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HEADLINE -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Straits Times - Disease forces Myanmar armies
to delay war
Inside China - China's Vice-President Makes Goodwill
Visit to Myanmar
People Daily - Business - China, Myanmar Sign
Cooperation Accords People Daily - Chinese, Myanmar Leaders Hold
Talks
People Daily - Opinion - Roundup: Frequent Visits Render Kindred Sino-Myanmar Ties Closer India Times - Beijing official arrives in Myanmar
Bkk Post -Two nabbed with a truck full of
aliens
The Nation - Opinion - Burma human rights body is not
all that is needed
The Straits Times - July 17,
2000.
Disease forces Myanmar armies to delay
war
BANGKOK -- A deadly malaria epidemic and heavy rain have
forced a brewing turf war between the armies of two Myanmar ethnic groups to be
postponed, Thai military sources said yesterday.
The United Wa State Army has been advancing on Shan State Army
(SSA) territory just inside the Myanmar border, north of Chiang Mai, for the
last two months.
The Wa, the most powerful and feared of Myanmar's ethnic
groups, were reportedly given the go-ahead to move in on their rivals by the
military junta, with whom they have established a fragile ceasefire.
""The Wa are good fighters and the Myanmar authorities are
using them to move down to the SSA's territory to help the government clean out
the Shan,'' said a source on the border.
Both groups are accused widely of producing heroin and
amphetamines and the Wa reportedly plan to move some of their drug refineries
south into Shan territory.
Foreign critics charge that Myanmar agreed to turn a blind eye
to the Wa's drug-trafficking business in return for the peace agreement.
However, the brewing battle, which threatened to send
thousands of refugees over the border into Thailand, has not materialised
because both sides are battling bad weather and disease.
""According to initial reports, 500 ethnic Wa have died of
malaria in the past two months in their stronghold of Maung Yawn province,'' the
source said. --AFP
Inside China
China's Vice-President Makes Goodwill Visit to Myanmar YANGON, Jul 17, 2000 -- (Agence
France Presse) China's Vice-President Hu Jintao arrived here
Sunday for a three-day goodwill visit, part of a tour that will also take him to
Thailand, Indonesia, Belarus and Kazakhstan, officials said.
He was welcomed at the airport by the junta's vice-chairman
General Maung Aye who last month made an official visit to Beijing.
Hundreds of school children waving flags lined the route from
the airport to greet Hu and his wife Liu Yongqing, who entered a city that has
been spruced up over the past few days in honor of the visit.
The vice-president is expected to meet with Myanmar's supreme
leader Senior General Than Shwe Monday. Officials said only that the talks would
take in matters of mutual interest with the military government.
Hu and his delegation, including Deputy Foreign Minister Wang
Guangya and other senior officials, are then to make a day-trip to the old
capital of Mandalay.
Also on the agenda are visits to some of the city's ancient
monuments as well as to China-funded infrastructure projects.
Hu is seen in China as being groomed to take over the party
leadership and state presidency from current party boss and President Jiang
Zemin.
Myanmar's official press ran profiles on the visitor Sunday,
emphasizing his rapid advancement through the government's
hierarchy.
Hu and his party are to leave for Bangkok on July 18,
officials said. ((c) 2000 Agence France Presse)
The People Daily
Monday, July 17, 2000, updated at 09:57(GMT+8) Business - China, Myanmar Sign Cooperation Accords The Chinese and Myanmar governments signed Sunday three
agreements on bilateral cooperation in the economic, scientific-technological
and tourism spheres.
The documents were signed by Chinese Deputy Foreign Minister
Wang Guangya and Deputy Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation Minister Chen
Xinhua, and by Myanmar Deputy National Planning and Economic Development
Minister Zaw Tun and other Myanmar high- ranking officials.
Chinese Vice-President Hu Jintao, who arrived here earlier
Sunday for a three-day official visit, and Vice-Chairman of the State Peace and
Development Council of Myanmar Maung Aye took part in the signing ceremony.
Soon after his arrival, Hu held one-hour talks with Maung Aye.
The two leaders expressed their willingness to further consolidate and develop
friendly relations and mutually beneficial cooperation between the two
countries.
The People Daily
Monday, July 17, 2000, updated at 09:07(GMT+8)
World Chinese, Myanmar
Leaders Hold Talks
Vice-President Hu Jintao who is paying an official visit to Myanmar Sunday held talks with Vice-Chairman of the Myanmar State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) General Maung Aye. The two sides exchanged views on bilateral relations and
regional and international issues which both sides are concerned, obtaining an
extensive consensus.
