The BurmaNet News, June 16, 1997

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The BurmaNet News: June 16, 1997       
Issue #749

HEADLINES:       
==========  
BCN: EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT RESOLUTION-WTO AND ASEAN
BKK POST: RANGOON ORDERS CHECKPOINT REOPENED
BKK POST: PANEL TO LOOK INTO BURMA'S ALLEGATIONS
TT: DKBA TROOPS LAUNCH COVERT OPERATIONS
SCMP: EXODUS OF KAREN TO NORTHERN THAILAND
BBC: STARVING BURMESE ENTER BANGLADESH
THAILAND TIMES: JAPAN ENVOY WRAPS UP BURMA VISIT 
THE NATION: A LIFETIME SPENT FIGHTING INJUSTICE
KYODO: SLORC SAYS MYANMAR IN ASEAN WILL HELP
BKK POST: FOREIGN CASH ATMS
THE NATION: ALARM SOUNDS OVER INFECTIONS DISEASES
THE NATION: DON'T PUSH RANGOON INTO BEIJING'S ORBIT 
BKK POST: COPING WITH A LARGER FAMILY
BRC-J: RALPH LAUREN AND WARNACO WORKING IN BURMA
-----------------------------------------------------------------

BCN: EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT RESOLUTION-POSITIONS ON WTO AND ASEAN
June 13, 1997

This resolution was adopted by the European Parliament in its Stratsbourg
session on Thursday 12 June 1997. Unanimously.

14 (c) B4-085, 0547 and 0551/97

Resolution on the continuing human rights abuses in Burma

The European Parliament,

-	having regard to its previous resolutions on human rights in Burma and
Burma's possible accession to ASEAN,
-	having regard to the statement of the Presidency on behalf of the European
Union on 30 May 1997 on the deterioration of the political situation in Burma,
A.  whereas the State Law and Order Restoration Council (SLORC) has been
recognised by the international community as being guilty of conducting a
policy of complete disregard for human rights,
B.  noting that the United Nations Commission on Human Rights in its
fifty-third session expressed its deep concern at the continuing violations
of human rights in Burma including extrajudicial summary or arbitrary
executions, death in custody, torture, arbitrary and politically motivated
arrest and detention, forced relocation, forced labour by children as well
as adults, and the abuse of woman and children by government agents and
oppression of ethnic and religious minorities,
C.  noting the report by the UN Commission for the rights of children
according to which thousands of children die from the effects of beating,
exhaustion or illness during forced labour,
D.  deploring the fact that SLORC detained on 21 may more than 300 National
League for Democracy (NLD) members, including 50 elected members of
Parliament, to prevent them from attending a party gathering to mark the
anniversary of its landslide victory in the 1990 elections,
E.  saddened by the recent death in custody of the political prisoner Tim
Shwe, a prominent member of the NLD, which again highlights the appalling
prison conditions in Rangoon;
F.  whereas Mrs Aung San Suu Kyi, a winner of Parliament's Sakharov Prize,
has on several occasions called on the International community to impose
political and economical sanctions on SLORC,
G.  regretting the continued surveillance, restriction of movement, and
other forms of intimidation of Aung San Suu Kyi and senior leaders, and
since September 1996 the almost permanent blockade of the house of Aung San
Suu Kyi which has prevented her from giving public speeches,
H.  noting that on 20 May 1997 President Clinton imposed economic sanctions
on Burma by prohibiting United States citizens from making new investments
in Burma;
I.  whereas, at the last ASEAN ministerial summit, the governments of the
member countries decided to admit Burma as a member, thus ignoring the
appeals from various other countries and international organisations for the
decision to be postponed on account of the serious political situation in
Rangoon,

1.  Condemns the military dictatorship IN Burma and all human rights
violations committed by SLORC;
2.  Calls on the Rangoon government to guarantee the fundamental rights of
the Burmese people and to put a stop to politically motivated persecution
and to fulfil its obligations as a State party to the Forced Labour
Convention, 1903 (No 29), and to the Freedom of Association and Protection
of the Right to Organise Convention 1948 (No 87) , of the International
Labour Organisation;
3.  Calls on the Council to respond to Aung San Suu Kyi's request that the
EU implements economic sanctions against SLROC by ending all links between
the European and Burma based on trade, tourism and investment in Burma by
European companies;
4.  Urges the Commission not to take action against the act regulating state
contracts with companies doing business with or in Burma passed on 25 June
1996 by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, under the dispute settlement
procedure of the World Trade Organisation;
5.  Vigorously condemns the accession of  Burma to Asean, giving it further
international recognition despite its violation of human rights;
6.  Calls on the ASEAN countries to review their 'policy of constructive
engagement' with Rangoon, which appears to confer legitimacy on the policies
of Burma's repressive and anti-democratic government;
7.  Expresses its support for all the forces of democracy in Burma, in
particular the NLD and Aung San Suu Kyi, who are campaigning for the
establishment of constitutional government and respect for human rights;
8.  Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the commission,
the Council, the military Government of Burma and ASEAN.

