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BurmaNet News: March 29, 2001
- Subject: BurmaNet News: March 29, 2001
- From: strider@xxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Thu, 29 Mar 2001 13:00:00
______________ THE BURMANET NEWS ______________
An on-line newspaper covering Burma
March 29, 2001 Issue # 1766
______________ www.burmanet.org _______________
INSIDE BURMA _______
*AFP: UN human rights envoy to visit Myanmar for first time
*Sydney Morning Herald: Promises of a new dawn in Burma but its people
remain in the dark
*DVB: Coastal region command declares three week emergency period
*Xinhua: Lao Vice-President Visits Myanmar
*Xinhua: Japan to Aid Two Myanmar Projects
*Bangkok Post: Burma's efforts 'belittled'
REGIONAL/INTERNATIONAL _______
*Jane?s Foreign Report: Aung San Suu who?
*Reuters: Malaysian police hold Myanmar T-shirt protester
*The Nation: Chavalit aides launch Burma body
*ALTSEAN-BURMA: Activists arrested for ?Fashion Action?
OTHER______
*PD Burma: Calendar of events
__________________ INSIDE BURMA ____________________
AFP: UN human rights envoy to visit Myanmar for first time
YANGON, March 29 (AFP) - The United Nations' newly appointed special
human rights rapporteur on Myanmar, Paulo Sergio Pinheiro, has been
given permission to visit here for the first time next month, a
government spokesman said.
Pinheiro's predecessor Rajsoomer Lallah, who resigned in November, was
never authorised by Myanmar's military regime to visit the country
during his term in the post.
"Yes, first week of April," a senior spokesman for the Myanmar junta
said in a written statement to AFP, in response to a query over plans
for a visit by Pinheiro, who was appointed in February.
___________________________________________________
Sydney Morning Herald: Promises of a new dawn in Burma but its people
remain in the dark
March 29, 2001
Reports from Rangoon this week hold a glimmer of hope for the
downtrodden Burmese people -- and not before time, says Kendall Hill.
The security situation in Asia is a shambles again. North Korea's
messing with missile testing and China's been blackmarked as the bad guy
by Washington. Japan's economy and political leadership are in freefall,
ditto Indonesia. But amid all this - and more - uncertainty, there is
one unlikely glimmer of hope. Burma.
If reports from Rangoon can be believed, the military junta appears to
be tiring finally of having its country being the untouchable of Asia
and is moving slowly towards some form of accommodation with opposition
leader and Nobel Peace laureate, Aung San Suu Kyi.
Burmese politics routinely involves a deal of deception but the
reference this week by the head of Burma's ruling euphemism, the State
Peace and Development Council (SPDC), to a "political transition" in his
country gives cause for hope.
It is Orwellian newspeak of the highest order but those who claim to be
able to decipher the rigid code of SPDC pronouncements see reason for
optimism in the general's words and in recent meetings between the
government and Ms Suu Kyi. Regrettably, news of these latest, promising
developments is unlikely to have reached the majority of Burma's 50
million people. State-run media is referred to as "the daily propaganda"
and reports little more than the generals' junkets. Internet access is
not available to ordinary citizens, nor is cable TV with its window to
the outside world.
So David, who lives with his family north of Mandalay, is probably still
waiting for what he poetically calls "the new dawn".
We first met in 1993 when he was teaching at a small school in the
hills. His family, like most, were living tough after the armed forces,
fresh from their triumph gunning down thousands of pro-democracy
demonstrators in Rangoon in 1988, had begun raiding homes and seizing
possessions.
His parents, a quiet couple who had seen way too much sadness, were
forced at gunpoint to hand over to the government anything of value,
including the title to their small parcel of land.
David told his story one evening while watching the sunset on a hilltop
far from his town and the alert ears of informants. "We hope that one
day we will live to see a new dawn," he said afterwards. "Everyone is
waiting for the new dawn."
Conditions have undoubtedly improved since then. There is noticeably
more freedom of movement and speech whereas before, as one Rangoon-based
friend puts it, "people were afraid of their own shadow".
Living standards are another matter. The majority still battle to buy
even essential foods such as rice, which uncontrolled inflation has
rendered almost unaffordable. Sanctions bite deeper among ordinary folk
than they do among the well-cushioned military elite. As the Rangoon
friend remarked last year: "You can't see how people live by looking at
the cities. It is in the jungle that people can't live. They are close
to starvation. In Myanmar you will see many people, they are laughing in
the throat but they are crying on the inside."
