The BurmaNet News - 20 January, 199

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------------------------- BurmaNet ------------------------------------
"Appropriate Information Technologies, Practical Strategies"
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The BurmaNet News: January 20, 1998
Issue #916

Noted in passing:

"There are good reasons to have sanctions against Burma'' and said that it
should be done as an all-out economic embargo. - US Republican Congressman
Newt Ginrich (see REUTERS: GINRICH SLAMS PRESIDENT CLINTON ON ISRAEL)

HEADLINES:
==========
ASIAWEEK: BUSINESS IS BLOOMING
REUTERS: GINRICH SLAMS PRESIDENT CLINTON ON
RANGOON KYEMON: ARTICLE SAYS SUU KYI PINES FOR
AP: TOP GENERAL URGES FRANK DISCUSSION ON ECONOMIC
OSLO DEMOCRATIC VOICE OF BURMA: SPDC BUILDS NEW
BKK POST: REPATRIATION 'WON'T HURT'
THE NEW LIGHT OF MYANMAR: WEST USING INTERNET TO
AUSTRALIAN GOVERNMENT MEDIA RELEASE: AUSTRALIA
SHAN: LETTER OF OBJECTION TO BKK POST
FREE BURMA FORUM: RESPONSE TO FREE BURMA DIGEST
ANNOUNCEMENTS: 
INVITATION TO CONTRIBUTE TO 'BURMA - VOICES OF
NATIONAL ENDOWMENT OF DEMOCRACY - 1998 DEMOCRACY
------------------------------------------------------------------------------

ASIAWEEK: BUSINESS IS BLOOMING
23 January, 1998
by Anthony Davis And Bruce Hawke

In the cool, opium-rich hills of Myanmar's northeast, the more things
change the more they seem to stay the same. Back in the early 1970s, Lo
Hsing-han was a celebrated figure in the Asian drug trade. From a fortified
villa in the town of Lashio, the ethnic Chinese warlord ran a powerful
government-backed militia force _ as well as convoys of opium from northern
Shan state south to heroin refineries along the Thai border. Across the
rugged swathe of the Golden Triangle and as far south as Bangkok, Lo
Hsing-han was a name to reckon with.

Twenty-five years on, it still is. Since his early days as an opium-running
militia boss, Lo has had his ups and downs. He joined the Shan rebel
opposition and turned his guns against the government; was captured in
Thailand and extradited to Myanmar; and then served time in a Yangon jail.
But at 63 he's back again, no less influential a figure in the tangled skein
of business-politics in northern Myamnar. If anything, he's far more
powerful, infinitely more wealthy, and these days positively respectable
politically. 

>From a gracious home in Myanmar's capital Yangon, Lo runs one of Myanmar's
largest business conglomerates with interests in real estate,
manufacturing, export-import and construction that includes key
infrastructure projects.

Serving as an adviser on ethnic affairs to the military junta's chief,
Lt-Gen Khin Nyunt, his political connections go straight to the top.

One recent afternoon back in that original villa on a hill side overlooking
Lashio, an expansive Lo held forth on development plans for a
30,375-hectare stretch of hill country north-west of the town that is
projected to involve new crops, roads and light industry. "Retired?" he
growled in Mandarin thick with the accent of his native Kokang district. "I
haven't retired! The older I get, the more there seems to do!"

Lo Hsing-han's zest for life and enthusiasm for "agricultural development"
does nothing to reassure foreign anti-narcotics officials monitoring
Myanmar's booming opium crop and the tons of high-quality heroin refined
from it each year. In 1996 the north-eastern poppy-belt produced a potential
crop of 2,560 tons of opium sap _ compared with a mere 400 tons when Lo
first entered the fray in 1968. And these days the heroin refineries are no
longer only on the Thai border but conveniently dotted across the hills
along the Chinese frontier in the heart of opium country. "Lo Hsing-han is
not the kind of guy you're going to give the benefit of the doubt to," says
a Yangon-based foreign envoy. "We're very suspicious of him."

Lo Hsing-han's past and present epitomize much of Myanmar's crisis of
international legitimacy. Many of the shadowy figures long associated with
the drug trade have insinuated themselves into the political and business
fabric of the nation. Heroin production is close to an all-time high, while
narco-profits flood the economy. Given the power and connections these
people wield, Myanmar seems well on its way to becoming a narco-state _ a
country where officialdom, if not directly involved in trafficking, is
certainly providing drug lords tacit sanction. "Those guys were once beyond
the reach of the central authorities," says an anti-narcotics official. "Now
they are right downtown." A senior Thai drug-suppression official recently
expressed what many have been saying in private _ that a nation with
Myanmar's reputation for drug production should never have been allowed to
join ASEAN.

