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BURMA RELATED NEWS - December 28,
2001.
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HEADLINES
----------------------------------------------------------------------- AFP - Thailand says drug baron will be caught
dead or alive
AFP - Thai police make major amphetamines
seizure
JOC - Bangladesh, Myanmar plan shipping
links
Bkk Post - Drug lord
ordered to leave town
Bkk Post - Maneeloy
camp shuts its gates
Bkk Post - Gang could
lose citizenship
Bkk Post - Village
tainted by Khun Sa wants another chance
The Nation - WEI'S ILL-GOTTEN GAINS: Bt45m in
cash seized
Xinhuanet - Myanmar Releases Four More Political
Prisoners
SCMP - Dissidents fear for safety after move to
border camp
Mizzima - Pakistani
connection
SHAN - Wei threatens to get even with Thai
officer
----------------------------------------------------------------------- Friday December 28, 7:35 PM
Thailand says drug baron will be caught dead or alive BANGKOK, Dec 28 (AFP) - Myanmar drug baron Wei Xieu-kang, whose property in Thailand was seized this week, will be detained dead or alive, Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra vowed Friday. Thaksin told a press conference that Thai authorities will step up the hunt
for Wei, 49, who is also wanted by the United States and is believed to be in
hiding in Myanmar.
"We will arrest him dead or alive," Thaksin, said adding that he believed
Wei to be in Yawn, a Myanmar town across the border from Thailand's Chiang Rai
province.
But Thaksin acknowledged it would be difficult to get the cooperation of
the Myanmar government to detain Wei.
"Myanmar has their own problems with minority groups, the government is
trying to reconcile the nation by bringing in minority groups," he said.
"They can only cooperate with Thailand on one level, they have to think
about their security too."
Myanmar is fighting insurgents based along the border with Thailand.
Thai police seized property, bank accounts and jewellery reportedly worth
more than two million dollars from Wei this week.
Wei, who leads the so-called United Wa State Army, jumped bail in Thailand
in 1990. He is considered a major producer of the amphetamines that are now
flooding Thailand and also being sent to Western nations.
A Thai court sentenced him to life in jail in absentia in 1994 for helping
to smuggle 615 kilogrammes (1,356 pounds) of heroin out of Thailand. He also
faces drug trafficking charges in the United States.
Wei was born in China and given Thai nationality, which was cancelled in
the 1980s.
----------------------------------------------------------------------- Friday December 28, 6:54 PM
Thai police make major amphetamines seizure BANGKOK, Dec 28 (AFP) - Thai police have seized nearly one million amphetamine tables and materials to make another 30 million, national police chief General Sant Sarutanond said Friday. He said the drugs were found on three suspects detained in the northern
province of Chiang Rai, which borders Myanmar, a major source of illegal
narcotics.
One suspect was carrying 490,000 tablets, another 500,000 tablets and the
third had three tonnes of materials, enough to make about 30 million amphetamine
tablets, said Sant.
The general said Thai anti-drug forces had seized "a huge amount of
amphetamine this year, but we are still not happy."
He told reporters, "we are only decreasing the number of dealers, not the
number of users."
In 2001, Thai narcotics police seized 16.66 million amphetamine tablets in
409 cases that led to the arrest of 763 people. Police did not give a comparison
for last year.
----------------------------------------------------------------------- Journal of Commerce
Bangladesh, Myanmar plan shipping links Updated 10:23 a.m. ET, Thu Dec 27, 2001 BY N. VASUKI RAO Trade between countries in the Indian sub-continent is likely to get a
boost this year when Bangladesh and Myanmar launch shipping links in the coming
year.
According to reports from Dhaka, Bangladesh plans to open a regular coastal
service with Myanmar after the visit of its Commerce Minister Amir Khasru Mahmud
Chowdhury to Yangon in January.
The shipping service will link the Bangladeshi Ports of Chittagong, Cox's
Bazar, Teknaf, with Myanmar's ports of Yangon, Akyub and Maungdaw.