Vice-President Hu said China and Myanmar are friendly
neighbors and the two peoples have had exchanges of visits since ancient times
and lived on good terms, calling each other "paukphaw" ( fraternal).
For half a century, despite major changes in international and
each other's domestic situation, the Sino-Myanmar neighborly and friendly
relations have been maintained and developed steadily, he noted, adding that the
friendship between the two peoples has been consolidated day after day.
He pointed out that this was due primarily to the fact that
governments and leaders of the two countries have highly valued the developing
Sino-Myanmar ties.
Secondly, he went on to say, Sino-Myanmar friendship has won
firm support from peoples of the two countries, stressing that this friendship
not only conforms to the desire of the two peoples but also to the basic
interests of the two countries and nations.
Thirdly, he continued to say, China and Myanmar have always
mutually extended sympathy and support in striving for independence and
liberation, safeguarding national independence, sovereignty and territorial
integrity as well as in the process of each other's national construction.
In conclusion, he added, "Sino-Myanmar ties have firm
foundation. We have full confidence over the sustainable and steady development
of the two countries' relations in the new century."
During the talks, Vice-Chairman Maung Aye expressed welcome to
Vice-President Hu Jintao and his entourage for their visit to Myanmar, recalling
that Myanmar-China ties were established through joint efforts by leaders of the
elder generations in accordance with the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence
and because of this there are broad prospects for further development.
He noted that at present leaders of the new generation of the
two countries are responsible to further push ahead the bilateral friendly
cooperation, pointing out that there have been good developments of bilateral
cooperation in the fields of politics, economy, science and technology and
culture.
"This year marks the 50th anniversary of the establishment of
diplomatic relations between Myanmar and China and Vice-President Hu Jintao's
visit to Myanmar on such occasion will further deepen the paukphaw friendship
between the two countries and will also bring about firmer foundation of
cooperation," he said.
He expressed Myanmar's belief that China is Myanmar's closest
and friendliest neighbor.
During the talks, both sides hoped to fully display each
other' s advantages and make major advances in economic cooperation in various
forms to bring about wealth to the two peoples.
Both sides also unanimously expressed wishes to strengthen the
cooperation in international and regional affairs for pushing forward peace and
development in Asia as well as in the world. After the talks, the two sides
signed three agreements on bilateral cooperation in the economic,
scientific-technological and tourism spheres.
In the evening, Vice-Chairman Maung Aye and his wife gave a
grand reception at the Pyithuluttaw (parliament) Hall in honor of Vice-President
Hu Jintao and his wife.
The People Daily
Monday, July 17, 2000, updated at 09:51(GMT+8) Opinion Roundup: Frequent Visits Render Kindred Sino-Myanmar Ties Closer "At the top of a river lies the home of me/At the other end,
that of thee/Infinite feeling we harbor for each other/As from the same river we
fetch drinking water/The river water flows incessantly/Drinking together in
delight/So long as it does not cease/We are neighbors since yore/ Maintaining
friendship/Keeping it lush and green like a mountain range/Not growing old,
never like the water that flows on...."
This is a poem composed by late Chinese Marshal Chen Yi on
December 14, 1957 in praise of Sino-Myanmar friendship when he visited Myanmar
and is still widely recited by the peoples of the two countries.
It is a true portrayal of the Sino-Myanmar phaukphaw
(fraternal) friendship.
At the invitation of Vice-Chairman of the Myanmar State Peace
and Development Council (SPDC) General Maung Aye, Vice-President of China Hu
Jintao pays a three-day official visit to Myanmar from July 16 to 18.
This visit will provide new opportunities for enhancing mutual
understanding, extending common views and strengthening friendly cooperation
between the two countries.
It will also compose a new chapter for the development of
friendly Sino-Myanmar ties in the 21st century.
China and Myanmar, linked by mountains and rivers, share a
common border of over 2,000 kilometers and enjoy a long-standing, time-tested
friendship.
The earliest exchange between China and Myanmar dates back to
the 4th century BC. Since ancient times, Myanmar people have called Chinese
people "paukphaw" which means "full brothers."
The two countries established diplomatic relations on June 8,
1950. For half a century since then, their cooperation in politics, economy,
culture, education and other fields has been developing steadily, based on the
Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence jointly advocated by both sides despite
the great changes that have taken place in the international arena.
Both the two Asian neighbors belong to the developing world.
