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FYI (r)
SHAN HERALD AGENCY FOR NEWS
SHAN - EU
SEPTEMBER 18, 1999
HEADLINES :
1. Recent Clash Between Junta and Shan Rebels led to Campaign
2. "Mad Pill" Takes Its Toll in Northern Shan State
3. Protecting civilians
4. Annan appeals for more powers
5. Indonesian troops start E Timor pull-out
6. Big and small pitch in for multinational force
7. 'State-to-state' policy hitting Taiwan's ties
8. Taiwan and the right to self-determination
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SHAN HERALD AGENCY FOR NEWS
17 September 1999
Recent Clash Between Junta and Shan Rebels led to Campaign
The source who just fled across the border from the Shan State told S.H.A.N.
that the misfired ambush last month by the junta troops on the Shan rebels
had brought about the present campaign across the Thai border.
The source, who refused to be identified because he aimed to go back, said:
"During the fight between the SSA and the Burmese (SPDC troops), a captain
and a sergeant major were killed, while the commanding officer of Infantry
Battalion 65 was also badly wounded in the leg and is in Monghsat hospital
for treatment".
S.H.A.N. reported on Wednesday that during an ambush staged by the local
SPDC troops on 29 August, the Shan's counter attack cost the junta 2 dead
and 4 wounded.
"This is essentially a tit-for-tat campaign, aiming to make up for what they
considered as a humiliation", said he.
He added that units from Mongpyak, Kengtung and Mongpiang are also joining
the attack. He also saw lots of civilian trucks transporting troops and
ammunition to Poongpakhem, believed to be the forward operational command.
He did not know who was in charge of the operation.
So far, S.H.A.N. has yet to receive any reports about new clashes.
S.H.A.N. is a non-profit making, independent Shan media group. It is not
affiliated to any political or armed organizations.
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IRRAWADDY - August 1999
GUEST COLUMN
"Mad Pill" Takes Its Toll in Northern Shan State
A report on the situation of amphetamine abuse in Shan State along the
northern borders with China, contributed by the Shan Herald Agency for
News.
Until as recently as 3 or 4 years ago, most people in Pangsai, Muse and
Namkham townships, bordering China in northern Shan State, had never seen or
even heard of the abuse of amphetamine pills in the area. Today, however,
the abuse of this drug has spread so rapidly that more and more young and
middle-aged people can be seen taldng it on a regular basis.
Before the spread of amphetamine, it was narcotic drugs such as opium and
its derivatives, morphine and heroin, that destroyed the young people. But
now; people are losing interest in opiates, and amphetamines have become so
popular that they have almost entirely overwhelmed the drug market.
In townships all over the Shan state such as Tachilek, Mongton, Mongsat,
Mongphyak, Mongyawng, Kengtung, Kunhing, Langkho, Mongnai, Panglong, Loilem,
Tawnggyi, Mongkung, Mongsu, Tangyan, Hsipaw; Lashio, Kutkai, Muse and
Narnkliam, a great number of people are now regular users of amphetamines.
This trend of abuse is said to be spreading across the border into several
border towns in China such as Ruili, Wanting and Mongla and is continuing to
spread as far as big cities like Dehong and Mangxi.
Amphetamine traffickers usually fetch 4 to 8-fold profits on the capital
used in each successful transaction. As amphetamine pills are much easier to
hide and transport than the derivatives of opium, many former heroin dealers
have shifted to trafficking amphetamine. And it looks as if more and more
will likely do the same.
It is said that 1 kg of amphetamine powder (not yet pressed into tablets)
from Shan State could be sold at a price of US$4-5,000 in Mandalay and
US$8-10,000 in Rangoon. From these points, dealers transport the drug to
Thailand via sea and several different land routes such as Three Pagoda
Pass, opposite Kanchanaburi, and Kawthaung (Victoria Point), opposite
Ranong.
