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Date: Mon, 23 Jan 1995 21:16:29 -0800

************************** BurmaNet **************************
"Appropriate Information Technologies, Practical Strategies"
**************************************************************
The BurmaNet News: Monday, January 23, 1995
Issue #99

Quote of the Day:

          "It would have been emotionally satisfying for about 15
          minutes, but it wouldn't have been a very constructive
          engagement."

               An amused Australian commenting on the near-
               shooting by the Mon of the Thai businessman linked
               to the forced repatriation of Mon refugees. <see
               "Xuwicha's Fingerprints">.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Contents:                                                    
                                                              
*************************INSIDE BURMA*************************
1 AP: NOBEL LAUREATE STILL HELD 
2 DAILY YOMIURI: DEADLINE FOR SUU KYI'S RELEASE
3 BKK POST: BURMA ENDS REGISTRATION OF RICE DEALERS

**************************SHAN STATE**************************
4 NATION: U.S. CITIZENS NEED NOT FEAR THE MTA, ASSURES KHUN SA
5 NATION: SPECIAL ARMY FORCE TIGHTENS NOOSE ON KHUN SA'S EMPIRE

***************************THAILAND***************************
6 BURMANET: XUWICHA'S FINGERPRINTS
7 BURMANET: THE SPORT OF KINGS
8 NATION [LETTER]: BURMESE SEEM TO BE SINGLED OUT

***************************MON STATE**************************
9 DVB: MON LEADER VIEWS FAILURE OF CEASE-FIRE TALKS WITH JUNTA

*************************KAREN STATE*************************
10 NATION: KNU CLAIM SLORC INCITING RELIGIOUS SPLIT IN THAILAND 

****************************REGION****************************
11 ECONOMIST: CHINA LOGS ON TO THE INTERNET
12 AWSJ: ASIA'S DRUG WAR
13 REUTERS: BISHOPS SLAM ASIA FOR ``DEATH-DEALING" POLICIES
14 SEASIA-L ASIAN STUDIES ACROSS THE CURRICULUM

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*************************INSIDE BURMA*************************
AP: NOBEL LAUREATE STILL HELD 
January 21, 1995

        RANGOON, Burma (AP) -- Despite speculation she would be
freed when her latest sentence expired, opposition leader Aung
San Suu Kyi remained under house arrest on Thursday.
        Burma's military junta has confined the Nobel Peace Prize
winner to her house in Rangoon since July 20, 1989, under a law
``safeguarding the state from dangers of subversionists.''        
It has repeatedly extended her confinement, with the latest
six-month extension expiring Thursday.

*************************INSIDE BURMA*************************
DAILY YOMIURI: DEADLINE FOR SUU KYI'S RELEASE
The Daily Yomiuri (Japan): January 20, 1995

Yangon (Kyodo)  Expectations that opposition leader Aung San Suu
Kyi would be released in January vanished as the gate of her
lake-side residence compound remained closed as usual when the
six-month period of extended detention expired on Thursday.

        She was placed under house arrest on July 20, 1989 under
a 1975 law to protect the state from "subversion." Her five-year
detention period was to end on July 19, 1994.

        But she was told by the government in January 1994 that
her detention had been extended to January 1995, the final date
understood to be Jan. 19,  1995.

        Detention or restriction is extendible every six months
for up to a total of three years. The law was amended in 1991 to
extend the total detention period of five years.

        Last February, the deputy chief of Defense Sevices
Intelligence, Col. Kyaw Win, said her detention period would be
extended by a full year up to July 1995, for a total of six
years.
        "The first year of her detention was regarded as the
arrest period and the restriction periods under the law began the
following year," he said.         

     However, the general public and many foreign journalists
believed she would be released in January. At least 15 foreign
journalists are currently in Yangon to watch her release.

*************************INSIDE BURMA*************************
BKK POST: BURMA ENDS REGISTRATION OF RICE DEALERS
Sunday, January 15, 1995
AFP, Rangoon

THE BURMESE government has lifted regulations that required
wholesale rice dealers to register with the Trade Minister, a
move that will allow free trade in the country's main staple, an
official newspaper said Friday. 

The Mirror daily said the movement would take affect "almost
immediately." It was seen as an attempt to further liberalize the
economy and to ensure the availability of rice and make it more
affordable. 

Rice trading, a state monopoly under the former socialist
government, was freed to some extent in 1987. But when government
subsidies ended, prices began rising. 

Rice prices jumped in 1988 after the suppression of the
pro-democracy movement here and the military take-over, and the
government enacted the registration law for wholesalers in 1990
to control prices and end smuggling. 