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

BKK POST: RANGOON ORDERS CHECKPOINT REOPENED
June 16, 1997
Supamart Kasem 
Mae Sot, Tak

The Burmese checkpoint in Myawaddy opposite Mae Sot district which has been
closed for the past four days has been ordered to reopen by the Rangoon
authorities, a Thai customs official said yesterday.

The reopening of the checkpoint will allow the import of goods into the 
country after a four-day closure, said the official.

Since local Burmese authorities sealed the checkpoint last Thursday, more
than 10 million baht worth of goods - fuel, construction materials, tyres
and consumer goods - destined for Myawaddy has been stranded on the Thai side.

The stranded goods were checked by customs officials of the two countries 
before permission was given for the merchandise to be sent to Myawaddy
through the checkpoint at about 9 a.m. yesterday.

A senior Burmese official, who refused to be identified, said the checkpoint 
was ordered closed by local authorities at Myawaddy without the knowledge of
central authorities.

Thai sources, however, said Myawaddy authorities decided to close the 
checkpoint because they were still upset about a recent dispute over the 
dredging of Moei river which demarcates the border.

The Rangoon authorities recently learned the checkpoint was closed and have
since ordered that it be reopened immediately, said the sources.

Meanwhile, Democrat MP for Tak Chaiwut Bannawat has called on the Foreign
Ministry to urgently settle the problem caused by the poorly demarcated
border during the Joint Border Boundary Committee meeting with Burmese
officials in Rangoon at the end of this month.

He asked the Thai authorities to raise issues on cross-border trading and
the abrupt closure of the checkpoint by local Burmese officials at the meeting.

Burma must be asked to give an explanation for the closure if it wants to
shut the checkpoint again, said Mr Chaiwut, claiming the recent closure had
adversely affected cross-border trade.

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

BKK POST: PANEL TO LOOK INTO BURMA'S ALLEGATIONS
June 13, 1997

The sub-committee on foreign affairs will look into Burmese allegations that
the Thai army chief had given his consent to Burma's dredging of the Moei
River opposite Mae Sot district of Tak.

Its chairman, M.R. Sukhumbhand Paribatra, said yesterday his panel would ask
Gen Chettha Thanajaro to explain Burmese claims that he had allowed Burmese
authorities to dredge the Moei opposite- Ban Rim Moei to change its course
back to what it was originally.

"I think we (Thai authorities) were too submissive in letting Burma dredge
the river near the Thai boundary. The committee needs details about this
matter. We will invite Gen Chettha to give an explanation to us in person,
or we will meet him at army headquarters," M.R. Sukhumbhand said.

But he added the government made the right decision in trying to solve
border problems through negotiation.

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

THAILAND TIMES: DKBA TROOPS LAUNCH COVERT OPERATIONS
June 14, 1997
By Assawin Pinitwong

TAK: Around 60 fully armed Democratic Karen Buddhist Army (DKBA)
soldiers advanced into Myawaddy province although all border checkpoints are
still closed, a border security source said yesterday. Although there is a
bilateral border agreement banning traveling into the disputed Moei River
area, the DKBA troops deployed three longtail boats two days ago concealing
their movements from Thai officials.

Their movements were traced from a military base at Baan Rai, only 10km from
Myawaddy province. The mobilized troops advanced to the Tha Phut Sa port
opposite Tha Sai Luad sub-district, which is only 500 meters from the
Thai-Burmese Friendship Bridge.

The action was believed to be sanctioned by the ruling junta who were behind
the deployment of the DKBA soldiers.

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

SCMP: EXODUS OF KAREN TO NORTHERN THAILAND
June 14, 1997

A further 3,000 ethnic Karen villagers have fled into northern Thailand
from their homes in Burma over the past two months to escape abuses by
the forces of Rangoon's military junta, sources said yesterday.

