The profile of Thang Nang Lian Thang =================================================================================================================================================== |
| Contact : jplianthang@gmail.com / nanglianthang@gmail.com Address: 505 White Villa Ishijima 10 - 7 , Kotoku Tokyo, Japan 135 0014 ================================================================================================================================= |
Born Rangoon(1954), Chin Christian, Tedim, Chin State, Union of Burma. Education studied hight school in Tedim,Chin State and Rangoon. Graduated from Rangoon Arts and Science University (RASU) B.A, MA ( Philosophy ).(1973-1979) , Active Chin Student Leader :. Leader of Zomi Siamsin, University of Rangoon.(1973 1979) General Secretary, Chin Literature and Cultural Committee,for All Universities in Rangoon (1976-77). Joint General Secretary, All Ethnic Literature and Cultural Central Committee for all Universities in Rangoon (1977). Asst: Deputy Director :Internal Revenue Department under Ministry of Finance (1979 to 1990 ). One of the Chin leaders who led the Chin people with Chin National Unity (CNU) in 1988 Nationwide People Uprising Democracy movement in Union of Burma. After the coup of Military junta 18 September 1988, organized to form the political parties. Founding group member of Chin National League for Democracy (CNLD ) party and Zomi National Congress (ZNC) party. Thang Nang Lian Thang Arrived Japan on 1991. Founder and leader of Chin National Community in Japan (CNC-Japan) (2001). One of the Ethnic leaders , founders of The Association of United Nationalities in Japan (AUN-Japan)(2003). (CNC-Japan) and ( AUN-Japan) are the founding ethnics members groups for Joint Action Committee (JAC), for Burmese people democratic movement in Japan. Refugee status was approved by Japanese government on 2005. Model Refugee award by Foundation for the Welfare and Education of the Asian People (FWEAP) on 27th anniversary (October 22,2006). (RCCJ ) Refugees Coordination Committee in Japan was founded by (7) refugees in Japan on 26 August 2010.Chairman for ( 2010-2011) PFB Steering Committee member. People Forum on Burma was founded with the Japanese and Burmese people in Japan for supporting the Burma Democracy movement. Advisory Board member for Chin Human Rights Organization (CHRO) Managing Board Member for Chin Forum . Co-President , Burma Concern NPO. Social Worker , research , record , documentation for refugees issue, ethnics affairs , human rights and democracy in Burma. Advocating for democracy, human rights, federal union in Chin State and Union of Burma. Media networking Vice Chairmen MCMC Myanmar Christian Mission Center was founded on 6th November 2001. Burmese service for all Burmese and ethnics in Japan. Editor and publisher for MC bulletin, Myanmar Christian Communication bulletin is a monthly issue bulletin from Japan since 1999 with his wife. Spouse: Married with Ma Yin Yin at Man Ngaih Hau (Julia) in 1988. She is the editor and publisher for MC bulletin. Secretary for Myanmar Christian Ministers Fellowship in Japan. ============================================================================================================================= |
| By Bertil Lintner BANGKOK - The release of more than 200 political prisoners and a tentative ceasefire with the rebel Karen National Union represent the latest of steps taken by Myanmar president Thein Sein's government to improve its international image and assuage its many critics at home and abroad. The cosmetic change in the traditionally military-run country is unmistakable. In recent months, it has become easier for ordinary citizens to access the Internet and local magazines and journals are able to publish articles on topics that would have been unthinkable only a year ago. Pictures of pro-democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi, who spent 15 of the past 21 years under house arrest, are now for sale in markets not only in the former capital Yangon but also in small upcountry towns. The United States government, for more than two decades the fiercest critic of successive military-dominated regimes in Myanmar, promised enhanced engagement in exchange for "further reforms" immediately after Friday's prison release. As a first step, the US is going to send an ambassador to its embassy in Yangon, which has been headed by a charge d'affaires since Washington decided to downgrade relations with Myanmar in 1990 in response to a brutal crackdown on pro-democracy demonstrators. Many Myanmar citizens undoubtedly welcome the easing of the extreme authoritarian pressure they have lived under as long as they can remember. But critics maintain the loosening is not tantamount to a "reform process", which would require changes in the country's fundamental power structure, and that the US may have other diplomatic objectives in mind over concerns for human rights and democracy. Meanwhile, some Myanmar dissidents are beginning to ask, albeit in hushed tones, the hitherto unthinkable: is Suu Kyi being used by the Thein Sein's military-backed, civilianized has she come under pressure from the US and possibly other Western powers with a stake in Myanmar's future geopolitical role to strike a deal with her former military adversaries? Less than a year ago, Suu Kyi was known to have said to visiting foreign diplomats that she was apprehensive about talking to the new government that assumed office after a blatantly rigged November 2010 election. At the time, she reportedly said that the main problem was the new constitution, which was adopted after an equally