Singapore Column Annoys Malaysia
By RANJAN ROY, Associated Press Writer
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) - Tempers are raging in Malaysia after a leading newspaper in neighboring Singapore referred to the long-serving prime minister as ``Top Dog'' - questionable terminology in a Muslim country where the animals are considered unclean.
The spat over the editorial column in Singapore's Straits Times is just the latest between the Southeast Asian nations, who have bickered since becoming independent of British rule in the 1950s.
Sensitivities soared immediately after the daily paper ran the column March 25 about Mahathir Mohamad, who has been in power for 18 years.
``It is most regrettable that The Straits Times saw fit to include in its pages such flippant and callous writing by a so-called journalist who displays clearly a very superficial understanding of the Malaysian political situation and complete insensitivity to regional cultural mores,'' the Malaysian embassy said in a statement.
But top leaders in both countries told the public not to put too much weight on what they read in the media.
Singapore's Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong said Thursday that his government did not agree with the column's contents, but that the best way to handle such a problem was to write a letter to the newspaper. Malaysia's formal protest was ``not the way to handle such an issue,'' Goh said.
Newspapers should not fuel disputes between the two nations, he said.
``I would urge the Singapore newspapers, and also the Malaysian newspapers, to be circumspect in their commentary of developments in each other's country,'' Goh said in comments broadcast on Singapore's Channel NewsAsia.
Mahathir played down the dispute, saying in reported comments over the weekend that he did not take articles in the media too seriously.
Malaysian Foreign Minister Syed Hamid Albar, meanwhile, slammed the article as an attempt to interfere in internal affairs.
The Straits Times is private, but the media is tightly controlled by the government in Singapore.
It was not clear whether the use of the _expression_ was intentional.
People here rarely keep dogs as pets and prefer to keep cats at home instead.
In her column, Chua Lee Hoong discusses, among other things, the spread of democracy in Asia.
``Only in Malaysia have both ruling party and top dog remained unchanged,'' she wrote, incorrectly referring to Malaysia as the only Asian country to have not had a change of leadership in the past decade. Laos, Cambodia and Myanmar have also not changed their leaders.
Thursday, April 6 11:21 PM SGT
Myanmar Offcl Hopes UN Envoy Has `Better Understanding'
TOKYO (AP)--A senior Myanmar government official expressed hope Thursday that a new U.N. envoy will have a "better understanding" of his country's situation than his predecessors did, Kyodo News agency reported.
U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan named Malaysian diplomat Razali Ismail his envoy to Myanmar, also known as Burma, on Tuesday.
One of his first duties will be to try to get Myanmar's military government to allow a U.N. investigator to examine human rights in the country.
The U.N. human rights envoy, Rajsoomer Lallah, has never been allowed into Myanmar. His latest report, submitted to the U.N. Commission on Human Rights in Geneva on March 30, was highly critical.
"Since Mr. Razali is from an ASEAN country, it is our hope that he will have a better understanding of the situation in Myanmar," Khin Maung Win, deputy foreign minister, was quoted as saying.
Myanmar is a member of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations. The 10-member regional grouping avoids criticism of its members' internal affairs.
But the government in Yangon is frequently and sharply criticized by Western governments and human rights groups for its authoritarian rule.
Khin Maung Win also said that Myanmar was pleased with the European Union's decision to let it participate in an ASEAN-E.U. dialogue.
The E.U. imposed sanctions on Myanmar because of the junta's failure to turn over power to a democratically elected government and because of its poor human rights record. Sanctions include a ban on official high-level contacts.
That makes it difficult and in many circumstances impossible to hold high-level meetings with ASEAN, which refuses to exclude Myanmar.
"The ASEAN-E.U. dialogue is a bloc-to-bloc dialogue and you cannot separate Myanmar from the rest of the ASEAN countries," Khin Maung Win said. "We are happy that the E.U. has come to realize the reality. Our relations with them have mutual benefit."
Khin Maung Win praised China for its stalwart support of Myanmar, which includes significant financial assistance.
"When Western countries imposed sanctions on Myanmar and blocked assistance from international financial institutions, China came to our assistance for our development endeavors," he said.
Asked about the possibility of reestablishing diplomatic relations with North Korea, Khin Maung Win said Pyongyang must first admit its responsibility for a deadly 1983 bombing in Yangon.
Myanmar severed relations with North Korea following the October 1983 bombing during the visit of then-South Korean President Chun Doo Hwan. The bombing killed 17 South Korean officials, including four ministers.