They share an extensive common view on many major issues such as safeguarding of
national sovereignty and opposition to hegemonism and power politics, and have
been closely cooperative partners in international affairs.
The mutual trust and support in politics have become an
important cornerstone of the two countries' friendly ties.
For the past half-century, China has always respected
Myanmar's independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity. Myanmar, on its
part, has stuck to the "One China" policy, supporting China's reunification
cause and recognizing the government of the People's Republic of China as
China's sole legitimate government and that Taiwan is an inalienable part of
China's territory.
Since the two countries forged ties, there have been frequent
exchange of high-level visits between the two countries. The late Premier Zhou
Enlai of China made nine visits to Myanmar, while former Myanmar leader U Ne Win
went to China for 12 occasions.
In recent years, Chairman of the Chinese People's Political
Consultative Conference National Committee Li Ruihuan, State Councilor Luo Gan,
Vice-Premier Wu Bangguo and State Councilor Ismail Amat successively visited
Myanmar, while Chairman of the Myanmar State Peace and Development Council
(SPDC) and Prime Minister Senior-General Than Shwe, SPDC Vice-Chairman General
Maung Aye, SPDC First Secretary Lieutenant-General Khin Nyunt, Deputy Prime
Minister Lieutenant-General Tin Hla and Foreign Minister U Win Aung toured
China. The exchange of high level visits has given impetus to the development of
the two countries' friendly ties.
Meanwhile, great achievements have also been made in the
economic and trade ties between China and Myanmar during the 50 years, with the
two countries successively endorsing three agreements on economic and technical
cooperation.
China has aided Myanmar with dozens of construction projects
involving sugar, paper, textile, plywood, thermal power, rice processing
industries and including a national theater, a national stadium and a highway
and railway combined bridge.
Still more projects are under implementation.
In addition to economic assistance, the two countries have
also launched various forms of economic cooperation, based on the principles of
equity, mutual benefit and mutual supplement of superiorities.
Chinese companies have initiated a number of contracted
projects in Myanmar, with some in the form of wholly Chinese investment or joint
venture. More than 10 Chinese enterprises have already been set up in Myanmar.
China has been one of the main sources of consumers goods,
machinery and electrical goods for Myanmar. In 1999, their bilateral trade
amounted to over 500 million US dollars.
The cultural exchange between China and Myanmar has also
contributed a great deal to the development of the two countries' relations.
Since 1990, the cultural exchange programs between the two countries numbered
over 20 annually. These exchange programs involve arts, literature, painting,
movies, education, news, sports, religion and other aspects.
Further consolidation and development of friendly relations
between China and Myanmar not only conforms to the basic interests of the two
countries and the two peoples, but is also beneficial to peace, stability and
development in the region.
Vice-President Hu Jintao's Myanmar visit is bound to make the
Sino-Myanmar phaukphaw friendship blossom even more luxuriantly. The Times of India - July 17, 2000.Beijing official arrives in Myanmar
YANGON: Chinese Vice-President Hu Jintao arrived in Myanmar on
Sunday for a three-day trip, becoming the highest-ranking Beijing official to
visit the country in six years, officials said.
Vice Chairman of Myanmar's ruling State Peace and Development
Council General Maung Aye welcomed Hu and his wife at Yangon airport. Maung Aye
visited China in June.
The Chinese delegation, including the deputy minister for
foreign affairs and deputy minister for foreign trade and economic cooperation,
were driven to a government guest house along a route lined with Myanmar and
Chinese flags.
Hu is scheduled to meet Maung Aye later Sunday. They will
witness signing of agreements on cooperation in economy, science, technology and
tourism, the official Myanmar news agency said.
China is the closest ally of Myanmar, also known as Burma,
which has been isolated by much of the world community since its military regime
cracked down on prodemocracy protesters in 1988, killing thousands.
Myanmar has an important strategic location in Asia and has
recently tried to expand its diplomatic contacts, with high-level visits to
India and Pakistan.
Hu is the most senior Chinese leader to visit Myanmar since
former Chinese Premier Li Peng in December 1994.