Most of the amphetamine users in the border towns opposite China are young
people between the ages of 18 and 40. According to some observers, not less
than 65% of the young people in Muse and 40% in Namkham are amphetamine
users and the numbers seem to be growing. The highest rate of use is among
the gambling communities, followed by truck drivers. while laborers and
night-workers follow third, students, including university students who
cannot study because most universities are closed, come fourth.
Starting about 1 or 2 years ago, amphetamines have come to Muse and Namkham
areas from the eastern Shan State through Monsu, Tangyan and Lashio. It is
also coming from northern Wa areas of Mongmau, Kunlong and Hopang, via
Laokai Chinshwehaw and Mongko.
Now, amphetamines are said to be produced in remote places in the forests
and mountains and even in Muse township by the Wa and Kokang groups. For
instance, an amphetamine factory has been set up by Chinese dealers near
Taknai village, Tima tract, 50 miles southeast of Muse town. It is being run
under the protection of the MA (Kachin Independence Army-one of the first
groups to sign a cease-fire agreement with the Burmese military regime) who
accordingly collect taxes. The Kokang group is also producing amphetamine
near Mongko. The products of these factories are being transported to the
border areas as well as to Lashio, Mandalay and Rangoon on a more or less
regular basis.
In addifion to diclocal people of the border areas who lime illen victim to
these addictive drup, induding opium and its denvaflves as well as
amphetamine, there are also many young Burmans serving under the ruling
State Peace and Development Council, including many police and soldiers,
who have become addicted to several of these drugs.
Ye Htut, a 22 year-old lieutenant from Lashio-based Infantry Battalion 41,
recalled in early July after being posted to Muse and Namkham areas for some
time, was highly addicted to both amphetamine and opium. On one occasion two
months ago, Ye Htut was quite high on amphetamine when he went into a
latrine for an unusually long time. When one of his fliends, who heard a
strange noise as if something had fallen in the latrine, opened the door
and looked, Ye Htut was lying on the floor with upturned eyes and foam
coming from his mouth, as if he was going to breathe his last breath, and
his pistol had fallen so close to the mouth of the latrine hole that it
almost fell into it.
When he was high on drugs, Ye Htut used to criticize the institution he
belonged to. "Our Tatmadaw(the armed forces) is ruined. No one need to come
and fight it. One day, before long, we will be fighting among ourselves," he
would say. During his assignment to the border areas, he managed to
accumulate a lot of money by using many different methods to extort money
from the local people, so that when he returned to his battalion he was
able to take away with him more than 4,000,000 Kyat. (It has become somewhat
of a custom for the military personnel to ask each other how much money and
valuables they are able to take home with them whenever personnel transfers
take place.)
Lieutenant Thu Rein Win, who has replaced Ye Htut, is also taking 20-30
amphetamine tablets per day on regular basis and is high on the drug most
of the time. He too often criticizes his own mother institution. "Except
while on duty under strict orders, no one needs to listen to anyone else, no
one can order another around, all are equals. The bigger one is, the more
one eats and takes (bribes), and the smaller ones have to foot their own
bills. No one cares whether it is just or fair. Everyone is just trying to
line his own pockets."
In Muse, a booming trading town near the border with China, more than 10
cease-fire groups have set up liaison offices for their trading companies
and other related matters. The following are the said cease-fire groups:
the MDA (Mongko Defence Army) commanded by Mongsala and based in Mongko;
the KDA (Kachin Defence Army) led by Matunaw in Kutkai; the PSLA (Palaung
State Liberation Army) headed by Ai Mung in Namtu; the KIA (Kachin
Independence Army) commanded by Zao Seng at Namhi Namyue; the MNDAA (Myanmar
National Democratic Alliance Army) commanded by Peng Jai-sheng at
Chinshwehaw; the
SSA (Shan State Army) led by Loi Mao, Kai Fa and Hsoten at Seng Keo; the
SSNA (Shan State National Army) led by Kan Yawd and Sai Yi at Khai Sim; the
UWSA (United Wa State Army) led by Pao Yo Chang and Li Ziru at Pang Sang;
the anti-insurgency group led by Kyaw Myint at Mong Wui; the anti-insurgency
group led by Khun Phong at Phawng Seng; the anti-insurgency group led by
Khun Myat at Namphakka; the anti-insurgency group led by Ma Kou-wen at
Murng Heng; the anti-insurgency group led by Bo Mon at Murng Tawm and
Palaung people's militia led by Kyaw Sein at Kawng Wai east of Namkham.
