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BurmaNet News: August 27, 1996




-----------------------------BurmaNet--------------------------------
"Appropriate Information Technologies, Practical Strategies"
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The BurmaNet News: August 27, 1996
Issue #500
Noted in passing:
		To understand Malaysia-Burma relations, all you have to 
		do is read the business sections of the newspapers, says
		says Fan Yew Teng, an activist with Cenpeace, a human 
		rights group. (see: FEER: SEEING RED)
HEADLINES:
==========
ASSK: LETTER #38 
USIA: ASSK TO RECEIVE NDI DEMOCRACY AWARD TODAY 
NATION: ASEAN WRESTLES WITH THE BURMA CONUNDRUM
US EMBASSY RANGOON: FOREIGN ECONOMIC TENDS - BURMA
FEER: SEEING RED
THE HINDU: OPPRESSION INCREASING
BKK POST: KARENS ATTACK THAI  PATROL UNIT, 2 HURT
NATION: POOR BURMA RICE HARVEST REPORT LEADS TO JAIL 
AP: PEPSI STILL POPULAR IN  BURMA 
MYANMAR ALIN: STRATEGIC POLITICAL DEFIANCE
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

ASSK: LETTER #38
August 26, 1996 (Mainichi Daily News)

NLD ACTIVISTS FACE APPALLING PRISON CONDITIONS
"Death in Custody (2)"

The death certificate of U Hla Than, NLD member of Parliament for the Coco
Islands who died on Aug. 2 as a political prisoner of the present military
regime of Burma, stated that he had died of "extensive Koch's lung
[tuberculosis] and HIV infection."  Coincidentally on the day of his death,
extracts from a report on conditions in Burmese prisons by a former student
activist who had served time in the infamous Insein Jail where U Hla Than
was incarcerated for nearly six years, appeared in The Nation newspaper of
Bangkok.  The report states that owing to drug abuse "there is ... a high
prevalence of HIV/AIDS in prisons.  When administering injections, the
doctors give only half or less than half of the phial to one patient, giving
the rest to another patient from the same needle and syringe, almost
guaranteeing that any blood-carried infections will spread."  There can be
little doubt that U Hla Than's death was brought about by the abysmal prison
conditions that do not bear scrutiny by independent observers.  The ICRC
left Burma in 1995 because of the refusal of the authorities to allow
inspection of the prisons of the country.
	
U Hla Than is certainly not the first prisoner of conscience to have died
in the custody of SLORC.  Some leading members of the NLD can be 
counted among those who have given their lives for the right to adhere 
to their deeply held political principles.  The first of those was U Maung 
Ko who, ironically, died during the visit of Mrs. Sadako Ogata, who had 
been sent by the United Nations Human Rights Commission to make 
enquiries into the human rights situation in Burma.  U Maung Ko, 52 at 
the time of his death, was a civil servant who worked in the Rangoon 
Port Commissioner's Office before he entered the democracy movement 
in 1988 as the general secretary of the Dock Workers' Union.  When the 
NLD was founded he became one of the pioneer members of the party.
	
U Maung Ko was arrested and taken to Insein Jail during the crackdown on
democracy activists in October 1990.  In less than three weeks, on Nov. 9,
he was dead.  His family learnt of his death from workers at the Rangoon
General Hospital, where his body was sent from Insein Jail.  The authorities
claimed U Maung Ko had taken his own life after making a confession of his
activities, but neither the content of the confession nor the circumstances
under which it was extracted have been revealed.  Many question the verdict
of suicide.  Friends and members of the family who saw U Maung Ko's body
before burial assert that there were many marks on it to indicate that he
had been badly tortured.
	
The next NLD victim among the political prisoners of SLORC was U Ba 
Thaw, better known as the writer Maung Thaw Ka. /Hsaya/ (the Burmese 
equivalent of /sensei/, or teacher) Maung Thaw Ka, as he was affectionately 
addressed by friends, colleagues and admirers, was an unforgettable character.  
He served in the Burmese Navy for many years and was involved in a 
shipwreck in 1956 while serving as the commanding officer on a coast guard 
cutter patrolling the southeastern coastline.  When his vessel foundered, Lt. 
Ba Thaw and the 26 other navy personnel on board transferred to two 
inflated rubber life rafts.  One life raft was lost with all nine passengers on 
board but the second life raft was rescued by a Japanese ship 12 days later.  
By then, seven of the 18 men on the life raft were dead and other man died 
on the rescue ship.  Maung Thaw Ka wrote a gripping book about the 
harrowing time he and his mates spent under a searing sun on the small 
life raft, which carried only boiled sweets and water sufficient to keep 
10 men alive for three days.
	
