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BurmaNet News 20th April #152
------------------------- BurmaNet ---------------------------
"Appropriate Information Technologies, Practical Strategies"
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The BurmaNet News:20 APRIL 1995
Issue #152
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NOTED IN PASSING:
Contents:
--------------------INSIDE BURMA------------------------------
THE NATION:10 ARRESTED IN BURMA ON FAKE CURRENCY CHARGE
BPP POST: TWO SIDES OF THE SAME COIN
--------------------------THAILAND----------------------------
BKK POST:SUNDAY ENERGY TALKS ON THE BORDER
BKK POST:MAE SAI BORDER PASSES NOT OF MUCH HELP TO TRADERS
BKK POST:ENVOY HANDED PROTEST OVER KILLING OF THAI IN BURMA
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(at titan.oit.umass.edu) (From News system)
Are there any MON people out there?
I am very interested in knowing my fellow Mon-Khmer people.
==============================================================
10 ARRESTED IN BURMA ON FAKE CURRENCY CHARGE
20 April 1995
The government arrested 10 people on charges of possessing
fake US dollar notes and seized 147 counterfeit 100 dollar
bills.
The News Light of Myanmar newspaper said the fake banknotes
had entered the country from Thailand, the state-owned
newspaper reported yesterday. The newspaper reported that the
government received a tip that the bills were circulating at
a bus depot just north of the capital.
Authorities arrested seven men dealing in the counterfeit
notes there on April 9, the report said.
The confessions of the men led to the arrest of three other
people, from whom 140 fake notes were seized. The newspaper
said the notes were smuggled into the country overland from
Thailand.
It also reported that airport authorities had seized 26 gold
bars, weighing more than 26 kilogrammes. The gold, the report
said, was hidden in the false pockets of Chow Chin Kow, the
director of a locally-based trading company.
The man was returning from Hong Kong via Bangkok when he was
seized at the Rangoon airport on April 13.
Chow Chin Kow said his brother, Anthony Chow, a US citizen
working in Hong Kong, had given him the bars and he smuggled
them in for investment in Burma. (TN)
SUNDAY ENERGY TALKS ON THE BORDER
20 April 1995
Prime Minister's Office Minister Korn Dabbaransi and Burmese
Energy Minister Khin Maung Thein have an unusual venue for
their meeting on Sunday at the border opposite Thong Pha Phum
district of Kanchanaburi.
The exact location and time said to be around noon for the
meeting has not been disclosed. The ministers will discuss
issues related to cooperation on energy matters.
Mr Korn said yesterday that those issues would include the
Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand's future
investment plans for power generation, and Burma's natural
gas supplies to Thailand.
EGAT general manager Somboon Manenava will join the talks.
Thailand, through the Petroleum Authority of Thailand, has
concluded a long-term agreement with Burma for natural gas
supplies from the Yadana gas field in the Gulf of Martaban at
the rate of 525 million cubic feet per day, starting in mid
-1998.
PTT is also negotiating for additional gas supplies from
another Burmese offshore gas field, Yetagun, with the
development group led by the US oil firm Texaco.
(BP)
MAE SAI BORDER PASSES NOT OF MUCH HELP TO TRADERS
20 April 1995
The opening of two temporary border passes in this norther
most district appears not to have been of much help to Thai
traders hampered by the closure of the Mae Sai- Tachilek
checkpoint due to heavy fighting between Burmese troops and
Khun Sa's minority forces last month.
A Mae Sai wholesaler complained about loss in income because
only a small number of Burmese merchants have crossed the
border temporary opened at Ban Muang Daeng and Ban Dong Ha,
located 1.5 and six kilometres respectively from the Mae
Sai-Tachilek pass.
He said his wholesale business has also been seriously
affected because Burmese clients have stopped making orders
for large amounts of consumer goods.
The clients instead crossed the Mae Sai River to the Thai
side to buy goods in small amounts since they were not able
to carry too much merchandise back to Burma, the trader said.