HOW THE POPPIES FLOURISHED

In 1989, the Communist Party of Burma collapsed and set the stage for
Myanmar's insurgents to forsake the hills for the boardrooms of Yangon. The
government's toughest guerrilla foe since the late 1960s, the CPB
splintered along ethnic lines _ Kokang Chinese, Wa and Shan _ around the
country's rugged northeastern marches. Desperate to prevent a link-up
between the insurgents and the Burman democratic opposition, the junta
moved swiftly to neutralize the guerrillas.

Enter Lo Hsing-han, who helped junta chief Khin Nyunt reach a swift
ceasefire with the CPB's Kokang Chinese-dominated Northern Bureau.
Overnight, the Kokang Chinese territory, wedged against the China border,
was transformed into Myanmar's Special Region No. 1. Not long after, the
militarily strongest portion of the CPB, the tribal Wa, concluded a similar
deal, establishing Special Region No. 2 in the Wa hills to the south.
Linking up with another ethnic Wa force on the Thai border, they set up the
15,000-strong United Wa State Army. In' eastern Shan State, meanwhile, a
third CPB component became Special Region No. 4 headed by two ex-Red Guards
who joined the CPB during China's Cultural Revolution.

The ceasefire deals soon were extended into agreements with a patchwork of
12 other ethnic insurgent groups scattered across the north and east. The
agreements stipulated that the insurgents would halt their attacks on
government positions. In exchange they were permitted to keep their
weapons, administer their areas and move into business. It was an
arrangement that suited both sides, particularly the ex-CPB guerrillas who
promptly opened refineries producing No. 4 heroin. At the same time, they
responded enthusiastically to the government's carte blanche invitation to
participate in the country's newly liberalized but ramshackle economy.

In 1989, the junta dropped a policy of confiscating bank deposits and
foreign currency of dubious origin. Instead it opted for a "whitening tax"
on questionable repatriated funds levied first at 40% and since reduced to
25%. Equally significant, in early 1993, de facto legalization of the
black-market exchange rate took place and narco-funds previously held in
Bangkok, Singapore and Hong Kong flooded back into Myanmar. Construction in
Yangon and Mandalay boomed, most obviously in lavish, international hotels
- most of which now stand virtually empty. "It's clear it all started with
dirty money," says a diplomat. Equally clear is that "legitimate"
businesses in downtown Yangon also provided ideal conduits for laundering
repatriated narco-funds - and continue to do so. A retired Myanmar banker
reckons "at least 60% of private business in Yangon is drugs-related."

THE MONEY WASHING-MACHINE

In this lush new business environment, it was not long before the United Wa
State Army had evolved into what the U.S. State Department has described as
the world's largest armed narcotics-trafficking organization. Vital
international connections were provided by three China-born heroin traders
based along the Thai border - Wei Hsueh-long and brothers Hsuehkang and
Hsueh-yin. In 1992, Wei Hsuch-long moved north to Wa army headquarters at
Panghsang on the Chinese frontier and set up heroin refineries. More
recently, the Wa have moved into large-scale amphetamine production,
targeted mainly at the Thai market.

They also established in Yangon an impressively diversified line of
businesses under a flagship company, the Myanmar Kyone Yeom Group. It has
moved into construction, real estate, mining, tourism, transport, forestry
products and finance - though the profitability of many of its ventures
remains murky. With branch offices around the globe, Kyone Yeom has also
established significant reach.

Group chairman is a mustachioed insurgent colonel of Chinese ancestry, Kyaw
Myint - or Michael Hu Hwa whose management style owes more to jungle boot
camp than Harvard Business School. Described as arrogant and given to
explosive outbursts of temper, the colonel has attended board meetings
flanked by bodyguards with a pistol strapped to his hip. Uninitiated
visitors to company headquarters on Botahtaung Pagoda Rd. have been
startled to be received by the chairman in full uniform in an office with
assault rifles hanging from the walls.

Perhaps predictably, Kyaw Myint's transition to Yangon polite society has
not been without setbacks. Efforts to secure a seat on the board of the
Yangon International School where his son is enrolled were rebuffed by
expatriate parents skeptical that their offspring's education would benefit
from association with an organization that the U.S. State Department has
put on its blacklist. Last year Kyaw Myint tried to railroad a job as
chairman of Prime Commercial Bank, in which his company held a controlling
stake. He showed up, pistol in hand, at the Central Bank to press his case.
But his application was turned down, and, shortly after, authorities
quietly closed Prime Commercial.

Ventures into the murky world of Myanmar's fledgling finance industry have
met with better success. Since late 1995, Kyone Yeom has established a
nation-wide financial operation widely viewed as a thinly disguised
money-laundering vehicle. The scheme involves a subsidiary, the National
Races Cooperative Society, offering a startling 7% interest per month - or
84% per annum on term deposits, a rate that undercuts Chinatown's informal
banking network by a full 2 percentage points. Good going in a country
where finance companies have no legal standing and where only banks are
permitted to offer interest, currently capped at 16% a year. But then as
one Kyone Yeom employee cheerfully pointed out: "They're the Wa! They can
do anything they want."

