Travels in Myanmar: July 2005

Tipitaka Network: Bringing Dhamma Studies to You

From http://www.tipitaka.net/:

Many text on buddhism, incl. full text of Buddhism in Myanmar - A Short History (http://www.tipitaka.net/pali)

Pindaya caves

From http://www.flickr.com/photos/temka/29239199/:

Temka posted a photo:

Myanmar, Shan state, Pindaya caves. February 2005.

Four faces

From http://www.flickr.com/photos/temka/29239198/:

Temka posted a photo:

Maynmar, Bago, Kyaik Pun Paya. February 2005.

Buddha inside

From http://www.flickr.com/photos/temka/29239197/:

Temka posted a photo:

Myanmar, Bagan, inside of Minyeingon paya. February 2005.

Praying

From http://www.flickr.com/photos/temka/29239196/:

Temka posted a photo:

Myanmar, Bagan, Old Bagan, Ananda Pahto inside. February 2005.

Chinese foreign minister to skip ASEAN security forum

From Kyodo News (Asia):

Chinese Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing is making a trip to Myanmar and thus will cancel his attendance at an Asia-Pacific security forum set for Friday, Chinese sources said Wednesday. Three other ministers are also to skip this year's meeting of the annual ASEAN Regional Forum, including U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, Japanese Foreign Minister Nobutaka Machimura and Indian Foreign Minister K. Natwar Singh.
Copyright: Kyodo News (C) All Rights Reserved

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Another setback for ASEAN as China snubs forum

From Google News:

Reuters By Ben Blanchard and Ed Cropley. VIENTIANE (Reuters) - A major Asia-Pacific security forum suffered another setback on Wednesday when Chinese Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing said he would skip the meeting in favor of a surprise trip to Myanmar. ...

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Another setback for ASEAN from China

From KeralaNext: Asia:

VIENTIANE, A major Asia-Pacific security forum suffered another setback on Wednesday when Chinese Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing said he would skip the meeting in favour of a surprise trip to Myanmar.
"I'm going to Myanmar tonight," Li told reporters on the sidelines of an Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) meeting in Vientiane without offering any further details.

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Snubs all round for ASEAN as ministers skip forum

From KeralaNext: Asia:

VIENTIANE, A major Asia-Pacific security forum suffered another serious setback on Wednesday when Chinese Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing said he would skip the meeting for a surprise trip to Myanmar.
His Indian counterpart, Natwar Singh, also pulled out of the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) annual meeting on Thursday and Friday, dealing yet another blow to a security institution already struggling for relevance after no-shows by top diplomats from Washington and Tokyo.

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Reuters World News Highlights 1415 GMT July 27. (WORLD-HIGHLIGHTS-1415) 2005-07-27 10:15:20

From Foreign wire stories (w/summaries):

LONDON - Police arrested four men in central England while hunting for those behind last weeks failed London bomb attacks, and media reports said one of the men was a suspected bomber.

Police declined to say whether a prime suspect had been captured in the dawn raids in the city of Birmingham, but one of the four was taken to the British capital for questioning at a high security detention centre.

- - - -

DUBAI - Al Qaeda in Iraq said it killed the two Algerian envoys it had kidnapped last week, according to an Internet statement.

The statement was posted on a Web site often used by the group led by Abu Musab al-Zarqawi.

- - - -

BAGHDAD - The United States hopes to sharply reduce its forces in Iraq by the middle of next year, its top commander on the ground said.

The remarks by General George Casey appear to have been the first time since the insurgency worsened sharply in April that top Pentagon officials have suggested a timeline for withdrawal.

- - - -

BEIJING - North Korea staked out a tough position on the second day of six-party talks on its nuclear weapons programmes, demanding U.S. concessions as the other five outlined proposals for resolving the crisis.

But with an unusually high level of one-on-one contacts between the North and the United States and a new, open-ended format, the mood at the long-delayed fourth round of talks also including South Korea, Russia, Japan and China remained hopeful.

