BurmaNet News: September 17, 2000

[strider@xxxxxxxxxxx]

______________ THE BURMANET NEWS ______________
        An on-line newspaper covering Burma 
_________September 17, 2000   Issue # 1621__________

	
INSIDE BURMA _______
*AFP: Myanmar media calls on junta to wipe out Aung San Suu Kyi party 
*AFP: Myanmar's junta marks anniversary by attempting to destroy 
opposition 
*AP: Myanmar Military Blocks Road To Opposition Headquarters
*AP: Suu Kyi Party To Draft Constitution

REGIONAL/INTERNATIONAL _______
*Boston Globe: Back to Burma--Two become activists after stays in nation
*Harakah Daily (Malaysia): 23 NGOs urges Petronas to withdraw investment 
in Burma
*Bangkok Post: Thailand lauds lift of NLD restriction
*AAP (Australia): Downer praises Burmese decision
*Bangkok Post: Mandalay invite for Banharn-Ex-premier to attend airport 
ceremony
*The Japan Times: Policymakers Relieved by Release--Current 'soft' 
Myanmar policy was threatened by Suu Kyi's detention   


The BurmaNet News is viewable online at:
http://theburmanetnews.editthispage.com


__________________ INSIDE BURMA ____________________
	

AFP: Myanmar media calls on junta to wipe out Aung San Suu Kyi party 

YANGON, Sept 17 (AFP) - Myanmar's state media Sunday called on the 
ruling military junta to "wipe out" opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi's 
National League for Democracy, which it accused of colluding with 
Britain and the US to destroy the nation. 

 "It is time for the government, which has been very patient over the 
years, to bow to the will of the people who are calling nationwide for 
the NLD to be completely wiped out," the Burmese-language New Light of 
Myanmar said in a commentary. 

 The government and people should not underestimate the present 
political situation, it said. 

 "If we continue to take the matter lightly, Daw Suu Kyi, together with 
her American and British aggressor allies will become more daring to the 
detriment of the nation." 

 Britain and the United States have frequently criticised the junta for 
its treatment of Aung San Suu Kyi and its poor human rights record. 

 The NLD Saturday called for the release of all political prisoners and 
resolved to draw up a national constitution. Aung San Suu Kyi Friday 
vowed to again defy the junta's ban on travel outside the capital. 

 In contrast to attacks on the pro-democracy party, the English-language 
New Light of Myanmar Saturday praised the government-backed Union 
Solidarity and Development Association (USDA). 

 Senior General Than Shwe addressed the social organisation's annual 
general meeting on Thursday and praised it as "a reliable force, serving 
the historic duty of undertaking tasks in line with our three main 
national causes," the daily's commentary said. 

 The organisation has 7.7 million members, out of a population of 49 
million, the paper said. 

 The USDA has been nurtured by the junta since it was established seven 
years ago, while the NLD has been marginalised. 

 On Thursday the junta announced it had released NLD leaders from house 
arrest. In a statement the junta said intelligence chief Khin Nyunt had 
a "fruitful meeting" with NLD chairman U Aung Shwe. 

 Aung San Suu Kyi and the other members of the party's central executive 
committee were placed under virtual house arrest on September 2, after 
she and other NLD leaders tried to attend a party meeting outside the 
capital. 

 This triggered a roadside standoff with the junta in which the NLD 
leaders remained camped by their cars for nine days before being taken 
back to the capital by security officials. 


____________________________________________________




AFP: Myanmar's junta marks anniversary by attempting to destroy 
opposition 

BANGKOK, Sept 17 (AFP) - Myanmar's miltary junta celebrates 12 years in 
power as it seeks to silence its last remaining political adversaries 
with no prospect of national reconciliation in sight at present. 

 Twelve years after the secretive junta, known as the State Peace and 
Development Council (SPDC), took power on September 18, 1988, it has 
launched a fresh crackdown on opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi's 
National League for Democracy (NLD). 

 After Aung San Suu Kyi and other NLD leaders tried to attend a party 
meeting outside the capital, a move she knew would provoke a standoff 
with the SPDC, the Nobel laureate and other NLD chiefs were placed under 
virtual house arrest on September 2. 