Hsaya Maung Thaw Ka's irrepressible sense of humor came across in 
many of his writings, which could perhaps be described as satire without 
malice. One of his witticisms became highly popular during the years of 
socialist rule in Burma.  On being told that a fellow writer believed in 
ghosts, Hsaya Maung Thaw Ka riposted: "He believes in anything, he 
even believes in the Burmese Socialist Programme party!"
	
Hsaya Maung Thaw Ka was also a poet.  He not only wrote his own poetry, 
he translated many poems from English to Burmese, some of which were
surprisingly romantic: the love poetry of Shakespeare, Robert Herrick, John
Donne and Shelley.  There was also a translation of William Cowpers' 
"The Solitude of Alexander Selkirk," which he said was dedicated to 
himself. Perhaps it was the last verse that appealed to him.

	"But the seafowl is gone to her nest,
	The beast is laid down in his lair;
	Even here is a season of rest,
	And I to my cabin repair.
	There is mercy in every place,
	And mercy, encouraging thought!
	Gives affliction a grace
	And reconciles man to his lot."

But there was no mercy for Hsaya Maung Thaw Ka in Insein Jail.

*********************************************************

USIA: ASSK TO RECEIVE NDI DEMOCRACY AWARD TODAY 
August 26, 1996
By David Pitts

Washington -- Burmese Democratic leader Aung San Suu Kyi and former
Vice President Walter Mondale, currently U.S. ambassador to Japan,
will be presented with the 10th annual W. Averell Harriman Democracy
Award at a luncheon to be held August 26.

The awards were announced May 29 at a news conference held by the
National Democratic Institute for International Affairs (NDI), which
will present the awards in Chicago during the week of the Democratic
Convention being held there this year.

"Aung San Suu Kyi's courageous struggle to restore democracy to Burma
reflects the hopes and aspirations of the Burmese people and is an
inspiration to democrats around the world," said NDI chairman Paul
Kirk, Jr. "As senator, vice president, presidential candidate, and
ambassador, Walter Mondale's career has been marked by a deep and
abiding commitment to public service and democratic government," he
added.

The Democracy Award Luncheon will take place during NDI's
International Visitor's Forum, a week-long series of bipartisan
seminars on the U.S. political process for foreign leaders and
observers visiting the Democratic Convention.

Madeleine Albright, U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, will
present the award to Aung San Suu Kyi, according to an NDI spokesman.
She will not attend personally for fear she would not be allowed to
return to Burma. But she will address the audience by videotape, the
spokesman said.

According to NDI, despite winning 81 percent of the parliamentary
seats in the 1990 elections, Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for
Democracy (NLD) was prevented from taking office by the ruling
military junta. "The recent arrests in Burma are a stark reminder of
the repressive climate there," said NDI president Kenneth Wollack, who
recently visited Aung San Suu Kyi in Rangoon. "They also highlight the
urgent need to maintain support for human rights and democratic
change," he added.

During the Democratic Convention, which will take place August 26-29,
NDI will host more than 500 international guests who will be invited
to participate in seven seminars covering aspects of the U.S. system
of democracy, Wollack explained. "Heads of government, political party
and civic leaders, parliamentarians and diplomats from more than 100
nations are expected to participate," he noted.

About 40 of the foreign guests will be sponsored by the U.S.
Information Agency and they will be invited to join the other guests
for the NDI-sponsored seminars, Wollack said.

NDI was established in 1983 to promote and strengthen democratic
processes throughout the world. Programs focus on six major areas:
political party development, election processes, legislative reform,
local government, civil-military relations and civic education.

"Our mandate is not to sell an American model," said Wollack, "but to
share experiences." In Chicago, "we hope our foreign guests will be
able to observe the convention, seeing the American political process
upfront, its strengths and its weaknesses," he added.

**********************************************************

NATION: ASEAN WRESTLES WITH THE BURMA CONUNDRUM
August 26, 1996

The regional grouping is poised to take in Burma as a member next
year, but the consequences, as Kavi Chongkittavorn points out,
will be far-reaching.

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) is moving
towards the full integration of all 10 Southeast Asian countries
next year, three years earlier than envisaged in the time frame
set by the Asean Summit in Bangkok last December.

Even though it was the dream of the founding fathers to see all
10 Southeast Asian countries together when they met in August
1967 to form Asean, the move could have far-reaching impacts for
the much-respected regional organisation.

Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad has become the first
Asean leader to endorse Burma's membership by next year, together
with Laos and Cambodia.

In July 1995, the latter two expressed their intentions to join
Asean in 1997 and since then they have diligently prepared for
membership. In the case of Burma, however, it is more of a  show
for Machiavelli.