Every cease-fire group in Shan State-from the smallest with just 30-40
members to the largest with more than 4,000-is in one way or another
involved in the narcotic drugs business, either in producing, trading,
providing security or simply collecting taxes. The fact that no group is
completely clear of involvement in this lucrative business is as well known
to local people as it is to the military and SPDC authorities.
SPDC authorities, who claim~to be eradicating narcotic drugs and shouting
to the international community for a helping hand, are catching only small
fish and deliberately letting go the big fish who can afford to pay bribes
or secret taxes. Some military authorities are even said to hold big shares
in the drug trafficking business. In the border areas with China, only
small dealers who sell drugs to subsist are often caught and punished while
big dealers usually get away.
Local people of every status and standing know very well what is going on
in their areas. Even UN agents and foreign NGOs who often come to the border
areas such as the UNDE UNDCP and SCF realize what is really happening.
It has become clearer and clearer that the amphetamine problem is no longer
confined to Thailand and the territories bordering it. It has in fact
spread to many big cities in Burma and to territories bordering China and
into China itself. It has already reached some Chinese border towns such as
Rulli and Mangxi, and will before long probably reach other big cities such
as Kunming, Beijing, Shanghai, Guangxi and even Hong Kong. Will it grow from
a local problem into a regional one and eventually become global like its
predecessors, the cocaine and heroin problems?
This article was contributed by the Shan Herald Agency for News.
**********************************************************
SOUTH CHINA MORNING POST - Saturday, September 18, 1999
EDITORIAL
Protecting civilians
After the horrors inflicted on East Timor and Kosovo this year, it is
welcome news that the United Nations Security Council is debating a report
urging it to strengthen the ability of the world body to protect civilians
in wars. But the discussion in New York goes no further than that, it will
risk falling short of what is really needed.
The Secretary-General, Kofi Annan, opened the debate by noting that
"civilians have become targets in today's conflicts". Belligerents, he
added, were increasingly using terror against non-combatants to gain ground
in conflicts. That cannot be disputed in the light of horrifying figures
such as the 500,000 people estimated to have been killed in Rwanda or the
250,000 people reported to have died in the neighbouring nation of Burundi.
Anything the world body can do to prevent such slaughter must be given high
priority by the Security Council. It would be shameful if the debate were to
end up in a cloud of good intentions without leading to any concrete steps
to give the UN more muscle to protect civilians.
The more tricky issue which follows this is what the UN can do in cases
where civilians are being killed or driven out of their homes as part of an
internal conflict, rather than by a war between states. Questions of
national sovereignty arouse the hackles of governments that cannot support
the idea of the international community, as represented by the UN, stepping
in to protect their own citizens.
It is easy to see this simply as a defensive reaction by governments such as
those in Yugoslavia or Indonesia which are either unable to stop the
violence, or are actually complicit in it. But even the Western governments
which launched the attack on Serbia might think twice before bowing to a UN
resolution calling for intervention in their own internal affairs.
This is a matter which many countries might prefer to avoid. But it is the
logical extension of the debate which has now begun. For all the problems it
raises, the drive to protect civilians, whether in wars between states or
within the borders of states, should not be abandoned. Apart from anything
else, the knowledge that the international community is ready to act could
act as a deterrent for oppressive governments which still want to maintain a
position in the world.
*******************************************************
SOUTH CHINA MORNING POST - Saturday, September 18, 1999
UNITED NATIONS
Annan appeals for more powers
AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE in New York
The Security Council resumed debate yesterday on a report by
Secretary-General Kofi Annan urging it to adopt 40 measures to strengthen
the United Nations' capacity to protect civilians in time of war.
"Civilians have become targets in today's conflicts," Mr Annan told the
council when the debate began on Thursday.
