Newley Purnell
The story is here, and begins:
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Wednesday that the U.S. will start easing some of its most rigorous economic restrictions on Myanmar following the country’s April 1 by-elections, which came amid continuing political reforms in the country. Does this mean Americans will soon be able to start legally buying Myanmar’s world-renowned gems, which are currently blocked by law in the U.S.?
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For politics nerds only…
Anasuya is back in Bangkok after covering the recent Myanmar elections.
Imagine my joy, as someone who loves political ephemera, when she showed me the items pictured above.
I may scan in a few of the documents later and share them here, but wanted I post this snapshot for now.
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The story is here, and begins:
As Myanmar tallies the last votes from Sunday’s critical parliamentary by-elections, many business leaders are pondering the implications of the country’s recent run of political reforms. For many Southeast Asia-based companies, the big issue is whether migrant workers from the country also known as Burma decide to return home, resulting in a tighter labor market – especially in Thailand.
Give it a read and please consider sharing it on Facebook or Twitter, if you’re so inclined.
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Just briefly, I wanted to pass along a snapshot of a few of today’s front pages following yesterday’s landmark elections in Myanmar.
As you can see in the image above, The Bangkok Post ran a photo of some of Aung San Suu Kyi’s supporters. The IHT has an image of Suu Kyi herself. And The Wall Street Journal has a front page story about the election. (The photo is of damage caused by the recent bombings in Southern Thailand.)
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Just briefly: there are stories about Myanmar’s parliamentary by-elections today from Bloomberg, The WSJ, Reuters, The New York Times, and many more.
The latest news, as the AP reports, is that Aung San Suu Kyi’s Party says she has won a parliamentary seat.
Meanwhile, the Democratic Voice of Burma has a liveblog featuring text and video updates.
And for real-time reports with local color, I suggest the following journalists, who are Tweeting from Myanmar:
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U.S. Senator John McCain was in Thailand yesterday ahead of a visit to assess the situation in Myanmar.
He addressed the media yesterday evening, and I filed a story for ABC News Radio. But I also wanted to share some notes from his remarks that I posted on Twitter (@newley) a few hours ago.
In addition, U.S. Ambassador to Thailand Kristie Kenney spoke about the case of the American citizen recently arrested on lèse-majesté charges.
Here goes:
1. Notes from U.S. @SenJohnMcCain‘s remarks to journalists here in Bangkok yesterday… (1/12)
2. @SenJohnMcCain will visit govt officials & then meet with Aung San Suu Kyi. Goal of trip is to assess the situation there. (2/12)
3. @SenJohnMcCain says there has been progress in recent years but he is realistic about the junta’s willingness to change. (3/12)
4. @SenJohnMcCain: “We should greet what’s happened so far in Myanmar with a healthy dose of skepticism.” (4/12)
5. ASSK has said she’ll tour the country in June. How trip goes will be strong indicator of whether govt is interested in reform. (5/12)
6. @SenJohnMcCain: China has significant influence in Myanmar. But China, too, should reform. Govt there shouldn’t block Web. (6/12)
7. @SenJohnMcCain: “In China you can’t Twitter.” He had meeting w/ high ranking Chinese official in Wash., DC a few weeks back… (7/12)
8. @SenJohnMcCain: “I said if you really want to convince us that you’re progressing then let your people Twitter. Let ‘em tweet.” (8/12)
9. U.S. Ambassador @KristieKenney on arrest of U.S. citizen on lèse-majesté charges… (9/12)
10. @KristieKenney: We “take the arrest of this American citizen very seriously…” (10/12)
11. @KristieKenney: “We do also very strongly believe as Americans in freedom of expression…” (11/12)
12. @KristieKenney: “We are visiting with this American…and we are discussing the case with Thai authorities.” (12/12)
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Not that the two are related, obviously. But given my absence last week, a couple of quick follow-ups:
First, I mentioned how to track the Myanmar elections online, so I wanted to weigh in again on a related topic: the release of Aung San Suu Kyi.
Here’s a NYT story about Saturday’s events, and here’s an interview she gave to the BBC not long after she was freed.
I recommend checking out this piece in the The Telegraph by Justin Wintle, who wrote a 2007 biography of Suu Kyi. He puts her release into perspective:
Any celebrations, however, are likely to be shortlived. Any thought that she will or can do a Nelson Mandela and walk to power in triumph is misbegotten. Should she opt to return to the hustings, or cause the regime any other kind of embarrassment, she will find herself confined to her residence for a fourth time, and probably without any eventual release date.
Having gone to such pains to protect and reinforce his position, Than Shwe is unlikely to seek a dialogue with Aung San Suu Kyi in the interests of national reconciliation or any other cause.
More ominously, Miss Suu Kyi’s restored freedom may allow the army’s dirty tricks department to complete the job so badly botched at Depayin in 2003.
On the face of it, then, Suu Kyi’s political ‘journey’ (to borrow Tony Blair’s way of seeing things) has been in vain.
By refusing to contest the 2010 election on the grounds that to do so would have meant both signing up to a new constitution launched by the junta in 2008 and acknowledging that the 1990 election result was now dead wood, the NLD has permanently damaged its ability to make any further meaningful contribution to Burmese political life.
(Emphasis mine.)
For more reading on the subject of potential reform in Myanmar, I suggest checking out this WSJ story, “Myanmar Opposition Group Has New Tack: Cooperation.” And here’s a more recent NYT story about what comes next for Suu Kyi.
And second, I wanted to point out that yesterday Viktor Bout — the alleged Russian arms dealer I’ve mentioned before — was extradited to the U.S. to face terrorism charges.
Here are stories from The AP, CNN, the NYT, and Bloomberg. More on this — and Myanmar — soon, I’m sure.
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Myanmar is holding elections today for the first time in 20 years. Critics, however, say the vote is a sham designed to allow the military junta to remain in control of the country while claiming to be undertaking democratic reforms.
While it’s unlikely there will be any surprising developments, here are some resources for following today’s events online:
For background reading, here are three stories worth checking out:
Image: Reuters.
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WSJ: “Myanmar’s Neighbors Advance Pipeline Project”
HSIPAW, Myanmar — China and its neighbors are moving ahead on a multibillion-dollar oil-and-gas pipeline project that promises to greatly enhance the financial strength of Myanmar’s military regime and boost its political clout in Asia.
That promise comes as the U.S. is seeking new ways to weaken Myanmar’s regime, which has used force and imprisonment to subdue political opposition and ethnic separatists over the years, and which some analysts fear could someday pose a threat to other countries as it builds up its military. Past strategies, including the use of economic sanctions to hobble Myanmar’s junta, have largely failed.
And:
When completed, the pipeline will help unlock large untapped deposits of natural gas off Myanmar’s coast and carry it hundreds of miles to southern China, expanding Myanmar’s role as one of Asia’s important energy exporters and enhancing its influence over other countries that rely on its supplies.
(Emphasis mine.)
There’s also a video and some graphics that are worth checking out.
UPDATE: This story appears to be available to non-WSJ subscribers via Google News, but the link I provided above seems to be subscriber-only.
UPDATE 2: I meant to mention this earlier, but U.S. Senator Jim Webb, who met with Aung San Suu Kyi in August, has often warned of China’s growing influence in Myanmar. News of this pipeline project would obviously be a case in point.
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Some links that have caught my eye of late:
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I'm Newley Purnell, an American journalist in Bangkok. I report for Bloomberg BNA, ABC News Radio, The Chronicle of Higher Education, and more.