Naypyidaw goes nuclear?

[GWR]

Larry Jagan previously covered Myanmar politics for the British Broadcasting Corp. He is currently a freelance journalist based in Bangkok. See entire article by following link.

Will this also spur plans for the development of reactors in Thailand I wonder?:

Myanmar drops a nuclear 'bombshell'
By Larry Jagan

BANGKOK - Myanmar's military leaders have never made a secret of their interest in developing a domestic nuclear-energy industry. Plans to buy a nuclear reactor from Russia have been in the pipeline for years, and this month in Moscow the two sides formally resurrected those controversial plans.
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http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Southeast_Asia/IE24Ae02.html

[GWR]

From linked Asia Times article in previous post:

Last year's shipments from North Korea also reportedly upset China - as neither Pyongyang nor Yangon informed Beijing of the two countries' increasing military-to-military contacts. For their part, Chinese authorities are convinced that Myanmar has recently received military hardware, including missiles, from North Korea, but not nuclear weapons or materials, according to a senior government source in Beijing.

The latest North Korean shipment arrived in Yangon this week and its cargo is being unloaded amid exceptionally tight security, according to Yangon residents who have passed by the port facilities.

Junta Says N Korean Ship Harbored to Take Shelter from Storm
By The Associated Press
May 23, 2007

A North Korean ship that docked near Rangoon was in distress and taking shelter from a storm, and inspections by Burmese authorities found no suspicious cargo on board, Burma’s Foreign Ministry said Wednesday.

In a statement sent to foreign embassies Wednesday, the ministry said a storm caused the North Korean cargo ship Kang Nam I, which was sailing in Burmese territorial waters, to develop engine trouble in one of its engines and have inadequate supplies of food and water.

It was allowed to dock Sunday at Thilawa port, 30 kilometers (20 miles) south of Rangoon, for humanitarian reasons to make repairs and take on supplies, the statement said.

Burma permitted another North Korean cargo ship, the MV Bong Hoafan, to anchor at a port last November under similar circumstances and also announced then that it had conducted an inspection and "found no suspicious material or military equipment" on board.

Following North Korea's nuclear test last October, the UN Security Council unanimously approved sanctions that included inspections of North Korean ships.

The incident involving the M V Bong Hoafan grabbed attention because of suspicions that North Korea supplies weapons and weapons technology to Burma. Both countries are pariah states, shunned by much of the international community, and North Korea has a record of exporting missiles and other weapons to countries that might not otherwise be able to obtain such armaments.

Foreign diplomats were similarly curious about the Kang Nam I.

"Myanmar [Burmese] port authorities of the Ministry of Transport made necessary inspections on board and did not find any suspicious cargo or military equipment aboard the ship," said the Foreign Ministry statement, a copy of which was obtained by The Associated Press.

It said the ship left port in Burma with its captain and 18 crew members on Wednesday morning.

Burma and North Korea, two of Asia's most authoritarian countries, signed an agreement last month to resume diplomatic ties. Ties were severed in 1983 after a bombing carried out by North Korean spies seeking to assassinate South Korea's then-president, Chun Doo-hwan, during a visit to Rangoon.


http://www.irrawaddy.org/aviewer.asp?a=7139&z=163

[GWR]

http://www.irrawaddy.org/aviewer.asp?a=7146&z=163

Skepticism over North Korean Ship’s Mission
By Kyaw Zwa Moe
May 24, 2007

Observers in Burma reacted with skepticism on Thursday to a statement by the country’s military government saying a North Korean ship that took shelter from a storm near Rangoon carried no suspicious cargo. They said they believed the ship was on “secret mission.”

A Burmese analyst said Burma and North Korea wanted to hide the purpose of the ship’s presence in Burmese waters. Speaking in a phone interview from Rangoon, the analyst requested anonymity, saying the issue was dangerously sensitive.

Other observers agree with his assessment of the ship’s secret purpose. A veteran local journalist said it was believed that the ship carried military equipment or an even more sensitive cargo. A normal cargo could be ruled out, he said.

Persistent reports over the past few years have suggested that Burma has been seeking to buy missile technology from North Korea. Andrew Selth, a military analyst and expert on the Burmese armed forces, wrote that in early 2002 the Burmese government reportedly began talks with North Korea on the purchase of one or two submarines.

The voyage of the North Korean ship follows last month’s resumption of diplomatic ties, which were severed in 1983 after a Rangoon attack by North Korean agents on a South Korean delegation headed by then-president Chun Doo-hwan.

The ship incident is the second of its kind within the past six months. Last November, the Korean freighter MV Bong Hoafan docked in Rangoon amid similar weather conditions. The Burmese military regime announced that it had inspected the ship and found neither suspicious cargo nor military equipment on board.

“Who knows if this latest ship brought that kind of stuff?” the Rangoon analyst asked. “No third party can inspect it.” The visits of the two North Korean ships were no coincidence, he said.

The analyst thought North Korea would probably get involved in Burma’s search for uranium to fuel a nuclear reactor. The Burmese regime has confirmed publicly that uranium deposits have been found in five areas: Magwe, Taungdwingyi, Kyaukphygon and Paongpyin, in Mogok, and Kyauksin, Residents of Thabeikkyin township, 60 miles north of Mandalay, and southern Tenasserim Division, say searches are underway in those areas, too.

Earlier this month, Russia’s federal atomic energy agency Rosatom announced it would help Burma build a 10-megawatt nuclear reactor for “research in nuclear physics, biotechnology, material science.” Last year, a new nuclear physics department was launched in Rangoon and Mandalay universities, and the Rangoon analyst said students had been enrolled by the government.

