Burma Related News - July 26, 2000.

Wednesday July 26 6:20 AM ET
Asian Talks Focus on Security As N.Korea Joins
By Chris Johnson

BANGKOK (Reuters) - Southeast and north Asia took a step toward forming what could be a powerful regional bloc as the presence of North Korea at landmark talks put the spotlight firmly on security.

North Korean Foreign Minister Paek Nam-sun joined his counterparts from the 10-member Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN), Japan, China and South Korea for the first time in a series of meetings on wide-ranging cooperation.

Paek was mobbed by reporters as he met Thai Foreign Minister Surin Pitsuwan and seemed overwhelmed by the rowdy reception.

``You'd better get used to this,'' said Surin, as a huge crowd of photographers, cameramen and reporters pressed in around them.

``The fact that he has agreed to join us is a big step forward for security and diplomacy in the region,'' Surin told reporters.

``Not only the Asia-Pacific region but the whole of the world will benefit'' from the end of North Korea's isolation, he said.

The two men were meeting on the sidelines of the first formal gathering of foreign ministers from the group, known as ASEAN+3.

The region has been inching toward a trading bloc in recent years and has agreed a string of financial initiatives to bolster its currencies and reduce tariff barriers.

Hit by recession in 1997 after the devaluation of the Thai baht sparked a regionwide currency meltdown, finance ministers have already signed a pact to pool foreign reserves in the event of speculative attack on foreign exchange markets.

ASEAN -- Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam -- is also in the process of creating a free-trade zone that they hope will also be extended eventually to north Asia.

Focus Firmly On Security

But Wednesday's meeting added a political dimension and North Korea's attendance has put the focus firmly on security.

North Korea has emerged from five decades of isolation over the last year and saw a historic summit between North Korean leader Kim Jong-il and South Korean leader Kim Dae-jung in June.

And the Bangkok talks mark the first time the North Korean foreign minister will meet his counterparts from South Korea, Japan and the United States.

Cash-strapped Pyongyang is embarking on a diplomatic offensive to improve ties with its neighbors and try to rescue its economy, ruined by neglect and central planning.

But Seoul, Tokyo and Washington want Pyongyang to abandon a missile program that has caused jitters in Asia. North Korea told Russian President Vladimir Putin last week it would scrap its missile program in exchange for help in exploring space.

The United States is deciding whether to proceed with a multi-billion dollar National Missile Defense system to ward off attacks by small states not party to international treaties, such as North Korea. China and Russia have attacked the U.S. plan.

Beijing, which argues North Korea's diplomatic opening has made the anti-missile umbrella unnecessary, has said it would press its opposition to the U.S. scheme at two days of ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) talks due to begin on Wednesday evening.

Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer said the U.S. proposed missile defense scheme ``isn't an offence system and it simply reflects the concern about the development of ballistic capability in certain countries -- and not China and not Russia.''

Landmark U.S.-North Korea Talks

Also at the ARF, a consultative grouping of 37 Asian and other nations, Secretary of State Madeleine Albright is expected to hold an unprecedented meeting with the North Korean foreign minister.

Downer told reporters the whole of Asia also needed dialogue with North Korea.

``It gives the ASEAN Regional Forum a good deal more credibility to have a country in it which is part of the Asia-Pacific region but which frankly has been a concern to the security structure of the Asia-Pacific region,'' he said.

New Zealand Foreign Minister Phil Goff said he hoped the ARF would develop ``from a confidence building exercise into preventive diplomacy and ultimately conflict resolution.''

``After 50 years of isolation, the time has come for a process of engagement with North Korea,'' he said.

Wednesday July 26 10:06 AM ET
Australia Hikes Overseas Spending on HIV/AIDS

BANGKOK (Reuters) - Australia raised its spending on HIV/AIDS projects around the world on Wednesday with a further A$70 million ($41.32 million) added to existing pledges of A$130 million, most of it earmarked for the Asia-Pacific region.

``AIDS strikes people in their most productive years and leaves millions of orphaned children,'' Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer said in a statement. ``It also disrupts key sectors such as agriculture, education, manufacturing and transport,'' he added.

The six-year initiative, launched while Downer was in Bangkok to attend a regional foreign ministers security meeting, would include support for existing projects in Indonesia and Papua New Guinea.

``As a significant amount of funding under the initiative remains uncommitted, considerable opportunities exist for further cooperation,'' Downer said.

Until now, Asia has been more successful in holding the AIDS virus at bay than Africa, where the disease has killed about 12 million people and left many more infected with HIV.

According to a recent UNAIDS report, only three countries in Asia--Cambodia, Myanmar and Thailand--have HIV infection rates exceeding one percent among 15 to 49-year-olds. But the low rates conceal huge numbers of infected people. In India, 3.7 million are infected, more than in any other country except South Africa. In China, an estimated 500,000 people, mainly drug users, live with HIV/AIDS.