PAINT, WHISKY AND HEROIN

The headquarters of Peace Myanmar Group are housed in a gracious, if
dilapidated, colonial mansion on Kaba Aye Pagoda Rd., where neither rifles
nor military uniforms are in view. The company holds the Mitsubishi
Electric franchise, runs a paint factory, a liquor distillery producing
Myanmar Rum and Myanmar Dry Gin, as well as Myanmar Peace drinking water
and several energy drinks. Its latest play is a joint venture bottling
whisky under the brand name of Highland Pride for informal export to China.
Founded in 1994, Peace Myanmar is owned by Yang Maoliang, head of Kokang's
ruling Yang clan.

In late 1992, a brief mini-war flared in Kokang; it was about neither liquor
nor paint. Pitting the Yangs against the rival Peng clan, the fight was for
control of the booming opium and heroin trade in an area where 23
refineries were set up between the 1989 ceasefire and 1991. A settlement
brokered by junta chief Khin Nyunt and his adviser Lo Hsing-han restored an
uneasy peace.

Several refineries run by the Yangs in Kokang continued to operate,
producing between 1,800 and 2,400 kg of No. 4 heroin annually and providing
working capital for the rapid expansion of Peace Myanmar. The same year the
company was founded, one of the three Yang brothers, Yang Maoxian, was
arrested in China and executed for smuggling massive heroin shipments into
the People's Republic. The Yangs were unmoved: In April 1996, Guangzhou
police intercepted 598.85 kg of No. 4 heroin - the biggest bust in China's
history.

Investigations later revealed that Chinese traffickers drove the shipment
from Longtan village in Kokang - not far from Yang Maoliang's military
headquarters at Xi-ou and a nearby heroin refinery. Before crossing back
into China on April 7, 1996, say Chinese sources pointedly, the convoy was
waved through a Burmese military checkpoint, no questions asked.

THE UNDISPUTED KING OF KOKANG

The real godfather of Kokang, however, is undoubtedly Lo Hsing-han. "Lo is
hugely influential and powerful," says a diplomat. "The government thinks
he made a major contribution to their efforts to reach ceasefires with the
insurgents and in exchange they have provided a variety of economic
concessions and opportunities to him." In June 1992, Lo founded the
family's flagship company Asia World with his Western-educated son, Steven
Law (a.k.a. Htun Myint Naing) acting as managing director. Since then, Asia
World and its subsidiaries have expanded from an import-export and trading
base, into bus transport, housing and hotel construction, a supermarket
chain, manufacturing and major infrastructure projects, notably Yangon port
development and upgrading the highway between Mandalay and Muse on the
Chinese border.

One of the group's highest profile ventures is the Traders Hotel in
downtown Yangon, in which the Los hold a 10% stake. Put up in expectation
of a tourism and business boom that never happened, like all the other
prestige inns built at the time, Traders is largely empty and running at a
loss. The Lo family has an enduring connection with Singaporean business
figures, and Steven Law is a frequent visitor to the island republic. But
the welcome enjoyed by the Lo family in drugs-tough Singapore has not been
extended by the international community as a whole. In 1996, Steven was
added to the list of those refused visas to the U.S. for suspected
involvement in narcotics trafficking.

Now older and mellower, Lo Senior has apparently stepped back from hands-on
involvement in the drug trade. Nonetheless, he maintains close links to his
old stomping grounds in northern Shan state. Armed Kokang loyalists are
still based at Salween Village, a militia headquarters near Nampawng, south
of Lashio, which was set up by Lo with government assistance on his 1980
release from jail. Today the area presents a telling reflection of the
armed stand-off prevailing across the north-east. In Nampawng an army
garrison maintains a government presence in - but not beyond - its own
compound. The Shan village itself is controlled by troops of the Shan State
Army; while Salween Village, four km away, is guarded by Lo followers. In
the Kutkai region north of Lashio another insurgent group, the Kachin
Defense Army, rules its own enclave in one of the richest opium-producing
areas in the north. The KDA is assuming a growing prominence in the
narcotics trade.

Armed with government issued "special permits," KDA trucks run consignments
of opium and refined heroin on behalf of Kokang Chinese producers to the
border of India's Manipur state - an export route now preferred to the
increasingly risky Chinese border. Heroin refineries also operate in the
Indian border area.

THE PRINCE OF DEATH'S PENSION PLAN

One of the most notorious names associated with Myanmar's drug trade is
that of Khun Sa. After surrendering to the government in January 1996, he
also gave up the rigors of the jungle for a comfortable villa in Yangon,
where he re-invented himself as something more than a "liberation-fighter."
Khun Sa is far from retired, and up in opium country his armed loyalists
still operate in his original Loi Maw fiefdom, as well as on the Thai
border. Khun Sa's 39-year-old second son, Sam Heung, now oversees
operations near his father's old Thai border base.