**************************SHAN STATE**************************
NATION: SPECIAL ARMY FORCE TIGHTENS NOOSE ON KHUN SA'S EMPIRE
Friday, January 13, 1995
by Korkhet Chantalertluk

THE THAI army has tightened the noose on the notorious empire of
drug warlord Khun Sa thanks to the work of a special force set up
last October. 

The so-called Naresuan Force, formed under the auspices of the
army's Third Region Command on Oct 1, is said to be the most
aggressive measure taken so far by  the government against the
head of the self-styled Shan State and marks a distinct hardening
of Thai attitudes.

It follows on from the recent joint Thai-US police crackdown that
reportedly crippled Khun Sa's Thai network.

The Naresuan Force, based in the Mae Rim district of Chiang Mai,
patrols a 500- kilometre stretch of the Thai-Burmese border from
Mae Hong Son's Muang district  to Mae Sai district in Chiang Rai.

Headed by Lt Gen Thanom Watcharaput, the force is designed to
clamp down on cross-border movement of narcotics, weapons, food
and logistical supplies to and from Khun Sa's Mong Tai Army
(MTA).

The Naresuan Force's range of operation covers areas opposite
Burma's northeastern Shan Sate especially in the territory
controlled by the MTA. The largely ethnic Shan Force has been
fighting the decades-long guerrilla war with the Rangoon
government.

"The MTA controls the southern part of Shan State which forms
part of the so-called Golden Triangle -- an area straddling the
borders of Burma, Thailand and Laos. The Golden Triangle supplies
much of the world's opium and heroin to international markets.

Khun Sa, 60, is of mixed Chinese and Shan decent. He is said to
command a force  of about 20,000 ethnic Shan and has been
conducting a sporadic, decades-long g uerrilla war with the
Rangoon government.

However, anti-narcotics agencies claim the MTA is more akin to a
private army used by Khun Sa to safeguard his lucrative opium
business than any force of idealistic separatists engaged in a
struggle to obtain independence for ethnic Shan people.

The formation of the Naresuan Force is one of the more visible
results of a more determined stance by the Thai government to
resolve long-standing problems occurring along its shared border
with Burma -- problems that include illegal trafficking in drug
and war weapons, cross-border raids and the influx of illegal
immigrants.

According to information released by the Third Region Command,
the government has drawn up a revised policy on national security
in relation to Burma. The 1994-1996 policy has four main
objectives.

* To help Burma be a good neighbour, with stability and 
  development; 
* To improve ties and cooperation with Burma on economic, 
  education and social aspects, on the basis of mutual benefits;
* To erase suspicion and promote trust between the two countries; 
* To strengthen security along the Thai-Burmese border.

"At first the army -- which was aiming to reduce the number of
personnel -- did  not approve of the force's formation," a senior
official of the Naresuan Force  said. "However, after being told
about the need, the army endorsed the Third Region Command's
proposal."

The army's concern over contraband trade along the Thai-Burmese
border and freq uent battles between Rangoon soldiers and
minority forces also contributed to t he need for the setting up
of the Naresuan Force.

The formation of the force was seen as a serious attempt by the
government to put pressure on Khun Sa. The force aimed to block
drug trafficking into Thailand  as well as the chemicals used for
producing drug, food and medical supplies, and the arms trade.

The powerful Burmese junta leader, Lt Gen Khin Nyunt, secretary
of the Burmese State Law and Order Restoration Council (SLORC),
said last week Khun Sa and his  army must be completely uprooted.

Last year the Third Region Command decided to close down all
border checkpoints  in Mae Hong Son and Chiang Rai provinces,
effectively curtailing food supplies  and basic daily necessities
heading towards Khun Sa's area. However, villagers  were allowed
to carry necessities into Burma for "humanitarian reasons". 
However, recent press reports said that the Third Region Command
failed to comp ly with a directive two months ago by National
Security Council (NSC) which demanded an "easing" of a
regulations banning transport of food supplies into the Khun
Sa-controlled area.

A high-ranking official in the Third Region Command rejected the
reports as gro undless. He said that neither the premier nor the
NSC had instructed an easing of the rules concerning Khun Sa's
forces.

"The NSC merely said that the prime minister had instructed the
Third Region Command to open new checkpoints to promote lawful
trade along the borders. The command has cooperated with
provincial authorities," the official said. 

"We recently opened a new trading spot in Mae Hong Son's Khun
Yuam district, an d will soon open another in Chiang Mai's Chiang
Dao district." 