"Belligerents are increasingly taking care to avoid direct confrontation
with each other.
"Instead, their favoured strategy to gain ground is the exercise of terror
against defenceless citizens."
The report recalled that more than half a million people died during the
1994 genocide in Rwanda, where "entire families were executed in their homes
and whole villages brutalised in an orchestrated campaign of mass
extermination".
In the past two years in Sierra Leone more than 5,000 people had been
deliberately mutilated, while in Burundi a quarter of a million people had
been killed, the report said.
Mr Annan said: "Failure to address these issues will erode respect for the
council's resolutions and so diminish the authority of the United Nations as
a whole."
The two-day debate had not been scheduled as a decision-making session but a
Western diplomat said a draft resolution had been circulated among council
members.
British ambassador Jeremy Greenstock said the council had the power to take
tougher action than it has.
"The council must not shy away from more robust mandates if a force needs to
act in enforcement mode, for example to protect civilians," he said.
Mr Greenstock was the architect of the resolution authorising the
multinational force for East Timor under the UN Charter. The resolution
empowered the peacekeepers to use force in carrying their mission.
*******************************************************
THE NATION - September 18, 1999
Headlines
Indonesian troops start E Timor pull-out
THE Indonesian military started pulling out of East Timor yesterday, putting
an end to its 23-year-long often-brutal occupation of the territory where
violence broke out after voters overwhelmingly approved independence in an
Aug 30 UN-sponsored referendum.
Confusion rose however over the scheduled arrival of an advance party for a
UN intervention force.
Head of Martial Law Commander for East Timor Maj Gen Kiki Syahnakri said the
group will not arrive today or tomorrow. His comments came a few minutes
after the military command in Jakarta issued a statement saying the
territory was ready for the UN force and the advance party expected today.
Detailing other steps to be taken, Syahnakri said pro-Jakarta militiamen
would be pushed to the western part of East Timor and the Aitarak (Thorn)
militia blamed for much of the destruction in the capital would be prevented
from entering Dili. He added that the Indonesian military would cooperate
with the UN force.
''It is expected that tension will rise but we will take steps to prevent
violence,'' Syahnakri said.
Military personnel have been moving out of East Timor for four days and
between 3,500 and 4,000 have already left the area, he said. But, he added
that the Indonesian military would retain a presence in the territory until
further notice.
''The whole of East Timor now is under the control of the Martial Law
Military Command in East Timor which has a strength of three brigades,'' the
statement said.
The brigades, each of about 2,000 soldiers, were identified as coming from
the marines and the air force's special forces.
It said the situation in East Timor remained calm as of yesterday, adding
that the sporadic cases of shooting and arson had decreased.
But Syahnakri warned that there was still a lot of anger against ''white
people'' in East Timor and said Indonesian security forces could not
guarantee the safety of caucasians.
To many Indonesians, the withdrawal of TNI (Indonesia National Military) is
seen as a big blow to their sense of nationalism, not mainly because their
military and government bent to international pressure, but because they
have to see Australia, a country that has been launching an offensive
campaign against Indonesia, take a leading role in East Timor.
Anti-Australian sentiment has rapidly spread through Indonesia's major
cities in the last few weeks. Every day in Jakarta, demonstrators march to
the Australia Embassy to protest the country's hostile moves. The burning of
Australian flags and other national emblems is now commonplace here.
''The Australians pretend they are concerned about what is happening in East
Timor, but they commit gross human rights abuses against the Aboriginals,''
said a student of the Indonesian Christian University (UKI).
The youth wing of the Nahdlatul Ulama (NU), the largest Muslim organisation,
has opened registrations for any Muslim to volunteer for militia duty and to
go to war against Australia. It was reported that hundreds of thousands of
Muslims have registered.
''I am completely ready for jihad [holy war],'' declared Mukmin Hidayat, an
activist with a Muslim organisation in Jakarta.
The anti-Australian mood is growing with the same intensity as the public
fury against President B J Habibie and Gen Wiranto whom they say are not
sharing what the people feel is national humiliation by certain foreign
countries.