He added that Myanmar had no objection to North Korea joining the ASEAN Regional Forum, which discusses regional security issues.
Envoy sounds warning on refugees
Rangoon apathy on narcotics
dismissed
Saritdet Marukatat Karen insurgents constitute the bulk of the
refugees currently fleeing Burma for Thailand, said Burmese Foreign Minister Win
Aung. Ordinary villagers are also being affected by Rangoon's offensive in the
border area, he said, during a five-hour transit in Bangkok on his way to attend
a meeting of the Non-Aligned Movement in Catagena, Colombia. "They are mostly KNU soldiers," Win Aung said, referring to the Karen
National Union that is still holding out against Rangoon. A new influx of refugees, estimated at between 2,000 and 4,000, has crossed
into Tha Song Yang district in Tak to escape fighting between Burmese government
troops and the KNU. The minister also strongly denied charges Rangoon was neglecting efforts to
crack down on amphetamine production on the border. He said the Burmese government was doing all it could to stamp out production
of speed pills and other narcotics in the country. His statement contradicted an assessment by Thai authorities who voiced
frustration over the sharp increase in the inflow of amphetamines from Burma,
with some even calling for a review of the official policy towards Rangoon. Win Aung claimed Burma had no raw materials, equipment or technicians to
produce drugs. However, he expressed optimism that all joint bodies between the two
countries could combat drugs and other border problems. About 45 million amphetamine pills were seized last year, said the Office of
the Narcotics Control Board. Win Aung was not so optimistic about Thai fishing fleets' bid to get an early
return of their fishing rights in Burma He said an assessment, currently under
way, on fishery ventures would take time because of unsolved problems, including
illegal fishing practices. The junta froze fishing concessions granted to Thai vessels after its embassy
in Bangkok was stormed by anti-Rangoon students in October. The Straits Times - April 7, 2000. Myanmar deals Thai fishing a big blow
Fleet operators are facing financial ruin and
they have been forced to encroach on other nation's fishing grounds further
afield after the ban By JAMES EAST HUNDREDS of Thai fishing boats are poaching in foreign waters or
sitting idly at anchor following Myanmar's ban on Thai vessels fishing in its
waters.
Southern fleet operators, facing financial ruin, have been
forced to work already over-fished local waters or encroach on other nation's
fishing grounds further afield.
Myanmar banned Thai fishermen from its waters following last
October's Myanmar Embassy siege in Bangkok when Thai authorities flew the
hostage takers to freedom, infuriating the Myanmar authorities with their
softly-softly handling of the incident.
The ban looks likely to stay despite Myanmar's desperate need
for foreign currency and a high-level visit by Agriculture Minister Pongpol
Adireksarn failed to secure a re-opening.
Even negotiations at local level and the offer of bribes, key to
resolving past disputes, have failed to produce fruit.
"This time every door seems to have been locked," said one fleet
manager.
Fishing industry sources say the Myanmar junta may be
considering selling fish directly to Singapore and China, a move that would
bring in more foreign currency than that made from selling licences to Thai
fishing boats.
It may also be thinking of upgrading its own small fleet to take
advantage of waters that are stocked with a plentiful supply of fish.
The people in Myanmar do not traditionally eat fish on the scale
that neighbouring Thailand does.
The ban has forced the Thai government to look for fishing deals
with Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and the Maldives, with negotiations in the pipeline.
Thai fleet operators, faced with the threat of bankruptcy, have
not been so patient. Hundreds of vessels have been poaching in Indonesian
waters, forcing its government to warn Thailand to respect international
maritime law.
The courts have impounded scores of Thai boats and over 1,000
fishermen have been sent home. Local Indonesian fishermen have taken a less
diplomatic approach: They burned around 50 Thai boats. If the ban remains there
will be little option but to downsize Thailand's enormous fleet.
Around 500 boats used to fish in Myanmar waters. Some still take
the risk.
Foreign Minister Surin Pitsuwan said the fleet needed to invest
and upgrade if vessels were to take advantage of fishing grounds further
afield. The Nation - April 7, 2000.
UN's Burma appointment puts onus on Asean
to act
THE recent appointment of veteran diplomat Razali Ismail, a close aide of
Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamed, as the United Nation's special envoy
for Burma has once again put the ball in Asean's court.
"The onus is on Asean to prove that it can do the job," said an Asean
diplomat, referring to the grouping's belief that it can influence change in
Burma through engagement and not isolation, as advocated by the West.
