Beijing – China rapped erstwhile ally Myanmar on Friday over violence along the border that pushed tens of thousands of refugees into China last month, as state media reported Myanmar had ordered Chinese citizens to leave the area. (more…)

Up to 10,000 Chinese nationals have been ordered by the Burmese government to leave the Kokang enclave in northeastern Burma, which was last month the scene of heavy fighting. (more…)

New Delhi – The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has urged the international community to mount pressure on Burma’s ruling junta to allow the International Committee of the Red Cross to resume visits to detention centres, where widespread torture and abuses have been reported. (more…)

Bangkok — The United States has protested to Myanmar’s military government over the alleged mistreatment of an American citizen held on suspicion of inciting unrest, the US embassy in Yangon said Friday. (more…)

Washington – The Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs, Kurt Campbell, will be leading US policy for Burma as of now, and more interlocutors would be announced in the coming days to engage with the military junta and Burmese people, Ian Kelly, the spokesman for the US State Department, said on Thursday. (more…)

If the United States believes engaging the repressive regime in Burma will change the behavior of the generals, I would just like to say, “Good luck, but I’m afraid that leopards don’t change their spots!” (more…)

Washington – Amnesty International reported today that activist Kyaw Zaw Lwin, who was arrested on September 3, has suffered torture and other ill-treatment while in detention in Insein Prison in Yangon, Burma. According to reliable sources, he has been denied medical treatment for the injuries he sustained from the torture he endured during interrogation. Amnesty International has grave concerns about his health. (more…)

The US citizen detained upon arrival in Burma earlier this month has allegedly been beaten and denied food for over a week, according to his mother who spoke to US embassy staff. (more…)

All militia groups formed by the Burmese Army have been told to expand its forces since relations between Naypyitaw and the ethnic armed groups that had been at truce soured, according to reports filtering in from northern Shan State. (more…)

Mong La, Burma – The maps say the town of Mong La is in Burma but to the casual observer it could be China. (more…)

Yangon, Myanmar — Myanmar announced Thursday it will soon introduce a 5,000-kyat bank note, the country’s highest-denomination currency. (more…)

A mass infestation of rats in western Burma is likely to compound a food shortage in a state that has lost thousands of acres of crops over the past two years, according to local aid workers. (more…)

Jakarta – ASEAN foreign ministers will consider a proposed joint appeal for the release of Myanmar’s [Burma] detained democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi when they meet this weekend in New York, a senior Indonesian government official said Thursday [24 September]. (more…)

The U.S. plans to change its approach to Myanmar, enlisting a combination of sanctions and engagement in a fresh bid to persuade the ruling junta to allow more democratic freedoms, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Wednesday. (more…)

Bangkok — The decision by the United States to engage the ruling junta in Myanmar drew the endorsement Thursday of the nation’s most high-profile dissident, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, but analysts cautioned that the change would not have a significant effect in the near term. (more…)

Pittsburgh, USA — Several protest groups staged demonstrations around the city Thursday and a protesters’ coalition planned an unpermitted march called a “People’s Uprising” as world leaders arrived in the city for the Group of 20 Summit on Thursday. (more…)

Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama will have much on his agenda in his first few months in office in Tokyo. One particular area crying out for change is Japan’s relationship with Burma. (more…)

Veteran politicians and daughters of former cabinet members, such as Thu Wai, Mya Than Than Nu, Cho Cho Kyaw Nyein and Nay Chi Ba Swe, announced at a press conference in Rangoon on Sept. 14 that they would found a party named the Democratic Party. (more…)

Today I convened the second meeting of the Group of Friends on Myanmar at the level of Foreign Ministers. The high turnout demonstrates the strong collective interest of all the Friends in the future of Myanmar, and re-affirms the broad support for my good offices. (more…)

“The 2010 elections may result in a crucial passage for the future of Burma and to this end, no effort should be spared towards the creation of favourable conditions for them to be conducted in a framework of democratic guarantees, in accordance with  international standards of law, transparency and legality.” (more…)