However, there were reports that some officials at the Third
Region Command were uneasy over an "unclear directive".

"[In certain spots] there are problems about drugs, arms trade
and security. The Burmese [government] forces could raid Khun Sa
forces [near the Thai border] at any time. So how could we open
checkpoints for the border trade," a source in the Third Region
Command said.

In late November, Thai anti-narcotics police in cooperation with
the US drug en forcement agencies arrested 10 of Khun Sa's
leading "lieutenants". 

"Their key men later approached the Third Region Command and
asked us to negotiate with police for the release of their men.
But we rejected their plea, and t old them to go back, otherwise
we would also arrest them for illegally entering  Thailand," the
source said.

***************************THAILAND***************************
BURMANET: XUWICHA'S FINGERPRINTS
January 23, 1995

There is an saying that "you can't keep a good man down." 
Neither, it seems, can you keep a bad one down.  The previous
article (about the Naresuan force in Thailand) bears the
fingerprints of Thai businessman cum policy-maker Xuwicha
Hiranyaprueck.  Xuwicha, a close aid to and sometime proxy for
Thai National Security Council chief Charan Kullawanich, has
become visible again in Thai policy-making after a period of
enforced hibernation.  His currently focus is on "counter-
narcotics" work, hence Naresuan force for which he is reportedly
seeking American help in funding.  Xuwicha's current focus on
counter-narcotics seems somewhat ironic given the nature of some
reports about Xuwicha's previous business transactions involving
products from Laos.

Xuwicha's reemergence is not entirely unwelcome as he tends to
make crystal clear what is objectionable about Thailand's policy
vis-a-vis Burma.  It isn't so much his dubious counter-narcotics
credentials but rather, his willingness to advance Thai foreign
policy goals by putting refugees in harm's way.  The Neresuan
force, by way of example, has shown every bit as much prowess at
turning away Shan refugees and escaped porters fleeing the
Burmese army as it has against Khun Sa's men.  At present, the
Thai government is also quietly attempting to force relief
agencies to stop giving food aid to an ABSDF camp near Prachuab
Khiri Khan in southern Thailand, which is but one more in a
series of attempts to force a general repatriation of exiled
students to Burma.

Xuwicha dropped out of sight after August 1994 after his growing
name recognition became a liability for his boss, Gen. Charan. 
One instance of his outliving his usefulness came during a an
attempt to pressure Mon rebels to sign a cease-fire.  He
helicoptered up to Pa Yaw refugee camp in August 1994 to demand
that the refugees from Halockanie camp (which had recently been
attacked by the Burmese army) return to Burma.  Among the threats
Xuwicha made then was to have New Mon State Party leader Naing
Shwe Kyin and others arrested if they did not sign a cease-fire
with the SLORC.  Although Naing Shwe Kyin snubbed Xuwicha by
refusing to meet with him face to face, the Mon leader did
intervene to restrain one of his deputies who wanted to shoot the
voluble Thai businessman.  Of the incident, an Australian
observer later quipped, "it would have been emotionally
satisfying for about 15 minutes, but it wouldn't have been a very
constructive engagement."

One week after the Pa Yaw incident, the Mon broke off cease-fire
talks with SLORC and a day later, announced they would blow up
the Total/Unocal pipeline which SLORC proposes to run through Mon
territory.

***************************THAILAND***************************
BURMANET: THE SPORT OF KINGS
January 23, 1995

In their naming of the Naresuan force (see articles above), Thai
officials seem to be engaging in a less than good-natured sport
with the Burmese.  The purpose of Naresuan is surely welcome to
the SLORC: blockading Khun Sa's Mong Tai Army.  But it is the
name of the force that carries an unpleasant reminder for the
Burmese.  The force is named for King Naresuan of the early Thai
kingdom of Ayuthaya, (b1555-d1605), who participated in an
expedition against the Shan States in 1581.  Naresuan is most
remembered however, not for his battles against the Shan, but for
killing the Burmese crown prince Minkyi-Zwa in the battle of Nong
Sarai (1592), and for attacking the Burmese cities of Pegu and
Toungoo.

The SLORC has shown itself to be adept at the same sort of
gamesmanship.  In Tachilek, Shan State, the Burmese are putting
up a statue of their King Bayinnaung.  Bayinnaung first conquered
the Shan States in 1556 and the gesture is, in part, an
ungenerous reminder of that to Shans by SLORC.  However, putting
the statue in a border region facing towards Thailand is a
gesture with a meaning that is probably not lost on the Thais--
Bayinnaung twice sacked the Thai kingdom of Ayuthaya.  The first
time (1564), Bayinnaung carried off the king as a hostage and
after the Thais later rebelled, he sacked the city again (1569),
taking very nearly everybody else back to Burma as slaves.