Exports of goods to Burma through the two temporary passes
have also been difficult taking into account the poor road
system in Burma, longer distance and higher costs, he said.
Time-consuming procedures at customs checkpoints in Burma
have also caused inconvenience for Thai exporters. The
wholesaler said he has already stopped ordering goods from
suppliers because his current stocks remain full.
Mae Sai Mayor Phakdee Rattanaphol said Thais are not allowed
to travel into Burma through the two temporary border passes
because of security reasons.
Mr Phakdee said Mae Sai traders are hoping that Thai and
Burmese authorities can soon settle border problems so the
Mae Sai-Tachilek checkpoint can reopen soon. He said the
reopening should be possible since the closure has had a
serious impact on border trade which is valued at about 150
million baht a month.
Mr Phakdee said senior Thai and Burmese officials are
expected to discuss the reopening of the Mae Sai-Tachilek
checkpoint at a meeting of the Joint Border Committee in
Phitsanulok Province next week.
Mae Sai vendors have been allowed to set up stalls along a
road about 500 metres away from the Mae Sai-Tachilek
checkpoint. However, they have to move out today since their
trade appeared to cause traffic problems. (BP)
ENVOY HANDED PROTEST OVER KILLING OF THAI IN BURMA
20 April 1995
Burmese Charge d'Affaires U Nyunt Maung Shein was summoned by
the Foreign Ministry yesterday to receive a latter protesting
against the fatal shooting of a Thai resident in Chiang Rai
earlier this month.
It is the fourth time a Burmese envoy was summoned since the
Burmese government launched a military offensive against
ethnic minorities along the Thai-Burmese border. The aide
memoire, handed over by Deputy Director-General of the East
Asian Affairs Department Asiphol Chabchitrchaidol, demanded
an investigation into the shooting, the Foreign Ministry
press statement said.
Thaweesuk Tankaeo, resident of Mae Ma Village in Chaing Saen
District of Chaing Rai, was shot in the back by a group of
Burmese paramilitary troopers while crossing the Mae Sai
River back into Thailand.
He succumbed to the fatal wound while on his way to hospital.
The Foreign Ministry viewed that such an unfortunate incident
had taken place as a result of an "intemperate and
unrestrained" reaction by Burmese paramilitary troopers
because border crossings by local residents of both countries
was common even after the closure of Burma's Tachilek
checkpoint.
"The Embassy of Burma is advised that Thailand's view be
conveyed to the authorities concerned in Burma," the note
said. (BP & TN)
TWO SIDES OF THE SAME COIN
20 April 1995
Languid, golden Mandalay was the quintessential Burmese City.
The last capital of Burma's nobility, it was said to have the
country's finest craftsmen, holiest monks and most delicious
curries.
Today, it could be mistaken for a Chinatown on the make, old
wooden houses are being knocked down to make way for garish,
concrete structures. Traffic and business transactions -
often conducted in Chinese - approach the frenetic.
The city's main market stocks crates of medicine, fake,
Ameri-can label Jeans, tool's, foodstuffs and appliances
all from China, which now dominates the economy of northern
Burma.
Meanwhile, Burma's Chinese neighbour is gaining military and
political leverage with the national government in Rangoon.
"China is the biggest country in the world. It has so many
people so of course they come down. One day this part of the
world will be a colony of China," says market trader Zaw Tun.
Whatever, China's ultimate ambitions, its thrust into Burma
along with recent aggressive action in the south China sea
and a major naval build-up are stoking fears in the region.
Having forged close military ties with the ruling junta in
Rangoon and reportedly helping build Burmese naval
facilities, China is seen by some analysts as seeking access
via Burma to the Indian ocean for its bluewater navy.
But most concrete at present is the spillover of Chinese
economic power across its southern borders, not only into
northern Burma but northern areas of Laos and even Vietnam,
its centuries-old enemy.