Having arrived in Yangon with boxes of cash in various currencies, Khun Sa
has not been short of start-up capital for new ventures. The man once
dubbed the "Prince of Death" has bought up prime real estate in the capital's
Sanchaung township, part of which is to be developed as an amusement park.

But last year's eviction of locals from the site and the bulldozing of Kyun
Taw cemetery amused no one and threatened to spill over into communal
rioting.

Elsewhere, Khun Sa is involved in two casino projects, aimed at
high-spending Thais - one outside Tachilek overseen by Sam Heung, the other
on an island opposite the Thai province of Ranong. Both are joint ventures
with politically well-connected Thai businessmen.

If Khun Sa and Lo Hsing-han represent the old breed of Myanmar businessmen,
then Kyaw Win symbolizes a new, increasingly prominent class of
entrepreneurs, who are flourishing in the liberalized economy. An ethnic
Chinese educated in Mandalay, Kyaw Win has since the mid-1980s been closely
associated with Thai timber tycoon Choon Tangkakam, head of Pathumthani
Sawmills and a man with a dubious reputation among law enforcers. In 1989,
Choon and Kyaw Win cooperated in a logging venture in a government-approved
concession near the Thai border. At the time, the area was controlled by
Khun Sa's army. "There is no way they could have operated there without
making a deal with Khun Sa," says a narcotics agent. Also in on the logging
deal was Maj.-Gen. Maung Aye, who is now Myanmar's army commander and whose
association with Kyaw Win continues.

In 1990, Kyaw Win moved to Yangon, founding May Flower Trading Company in
1991 and Myanmar May Flower Bank in 1994. Two years ago, the bank was
granted a foreign exchange license, making it the only lender in Myanmar to
 earn such a privilege; Kyaw Win frankly attributes the honor to his
influence in high places. Interestingly enough, since Khun Sa's surrender,
the bank has enjoyed sudden and remarkable growth. Since near bankruptcy in
late 1995, it has opened branches across the country. "May Flower was
nothing just two years ago," says an intelligence source. "There has been
incredible expansion in a short period of time."

The latest acquisition in Kyaw Win's burgeoning business empire is Yangon
Airways, one of two private, domestic carriers operating in Myanmar. Last
year, he approached the airline's Thai shareholder, Adul Chayopas, with an
offer to buy the loss-plagued airline. "What could possibly prompt an
investor to invest in an airline when the tourist campaign has flopped?"
asks a bemused narcotics agent. But Kyaw Win has both invested and added
some improbably remote destinations to the airline's network, including
Lashio and Mergui - neither of which are noted tourist attractions.

KICKING THE HABIT GETS HARDER

There is only one charitable interpretation of why narco-barons and their
associates are quietly taking over Myanmar's private sector: The government
is prepared to turn a blind eye to the process in the overriding interests
of securing peace, integrating insurgent-held areas into the national
mainstream and, at the same time, promoting economic development - if
necessary with dirty money. "The regime feels it has the upper hand on the
traffickers and can force them to use their money for the good of the
country," says a veteran Western narcotics official.

Those who are actually prepared to credit the junta with a long-term
narcotics strategy say the government may hope that over time today's drug
lords, attracted by the prospect of making real money legally, may mellow
into legitimate tycoons. "Just as the government wants to deal with opium
cultivators by showing them a different way to make a living, so it is
trying to deal with leaders by showing them too there's a different way of
making a living," says a diplomat in Yangon. "We'll let you go legit, if you
stop your refining and trafficking."

Both Asian and Western diplomats point to the junta's more muscular
approach to narcotics interdiction in the field over the past year.
Military units have attacked narcotics convoys and refineries, while drug
seizures have risen - albeit from a conspicuously low base. In 1996 one ton
of opium and 500 kg of heroin were seized, while in the first eight months
of 1997 six
tons of opium and one ton of heroin were seized. "It's still spotty and not
uniformly effective, but there's increasing military pressure against the
whole area," concedes one diplomat. For its part, the regime - to widespread
incredulity - has vowed t enforce "opium-free zones" in border areas by 2000.

The notion that Yangon's corruption-riddled regime is able - or willing - to
force a well-entrenched narco-mafia to become respectable businessmen is
probably naive. The traffickers have evinced no interest in turning their
backs on drugs in favor of legitimate business. In January 1991, Kokang
warlord Peng Jia-sheng assured visiting U.N. officials of plans to end
heroin production in Special Region No. 1 .within one year and eradicate
opium cultivation within seven. But the opium poppy still blooms in Kokang
and heroin production in the region continued its relentless rise during
the early 1990s.

Indeed, the narco-traffickers themselves undoubtedly view their situation in
Myanmar today rather differently from the junta. "They're building for the
future, entrenching themselves and making investments," says the
intelligence source. "They feel they have the generals in their pockets."
Just how many generals is open to debate. But they certainly have quite a
few colonels and majors. At unit level, military complicity in both
narcotics production and transport has been long-standing, a situation
aggravated by the collapse of the kyat and dire conditions in the field.