 Although the junta Thursday lifted Aung San Suu Kyi's house arrest, 
analysts say she will not be allowed to leave the capital again. 

 Aung San Suu Kyi, the daughter of independence hero General Aung San, 
Saturday vowed to defy the junta's ban by travelling outside Yangon 
within the next few days. 

 The military government arrested 18 party officials, including elected 
MP Naing Naing, even as it prepared to lift some of the restrictions on 
NLD leaders, a party official said. 

 The crackdown on the pro-democracy leader comes in the wake of the 
arrest of hundreds of NLD members and an alleged vow by the junta to 
"annihilate" the NLD by December. 

 The Yangon regime has "instructed all the senior police officers ... to 
annihilate the NLD by December 2000," the Bangkok-based All Burma 
Students' Democratic Front said in a statement earlier. 

 "The officers were instructed to use any possible means of force 
necessary to terminate the NLD," a policy that will "ruin the process of 
national reconciliation," the statement said. 

 Since 1988, the Yangon junta, which took over from aging dictator Ne 
Win and which groups 19 high-ranking military officers, has signed 
ceasefire agreements with most of the ethnic minority militias which 
used to wage war on the central government. 

 These deals have left the NLD, which won a landslide victory in free 
elections in 1990, as a lone voice of opposition in the tightly 
controlled country. The election result was annulled by the junta. 

 "The military is hoping to completely undermine the NLD, so that there 
is no one in the party still standing, and they have no organisational 
structure any more," said Aung Thu Nyein, a leader of the All Burma 
Students Democratic Front, a Myanmar opposition group in exile in 
Thailand. 

 "The junta has hurt the NLD. If they are successful, there will be no 
young people left in the NLD, they will all be too scared to 
participate," he said. 

 Myanmar analysts in Bangkok said the junta's stepped-up pressure on the 
NLD is a sign the hard-line faction of the military regime linked to 
army chief Maung Aye may be gaining the upper hand within the 
government. 

 "It appears that the most hard-line group in the SPDC is having its 
way. This (crackdown on Aung San Suu Kyi) reflects that," said Myanmar 
expert Chayachoke Chulasiriwongs of Bangkok's Chulalongkorn University. 

 Although Senior General Than Shwe is the titular head of the Yangon 
regime, Maung Aye had reportedly been wrangling within the junta with 
intelligence chief Khin Nyunt, described as more pragmatic. 

 "Even though Than Shwe has the final say, Maung Aye is behind most of 
the decisions on the economy," one Yangon-based diplomat had told AFP. 

 Maung Aye has been described by a member of the inner circle as a 
taciturn career soldier with years of combat experience who firmly 
believes in the power of the military above all else. 

 The junta's strategy has in some ways been effective. Though it has 
drawn criticism from the West for its treatment of the NLD, it has 
retained its key Asian allies. 

 US President Bill Clinton and British Prime Minister Tony Blair blasted 
Myanmar's junta at the recent UN Millennium Summit over the Aung San Suu 
Kyi affair. 

 Blair called Aung San Suu Kyi's treatment a "disgrace," while Clinton 
likened the situation in Myanmar -- formerly Burma -- to those in Serbia 
and Iraq, where human rights and democracy were also under siege. 

 But China, India, Pakistan and Japan -- Myanmar's most important 
allies, trading partners and sources of military hardware -- have said 
little about the crackdown on the NLD. 

 Observers warn that after Than Shwe retires or dies, Maung Aye could 
take over the reins of the country entirely, potentially making Myanmar 
even more of an international pariah than it is today. 

 Many observers see Than Shwe as a fulcrum between Maung Aye and Khin 
Nyunt, serving to maintain the balance of power between their competing 
aspirations. 

 Than Shwe is expected to remain in power a little longer, at least as 
long as his health permits. 


____________________________________________________


AP: Myanmar Military Blocks Road To Opposition Headquarters

Saturday, September 16 6:16 PM SGT 

 
YANGON, Myanmar (AP) - Military authorities on Saturday blocked the road 
to the headquarters of Myanmar's democratic opposition, witnesses said, 
two days after announcing the easing of tough restrictions against the 
party led by Aung San Suu Kyi.  

Traffic police and plainclothes intelligence officers manned road blocks 
marked by `no entry' signs on the approaches to the two-story National 
League for Democracy office in downtown Yangon, where the party planned 
to hold a meeting Saturday afternoon.  