***************************THAILAND***************************
NATION [LETTER]: BURMESE SEEM TO BE SINGLED OUT
Sunday, January 15, 1995

ON THE Jan 9 as I was seeing off a friend at Don Muang
International Airport, I witnessed eight handcuffed Burmese
accompanied by an Immigration Department officer being put on the
plane to Singapore. 

My curiosity was aroused as I sensed that if they were criminals
they should be deported back to Burma. On inquiring, I discovered
that they were all legally staying in Bangkok at Ruamsirimit
Apartment, Vipawadi Rangsit Road. On Dec 29, they were raided by
the Immigration authorities, and even though all could produce
their passports and visas, they were illegally detained without
charge. 

To be candid one of them went personally and explained things to
the higher immigration authorities as well as contacting the
Burmese Embassy. But no action whatsoever was taken. The Burmese
Embassy's explanation was that most of the overseas Burmese
sympathize with the democratic aspirations, and hence should not
reside in Thailand. 

It dawn upon me that the Immigration authorities were either
working hand in glove with the SLORC or are outright corrupt.
Perhaps the immigration authorities need something like a Saudi
gem case to reveal their corruption or at least tangible proof
that the Taw Maw is taking orders from the SLORC's representative
at Bangkok. 

Will somebody clear this matter up for me, please.

My-an-Mar
Bangkok


***************************MON STATE**************************
DVB: MON LEADER VIEWS FAILURE OF CEASE-FIRE TALKS WITH JUNTA
Democratic Voice of Burma
dvb@xxxxxxxxxxx

8 January, 1994

[Translated by FBIS]

((Interview with Naing Shwe Kyin, chairman of the New Mon State
Party, by unidentified Democratic Voice of Burma correspondent;
place and date not given--recorded))

[Corresp]: Mr. Chairman, It has been learned that a meeting
between the New Mon State Party (NMSP) adn the SLORC has come to
an impasse.  If it is true, why.

[Kyin]: It is true that the cease-fire negotiations have become
uncertain.  We held the meeting witht he SLORC with the intention
of achieving a cease-fire, and with both parties maintaining
their positions.  We will try to achieve and transform the
regional cease-fire into a national one.  We have particpated in
various organizations, that is why [the SLORC should also meet
with the National Democratic Front; the DAB, the Democratic
Alliance of Burma; and the NCBU, the National Council of the
Union of Burma.  However, it does not watn to hold talks with
these organizations.  It only wants to talk with individual
groups.  SLORC officials have proposed that all of our members
stay witin a five-mile perimeter.  Moreover, they told us that we
have to inform them whenever we leave the area and that we will
have no right to leave the area with our weapons.  It seems taht
the SLORC wants us to continue talks after they put us in a
restricted area.  Their attitude is wrong.  So we have decided
not to continue with the talks.


[Corresp]:  It has been learned that the NMSP held a meeting due
to pressure from many quarters.  Is that the only reason?  We
would like to know if there are others.

[Kyin]: Pressure was not the only thing.  We responded to the
SLORC's official overture because we need internal peace.  The
other reasons included the urging of the Thai National Security
Council, and officers of the No. 9 Thai Local Regional Command;
and the recent incident at the Halockkhani Mon refugee camp
[where Mon refugees were forcibly repatriated to Burma by Thai
officials].  We went because there was an opportunity to hold a
meeting with the SLORC based on a real need for internal peace. 
The other reason we had was that we do not want the people to
usee us as a weapons-wielding bloodthirsty group, which engages
itself in illegal activities and does not want internal peace. 
We are always willing to hold talks if there is an opportunity
for internal peace.

[Corresp]:  What are the differences between the NMSP and SLORC's
basic stands?

[Kyin]:  Our NMSP's basic stand is to hold a meeting as a front,
which includes the NSF, the DAB, and the NCUB.  We want the SLORC
to meet these front-like organisations for wide-ranging
discussions.  But the SLORC only wants to talk to individual
groups.  This means the division of democratic forces and ethnic
natinal forces.  We believe that effective internal peace cannot
be built by holding talks with individual groups.  The other
thing we want is a round-table meeting between the SLORC and all
the above-mentioned groups to discuss and coordinate politcal
problems.  It seems that the SLORC is only interested in purely
military matters.  A cease-fire is a purely military matter.  The
SLORC urged us to participate in the National Convention where
political discussions are held as observers.  It seems we have to
give up our belief in armed struggle to attend the National
Convention.  We cannot accept this condition.