It was no coincidence that Gen Than Shwe, chairman of the State
Law and Order Restoration Council (Slorc) and  Defence Minister,
went to Kuala Lumpur and conferred with Mahathir, whose country
is serving as the chairman of Asean.

Malaysia was the general's first destination after Burma was
admitted as an observer last month at the annual As an meeting in Jakarta.

Shwe used the opportunity to submit an official application for
Asean membership to Malaysia, but without referring to a specific
timeframe. With such a move, Rangoon has now placed the ball in
Asean's court. Last month Foreign Minister Ohn Gyaw said clearly
that Burma is ready to become an Asean member whenever Asean is
ready to accept it.

Burma's future Asean membership is a complicated issue that has
direct bearing on the group's dignity and international standing.
Under the banner of POI (the policy of non-interference), Asean
has so far adopted  a hands-off policy towards the repression in Burma.

Despite the assurance by Asean that there is no obstacle to Burma
joining Asean, it is an open secret that Burma' current political
situation and the continued repression could embarrass Asean if
the grouping decides to include it next year.

The issue of Burma's integration with Asean was the major topic
during the discussion between Asean and its dialogue partners -
they wished Asean to play a more active role in encouraging the
policy of national reconciliation between the Slorc government
and the National Democratic League led by Aung San Suu Kyi.

Although Asean countries still maintain the POI, the next few
months will be crucial to determine the overall support of Asean
member countries for Burma's inclusion.

Obviously, if there is no genuine progress in the dialogue
process between the government and the opposition, it would make
it harder to admit  Burma next year as it would cause an outcry
in the international community and most importantly, taint the
image and credibility of Asean. 

For the  time being, Asean has rejected attempts by the West to
improve the political atmosphere in Burma. Canada's proposal
calling for the setting up of a contact group was dismissed
outright last month by Asean. 
     
The idea was aimed at bridging the gap between Asean, which
supports Burma's integration and the West, which wants more
political pressure and possibly sanctions imposed.

Be that as it may, Burma, which has been living in self-reliant
isolation until recently, has suddenly improved its position
vis-a-vis Asean  and the rest of  the world.

Indeed,  it is a "win-win" situation for the Slorc leaders.
As of now, Burma would not be particularly concerned if Asean
decides that its membership should be postponed for whatever
reason. Then 1998 would be a more likely date for Burma's
membership.

As far as Rangoon is concerned, it has already attained all of
its objectives by maximising its ties with Asean as an observer
and winning inclusion to the Asean Regional Forum. Its
illegitimacy has also been fading as the Slorc leaders move into
the mainstream of Asean.

Ironically, now it is Asean's dilemma, not Burma's, whether the
grouping would welcome the country now or later.

True to their refined survival instincts, the Slorc leaders were
smart leaving the door open for Asean to integrate them, but
leaving out the timeframe, so the latter feels comfortable.

But Asean must be firm, through its quiet diplomacy or through
whatever means, so that progress on a dialogue with the
opposition is an important issue. Failure to do so, and Slorc
will continue to use any and all measures to undermine, if not
annihilate,  the opposition..
     
Fulfilling  the-wish of Asean's  founding fathers is a noble
cause. But the achievement of Asean's enlargement  must not come
at the expense of the Burmese people aspirations for an open and
civil society.

*********************************************************

US EMBASSY RANGOON: FOREIGN ECONOMIC TENDS - BURMA
July 1996

ECONOMIC OUTLOOK

Since implicit and explicit taxation of the external sector is generally 
believed economists strongly to retard economic growth, Burma's 
economic growth may continue to fall well short of it's potential so long
as defence spending remains high and continues to be funded 
disproportionately by implicit and explicit taxes on the external sector.
These conditions, in turn appear likely to persist until Burma has a 
government with sufficient public support to reduce defence spending
in the absence of external threats and to collect internal revenues
effectively.

Burma's legal economy, during the first half of the 1990's, annually 
absorbed net cash-basis foreign financial flows apparently equivalent
to at least 14% of GDP, but grew on an average of only 6% a year or less
in real terms, while investment declined from 21% to 18% of legal GDP.

The GOB continue to find it difficult togain access to financial assistance
from the IMF, World Bank, and to official financial debt relief from the 
Paris Club unless ti substantially reduces it's real military expenditures, 
broadens it's revenue base away from the external sector, and greatly 
increases the transparency of it's econommic management, not only by 
abolishing its vestigial official exchange rate, but also by making available
reliable data on military imports and related expenditure and external debt.

