Todd Pitman thejakartaglobe.com | Dawei, Burma. When 200 activists in green T-shirts marched along a pristine Burma beach to protest plans for a coal plant, they expected a long, tough struggle against the powers that be.

But then, something bizarre happened. A deputy Cabinet minister asked for a meeting. He listened to their concerns about pollution. Then he told them the government agreed and would halt construction of the controversial 4,000-megawatt plant in Burma’s southern panhandle.

In a long-repressed country whose people have grown accustomed to living in fear of the government, it seemed too good to be true. Just last year, anyone who dared demonstrate in public would have have been beaten or detained by security forces.