Chao-Tzang Yawnghwe - various writings, photos etc.

expand all
collapse all

Individual Documents

Description: Federalism in Burma: "This paper deals with the absence or the non-existence of a functional relation between the state in Burma and broader society which is also made up of non-Burman 1 ethnic segments that inhabit the historical-territorial units comprising the Union of Burma. 2 Introduction: Putting the Country Back Together Again The paper looks into the problems related to the task, as yet to be accomplished, of "putting the country back together again", in contrast to the claim of the military and its state is "keeping the country together". It is here argued that although the military has, in a manner of speaking, "kept the country together", it has also distorted the relation between the state in Burma and broader society by monopolizing power and excluding societal elements and forces from the sphere of the state and from the political arena. The military?s centralist, unitary impulse, informed by it ethnocentric (Burmanization) national unity formula, has contributed to a dysfunctional state-society relation, that has in turn brought about the present crisis of decay and general breakdown, making Burma a failed state..."
Creator/author: Chao-Tzang Yawnghwe
Source/publisher: "Legal Issues on Burma Journal" No. 11 (Burma Lawyers? Council)
2002-04-00
Date of entry/update: 2010-07-15
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
Format : htm
Size: 35.76 KB
more
Description: "The wanton killings by what is termed "government soldiers" of innocent villagers in Shan State is getting to be a "normal" event. This is because the international community has not done much, except to slap the junta on the wrist at what has become an annual farce. The Shans in their naivete think that the "Burman" junta is getting away with rape, murder, plunder, torture, and ethnic cleansing behavior because the "world" is not yet aware of what is happening to them. They believe, very firmly, that once the "world" is aware of the horrors, the United Nations or some governments, or leaders, will be driven by moral outrage, a sense of justice, and will come to the assistance of the innocent victims..."
Creator/author: Chao-Tzang Yawnghwe
Source/publisher: Burma Courrier
2000-06-05
Date of entry/update: 2010-07-15
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
more
Description: "With the collapse of the Berlin Wall in 1989 and Cory Aquino?s earlier people?s power revolution, it indeed seemed that the world, and Southeast Asia too, would be shaped by economic and political freedom, i.e., by the free market economy and "middle class" democracy. The 1988 uprising in Burma which toppled Ne Win?s one-man rule seemed part of a global democratization process. Quite unexpectedly, however, outside actors -- Singapore, China, and the Thai military -- stepped in to shore up the new military junta..."
Creator/author: Chao-Tzang Yawnghwe
Source/publisher: "BurmaNet News"
1995-10-15
Date of entry/update: 2004-08-06
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
Format : htm
Size: 12.35 KB
Local URL:
more
Description: This article, which is a critique of the ICG report, "Myanmar: The Politics of Humanitarian Aid" of 2 April 2002, was adapted from the version on www.bma-online.net
Creator/author: Chao-Tzang Yawnghwe
2002-04-21
Date of entry/update: 2004-08-05
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
Format : htm
Size: 24.21 KB
more
Description: "...Kao Wao recently requested Dr. Chao Tzang Yawnghwe, the Advisory Board member of the United Nationalities League for Democracy-Liberated Area, to take time out from his busy schedule to talk about his life experiences as an activist and freedom fighter. Graduated with a Bachelor?s Degree from Rangoon University and tutored English from 1960-63, when General Ne Win seized power in a military coup in 1962, Chao Tzang became one of the leading founders and served in the Shan resistance movement of the Shan State Army from 1963-1977..."
Creator/author: Chao Tzang Yawnghwe, Cham Toik (interviewer)
Source/publisher: Kao Wao News Group
2002-02-26
Date of entry/update: 2004-08-05
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
Format : htm
Size: 32.95 KB
more
Description: This is cropped from a photo I took at a meal towards the end of the Burma conference, "Burma-Myanma(r) Research and its Future: Implications for Scholars and Policymakers", 21-25 September 2002.
Creator/author: David Arnott
Source/publisher: www.arnott-photo.org
2002-09-24
Date of entry/update: 2004-08-05
Grouping: Individual Documents
Format : jpg
Size: 51.99 KB
more
Description: This is cropped from a photo I took at a meal towards the end of the Burma conference, "Burma-Myanma(r) Research and its Future: Implications for Scholars and Policymakers", 21-25 September 2002, Gothenburg, Sweden.
Creator/author: David Arnott
Source/publisher: www.arnott-photo.org
2002-09-24
Date of entry/update: 2004-08-05
Grouping: Individual Documents
Format : jpg
Size: 74.52 KB
more
Description: It is maintained that Burma?s ‘ethnic conflict? is not per se ethnic, nor that of the kind faced by indigenous peoples of, for example, North America, but a conflict rooted in politics. Following the collapse of Burma?s General Ne Win?s military-socialist regime in 1988, the issue of ethnic conflict has attracted the attention from both observers and protagonists. This attention became heightened following the unraveling of the socialist bloc and the emergence of ethnic wars in those hitherto (presumed) stable socialist nation-states.