Furthermore, most potential foreign aid donors - including the US, the EU, and 
Japan and Australia - havung cut off most financial assistance to the GOB 
in the 1988-1990 period, have publicly stated that visible movement towards 
Democracy is a precondition to any resumption of lending to the GOB for
anything other than humanitarian purposes.

In recent months, the GOB has openly welcomed investment in infrastructure,
especially transportation infrastructure, by cash-rich firms closely associated 
with major opiate exporting organizations based in Burma's border regions.
Nevertheless, since private equity financing of most kinds of private infrastructure
facilities is normally problematic, infrastructure constraints may become
increasingly binding on economic growth. Moreover, overt reliance on
narco-financing of physical infrastructure invetsment could augment the
political risks to external trade, invetsmetnt of financing that are already 
increasing due to grwing public concern in the US and other countries over 
the GOB's violations of Human rights, including the right of people to choose
their own government. 

Consequently, the short and mediumterm prospects of Burma's legal economy
are uncertain. Burma's economic growth could either be eccelerated by 
economic and political reforms that it's military dictatorship does not yet 
seem disposed to contemplate, or slowed by an intensificatin of actions in 
other countries to restrict the growth of Burma's external sector pending
substancial political liberalization.

The long term sustainability of Burma's economic growth is still more 
questionable, due to the persistance of both macroeconomic stability an the
potential for political instability as well as the grossly inadequate 
infrastructure development, especially in the feild of basic education. Each
of these problems appears closely related to the high costs of governing by 
force rather than consent, which appears to be the principal and fundamental
problem in contemporary Burma.

Finally if barriers between Burma's legal and extralegal economies continue
to weaken, real exchange rate increases due to opiate export rents could 
discourage production of other exports and import substitutes, much as 
has happened in some economies earning lage petroleum rents.
(continued next issue)

***********************************************************

FEER: SEEING RED
August 29, 1996
By S. Jayasankarn in Kuala Lumpur

THE visit was wrapped I near-total secrecy, and few people 
outside the Malaysian Foreign Ministry knew about it before 
August 10. But the next day, the king of Malaysia himself was on 
hand to greet his guest at Parliament square, and a 21-gun salute 
boomed as the visitor inspected a guard of honour.

It was the kind of reception normally accorded a head of state, 
but to many Malaysians something was terribly amiss. Kuala Lumpur 
was laying down the red carpet for Gen Than Shwe. "It's such a 
shock," said Debbie Stohardt, the Malaysian head of the Burma 
Solidarity Group. "Who will they invite next, Radovan Karadzic?" 
she asked, referring to the Bosnia Serb leader wanted for crime 
against humanity.

Twenty-nine non-governmental organisations, including the 
influential Malaysian Islamic Youth Movement, or Abim, vigorously 
protested the visit. Abim is a powerful pressure group; its ranks 
once included senior leaders such as Anwer Ibrahim, now 
Malaysia's deputy prime minister. In a addition, many Abim 
members of the ruling United Malays National Organisation led by 
prime Minister Mahathir Mohammad.

The NGOs called for a review of Kuala Lumpur's policy on Burma's 
membership in the Asean, of which Rangoon could become a full 
member as early as next year. The group cited Slorc's brutal 
record on human rights and it ill-treatment of its Muslim 
minorities. That the NGOs picked out Rangoon's harassment of 
Muslims is especially embarrassing to Kuala Lumpur, which has 
championed Islamic cause from Bosnia to Chechnya.

Than Shwe visit, however, showed that Malaysia is committed to 
the Asean approach of "constructive engagement" with Burma. 
Quizzed by the press on the NGOs opposition, Mahathir defended 
the policy. "I'm not saying there is a very benign government" in 
Burma, the premier said, but added: "We believe that the way to 
bring people around to our way of thinking is to talk to them. 
Not to squeeze them or to twist their arms behind their backs."

That's a change from past policy. Until 1993, Malaysia was 
strongly critical of Rangoon. In July 1992, for instance, Foreign 
Minister Abdullah Badawi said Kuala Lumpur would oppose any move 
to accord Burma observer status or membership in Asean until the 
generals running the country "introduced democratic reform and 
improved their record on human rights."

Why the shift now? "To understand Malaysia-Burma relations, all 
you have to do is read the business sections of the newspapers," 
says Fan Yew Teng, an activist with Cenpeace, a human rights 
group. Malaysia now has some $230 million invested in Burma, 
making it the sixth-largest foreign investor in the country.