Rashed Maksud Khan, president of Bangladesh-Myanmar Business Promotion
Council, said he sees potential for Bangladesh to sell toiletries, medicines,
pharmaceuticals, cables and bottled products to the growing Myanmar market.
India can easily use the shipping link to export a range of industrial
goods by first sending goods to Chittagong. Both Bangladesh and Myanmar are part
of an economic and trade group in the region that includes India, Thailand and
Sri Lanka.
A private Singapore-based shipping company earlier announced it will
introduce a freighter service between Chittagong and Yangon in January.
Singapore-based Sea Consortium Pvt. Ltd. will connect the two ports as part of a
planned expansion of its shipping network in the region, its agents in
Chittagong said.
Currently goods are shipped between the two neighboring ports via Kelang in
Malaysia.
----------------------------------------------------------------------- Bangkok Post - Dec 28,
2001.
Drug lord ordered to leave town
Wa rebels want him out of Mong Yawn
Post reporters
Wa rebels have demanded drug kingpin Wei Hsueh-kang and his forces leave
Mong Yawn in Burma by February, a source said yesterday.
Wei has just lost assets worth about 100 million baht in Bangkok, Chiang
Rai and Chiang Mai. Thai authorities seized them on suspicion they were acquired
with laundered drug money.
Security has been stepped up in several northern areas bordering Burma,
particularly Mae Sai district in Chiang Rai, amid fears Wei could try to take
revenge on Thai people during the New Year holiday.
Chiang Rai police chief Wut Wuthitanond said at least two intelligence
units reported Wei was thirsting for revenge.
He had warned local officials against crossing into Burma's Tachilek town,
opposite Mae Sai, for the time being.
A military source said Wei and his drug ring had planned to spend 50
million baht to help drug convicts escape from certain prisons in the
North.
``Wei needs to show he cannot be discredited and that he remains a real
threat,'' the source said.
But the drug warlord may already be down on his luck.
A Thai source based in Mong Yawn, a major methamphetamine producer
controlled by the United Wa State Army, said Pao You-chang, a UWSA leader, had
ordered Wei and his under-lings out of the town by February, or pay the rebel
group 100 million baht.
The source said the UWSA accused Wei of leading more than 1,000 Wa troops
to their death during a prolonged battle with the Shan United Revolutionary Army
of Khun Sa, another drug warlord, for Mong Yawn between 1989 and 1995.
Khun Sa pulled out of Mong Yawn, opposite Chiang Mai's Mae Ai district, in
late 1995 and set up a new stronghold in Hua Mong, across the border from Mae
Hong Son.
He surrendered to the Burmese government in 1996.
The source said Wei was very dissatisfied with the UWSA, particularly
because he was the one who helped capture Mong Yawn for the Wa.
The source said there was every possibility of violence in Mong Yawn before
the February deadline.
A few days ago, a Buddhist temple in Mong Piang, a town also under Wei's
influence south of Mong Yawn, was torched, he said.
The source said Wei and his forces reportedly had already moved out of Mong
Yawn to Ban Pa Laew in Chiang Rab, opposite Laos.
About 2,000 people loyal to Wei had also resettled in Mong Toom and Mong
Sad, the source said.
However, there still were many of his followers left in Mong Yawn, the
source said.
Army chief Surayud Chulanont confirmed that Wei was having problems with
the UWSA.
``The group is hunting him down. The Wa do not feel good about him,'' Gen
Surayud said.
Third Army commander Udomchai Ongkhasingh said it was difficult to pinpoint
Wei's whereabouts.
There were reports he had undergone facial surgery to change his
appearance.
Poor intelligence was another factor, he said. ``The intelligence people
still cannot say where he is and what he is doing.''
Interior Minister Purachai Piumsombun said authorities would begin digging
deeper to determine how some suspected drug traffickers had acquired their
wealth.
He refused to go into detail.
Wei's assets seized in raids on eight premises by police and officers of
the Money Laundering Commission on Wednesday were in the names of his relatives
and mistresses. Mr Purachai said help was being sought from Burma for Wei's
arrest.