Junta troops have forced whole villages from the Papun district in the
north of Karen state to relocate as part of a drive to cut off support
for rebel ethnic forces still battling Rangoon, the sources at the
border said.

A senior Burmese military official confirmed columns of government
troops were "flushing out the small mobile forces of the KNU [Karen
National Union]" from the area.

"Some of the family members of the KNU who have set up clandestine camps in
the jungles have fled across the border due to troop activities," the
official said.

Border sources said about 3,000 refugees had poured into northern
Thailand's Mae Hong Son province since early April. Some had walked for
more than two weeks. Thousands more refugees are believed to be hiding
in the forest around their homes in Burma, hoping to return to their
villages in time for the approaching rice-growing season.

Thousands of Karen have fled to Thailand, joining 80,000 already there,
since Rangoon began a massive sweep through KNU territories in February. The
KNU is maintaining a small-scale guerilla resistance campaign in its former
border enclaves.

Sources said the newly arrived refugees had been reluctant to move to
designated resettlement areas in Burma, fearing the army may have
recruited them as porters.

Meanwhile, in Bangkok, international aid workers met Thai Interior
Ministry officials to discuss living conditions for Burmese refugees in
Thailand.

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

BBC: STARVING BURMESE ENTER BANGLADESH
June 14, 1997

THOUSANDS OF STARVING BURMESE REFUGEES ENTER BANGLADESH
  
According to BBC World Service news bulletins on 14 June 1997 "UN officials
from Southeast Bangladesh say that at least 3000 refugees from Burma have
fled across the border in the last two months. The refugees say they are
escaping forced labour, discriminatory taxation and compulsory relocation.
But the Bangladeshi Government says they are economic migrants. Bangladesh
is still trying to repatriate a quarter of a million Burmese Muslims who
arrived in 1992. Frances Harrison reports from Cox's Bazaar in Bangladesh."
 
Frances Harrison: "Even the Bangladeshi border guards, whose job it is to
prevent the Burmese refugees entering the country say they feel pity for
them. One Commander said the newcomers were so hungry they hardly had an
ounce of flesh on their bones. Thousands of refugees have entered
Bangladesh, walking for up to a week to reach the border, and then crossing
by boat at night. Local people who trade with Burma say the
authorities there have prevented large groups of people from crossing the
border, but many more are managing to escape, some of them from areas deeper
inside western Burma than before. Once inside Bangladesh, new refugees
cannot seek asylum, or they risk being arrested as illegal immigrants. And
the government does not allow the United Nations to give
anything but emergency medical assistance to the newcomers. In one incident
this week, fourteen new refugees, among them children and a sick man, were
arrested and held prisoner without food for a day. In tears they begged to
be shot on the spot rather than returned to Burma. "At least we'll get a
decent burial here", they said. But while whole families are fleeing Burma,
the Bangladeshi Government is trying to press ahead with repatriation of the
remaining refugees from the influx in 1992. Many of those who were
repatriated earlier this year have already returned. It is clear that from
now on, repatriation will not be voluntary if it does take place."  
  
Burma Peace Foundation Monitoring Service 14 June 1997

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

THAILAND TIMES: JAPAN ENVOY WRAPS UP BURMA VISIT WITH ECONOMIC PLANNING MINISTER
June 14, 19997
AFP

BANGKOK: Special Japanese envoy Hiashi Hirabyashi wrapped up an official
visit to Burma yesterday by meeting the junta's National Planning and
Economic Development Minister David Abel, Japan's embassy in Rangoon said.

The embassy refused to reveal details of the discussions, which took place
prior to Hirabyashi' s scheduled departure late yesterday.

An informed source said Japanese investors were putting a lot of pressure on
the government to renew Over seas Development Assistance (ODA), as it would
ease their entry into the military-controlled economy.

"Japanese - companies would like to see a renewal of aid because Japanese
foreign investment generally follows ODA patterns ," the source said.
     
Hirabyashi met Thursday with the Burmese junta's first secretary, Lieutenant
General Khin Nyunt, handing him a letter from Japanese Prime Minister
Ryutaro Hashimoto to the junta's chairman, Senior General Than Shwe, the
embassy source said.

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

THE NATION: A LIFETIME SPENT FIGHTING INJUSTICE
OBITUARY/U TIN SHWE
June 14, 1997
Aung Zaw

**U Tin Shwe was a man who fought for those that the government wished to
silence, but now his voice will no longer be heard, writes Aung Zaw. 