Razali, who is currently a special adviser to Mahathir, will have a big task
in getting the Burmese junta to accept the UN inquiry into official abuses of
human rights. Malaysia was the key player in bringing Burma into Asean in 1997
when it hosted the Asean summit to commemorate its 30th anniversary.
As a special envoy, his main job is to implement the UN resolution 54/186 on
Burma. Razali will soon have to visit Burma, something his predecessor, Alvaro
de Soto, was unable to do last year. "This will test if Asean has political
clout or not," said the same Asean diplomat.
With an expanded mandate, Razali might use his position to encourage the
Burmese junta to hold dialogue with opposition groups in the country. His
10-year experience as the Malaysian envoy to the UN, from 1988-98, will be
useful to mobilise UN members on Burma.
The UN resolution 54/186, adopted in December last year, deplored "continuing
violations of human rights in Myanmar [Burma], including extra-judicial, summary
or arbitrary executions, enforced disappearances, rape, torture" and other
abuses.
Razali's appointment comes at the time when there are increased frustrations
in the international community that something must be done to break the current
impasse in Burma.
Growing criticism against Burma is also getting more widespread. Last week
the UN special rapporteur for human rights, Rjasoomer Lallah, sent a report on
Burma to the UN Commission on Human Rights in Geneva.
At the moment, the International Labour Organisation is considering harsh
measures to stop the Burmese military authorities from using forced labour. They
could use article 33 to oust Burma from the ILO.
The ILO report said that hundreds of thousands of people have been forced to
work as porters or on building projects and the Burmese authorities have shown
an utter contempt for human rights.
At a recent meeting in Hua Hin of Asean senior officials, Burma indicated
that it would be more flexible in order to get moving the stalled dialogue
between Asean and the EU. For the past three years both sides have failed to
organise a ministerial meeting due to the Burmese issue.
According to Bangkok-based diplomats, Burma's new flexibility was linked to
the ILO planned debates on Burma. "The Burmese know that this June will be tough
on them, and Asean might not speak in one voice," said one of them.
As in previous years, Thailand will face a new dilemma in voting on the
labour condition in Burma. Last year Thailand, as part of Asean, voted in
support of Burma as part of the grouping's show of solidarity, but it is
uncertain if Thailand will follow that decision this year.
Relations between Thailand and Burma are slowly improving. Foreign Minister
Surin Pitsuwan will meet his Burmese counterpart, Win Aung, in Columbia during
the upcoming foreign ministerial meeting of the Non-Aligned Movement. The two
were also expected to meet in Bangkok on Wednesday.
In Thailand, frustration also prevails among top civilian and military policy
makers. They have realised that while they want to improve ties with Burma,
Rangoon's junta leaders have not been sincere. They would like to see a more
responsive Burma that cooperates with Thailand, Asean and the international
community.
BY KAVI CHONGKITTAVORN
The Nation The Nation April - 7, 2000.
Burma 'doing all it can to curb flow of
drugs'
BURMESE Foreign Minister U Win Aung has dismissed growing fears among Thai
anti-narcotics and security agencies that the military government is not doing
enough to curb drug trafficking in the border area.
In an interview with a group of reporters during his stopover in Bangkok on
Wednesday evening, Win Aung said Rangoon has been doing everything to stop the
trafficking of narcotics. But outsiders, including the media, have a
preconceived notion that Burma "is out to destroy Thai youth with drugs".
"These methamphetamines can be produced anywhere and they are very cheap to
make," said Win Aung. "Besides, where does the raw material and the precursor
chemicals for the drugs come from?"
Win Aung, who was on his way to a meeting in Colombia, said the United States
government spends millions of dollars annually to help the South American
country combat narcotics trafficking but gives nothing to Burma. He accused
Washington of using double standards when it comes to Burma and expressed the
hope that this "attitude" would change with the departure of Secretary of State
Madeleine Albright from the US cabinet.
The minister also defended the government's political settlement with the
United Wa State Army (UWSA), dubbed one of the world's largest armed
drug-trafficking groups by the US government, saying Rangoon believed the ethnic
army when it said it would eradicated opium cultivation by 2005. The
announcement did little to convince the international community, including
Thailand, whose perception of the UWSA has gone from a narcotics trafficking
group to a threat to the nation's security.
The UWSA has launched a mass relocation of about 200,000 ethnic Wa from Shan
state to the lower part along the border area near Chiang Mai and Chiang Rai.
Win Aung said the resettlement was not forced and that it was in line with the
UWSA's effort to eradicate opium cultivation. The new locations near the Thai
border allow the Wa villagers to cultivate other kind of crops.