----------------------------------------------------------------------- Bangkok Post - Dec 28,
2001.
Maneeloy camp shuts its gates
Hundreds of Burmese exiles now at new site
Sunan Ochakachorn
The Maneeloy holding centre was officially closed yesterday with hundreds
of Burmese exiles moved to a refugee camp in Suan Phung district.
About 300 Burmese exiles were taken by truck to the Ban Tham Hin camp
yesterday morning.
Some 1,500 officials were involved in the transfer. Among them were deputy
interior permanent secretary Pairoj Promsarn, immigration police chief Pol
Lt-Gen Hemmarat Thareethai and Ratchaburi governor Komet Daeng-thongdee.
Four teams of sniffer dogs from an army unit in Nakhon Pathom province were
sent to Maneeloy to search for drugs and explosives.
Many of the exiles sold their electronic and electrical appliances such as
television sets and rice cookers to local villagers at bargain prices before
leaving for their new camp, which was said to be without electricity.
At 8am, the Burmese dissidents and their families were told to gather in
groups with their belongings for checking and loading.
Many said they did not want to leave Maneeloy. Some cried while others sang
pro-democracy songs.
About 20 Burmese refused to leave demanding the government ensure safety
and welfare at Ban Tham Hin be similar to what they had received at
Maneeloy.
The group agreed to leave only after the officials promised good safety measures for the exiles and a mail box in front of their new shelter. The last batch left Maneeloy around noon after singing Burmese songs and
lowering their fighting peacock flag.
It was reported that fewer than 20 out of the 81 illegal Burmese immigrants
staying at the Maneeloy centre showed up for the evacuation. The rest were
believed to have fled.
Maung Maung Oo, secretary-general of the Burmese Students Association, said
everyone was ready to leave the centre though some feared for their safety after
hearing that Ban Tham Hin was close to the Thai-Burmese border and was rife with
some epidemic diseases.
He said Bangkok would have to take responsibility should any of the exiles
be harmed in an armed attack on Ban Tham Hin.
Also, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees must be responsible
for the future of Burmese students, he said.
He also thanked the Thai people for their hospitality.
Meanwhile, Mr Pairoj, the deputy interior permanent secretary, assured that
Ban Tham Hin, some 10km from the border, was safe and protected by Thai security
forces.
According to him, 156 of the 197 Burmese students housed at Maneeloy have
been allowed to go to third countries.
Another 26 were awaiting replies while the rest were seeking
permission.
Governor Komet said the safety concern raised by some Burmese exiles was
groundless since Ban Tham Hin already proved to be safe enough for more than
8,000 war refugees already there.
It was reported that 398 Burmese dissidents were admitted to Ban Tham Hin
yesterday.
Twenty-eight of them were not on the relocation list.
Some Suan Phung residents have threatened to force the Burmese refugees out
of their hometown should they cause any trouble.
----------------------------------------------------------------------- Bangkok Post - Dec 28,
2001.
Gang could lose citizenship
Anucha Charoenpo
The citizenship of relatives and business partners of Wei Hsueh-kang could
be revoked if they were found to have helped the drug warlord launder money, a
top official said yesterday.
Pol Col Peeraphan Premputi, head of the Money Laundering Commission, said
investigations revealed as many as 40 people, mainly relatives and business
partners, were involved with Wei.
Authorities would check how many of them were naturalised Thai citizens so
the commission could ask the Interior Ministry to consider revoking their
citizenship. Wei's citizenship was revoked in July.
On Wednesday, commission officers backed by armed police seized assets and
cash to the value of 100 million baht, believed to belong to Wei, in eight raids
in Bangkok, Chiang Mai and Chiang Rai. The assets and money were in the names of
Wei's relatives and business partners.
A total of 45 million baht in 100 bank accounts was also frozen, along with
shares valued at two million baht being sold by Wei's relatives.
About 200 financial institutes were yesterday asked to report on suspicious
share transactions by members of Wei's gang.