Officials said the meeting would be allowed to go ahead, but only party 
members could attend. It commemorates the second anniversary of the 
party's formation of a proxy parliament as a direct challenge to the 
military government. The proxy parliament was formed after the 
government refused to honor the party's 1990 general election victory.  

Diplomats, reporters and veteran politicians of Myanmar's struggle for 
independence, who were all invited to the meeting, will not be allowed 
in.  

A National League for Democracy statement issued late Friday said 11 
party members had been arrested this week, despite the government's 
announcement it was easing restrictions on party activity.  

Five members from Yangon, including elected member of parliament Naing 
Naing, and six others from the town of Kungyangon, were arrested on 
Wednesday and Thursday, the statement said.  

The government did not immediately comment on the arrest allegations.  

On Thursday, the government announced it was lifting restrictions 
against Suu Kyi and eight other party leaders who were confined to their 
homes for two weeks after Suu Kyi tried to travel outside Yangon for 
party work.  

On Friday, party leaders emerged from their homes and reopened the party 
headquarters, which were raided by authorities on Sept. 2. The 
government justified its actions by saying it was investigating the 
movement's alleged links to terrorists.  

In her first public comments since her confinement, Suu Kyi on Friday 
appeared determined to maintain political pressure on the military 
regime.  

She announced her intention to try and travel beyond the capital within 
10 days.  
Suu Kyi won the 1991 Nobel Peace Prize for her struggle for democracy in 
Myanmar, also known as Burma. She was kept under house arrest from 1989 
to 1995.  

Last week's crackdown drew vehement international criticism, mainly from 
the United States and Britain, which accused the regime of blatantly 
violating the Myanmar opposition leaders' political rights. Myanmar 
accused both countries of meddling in its internal affairs.  

Relations between the regime and the National League for Democracy, 
which have been poor since the party was formed 12 years ago, reached a 
new low two years ago when the party formed its proxy parliament.  


____________________________________________________


AP: Suu Kyi Party To Draft Constitution


Saturday September 16 8:54 AM ET

 
YANGON, Myanmar (AP) - Myanmar's democratic opposition led by Aung San 
Suu Kyi declared Saturday it would draft a national constitution, in a 
sign that a recent official crackdown against the party has not dented 
its ambitions to end military rule. 
Two hundred members of the National League for Democracy held a meeting 
at the party's Yangon headquarters two days after authorities eased 
restrictions against NLD leaders. The leaders had been confined to their 
homes for two weeks after Suu Kyi tried to travel outside Yangon on 
party work. 
At the meeting, the party commemorated the second anniversary of its 
Committee Representing People's Parliament (CRPP) - a proxy parliament 
formed as a direct challenge to the ruling military government, which 
has refused to honor the NLD's 1990 general election victory. 
Military authorities had earlier blocked the road to the NLD office in 
downtown Yangon, but they allowed the meeting to take place, attended by 
200 party members and diplomats. Reporters were barred from entering. 
The NLD passed three resolutions at Saturday's meeting: to demand the 
government release all political prisoners; to maintain the proxy 
parliament until a proper parliament is convened; and to draft a 
national constitution. 
According to a 1996 law, drafting a charter without the government's 
approval could result in a prison sentence of up to 20 years. 

A state-organized national convention was set up seven years ago but was 
boycotted by the NLD on the grounds it was dominated by the regime. It 
has not met for four years and has not produced a constitution. 

``With the support of the people and with support from countries who 
support democracy, a democratic government will certainly emerge,'' a 
declaration released Saturday by the CRPP said. 

At the meeting, Suu Kyi announced she would take over as CRPP secretary 
and its representative for ethnic affairs, taking over from Aye Tha 
Aung, who was arrested and sentenced to 21 years in prison in June for 
violating a publication law and an emergency law. 

On Friday, NLD leaders emerged from their homes and reopened the party 
headquarters, which were raided Sept. 2 by the authorities. The 
government justified its actions by saying it was investigating alleged 
NLD links with terrorists. 

In her first public comments since her confinement, Suu Kyi appeared 
determined Friday to maintain political pressure on the military regime, 
daring authorities to stop her from traveling outside the capital. 