In a huge rally in front of the Defence and Security Department yesterday,
demonstrators tried to meet Wiranto to hand him a chicken, which symbolises
a sissy. However, they failed.
The local media has joined the public mood. ''We do not have to be so naive
by saying that Indonesia's move to take over East Timor in 1996 was on with
[Australia and the US'] support. But Australia and the US should have been
more sensitive to what we are feeling and going through now,'' the Republika
daily said in an editorial.
Indonesia invaded East Timor in 1975 and has tried to quell separatists ever
since. The United Nations never recognised Indonesian authority in the
territory.
Not only does Australia leading the multinational force hurt Indonesians,
but it will create another problem rather than solve the problem of East
Timor, it said.
It is evident that Australia's role in East Timor has been driven by
political interests, not by sincere humaneness, wrote the Rakyat Merdeka
daily in its editorial. So, it is not East Timor's separation from Indonesia
that we are concerned about but the fact that the territory is falling to
another rule that is not its own.
Habibie should be held responsible for this. He has hurt the feelings of
some East Timorese by saying that the territory has been a pebble in the
shoe for years. He has also hurt Indonesians who love their country so much,
it said.
Pro-Jakarta militias have warned the Interfet to be neutral in carrying out
their mission if they do not want to have problems.
''We will not disturb them [the multi-national force] as long they do not
disturb us,'' said Eurico Gueterres, vice commander of the Pro-Integration
Forces.
''We are more entitled to this land than they are. We belong here. We are
the real masters of this land. But we will accept them if they play a
positive role,'' he asserted.
BY KAFIL YAMIN
*******************************************************
SOUTH CHINA MORNING POST - Saturday, September 18, 1999
EAST TIMOR
Big and small pitch in for multinational force
TOTAL FORCE: Expected to be between 7,000 and 8,000 troops.
Command and control: Australian Major-General Peter Cosgrove will lead the
force, arriving in East Timor today. Thailand and Malaysia will supply the
deputy commanders.
Australia: Sending up to 4,500 military personnel. Has a high-speed
catamaran berthed in Darwin capable of carrying 500 fully equipped troops on
the 10-hour sea trip to East Timor. There are six frigates and three
destroyers, all equipped with guided missiles, also ready for deployment.
Argentina: 50 troops.
Bangladesh: Offered troops.
Brazil: 30 to 50 military police.
Britain: Deployed destroyer HMS Glasgow, including one helicopter. About 250
Nepali Gurkhas, some of whom speak Malay, will be part of the first wave of
troops to arrive. About 600 personnel in total. Also offering three
aircraft. Donated US$5 million (HK$38.8 million) to help restore United
Nations' operations in the province.
Canada: Up to 600 troops. Might send HMCS Protector, a supply ship, or
Hercules transport plane.
China: Offered civilian police.
European Union: Has offered eight million euros (HK$64.4 million) in aid.
Fiji: 180 soldiers.
Finland: Donating US$1 million to the operation.
France: 500 troops, frigate to the region.
Italy: 600 personnel, including 200 paratroops, transport aircraft and an
amphibious naval unit on a vessel with hospital facilities and on-board
helicopters.
Japan: US$2 million in emergency humanitarian aid. Has pledged unspecified
funds to help finance the force's operations.
Malaysia: 17 officers and 13 soldiers.
New Zealand: Up to 800 air, sea and land troops, with an initial force of
about 420. Frigate Te Kaha, a supply ship and two Hercules transport
aircraft.
Norway: Five officers.
Pakistan: Offered troops.
Philippines: Advance team of 240, mainly engineers, medical and dental
units. Has offered a further 1,200 non-combat personnel.
South Korea: Up to 500 troops.
Singapore: About 250 military personnel - consisting of a medical
detachment, military observers and logistics support - and two landing
ships.
Sweden: 10 civilian police officers and US$1.2 million in aid.
Thailand: 30-member advance team. 1,000 troops to follow.