Authorities will have to prove that the frozen money had been transferred
from overseas and confirm the gang's links with foreign drug rackets, Pol Col
Peeraphan said.
The US Drug Enforcement Agency has also been asked to provide information
on Wei's drug trafficking activities both inside and outside Thailand.
----------------------------------------------------------------------- Bangkok Post - Dec 28,
2001.
Village tainted by Khun Sa wants another
chance
School alumni ask government to help
Achara Ashayagachat
Alumni of a school sponsored by drug warlord Khun Sa have want government
help to develop the area.
Nearly a hundred alumni of Ta-Tung school held their first reunion in
Bangkok on Tuesday night in a bid to forge links between their Chinese-speaking
community in Chiang Rai's Ban Therd Thai with the rest of Thai society.
Formerly known as Ban Hin Taek (broken rock village), Ban Therd Thai is
home to descendants of former Kuomintang soldiers, who fought Chinese communists
60 years ago and retreated first to the southwestern Chinese province of Yunnan
before continuing further south to northern Burma and Thailand.
Sandwiched between Doi Mae Salong mountain in Mae Chan district and the Mae
Sai-Tachilek checkpoint, the village was formerly the bastion of drug warlord
Khun Sa and is now believed to be a production base and transit point for
methamphetamines.
Lee Shao-Fu, among the first graduates from Ta-Tung, said the community had
suffered discrimination.
``We have been isolated and discriminated against by bad images and
misconceptions. Firstly, we were pejoratively called Chin Haw because we could
speak little Thai. This was due to the remoteness of the place and [successive]
Thai governments' negligence to develop the place,'' he said.
``Then, we were tainted by the link with Khun Sa, who in fact helped build
communities of Chinese and Burmese immigrants and the ethnic Lisu people in the
area,'' said Mr Lee.
Ta-Tung students respected the founder of their school, he said. ``Without
him, we could not have come this far _ with roads, electricity, schools, and
farms.''
``The Kuomintang had also helped supply teachers and a few scholars as well
as help for farmers, but the real benefactor to our communities here is Khun
Sa.''
Post-Cold War Thai politics and US influence in the region shaped the
border area where Thailand, Burma and China meet.
Khun Sa was given Thai nationality during the premiership of Gen Kriengsak
Chomanand in the late 1970s. But in early 1982 he and his army were attacked on
the order of Gen Kriangsak's successor, Gen Prem Tinsulanond.
Khun Sa and his Mong Tai Army surrendered to the Burmese military junta in
exchange for an amnesty in 1996.
``We are calling on the next generation and former students to develop the
place.
``We welcome any kind of support, from Bangkok or Beijing. Taipei's help
has gradually dwindled, especially under the administration of Chen Shui-bian,''
said Mr Lee.
The Mae Fah Luang Foundation wants to develop Ban Therd Thai for tourists,
with the relics of Khun Sa's headquarters as a selling point.
Chang Tien-wen, Ta-Tung headmaster and a classmate of Mr Lee, said Ta-Tung
remained a private, non-registered school even though it had turned out more
than a thousand Thai citizens who were good Chinese speakers.
He said Ban Therd Thai people did not meddle in politics or drugs and were
in dire need of help to improve farming skills and education.
----------------------------------------------------------------------- The Nation
WEI'S ILL-GOTTEN GAINS: Bt45m in cash seized Published on Dec 28, 2001 The Office of the Anti-Money Laundering Commission (OAMLC) said yesterday
that it had seized Bt45 million from bank accounts of relatives and wives of
drug kingpin Wei Xieu-kang.
OAMLC secretary-general Pol Col Pheeraphan Premputi said the office had
also sought co-operation from financial institutions to suspend a Bt2 million
payment to his business partners that derived from the sale of stocks on the
Stock Exchange of Thailand.
Police, who raided the homes and offices thought to be linked to Wei on
Wednesday, also seized Bt5 million in jewellery, Bt3 million worth of cars, and
three houses, the value of which has yet to be appraised.