Wednesday, July 26 6:06 PM SGT
Powerful East Asian caucus launched

BANGKOK, July 26 (AFP) - A powerful East Asian caucus, shot down in the guise originally proposed by Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad three years ago, met formally here for the first time Wednesday.

Chinese Foreign Minister Tang Jiaxuan, South Korean Foreign Minister Lee Joung-binn and Yohei Kono of Japan joined their 10 counterparts from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).

Their first formal meeting in the Thai capital officially launched the East Asian forum under the "ASEAN plus three" framework -- previous meetings have been held on an informal basis.

Although the grouping is still in search for a name, it closely parallels an East Asian Economic Caucus proposed by Mahathir in 1997 which was torpedoed by the United States and other countries on grounds it could form a protectionist trade bloc.

ASEAN groups Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Malaysia.

A senior ASEAN official who attended a meeting to lay the agenda for the ministerial caucus told AFP that South Korea's foreign minister was expected to brief the forum on the results of the historic June leaders summit between the two Koreas.

The source said it was up to South Korea to raise the issue of North Korea's inaugural participation at the ASEAN security forum which convenes Thursday.

He said "it was only a matter of time" before the Stalinist North Korea would also be added to the ASEAN plus three discussions.

"I think eventually the ASEAN plus three would become ASEAN plus four. After all, North Korea is part of East Asia."

Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam -- ASEAN's poorer members -- were also expected "to push hard" for funds to develop the Mekong basin region, which was halted after the Asian financial crisis in 1997, the source said.

"It is these countries, especially Japan and South Korea, which have the investment capital. It will test Japan's sincerity in its policy of narrowing the development gap (within ASEAN)," he said.

Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer welcomed the launching of the East Asian grouping.

"I think it's a good development. It depends how it evolves over the years but it may be appropriate for Australia and New Zealand to participate in it," Downer told reporters.

Kobsak Chutikul, director-general for economic affairs at the Thai foreign ministry, said Tuesday that the caucus was unlikely to turn into a trade bloc.

"The thinking now is that it's okay if you can get your act together ... as long as you dont make it into an exclusive protectionist bloc and put up walls and barriers. Certainly that's not what we are doing," he said.

Wednesday, July 26 11:29 PM SGT

Report: Journalists Held in Myanmar

BANGKOK, Thailand (AP) - At least 12 journalists, including nine from an opposition newspaper, are being held by the military regime in Myanmar, a media protection group said Wednesday.

The France-based Reporters Without Borders said it sent a letter to the regime calling for the immediate release of the nine if their arrests were connected with work for their newspaper MoJo, or Lightning.

The newspaper, published in Thailand, is banned in Myanmar, also known as Burma, where the media is under tight government control.

Three of the journalists for MoJo, who were working in Myanmar, were arrested in May and are believed to be accused of collecting news from dissidents and secretly distributing their publication, a statement from the media group said.

MoJo is linked to the National League for Democracy, led by Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi, it said. The nine, the statement said, faced jail sentences of up to 10 years.

The military government has rejected allegations by Western governments and human rights organizations that it suppresses basic human rights. The regime took power after a bloody military suppression of a pro-democracy uprising in 1988.

Asia Gateway
Myanmar, Laos and Cambodia Agree on Drug Plan
July 26, 2000

The Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) issued a joint statement yesterday to create a drug-free zone in the region by the year 2015 with the support of Myanmar and Laos, as well as Cambodia, a major transit point for drug-trafficking.

Myanmar Foreign Minister Win Aung, whose government has been accused of closing an eye to mass production of amphetamines by the ethnic Wa tribe at the Thai-Myanmar border, said Yangon would implement a 15-year national drug-eradication program to tie in with the ASEAN deadline.

He denied allegations that Yangon had ties with drug lords

He said that his government seized 30 million amphetamine tablets last year and raided several processing plants.

Laos, a country in the Golden Triangle area, said it was working with the United Nations' Drug Control Program (UNDCP) aimed to stop opium growing in Laos in six years.

Cambodian Foreign Minister Hor Nam Hong, who admitted that his country faces major problems with heroin and marijuana brought into the country, said that Phnom Penh backed the ASEAN move.

Strong regional endorsement given to the initiative is a major boost to drug-busting efforts, hampered in the past by the lack of cooperation between immigration and anti-narcotic authorities.

ASEAN-EU ministerial talks set for Dec.

BANGKOK, July 25 (Kyodo) -- The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) agreed to a proposal by the European Union (EU) to hold ministerial-level talks stalled since 1997 on Dec. 11-12 in Vientiane, a senior Lao diplomat said Tuesday.

The talks would touch on political and security matters as well as economic issues such as customs, intellectual property rights and trade negotiations at the World Trade Organization, according to Bounkeut Sangsomsak, the permanent secretary of the Lao Foreign Ministry.