There is no hard evidence that military involvement is orchestrated from
Yangon as a matter of policy. However, the repatriation and laundering of
narco-profits, as well as the impunity enjoyed by the traffickers has
reached an institutionalized level. A diplomat, impatient over Yangon's
conspicuous inaction over money laundering, says: "There is no question
that this government has a 'don't ask' policy over the source of funds or
start-up capital used by these groups."

Moreover, a recent anti-corruption purge does not appear to have hurt the
operations of major narco-traffickers. "What they're going after is the
personal squeeze typified by [purged ex-ministers] Kyaw Ba and Tun Kyi,"
says the intelligence source. "The drug barons aren't hurting. It's business
as usual." Significantly, on Dec. 11, an article in the state-run Yangon
press announced the blacklisting of the Kyone Yeom Group for "submitting
false accounts." Bur after meetings between Wa leaders and junta chief Khin
Nyunt, the minister responsible was abruptly shunted to an inactive post.

Whether Myanmar can be said to constitute a "narco-state" remains for the
most part a matter of semantics and opinion. Fact is, however, that
narco-capitalists and their close associates are now involved in running
ports, toll roads, airlines, banks and industrials, often in joint ventures
with the government. And the junta is increasingly dependent on
narco-dollars to keep a floundering economy above water. The danger is that
the wary but mutually beneficial relationship between Myanmar's military
regime and drug barons becomes a habit that is ever more difficult to kick.

For ultimately their survival may depend on it.

Anthony Davis is an Asiaweek Special Correspondent.
Bruce Hawke is a business journalist specializing in Myanmar.

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

REUTERS: GINRICH SLAMS PRESIDENT CLINTON ON
ISRAEL 
16 January, 1998 [a Burma relevant excerpt]

After a woman demanded to know why Gingrich accepted a trip to
London paid for by the oil company ARCO that does business in 
Myanmar formerly Burma), the speaker said the House ethics 
committee had approved the trip. 

Then he added, "There are good reasons to have sanctions against
Burma'' and said that it should be done as an all-out economic embargo.

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

RANGOON KYEMON: ARTICLE SAYS SUU KYI PINES FOR WESTERN DEMOCRACY 
1 January, 1998 [abridged, translated from Burmese]
by Pauk Sa

"A Lament for Democracy"

The Burmese service of the BBC broadcast a lament for democracy at
8:15 pm on 16 December 1997.

This lament for democracy was sung mournfully by no other than the
famous, unrivaled democracy princess [Aung San Suu Kyi], who is being
advertised as a Myanmar's [Burma's] democratic leader and manipulated by
international imperialist bloc. [passage omitted on motive for criticizing]
Well, it was like this.  The democracy princess sent her speech to a
ceremony in Oxford, Britain, held on 15 December 1997 to confer the highest
honor of the town of Oxford on her. 

The introductory part of the speech almost brought me to tears. Now,
how did she put it?  She said she had some of her happiest moments in
Oxford ?, and that her younger son, who was born and brought up
in Oxford, was designated to receive the honors conferred by the town of
Oxford on her behalf.

She continued to lament: Oxford is proud of its residents,
intellectuals, and academics who freely move and express their diverse
views and their ability to discuss freely even the most astounding ideas
and beliefs.  They never have to fear for losing their freedom of
expression which they have always enjoyed.

I have no right to criticize the democracy princess for pining for
democracy which flourishes in Britain's Oxford.  However, in pining for
democracy in Oxford, she made a reference to our country and our
government, which have nothing to do with Oxford. So, I have to raise my
objection.  She lamented that these freedoms are remote in Myanmar where
the military government does not recognize basic human rights.

I would like to ask the democracy princess as follows:  How do you
understand basic human rights?  Is undisciplined democracy, which has no
regard for law, rules and regulation, and control, being accepted as basic
human rights?  Our country does not accept such kind of democracy which is
being regarded as anarchy.  Such kind of democracy will be opposed and
removed.

Our human rights entail endeavors by the people and the government to
meet the people's needs for food, clothes, and shelter and a higher
standard of living.  There is the right to participate in such endeavors. 
No special mention is needed for the freedom of organization.  Political
parties, including that of the democracy princess in which she is the party
general secretary, are allowed to be formed and to organize.  As for the
freedom of speech, the democracy princess is well aware.  Didn't she
deliver speeches inside her compound as well as by the roadside without
regard for the authorities, law, and rules and regulation.  She criticized
and hurled abuse at both the government and the Defense Services and often
held sudden public gatherings.  The democracy princess is well aware of the
extent of tolerance of the government and the Defense Services.