The office also ordered 200 financial institutions to suspend business
transactions by Wei and others involved for 10 days to check their accounts to
determine whether the money was derived from illegal businesses. Pheeraphan said
the office had checked and found that Wei and his business partners transferred
sums of less than Bt2 million very often since transactions of less than that
sum are not subject to checks by authorities.
More than 40 relatives and business partners are to be interrogated by
authorities. Police suspect they launder money through jewellery shops, the
canning industry, computers, and oil trading.
Jewellery stores in the World Trade Centre shopping mall, and at an export
centre on Ratchadapisek Road, are said to be involved in the money laundering by
Wei. The one at the export centre is a booth and not a permanent shop. The
office has monitored the assets and business operations of the drug kingpin for
more than 10 months.
The office this year seized Bt470 million worth of assets from people who
have broken the law, mostly in drug trafficking cases. Pheeraphan said from
October 27 last year to December 26 this year, the office seized Bt470 million
in assets, excluding those taken from the relatives and minor wives of Wei.
Pheeraphan rated the performance of his office as unsatisfactory as it is
estimated that more than Bt100 billion of illegal drug money circulates through
the economy each year.
Defence Ministry deputy minister Gen Yuthasak Sasiprapa said the police
have not sought help from the military to find Wei, adding he did not know the
whereabouts of the drug kingpin.
----------------------------------------------------------------------- Myanmar Releases Four More
Political Prisoners
Xinhuanet 2001-12-28 20:16:43 YANGON, December 28 (Xinhuanet)
-- The Myanmar government released four more political prisoners Friday
afternoon, who are all woman members of the opposition National League for
Democracy (NLD), said an official statement.
The statement said the four NLD members were freed from "various
correctional facilities," identifying their names as Daw
Khin Kyi Kyi, Daw Tin Tin Aye, Daw Khin Aye Cho and Daw Khin Soe Win. The release has brought the total number of the NLD's political prisoners
freed in the country to 202 since January this year, it
added. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Thai Fugitive Drug Lord Said to Be
Banished by Myanmar's Wa Rebels
Xinhuanet 2001-12-28 11:18:39 BANGKOK, December 28 (Xinhuanet) -- Former Thai drug lord Wei
Hsueh-Kang, who had just lost assets worth about 100 million baht (2.3 million
U.S. dollars) in the raid operated by Thai Authorities this week, had been
demanded by Wa rebels to leave Mong Tawn in Myanmar by February, the Bangkok
Post reported Friday.
According to the report, a Thai source based in Mong Yawn, a major
metamphetamine producer near Thai-Myanmar boarder controlled by the United Wa
State Army (UWSA), said Pao You-chang,a UWSA leader, had ordered Wei and his
force out of the town by February, or pay the rebel group 100 million baht (2.3
million dollars).
The source said the UWSA accused Wei of leading more than 1,000Wa troops to
their death during a prolonged battle with the Shan United Revolutionary Army of
Khun Sa, another drug warlord who surrendered to the Burmese government in 1996,
for Mong Yawn between 1989 and 1995.
Wei was very dissatisfied with the UWSA, particularly because he was the
one who helped capture Mong Yawn for the Wa, the sourcesaid, adding that there
was every possibility of violence in Mong Yawn before the February deadline.
Meanwhile, Wei and about 2,000 people loyal to him also reportedly had
already moved out of Mong Yawn and resettled in BanPa Laew, a town opposite
Laos, the Bangkok Post said.
Surayud Chulanont, Thai Army chief, confirmed that Wei was having problems
with the UWSA, saying he was being hunted by the Wa group.
But the authorities also admitted that it was difficult to pinpoint Wei's
whereabouts because of poor intelligence.