Suu Kyi won the 1991 Nobel Peace Prize for her struggle for democracy in 
Myanmar, also known as Burma, which has been ruled by its military since 
1962. She was kept under house arrest from 1989-1995. Her movements have 
remained heavily restricted. 
An NLD statement issued late Friday demanded the immediate release of 11 
party members it said were arrested earlier this week in Yangon and the 
town of Kungyangon despite the government's announcement that the party 
would be allowed to go about daily activities as normal. 

In addition, 15 NLD members have been arrested outside the capital since 
Sept. 2, NLD Yangon Division chairman Soe Myint told reporters Friday. 

The government has yet to comment on the NLD's allegations of arrests. 

The restrictions on NLD leaders came after a nine-day standoff between 
Suu Kyi and the authorities that began late last month. 

She and NLD vice chairman Tin Oo were blocked Aug. 24 by security forces 
as they traveled to a planned NLD meeting in the countryside. They 
refused to return to the capital and camped by their vehicles on the 
outskirts of the city until police forcibly transported them back to 
Yangon and confined them to their homes. 

The crackdown drew vehement international criticism, mainly from the 
United States and Britain, which accused the regime of blatantly 
violating the Myanmar opposition leaders' political rights. Myanmar 
accused both countries of meddling in its internal affairs.  






___________________ REGIONAL/INTERNATIONAL___________________
				

Boston Globe: Back to Burma--Two become activists after stays in nation

By Marcella Bombardieri, Globe Staff,

September 15, 2000

Michael Forhan was, as he puts it, ''the bad guy'' when he moved to 
Burma  to do business in 1994.

He thought capitalism could bring money, hope, and even democracy to a  
secluded nation suffering under the rule of a brutal military junta. He  
thought wrong, he now says.

Forhan played golf with generals. He printed four-color, glossy tourist  
brochures trumpeting towering mountains, lush jungle, and cities of 
pagodas. 
''I was the golden boy, generating tourism dollars for the Burmese  
government,'' Forhan said.

Over time, with growing horror, he realized that the smiling generals at 
 his golf games were the same people orchestrating the slaughter of 
innocent  villagers, conscripting forced labor, and hiring gangs of 
thugs to ambush  democracy leaders.

Even as he sipped cocktails in ambassadors' backyards, Forhan heard  
stomach-churning stories of misery, like news that people too poor to 
pay  even for rice were instead buying, and drinking, the water in which 
the the  slightly less-impoverished had cooked their rice.

Forhan is the Burmese military's golden boy no more.

Tonight, he is expiating his sins, from his own point of view, at the  
Harvard Faculty Club. There, he'll host a kickoff fund-raiser for Burma  
Border Projects, a charitable foundation he has established with a  
Cambridge psychologist, Elizabeth Call.

Both Forhan and Call went to Burma for totally nonpolitical reasons -  
Forhan for profit and adventure, Call for a Buddhist meditation retreat. 
 Both found themselves transformed, moved to activism by the fear and  
suffering they saw set against the stunning beauty of Burma's landscape 
and  the kindness of its people.

Their lives now center around visits to Burmese refugee camps in 
northern  Thailand, and efforts to help other humanitarian groups 
working there. 
With Burma Border Projects, they want to provide trauma therapy to some 
of  the hundreds of thousands of refugees forced out of Burma under 
harrowing  circumstances. They want to build a school for the displaced, 
and to  provide little things, like toothbrushes for kids and sneakers 
for the  medics so they won't have to share each others' shoes.

This is not the way Forhan thought he would help Burma, which is called  
Myanmar by its rulers. In 1994, he believed the flow of dollars, and the 
 exposure to outsiders, would foster a gradual thawing of political 
tensions. 
He also saw an opportunity for profit in a nation that was just opening 
to  outsiders. ''It was probably the last country in the world where it 
wasn't  already too late to get in on the ground floor,'' said Forhan, 
55, who was  raised in Worcester and lives near there.

