AI
Tuesday, October 19, 2004 12:00:47 PM
Myanmar’s removal of Khin Nyunt could favor China
Currently, 60% of China's oil imports are transmitted through the Malacca Strait. Should it ever be blocked, China would suffer enormously. China therefore has proposed an alternative route, a Sino-Myanmar pipeline.
#msg-4103878
It is obvious China understands this is not about the U.S. wanting command of the Strait of Malacca solely to fight terrorism.
Myanmar’s tilt away from democracy and Musharraf’s predicted downfall which could be an invitation for China to walk into Pakistan will drastically change the complexion of the region or the world for that matter.
#msg-4327075
Silly Bush, he does all the bombing and the ‘hard work’ and the watcher, China, crouches and waits for the right moment.
-Am
Myanmar's Secretive Regime Ousts PM
Updated 10:36 AM ET October 19, 2004
By DANIEL LOVERING
BANGKOK, Thailand (AP) - Myanmar's secretive military regime has forced out its prime minister, seen as a relative pragmatist, and replaced him with a general who has taken a hard line in dealing with the country's pro-democracy movement.
Myanmar's state radio and television announced Tuesday that Prime Minister Gen. Khin Nyunt was replaced by a top member of the country's ruling junta, Lt. Gen. Soe Win.
Khin Nyunt was "permitted to retire for health reasons," the statement said _ a euphemism used in the past for the forced ouster of Cabinet members. The statement was signed by the junta's supreme leader, Senior Gen. Than Shwe.
The removal of Khin Nyunt could tilt the balance of power toward harder-line generals and further delay the stalled reconciliation process with the pro-democracy opposition led by Nobel Peace Prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi.
Officials in neighboring Thailand said Khin Nyunt had been removed and placed under house arrest on corruption charges.
Myanmar, formerly known as Burma, has been under military rule since 1962. The poor, isolated Southeast Asian nation has faced sanctions by western countries for years over its failure to introduce democratic reforms and to release Suu Kyi from house arrest. The European Union tightened its sanctions last week. Human rights groups accuse Myanmar of violations including using political prisoners as slave laborers.
Pro-democracy protests led by Suu Kyi were bloodily suppressed in 1988, and Khin Nyunt was one of the younger generation of generals who assumed power.
In the past year, Khin Nyunt, also head of military intelligence, promoted what he called a roadmap toward democracy in U.N.-brokered contacts between the government and Suu Kyi's party, the National League for Democracy. The talks went nowhere, and critics accused the government of using stalling tactics to retain its monopoly on power.
Soe Win is believed to espouse a hard line in dealing with Suu Kyi's movement and with foreign critics who want the army to hand over power to an elected government. With the appointment, Soe Win moves from his high-ranking post of secretary-1 of the junta, which is officially called the State Peace and Development Council.
A spokesman for the Thai government _ which frequently reports on internal affairs of Myanmar's closed society _ said Khin Nyunt had been placed under house arrest on corruption charges.
"We can confirm that Khin Nyunt has been removed from the position of prime minister and is being detained under house arrest," Jakrapob Penkair told The Associated Press.
There were rumors in Myanmar that soldiers had raided military intelligence headquarters, which Khin Nyunt had long headed and was the source of his power. There was no sign of increased military presence in Yongon, the Myanmar capital.
The military intelligence position was expected to be filled by Maj. Gen. Myint Swe, the 53-year-old commander of Yangon Division's military forces, according to sources in the Myanmar capital, Yangon, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
Newspaper editors in Myanmar were told Monday night not to publish any news about Khin Nyunt in Tuesday's papers. Monday's newspapers carried pictures of Khin Nyunt on their front pages unveiling a plaque for an HIV/AIDS prevention exhibition in the northern city of Mandalay.
A customs official at a checkpoint in Mai Sai, a northern Thai border town, said Myanmar officials had halted trade Tuesday after hearing rumors of a coup. "Basically, commercial trade has stopped completely," said Kiartchai Phongprapai, an assistant border official.
Khin Nyunt had been in an awkward position since last month, when regular army soldiers raided a checkpoint dominated by military intelligence officers at Muse on the Myanmar-China border. Large quantities of gold, jade and currency were seized.
Some 150 intelligence, immigration, customs and police personnel were arrested, including at least three military intelligence colonels who remain in custody and are expected to be charged.
Khin Nyunt assumed the prime minister's post last year in what was seen as a demotion from the positions he had previously held in the ruling clique of generals, increasingly dominated in recent years by hard-liners.
Copyright 2004 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
http://dailynews.att.net/cgi-bin/news?e=pri&dt=041019&cat=news&st=newsd85qicuo3&src=....
Myanmar is Burma.
Reference:
The United States is trying for control of the Strait of Malacca. US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said during a visit to Singapore that he hoped to have US troops fighting terrorism in Southeast Asia "pretty soon". His comments fuelled speculation that the United States wants to deploy US forces in the Strait of Malacca, the narrow and busy shipping lane straddled by Malaysia, Indonesia and Singapore that is seen as a likely terrorist target. More than one million tonnes of oil a year -- well over 80 percent of China's imports -- are shipped through the narrow strait.