The democracy princess gave shelter, assistance, and encouragement to
insurgents who are a threat to the lives and security of the people and the
state and who plant mines and kill. She posed like a model for commercials
in a Karen costume for a video and had it smuggled to the KNU [Karen
National Union] insurgents as an organizational gift.   Didn't the
democracy princess accept assistance in cash from imperialist intelligence
organizations and commit subversion against the country?  Has the
government taken any action against such contravention of existing laws? 
Would the democracy in Britain which the democracy princess party general
secretary so admired and missed give her such freedom to contravene the
law?  Would she be exempted from the law?"

These Western European countries are practising their home spun
democracy.  Yet, these countries are bullying our country by trying to
impose their democracy on us.  Such an imposition is tantamount to
intimidation in the name of democracy.

How can they order us to practice their kind of democracy in our
country when they themselves practice their home spun democracy.   I dare
say it amounts to the hegemony of neocolonialists.  Now, would the
advocates of human rights and a group of deranged fools like to respond to
this?

To state clearly, the people of Myanmar accept the disciplined
democracy prescribed by the State Peace and Development Council and they
will endeavor to build  a peaceful, modern, and developed nation with
conviction and courage.

The people of Myanmar will not pine for Western-type democracy which
the democracy princess pines for.  

[Description of Source: Kyemon--Government-run daily newspaper]

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

AP: TOP GENERAL URGES FRANK DISCUSSION ON ECONOMIC CRISIS 
17 January, 1998

RANGOON, Burma: A senior member of  Burma's  ruling military regime has
warned that Asia's financial turmoil could spill over into  Burma  and
called for ''constructive suggestions'' from economists and experts,
state-controlled newspapers said Saturday. 
 
Although  Burma's  currency has been plunging and the country suffers a
host of economic woes these are generally regarded as not related to the
crisis that is sweeping Asia. 
 
Long isolated politically and economically,  Burma  has only recently 
attempted to tie in to the international economy. 
 
''The current Asian currency crisis could affect the Burmese financial
sector to a greater or lesser extent,'' said Lt. Gen. Khin Nyunt at a
seminar here Friday. The general is a leading figure in the ruling State
Peace and 
Development Council. 
 
He urged economists and businessmen to hold free and frank discussions at
The seminar and to make constructive criticism. 
 
''The seminar could enable entrepreneurs and the economic sector to 
understand and learn from the economic troubles of neighboring countries,''
he said. 
 
Since last July,  Burma's  kyat currency has plunged on the black market
>From 208 kyat to the U.S. dollar to 320 kyat this month. The official
exchange rate is six kyat to one dollar. 

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

OSLO DEMOCRATIC VOICE OF BURMA: SPDC BUILDS NEW AIRBASE NEAR KALEMYO WITH
FORCED LABOR
12 January, 1998 [Translated from Burmese]

It has been learned that the SPDC military clique is constructing an
airbase at the site of an old World War II airfield, eight miles south of
Kalemyo in Sagaing Division.

The military has unjustly confiscated the poor local farmers'
farmlands surrounding the old airfield and ordered the farmers to destroy
their paddy fields.

The local people--one member from each household--are also forced to
contribute volunteer labor for the airbase construction.

In December, the military forced over 3,500 villagers--including 2,000
from Htaunkkyant Village, 500 from Kyarbin Village, and 400 from Thayargon
Village--to contribute volunteer labor in the airbase construction work.

Furthermore, over 100 inmates from the Ngwetaung and Phataung rock
quarry work camps, which were opened last year, are also recruited to work
at the airbase, said the locals.

Democratic Voice of Burma -- National Coalition Government of the Union of
Burma

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

BKK POST: REPATRIATION 'WON'T HURT'
19 January, 1998
by Woranuj Mancerungsee

Only illegal workers to be expelled

Phitsanulok: The government's plan to repatrirate over 300,000 alien
workers will not affect labour-intensive businesses in Thailand because it
will target only illegal labour, Prime Minister Chuan Leekpai said yesterday.

In his speech closing a chambers of commerce seminar at Amarin Lagoon
Hotel, Mr Chuan noted that only 200,000 alien workers had been registered
but their real number should be much more.

"We must repatriate illegal alien workers to open chances for Thai labourers
who have been laid off to find jobs," he said.

The policy will not hurt legal businesses because the Interior Ministry will
aim only at illegal aliens. Anyway, the policy would not be accomplished
overnight so entrepreneurs would have enough time to cope with the move,
the premier said.

However, he promised that the govemment would permit alien labour to remain
in the businesses not attractive to Thai workers.

The government was seriously solving labour problems which were related to
social ones. It would introduce solutions to labour problems in both
industrial and agricultural sectors and each province would have to study
their particular problems and solutions, Mr Chuan said.

Meanwhile, Vorapong Pitchpongsa, president of the Rice Exporters
Association, said that the alien labour repatriation would affect rice
exporters.

They were employing over 2,000 aliens to carry rice sacks, a job Thai
workers do not want, he said.

He suggested the Labour and Social Welfare Ministry come up with plans to
cope with the problem before the government starts repatriating alien labour.