So Forhan started the first tour company operated by a Westerner, and 
was a  consultant to foreign investors on how to navigate the local 
bureaucracy. 
But over nearly three years, he saw nothing improve politically or  
economically. ''It became clear to me that my presence was aiding and  
abetting, even in a small way, this vile government,'' Forhan said. 
The point at which Forhan could no longer justify his presence in Burma  
came in late 1996, when the motorcade of Nobel Peace Prize recipient and 
 democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi was attacked by a 
government-supported  mob wielding tire chains, just before Senator John 
McCain visited the country. 
When McCain, during a meeting with business people, asked if life had  
improved since foreign investment poured into the country, Forhan said:  
''It's just getting worse and worse and worse.''

McCain supported President Clinton's decision to impose sanctions on 
Burma  in April 1997.

Forhan came home that same year, and touched base with human rights  
activists like Simon Billenness, co-author of the Massachusetts Burma 
Law,  which was struck down by the Supreme Court this year.

Forhan began coordinating with Call, 38, who first went to Burma two 
years  ago for a 70-day meditation retreat.

The two are working with Dr. Cynthia Maung, a widely respected Burmese  
doctor and herself a refugee, who administers care in the refugee camps 
on  the Thai border.

Hundreds of thousands have fled forced labor, torture and killings, well 
 documented by human rights groups. Many of them have seen their homes  
destroyed by the military as it fights a 50-year-old civil war. 
Both Forhan and Call are keeping their day jobs. Forhan consults to 
NASA's  Center for Technology Commercialization in Westborough. Call has 
a private  psychology practice.

But their main purpose is to continue their treks to the refugee camps, 
to  raise money to train dentists and mental health workers.

''What they're doing is important, because people in Burma and on the  
border area feel that nobody knows what's happening to them,'' said  
Christina Fink, a Cambridge anthropologist writing a book on Burma. 
''They  are giving them a sense that they're not totally isolated and 
forgotten.'' 


____________________________________________________


Harakah Daily (Malaysia): 23 NGOs urges Petronas to withdraw investment 
in Burma
 
KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 15 (Hrkh) - 23 Malaysian non-governmental 
organisations today jointly condemned the continued harrassment by the 
Burmese military junta on Aung San Suu Kyi and her supporters, and 
called on national oil company Petronas to wiithdraw all its investment 
in Burma to put pressure on the regime to restore democracy.  

Prime minister Mahathir Mohamad, a close friend of the ruling Burmese 
junta, has recently stepped up economic corporation with Burma and has 
been instrumental in ensuring a place in ASEAN despite the regime's 
violation of human rights.  

In a letter address to Lieutenant General Khin Nyunt, the first 
secretary of Burma's so-called State Peace and Development Council, 
foreign minister Syed Hamid Albar, Petronas chairman Hasan Marican and 
ASEAN, the organisations urged the regime to immediately release Suu 
Kyi, U Tin U and 16 others unconditionally so they could move in the 
country freely.  

They also urged the SPDC regime to stop "all forms of harassment and 
intimidation" on Suu Kyi's party, the National League for Democracy 
(NLD), its leaders and members. 
 
"What has happened in Burma is a gross violation of fundamental human 
rights and is totally unacceptable in a civilised world. The world will 
hold the Burmese junta responsible if anything were to happen to Aung 
San Suu Kyi and her colleagues," they warned.  

The statement is endorsed, among others, by Suara Rakyat Malaysia 
(Suaram), Community Development Center (CDC), Democratic Youth and 
Student Movement of Malaysia (DEMA), DAP, Persatuan Pengguna Pahang 
(PAC), Selangor Chinese Assembly Hall Youth (SCAHY), Era Consumer, 
Malaysian Islamic Youth Movement (ABIM), All Women's Action Society 
(AWAM) and ALIRAN.  

The NGOs also called on Burma to heed the calls for peaceful dialogue 
with the NLD to find a political solution to the country.  

It also urged ASEAN to send a delegation to ensure Suu Kyi and her 
colleagues are not harmed in any way	
  


____________________________________________________


Bangkok Post: Thailand lauds lift of NLD restriction

- Sep 16, 2000.

Post Reporters
 
The Thai Foreign Ministry yesterday welcomed Rangoon's decision to lift 
restrictions against Burmese opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi and 
other executive members of the National League for Democracy (NLD). 

Thai Deputy Foreign Minister Sukhumbhand Paribatra hoped the decision 
would lead to negotiations among various political groups and "real 
national reconciliation" in the country. He hoped the NLD leaders would 
not again face restrictions. 

