Secret Burma-Singapore Deals

LazerLordz SG

North Korea, nope. Unless you are talking of the possibility of rogue Singaporean comapnies who are used as a front for supplying parts.

pwnz0r SG

All I can say is... real-politik at work.

You can be squeamish at Myanmar's dictatorship policies, but when the rubber hits the road, you need all the allies you can get. Especially in this region.

LazerLordz SG

I would disagree, especially with sino-indian influence in Burma these days. That is one reason that Burma is still under military rule today.

If you are talking of the fear of fragmentation of Burma into Rohingya, Shan, Wa etc states..that is a valid concern though.

moca SG

That's absolutely true.

This is the main reason no one is making noise about Singapore supporting the junta.

Thailand is Burma's traditional enemy, even they keep quiet about Singapore supplying arms to Burma, as long as we keep to the small items. And don't assume the Thais don't know. In fact, we probably have informed the Thais about it as a matter of courtesy.

As much as everyone hate the Burma junta, no one want to see them collapse either. Cos once they collapse, there is no viable person/group that can rule over the already fragmented country.

Aung San Suu Kyi is a good revolutionary but will be quite hopeless as a government.

So everybody needs the junta to keep the status quo. One thing crystal clear about the junta is that they have no aims beyond the Burmese border, so everyone in the region is quietly happy about that.

And despite the massive amount of insurgency by every little minority group, they seem to be keeping it under control, which again makes everyone in the region happy.

In short, everyone - including the US, I'm sure - is happy that Burma is not about to collapse like Cambodia during the seventies, eighties and nineties.

So if Singapore supplies arms to keep the junta in place but not endanger the neighbourhood, then everyone looks the other way.

LazerLordz SG

I believe that although the status quo is preferable in a trilateral security setting, the fate and legitimacy of ASEAN as a regional community that wants to move towards a economic and security community, is quite affected by their inability to keep their word.

I would love for a Burmese unity government, and I think Aung San Suu Kyi is not a stupid lady to want her Burma to disintegrate into a Kosovo like situation. No one really knows the state of things between the NLD and the SPDC, but it would be advisable for close neighbours to try and broker a deal between the two parties, and hopefully the junta can see beyond their own interests in the political realm, and look outwards to improve Burma's standing, and subsequently, by fostering a greater open climate for investment to increase.

Economic imperatives always form another layer of defense in a geopolitical setting.

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