United States: About 200 military personnel, half of whom will serve on the
ground, and support from Pacific Fleet. Will transport troops from other
nations and help with logistics, communications and intelligence.
**********************************************************
SOUTH CHINA MORNING POST - Saturday, September 18, 1999
'State-to-state' policy hitting Taiwan's ties
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Taiwan's push to join international organisations is being frustrated by a
backlash against the island's new stance on relations with the mainland,
Taipei's Foreign Minister Jason Hu Chih-chiang said yesterday.
Mr Hu said Taiwan was "damaged" by Washington's decision to speak out
against it during a United Nations debate this week on the island's bid to
join the world body, which failed.
But Taiwan's new stance on mainland relations would pay off in the long run,
Mr Hu said.
Washington's decision to weigh in during the discussion was widely
interpreted on the island as retaliation for Taiwan President Lee Teng-hui's
demand that Beijing and Taipei should treat each other as political equals.
Mr Lee's insistence that Taipei deals with China on a "special
state-to-state" basis sparked a crisis with Beijing and complicated
Washington's already strained relationship with Beijing.
Mr Lee defended his statement yesterday warning mainland hostility would
only harden Taiwan's will. He spoke during a meeting with diplomats from
Senegal, one of just 29 countries that give diplomatic recognition to
Taiwan.
******************************************************
THE NATION - August 4, 1999
Mailbag
Taiwan and the right to self-determination
PHILIP Bowring in his article ''The route to reunification'' (South China
Morning Post, Friday July 23, 1999) wrote that geography and history have
given Taiwan the reality of ''one country, two states'' not ''one country,
two systems''. This argument needs to be emphasised.
Firstly, the notion of ''one country, two states'' is, in reality, a
misnomer. Taiwan has always been a country in every sense of the word and
one only need to look back at the past decades, when it was a full member of
the United Nations, until expelled in favour of the People's Republic of
China.
If the so-called UN and international community have given in to the
bullying of PRC to withdraw the recognition of Taiwan, it is their own
responsibilities and choices. But the fact remains that Taiwan has been a
country with all trappings and bearings of a nation-state, even without a UN
seat, before the PRC was even born. Thus, the PRC and Taiwan are two
separate entities and the notion of ''one country, two states'' should be
corrected as ''two countries, two states''.
Secondly, the KMT occupation and colonisation troops, which by 28 February
1947 had massacred 10,000 to 20,000 indigenious Taiwanese resisting its
rule, is a stark reminder that the relationship between the mainlanders and
the Taiwanese is nothing but ''colonial''.
Thirdly, the KMT's recent change of heart to embrace ''democratisation'' and
toying with the idea of ''independence'' and ''nation-state'' are in line
with the Taiwanese aspirations. The Democratic Progressive Party, which has
been spearheading the establishment of an independent nation-state, is, more
or less, also in agreement with President Lee, at least where
self-determination of the people of Taiwan is concerned.
Fourthly, if ethnicity alone is going to play a significant role in
determining the existence of a country or nation-state, the Thais should
have built a vast country encompassing part of China, Shan State, Laos and
even part of Vietnam, where the Tais are settled. The same will also be true
for the German ethnic groups where they are spread out all over Europe. The
examples could go on and on. The fact that ethnicity alone should have a
final say in determining the boundry of a country is not a valid or
acceptable notion. Then why should Taiwan and China be the exception. Apart
from that, the Taiwanese don't even consider themselves to be of the same
kind with the mainlanders.
Given such circumstances, the UN or international community should give the
Taiwanese electorate a chance to decide for itself, in a referendum, whether
it would like to be part of PRC or want to be left alone. We should not let
the size and influence of Beijing force the rest of the world to swallow the
notion that there can be only one Chinese state.
The United Nations' Secretary General Kofi Annan once said that ''the
struggle for independence, for self-rule -- for the right of a people to be
a master of its own destiny -- is the struggle for human rights''. If so,
why should we leave out the Taiwanese from exercising their right to
self-determination.
Sai Wansai
Shan Democratic Union,
Europe Coordination Office
GERMANY
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