----------------------------------------------------------------------- South China Morning Post
Friday, December 28, 2001 THAILAND - Dissidents fear for safety after move to border camp AGENCIES in Ratchaburi Worrying prospects: A dissident from the Maneeloy Centre wails at the
prospect of moving to a camp nearer the Myanmar border. Agence France-Presse
photo
Tearful, sullen and afraid of the future, the last 197 Myanmar dissidents were evacuated from the country's largest refugee camp as it was closed by Thai authorities yesterday after nine years. Thousands of police and soldiers oversaw the peaceful closure of the Maneeloy Holding Centre outside Ratchaburi, near the Thai border with Myanmar. While some inmates hummed patriotic songs, others sat sullenly. Many
repeated "I don't want to go" over and over with tears streaming down their
cheeks.
Thai authorities closed the camp citing security and budget problems.
Ratchaburi residents blame the camp's inmates for trouble and crime in the town.
The inmates were transferred in army trucks to another refugee camp nearby,
but many say they fear for their safety in the less secure environment,
including retaliation from agents of Myanmar's military junta.
The Maneeloy camp, which opened in 1992, was the biggest camp for former
student activists who were at the forefront of a 1988 democracy uprising in
Myanmar. The uprising was crushed by the military, which continues to rule
Myanmar.
The Thai Government has assured the inmates they will be well protected in
the Tham Hin camp, even though it is close to the border with Myanmar. The area
is 150km west of Bangkok.
"I guarantee the new place is safe as it's over 10km from the Myanmar
border," the deputy permanent secretary of the Interior Ministry, Bhairote
Brohmsarn, said.
The general-secretary of the Burmese Students' Association at Maneeloy,
Maung Maung Oo, said the residents went peacefully because they were threatened
with arrest.
The 197 evacuated yesterday are either waiting to be accepted as refugees
in third countries or have received approval and are awaiting transfer. A
further 170, who were transferred to Tham Hin earlier this week, have been
granted protection by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, being
designated "Persons of Concern".
"All of us want to go to a third country," said Su Su Aaw, 24, who has
applied for refugee status in Australia. "But we're so afraid that we won't make
it through if we're resettled at the new camp because it's too close to the
Myanmar border."
In addition, 130 residents were listed as illegal migrants and will be sent
back to Myanmar. These people, who were also sent to Tham Hin camp this week,
say they fear persecution from Myanmar's military Government.
According to the Government, 3,971 former Maneeloy residents have so far
been resettled in other countries.
Jeff Savage of the UNHCR said he foresaw no problems in the new camp. He
said he was confident the Thai Government would take care of the inmates until
they left for third countries. "The areas are very safe. There are already 8,000
people living there," he said.
Ratchaburi Governor Komet Duangthongdee said the Maneeloy centre would be
turned into a vocational training centre for local villagers.
----------------------------------------------------------------------- Mizzima
Pakistani
connection
The Pioneer (New Delhi)
December 19,2001 Myanmar?s military junta, known as the State Peace and Development Council
(SPDC), has granted sanctuary to two Pakistani nuclear scientists following a
telephone call from General Pervez Musharraf. The two scientists, Dr Suleiman
Asad and Dr Mukhatar have been actively involved in the development of
Pakistan?s nuclear weapons programme and the US intelligence of officials had
Osama bin Laden?s Al Qaida network. They were apparently moved out of the
country to avoid the fate that befell their two other counterparts, Dr
Bashiruddin Mehmood, the former chief of Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission, and
Chaudhury Abdul Majit. Both Mehmood and Majid have been questioned by the
Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI)
officials on their alleged links with Osama bin Laden and Taliban and are now
under ?protective custody? of Pakistani security forces.
Myanmar?s offer of asylum to two fugitives from Pakistan will certainly not
go down well with the Bush Administration, which is now extremely worried about
the threat of nuclear terrorism. Nor does it bode well for Myanmar?s relations
with India.
The revelation of Myanmar?s links with Pakistan?s nuclear establishment
also assumes significance in light of reports about Yangon?s recent purchase of
a nuclear reactor for research purposed and a dozen sophisticated MiG-29
fighters form Russia and conventional arms shopping in North Korea. It shows
that whilst China remains the main supplier of military hardware and economic
aid to sources of military supplies from Pakistan, Russia and North Korea.