Most Burmese have pinned their hopes for a brighter future on Suu Kyi,
who is known simply as "The Lady". But some within Rangoon's elite
murmur that she is also part of Burma's inability to evolve.
"Both are responsible, the Government and the opposition," one former
senior government employee says. "They have no regard for our future
prosperity. We have abundant potential but they have had deadlock for a
long time."
The tragedy for the Burmese people, he says, is that "only through books
do we know democracy. We can be satisfied with the sort of government in
Pakistan, or even Indonesia. There could be a transitional period from
this to Western-style democracy, but it's high time we started that
transitional period."
With luck, a year after he spoke those words, that high time has almost
arrived.
For the sake of my friend Violet, I hope the SPDC is sincere and that
Suu Kyi and her National League for Democracy colleagues can come to
some compromise with their oppressors to secure a brighter future for
Burma.
Violet, who is 66 this year and increasingly frail, is one of many who
can't afford to lose hope that one day Burma will awake from its
nightmare.
"We are all waiting for the happy time," she says, "but I fear I will be
dead by then."
___________________________________________________
Xinhua: Lao Vice-President Visits Myanmar
YANGON, March 29 (Xinhua) -- Newly-elected Lao Vice-President
Lieutenant-General Choummaly Sayasone arrived here Thursday on a
three-day official visit to Myanmar. Sayasone is here at the invitation
of Myanmar Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Military Affairs
Lieutenant-General Tin Hla. Last year saw some exchanges of high-level
visits between Myanmar and Laos. In August, Lao Deputy Prime Minister
and Foreign Minister Somsavat Lengsavad visited Yangon, during which the
two countries held the Fifth Meeting of their Joint Commission for
Bilateral Cooperation and discussed issues concerning promotion of their
existing traditional friendship and cooperation, and some regional and
international issues. In December last year, Vice-Chairman of the
Myanmar State Peace and Development Council General Maung Aye toured
Vientiane, during which a protocol on border trade pursuant to the trade
agreement between Myanmar and Laos was signed. On that occasion, the two
countries also announced the establishment of Lao-Myanmar and
Myanmar-Lao Friendship Associations in their respective capitals.
Myanmar and Laos are also cooperating in drug control, having an
agreement on preventing trafficking of drugs and psychotropic
substances, and on controlling banned chemical substances.
___________________________________________________
DVB: Coastal region command declares three week emergency period
Democratic Voice of Burma, Oslo, in Burmese 1430 gmt 26 Mar 01
DVB [Democratic Voice of Burma] has learned that the Coastal Region
Military Command has issued an announcement declaring 25 March to 17
April as a special emergency period in the region. The announcement was
signed and issued by Brig- Gen Aye Kywe, commander of Coastal Region
Military Command, on 24 March. The announcement has also instructed
surprise checks and immigration checks to be carried out at all the
wards in the towns during 25 March to 17 April.
DVB has learned that all border camps are advised to be on military
alert, heavy artillery and anti-aircraft guns are to be in position, and
air defence systems exercises are to be carried out daily.
___________________________________________________
Xinhua: Japan to Aid Two Myanmar Projects
YANGON, March 29 (Xinhua) -- The Japanese government will provide a
grant aid for two Myanmar health-related projects under its official
development assistance (ODA) program, according to a press release of
the Japanese embassy here Thursday. The notes for the first project of
rural drinking water supply in Myanmar's Shan state worth of 624 million
yens (5.13 million U. S. dollars) were signed and exchanged between
Japanese ambassador Shigeru Tsumori and Myanmar Minister at the Office
of the Chairman of the State Peace and Development Council
Brigadier-General Abel. The notes for the second project of improvement
of medical equipment for the Yangon General Hospital worth 225 million
yens(1. 85 million dollars) were signed and exchanged between the
Japanese ambassador and Myanmar Health Minister Major-General Ket Sein.
According to Japanese official statistics, up to 1988, the Japanese
government has extended to the Myanmar government ODA worth of 50
billion yens (426.1 million dollars). After the present Myanmar military
government came to power on September 18, 1988, the Japanese government,
under the pressure exerted by the international community and the
United-States-led western countries, temporarily suspended its ODA and
humanitarian aid to Myanmar. In consideration of the emergence of some
positive changes of Myanmar's political situation, the Japanese
government has resumed its humanitarian aid to Myanmar since 1995. It
will be the first ODA to be provided by the Japanese government to the
Myanmar government in 13 years under such circumstances as that in
recent half year, especially when it entered the new century, there
emerged again a sign of thaw of Myanmar's political crisis and the sharp
contradiction between the Myanmar military government and the opposition
National League for Democracy got relaxed to some extent.