[Corresp]: My last question for Mr. Chairman is what shoudl the
stands be, so that a meeting can be held to end more than 40
years of civil war?


[Kyin]: To end this civil war of more than 40 years, a situation
has to be created that will allow both sides to eliminate the
grudges, anger, and doubts against one another.  Only then will
it become easier to continue the talks.  If talks are held while
they still have grudges, then an effective peace can never be
achieved.  I think if the talks are held in the presence of a
person or an organization trusted by the majority of the people--
that means an organization like the United Nations--then we can
smoothly resolve the civil war that we are facing.

*************************KAREN STATE*************************
NATION: KNU CLAIM SLORC INCITING RELIGIOUS SPLIT IN THAILAND
Saturday, January 14, 1995
by Yindee Lertcharoenchok

ANTI-RANGOON ethnic Karen guerrillas have accused the Burmese
junta of trying to drive a wedge between religious factions in
Karen refugee camps in Thailand by sending infiltrators to stir
up resentment.

The Christian-led Karen National Union (KNU), the largest armed
ethnic group wh ich is still refusing to enter into a peace
dialogue with Rangoon, said the Bur mese ruling State Law and
Order Restoration Council (SLORC) was also trying to stir
disunity based on religious differences within the Karen
organization. 

The guerrillas said the plan was formulated during a morning
meeting on Jan 2 of Burma Army's Southern Operation Command Chief
Maj Gen Maung Hla and his 20-member entourage with a group of
Karen Buddhist mutineers and monks, led by U Thu zana, a widely
respected Buddhist clergyman among local Buddhist communities who
was accused by the KNU of being a SLORC spy.

The one-hour meeting took place at a Buddhist temple in Myaing
Gyi Ngu on the e ast bank of the Salween River where the
mutineers had established their headqua rters after defecting
from the KNU to form a rival group called the Democratic Kayin
(Karen) Buddhist Association.

The closed-door discussions occurred amid tight security with two
battalions of  Burma Army's 44th Division standing on alert in
nearby villages to provide protection.

According to Padoh Mansha, a close aide of KNU leader Gen Bo Mya,
Maung Hla and  his team, who flew into Myaing Gyi Ngu from
Rangoon, had urged the Karen mutineers to recruit more troops and
the SLORC would support them with food, money and weapons.

The Burmese operation chief also urged the mutineers to fight the
KNU and to try to take over the KNU headquarters at Manerplaw,
about 30 miles northeast of Myaing Gyi Ngu, said Mansha in an
interview this week.

"Gen Maung Hla told the mutineers that [if they capture the KNU
headquarters] t hey would be allowed to occupy Manerplaw. He also
promised them the Karen State , peace and development projects in
the area," said Mansha. 

During the meeting, Maung Hla had urged the Buddhist monks and
former refugees to travel to Karen camps in Thailand to encourage
the refugees to return to life in SLORC-controlled areas in
Burma. The monks were to create resentment throu gh "rumours" of
KNU religious discrimination against Buddhist Karen civilians a
nd KNU members, said Mansha.

"The SLORC has promised to provide food for the returnees for one
year," he said.

Already five monks were sent to Mae Ta Waw, a former KNU camp on
the Moei River  which was captured by Burmese troops in 1989 and
remains under their control, and that the group of clergymen
intended to cross into Thai border camps "to create (religious)
disturbance" according to Mansha.

The KNU, meanwhile, was trying to explain and clarify the whole
situation to it s members and refugees to avoid any
misunderstandings, he added. 

In separate interviews this week, Thai authorities at the border
have expressed  "extreme concern" about the reports of
infiltrations of instigators of religious unrest in refugee camps
in Thailand.

They feared that the "fragile and delicate" religious conflicts
inside the KNU,  which had resulted in armed clashes between the
Christian-led KNU and a group of 25-300 Buddhist mutineers last
month, would escalate and spill across the border.

Mansha said the KNU had already obtained evidence to prove that
the SLORC had a ssisted and supported the mutineers.

He cited the incident on Jan 8 near Gan Nyi Naung, where eight
mutineer were ki lled. "When we investigated the bodies closely,
we found that they were in fact  Burmese troops who joined with
the "mutineers," he said. KNU forces also captu red seven or
eight heavy weapons at the scene, mortars and heavy machine-guns. 