Foreign Ministry spokesman Don Pramudwinai said the government regarded 
the decision as a move in the right direction that would benefit all 
sides, especially Burma.  

"Although the Burmese government's decision to lift the restrictions 
might not be the last, as there have been others like it in the past 10 
years, Thailand hopes it will be.. an important step towards a 
constructive political development in Burma."

____________________________________________________

AAP (Australia): Downer praises Burmese decision

>From AAP
16sep00
 
1.20pm (AEDT) FOREIGN Minister Alexander Downer has said today the 
Burmese government's decision to loosen its control over democracy 
leaders was a step in the right direction.  
Burma's military government on Thursday lifted security restrictions on 
democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi and eight other opposition leaders 
confined to their homes for the last two weeks.  

Mr Downer said he welcomed Burma's move to restore access to Suu Kyi and 
lift restrictions on the movements of the Nobel Peace Prize winner and 
other democracy leaders.  

He said police had also finished their occupation of the National League 
for Democracy (NLD) headquarters in Rangoon.
  
"We hope this is only the first in a series of much-needed steps by the 
Burmese government to address the underlying cause of the continuing 
confrontation between the Burmese government and the NLD," Mr Downer 
said in a statement.  

"Australia strongly believes the way to resolve Burma's political 
problems is through substantive dialogue, in particular with with Suu 
Kyi."  

Mr Downer said the Australian government deplored the treatment of 
Burma's democratic movement, and would continue to call on the Burmese 
government to address human rights. 



____________________________________________________

Bangkok Post: Mandalay invite for Banharn-Ex-premier to attend airport 
ceremony

Sep 16, 2000.

Achara Ashayagachat
 
The Burmese junta has invited former prime minister Banharn Silpa-archa 
to join tomorrow's opening of Mandalay airport in northern Burma, 
sources said yesterday. 

Gen Maung Aye, the No 2 man in the ruling State Peace and Development 
Council (SPDC), will preside over the opening of the airport, built by 
Italian-Thai Development with a US$150-million loan from the 
Export-Import Bank of Thailand. 

Mr Banharn, who will be the highest-level Thai guest at the ceremony, 
was prime minister when Burma's Civil Aviation Department received the 
loan in 1996. The department also signed a $149-million turnkey contract 
with Italian-Thai Development to build the airport in order to boost 
tourism. 

The invitation came from Lt-Gen Khin Nyunt, the SPDC secretary 1, who 
was originally scheduled to preside over the opening ceremony.

 
Premchai Karnasuta, president of Italian-Thai Development, Exim Bank 
chairman Somchai Ruchupan, and Exim Bank president M.L. Pridiyathorn 
Devakula will also attend the ceremony. 

No members of the Chuan Leekpai government have been invited. The prime 
minister has not yet visited Burma, and relations between the two 
governments have been strained since Burmese dissidents stormed the 
Burmese embassy in Bangkok last October, and a hospital in Ratchaburi in 
January. Mr Banharn flies to Mandalay today on board a charter plane. He 
is to be accompanied by nine other people including members of his Chart 
Thai Party and businessmen. 

Management and investment problems had delayed the opening of the 
34,000-square-metre airport earlier expected to take place last year.



____________________________________________________


The Japan Times: Policymakers Relieved by Release--Current 'soft' 
Myanmar policy was threatened by Suu Kyi's detention   

Sept. 17, 2000


By HISANE MASAKI 
Staff writer 
 

Foreign-policy makers are relieved -- at least for now -- that their 
long-standing policy of "constructive engagement" toward Myanmar 
survived its biggest potential challenge with Thursday's release of 
prodemocracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi from 12 days of effective house 
arrest. Had the incarceration of the Nobel Peace Prize laureate dragged 
on for much longer, Japan would have been forced to review its approach 
toward the impoverished Southeast Asian country, which has hitherto been 
much softer than that of the United States or Europe. 

On Sept. 2, the military forcibly returned Suu Kyi to her Yangon home, 
ending a nine-day roadside protest that had begun when security forces 
stopped her car just outside the capital. 

