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BBC World Service East Asia Today L



BBC World Service 
East Asia Today 
Latest Edition
July 8th 1998 

Thai Government Expresses Concern at Possible Violence in Burma

There's growing political tension in Burma, with the military junta
accusing the opposition National League for Democracy of creating a
potentially violent confrontation with the government. 

This month there's a series of anniversaries of the pro-democracy
demonstrations ten years ago, which were violently suppressed by the army.
The Thai government has expressed concern at possible violence in Burma and
urged restraint. 

East Asia Today presenter Kathryn Davies asked Thai foreign ministry
spokesman Kobsak Chutikul just how worried the government is:

Kobsak Chutikul: Well we are following developments quite closely there
because Myanmar is now an ASEAN member country. We do feel as a member of
the family now, other members of ASEAN have more freedom to express their
views about what is going on in Myanmar. There have been a series of
incidents, such as the move over examinations for university students.
There was a call by the opposition party for the convening of the elected
parliament for example. So there are indications that there could be
increased political tensions over the next few days.

Kathryn Davies: How worried are you that this could spill over into
violence?

Kobsak Chutikul: We always remain concerned about that because we do have a
long land boundary with Myanmar. Any instability there always leads to
increased instability and insecurity along our boundary. At this time,
instability in Myanmar, because it is an ASEAN country, sends a wrong
signal to the international community. International investors tend to look
at the region as a whole. Any new source of instability within the region
could lead to a loss of confidence, and that could retard our efforts to
overcome our present economic crisis.

Kathryn Davies: What influence can you really bring to bear on the
government in Rangoon?

Kobsak Chutikul: No direct influence, regrettably. There is this very
strict principle of non-interference in domestic affairs. The Thai
government has been trying to propose that this principle be amended
somewhat and that there should be what we term "flexible engagement". This
means that people should be able to express their views, offer advice, to
reflect international thinking, and urge moderation or restraint if
necessary. We feel that any policies pursued can not be seen in the context
of an internal situation only, because they do have external and
international ramifications.

Kathryn Davies: What sort of response have you had from other ASEAN
countries to this shift in Thai foreign policy and your idea of "flexible
engagement"?

Kobsak Chutikul: The Philippine Foreign Secretary has come out supporting
this, and he has put it on the agenda of the Foreign Ministers meeting in
Manila at the end of this month. Our Foreign Minister, Dr Surin, is on a
trip to Singapore at the moment and then he will go on to Indonesia. So he
is trying to canvas opinion and solicit views about the reaction within
ASEAN to what we are saying.


------------------------------------------------------------------------


Burmese military authorities prevented the opposition leader Aung San Suu
Kyi from travelling outside Rangoon to meet party officials. Restriction
orders have also been served on NLD MPs outside Rangoon to prevent them
attending party meetings in the capital, and at least seven have been
detained. The confrontation between the two sides intensified after the NLD
held a meeting in May on the anniversary of their 1990 election victory
which the Burma's generals have continued to ignore and issued a statement,
insisting that the parliament be convened within the next two months. Larry
Jagan has more:

Aung San Suu Kyi has now returned safely to her home after a tense standoff
with the police some eighty kilometres north of Rangoon. She and the NLD's
chairman Aung Shwe spent the night in their car surrounded by more than
thirty policemen who refused to allow them to travel further. The two NLD
leaders left last night to drive to Min Hla town, a hundred and fifty
kilometres outside the capital, to meet supporters there but were stopped
half-way and told to return immediately to Rangoon. Aung San Suu Kyi
refused to move and told the police that she was being unlawfully
restrained. The confrontation, a Rangoon resident told the BBC, ended when
the local NLD official was brought from the town to meet Aung San Suu Kyi
in her car. After the meeting she returned to Rangoon.

This is only the latest incident between the pro-democracy activists and
the country's military rulers over the last three weeks. Tension between
the two sides has increased since the NLD issued an ultimatum last month
demanding that a civilian parliament of those MPs elected in the 1990 polls
be convened by the end of August. If not the NLD may call its own
parliament into session. Having won more than eighty percent of the seats
at those elections, an NLD parliament would have a powerful claim to being
the rightful government of Burma. The US state department has already
issued a statement condemning the military authorities for preventing the
opposition leader from travelling outside Rangoon. Other western
governments are expected to follow suit.