- - - -

TEHRAN - Iran will resume some key work on its nuclear fuel cycle regardless of what European diplomats propose to defuse a dispute over Tehrans atomic ambitions, Irans president said on Wednesday.

Mohammad Khatami said the nuclear fuel work would fall short of actually producing enriched uranium, which Washington fears Tehran will use in atomic bombs, but stressed that Iran would also ultimately resume its enrichment programme.

- - - -

KERBALA, Iraq - Iraqi commandos have captured an Egyptian said to be an associate of Ayman al-Zawahiri, al Qaedas number two, police sources said.

Police named the suspect as Hamdi Tantawi and said he was detained in a raid on a farmhouse near the town of Yusufiya, south of Baghdad. They said Tantawi was suspected of financing insurgent operations in the area.

- - - -

SHARM EL-SHEIKH, Egypt - Egyptian police have taken DNA samples from four Sinai families as they search for the bombers who killed at least 64 people in the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh, security sources said.

Police are trying to match the DNA from the families with the DNA from remains found at the bomb site, on the assumption that some of the bombers were killed.

- - - -

BEIJING - About 2,000 disgruntled farmers have clashed with hundreds of policemen in Chinas northern region of Inner Mongolia in a land dispute that injured dozens in fighting one government official described as anarchy".

The July 21 clash in Qianjin village, a part of Tongliao city about 725 km (450 miles) northeast of Beijing, was one of a growing number of protests across China, most of which go unreported in the tightly controlled state media.

- - - -

VIENTIANE - A major Asia-Pacific security forum suffered another serious setback when Chinese Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing said he would skip the meeting for a surprise trip to Myanmar.

His Indian counterpart, Natwar Singh, also pulled out of the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) annual meeting on Thursday and Friday, dealing yet another blow to a security institution already struggling for relevance after no-shows by top diplomats from Washington and Tokyo.

REUTERS Reut14:15 07-27-05

Copyright: (c) TWP, AP, Reuters, others as appropriate

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UPDATE 3-Snubs all round for ASEAN as ministers skip forum. (ASEAN-(UPDATE-3,) 2005-07-27 08:36:32

From Foreign wire stories (w/summaries):

(Adds background, edits)

By Ben Blanchard and Ed Cropley

VIENTIANE, July 27 (Reuters) - A major Asia-Pacific security forum suffered another serious setback on Wednesday when Chinese Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing said he would skip the meeting for a surprise trip to Myanmar.

His Indian counterpart, Natwar Singh, also pulled out of the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) annual meeting on Thursday and Friday, dealing yet another blow to a security institution already struggling for relevance after no-shows by top diplomats from Washington and Tokyo.

Im going to Myanmar tonight, Li told reporters on the sidelines of an Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) meeting in Vientiane without offering any further details.

An aide said Li would not return to the Lao capital after his visit to Yangon -- which announced on Tuesday it would be skipping its turn as ASEAN chairman in 2006 -- because of an "unplanned event".

China watchers said protocol-minded China may have felt awkward with its foreign minister sitting down opposite mere deputies from Washington, Tokyo and New Delhi.

But his absence casts an even longer shadow over ARF, which is already missing U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and her Japanese counterpart Nobutaka Machimura, who have more pressing interests elsewhere.

Machimura is in New York lobbying for a permanent Japanese seat on the United Nations Security Council. Rices office insists other essential travel is behind her absence from the ARF, a regular fixture for her predecessors.

In southeast Asia, theyve fallen back a little too easily on platitudes and generalities rather than delivering outcomes, said Ross Babbage of Canberra-based consultancy Strategy International.

The major external players want to talk substance and get on and get things done. Now ASEAN is paying the price."

NORTH KOREA THERE, BUT ELSEWHERE

Lis decision to head to Yangon and meet the former Burmas military junta smacked of China seeking to firm up already strong ties with its internationally reviled but resource-rich southern neighbour, he added.

This is a great opportunity for the Chinese to underline their special relationship with Burma, Babbage said.

The resumption in Beijing of six-way talks to resolve North Koreas nuclear crisis -- an issue that has long dominated ARF meetings, given the presence of top diplomats from Pyongyang and Washington -- has also pushed it deeper into obscurity.