In the late 1980s Burma's military intelligence was searching for "internal
destructive elements": U Tin Shwe, his colleagues and opposition members.
Despite the urging of his friends, Tin Shwe refused to flee to the
insurgent-held area on the Thai-Burmese border.

Tin Shwe was later apprehended and flown to Rangoon where he was tried in a
military court inside the notorious Insein prison. As a lawyer, Tin Shwe had
defended and assisted accused political activists and underground students
who were charged under section 5j. However, in a closed military court, he
was never given the chance to defend himself. Tin Shwe was sentenced to 14
years..

Until recently Tin Shwe's family members who visited him in prison did not
realise that the confinement was, in fact a death sentence.

According to a statement issued by Burma's intelligence service, Tin Shwe
died from heart disease on June 8 at Rangoon General Hospital.

"Before he passed away on June 8, his family visited him on June 6," the
statement said.

In spite of those visits, his friends inside and outside Burma believed that
the 67 year-old Tin Shwe did not receive proper medical attention. His
friends in exile expressed their sorrow and regret. "We asked him to come
with us [to the Thai-Burmese border] but he refused to go. Now he has been
killed in prison," U Tin Aung said.

It is well-known that prison conditions in Burma are appalling. Opposition
members and well-known politicians have died while in prison as a result of
mistreatment and denial of proper medical treatment.

"For elderly and sick people, there is no way they are going to survive in
Burmese prisons," said former political prisoner Win Naing Oo.

Tin Shwe was a renaissance man, not only was he an attorney, he was also a
political activist and writer. Tin Shwe's political activism took root back
in the 1950s when he was a student leader at Mandalay and Rangoon
universities. In 1957 he became general secretary of the Mandalay University
Students Union, and despite all of his extra activities, in 1965 Tin Shwe
received his BA. In the early 1960s Tin Shwe was one of the active members
of the Internal Peace Committee (IPC) established by Thakin Kodaw Hmaing,
Burma's architect of peace. During pre- and post
independence, Thakin Kodaw Hmaing was Burma's most well-respected
peace architect who travelled extensively throughout the country
addressing the issues of independence and peace in Burma.

Tin Shwe considered himself to be Hmaing's last disciple. He admired the man
who had met the world leaders of the day and had tried to clear a path for
Burma to follow.

Thus, one of Tin Shwe's outstanding works was Hmaing's biography: Thakin
Kodaw Hmaing's literature - Thakin Kodaw Hmaing's life".

Among Burmese writers he was better known by his pen names: Maung Tin Shwe
and Monywa Tin Shwe.

Tin Shwe was a prominent lawyer at Burma's Bar Council in the 1980s and was
respected by his peers as his books and articles on the subject of law have
been invaluable to young attorneys.

It was also during this time that he assisted with many political cases. In
the 1980s, Tin Shwe was a energetic lawyer who was passionate in seeking
justice.

Aung Saw Oo, a member of the National League for Democracy (NLD) now in
exile, recalled his memory of Tin Shwe. "In the early
1980s, he helped in various political cases including mine."

By that time, underground political activists, including approximately 200
Karen rebels, who sneaked into Pegu Range were charged under section 5j:
17/1 and 17/2; The one-time student leader volunteered and argued for
political cases in the courts. "I still remember him [Tin Shwe] arguing in
his powerful voice in the court. The three judges sitting in there couldn't
listen anymore because they were so embarrassed, and eventually two left
the courtroom]. -People cheered U Tin Shwe," Aung Saw Oo recalled. During
the 1988 prodemocracy uprising, as a senior member of Burma's Bar Council,
Tin Shwe urged his lawyers to join the movement.

When the military junta, officially known as the State Law and Order
Restoration Council (Slorc), promised to hold a free and fair election in
1990 Tin Shwe joined Aung San Suu Kyi's NLD. Soon after, he became a central
committee member and policy maker and was later assigned to be a leading
organiser of the NLD's Mandalay Division. Myo Win, a fellow lawyer recalled
Tin Shwe is tenacity: "He [Tin Shwe] was admirable - from dawn to dusk he
worked very hard to organise the people in Mandalay to vote for the NLD."