#msg-3404130
#msg-3542419
Currently, 60% of China's oil imports are transmitted through the Malacca Strait. Should it ever be blocked, China would suffer enormously. China therefore has proposed an alternative route, a Sino-Myanmar pipeline.
#msg-4103878
It is obvious China understands this is not about the U.S. wanting command of the Strait of Malacca solely to fight terrorism.
Myanmar’s tilt away from democracy and Musharraf’s predicted downfall which could be an invitation for China to walk into Pakistan will drastically change the complexion of the region or the world for that matter.
#msg-4327075
Silly Bush, he does all the bombing and the ‘hard work’ and the watcher, China, crouches and waits for the right moment.
-Am
Myanmar's Secretive Regime Ousts PM
Updated 10:36 AM ET October 19, 2004
By DANIEL LOVERING
BANGKOK, Thailand (AP) - Myanmar's secretive military regime has forced out its prime minister, seen as a relative pragmatist, and replaced him with a general who has taken a hard line in dealing with the country's pro-democracy movement.
Myanmar's state radio and television announced Tuesday that Prime Minister Gen. Khin Nyunt was replaced by a top member of the country's ruling junta, Lt. Gen. Soe Win.
Khin Nyunt was "permitted to retire for health reasons," the statement said _ a euphemism used in the past for the forced ouster of Cabinet members. The statement was signed by the junta's supreme leader, Senior Gen. Than Shwe.
The removal of Khin Nyunt could tilt the balance of power toward harder-line generals and further delay the stalled reconciliation process with the pro-democracy opposition led by Nobel Peace Prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi.
Officials in neighboring Thailand said Khin Nyunt had been removed and placed under house arrest on corruption charges.
Myanmar, formerly known as Burma, has been under military rule since 1962. The poor, isolated Southeast Asian nation has faced sanctions by western countries for years over its failure to introduce democratic reforms and to release Suu Kyi from house arrest. The European Union tightened its sanctions last week. Human rights groups accuse Myanmar of violations including using political prisoners as slave laborers.
Pro-democracy protests led by Suu Kyi were bloodily suppressed in 1988, and Khin Nyunt was one of the younger generation of generals who assumed power.
In the past year, Khin Nyunt, also head of military intelligence, promoted what he called a roadmap toward democracy in U.N.-brokered contacts between the government and Suu Kyi's party, the National League for Democracy. The talks went nowhere, and critics accused the government of using stalling tactics to retain its monopoly on power.
Soe Win is believed to espouse a hard line in dealing with Suu Kyi's movement and with foreign critics who want the army to hand over power to an elected government. With the appointment, Soe Win moves from his high-ranking post of secretary-1 of the junta, which is officially called the State Peace and Development Council.
A spokesman for the Thai government _ which frequently reports on internal affairs of Myanmar's closed society _ said Khin Nyunt had been placed under house arrest on corruption charges.
"We can confirm that Khin Nyunt has been removed from the position of prime minister and is being detained under house arrest," Jakrapob Penkair told The Associated Press.
There were rumors in Myanmar that soldiers had raided military intelligence headquarters, which Khin Nyunt had long headed and was the source of his power. There was no sign of increased military presence in Yongon, the Myanmar capital.
The military intelligence position was expected to be filled by Maj. Gen. Myint Swe, the 53-year-old commander of Yangon Division's military forces, according to sources in the Myanmar capital, Yangon, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
Newspaper editors in Myanmar were told Monday night not to publish any news about Khin Nyunt in Tuesday's papers. Monday's newspapers carried pictures of Khin Nyunt on their front pages unveiling a plaque for an HIV/AIDS prevention exhibition in the northern city of Mandalay.
A customs official at a checkpoint in Mai Sai, a northern Thai border town, said Myanmar officials had halted trade Tuesday after hearing rumors of a coup. "Basically, commercial trade has stopped completely," said Kiartchai Phongprapai, an assistant border official.
Khin Nyunt had been in an awkward position since last month, when regular army soldiers raided a checkpoint dominated by military intelligence officers at Muse on the Myanmar-China border. Large quantities of gold, jade and currency were seized.
Some 150 intelligence, immigration, customs and police personnel were arrested, including at least three military intelligence colonels who remain in custody and are expected to be charged.
Khin Nyunt assumed the prime minister's post last year in what was seen as a demotion from the positions he had previously held in the ruling clique of generals, increasingly dominated in recent years by hard-liners.
Copyright 2004 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
http://dailynews.att.net/cgi-bin/news?e=pri&dt=041019&cat=news&st=newsd85qicuo3&src=....
Myanmar is Burma.
Reference:
The United States is trying for control of the Strait of Malacca. US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said during a visit to Singapore that he hoped to have US troops fighting terrorism in Southeast Asia "pretty soon". His comments fuelled speculation that the United States wants to deploy US forces in the Strait of Malacca, the narrow and busy shipping lane straddled by Malaysia, Indonesia and Singapore that is seen as a likely terrorist target. More than one million tonnes of oil a year -- well over 80 percent of China's imports -- are shipped through the narrow strait.
#msg-3404130
#msg-3542419
Discover What Traders Are Watching
Explore small cap ideas before they hit the headlines.