___________________________________________________
Bangkok Post: Burma's efforts 'belittled'
Achara Ashayagachat
March 29, 2001
Rangoon is committed to the war on drugs and has co-operated closely
with Thailand, but certain western countries have demeaned its efforts,
the Burmese police chief said yesterday.
The central committee for drug abuse control had exchanged information
at all levels with the Narcotics Control Board, Pol Maj-Gen Soe Win
said.
Law officers from the two countries met twice-yearly through the UN Drug
Control Programme.
Law enforcement along the border involved the military, customs and
police, but the "politics" of certain western countries had belittled
Burma's co-operation with Thailand and other neighbours.
He defended the ethnic Wa, regarded by Thailand as major methamphetamine
producers. Senior Thais had seen livestock and cash crop farming during
a tour of the Wa area last year, he said. "The Thai media has pictured
the wrong guy," he said during a break at Asean talks on transnational
crime.
___________________ REGIONAL/INTERNATIONAL___________________
Jane?s Foreign Report: Aung San Suu who?
March 29, 2001
:
AFTER a decade of sermonising, India has sacrificed the cause of
democracy in Burma (Myanmar) on the altar of crude national
interests. It has all but abandoned its support for Burmese
opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, embracing the military junta
which grabbed power after her party had won a freely contested
general election.
"India's credentials on democracy do not need not to be proved to
anyone, but we have to keep our national interests in mind," India's
foreign minister, Jaswant Singh, said on his recent trip to Burma.
The Delhi government based policy on "the primacy of geo-political
and geo-economic considerations", said the foreign minister.
"Standoffish" relations with Burma over the junta's detention and
harassment of Aung San Suu Kyi had hurt India, he added.
Singh's visit was part of India's diplomatic push into the
neighbouring country, backed by aid and trade, designed to
counterbalance growing ties between Burma and its other giant
neighbour, China.
We did discuss it
Singh claimed the issue of Burma moving towards a democracy had,
indeed, been raised at an "appropriate time and place", but refused
to elaborate after talks with General Maung Aye, vice chairman of
Burma's ruling State Peace and Development Council and the country's
second most powerful leader, and Lieutenant-General Khin Nyunt, the
country's intelligence chief. Singh's Burma trip followed a few
weeks after General Maung Aye's visit to India. The Burmese leader
said India was committed to helping build Burma's infrastructure
especially in the border areas.
Singh inaugurated a 100-mile (160km) road from the Indian border
town of Moreh in north-eastern Manipur state to Kalemyo in Burma as
part of the proposed Asian highway from Singapore to Istanbul. Built
by India's Border Road Organisation for US$19m over three years, the
highway will go as far as Burma's second largest city, Mandalay,
increasing trade with India's seven north-eastern states of Manipur,
Assam, Meghalaya, Nagaland, Tripura, Mizoram and Arunachal Pradesh.
The two countries, estranged since 1989 when the Burmese military
junta seized power, also decided to open three border trading posts
in addition to the existing one at Moreh-Tamu, and to work more
closely to combat terrorism. India also committed itself to
developing Akyab, a port which will allow goods from India's north-
eastern states access to the sea. India will also help Burma to
build the Yeywa hydroelectric project near Mandalay and another at
Tamanthi on the Chindwin river.
Since independence 54 years ago, India has been to war with Pakistan
three times and once with China over territorial disputes that
remain unresolved. It also accuses China of providing Pakistan with
technology and help in its nuclear weapons programme.
China reaches out
China is helping Burma modernise its naval bases at Hianggyi, the
Coco Islands, Akyab and Mergui by building radar, refit and refuel
facilities that could support Chinese submarine operations in the
region. The Chinese are also believed to be establishing an
eavesdropping station on the Coco Islands, 30 nautical miles from
the Andaman islands, reportedly to monitor Indian missile tests off
the Orissa coast, an activity that has proliferated after the 1998
nuclear tests.
Former defence minister George Fernandes, who avidly and openly
supports Burmese dissidents to the extent of offering them a base in
his official home to conduct their pro-democracy campaign, has
described Hianggyi base as a joint Sino-Burmese naval establishment
and said Burma had 'loaned' the Coco islands to China. The Chinese
are also reportedly training Burmese naval intelligence officers and
helping Burmese cartographers to chart their country's coastline
where it meets India's.
Not exactly fishing for fish
Indian fears over China's ambitions in the Indian Ocean region were
compounded in 1994 when the coastguard detained three Chinese
trawlers with Burmese flags that were equipped with sophisticated
tracking and surveying equipment and arrested the crews for spying.