Pakistan has been providing small conventional weapons and training to
Myanmarese armed forces, and has joined China in concluding and intelligence
sharing agreement with Myanmar regarding India?s force deployments in the
north-east and the Bay of Bengal.
The Chinese strategists see Myanmar occupying the same place in China?s
calculus of deterrence vis-à-vis India in South-Southeast Asia that Pakistan
does in South-Southwest Asia. On April 13, General Fu Quanyou, Chief of the
General Staff of China?s People?s Libration Army, was in Myanmar discussing the
development of airfields and naval bases before flying off to the strategically
located Indian Ocean island nation of the Maldives and then to its old ally,
Pakistan.
Interestingly, Pakistani leader General Musharraf also paid an official
visit to Yangon in April this year, the first ever by a Pakistani leader, and
expressed his country?s ?desire to get closer to Myanmar?. Even more
intriguingly, General Musharraf?s visit was proceeded by port calls by three
Pakistani naval ships (a frigate, submarine and fleet tanker) to Myanmarese
ports following the first ever Bangladeshi-Pakistani joint naval exercises in
the Bay of Bengal in 30 years (since East Pakistan became the independent state
of Bangladesh). The Indian media reported that neither country had given New
Delhi prior notification of the naval exercised. This aroused concerns in
India?s strategic community that Pakistan-Bangladesh-Myanmar naval rendezvous
had ?Beijing?s blessings? (unconfirmed sources claim that a Chinese submarine
was docked at one of the Myanmarese ports at that time). These developments not
only signal the failure of India?s policy of ?constructive engagement? with the
Myanmarese military junta but also mark the beginning of ?the transformation of
Bay of Bengal into the Bay of Beijing for all practical purpose?.
Fearful of rising Chinese influence in Myanmar, and support for
cross-border insurgencies in India?s north-eastern states, New Delhi abandoned
its support for pro-democracy forces in 1993 and embarked upon forging
multifaceted relationship with its eastern neighbour. However, far from weaning
Yangon away from China?s orbit, India?s coddling of Myanmarese military
dictators has actually seen an increase in Chinese as well as Pakistani
influence in that country so much so that the regime does not worry about
incurring the wrath of the international community by providing refuge to
nuclear scientist form Pakistan.
Myanmarese military junta? crackdown on the bases of rebel groups operating
in India?s north-east need not delude the defence establishment into a false
sense of security. Nine insurgent groups form this region met recently to form a
coordinating committee. India?s north-eastern states, Myanmar, Bangladesh and
Nepal are now fast emerging as the epicetre of terrorism and insurgencies.
Myanmarese police intercepted in early November a Chinese shipment of 300
assault rifles bound for Nepal Maoists in Myanmar?s northwestern region
bordering India. Pakistan sees the return of Islamic fundamentalist
forces-backed Khaleda Zia to power in Dhaka as a major gain for its foreign
policy strategy in the region.
If India?s borders with Bangladesh and Nepal become as active as India?s
borders with Pakistan and Myanmar, it will serve China?s strategy of India
keeping pre-occupied within the geostrategic confines of South Asia. General
Musharrafs visit to China and Bangladesh. President Jiang Zemin?s December visit
to Myanmar, and the Vajpayee Government?s efforts to woo the United States,
Japan and Vietnam signal and intensifying geopolitical rivalry in Southern Asia.
Meanwhile, domestic situation in Myanmar remains volatile. There has been
no breakthrough in secret talks aimed at resolving the 10-year standoff between
the opposition National League for Democracy (NLD) leader Aung San Suu Kyi and
the ruling military junta. Some commentators are even suggesting that the time
may have come for Suu Kyi to leave Myanmar and to go into exile to promote the
cause of democracy as the Dalai Lama does for his country.