''The two groups would also discuss how to strengthen cooperation in matters relevant to political dialogue,'' he said.

ASEAN originally proposed the ASEAN-EU Ministerial Meeting (AEMM) be held in Laos in November this year, but France -- which holds the current chairmanship of the EU -- suggested December, he said.

Laos and Cambodia will accede July 28 to the 1980 EU-ASEAN cooperation agreement aimed at boosting economic activities.

Following the pact signing, Laos will be named to take the role of ASEAN-EU coordinator, succeeding Thailand.

The AEMM has been stalled because the EU refuses to sit down with Myanmar's ruling military junta due to the poor human rights situation and the absence of democratic processes in the country.

The EU softened its stance on Myanmar and would now extend humanitarian aid to the country.

Despite its part in the talks, Myanmar is the only country in ASEAN still left out of the ASEAN-EU cooperation agreement.

The EU said earlier Myanmar would only be allowed to accede the pact when the country improves its human rights records and democracy is allowed to flourish.

ASEAN, which Myanmar and Laos joined in 1997, also has Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam as its members.

Myanmar Holds Seminar on Human Resources Development

YANGON (July 25) XINHUA - A seminar on development of human resources is being held here to enable small and medium-sized enterprises in the country to participate in the international economic circle and promote their management skill.

The six-day seminar, which began on Monday, is jointly sponsored by Myanmar's Coordinating Commission on Foreign Economic Affairs and the Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP).

Speaking at the opening of the seminar, Myanmar Minister at the Office of the Chairman of the State Peace and Development Council Brigadier-General Abel said the seminar is a pilot plan for the development of human resources in the Mekong Region.

Topics under discussion cover agricultural businesses, handicraft and tourism, natural and human resources in the Asian region, and Myanmar private entrepreneurs' participation in the agricultural sector.

Attending the seminar are officials from Myanmar ministries of agriculture and irrigation, finance and revenue and education, Myanmar Federation of Chamber of Commerce and Industry as well as those of the ESCAP and tour operators.

In addition to human resources development, transport, trade and tourism are also among the projects of cooperation between Myanmar and other countries in the Mekong region.

In April this year, four countries -- China, Laos, Myanmar and Thailand -- signed an agreement in Myanmar on the opening of commercial navigation on the Lancang-Mekong River by 2001, thus paving way for the development of transportation, trade and tourism in the subregion.

BBC-Wednesday, 26 July, 2000, 16:10 GMT 17:10 UK
EU to resume talks with ASEAN

The European Union says it will resume high-level talks with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, ASEAN, later this year.

The EU suspended the talks three years ago after ASEAN admitted Burma as a member.

The EU External Affairs Commissioner, Chris Patten, speaking at the ASEAN meeting in Bangkok, said that the EU would not allow the issue of Burma to block dialogue with ASEAN.

Mr Patten said the EU would maintain sanctions against Burma's military regime but would also look for ways to expand humanitarian assistance to the country. The EU does not recognise the military authorities in Burma because they failed to accept the results of the 1990 Burmese elections, which were won by the opposition led by Aung San Suu Kyi.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service

BBC-Wednesday, 26 July, 2000, 14:35 GMT 15:35 UK
Suharto 'stole $155m'

Indonesian prosecutors have said they are ready to file charges against former president Suharto for allegedly stealing $155m from the state.
They said the charges would be formally submitted to a court before 10 August.

Mr Suharto, 79, has been accused of misusing millions in dollars raised by seven charitable foundations under his control during his 32 years in power.

The former president, who was forced from power two years ago, has denied the allegations.

He has been accused of siphoning off billions of dollars of state funds whilst in power.

Charities 'misused'

However, the current investigation has focused on one specific allegation - the misuse of several charities set up by Mr Suharto to which civil servants and companies were obliged to make donations.

Prosecutors say Mr Suharto channelled the money for the benefit of his own family instead of using it to alleviate widespread poverty.

"The total loss to the state is 1.4bn rupiah ($155m) which involves the seven foundations that used to be managed by Suharto," prosecutor Antasari Azhar said.

The prosecutor was speaking after the team investigating the former dictator's alleged corruption had presented their final summary to the attorney-general's office.

House arrest

Mr Suharto, who has suffered a stroke, is under house arrest in central Jakarta. His lawyers say he is too ill to answer questions.

President Abdurrahman Wahid has said Mr Suharto will be pardoned if found guilty, but should face trial.

Nonetheless the attorney-general seems determined to press ahead with the case.

In June President Wahid said he believed the former president had over $45bn stahed away in foreign back accounts - 95% of which, he said, would eventually be recovered by the state.

He has tried to broker a deal with the Suharto family for the return of the alleged stolen funds.

Last week, prosecutors impounded a 12-floor office building owned by Suharto's foundations and confiscated a mansion belonging to the former treasurer of one of the foundations.