Disregarding protests from the army and the security service, and
under pressure from China, India released the Chinese crews.
Chinese ambitions in the Indian Ocean region have prompted Indian
admirals to call for the establishment of a naval command on the
Andaman islands based at Port Blair covering the Nicobar archipelago
as well. The admirals were disregarded: there were not enough ships
and it was said that the politicians did not want to annoy the
Chinese.
Indian naval strategists saw this as an attempt by China to encircle
India. "Until now," said a senior Indian naval source, "China has
been a land neighbour, but through Burma it may soon become our
maritime neighbour."
Pakistan plays the game, too
Pakistan has unsurprisingly sided with its ally, China, and has been
quietly supplying several shiploads of arms and ammunition including
106mm M-40 recoilless rifles. The Pakistani army also trains Burmese
soldiers to operate Chinese fighter aircraft, howitzers and tanks.
Burmese army staff officers are reportedly trained at Pakistan's
Military Staff College at Quetta in Baluchistan province.
Burma and Pakistan recognise their common interests - both have
close political and military ties with China, and share strategic
concerns about India. India, on the other hand, has strategic
concerns about China. Are any changes likely? No, but expect more
jostling for power and influence in Burma, none of which will help
the cause of democracy under Aung San Suu Kyi.
___________________________________________________
Reuters: Malaysian police hold Myanmar T-shirt protester
KUALA LUMPUR, March 29 (Reuters) - Malaysian police have arrested a
Myanmar man who crashed a Myanmar Embassy party wearing a T-shirt
celebrating opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, activists said on
Thursday.
Three Malaysians and Myanmar national Peter Hee Man were held on
Tuesday after 20 protesters took off their shirts to reveal underneath
them the Suu Kyi T-shirts at the party in a Kuala Lumpur hotel to mark
Myanmar's Armed Forces Day.
None of the four have been charged.
``There was no security and the doors were open. We took off our shirts
and did a bit of a parade,'' said K.P. Lee, who was released with the
other Malaysians on police bail on Wednesday.
Local opposition politician Teresa Kok told Reuters on Thursday that
she will meet police Friday to find out why the four were arrested.
Police declined to comment.
Lee, 35, said he fears Hee Man, a member of the country's Chin ethnic
minority group, will be deported.
``From what I understand, police are planning to release him then
re-arrest him immediately under the Immigration Act,'' said Lee, a
member of the Kuala Lumpur-based Burma Solidarity Group.
``His life will definitely be in danger if he's sent back.''
Myanmar's ruling State Peace and Development Council has had a respite
from harsh criticism in recent months after it was revealed the regime
was holding secret talks with Nobel Peace Prize winner Suu Kyi.
Her National League for Democracy (NLD) won Myanmar's last election in
1990 but has never been allowed to govern.
Malaysia has defended Myanmar, a fellow member of the Association of
Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), against international condemnation of
its human rights record.
But an anti-government activist said on Thursday protest could grow if
Myanmar rulers' talks with the opposition don't soon yield results.
``It is very likely that (protest) actions will intensify if the
military does not deliver,'' Debbie Stothard, spokesman of the
Alternative Asean Network on Burma, said from Thailand.
___________________________________________________
The Nation: Chavalit aides launch Burma body
KHUMRUNGROJ,VEENA JANROUENG
March 29, 2001
DEFENSE Minister Gen Chavalit Yongchaiyudh's close aides are set to
launch a friendship association with Burma in a bid to promote cultural
and business ties between the two countries. Gen Pat Akkanibutr, chief
adviser to Gen Chavalit, said the association would be a mechanism to
boost bilateral cooperation. "It could also be a body to help screen
Thai firms wishing to do business in Burma," the retired officer said.
Burmese leaders needed such a body to help weed out companies with bad
records, Pat said. "They are fed up with the behaviour of some Thai
companies which were irresponsible when a problem occurred," he said.
Pat would chair the association on the Thai side, while former deputy
foreign minister and one- time envoy to Thailand, U Nyunt Swe, would be
his Burmese counterpart. Prospective association members include retired
Thai general Sanan Kachornklam, also a close Chavalit aide. Each country
would need to register the association with its respective authorities,
Pat said. "Thailand has already registered the association and is
waiting for the Burmese side to do the same," he said. The mandate and
structure of the association is still unclear, pending discussions by
both sides.