****************************REGION****************************
ECONOMIST: CHINA LOGS ON TO THE INTERNET
January 7, 1995
Beijing

It is hard to guess which attributes of the Internet China's
government might find most terrifying: its anarchic management
syle, its organic growth or its ability to foster cheap,
instananeious communication between millions of computer users
worldwide.

Yet China's first direct commercial links to the Internet have
been approved by the government and are due to begin operation
this month.  Two dedicated lines, one from Beijing and the other
from Shanghai, will allow anybody in China with a computer and a
modem to tap directly into the full range of the Internet's
resources.  Jointly operated by Sprint, an American
telecommunications company, and China's Ministry of Posts and
Telecommunications, teh new lines are expected to be wildly
popular.  Sprint says it will probably need to expand the lines'
capacity within a few months to accomodate expected growth in
demand.

The government's willingness to particpate seems to bea case of
"if you can't beat 'em, join 'em".  Attempts since the 1989
Tienanmen Square demonstrations to control channels of
international communication have not been successful.  Shortly
after the demonstrations in 1989, the government tried to limit
the spread of fax machines byregistering them.  It failed.   In
1993, Li Peng, the prime minister, announced a ban on the private
use of satellite dishes capable of receiving foreign television
broadcasts.  Coming after hundreds of thousands of them had
already been installed however, the bas was widely ignored. 
Small satellite dishes today remain a prominent feature of
cityscapes throughout China.

The government seems to have concluded that any effort to stilfe
electronic communication via the Internet would likewise fail. 
All across China, computer specialists have already managed to
engineer their own forms of indirect or partial access to the
Internet. By organising a commercial link-up, the government can
at least keep a better eye on what is going on--and make a profit
on the traffic at the same time.

But the Internet has the potential to nuetralise one fothe
government's more effective counter-dissident strategies:
expulsion.  Cut off from events in China, the exiled dissidents
have tended to fade into irrelevance.  In future, some of the
fire-brands Beijing believed to be safely out of the way may use
the Internet to spread the word back home.

****************************REGION****************************
WSJ: ASIA'S DRUG WAR
January 11, 1995
The Wall Street Journal

Trade and information aren't the only things that have gone
global.  Try drug addiction.  Around the world, the U.S. is often
protrayed as a socity sinking under the weight of drug abuse. 
But where the U.S. has about 600,000 heroin addicts, Thailand
probably has that many in Chiang Mai and Chiang Rai provinces
alone.  According to the <Straits Times>, Singapore is treating
7,700 addicts (up from 5,700 in 190).  Assuming improbably, that
these are the only ones, Singapore still has an addiction rate
12% higher than the U.S.  Malaysia claims about 100,000 addicts,
Thaiwan about 50,000, and the standard estimate for Vietnam is
500,000.


Without much doubt these figures understate the severity of the
problem in some countries.  When Taiwan seized 1,114 kilos of
heroin in 1993, officials claimed the bulk was for domestic
consumption.  Hong Kong clinics have registered a 50% jump in
female addicts since 1993, which they attribute to the price of a
gram of heroin plummeting to $40, half the price of three years
ago.

While the big money is made on the streets of New York and Los
Angeles, most of Asia's opium is consumed in Asia.  So the
explosion in the Golden Triangle, especially Burma, is deeply
troubling.  Opium output has trebled since 1988, to about 3,500
tons, according to Asean officials.  Prosecutions are still
launched against lingtime traffickers in places like Thailand,
but in fact the business has rapidly migrated into the hands of
new Chinese gangs.

The quantity has gone up, and the purity has improved by a factor
of 1,000% or more.  To understand why, look no farther than
Burma's emergence as China's economic satellite.

In the late 1980s, China began courting the Burmese regime, then
in bad odor with the rest of the world for slaughtering hundreds
of demonstators.  Beijing dropped its support of the Communicst
Party of Burman and other ethnic rebel groups and opened the long
Sino-Burmese border to trade.  That pried the lid from a
Pandora's Box whose contents are now spilling out into the world
through China.

The ex-insurgents, led by the Wa tribal followers of Burma's
Communists, nowadays devote themselves to the heroin business. 
Dozens of refineries have opened along the border, with the drugs
moving overland by courier through China and finally out via Hong
Kong and Taiwan.  These mainland routes have already eclipsed
Burmese drug warlord Khun Sa and Thai export routes.

For the time being, the Rangoon government has reached cease-
fires with most of the ethnic rebels in the north.  Rangoon
leaves them to their drug trafficking, and probably even rakes
off a share of the profit, while concentrating its main energies
on building up the army and crushing urban dissent.  No doubt
these cease-fires are temporary: The Burmese military is
reportedly set to renew is offensive against the Khun Sa
operatin, armed with a fresh supply of weapons from Beijing.  In
time, the army probably hoes to subdue the rest of Burma's
minorities as well.