Annuar Tahir, the head of Cenpeace and an Abim memner, believes 
the Burmese leader's visit has tarnished Malaysia's image. "We've 
been respected for our stands on Bosnia and Somalia. Now what 
will the world think of us?" On a personal note, the whole 
episode depresses Ahmad Kamal, a Rohingya Muslim who fled Burma 
for Bangladesh in the early 1990s to escape persecution. A doctor 
by training, Ahmad is now in Malaysia and working with Abim to 
publicise the mistreatment his Muslim countrymen. "It's safer to 
be in another country illegally than t be in Burma legally," he 
says despairingly.

**********************************************************

THE HINDU: OPPRESSION INCREASING
August 26, 1996

Myanmar's embattled leader, Ms Suu KYI, has accused the military 
government of intensifying its oppression of the democracy movement. 
Ms. Suu KYI, in a weekend speech to crowds outside her Yangoon home, 
said yesterday democracy supporters were being arrested and intimedated.
"the authorities are stepping up oppression against the supporters of our 
democratic movement," she said. "our people are arrested and intimedated.
Ms. Suu Kyi did not refer directly to the recent arrest and sentensing to 
stiff prison terms of the some 30 National League for Democracy 
supporters, including one of her aides, but said the harsher oppression 
showed that the ruleing military was not confident of tis position.

"If the authroities are confident of their own position .... They will gain 
the support of the people without having to arrest them, put them in 
prison, threaten them," she said. Earlier on Saturday, National League 
for Democracy sources in Yangoon said reports of the imprisoning of 
more National League for Democracy supporters were filtering out to 
colleagues.There were unconfirmed reports from Myanmar's second 
city, mandalay, that 19 more National League for Democracy supporters 
were sentenced to prison terms of up to 10 years for allegedly plotting 
unrest, an National League for Democracy source said.  

*********************************************************

BKK POST: KARENS ATTACK THAI  PATROL UNIT, 2 HURT
August 26, 1996

Two Thai troopers were seriously wounded by a rocket  propelled grenade 
when their patrol was ambushed by a unit  of the renegade Democratic 
Karen Buddhist Army (DKBA) at a  border village in Tha Song Yang 
District early yesterday.

Warrant officer Samran Changkhunthod, 42; and Private  Suchart 
Thamma, 22; of the 4th Infantry Division were hit by  shrapnel from an 
rocket propelled grenade fired by members  of the DKBA, said a military 
officer. They were taken to Mae  Sot hospital for treatment.

The two troopers were attacked while conducting a joint  patrol with 
forestry officials to inspect the illegal felling of  trees in Mae Moei 
National Park near the Thai-Burmese border.

The guerrillas ambushed their patrol at about 1 a.m. near Ban  Mae U-Su 
of Tha Song Yang, about 1.5 kilometres from the  border, added the officer.

At least 30 members of the DKBA slipped across the Thai  border at Ban 
Mae U-Su to launch attacks on Karen refugees  camps and Thai army 
patrols.

The house of 65-year-old villager Japo Thaipradit was also  hit by 
shrapnel from an exploding rocket propelled grenade  fired by the DKBA 
during yesterday's attack.

The intrusion prompted Thai officials to fire four or five  mortar shells to 
repulse the DKBA force, a splinter group of  the Karen National Union 
(KNU) now allied with the Burmese  government.

Earlier, DKBA Col Ta Thwe had threatened to attack refugee  camps along 
Tha Song Yang district which shelters some  70,000 Karen refugees. The 
refugees support the KNU which  has been fighting the government in 
Rangoon for greater  autonomy since 1948.

The DKBA, in a letter sent to the Thai village, said it would  also attack Thai 
villagers and officials who resisted its  attempt to force Karen refugees to 
return to Burma. Burma's  military government views the camps as 
hotbeds of KNU  activity.

Fourth Infantry commander Col Suvit Manmuen said he has  ordered 
reinforcements to step up security along the border.

However, Col Suvit said he had received reports that hundreds  of Burmese 
soldiers and DKBA members had reinforced the  Burmese border, opposite 
Tak province.

***********************************************************

NATION: POOR BURMA RICE HARVEST REPORT LEADS TO JAIL 
August 26, 1996

FIVE Burmese democracy activists recently jailed for seven years
were being punished for fabricating reports about the nation's
rice harvest, Burma's embassy in Thailand claimed yesterday.

The five were trying to trick the United Nations into believing
that farmers were forced to work on agriculture projects that had
failed, the embassy said.

The statement explaining the sentencing of the five and three
others, imprisoned on separate charges, came as Burma's
opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi accused the military of
intensifying its oppression of her National League for Democracy
(NLD) party.

Win Htein, one of Suu Kyi's aides, was among the five imprisoned
for allegedly falsifying reports on the problem-hit rice harvest.