Her subsequent confinement in her residence further stoked a barrage of 
international criticism of the Myanmar military junta -- which now 
refers to itself as the State Peace and Development Council, or SPDC -- 
especially from the U.S. and other industrialized European countries. 

Despite Suu Kyi's earlier-than-anticipated release, it is too early for 
Japanese foreign-policy makers to be jubilant and optimistic about the 
smooth continuation of their constructive engagement policy toward 
Myanmar. 

At a Friday press conference, Suu Kyi challenged the military junta to 
prevent her from traveling outside the capital. "I shall be traveling 
outside Rangoon (Yangon) within the next 10 days for party 
organizational work," she said. 

Prior to her most recent attempt to leave the capital, Suu Kyi had made 
similar efforts in the past five years that were also unsuccessful. 

The military took power in a 1988 coup in Myanmar. It nullified the 
results of a 1990 election, in which Suu Kyi's National League for 
Democracy, or NLD, won a landslide victory. Suu Kyi was released from 
nearly six years of house arrest in 1995. 

The SPDC claimed that Suu Kyi was not under house arrest in the most 
recent incident as her family members and doctors were allowed to visit 
her. 

But Japan, the U.S. and Europe believed that the action taken against 
her was effectively the same as what occurred during the 1989-1995 
period. They said that during Suu Kyi's 12 days of effective house 
arrest, their diplomats stationed in the capital had not been permitted 
to meet her. 

Immediately after Suu Kyi was placed under effective house arrest, the 
U.S. and the 15-nation European Union issued special statements harshly 
condemning the SPDC. In a marked contrast, however, Japan refrained from 
issuing any such special statement concerning Myanmar. 

While calling for improvements in the protection of human rights and 
democratic principles in the country, Japan has taken a different course 
from the U.S. and Europe when dealing with Myanmar. Instead of 
ostracizing it internationally, Japan has pursued a policy of 
"constructive engagement" to bring about favorable changes. 

Japan has, however, restricted fresh economic aid for Myanmar to 
"humanitarian" projects since the 1988 military coup. 

"Japan refrained from issuing a special statement condemning the current 
situation in Myanmar. That's because we firmly believe that driving its 
military junta further into a corner will only be counterproductive," a 
senior Foreign Ministry official said, requesting anonymity. 

"Sanctions will not succeed in bringing about favorable changes to 
Myanmar partly because it has a long history of closing itself to the 
outside world and partly because it has basically taken a policy of 
ensuring self-sufficiency in food," the official said. 

The official added, however, that Japan asked the SPDC through 
diplomatic channels to release Suu Kyi from effective house arrest 
immediately and let the NLD engage in free activities as a legal 
political party. 

In response to the Japanese request, the SPDC gave an assurance that Suu 
Kyi's effective house arrest would only be a temporary measure. 

The SPDC's recent actions have given the impression that the political 
situation in Myanmar has not improved -- or has even deteriorated -- 
since Suu Kyi was released from house arrest five years ago. 

At her meeting with Foreign Minister Yohei Kono in New York on Monday, 
U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright asked for Japan's cooperation 
to stop the Myanmar military junta from harassing and restricting Suu 
Kyi's activities. 

Albright told Kono that Japan has a particularly important role to play 
in Asia. These remarks by Albright, an ardent personal admirer of Suu 
Kyi, were interpreted as a thinly veiled request for Japan to abandon 
its constructive engagement policy toward Myanmar and follow the U.S. 
and European example. 

"We believed -- or wanted to believe -- that Ms. Suu Kyi would be 
released from effective house arrest before long. Therefore, we had no 
plan to review our Myanmar policy," one government source said. 

The source acknowledged, however, that had Suu Kyi's effective house 
arrest dragged on for a significantly longer period, a change in Japan's 
Myanmar policy would have proved unavoidable. 

The source said that Japan will continue preparing for the second 
meeting of a joint Japan-Myanmar panel on reform of Myanmar's economic 
structure, scheduled for the end of the year in Tokyo, and will also 
continue to explore the possibility of extending fresh official economic 
aid for humanitarian projects under its current Myanmar policy. 

The joint panel, which consists of both government officials and 
private-sector experts from the two countries, was set up to help 
Myanmar promote economic reform. The panel held its inaugural meeting in 
Yangon in June. 




____________________________________________________

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