No.13 - 04/2006
22 April 2006

Politics

Sino-Burma pipeline will set off more relocations

The 1996-98 forced relocations of 300,000 people from southern Shan State will pale into insignificance in comparison to the one this year when the construction of the oil pipeline linking Arakan State's port of Akyab (Sittwe) with China's Kunming is expected to start, warns a senior Shan ceasefire officer.

He was speaking in response to China Business' 18 April report that the oil pipeline has been given the greenlight by China's National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) at the beginning of this month. The 1,000 km long conduit would provide an alternative route for China's crude imports from the Middle East and Africa and help reduce its dependence on traffic through the Strait of Malacca, says the paper.

"It will be passing through areas north of the Mandalay-Lashio highway", he told S.H.A.N. "Which explains why some of the ceasefire groups were forced to surrender and the SSA (Shan State Army-North) was forced to move south of the road last year."

Two ceasefire groups: Shan State National Army and Palaung State Liberation Army were pressured "to exchange arms for peace" in April 2005 and the SSA-North's Third Brigade was forced to relocate from its operational areas north of the highway in September by the Burma Army's Lashio-based Northeastern Region Command.

"At present, the only group that remains north of the road is the KIA (Kachin Independence Army)'s 4th Brigade," he continued. "That is why it is under pressure to relocate."

Six members of the brigade in Muse, opposite Ruili, were shot to death by the Burma Army's Infantry Battalion 68 without provocation on 2 January. Maj-Gen Myint Hlaing, Commander of the Northeastern Region, had refused to take action on the unit despite protests from the KIA.

"You cannot expect the Army to punish (Maj-Gen) Myint Hlaing either," he said. "Instead, he's said to have been given a new command in Pyimana (where the military has moved its capital since November)."

The KIA's 4 other outposts in northern Shan State were stormed on 20 April, reported Mizzima News.

Re: Sino-Burma pipeline will set off more relocations:

China-Burma Oil Pipeline Plans Shelved
Beijing: Asia Pulse/XIC): 21/04/06
 
The plan to build a crude oil pipeline between Burma and China has been shelved because of viability concerns, Shanghai Securities News cited well-informed sources as saying April 19. The pipeline was vetoed for its poor economics, insiders say.
 
Burma produces no oil and building a transit pipeline is not viable in economic terms. On the other hand, if constructed, the pipeline's capacity would account for merely 10% of the oil shipments currently passing through the Malacca Strait, which would not go far in solving the country's energy supply security concerns.
 
The news contradicted earlier reports that the Chinese government had greenlighted the construction of the pipeline. The Shanghai-based newspaper, however, cited an official with the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) as saying that a bilateral agreement should be reached with Burma first and then NDRC can sanction the project.
 
Sinopec and PetroChina, the two companies reportedly pushing the project forward, have also denied their involvement in the pipeline.

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From: Eric Snider <excelsus@shaw.ca>