On Monday, Hu will visit Yangon's Shwedagon Pagoda, its most
famous Buddhist edifice, and the National Museum. He will travel Tuesday to the
second biggest city of Mandalay in northern Myanmar. (AP)
Monday, July 17 7:23 PM
SGT
France vows to boost Europe-Asia ties
during EU presidency
MANILA, July 17 (AFP) -
Fresh from taking over the European Unionpresidency, France has pledged to strengthen links between Europe and Asia even as it maintains a firm stand on issues like human rights. France will use the Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) and ASEAN forums to bring the continents closer during its six-month term as head of the EU, the country's foreign minister, Hubert Vedrine, said in an interview here with AFP. France took over the rotating presidency from Portugal on July 1. "The main difference is going to be the intensity of the relationship," Vedrine said when asked how France's approach will differ from other EU nations which have held the presidency in stepping up ties with Asia. Speaking during a stopover in Manila after attending a Group of Eightmeeting in Tokyo, Vedrine said a series of high-level Asia-EU political and economic meetings during France's leadership would ease the task of forging greater cooperation. The French presidency will be marked by three landmark summits -- the EU-Japan summit in Tokyo on Wednesday, the ASEM summit in Seoul on October 19-20 and the EU-China summit in Beijing on October 23. France will also be in the driving seat of the European body when its foreign ministers meet their Association of Southeast Asian Nationscounterparts in Bangkok as part of the Southeast Asian grouping's dialogue with top trading partners later this month. Around the same time, European nations will also be key participants in Asia's premier security talks, the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF), which will be significant with the admission of North Korea. At these meetings, Vedrine said France would push for greater Asia-Europe trade and investment, security and political cooperation, which he stressed should not be sidetracked by discussions on human rights and other issues regarded as sensitive in Asia. "We can reconcile all this if you involve yourself in a whole process, where no one thinks that they have a perfect democracy or even a perfect market economy," Vedrine said. The EU has been a strong critic of China and Myanmar for alleged human rights abuses, but Vedrine said France believed the issue could be resolved through dialogues, not confrontation. He said that, for example: "We haven't changed our opinion on the Burmese (Myanmar) regime but we have found a compromise so that the dialogue with ASEAN as a whole would not suffer from it." There are also plans to resume at the end of this year ministerial meetings between the EU and ASEAN which have been suspended since 1997, when the Southeast Asian group accepted Myanmar as a member against the EU's strong objections. Apart from Myanmar, ASEAN comprises Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. French diplomats said a second EU "troika" mission would be sent to Myanmar in September or October for a dialogue with the military junta. A similar mission last year spent several days in the country but was tight-lipped about its aims. Beijing and the EU are also currently engaged in a dialogue on China's human rights record, which Amnesty International has called worse than ever. Vedrine said that as president of the EU, France would strive to give more meaning to the political dialogue among the 15 European and 10 Asian nations atttending the upcoming ASEM summit. France also wants to seek common ground on multilateral trade issues at the summit and support an initiative to put financial regulations and financial crime on its agenda, officials said. Asia will be represented at the third ASEM summit by Brunei, China, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, the Philippines, South Korea, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. Apart from France, the European participants are Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, Sweden and Britain. Bangkok Post - July 17,
2000.
HUMAN SMUGGLING Two nabbed with a truck full of
aliens
Two Thai men were arrested yesterday and charged with
attempting to smuggle 36 Burmese workers to Bangkok.
The arrests were made when police stopped and searched a
six-wheel truck carrying vegetables at the Ban Nong Bua checkpoint on the Mae
Sot-Tak highway in Mae Sot district.
Authorities found 20 Burmese men and 16 women hiding under the
vegetables.
Somporn Srisawat, 30, the truck driver, and Somwang
Chaitaweep, 31, both of Kamphaeng Phet province, were charged with trying to
smuggle illegal immigrants into the country. The Burmese were charged with
illegal entry.
The two men were transporting vegetables from Phop Phra
district to markets in Bangkok.
They said they were hired for 20,000 baht to take the Burmese
to an employer in Bangkok.
To ensure public safety in Mae Sot, district officer Samart
Loyfa has announced a night curfew, from 8pm to 6am on aliens.
He also said owners of rented houses would be required to keep
arecord of lessees and report these to authorities.
The announcement was made after illegal immigrants, most of
them Burmese, were found to have been involved in the smuggling of cars and
motorcycles to Burma.
The Nation - July 17,
2000.
Opinion - Burma human rights body is not all that is needed The Rangoon junta's move to form a commission on human rights
is a joke given that the military refuses to enforce current laws and is the
perpetrator of gross violations, writes Khin Maung Win in a special report for
The Nation.
The Australian government has decided to cooperate with the
Burmese junta in providing human rights training courses for government
officials. The decision was in response to the ruling State Peace and
Development Council's indication that it intends to establish a national human
rights commission. Canberra's underlying philosophy is that engagement with the
Burmese regime will help improve the human rights situation in Burma.