"Under the instruction of Win Hteim some NLD members, former
members and locals were sent out to collect information on
agricultural developments," the embassy statement said.

Two of Win Htein's team had "deliberately sent false information
 ... to Ms Suu Kyi's residence", it said.

"Similarly, Hla Tun Aung and Kan Sien ... recorded with a video
camera some few plots where summer paddy was not growing well,"
it said, naming two of Win Htein's team.

"This was done with the intention of showing the recorded tape to
Ms Suu Kyi and the NLD executive committee .... so that they
could trick [United Nations organisations] into believing that
the farmers are forced to work in a project which was a total
failure," the letter said.

Diplomats in Rangoon say the ruling military is highly sensitive
about the local price of rice while at the same time is trying to
boost rice exports to earn more foreign exchange.

For several years, the government has been instructing farmers to
grow two or three rice crops a year and authorities have also
tried to increase rice production by expanding irrigation.

In many areas villagers have been ordered to work, for little if
any pay, to build irrigation systems, the diplomats say. 
     
Since last year, Burma's rice harvest has been badly hit by
pests, which, according to some experts, could be a result of the
new multiple  cropping.

"In 1995 and 1996, Burma's paddy production began to be adversely
affected by infestation of small insects that eat the rice kernel
inside of the paddy husk," the United States embassy in Rangoon
said in a recent report.

"This infestation is thought by some agricultural experts to be
associated with multiple cropping of paddy, which may provide a
continuous food supply for paddy-eating insects whose numbers had
previously been limited by the absence of paddy during much of
the year," the US report said. 

***********************************************************

AP: PEPSI STILL POPULAR IN  BURMA 
August 25, 1996

RANGOON, Burma (AP) -- Thida Thein was thirsty. As  she squatted under 
the merciless Rangoon sun, waiting  in a crowd of thousands for the regular 
Saturday  speech by Burma's opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi,  she said 
she wanted water. 

 ``No Pepsi,'' Thida Thein insisted as sweat trickled  onto her 
peach-colored collarless jacket, the uniform  of Suu Kyi's political party. 

 ``Pepsi helps the SLORC,'' explained a young woman  kneeling next to her, 
referring to Burma's military  government. 

 Pepsi's business in Burma -- a country ruled by a  regime that has 
brutally crushed democratic  opposition and is accused of widespread 
human rights  violations -- garnered the company $8 million in  profits 
during 1995. 

 It also brought a windfall of bad publicity. With the  battle cry that Burma 
is the South Africa of the '90s,  students on 75 college campuses across the 
United  States launched a campaign of pressure, protests and  boycotts to 
force Pepsi and other companies to divest  their holdings in Burma. 

 The pressure led Pepsi to sell its 40 percent stake in  its Burmese 
bottling plant in March. Apparel makers  Columbia Sportswear, Eddie 
Bauer, Osh Kosh B'Gosh and  Liz Claiborne also bowed to the protests and 
divested,  while the oil company Unocal is resisting. 

 But activists said Pepsi's pullout was a sham. The  company had shifted 
instead to a franchise agreement  with its Burmese partner, Thein Tun, 
supplying him  with syrup and use of the Pepsi name. 

 ``We don't think that is acceptable,'' Suu Kyi told The  Associated Press 
during an interview in May. The 1991  Nobel Peace Prize winner wants 
Pepsi to completely  pull its products out of Burma. 

 Keith Hughes, a Pepsi spokesman at the company's  Purchase, N.Y. 
headquarters, said ``We have no  employees or assets in Burma today.'' 
Asked about the  company's franchise agreement, he said, ``We've  
announced our intention to honor our contractural  agreement with that 
bottling operation.'' He declined to  comment on what the company might do 
at the end of  the contract period. 

 Suu Kyi, who enjoys widespread support inside Burma,  has urged foreign 
investors to refrain from doing  business in her country until the military 
begins a true  dialogue with the democrats. 

 But aside from Suu Kyi's party members, has a Pepsi  boycott actually 
taken hold inside Burma? 

 ``No,'' said Nyi Oo, an artist and former member of Suu  Kyi's party. ``The 
people don't understand the  connection between Pepsi and the government 
because  most are uneducated.'' 

 While advocates of investing in Burma like to tout the  country's literate 
work force, a United Nations study  said that somewhere between 65 
percent and 75  percent of Burmese don't get past the fifth grade. 

 So from dingy shops to chic restaurants, Pepsi is  popular nearly 
everywhere in Burma. Trucks with  cases of empty Pepsi bottles can be 
seen rattling down  Rangoon's potholed streets, glass jingling like coins in  
a cash register. 