The Thai government does not see it that way, however. Many officials have
expressed concern that the resettlement and the expansion of the UWSA could pose
a threat to the nation's security. About a year ago, a border pass in Chiang Mai
leading to the Wa's stronghold in Mong Yawn was shut down, forcing Thai
contractors carrying out massive infrastructure work to opt for a more expensive
route to transport their goods and construction supplies. Many deemed the move
as a form of "economic sanctions" on the Wa.
"When they [rebel armies] are fighting against us, the Thai government
doesn't seem to be concerned about security. But when they are not fighting
against us, they become a security threat," Win Aung said sarcastically,
referring to Thailand's perception of the Burmese rebel armies. He added that
the decision to shut down the border pass has stalled the UWSA's move to
legitimise itself as it experiments with animal breeding and other forms of
agricultural activities.
"Let us not see this is as one people being an enemy of another people," Win
Aung said, adding that the Wa are doing their utmost to gain legitimacy.
BY DON PATHAN
The Nation Karen refugees moved farther from fighting
THA SONG YANG, Tak – Border authorities yesterday started moving about half
of the 4,000 Burmese refugees who this week fled heavy fighting between Karen
rebels and Rangoon junta soldiers to a camp deeper inside Thailand.
Lack of clean water at the camp in Ban Nong Bua and the village’s closeness
to the border area where the fighting is taking place were the reasons for the
relocation, said Tha Song Yang district chief Vira Phothisuk.
The move has dashed prospects that the refugees would soon return to their
homeland.
The refugees, mostly ethnic Karen, started crossing into Thailand on Saturday
after heavy fighting broke out between the Karen National Union (KNU) and
Burmese junta troops. Junta soldiers are being assisted by a breakaway Karen
faction known as the Democratic Karen Buddhist Army.
Burmese Foreign Minister Win Aung, in an interview during his stopover in
Bangkok on Wednesday, insisted that the villagers were Karen soldiers from
refugee camps inside Thailand.
The military offensive was part of its ongoing campaign of crushing any
possible buildup by the Karen National Union, he said.
Rangoon is prepared to sit down with the group’s leaders any time, he said,
but he would not elaborate on the conditions for a ceasefire or political
settlement.
Throughout the day, convoys of trucks jampacked with refugees, mostly women
and children, were seen shuttling back and forth between Ban Nong Bua and Ban
Thi Nok Krok, which is about four kilometres further from the Moei River, the
natural border between the two countries.
Despite earlier reports of illness among the refugees, Medicins Sans
Frontieres field coordinator Dr Agnes Sobry said the situation was now under
control. A number of refugees, however, were still suffering from malaria, she
said. The next step is to conduct a preliminary assessment as well as
immunisation, to prevent outbreaks of epidemics such as measles, Sobry said.
The refugees will be allowed to stay at Ban Thi Nok Krok while authorities
assess the situation, Vira said. If the fighting does not let up, they would be
moved to a more permanent site, he said.
Late Tuesday the KNU retreated from the border village Mae La Portha after a
halfhour battle, it said. Burmese troops razed the entire village, burning 635
houses, three schools and a hospital, it said.
About 100,000 refugees from Burma’s internal fighting live in Thai camps.
Most are Karens. The KNU is the only major ethnic rebel group that has not
reached a ceasefire with the military junta that has ruled Burma since 1962.
BY VORAPUN SRIVORANART and
DON PATHAN
The Nation BBC-Friday, 7 April, 2000, 09:16 GMT 10:16 UK
Six border guards in India's north-eastern state of Manipur have
been killed and eight injured after they came under attack near the border with
Burma.
The guards were travelling in a convoy which was ambushed by
suspected separatist militants.
Local reports from the village of Singhat say nearly 20
separatist rebels ambushed the Border Security Force convoy as it was travelling
through the area overnight.
Four border guards were killed instantly and a further two died
after being taken to hospital.
The guards who survived the attack said they were shot at from
both sides of a hilly road, which leads to a small Burmese town on the other
side of the border.
Rebel attack
It is not clear who carried out the attack, but officials say
they suspect that an outlawed group, the People's Liberation Army (PLA), may
have been involved.
The ambush follows an attack on Monday by more than 30 PLA
rebels on a police station in Manipur's Thoubal district.
The rebels broke open the armoury of the police station and
carried away a large quantity of arms and ammunition.
The PLA has been waging an armed separatist campaign for more
than 20 years in Manipur, during which hundreds of people have been
killed.
IN BANGKOK
By CRAIG SKEHAN, Herald Correspondent in Bangkok