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Aung San Suu Kyi's Address at Beiji
- Subject: Aung San Suu Kyi's Address at Beiji
- From: maung@xxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Thu, 31 Aug 1995 18:28:00
Subject: Aung San Suu Kyi's Address at Beijing Forum
Aung San Suu Kyi's Taped Address Receive Resounding Applause
>From Wire Reports
HUAIROU, China --Aug 31 -- In just the spirit of defiance china had
feared from the nongovernmental forum on women, thousands of cheering
participants gathered today to hear a message from Aung San Suu Kyi on a
videotape smuggled in from Burma -- a country with close ties to
Beijing.
The Nobel Peace Prize winner's speech was played as a keynote address on
the first full day of work at the NGO forum, the largest international
women's meeting in history.
"It is not the prerogative of men alone to bring light to this world.
Women, with their capacity for compassion and self-sacrifice, their
courage and perseverance, have done much to dissipate the darkness of
intolerance and hate," Ms. Suu Kyi told the forum participants.
Aung San Suu Kyi, who spent six years under house arrest for fighting
for democracy in Burma, urged governments to spend "less on the war toys
of grown men and much more on the urgent needs of humanity as a whole."
Some 3,000 women, and a few men, crammed into a small auditorium for
August 31's biggest draw: Suu Kyi's videotaped speech smuggled out of
Burma. They applauded her for a full minute when it was over.
"The education and empowerment of women throughout the world cannot fail
to result in a more caring, tolerant, just and peaceful life for all,"
Suu Kyi said.
Suu drew laughter when she referred to the "age-old prejudice the world
over ... that women talk too much," and asked, "But is this really a
weakness?"
She argued that men's tendency toward physical action to resolve
conflict "has a far more damaging effect on its victims than feminine
gossip."
"Women have a most valuable contribution to make in situations of
conflict by leading the way to solutions based on dialogue rather than
on viciousness or violence," she said.
Suu did not seek to attend the forum because she feared Burma's military
rulers would bar her from returning home.
It is unclear whether China, which is close to Burma's junta, would have
given her a visa.