Press Release 

February 14, 2009

Protests in Front of the Chinese Embassy in Asia

Hundreds of Arakanese from Union of Burma will hold protests in front of the Chinese embassy in Kuala Lumpur, Bangkok, Dhaka, and New Delhi on February 19, 2009 at 1.00 PM to urge the Chinese government to stop a proposed gas pipeline from Arakan State to Yunnan Province.

On December 24, 2008, the China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) signed an agreement with the Burmese military junta, State Peace and Development Council (SPDC),  to pipe out gas from Arakan State, western Burma, to Yunnan Province, west China, for a 30-year and starting from 2013. The project is worth US $2.5 billion, and the pipeline is length 950 Kilometer.                                                    

After the agreement was signed by both parties, Burma and China, local people from Kyaukpyu where the gas pipeline will pass through to Yunnan provided information to Association of Arakan National Council Supporting (ANC-S) and Arakan-Yunnan Gas Pipeline Campaign (AYGPC) that more military personals and navy are presence, forcing local people to construct more roads, confiscating more farmlands for military bases, and multiply Chinese professionals in Kyaukphu areas. 

Khaing Kyaw-18, not his real name, has been arrived in Malaysia since January 2009 siad, “There are more navy and military personals in the water and in the lands at present time; every time our boats were passing through the navy checkpoints near Kyaukphu, Taw Gung Gree, Kyin Thaya, Thikpuk Ton, Ngya La Pi, they asked us to buy rice, cooking oils, onions, eggs and even homemade whiskey.â€�  He continues, “There are about 300 Chinese in several villages guarded by SPDC’s soldiers; battalion number 543, 542, and 34 are confiscating farmlands and forcing villagers to build roads that are used for transportation by the Chinese.â€�

On January 15, 2004, Daewoo International announces that it has found gas in the A-1 block and later A-3 block, namely Shwe. The stakeholders for the gas exploration and development are: South Korean company Daewoo holds 51%, Korea Gas Corp 8.5%, Indian state firm ONGC Videsh 17%, and GAIL 8.5%, and SPDC’s Myanmar Oil & Gas Enterprise has 15%. Burma had an estimated 21.19 trillion cubic feet of natural gas reserves.

The gas pipeline deal will prolong dictators’ power, and a few military generals are becoming wealthier. Political repression, human rights abuses, use of forced labors, rape, torture, extra judicial killing, ethnic cleansing, land confiscation, extra taxation, heavily militarization, restriction of freedom of movements and freedom of expression, and cultural and environmental destruction in the Arakan State will be unavoidable.  In addition, the more money the SPDC has from gas selling, the more guns they will buy. The more guns they have, the more people they will kill.

For these unbearable circumstances and consequences caused by the CNPC and other international stakeholders as well as Burmese junta over the Arakanese people, we, four million Arakanese inside and overseas, oppose the Arakan-Yunnan gas pipeline project. The Chinese government should know that we Arakanese opposition and outcry to halt the pipeline project should not be minimized nor marginalized.   

Direct dialogue with the Arakanese people and campaign groups is a positive and possible democratic way of solution on the controversial gas pipeline deal between the Burma and China. By these protest demonstrations against Chinese embassies in Asia are our sincerer expression to aware that making forceful concession against the Arakanese people’s will of refusal to give in our natural gas to China without providing any benefit to the community and of the entire people is a crime against humanity and a clear human rights violation.
     
Contact Persons:
Nyi Nyi Lwin in Malaysia-(Arakan-Yunnan Gas Pipeline Campaign) Cell. (60) 16-3966-326; Tel. 603) 2072-1305.

Raza Tun in Malaysia-(Association of Arakan National Council Supporting). Cell. (60) 16478-3342; Tel. 603) 2072-1305.

Maung Lu Gree  in India-(Arakan National Council). Tel. 91-98186-76641