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THE NEW LIGHT OF MYANMAR: WEST USING INTERNET TO SPREAD DISINFORMATION
9 January, 1998 [abridged]

YANGON, 8 Jan - Myanmar Computer Science and Technology Development Council
held its 1/98 Meeting at the Universities Central Council meeting hall of
the Higher Education Department this afternoon with an address by Chairman
of Myanmar Computer Science and Technology Development Council Chairman of
Myanmar Education Committee Secretary-1 of the State Peace and Development
Council Lt-Gen Khin Nyunt.

Lt-Gen Khin Nyunt said the purpose of the meeting was to explain to
the computer experts and companies the government's aims and efforts for
development and dissemination of computer technology in Myanmar and discuss
future programmes.

He also spoke about the latest inventions and development of computers
and computer technology, application of personal computers and computer
network and emergence of Internet which is now used as Worldwide Web to
send multimedia information as well as E-mail.

Internet brings plenty of good results if it is used properly, but
unscrupulous use of it gives ill effects, he noted, adding that some
Western countries are using Internet to spread disinformation with intent
to destabilize some developing countries' political situation and cause
difficulties.

Some countries which are using Internet unreasonably are now facing
cultural problems, and it is essential for Myanmar people to preserve and
adhere to Buddhist ethics and try not to lose their culture, he said.
The Secretary-1 pointed out the need to adopt plans to be able to use
Internet in proper manner in keeping with the government's political,
economic and social objectives.

He also spoke of intellectual development of Myanmar children as a
result of installation of computers at their schools and lauded Myanmar
technicians for their efforts for development and dissemination of computer
technology.

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AUSTRALIAN GOVERNMENT MEDIA RELEASE: AUSTRALIA PROVIDES REFUGEE RELIEF ON
THE THAILAND-BURMA BORDER
January 1998 

I am pleased to announce that the Australian Government is contributing a 
further $1 million in humanitarian relief to Burmese refugees residing 
in camps on the Thailand-Burma border. The funds are being provided 
through AusAID's humanitarian relief program.

The Australian Government is conscious of the burdens placed on Thailand 
by this refugee presence, and we are prepared to do what we can to help 
share the burden of refugee relief. Australia encourages Thailand to 
continue to provide sanctuary to civilian refugees from Burma so long as 
it is unsafe for them to return to Burma. We also encourage Burma's 
Government - the State Peace and Development Council - to take steps to 
improve the observance of human rights inside Burma, which is the 
underlying cause of the problem. 

The aid is for over 115,000 refugees composed of largely the Karen ethnic 
minority but also the Mon and Karenni peoples. Australian funds will 
provide food, mosquito nets, firewood, blankets and basic health care. 
The assistance is designed to promote self-sufficiency and assist the 
refugees in establishing their own health system. The relief programs 
will be implemented in partnership with Australian NGOs. 

$650,000 is going to the National Council of Churches in Australia (NCCA) 
as part of their work with the Burmese Border Consortium (BBC) which 
currently provide all the food and relief assistance to the refugees. A 
further $350,000 has been allocated to Community Aid Abroad (Oxfam in 
Australia) to provide medical assistance to reduce the spread of 
communicable diseases and improve sanitation. These activities include 
malaria control, immunisation, and the development of adequate sanitation 
facilities to reduce the prevalence of disease in the camps.

For more information:
Innes Willox (Ministerial) 02 6277-7500 or 0411 414-695 
Kirk Coningham (Departmental) 02 6261-1555 or 0418 623-327 

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

SHAN: LETTER OF OBJECTION TO BKK POST
18 January, 1998

RE: Khun Sa's Troops Renew Threat, 15 January 1998

We would like to thank you for the report. We would also like to make a
protest with the headline. As reported by AP through you, Khun Sa,
"weakened by splits", surrendered. And that "splits" was the Shan State
National Army (SSNA) commanded by Karnyord. Likewise, the Shan United
Revolutionary Army (SURA), now renamed Shan State Army (Southern), "was not
formerly controlled by Khun Sa", while the Shan State Army (Northern) never
joined Khun Sa's Mong Tai Army (MTA). Therefore, how could they still be
called "Khun Sa's troops"? The headline may have been designed to attract
readers' attention, but it also hurt us. Now, some of our newly gained
friends who are less informed about the Shan Resistance are panicking and
their fear is understandable. After all, who would want to be known as a
supporter for the cause of Khun Sa? So we would like to request that, in
future, you choose better headlines.