 While Burma may be just a drop in Pepsi's bucket of  profits, Pepsi is the 
fountain of the wealth for Thein  Tun, the company's Burmese partner. 

 The high-school educated, grandfatherly businessman  is now a 
millionaire, something unheard of in Burma's  backward economy just a 
few years ago when Gen. Ne  Win's socialist isolationism kept most foreign  
companies out. 

 Pepsi is by far the biggest money maker in Thein Tun's  empire of 14 
companies that includes distributorships  for cars, Chivas Regal scotch 
whisky and Procter &  Gamble products. 

 He's also known as a philanthropist, claiming that 25  percent of his 
profits goes to charity. 

 Thein Tun didn't respond to requests from The  Associated Press for an 
interview, but he told a local  business magazine earlier this year that the 
key to his  success has been his thirst for knowledge. 

 ``Burmese businessmen don't know anything about the  global economy,'' 
he said. ``Even those who are doing  the manufacturing or trading are 
ignorant of events  that can suddenly affect them.'' 

 With news strictly censored in Burma, it isn't clear  when Thein Tun 
became aware of the growing  grassroots movement in the U.S. for 
divestment. 

 This month, public pressure in Europe cost him another  key foreign 
partner: Danish beer maker Carlsberg  jumped ship on a joint venture for 
a brewery in Burma.  Holland's Heineken followed shortly after, although 
it  was not associated with Thein Tun. 

 Democracy activists say the real key to Thein Tun's  success is that he is 
one of the generals' cronies. But  with the military taking an interest in 
most major  business arrangements, ambitious local entrepreneurs  have 
little choice but to deal with the regime. 

 The military's grip on Burma and its business was  apparent in June when 
Thein Tun led a  government-sponsored mass rally in Rangoon.  
Participants in such rallies have said they were  required to attend. 

 As tens of thousands of people listlessly chanted  pro-military slogans, 
Thein Tun vigorously urged them  to crush enemies of the state, internal 
traitors and  foreign destructionists. 

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MYANMAR ALIN: STRATEGIC POLITICAL DEFIANCE
August 15, 1996 (slorc press)
Article by Di Hlaing

[Translated Text] Gene Sharpe [American political expert] has noted that 
political defiance without proper planning will not be as successful as it 
should be. The situation would become unmanageable, and the opposition 
that does not realize the need for a proper plan will run out of ideas. 
Gene Sharpe's example is Myanmar [Burma].Gene Sharpe said that 
without proper planning the opposition in Myanmar was unable to 
obtain power, while the Armed Forces did. He taught and showed the 
way to do strategic planning.

A grand strategy [preceding two words rendered in English], which is a
 very broad subject, must first be drawn and a target selected-- Myanmar 
Naing Ngan, for example. The target is not a city; it could be a country 
or a group like the Warsaw Pact. After the target is chosen, the political, 
military, economic, and social forces are designated and mobilized,
and every aspect is considered. Is the West with us? Will Japan participate?
Will ASEAN be on our side or theirs? Or will China back the targeted 
country? The next step is the objective: What should be done about the 
targeted country? The objective could be anything from the downfall 
of the government to the disintegration of the state.

Once the objective has been chosen, it is important to consider how to 
implement a suitably selected threat to the targeted country, such as 
political defiance, conventional military intervention, or a combination 
of both. There could be internal strife with internal and external political
defiance or direct military intervention.

The timing is also significant in a grand strategy. A democratic uprising 
will erupt if a public figure is assassinated by the government. An 
opportunity to gain power  arose for Mrs. Corazon Aquino when her 
husband, Philippines opposition leader Mr. Aquino, was assassinated. An
opportunity arose for Ms. Bhutto when the Pakistani Government handed 
down the death penalty to her father [Prime Minister] Mr. Bhutto. Mass 
unrest erupted in Myanmar Naing Ngan over the death of Maung Phone 
Maw [a Rangoon Institute of Technology student].
A democratic uprising can also erupt if a public figure is arrested and 
jailed by the government, as with the arrest of South African black 
leader Nelson Mandela. If this does not happen, a person who is said 
to be gaining public trust and support should be attempting to break the
laws and get arrested.

Political defiance will also emerge if the government issues restrictive 
policies, laws, and orders to suppress the people. In this light, all 
government policies and laws though beneficial to the people should 
be pessimistically scrutinized. In accordance with Gene Sharpe's grand
strategy, the 12 national objectives would be thoroughly scrutinized, 
while the three cardinal causes [nondisintegration of the union, non
disintegration of national unity, perpetuation of national sovereignty] 
would be rejected.