At the moment, the creation of a national human rights
commission in Burma is an ethical issue. It is also an irony that the initiative
would come from no other than the regime which has no legitimacy whatsoever to
rule in the first place. Worse is that the SPDC is the culprit and perpetrator
of human rights abuses which have been recorded annually by the United Nations.
One could argue that an improvement to human rights takes
priority over the issue of political legitimacy. No one will reject the noble
idea if it is the real beginning to help improve the human rights situation in
Burma. But, there are other urgencies which need immediate attention than the
tactical move to create a national human rights watchdog.
Rule of law
Firstly, lack of rule of law encourages the many violations of
human rights currently happening in Burma. Obvious examples of authorities'
abuse of power outside the due process of law include ignorance of electoral law
that the junta itself promulgated; jailing political dissidents and human rights
advocates under the so-called Emergency Provision Act 5 (j); and imposing
restrictions upon the movement of elected representatives and the NLD members.
Abuses of power by the army and the authorities extend to the innocent civilian
population. Forced labour, forced relocation, rape, torture and murder take
place on a large scale on a daily basis. All these violations exist because
there is no due process of law.
Massive removal of Supreme Court judges, who were known as
professional judges in 1998, clearly demonstrates the readiness of the junta to
interfere and use judicial appointment as a manoeuvre to influence the judges at
all levels. No case involving military human rights violation can be
independently tried. There is no doubt that Burma's judiciary is totally
influenced by the junta.
If the principles of rule of law and due process of law
prevail in Burma, a high number of cases of human rights violations would not
have happened. There is no guarantee yet that the to-be-set up human rights
commission would help to improve the principles of rule of law and due process
of law ahead.
What Burma needs to ease present human rights violations is
not to introduce any new human rights mechanism, but to reinforce the due
process of law because Burma's legal system is adapted from the British common
law system, which fairly guarantees the rights of people.
Military attitude
The second issue to address is that the junta, which is
entirely composed of military generals, must change its attitude towards people.
The SPDC and all its subordinates are busy with attempts to divide the society
and create disunity among the diverse peoples of Burma. Giving some people
special privileges in return for them not criticising the government or any
junta officials is a commonly used tactic by the junta. While all universities
are closed to ordinary students, military universities and colleges are kept
open for the military's children. Accordingly, Burmese society has been divided
into pro-military and ordinary people.
Discrimination that comes from aspects of religion, race,
ethnicity and political belief reflects the attitude of the military junta
towards the people. The practice of discrimination intensifies as the SPDC is
attempting to conceptualise Burman, a major ethnic group to which most generals
belong, as nationalism based on Buddhism which most generals practice.
While most forced relocation of non-Burman ethnic villages is
based on ethnicity, creating hostilities among Buddhist and non-Buddhist
societies is due to discrimination on the grounds of religion. Rights, such as
the right to obtain a passport, of those whose relatives are involved in the
democracy movement are denied. Even worse, the SPDC views as enemies anyone
considered to have the potential to challenge the SPDC's power.
As long as this military attitude towards people is unchanged,
human rights cannot be realised in the long run. To realise human rights in the
long run, what Burma needs is to make the military change its attitude towards
its own people.
Basic fundamental freedoms
The third matter to consider is the urgent need for basic
fundamental freedoms. Discussion on, and dissemination of, human rights
information must be a freedom. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights has
never been translated into Burmese and disseminated among Burmese people
officially. Those who disseminate unauthorised information and publications,
including human rights information, may be punished under the 1962 Printers and
Publishers Act. Discussions of a bill of rights, which is part of the national
constitution in most countries, is a crime under Law No 5/96 that bans all
citizens from discussions about constitutional matters. Any citizen who searches
for information, including human rights information, on the Internet can be
punished under the SPDC's Computer Law.
Lack of basic fundamental freedom not only weakens Burmese
people's ability to protect their rights, but also encourages on-going human
rights violations. What Burma needs to sustain human rights is to reinstall
basic fundamental freedoms.
Improving human rights in Burma does not depend on the
creation of a national human rights commission. Unless the plan for setting up a
national human rights commission is undertaken in conjunction with moves to
improve at least the above three areas, improving human rights of Burmese people
will be merely a dream. So, a future human rights commission can form part of a
solution but, on its own, it is not the solution.
KHIN MAUNG Win is a graduate student of human rights studies
and an executive committee member of the exiled Burma Lawyers' Council. This
article reflects his personal opinions.
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