"When we worked together, I learnt a lot about him and that he was devoted
to peace and a democratic Burma," recalled Maung Maung Aye, an elected NLD
representative from Mandalay's northeast division. As the junta refused to
acknowledge the outcome of the 1990 elections, Tin Shwe and his NLD fellows
asked the military leaders to hand over power-to the victor, the NLD.

But instead of a political mandate, Tin Shwe was arrested as he was planning
to commemorate the second anniversary of the 1988 uprising in Mandalay. The
only thing he and other NLD members had done was offer food and donations to
monks. Tin Shwe's detention and death is a reminder of the situation in
Burma. So far, at least four senior NLD leaders and MPs have died in prison.
Most recently, U Hla Than, an elected NLD MP suffered from Aids and died
last year.

Former student leader Moe Thee Zun accused Slorc of negligence which led to
Tin Shwe's death.

"They [political prisoners] are given no medical assistance - is it a way of
killing them slowly?" the former student leader said. There are several
other prominent writers and intellectuals who remain in prison. One of them
is U Win Tin, also known as Hanthawaddy Win Tin.

Win Tin is well-respected as he has written many articles on painting, world
literature, polities and journalism. In the 1970s he was chief editor of the
Mandalay-based Hanthawaddy newspaper, which was eventually shut down by the
government. In 1989, Win Tin became a leading member of the NLD and was
arrested before the elections; Slorc accused him of being pro-communist and
considered him and Tin Shwe to be the architects of NLD policy. Initially, U
Win Tin received a three-year prison term, but it -was later extended to 11
years. In 1995, he and 27 other
political prisoners were accused of breaking prison rules, and it is
believed that his prison term was again extended. In 1994 and 1995, US
Congressman Bill Richardson and Dr Yozo Yokota, former UN special rapporteur
to Burma, visited Win Tin in Insein prison. According to NLD sources, Win
Tin has been suffering from heart disease and requires constant medication,
and is also in need of dental treatment. But it has also come to light that
his health has further deteriorated.
 
Aung Zaw is a freelance writer and contributor to The Nation. 

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

KYODO: SLORC SAYS MYANMAR IN ASEAN WILL HELP REGION'S PROGRESS
June 14, 1997

     Lt. Gen. Khin Nyunt, secretary general of Myanmar's ruling State Law
and Order Restoration Council (SLORC), said Friday in Yangon that Myanmar's
joining the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) will greatly
contribute to the region's stability and progress, media reports said Saturday.
     Speaking at the first meeting of the ASEAN Leading Committee of
Myanmar, of which he is chairman, Khin Nyunt said some foreign countries and
local ''traitors'' have strongly protested against Myanmar's full ASEAN
membership.

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

BKK POST: FOREIGN CASH ATMS
June 13, 1997
AP

The first automatic teller machine dispensing foreign exchange coupons was
opened in Burma this week by the privately-owned May Flower Bank, the
State-run New Light of Myanmar reported.   The bank operates the only ATMs
in Burma and only has four or five of them, all of them in Rangoon.  

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

THE NATION: ALARM SOUNDS OVER INFECTIONS DISEASES
June 15, 1997
Yindee Lertcharoenchok

FACED with a threatening explosion of infectious diseases, Thai authorities
have proposed the formation of a joint health committee with Burma to
formulate common policies to curb the re-emergence and spread of illnesses
that had previously been eradicated from the Kingdom.

The meeting, scheduled in late July, will for the first time bring together
senior Thai and Burmese health officials to consider cross-border health
problems that are seriously affecting both countries, an informed source said. 

The organisers hope the meeting will come up with a concrete joint plan for
the prevention and elimination of these illnesses. 

This is likely to include the establishment  of joint networks, or
committees, at the provincial level to do the ground work, the source said.
Thai health authorities will soon be called to preparatory meetings to
discuss the problems in each of the border provinces and the measures needed
to deal with them, the source said.

The source expressed the hope that the proposed joint health committee will
be able to draw up effective contingency plans to deal with the various
communicable, often deadly, diseases rampant in different provinces. 
     
The Thai proposal for the joint meeting is in response to strong public
concern over the gradual re-emergence of several infectious diseases
previously eradicated in Thailand which are being spread by an estimated one
million illegal immigrants in the country, the majority of them from Burma.
In recent years, provincial and central health officials have reported the
gradual spread of several diseases such as malaria, tuberculosis,
meningococcus meningitis, filariasis and HIV (Aids) from the
Burmese border area to other parts of the country. Some of these illnesses
had been considered eradicated in Thailand. Meningococcus meningitis, which
is deadly and can lead to cerebrospinal meningitis, is of particular
concern. It is spreading in the border province of Tak, while malaria is
becoming more prevalent in Kanchanaburi and Tak.