As reported by you, we three, namely, the Shan State Army (Southern), the
Shan State Army (Northern) and the Shan State National Army, had resolved,
on 13 September 1996, to merge under the same name, Shan State Army. The
situation which led to that historic decision should be of interest. The
Shan State Army (Southern), commanded by Yordserk, that refused to
surrender but that was not against signing a ceasefire agreement with
SLORC, was nevertheless being hunted and attacked and the local people were
being subjected to all kinds of atrocities such as indiscriminate killings,
torture, rapes and forced relocations. It was to stop SLORC from harming
the people that the three groups had joined. They thought that since the
SSA Northern) and SSNA had already ceasefire agreements with SLORC, the
terms would also be extended to the Yordserk group. And had SLORC, or SPDC
as it now call itself, really desired peace as they like to claim, they
would have gladly accepted the offer. Regretfully, it was turned down and
the offensive against the Shan State Army (Southern) and the people nas
been renewed since. The influx of Shans into Thailand during the past two
years was the direct result of this affair. The whole thing of course makes
one wonder whether by refusing to accept the offer of peace by the Shan
State Army, the SLORC/SPDC is only getting an excuse to get rid of the
Shans from their ancestral land.

Ood Kesi
Vice Chief of Staff
Shan State Army (Southern)

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FREE BURMA FORUM: RESPONSE TO FREE BURMA DIGEST ARTICLE
16 January, 1998 [excerpts]

Please note that the headline "Opium Groups unites Against Burma", is 
misleading, as is the content.

Firstly, Shan armies fighting SPDC troops are not "Opium Armies". 
They are Shan troops who refused to go along with Khun Sa when he 
surrendered. They are fighting to defend themselves and the people who 
are subject to SPDC's ethnic-cleansing actions, rape, pillage, and 
murder.

In fact, armies which are involved in opium-heroin trade (i.e., 
bonafide opium armies) are allied with SLORC/SPDC warlords. Bonafide 
opium armies, i.e., their leaders, are trading partners (and economic 
patrons) of SPDC warlords.  

Secondly, Shan armies are not fighting "Burma". It is invalid to 
equate a government (especially an illegal, illegitimate one) with a 
country... Shan armies are fighting the military junta, not "Burma". 
   
In fact, those who fight the military junta are pro-Burma, and those 
who support and sleep with the junta are anti-Burma.
    
***************************************************

ANNOUNCEMENTS: 

INVITATION TO CONTRIBUTE TO 'BURMA - VOICES OF WOMEN...'
19 January, 1998

BURMA - VOICES OF WOMEN IN THE STRUGGLE 
A BILINGUAL EXPRESSION OF WOMEN'S SOLIDARITY

Women activists are cordially invited to contribute their writings for
inclusion in the bilingual book Burma - Voices of Women in the Struggle.

We would be happy to receive any writing, in either Burmese or English, not
more than 3,000 words in length, in the form of:
· short stories or articles
· letters or poems

Black-and-white photographs or drawings are also welcome. In addition to
original contributions, previously published work is also welcome, with
permission of the writer and publisher.

Writings may cover a range of topics and styles, to reflect the thoughts
and situation of women who want human rights and democracy in Burma. This
can be about:
· an incident which happened in your life
· your hopes for the future
· experiences in the struggle
· what you think about the current situation in your life or your country
· people who have inspired you
· something you feel strongly about

PLEASE SEND IN YOUR ARTICLES BY MARCH 6TH 1998, to allow time for
translation. We hope to complete the book for launching on the next Women
of Burma Day, June 19, 1998 (which is also Daw Suu's birthday).

This book is a joint project of Altsean-Burma, Burmese Women's Union and
Burma Issues, with the collaboration of organizations supporting the
promotion of the status of women and the cause of human rights and
democracy in Burma.

All contributors must be women or girls. 
Please contact us as soon as possible if you are interested in this book
project.
 
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

NATIONAL ENDOWMENT OF DEMOCRACY - 1998 DEMOCRACY AWARD
19 January, 1998

Washington, DC-Chinese democratic activists Wei Jingsheng and 
Wang Dan have been named as recipients of the 1998 Democracy Award of
the National Endowment for Democracy (NED).  The Democracy Award is
presented to individuals who have made outstanding contributions to
advancing or advocating democracy in their native countries.  Wei
Jingsheng, who was released from prison last month and immediately
forced into exile, will receive the award in person at a Capitol Hill
reception in honor of the dissidents on February 4.  Co-recipient Wang
Dan, however, remains a political prisoner in China.

Democracy Award recipients are selected by the Endowment's Board of
Directors, and reflect the Endowment's broad commitment to democratic
development around the world.

The National Endowment for Democracy is a private, non-profit grant
making agency created by Congress in 1983.  Through its worldwide grants
program, the Endowment assists political parties, business, labor,
media, civic education, and human rights groups abroad who are working
to achieve and maintain democracy.  In 1997 Endowment grants supported
organizations in over 80 countries in Africa, Asia, Latin America, the
Middle East, Eastern Europe, and the former Soviet Union. 

Stephanie Muravchik
Writer/Publications Coordinator
stephani@xxxxxxx

National Endowment for Democracy
1101 Fifteenth Street, NW, Suite 700
Washington, DC  20005
tel 202-293-9072
fax 202-223-6042
Visit our website at http://www.ned.org

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