably in Yunnan, W Sichuan, and E Tibet, although hydroelectric power accounts for only 5% of the country’s total energy production.

Although a British crown colony until its return to Chinese control in 1997, Hong Kong has long been a major maritime outlet of S China.
Rivers and canals (notably the Grand Canal, which connects the Huang He and the Chang rivers) remain important transportation arteries.

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Elephant in Room for Dalai Lama: China

Billionaire business tycoon Anil Ambani has been appointed to the board of Warwick Business School, becoming the first Indian to be a part of the well-known British institution’s board.

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Anil Ambani appointed to Warwick Business School

India’s talks with Qatar, for an additional 3-4 million tonnes liquefied natural gas (LNG) per year – over and above the current imports of 7.5 million tonnes of LNG a year by Petronet LNG Ltd -, reportedly came to a standstill on Friday over the crucial question about the pricing of the fuel.

According to the information shared by `inside’ sources, the India-Qatar LNG negotiations – which were being held during Qatar Energy Minister Mohammed bin Saleh Al-Sada’s India visit – got stuck when Qatar said that it wanted a price of $16 per million British thermal unit.

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Jiang Zemin, the former Chinese president and Communist party chief, made a surprise appearance in public Sunday for the first time since he was reported to be seriously ill– and possibly dead –three months ago. Mr. Jiang, who is 85 years old, took a seat on stage among other Chinese leaders at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing during a ceremony to mark the 100th anniversary of the revolution that overthrew the Qing dynasty imperial government in 1911. State-run China Central Television showed Mr. Jiang, who retired as party chief in 2002 and as president in 2003, waving and listening to speeches during the ceremony, although his hair seemed to have thinned and at one moment he appeared to be falling asleep. Mr. Jiang, who came to power after the military crackdown on pro-democracy protests around Tiananmen Square in 1989, failed to appear at a similar ceremony in July to mark the 90th anniversary of the ruling Communist Party’s founding, sparking widespread rumors that he was either dead or at the point of death. The Chinese government is extremely secretive about the health of its leaders, not least because the deaths or funerals of previous party chiefs have often been triggers for political unrest, including the Tiananmen demonstrations in 1989. Chinese censors suppressed the rumors about Mr. Jiang’s health online and forbade state media from reporting them, but at least one media outlet in Hong Kong –a former British colony which is allowed greater media freedom–reported that he had actually died in early July. The state-run Xinhua news agency eventually published a rare denial, quoting “authoritative sources” saying the reports were “pure rumor.” Although Mr. Jiang hasn’t played an active role in day-to-day decision-making since his retirement, he has still been consulted on major party decisions, copied in on many important internal documents, and permitted to write notes alongside them, according to Chinese and Western political analysts. Those observers say he and other retired leaders also have a say in the selection of the next Party Politburo Standing Committee – the top decision-making body – which is due to see seven of its nine members retire next year in the biggest shakeup in a decade. Vice President Xi Jinping, 58, has already been anointed as the next party chief and president through his promotion to a key military post last year, but other seats on the Standing Committee are up for grabs and will be decided through horse-trading and maneuvering between various interest groups. Mr. Jiang helped to promote several key allies to the 25-person Politburo and the Standing Committee to preserve his political influence after he was succeeded as party chief by Hu Jintao in 2002, according to political analysts. – Jeremy Page

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Jiang Zemin Appears, Squelching Death Rumors

As the largest foreign holder of US Treasurys, China has a heft in bond markets that no other creditor can claim. The Asian giant is so powerful, in fact, that it could — if it chose — help the White House end the debt-ceiling impasse.

Any threats from Chinese officials that the country plans to slash its Treasury holdings in response to a US downgrade would likely prompt a market selloff. And yet that could have a desirable, longer-term impact if the plunge was sharp enough to help the White House make its case to holdouts in Congress who are blocking a deal.

So far, Treasury prices have been barely dented by the political vacillation in Washington. But a bigger drop in prices might change lawmakers’ minds and hasten an agreement, as it would expose the costs of dithering. In turn this would likely boost Treasurys again and China’s holdings would return to square one. All would be well in the world again.

But would China ever play such Machiavellian game? Not likely, say China experts.

Continue reading on MarketBeat

In recent years, China has re-invigorated its support for leading state-owned enterprises in sectors it considers important to “economic security,” explicitly looking to foster globally competitive national champions.

The Chinese government seeks to add energy production capacity from sources other than coal and oil, and is focusing on nuclear and other alternative energy development.

China is the world’s fastest-growing major economy, with an average growth rate of 10% for the past 30 years.

Available energy is insufficient to run at fully installed industrial capacity, and the transport system is inadequate to move sufficient quantities of such critical items as coal.

Agricultural output has been vulnerable to the effects of weather, while industry has been more directly influenced by the government.

China has acquired some highly sophisticated production facilities through trade and also has built a number of advanced engineering plants capable of manufacturing an increasing range of sophisticated equipment, including nuclear weapons and satellites, but most of its industrial output still comes from relatively ill-equipped factories.

Over the years, large subsidies were built into the price structure, and these subsidies grew substantially in the late 1970s and 1980s.

Both forums will start on Tuesday.

In 2009, global ODI volume reached $1.1 trillion, and China contributed about 5.1 percent of the total.

China is expected to have 200 million cars on the road by 2020, increasing pressure on energy security and the environment, government officials said yesterday.

In large part as a result of economic liberalization policies, the GDP quadrupled between 1978 and 1998, and foreign investment soared during the 1990s.

Despite initial gains in farmers’ incomes in the early 1980s, taxes and fees have increasingly made farming an unprofitable occupation, and because the state owns all land farmers have at times been easily evicted when croplands are sought by developers.

Except for the oasis farming in Xinjiang and Qinghai, some irrigated areas in Inner Mongolia and Gansu, and sheltered valleys in Tibet, agricultural production is restricted to the east.

China ranks first in world production of red meat (including beef, veal, mutton, lamb, and pork).

Growing domestic demand beginning in the mid-1990s, however, has forced the nation to import increasing quantities of petroleum.

Alumina is found in many parts of the country; China is one of world’s largest producers of aluminum.

Coal is the single most important energy source in China; coal-fired thermal electric generators provide over 70% of the country’s electric power.

Although a British crown colony until its return to Chinese control in 1997, Hong Kong has long been a major maritime outlet of S China.
Rivers and canals (notably the Grand Canal, which connects the Huang He and the Chang rivers) remain important transportation arteries.

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How China Could Break the Debt-Ceiling Impasse, And Why It Won’t