But that goal has eluded the Burmese military for 50 years, and
for nwo the local militias still call the shots in the
mountainous north.  Poppy cultivation has boomed under teh supr
of competition for buyers.  For their part, the Chinese see their
Burmese client as an economic and military bridgehead into
Southeast Asia.  What they got in the bargain was an opium
bridgehead into China.

Junkies are suddenly proliferating along the drug routes through
Yunnan and Guangxi, in the inland provinces and even among
Beijing's yuppies.  China recently admitted to having 300,000
"registered" addicts and called the situation "very grim." 
Health officials put the real number at 2.5 million.  In 1992,
the People's Armed Police was sent in to clean out a smuggling
center protected by corrupt Yunnan officials.  The battle lasted
nearly 11 weeks and netted nearly 1,000 kilos of drugs.

China hasn't forgotten that tens of millions were junkies early
in the century.  Biochemistry being what it is, the simple fact
of drugs being available is likely to produce a growing addiction
crisis.  When Lee Brown of the U.S. Office of National Drug
Control Policy toured the region last June, several governments
urged him to restart anti-narcotics cooperation with Burma.  But
the Burmese regime is still in the doghouse with Congress over
its human rights record and the detention of Nobel Peace Prize
winner Aung San Suu yi.

In any case, the old school, which sees U.S. and European
consumers as the main drivers of the heroin trade, may be out of
date.  Malaysia recently nabbed a high-school-age heroin dealer. 
Police suspect that pushers are trying to lock in a new clientele
among upwardly mobile young users.  Asia's wealth is driving a
big part of the business these days.  And while the U.S. can
help, China is the real key to Asia's developing drug crisis.


**************************SHAN STATE**************************
NATION: US CITIZENS NEED NOT FEAR THE MTA, ASSURES KHUN SA
Sunday, January 15, 1995

OPIUM warlord Khun Sa does not want to make enemies of other
countries and it was needless for the United States to caution
its citizens against travelling in parts of northern Thailand,
according to a prominent aide to the leader of the self-styled
Shan state. 

Kuensai Jaiyen is responsible for liaising between Khun Sa's Mong
Thai Army (MTA) and foreign countries. 

He said people living in Shan state -- an area claimed by ethnic
Shan separatists on the Thai-Burmese border -- were disheartened
to learn about the US warning. 

"Although people have been violating the human rights of the Shan
for a long time, we have never wanted to make enemies of, or
attack [the citizens] of other countries. We want to make
friends. We need help from other countries. 

"The US is the most powerful country in the world. How would we
dare to challenge it," Kuensai said. 

The warning, issued by the US State Department last Saturday,
identified three provinces in northern Thailand -- Chiang Mai,
Chiang Rai and Mae Hong Son -- as "areas of greatest concern [to
the US". 

It warned American tourists travelling in the North against
"possible reprisals" by Khun Sa's MTA, after a number of his
leading lieutenants were arrested in late November. 

The crackdown is said to have crippled Khun Sa's heroin smuggling
network in this country. 

Referring to the thorny question of ethnic Shan cultivating opium
poppies, Kuensai explained that people living in Shan state would
have great difficulty finding other ways to earn a living as long
as Burmese government troops kept on attacking their strongholds
along the Thai-Burmese border. 

"This problem of opium-growing could be settled very amicably, if
only the Burmese government would stop attacking us," he said. 
Kuensai repeated earlier requests for Shan state to be consulted
over plans to set in motion the Economic Quadrangle Development
project. 

This is an agreement between this country and China, Laos and
Burma to cooperate on mutually beneficial developments projects. 
"Any developments initiated on Shan soil without prior approval
from the Shan people will only serve to hurt the feelings of
local people," he said. 

Meanwhile, PM's Office Minister Savit Bhothiwihok, the minister
with overall responsibility for the Tourism Authority of Thailand
(TAT), said he has a meeting in Chiang Mai on Monday with police
chiefs from the three provinces mentioned in the US State
Department warning. 

He said they will discuss ways of beefing up security for
tourists travelling through the area.  

Last Friday, Defence Minister Vijit Sookmark gave assurances that
US tourists travelling in the North were not at risk. 

Khun Sa himself recently wrote to a Thai daily newspaper claiming
that Washington is pressuring the Burmese government to clamp
down on ethnic minority groups along the Thai-Burmese border. 
In his letter, he said his Shan state was a "lucrative area which
many parties want to exploit". 


