Presidential spokesperson U Ye Htut has dismissed a claim by a think tank in the United States that a military facility in central Myanmar has design features consistent with a chemical weapons factory.
The James Martin Center for Non-Proliferation Studies in California made the claim in a report issued on May 9 about a facility near Pauk, in Magway Region.
The center, also known as CNS, said that while it was not possible to determine if the facility was for producing chemical weapons, it’s size, layout and location were not consistent with what the government says is a standard ordnance factory.
CNS said satellite images of the facility taken over a number of years were “enough to raise troublesome questions” about Myanmar’s commitment to non-proliferation.
Speaking on May 15, U Ye Htut said he strongly objected to report.
“But I do not think we need to pay attention to such a small organisation,” said U Ye Htut, who is also the Deputy Minister of Information.
“Every country is improving their national defences and the United States and United Nations have had nothing to say about our weapons factory at Pauk,” he said.
Myanmar signed the UN Chemical Weapons Convention, which bans the production, stockpiling, and use of chemical weapons in1993, but is yet to ratify the treaty that went into force in 1997.
CNS referred to information reported by a Yangon weekly publication, Unity Journal, earlier this year.
After Unity Journal reported on January 25 that the factory was producing weapons, its chief executive officer and five journalists were charged with breaching the 1923 colonial-era Official Secrets Act, trespassing in a restricted area and taking photos of a Defence Ministry facility.
They are on trial in Pakkoku District Court.