Recent travellers from the upper reaches of Laos report a
similar influx of Chinese goods, traders, some illegal
immigrants and the wide spread use of Chinese "remnant"
currency as is seen in Burma.
With Burma, two-way trade during the year ending February
amounted to $1.2 billion, or or 60 per cent of the country's
total exports and imports.
Although the numbers are difficult to gauge, some Chinese
have bribed their way into settling in Mandalay - located at
the centre of Burma - and in areas to the north towards the
expatriate Sino-Burmese returning home, they are creating
resentment by driving up land prices and beating local in
business competition.
"If you see a Mercedes Benz you know for sure who is inside,
a Chinese," says a resident of Rangoon, where a number of
rich Sino-Burmese have returned to invest and make fortunes.
Those opposed to the military believe that if democracy were
restored and the country truly opened up to the rest of the
world, Chinese influence would wane.
Long time neutral, Burma swung into Chinese's orbit following
the brutal put-down of a pro-democracy uprising in 1988 and
the emergence of a military junta which follows Beijing mix
of political control and economic liberalisation. Like China,
Burma is criticised in the West for its human rights
violations.
Aiming to double the size of its military force, now
estimated at 300,000 troops, Rangoon turned to Beijing which
sold the junta some $1.2 billion worth of weaponry and
extended loans at "friendship" rates.
Although denied by visiting Chinese premier Li Peng as "sheer
fabrication," Western intelligence reports show the Chinese
have for several years been helping to construct three deep
water ports and have installed a sophisticated radar facility
on the Cocos Islands in the Indian ocean.
"Beijing is engaged in building strategic road links from its
border towns to all the seaports of Burma. It is helping to
develop these ports," said the recently released annual
report of India's defence ministry.
"These are strategic moves of very high importance," says
David Shambaugh, professor of Chinese politics at the
university of London. "Beijing views Burma as vital buffer in
relation to India."
Increasingly, the question is being asked, is China embarked
on a determined course to dominate Southeast Asia, or are
recent developments just by products of an economic dynamic
heading towards superpower status?
TWO SIDES OF THE SAME COIN
20 April 1995
The Billy Joel music videos, super bowl, Hollywood hits, the
latest financial reports and on-the-scene local news
coverage.
Channel-surfing in China has never before been this good.
Shanghai, China's largest and most cosmopolitan city, is
leading the nation in transforming television from a
propaganda tool of the ruling communist party into an
entertainment source that is offering viewers more choices.
While the programming is still staid by Western Standards, it
represents a significant loosening of government controls on
television, which is state-owned and operated.
Most of china's 600 million television viewers, about half of
the total population, content themselves with limited
programming on two or three channels offering sappy, slow-
moving Chinese soap operas, variety shows performed by the
military, and lectures on electrical engineering.
"Even we in the television industry had the same effecting as
the masses: there just wasn't much to watch on television,"
said Wang Jianguo, vice director of the administrative office
at Shanghai's Oriental Television.
Shanghai's broadcasting and television bureau is trying to
liven up local programming in an effort to keep viewers from
abandoning television for other forms of entertainment, such
as going to karaoke bars.
"As Shanghai becomes more affluent, the amount of television
viewing has declined rather than increased," said John Kaye,
director of television services for the audience estimate
company Neilsen SRG in Hong Kong.
Shanghai efforts in the past two years have resulted in 12
channels offering everything from ESPM to Carnegie hall
concerts to tips on where to get the best busy in town.
Things foreign and western are no longer forbidden in China,
and such programmes give Chinese viewers the opportunity to
be part of the international pop culture, introducing them to
sports stars like Michael Jordan of the United States and
signing groups like Sweden's Roxette.
But Oriental's Wang is quick to assert that the new
programming poses no threat to communist party rule.
"China's media organs are still the mouthpieces of the party
and the government," he said. Shanghai's ability to make such
quick progress has been helped by the fact that it is one of
only five cities in china with central government permission
to import foreign movies and programming without higher
approval.