fraudulent referendum in May 2008 and guarantees the military 25% of the seats in parliament. For instance, the charter's Chapter 12 lays out the complicated rules for constitutional amendments, which effectively give the military veto power over any proposed changes. The upper house currently consists of 168 elected representatives with a quarter, or 56 delegates, directly representing the defense services; the lower house is made up of 330 elected MPs and 110 appointed to represent the military. The ruling Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP), meanwhile, is widely viewed as a vehicle for the military's political interests. Minor constitutional changes may be considered by the bicameral parliament if 20% of MPs submit a bill. However, a tangle of 104 clauses mean that major charter changes can not be made without the prior approval of more than 75% of all MPs, after which a nationwide referendum must be held where more than half of all eligible voters cast ballots. This complicated procedure, coupled with Myanmar's record of holding bogus referendums - the first in 1973 for the 1974 constitution was as lacking in credibility as the one held in 2008 - make is virtually impossible to change those clauses, which in various ways and means legally safeguard the military's now indirect hold on power. For instance, one of the first sections of the constitution guarantees the military's "national political leadership role of the State" and, in case of an "emergency", the "Commander-in-Chief of the Defense Services has the right to take over and exercise State sovereign power" after consulting the president. "No legal action" can be taken against the military for what it does while exercising such emergency powers, according to the constitution. Another clause bars anyone whose parents, spouse or children who "owe allegiance to a foreign power" from becoming president. Suu Kyi's late husband, Michael Aris, was a British citizen, as are their two sons. The military's right to appoint a quarter of all seats in what is otherwise an elected parliament is also guaranteed, as is military control of one-third of all seats in local assemblies. In 2008, Myanmar's generals got the constitution they wanted and through rigged elections now controls a solid majority of all seats in the parliament. Consequently, they can now afford to make some minor political concessions in response to international pressure. Allowing MPs from Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy (NLD) to take part in a by-election on April 1 for 40 seats in the lower house and six in the upper chamber left vacant by the appointment of ministers, will not affect Myanmar's fundamental power structure with the military at its apex. Reversible reform The semblance of reform, however, has improved Myanmar's standing in the international community, as are other steps expected to be taken by Thein Sein's government, including new laws allowing for limited public protests and the creation of labor unions. Since the constitution bars Suu Kyi from becoming president, some observers speculate that if she wins a seat in parliament she will be appointed minister of health or education, two positions which she would consider important but will not give her substantial political power and certainly no influence over the military. "She would be an excellent choice for a person to be sent abroad to solicit aid for health and education programs and to attend international AIDS conferences and the like," says a veteran Myanmar politician who spoke on condition of anonymity. Few would doubt that Suu Kyi remains Myanmar's most popular politician - and for many the country's main hope for a better future. But for the first time critical voices of her role are also being heard. In an unusually candid interview with The Australian on January 6, Win Tin, one of the original founders of the NLD in 1988 who was imprisoned for 19 years for his beliefs, said that the "reforms" taking place in Myanmar "are a ploy by the country's dictatorship to seduce foreign governments and neutralize Aung San Suu Kyi". Other dissidents - former political prisoners and leaders of local civil society groups - complain that Suu Kyi meets readily with one foreign visitor after another but has no time to see them. "One comment I hear frequently is, 'what was the NLD fighting for if Daw Suu [Aung San Suu Kyi] will run for the by-elections and by that accepting the 2008 constitution'?" lamented one non-governmental organization worker in Yangon. Ongoing fighting between ethnic rebels and government forces are another point of division. "In particular the Kachin are disillusioned that there is no compassionate speech or letter [from Suu Kyi] to their community, although some of the Catholic Bishops have explicitly asked Daw Suu to send such a message," said one civil society activist. Since June last year, heavy fighting has been raging between government troops and the rebel Kachin Independence Army in the country's far north. Tens of thousands of civilians have fled the fighting to the Chinese border, or taken refuge in churches and community halls in towns in the predominantly Christian state of the Union. Farmers have been forced to abandon their crops and most refugees are living as destitutes in border areas under constant threat of being pushed back by unsympathetic Chinese authorities. Some critics argue that Suu Kyi has grown old and tired - she will turn 67 this year - and the present, slight opening, however flawed, may be her last chance to achieve her vision of a more democratic Myanmar. But it is equally plausible