The analyst said he believed Burma’s military leaders might be encouraged by the North Korean example to use its nuclear program as a bargaining chip in dealing with Western governments.

[GWR]

http://www.irrawaddy.org/aviewer.asp?a=7145&z=163

China OKs Naypyidaw Move but Uneasy about Nuclear Burma
By The Irrawaddy
May 24, 2007

Criticism of the Burmese government move to Naypyidaw, which appeared on a Chinese embassy website, has been abruptly removed, informed sources in Rangoon told The Irrawaddy on Thursday.

A Reuters report earlier said the criticism, posted by a Chinese diplomat in Rangoon, “came as a huge shock to diplomats in Rangoon, including the Chinese.”

The diplomat wrote critically about the difficulties of traveling to and from Naypyidaw, which became Burma’s new capital in a surprise move in 2005. "If you are in a rush and unable to get a flight, you'll have to drive, but the road is not good, and it takes about seven hours one way," his report said. "Many people can't stand it."

Chinese diplomats in Rangoon had no comment to make. But a well-informed Chinese source in Thailand told The Irrawaddy that the account, posted by a “young diplomat,” on the official web site was “unprofessional” and was not in line with Beijing’s policy. The source said China did not really care about the move to Naypyidaw.

China is considered to be Burma’s major political and military ally, providing the regime with arms and also diplomatic support at the UN and in other international arenas. Its support for the move to Naypyidaw extended last year to the provision of 130 railway carriages for the train service between Rangoon and the new capital.

The gift was a clear indication that China was not out of touch with the planned move to Naypyidaw and had no complaint to make about the move.

One of the first official foreign visitors to Naypyidaw was China’s Minister for Information Industry, Wang Xudong, who was welcomed there in April 2006, six months after the relocation.

China’s ready acceptance of the relocation was in contrast to reactions in other neighboring countries in the region, which were kept in the dark about the plan and expressed shock and dismay when the move was announced.

While China uncomplainingly accepted the move, Western diplomats in Rangoon publicly expressed reluctance to relocate their embassies to central Burma. Eric John, US Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for East Asia and the Pacific, told The Irrawaddy in 2006 that the US, which had embarked on the construction of a new embassy in Rangoon, had no plan to designate the Rangoon mission now as a consulate.

John said Naypyidaw was no legitimate capital but merely an ego project of Burmese military leaders.

Chinese diplomats have other things on their minds right now, following the announcement that Russia is to help Burma build a nuclear research facility. The Chinese source in Bangkok said China was watching developments.

China has so far made no statement on the nuclear reactor project, which will entail the construction by Russia's atomic energy agency Rosatom of a 10-megawatt nuclear reactor with low enriched uranium consisting of less than 20% uranium-235.

China has actively participated in six-nation talks involving North Korea, which recently successfully detonated a nuclear weapon. That development and the move now by Burma to master nuclear technology have set alarm bells ringing in Beijing. The Chinese source said that although China wants to maintain its friendship with Burma and exert its influence in the region, it certainly isn’t comfortable sharing borders with such unpredictable nuclear neighbors as North Korea and Burma.

[GWR]

Has Aung Lwin Oo got muddled up about the Ian McCartney below?:
confused:

UK Lawmakers Troubled by Nuclear Burma
By Aung Lwin Oo
May 25, 2007

Britain’s Minister of State for Trade this week said the UK is concerned about the recent announcement of Burma’s plans to acquire a Russian-built nuclear facility and wants further details about the plan.

“Any such export would need to be consistent with both parties’ relevant international obligations, including those under the nuclear non-proliferation treaty,” said Ian McCartney, chairman of the Conservative Party Human Rights Commission and the UK minister for trade. He added that the UK will be seeking “clarification” on the deal.

Responding to a parliamentary question on Wednesday, McCartney said the International Atomic Energy Agency would need to be able to verify fulfillment of Burma’s obligations under the treaty, “through the Comprehensive Safeguards Agreement which Burma has signed with the Agency.”

Russia’s federal atomic energy agency Rosatom on May 15 announced its plan to help build a nuclear facility in Burma. The agency’s statement said that a 10-megawatt nuclear reactor with less than 20 percent uranium-235 aims to help Burma’s “research in nuclear physics, bio-technology, material science as well as to produce a big variety of medicines.”

The first round of talks on specific details of the plan has begun in Moscow, and further discussions have been scheduled later this year. The agency’s statement maintained that the facility would be under the control of the IAEA.

“We are deeply concerned about reports that Russia may be involved in the transfer of nuclear technology to Burma, and we urge the British Government to take this matter very seriously,” said Stephen Crabb, a Conservative Party MP.

Last week, Washington expressed its objections to the plan. Tom Casey, the deputy spokesperson for the US State Department said that Burma lacks “accounting mechanisms” and “other kinds of security procedures” that would ensure such a facility would operate without accidents or the improper transfer of technology out of Burma. “It’s not a good idea,” he concluded in a press briefing on May 16.

Burma is a signatory to the Bangkok Treaty of 1995, which includes a ban on the development, manufacture, possession, control, stationing or transport, testing or use of nuclear weapons under the international Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.

http://www.irrawaddy.org/aviewer.asp?a=7149&z=163

Ian McCartney
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Ian McCartney
Minister of State for Trade
Incumbent
Assumed office
May 5, 2006
Born 25 April 1951
Political party Labour

Ian McCartney (born 25 April 1951) is a British Labour politician who is the member of Parliament for Makerfield. He is currently the Minister of State for Trade, attending the Cabinet but not actively voting in it.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ian_McCartney

[GWR]

http://www.irrawaddy.org/aviewer.asp?a=7153&z=166

Suspicion Hardens over Burma’s Nuclear Ambitions
By Aung Zaw
May 25, 2007