Bertil Lintner is a former correspondent with the Far Eastern Economic Review and author of several books on Burma/Myanmar, including Burma in Revolt: Opium and Insurgency Since 1948 (published in 1994, 1999 and 2003), Land of Jade: A Journey from India through Northern Burma to China, and The Kachin: Lords of Burma's Northern Frontier. He is currently a writer with Asia Pacific Media Services.
New border tensions revive 1962 China-India war memories but this time US firmly in Delhi’s camp by Bertil Lintner May 28, 2020 When Chinese President Xi Jinping ordered his People’s Liberation Army (PLA) to “think about worst-case scenarios” and “scale up battle preparedness” in order to “resolutely defend the country’s sovereignty”, it was an unusually
READ MOREFour priority BRI projects in Myanmar promise to make China a balance-of-power tilting Indian Ocean force By Bertil Lintner, Chiang Mai 27 January 2020 Chinese President Xi Jinping’s historic visit to Myanmar this month did not attract much regional media buzz, with most reports portraying the trip as more well-worn official promotion of his signature
READ MORELandmark initial ruling against Myanmar also raises doubts about UN impartiality and credibility By Bertil Lintner, Chiang Mai 24 January 2020 Given the persistent global publicity and intense lobbying on behalf of persecuted Rohingya refugees, a provisional decision handed down on January 23 against Myanmar by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague
READ MOREOk Drugs Golden Triangle December 1, 2019 Sensational portrayals of a new meth ‘kingpin’ misinterpret the dynamics of Asia’s narcotics trade By Bertil Lintner, Chiang Mai The Asia-Pacific drug trade has a new kingpin, at least according to the United Nations Office of Drugs and Crime (UNODC) and some Western anti-narcotics officials. His name: Tse
READ MOREBy Bertil Lintner, Chiang Mai August 23, 2019 Failed repatriation try signals a permanent and increasingly destabilizing refugee population in Bangladesh By Bertil Lintner, Chiang Mai Over 3,000 Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh were supposed to return to Myanmar on August 22, a repatriation that was supposed to mark the beginning of a process to resettle
READ MORESqualid and bulging refugee camps in Bangladesh risk morphing into epicenters of extremism similar to those seen in Palestine in the Middle East By Bertil Lintner 11 July 2019 Myanmar’s Rohingya refugee crisis, characterized by United Nations’ investigators as “ethnic cleansing” with possible “genocidal intent”, could finally be redounding on the country’s powerful and autonomous
READ MOREThe loss of forests and the ecological damage caused by almost one million refugees has taken a toll ByBertil Lintner, Chiang Mai 22 April 2019 Bangladesh is paying a heavy price for hosting hundreds of thousands of Muslim Rohingya refugees from Myanmar. According to an article on the Bangladesh Chronicle’s website on April 20, the
READ MOREMarch 8, 2019 An aerial view of America’s leased Diego Garcia military base in the Indian Ocean. Photo: Facebook Legal storm clouds gather over Diego Garcia An International Court of Justice advisory could eventually upend America’s long-held lease on the strategic Indian Ocean military facility ByBertil Lintner, Chiang Mai Recent skirmishes between India and Pakistan
READ MOREBangladeshi men who surrendered to authorities and admitted involvement in the drug trade sit in front of police in Teknaf, a border town next to Myanmar’s Rakhine state, on February 16, 2019. Photo: AFP The surrender of dozens of drug dealers has failed to fully stem the flow of ‘yaba’ into Bangladesh By BERTIL LINTNER, CHIANG
READ MOREDhaka, the capital of Bangladesh. Photo: iStockASIA UNHEDGED REAL-TIME INTEL ON WHAT MOVES MARKETS As much as US$81.74 billion was siphoned off the country in 2006-2015, according to a study by research organization Global Financial Integrity By BERTIL LINTNER CHIANG MAI, JANUARY 30, 2019 Illicit capital outflows from Bangladesh go unabated and as much as US$81.74 billion was siphoned
READ MOREMyanmar’s military has been sending more troops to Rakhine State where fighting has intensified. Photo: AFP/Ye Aung ThuASIA UNHEDGEDREAL-TIME INTEL ON WHAT MOVES MARKETS On January 4, Independence Day, the Arakan Army launched a series of attacks on police stations. Clashes continue and are expected to intensify By BERTIL LINTNER JANUARY 14, 2019 The war in Myanmar’s
READ MOREThe ethnic rebel group has grown from only a handful of soldiers to a formidable force of several thousand By Bertil Lintner Chiang Mai, January 3, 2019 Myanmar’s security forces have clashed with ethnic rebels in the country’s western Rakhine State bordering Bangladesh, the state-run Global New Light of Myanmar reported on January 2. The
READ MOREThe Rohingya refugee crisis, accusations of genocide and leader Aung San Suu Kyi’s fall from international grace all contributed to an annus horribilis By Bertil Lintner Chiang Mai, December 28, 2018 Myanmar’s civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi attends the Asia Pacific Summit 2018 in Kathmandu on December 1, 2018. Photo: AFP/Sunil Sharma/Pool There was
READ MORERohingya refugees are being courted by Middle East and South Asia extremist groups, a dynamic that could turn Bangladesh’s overflowing camps into a new vortex of regional instability By Bertil Lintner Chiang Mai, December 24, 2018 Rohingya refugees wait roadside for aid at Thaingkhali makeshift refugee camp in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh, September 14, 2017. Photo:
READ MORE