Besides, all is not well within the ruling military junta. The dismissals
of Deputy Prime Minister Lt Gen Tin Hla and Third Secretary Lt Gen Win Myint in
mid-November, and the death of General Tin Oo (a leading supporter of SPDC
vice-chairman. Lt Gen Maung Aye but a main rival to powerful military
intelligence chief Lt Gen Khin Nyunt) in a mysterious helicopter crash in
February are signs of a power struggle at the top between Khin Nyunt (seen
widely as pro-China) and Maung Aye (Who is being wooed by India). It is
noteworthy that, in a careful balancing act last year, Khin Nyunt decided to
visit Islamabad just when his rival Maung Aye was in New Delhi.
For India, it is unwise to put all eggs in the military junta?s basket.
India, Thailand, US and Japan need to coordinate their policy responsed to the
Myanmarese military regime. New Delhi could use its support for the Myanmarese
democratic forces as a bargaining chip to induce Yangon to introduce changes in
domestic and external policies conducive to peace and stability in the region.
Otherwise, a series of recent developments have the potential to turn the pariah
state of Myanmar into a rogue state. Over the long term, Myanmar?s only hope
lies in the emergence of vertical split within the military into pro- and
anti-democracy factions (with pro-democracy faction aligning itself with Suu
Kyi?s NLD, similar to what happened to the Philippines armed forces in the
mid-1980s).
(The author is a Professor at the Asia-Pacific Center for Security
Studies in Honolulu, USA. These are his personal views)
----------------------------------------------------------------------- Shan Herald Agency for News
28 December 2001 No: 12 - 21: Wei threatens to get even with Thai officer A source close to the Army told S.H.A.N. drug-lord Wei Hsiaokang had vowed
to avenge the extrajudicial killing of his favorite lieutenant in June leading
to the recent raids on his assets in Thailand.
Thawatchai Saetiao a.k.a. Wangli, 25, was found dead in front of the
district office of Fang, 160 km north of Chiangmai, on 20 June. He was shot 7
times and bags of drugs and a gun was placed beside his corpse to show he was a
drug smuggler, which he was not, Wei was reported to have claimed. As the
killing occurred while he was on his way to an appointment with the district
officer, Krisda Boonraj, Wei had held the officer responsible, the fact that led
to his abrupt transfer from Fang on 9 December.
One of the 7 Thai officials abducted in Tachilek, opposite Chiangrai, on 27
July until 3 August, also spoke of the scathing remarks by their captors on
Wangli's slaying. The fact was later reiterated by Maj Gen Kyaw Win,
second-in-command to Lt-Gen Khin Nyunt, on their release. "They (the Wa) said
they wanted to convey their grievances with regard to the ill treatment they
suffered at the hands of local Thai authorities and to show their displeasure at
the foul play suffered by Wan(g) Li," according to AFP
report. The Burmese have so far refused to acknowledge that Wei exist at all.
During the April Regional Border Committee meeting in Kengtung, Gen Wattanachai
Chaimuenwong, then Commander of the Third Army, was reported to have inquired
about Wei's whereabouts. As his name was spelled differently by the Thais and
Burmese, Bangkok officials were told later that the man "with such a name" could
not be found anywhere in Burma.
Wei's Thai citizenship was revoked by the Interior Ministry on 30 July, 3
days after the abduction of Thai military and drug officials.
Related News
On 23 December, 6 armored cars and 3 Chinese "Dongfeng" six-wheelers were
seen driven in the direction of Mongtoom-Mongkarn area. It was believed by the
sources that they were heading for Shan State Army's positions in Loi Kawwan,
opposite Mae Fa Luang District, Chiangrai. The area has been earmarked for
Thai-initiated crop substitution program.
On 26 December, 300 Wa arrived from Mongton, 50 miles north of the boundary
with Chiangmai, at Mongtaw-Monghta area in the west. According to the sources,
they were there to destroy poppy fields so they could prove they were against
drugs. "They have come at the right time," remarked a source, "because this
year's crop has already been harvested."
On 28 December, 1,000-strong Wa troops arrived in Mongtaw-Monghta area.
They were heading in the direction of Homong, ex-warlord, Khun Sa's last
stronghold before he surrendered in 1996, further west.
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