that Myanmar's close relationship with China, and, more menacingly, its military partnership with North Korea, have prompted Western powers to push her into accepting some kind of accommodation with Thein Sein's government. Without her engagement with the new regime, it would be hard for the US and European Union to justify a dramatic change in policy towards Myanmar. When US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton met Thein Sein during her historic visit to Myanmar last December - the first by such a high-ranking US official in half a century - China was tellingly high on her diplomatic agenda. The first agenda item raised by Thein Sein during the meeting was the importance of Myanmar's relationship with China, which Clinton apparently did not object to. However, she emphasized that relations with the US would "if reforms maintain momentum" - thus leaving the door open for Myanmar to diversify its foreign relations. After Washington decided in mid-January to establish full diplomatic ties with Myanmar, Clinton said the US "will further embrace" Myanmar if "the government releases all remaining political prisoners, ends violence against minorities and cuts military ties with North Korea". After her December visit, she said that the US would agree to and support assessment missions to Myanmar by the World Bank and International Monetary Fund, a first step toward renewed multilateral lending for badly needed infrastructure. Myanmar's staunchly nationalistic military may be willing to lessen its dependence on China, and even cut its ties with North Korea, provided the US and its allies can offer something substantial in return, including an eventual removal of economic sanctions. However, if one reads the 2008 constitution carefully, Myanmar will not become a genuine democracy any time soon, but rather a thinly disguised authoritarian state that the US and the West can cynically live with to counterbalance China's influence. That is not what many pro-democracy activists, both at home and in exile, have been fighting for since the bloody, nationwide uprising against military-dominated rule in 1988, when thousands of protesters were mowed down by the military, and when they overwhelmingly voted for the NLD in the 1990 election, a democratic result that the military refused to honor. In the case of any future "emergency", the limited new freedoms that Myanmar's people are now enjoying can also be curtailed, perhaps next time by constitutional means rather than the barrel of a gun. Bertil Lintner is a former correspondent with the Far Eastern Economic Review and author of several books on Burma/Myanmar, including Aung San Suu Kyi and Burma's Struggle for Democracy (Published in 2011). He is currently a writer with Asia-Pacific Media Services. (Copyright 2012 Asia Times Online (Holdings) Ltd. All rights reserved. Please contact us about sales, syndication and republishing.) Myanmar frees leading political prisoners Jan 13, '12 A decommissioned inquiry on Myanmar Jan 10, '11 |
| Burmese In Japan Protest Against Draft Constitution Thursday, 28 February 2008 00:12 Phanida Even as UN Special envoy Mr. Gambari tours Japan, protests have broken against the Burmese military junta's draft constitution. The protesters made it abundantly clear that they would accept only the 1990 general election results. They also stated that they would not accept the draft constitution unilaterally drafted by the military regime. The protests were staged in front of the UN office in Tokyo. "We expressed our desire to meet Mr. Gambari during his Japan tour before he meets the Burmese regime the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC). We will give our letter of appeal to Mr. Gambari," Ko Lynn Aung, Vice-Chairman of the National League for Democracy (NLD) Japan branch, told Mizzima. The protesters chanted slogans holding aloft portraits of detained political leaders -- Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, Shan ethnic leader U Khun Tun Oo, and 88 generation student leaders. "Burma's issues for the future can be resolved easily only through a tripartite dialogue with the 1990 election winning party the NLD, ethnic leaders and the SPDC. It is a political issue and must be resolved by political means," Lynn Aung added. UN special envoy Mr. Gambari is on a diplomatic tour of China, Indonesia, Singapore and Japan to seek international support for political reforms and a transition to democracy in Burma. He is likely to reach Burma in March. Phone Myint Aung, a member of All Burma Federation of Students Union (ABFSU), said, "We protest against holding a referendum without implementing the 1990 general election results. We call for the realization of genuine people's aspirations. So we call for a more punitive resolution under the supervision of the UN." There are about 20,000 Burmese people residing in Tokyo, Japan, working in restaurants, shops, construction sites and as domestic helps. |
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| The conference unanimously elected Dr. Za Hlei Thang as Chairman of The Supreme Council, Pu Lian Uk as Vice-Chairman-I, Salai Kipp Kho Lian as Vice-Chairman-II, Tang Nang Lian Thang as Vice-Chairman-II, Pu Zing Cung as Secretary General, Pu Paul Si Tha as Secretary-I, Dr. Sui Khar as Secretary-II and Pu Khua Uk Lian as Secretary-III, with a total of 46 Central Committee members. The Supreme Council more click |
| Sending letter to Senior General Than Shwe from Tokyo Burmese Embassy . Condemn 2008 constitution and 2010 Election Chin National Statement 20.2.2011 |
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