Pat recently sent a paper broadly outlining the body's proposed mandate
and structure to the Foreign Ministry for acknowledgement, a source
said. Thailand already has bilateral friendship associations with Laos,
Vietnam, Malaysia and China, to promote areas of cooperation that both
sides are comfortable with. These have a mixed bag of present and
retired government officials as well as private sector representatives
as members. But their mandate is not to seek solutions to bilateral
problems. Chavalit has established a personal rapport with Burmese
leaders since his tenure as army chief. Bilateral ties hit an all-time
low earlier this year following a military offensive by Rangoon, when Wa
and Shan fighting spilled across the northern border near Mae Sai.
___________________________________________________
ALTSEAN-BURMA: Activists arrested for ?Fashion Action?
Wednesday, March 28, 2001: Four activists, 3 Malaysian and a Burmese,
were arrested last night for staging a 'fashion action' at a Myanmar
Embassy reception to celebrate armed forces day.
They have been detained by the Dang Wangi police and their colleagues
harbour grave concerns for the safety of the Burmese in detention.
The detainees were part of a group of 20 people who walked into the
reception that was hosted by the Myanmar Embassy Naval and Air Attache.
To the amazement of about 200 guests, the group took off their shirts
and blouses to reveal Aung San Suu Kyi T-shirts underneath.
Altsean-Burma was able to speak briefly with KP Lee of the Burma
Solidarity Group Malaysia as he was being admitted to the police
lock-up at the Jalan Stadium police station.
"There were about 200 guests, mostly from the Malaysian military and
government. Many diplomats from Asean countries were also there. They
were all very surprised. The Burmese military officials were extremely
embarrassed and angry," he said.
Mr Lee said the group had not expected the reception to be so
accessible. "We thought we could just stand outside, but we were
tempted to walk in because it was so easy.
"We wanted to highlight the fact that while these people were partying,
tens of thousands of ethnic people were suffering from the Burmese
military's atrocities. Over a thousand people are political prisoners in
Burma.
"We hope we will be freed soon. It would be silly to jail us because we
wore the 'wrong' clothes to a party," added Mr Lee. The group did not
attempt to actively disrupt the event or cause any property damage, he
emphasized.
The Burmese arrested was Mr Peter Hee Man, an ethnic Chin. Malaysian
activists are gravely concerned that Mr Hee Man will not be released on
bail, but instead be transferred to an Immigration Detention Centre and
deported to the Burmese military authorities.
There is also concern that the SPDC is pressuring the Malaysian
authorities to take drastic action against Burma pro-democracy
supporters in an effort to stamp out growing activism in Malaysia. Many
Burmese nationals based in Malaysia have gone into hiding, in
anticipation of a crackdown in Kuala Lumpur and its surrounds.
___________________________________________________
______________________OTHER______________________
PD Burma: Calendar of events
March 28, 2001
╖ April : Events organised by Association Suisse-Birmanie:
Petition to abolish forced
labour. More info, contact info@xxxxxxxxxx
╖ April : EU Common Position Review
╖ April 1-7th : Inter-Parliamentary Conference, Cuba
╖ March 19th/April 27th : UN Commission on Human Rights, Geneva
a.. April 28-29th : Thai Foreign Minister Surakiart Sathirathai will
visit Burma to discuss bilateral issues including the drugs
crisis
╖ May 13-20th : UN LDC III, UN conference on the
LDC-countries, Brussels
╖ May 22nd : Shareholder meeting for Total, Paris
╖ May 27th : 11th Anniversary of the 1990 elected
╖ May : ARF Senior Official Meeting, Hanoi
╖ June : Meeting in the Governing Body of the ILO
╖ June : Meeting of the Socialist International Council,
Lisbon
╖ June 8-10th : Burma Desk during the Italian Forum for
Responsible Tourism, Venice û Italy
More info., contact r.brusadin@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
╖ June 19th : Aung San Suu Kyi birthday party and Burmese
Women's Day
╖ July : Belgium takes over EU Presidency
╖ July : 8th RFA Ministerial Meeting, Hanoi
╖ July : 34th ASEAN Ministerial Meeting and Post-Ministerial
Conference
╖ July : ASEAN Summit
╖ Aug. 31st- Sep.7th : World Conference against Racism and
Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and related
intolerance, South Africa
╖ December 1st : Worlds Aids Day
╖ December 10th : 10th Year Anniversary of the Nobel Peace
Prize for Aung San Suu Kyi
╖ February 2002 : The fourth Bangladesh, India, Burma, Sri Lanka
and Thailand-Economic Cooperation (BIMST-
EC) meeting, Colombo
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