![]() ![]() Some analysts suspect that Washington is trying to send a subtle "message" to Burma’s leadership without openly tarnishing their diplomatic relations, which have dramatically thawed since the nominal end of military rule in 2011. Although the United States has been careful to avoid implicating the upper echelons of Burma’s political leadership, it is tough to imagine that any of the country’s leaders could coordinate bilateral military deals without the knowledge and authorization of both President Thein Sein and Commander-in-Chief Min Aung Hlaing. The documentary, published by Al Jazeera, provoked a furious backlash from the junta, which branded DVB a "killer broadcasting station … hateching evil plots and sowing hatred between and the international community."įour years later, suspicions of Burma’s military capacities continue to fuel acrimony in Washington, where policymakers have imposed fresh sanctions on senior Burmese military personnel accused of dealing arms with North Korea. ![]() It sketched out details of a $3 billion labyrinth of underground tunnels, built in partnership with North Korea, connecting bunkers stocked with secret weapons and equipment. In 2010, a five-year investigation by the Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB), a pro-democracy media group and my former employer, uncovered evidence of a nascent nuclear weapons program, based on extensive testimony and data provided by a whistle-blower. (In the photo above, Burmese journalists march for press freedom in Yangon.) It is not difficult to understand why the allegations would have irked the notoriously secretive regime, which has been accused of illicit weapons production for decades. Though it is impossible to verify the admittedly tenuous claims made by Unity Weekly, the government’s draconian reaction sends a clear message to any reporters investigating Burma’s military activities. He subsequently insisted that the factory is for lawful defense purposes only. ![]() "It is a national security issue, and even a country like the United States would respond the same way," presidential spokesperson Ye Htut told the Irrawaddy, a Burmese news magazine headquartered in Thailand. The government has described the claims as "baseless" and defended their decision to enforce the colonial-era law, which bans the publication of material deemed damaging to the state and imposes criminal penalties of up to 14 years in prison. ![]() Citing anonymous testimony from workers at the facility in Magwe region, the article described an expansive network of underground tunnels linking several buildings studded with 15-foot rockets and Chinese-made chemical reactors. In early February, four journalists and the chief executive of a local journal, Unity Weekly, were formally charged under the Official Secrets Act for publishing a story about an alleged chemical weapons factory in central Burma. Recent weeks have exposed a worrying trend of state intimidation against reporters in Burma. But three years into the reform process, journalists are still casually threatened, harassed, and tossed into jail. Western political leaders have oozed with accolades over government moves to scrap media censorship and unshackle hundreds of political prisoners, including opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi. As Burma continues to crawl its way out of global obscurity, following decades of military dictatorship, it has come to be fêted as a poster-child for democratic transition. ![]()
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