****************************REGION****************************
REUTERS: BISHOPS SLAM ASIA FOR ``DEATH-DEALING" POLICIES
January 18, 1995


         MANILA, Philippines (Reuter) - Asia's Roman Catholic
bishops Wednesday slammed governments in the region for adopting
``death-dealing'' policies that deny the poor the fruits of
economic progress.
         The 21-nation Federation of Asian Bishops Conferences
(FABC), meeting in Manila, also decried the growth of
consumerism among Asians, which made them want ``to have more,
eat more and waste more,'' a conference spokesman said.
         Archbishop Orlando Quevedo, FABC's Filipino
secretary-general, said the bishops were concerned that many
Asian governments were pursuing policies that emphasized
industrialization so much ``that the basic sectors of society are
left without enjoying the fruits of development.''
         ``We think that the policy of economic development that
is being followed by many Asian countries is death-dealing for
the poor,'' Quevedo told reporters.


****************************REGION****************************
SEASIA-L ASIAN STUDIES ACROSS THE CURRICULUM 
Jan 19, 1995 

---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Wed, 18 Jan 1995 15:43:53 -1000
To: Multiple recipients of list APEX-L
<APEX-L@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> Subject: Asian Studies Across the
Curriculum

"Asian Studies Across the Curriculum"

Second Annual Conference  April 5-6, 1995
Burkshire Conference Center
Towson State Univeristy
Baltimore, Maryland

Asian Studies Development Program (ASDP)
Sponsored by:
  Towson State University
  Essex Community College
  East-West Center
  University of Hawaii

CALL FOR PAPERS

This conference welcomes proposals that investigate approaches
infusing Asian materials into traditional disciplines, that
consider theoretical issues in teaching Asian materials, that
discuss pedagogical issues in teaching across disciplines and
across cultures, or that explore traditional areas of Asian
studies.

Papers should be twenty minutes long. Proposals for both
individual papers and panels of three related papers are welcome.
Proposals should include name, address, phone numbers, FAX number
(if available), and a 250 word description of each presentation.
Deadline for proposals is January 15, 1995. Presenters will be
notified by February 15, 1995. 
For further information, please contact

Professor Nancy Hume
Department of English
Essex Community College
7201 Rossville Boulevard
Baltimore, Maryland 21237
Phone (410) 780-6911
FAX (410) 682-6871
E-Mail:  E7Q4W0L@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx

**************************************************************
NEWS SOURCES REGULARLY COVERED/ABBREVIATIONS USED BY BURMANET:

 AP: ASSOCIATED PRESS
 AFP: AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
 AW: ASIAWEEK
 AWSJ: ASIAN WALL STREET JOURNAL
 Bt.: THAI BAHT; 25 Bt.3 DUS$1 (APPROX),
 BBC: BRITISH BROADCASTING CORPORATION
 BI: BURMA ISSUES
 BKK POST: BANGKOK POST (DAILY NEWSPAPER, BANGKOK)
 BRC-CM: BURMESE RELIEF CENTER-CHIANG MAI
 BRC-J: BURMESE RELIEF CENTER-JAPAN
 CPPSM: C'TEE FOR PUBLICITY OF THE PEOPLE'S STRUGGLE IN MONLAND
 FEER: FAR EAST ECONOMIC REVIEW
 IRRAWADDY: NEWSLETTER PUBLISHED BY BURMA INFORMATION GROUP
 JIR: JANE'S INTELLIGENCE REVIEW
 KHRG: KAREN HUMAN RIGHTS GROUP
 Kt. BURMESE KYAT; 150 KYAT3DUS$1 BLACK MARKET
                   100 KYAT3DUS$1 SEMI-OFFICIAL
                   6 KYAT3DUS$1 OFFICIAL
 MOA: MIRROR OF ARAKAN
 NATION: THE NATION (DAILY NEWSPAPER, BANGKOK)
 NLM: NEW LIGHT OF MYANMAR (DAILY STATE-RUN NEWSPAPER, RANGOON)
 R.T.A.:REC.TRAVEL.ASIA NEWSGROUP
 S.C.B.:SOC.CULTURE.BURMA NEWSGROUP
 S.C.T.:SOC.CULTURE.THAI NEWSGROUP
 SEASIA-L: S.E.ASIA BITNET MAILING LIST
 SLORC: STATE LAW AND ORDER RESTORATION COUNCIL
 USG: UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT
 XNA: XINHUA NEWS AGENCY
**************************************************************