In November, China's first music television channel went on
the air, part of Shanghai's extensive cable network system.
But the real evidence of Shanghai's leading role in Chinas's
television revolution is the establishment of the nation's
only non government-financed TV station, Oriental Television.
Although the Shanghai government provided start-up money, the
station has gotten no further government funds and is
responsible for its own profits and losses.
Set up in late 1992 as an alternative to Shanghai television,
Oriental's entertainment-oriented programmememing quickly
captureed 42 per cent of the city viewers, compared with
STV's 31 per cent.
Although both stations now have about an equal share of
viewers, oriental remains the trail blazer. In 1993, for
example, it became the first in China to offer live
broadcasts of the academy awards and super bowl from the
United States. Chinese government television already
routinely shows programmes from other countries, which
generally are cheaper than American programmes. They operas
and Eastern European movies.
Oriental's news shows have departed from the standard format
of tedious reports on government decisions and production
figures accompanied by film of factory lines, tractors and
rows of sleepy, white-haired officials in meetings. Instead,
Oriental's reporters have earned a reputation for being first
with local news, offering on-the-scene reports of flooding
caused by a water main break or an early morning traffic
accident.
Also breaking with tradition is Shanghai's extensive cable
television system, which says it has signed up 1.1 million
subscribers in just two years, about a third of the market.
That would make is the single largest cable system in the
world, Kaye said.
The cable service costs only a Yuan (95 cents) a month. Its
12 channel include four local cable efforts: a feature
channel, an economic news channel, a sports channel and the
music video channel.
The latter is a far cry from MTV, the US-based music
television channel - airing politically or sexually
provocative Western videos would be certain to elicit a
government backlash.
"The channel does show some English-language videos, but
they're all fairly harmless and usually cover top-40 pop
music," said Tung, an American living in shanghai. Videos for
Chinese songs show people running slowmotion through snowy
forests and wistful women with wind blowing through their
long hair as they sing of lost love. (BP)
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NEWS SOURCES REGULARLY COVERED/ABBREVIATIONS USED BY BURMANET:
ABSDF: ALL BURMA STUDENT'S DEMOCRATIC FRONT
AMNESTY: AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL
AP: ASSOCIATED PRESS
AFP: AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
AW: ASIAWEEK
Bt.: THAI BAHT; 25 Bt. EQUALS US$1 (APPROX),
BBC: BRITISH BROADCASTING CORPORATION
BF: BURMA FORUM
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
GOA: GOVERNMENT OF AUSTRALIA
IRRAWADDY: NEWSLETTER PUBLISHED BY BURMA INFORMATION GROUP
KHRG: KAREN HUMAN RIGHTS GROUP
KNU: KAREN NATIONAL UNION
Kt. BURMESE KYAT; UP TO 150 KYAT-US$1 BLACK MARKET
106 KYAT US$1-SEMI-OFFICIAL
6 KYAT-US$1 OFFICIAL
MOA: MIRROR OF ARAKAN
MNA: MYANMAR NEWS AGENCY (SLORC)
THE NATION: A DAILY NEWSPAPER IN BANGKOK
NCGUB: NATIONAL COALITION GOVERNMENT OF THE UNION OF BURMA
NLM: NEW LIGHT OF MYANMAR (DAILY STATE-RUN NEWSPAPER,RANGOON)
NMSP: NEW MON STATE PARTY
RTA:REC.TRAVEL.ASIA NEWSGROUP
RTG: ROYAL THAI GOVERNMENT
SCB:SOC.CULTURE.BURMA NEWSGROUP
SCT:SOC.CULTURE.THAI NEWSGROUP
SEASIA-L: S.E.ASIA BITNET MAILING LIST
SLORC: STATE LAW AND ORDER RESTORATION COUNCIL
TAWSJ: THE ASIAN WALL STREET JOURNAL
UPI: NITED PRESS INTERNATIONAL
USG: UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT
XNA: XINHUA NEWS AGENCY
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