Tuberculosis, which was once under control, is once again common,
and so is filariasis, or "elephant feet". 
     
The source said officials are also concerned about a possible explosion in
the incidence of HIV-Aids in Burma as a result of deportations and regular
crossings of immigrants.

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

THE NATION: DON'T PUSH RANGOON INTO BEIJING'S ORBIT 
June 13, 1997
Editorial & Opinion 

By admitting Burma into its fold, Asean is countering China's influence on
the buffer country. 

Defying US objections, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations has voted
to admit Burma. When asked why they took this controversial step, Asean
leaders referred repeatedly to ''strategic considerations". ''Strategic" is
a code word for China. The Southeast Asians fear that Burma is becoming a
Chinese satellite; it is a fear that Washington should share. 

The Clinton administration has imposed tougher economic sanctions against
Burma, citing continued human rights abuses by the junta in Rangoon. It is a
morally satisfying and politically popular initiative. It is also bad policy. 

It is not often that the theatre of world affairs produces a drama of good
versus evil as pure and gripping as the one being played out in Burma. This
is a government that has massacred pro-democracy demonstrators in 1988,
suppressed political dissent, engaged in large-scale forced labour, probably
collaborated in heroin trafficking and annulled the results of a democratic
election while imprisoning the leader of the democratic movement,  Nobel
laureate Aung San Suu Kyi. 

Not surprisingly, US policy toward Burma has reflected moral outrage.
Washington has regularly condemned the actions of the ruling State Law and
Order Restoration Council, has halted all bilateral economic and military
aid,  has suspended trade privileges, has opposed lending by international
financial institutions and has tried to rally support for such policies
among other countries, including a proposed international embargo on arms
shipments to Rangoon. Members of Congress have vied with editorial writers
in urging still harsher, more punitive sanctions. 

Since the earliest days, US foreign policy has exhibited two often
conflicting tendencies. The first is a normative,  ''idealist" impulse to
use policy to further American political values, notably democracy and human
rights. The second is a geopolitical ''realist" approach that stresses the
pursuit of national interest defined largely in terms of power and economic
advantage. 

In the case of Burma, the normative approach has governed policy for most of
the last decade in a uniquely pure form. This has been possible because the
United States has viewed Burma as geopolitically irrelevant.  There have
been no significant national-interest costs to a policy of principle. 

But this is changing and the agents of change are China and Asean. Following
the upheaval in 1988, the beleaguered and ostracised regime in Rangoon
turned to the one country more than ready to overlook its transgressions:
China. Beijing has become a near monopoly supplier of military equipment to
Burma while the country's north has been flooded with Chinese consumer goods
and immigrants. Chinese engineers are building roadways and bridges in Burma
and press reports suggest the presence of Chinese intelligence installations
on the coast. In short, Burma is becoming something very close to a Chinese
satellite. This has occurred at a time when the strategic landscape in Asia
has begun to shift with the growth in Chinese economic and military power.
Chinese leaders have increasingly portrayed Southeast Asia as China's
natural sphere of influence. 

All this has been watched with growing concern in Southeast Asia. Uneasiness
concerning China's strategic aims is the principal motive behind Asean's
decision to admit Burma. Asean is trying to offer Burma a strategic
alternative to its dependency on China before the dragon's embrace becomes
unbreakable. But this effort at ''constructive engagement" conflicts with
Washington's policy of pressure and ostracism. In this there is no small
irony because the American strategic interest vis-a-vis China in Southeast
Asia is identical to Asean's. Someone is not thinking clearly, and it is not
Asean. 

Any policy, if it is to be maintained, must meet a basic test. Is it
working? Does it have a reasonable prospect of doing so? The current policy
of isolation and sanctions fails that test. The essential repressive
character of the Burma regime has remained unchanged over three decades
despite heavy foreign pressure. Deeply unpopular and oppressive, it
nevertheless holds apparently firm control over the army and ethnic Burman
population. 

Quarantining Burma has simply reinforced the regime's xenophobia. 

Ironically, successful sanctions would weaken an already vulnerable economy,
leaving the junta with little choice but to rely more heavily on Chinese
support and on revenue generated from increased opium and heroin production.
Isolation is further obviated by a host of US friends and allies in Asean
that increasingly oppose that policy. 