Creator/author: Chao-Tzang Yawnghwe
Source/publisher: "Legal Issues on Burma Journal" No. 10 (Burma Lawyers' Council)
2001-12-00
Date of entry/update: 2004-08-03
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
Format : htm pdf
Size: 28.67 KB 558.64 KB
more
Description: "(1) The Constructive Engagement policy of Thailand and ASEAN states vis-a-vis the SLORC junta in Burma stems basically from the goodwill of these governments for the people of Burma. (2) Underlying this policy are 4 major assumptions concerning the situation in, and the politics of Burma. These are:..."
Creator/author: Chao-Tzang Yawnghwe
Source/publisher: Thai-Yunnan Newsletter, Issue 21 June 1993
1993-06-00
Date of entry/update: 2004-08-03
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
more
Description: Abstract: "This thesis investigates the impact of military rule on the state and society by looking at three cases from the same geographical region -- Burma, Indonesia, and Thailand -- that have experienced military intervention and military rule. The thesis is framed by a number of questions: Why does the military sometimes decide to stay on to run the state after it intervenes? What happens to the military, its leaders, and most importantly, the state and society when the military reorganizes the state into a military-authoritarian order? What are the political outcomes of military rule in terms of state autonomy? How can the political variations -- the extent of military penetration into the state order -- between military regimes be explained? This thesis has found that there are three vital factors influencing the military?s decision, having intervened, to stay on to rule the country. The most important factor is the emergence of an extraordinary military strongman-ruler. The second, and related, factor is military unity -- forged and maintained by the strongman-ruler and bound by the myth that the soldiers are the guardians and saviors of the state. The military supports the ruler and is in turn rewarded by him, and becomes a privileged class. Together they dominate and control other state and societal forces. In fact, while military-authoritarian states are highly autonomous from society, it is clear that the state is not well insulated from abuse by its own elites. The third factor is the extent to which the strongman-ruler is constrained by having to share power with an unimpeachable force (a person, ideal, or myth). This thesis has found that military rulers in Thailand have been constrained because of the person and the role of the monarch. This thesis has also found significant variations in military-authoritarian states. They range from a nearly pure praetorian example to a tentative quasi-democratic set up -- resulting from historical circumstances combined with the vision, political will and astuteness of the strongman-ruler, his concern with his legacy, and the presence or not of an important constraining force. The military has played a dominant role in politics in Burma and Indonesia since the 1960s; in Thailand, it has been in and out of power since the 1930s. It has become apparent from this research that, although the global democratization trend is hopeful, it is not so easy to get a politicized military to go back to the barracks to stay." A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirement for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the Faculty of Graduate Studies (Department of Political Science), the University of British Columbia.
Creator/author: Chao-Tzang Yawnghwe
Source/publisher: University of British Columbia (PhD Thesis)
1997-09-00
Date of entry/update: 2004-08-03
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
Format : pdf htm
Size: 1.26 MB 7.82 KB
more
Description: Drafting a constitution in Burma. "Federalism is not quite understood in Burma. In fact, it would not be wrong to say it is grossly misunderstood by -- among many others -- the Burman population segment, or at least by its armed elites (or elites in uniform). To armed Burman elites, Federalism is synonomous with the destruction or the disintegration of the Union. The Burman-dominated military led by General Ne Win introduced and entrenched this idea when they usurped power in 1962..."
Creator/author: Chao-Tzang Yawnghwe
Source/publisher: Legal Issues on Burma Journal No. 3 (Burma Lawyers' Council)
1999-05-00
Date of entry/update: 2004-08-03
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
Format : htm
Size: 9.08 KB
Local URL:
more
Description: "The Union Day is worthy of commemorating because it is an event which the military cannot claim to have any role whatsoever in bringing about. As such, military rulers have nothing meaningful to say on Union Day, except to utter empty clichés about "national unity" as Than Shwe recently did. It is amazing that he should talk about the rights of the "national races," when in fact, no one but members of the top brass have such things as human rights..."
Creator/author: Chao-Tzang Yawnghwe
Source/publisher: reg.burma
1996-02-25
Date of entry/update: 2004-08-03
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
Format : html
Size: 6.47 KB
Local URL:
more