There will be dissent if the people face economic hardships. Since an 
uprising is a political defiance that erupts prior to a power struggle, 
disturbances should be created by any means so that the people face 
economic hardship. In a socialist economic system, the blame is simply 
pinned to the government; in a market-oriented economic system, 
however, it is a nasty act of attacking both internally and externally. 
A resource-rich country, however, would not be effected.

Gene Sharpe also incites religious conflicts and labels them as 
democratic uprisings. This method is unsuccessful, as Myanmar 
practices freedom of religion. Various religious buildings of different 
denominations around the Sule Pagoda in central Yangon [Rangoon] are
living proof.

Unrest can flare up while commemorating a politically significant incident. 
Underground BCP [Burma Communist Party] members have been instigating 
disturbances for over a generation while commemorating 7 July [7 July 1962, 
the day General Ne Win's Revolutionary Council dynamited the Rangoon 
University Student Union Building], and it became a day marked for 
political defiance activists. Others include Phone Maw's death on 12 March; 
8-8-88 mass demonstrations; Martyrs Day [19 July, the day Aung San 
Suu Kyi's father General Aung San was assassinated]; 27 May, the 
anniversary of the [1990] elections; and, finally, 18 September, the
day the SLORC [State Law and Order Restoration Council] was formed 
after the Defense Services staged a coup. According to Gene Sharpe's 
guidance, all 365 days on the calender could end up being marked. In 
reality, the Myanmar people are unable and incapable of developing 
such a grand strategy. It was written by other learned experts.

Strategy follows grand strategy. A strategy is drawn for individual objectives, 
and it should not supersede the grand strategy: Who should be chosen as a 
leader for political defiance? What external assistance will be received? 
What opposition groups should be formed? Selecting a leader is important, 
and Gene Sharpe does not encourage choosing ex-politicians as leaders 
because they have had people who have liked and disliked them at one time.

According to political defiance theories, former political leaders from 
the pre-1962 parliament democracy era, former communists, former 
expatriates, former military officers, and former members of the Burma 
Socialist Program Party could not become leaders. They could only 
become deputy leaders. The political defiance leader should be an
authoritative person who has received public support, should not be a 
traditional leader, and should be unpatriotic.

The philosopher Duran wrote about leadership that a reliable leader must 
have a good lineage and must have been nurtured in politics since 
childhood. He said a leader must have at least 40 years of political 
experience related to one's own country, and that only when such a 
leader cannot be found should other leaders be sought. Followers must be 
selected and allies sought after a leader is selected. It is important to 
ensure that they initiate opposition to the government and to define one's
objective and programs. Gene Sharpe compares strategy to the imagination 
of an artist and the process of drawing up a strategy to a blueprint of an 
architect. Strategy addresses the issue of future action after a 
victory or defeat. Tactics involves disposing and maneuvering within a
strategy and concerns the implementation of different objectives. Those 
who can be used must be sought. Tactics may progress in stages or 
simultaneously. In order to implement a strategy, it is important to
have tactics as well as a method and action [three preceding words 
rendered in English], to have nonviolent means that can be divided 
into three phases. The first phase is protest and persuasion [three
preceding words rendered in English], which ranges from public speeches 
to indifferent stances. This involves using both the internal and foreign 
media to obtain power by criticizing the government and by persuading 
the public that the country will prosper only when they obtain power.
It involves condemnation and vilification. The second phase is the method 
of noncooperation [preceding word rendered in English] with the government 
in social, economic, and political sectors and various forms of boycotts, 
as well as corruption of public service personnel. Slogans, chants, satirical 
cartoons, and logos are employed to bring about international economic
sanctions, the breaking of diplomatic ties, and expulsion from 
international organizations. These are very cruel methods against small 
countries. The third phase involves intervention [preceding word rendered 
in English], which is nonviolent in nature and is an effective method of 
obtaining power. This method is employed until a government is 
overthrown, by resorting to demonstrations, the exploitation of religious 
issues, and the formation of a parallel government.

Gene Sharpe's nonviolent methods are to be implemented in details under 
a grand strategy, strategy, and tactics. These methods can lead to the 
disintegration of Myanmar, bloodshed, and war. There are also unjust 
means not included in the book, such as resorting to feminine wiles.
We should not be afraid of or fazed by political defiance, as there are 
ways to deal with it. The first point is to make the public aware of the
existence of political defiance. What was done during Martyrs Day and 
the simultaneous honking of horns constitute political defiance. Any 
agitation to create unrest constitutes political defiance. Another point is 
that the entire public must be able to withstand political defiance by 
upholding the three cardinal causes and by understanding the 12 objectives.
The last point is to counter political defiance with counter political defiance
--which is the thing of which they are most afraid.

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