Burma is not an Asian reincarnation of South Africa. The South African white
elite was vulnerable to Western sanctions for a number of reasons, including
the fact that the surrounding black African states supported their
imposition. No such regional support exists in Southeast Asia. 

Washington can and should remain outspokenly critical of abuses in Burma.
But there are security and other national interests to be served. Let's
recognise that present US policy is not working and has no serious prospect
of working. It is time to think seriously about alternatives. 

Marvin Ott is a professor of national security policy at the US National War
College. The views expressed are his own. The article first ran in the  Los
Angeles Times.  (TN)

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

BKK POST: COPING WITH A LARGER FAMILY
June 13, 1997
Editorial

Discussions concerning Burma's entry to Asean took place as pro-democracy
supporters were being arrested by Slorc and as Thai and Burmese troops were
involved in a stand-off over a border dispute. But Asean decided to let
Burma in anyway. Asean should now persuade Slorc to talk with Burma's
National League for Democracy.

Now that the Association of Southeast Asian Nations has given a new slant to
the meaning of non-interference by admitting Burma among its three new
members, the next steps are eagerly awaited.

Having engaged constructively the State Law and Order Restoration Council,
Asean may do well to begin to induce the illegitimate rulers of Burma to
establish formal and open contacts with the National League for Democracy,
the legitimate and democratically elected government of Burma. The onus is
now on Asean and Asean alone.

But it might be unwise to hold one's breath because the strategy of being
nice to Slorc only pays off if the desired reward is access to impoverished
Burma's vast pool of cheap labour and natural resources, including
hydrocarbons and hardwood. If the most enthusiastic of Slorc's friends in
Asean even entertained the notion they could talk the generals into showing
an ounce of decency towards the general population, they were optimists. 

Even as Asean foreign ministers were meeting to put the finishing touches to
the grand plan to bring to 10 the number of member states in time for the
regional grouping's 300th birthday, it was business as usual in Burma, with
Slorc detaining members of the league.

The junta's fondness for jailing it own people in this instance demonstrates
clearly how the policy of non-interference leads to heavy-handed and
mindless interference in the lives of people who happen to favour democracy.

On the eve of its admission to the regional grouping, Slorc was showing just
how backward it is and the extent to which it believed its admission to be a
fait accompli.

Further evidence of this could be seen in the tense stand-off between Thai
and Slorc forces at the site of a border demarcation dispute in the Moei
River. It is truly odd that a candidate for entry to a new club should risk
an armed confrontation with a founding member and get away with it.

The admission of Slorc, as opposed to Burma, represents a victory for the
Asean states which consider the junta's behaviour palatable over the more
advanced democracies, such as Thailand and the Philippines, which wanted
tangible evidence of better behaviour.

Asean's chummy style, in which consensus is everything, is all very well
because it ensures that no one makes waves in the grouping.

But in Burma's case, Indonesia and Malaysia, the chief enthusiasts, have the
luxury of distance. They have no common border with Burma, so they are not
bothered by an endless flow of refugees and drugs.

They take little interest in cross-border raids in which Slorc-backed
renegades kill, rob or abduct people. More importantly, they care little for
the Burmese people who continue to suffer at the hands of the generals they
rejected and humiliated in the 1990 election.

The ceremony next month to admit formally Burma, Cambodia and Laos will be a
jolly occasion that will celebrate the realisation of one big, happy family.
There will be Champagne, slaps on the back and photo-calls with national
leaders holding hands and wearing exotic shirts in the manner of chorus girls.

There is also the distinct possibility that the happy 10 will become
something of a dysfunctional family unless the more progressive members
grasp the formidable challenges that the three newcomers, and Slorc in
particular, present. It is imperative that the progressive members further
their cause and refuse to be led by member states of a backward political
nature. (BP)

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BRC-J: RALPH LAUREN AND WARNACO WORKING HAND IN HAND WITH BRUTAL  DICTATORS
IN BURMA
June 15, 1997

National Labor Committee
Education Fund in Support of Worker and Human Rights in Central America
275 7th Ave.
New York, NY 10001
Phone: 212-242-3002
Fax: 212-242-3821

June 13, 1997
Urgent Action Alert/Burma

Ralph Lauren and Warnaco Working Hand in Hand with Brutal Dictators in Burma

U.S. Apparel Imports from Burma Increase as Repression Escalates

Ralph Lauren's Chaps men's shirts and casual shorts (which the National
Labor Committee purchased in Sterns) are being made under martial law in
Burma.  Garment workers are paid just 6 cents an hour in a booming export
assembly industry which is controlled by, and directly funds, the vicious
Burmese military regime.