With typical resolve, ASEAN officials refused to accept the big country pullouts had turned their big day in the spotlight into a diplomatic sideshow.

Lots of them are here, but they are just leaving," spokesman M.C. Abad told a news conference. The fact that many of them are here assures us they remain committed to the objectives of the ARF. They have said so."

Australia, which has been trying to foster closer ties in Asia, was one of the few ASEAN partners expressing a commitment, making clear it would ratify a regional non-aggression pact in October to allow for its inclusion in a 16-country East Asia Summit in December.

REUTERS Reut12:36 07-27-05

Copyright: (c) TWP, AP, Reuters, others as appropriate

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Another setback for ASEAN as China snubs forum

From Moreover Technologies - China news:

VIENTIANE (Reuters) - A major Asia-Pacific security forum suffered another setback on Wednesday when Chinese Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing said he would skip the meeting in favor of a surprise trip to Myanmar. '

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UPDATE 2-Another setback for ASEAN as China snubs forum. (ASEAN-(UPDATE-2,) 2005-07-27 07:01:39

From Foreign wire stories (w/summaries):

(Recasts with Chinese foreign minister skipping meeting)

By Ben Blanchard and Ed Cropley

VIENTIANE, July 27 (Reuters) - A major Asia-Pacific security forum suffered another setback on Wednesday when Chinese Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing said he would skip the meeting in favour of a surprise trip to Myanmar.

Im going to Myanmar tonight, Li told reporters on the sidelines of an Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) meeting in Vientiane without offering any further details.

One of his aides said Li would not return to the Lao capital after his visit to Yangon -- which announced on Tuesday it would be skipping its turn as ASEAN chairman in 2006 -- because of an unplanned event".

Lis absence casts an even longer shadow over Thursday and Fridays ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF), already missing U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and her Japanese counterpart Nobutaka Machimura, who have more pressing interests elsewhere.

Machimura is in New York lobbying for a permanent Japanese seat on the United Nations Security Council. Rices office insists other essential travel is behind her absence from the ARF, a regular fixture for her predecessors.

Officials in New Delhi said Indian Foreign Minister Natwar Singh had also pulled out of the meeting -- another major blow to a security institution increasingly struggling for relevance.

In southeast Asia, theyve fallen back a little too easily on platitudes and generalities rather than delivering outcomes, said Ross Babbage of Canberra-based consultancy Strategy International.

The major external players want to talk substance and get on and get things done. Now ASEAN is paying the price."

He also said Lis decision to head for talks with the former Burmas military junta smacked of China seeking to firm up already strong ties with its internationally reviled but resource-rich southern neighbour.

This is a great opportunity for the Chinese to underline their special relationship with Burma, Babbage said.

NORTH KOREA THERE, BUT ELSEWHERE

The resumption in Beijing of six-way talks to resolve North Koreas nuclear crisis -- an issue that has always dominated ARF meetings, given the presence of top diplomats from Pyongyang and Washington -- has also pushed the forum into the background.

Before announcing his departure, Li said discussions involving the two Koreas, China, Japan, Russia and the United States were going well.

The six-party talks started yesterday morning and I spoke at the opening ceremony. Its going on well now, I believe, Li told reporters.

Australia, which has been trying to foster closer ties in Asia, looks likely to complete a formalised friendship treaty with ASEAN in October, paving the way for its participation in a 16-country East Asia summit in December.

The treaty committee process should be complete by about October, Foreign Minister Alexander Downer told reporters.

REUTERS Reut11:01 07-27-05

Copyright: (c) TWP, AP, Reuters, others as appropriate

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Another setback for ASEAN as China snubs forum (Reuters)

From Yahoo! Australia & NZ News - World:

VIENTIANE (Reuters) - A major Asia-Pacific security forum
suffered another setback on Wednesday when Chinese Foreign
Minister Li Zhaoxing said he would skip the meeting in favor of
a surprise trip to Myanmar. Copyright: Copyright (c) 2005 Yahoo! Inc. All rights reserved.

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