In fact, Ralph Lauren, Warnaco, J. Crew, Lee, Arrow Shirts, Leslie Fay and
other U.S. apparel companies and retailers, including Sterns', J.C. Penny
and Sears, were increasing their production in Burma throughout 1996--just
as President Clinton announced that as a result of "a constant and
continuing pattern of severe repression by the State Law and Order
Restoration Council (SLORC) in Burma," he was compelled to impose a ban on
all new investments there.  In February 1997, the U.S. State Department
reported that under the military dictatorship in Burma, "severe repression
of human rights increased during 1996... including extrajudicial
killings...rape...disappearances...arbitrary arrests...and physical abuse."
President Clinton also linked the military regime in Burma to narco-trafficking.

The Democratic forces in Burma are requesting international economic
sanctions until the military is forced to relinquish its dictatorial grip
over the lives of Burma's 47 million people.

Increases in U.S. apparel imports from Burma directly follow this rise in
repression.  In 1996, U.S. apparel imports from Burma surged 38 percent,
totaling $89.7 million ? a $24.6 million increase over the $65.1 million
reported in 1995.  Between 1992 and 1996, Burma's apparel exports to the
U.S. increased 330 percent.  In 1996, U.S. apparel companies imported 18
million garments made in Burma.

These imports continue to soar.  The first two months of 1997 saw a 50.3
percent increase over the year before.  These garments were being sewn in
December 1996 at the very moment when "the military regime suppressed
protesters in a bloody crackdown.  Tanks remain on the streets..."
(Economist Intelligence Unit, April 29, 1997)

It is appropriate to ask: Why is it that the U.S. apparel industry is always
on the wrong side?  Why should the U.S. people allow these companies to turn
the U.S. into a dumping ground for these sweatshop-s controlled by the
Burmese military and drug lords?  In fact, U.S. companies take in a full 65
percent of Burma's worldwide apparel exports.

According to the Economic Intelligence Unit, "Myanmar has sought to position
itself as a destination for foreign garment manufacturers..."  The U.S.
companies like what they see.  "According to foreign investors... among the
top attractions of the country (is the) low cost labour force."  (IRU, May
1, 1997.  Apparently, the fact that the workers are totally stripped of
their rights under martial law is also attractive to the U.S. companies
contracting there.

Ralph Lauren Stands to Pocket More than $489 Million

At this time, as Ralph Lauren company stocks are being offered for sale ?
which could earn Ralph Lauren himself over $489 million? it would be
especially appropriate for Ralph Lauren to stand up and side with democracy
and human rights, and break with the dictators of Burma.

Human rights activists have already successfully pressured a number of
apparel companies, including Levi Strauss, Liz Claiborne, Disney, Eddie
Bauer, Macy's, Columbia Sportswear, Oshkosh B'Gosh and Reebok to pull out of
Burma.

Warnaco is a Special Case.  Warnaco Owns the Ralph Lauren "Chaps" Label

Warnaco recently pulled out of the White House Task Force to Eliminate
Sweatshop Abuses, explaining that they feared independent monitoring of
their factories (and those of their contractors) might lead to public
disclosure of trade secrets, which could be damaging in such a highly
competitive industry.  At the time, the National Labor Committee was
surprised by Warnaco's logic, since they make underwear and shirts, and not
spy satellites.  But now it is quite clear.  What Warnaco really fears from
independent monitoring is that the U.S. people would find out where and
under what conditions Warnaco clothing is being made.

Combating Sweatshops:

The National Labor Committee announces a National Day of Conscience to End
Sweatshops on October 4, 1997.  The Day of Conscience is being co-sponsored
by the United Methodist Church Women's Division, UNITE, People of Faith
Network, Congressman Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and many other organizations.

Unless there is movement, Ralph Lauren, Warnaco and other U.S. companies
continuing to produce in Burma will be among the companies focused on.

The National Labor Committee will also organize a Holiday Season of
Conscience, and will release a list of the worse 30 companies which continue
to violate human rights.

http://www2.gol.com/users/brelief/Index.htm

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