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-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- BURMA RELATED NEWS - NOV - 6, 2000. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- HEADLINE
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- AFP - Laos defiantly denies minister has
defected
AFP - Indian FM arrives in Vietnam on first leg
of Indochina tour
AP- Myanmar Troops Extend Offensive
Asia Pulse - India And Myanmar Discuss
Combatting Terrorism
Asia Pulse - India, Mekong Basin Countries to
Launch Tourism Project
BERNAMA
- ILO MAY STILL PUNISH MYANMAR DESPITE BAN ON FORCED LABOR
The Times of India - Myanmar troops launch
new offensive against rebels
The Taipei Times - Burmese
scholar drops integrity to rewrite country's history
Xinhua - Myanmar's Metal Export Doubled in First Half of 2000 Bkk Post - Tourism hit by fighting, casino
ban
Monday, November 6 3:42 PM SGT
Laos defiantly denies minister has defected HANOI, Nov 6 (AFP) - Communist
authorities in Laos Monday strongly denied the high-profile defection of a
government minister despite confirmation from New Zealand Prime Minister Helen
Clark that he would be granted political asylum there.
"Mr. Khamxay Souphanouvong, who is minister in the prime minister's office,
is now on long-term health treatment abroad and is also learning management
while overseas," the foreign ministry told AFP from Vientiane, reiterating an
earlier statement.
Clark told journalists in Wellington earlier that reports that Khamxay was
in New Zealand awaiting political asylum were "essentially accurate."
"I understand the convention is not to comment on political asylum for
security reasons, but I can go so far as to say that what you have seen in the
press is essentially accurate," she said.
"It is essentially accurate but I am not elaborating."
Khamxay's defection is a serious embarrassment for the Lao authorities. His
late father, whose aristocratic background earned him the nickname of the Red
Prince, was the public face of Hanoi's Laotian communist allies throughout the
Vietnam War.
There have been persistent reports that the minister had broken ranks with
the communist regime ever since he slipped out of Laos in April, but they have
been steadfastly denied by Vientiane.
The government is already facing security problems after a string of
mystery bombings rocked the Lao capital earlier this year.
And in the next two months Vientiane is set to a host a string of visits
which will place the country under the diplomatic spotlight.
Later this week the Laotian authorities are to host a joint meeting of the
foreign ministers of Cambodia, India, Laos, Myanmar and Thailand while on
Saturday Chinese President Jiang Zemin flies in for a three-day official
visit.
And next month Vientiane is to host the first meeting between European
Union and Association of South East Asian Nations foreign ministers since
1997.
Monday, November 6 5:30 PM SGT
Indian FM arrives in Vietnam on first leg of Indochina tour HANOI, Nov 6 (AFP) - Indian
Foreign Minister Jaswant Singh arrived here Monday on the first leg of an
Indochina tour aimed at boosting New Delhi's ties with the region, airport
officials said.
Singh was due meet his Vietnamese counterpart later in the day before
holding talks with Defence Minister Pham Van Tra and Prime Minister Pham Van
Khai Tuesday.
The two countries, whose armed forces are both overwhelmingly
Russian-supplied, have sought to boost their defence cooperation in recent
years.
Vietnam is keen to discuss the possible purchase of second-hand equipment
from the Indian armed forces as New Delhi updates its equipment, Vietnamese
defence sources told AFP.
During a visit by Indian Defence Minister George Fernandes here in March,
the two sides signed an agreement for jungle warfare training of Indian troops
fighting ethnic insurgents in the heavily forested northeast, the Hong
Kong-based South China Morning Post reported earlier this year.
The two governments are also keen to boost trade ties to match their
traditionally close diplomatic relations. In recent years bilateral trade has
reached just 150 million dollars a year.
Singh's visit here is the first leg in a regional tour which will also take
him to Vientiane on Wednesday.
There he will join the foreign ministers of Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and
Thailand for an inaugural meeting of a new Ganges-Mekong Linkage group.
There was no word whether any representatives of India's regional rival
China, which normally takes part in Mekong regional meetings through its Yunnan
province, would join the talks.
Chinese President Jiang Zemin is due to arrive in the Lao capital on
Saturday on the final day of Singh's visit.
Monday, November 6 12:46 AM SGT
Myanmar Troops Extend Offensive MAE SOT, Thailand (AP) -
Myanmar government soldiers have extended their offensive against Karen ethnic
rebels, attacking another guerrilla stronghold on Sunday, rebel officials and
Thai villagers said.
Five hundred government troops attacked the Karen National Union base at
Waw Lay Khee, about 210 miles northwest of Bangkok, said KNU officials, speaking
on condition of anonymity.
It was the second attack on a KNU stronghold opposite Phoppra district in
Thailand's Tak province in less than a week.
Myanmar troops, aided by ethnic guerrilla allies of the Democratic Karen
Buddhist Army, launched an attack on a KNU stronghold at Wei Na Na Hta, about 18
miles north of Waw Lay Khee on Thursday.
The Karen claim to have held the base despite artillery and ground attacks
by about 400 troops.
KNU officials said about 150 civilians had been caught in Sunday's fighting
and were unable to flee to safety in Thailand.
The KNU claimed that four Myanmar soldiers died in the attack on Waw Lay
Khee and one of their own guerrillas was injured.
They also said that one Myanmar officer and nine other government troops
were wounded in heavy fighting through Saturday night around Wei Na Na Hta.
Thai villagers near the fighting are being evacuated to safer areas away
from the border.
The attacks seem to follow a familiar pattern of the government taking the
offensive just as the rainy season, which began around July, is coming to an
end.
The KNU has been fighting for regional autonomy since Myanmar's
independence in 1948. It once controlled a large part of the country's eastern
border region, but in recent years lost its last major enclaves along the border
with Thailand. Its forces, thought to number 2,000 to 3,000, now fight in mobile
guerrilla units.
It is the only major ethnic army that has refused to sign a cease-fire with
the military regime of Myanmar, also known as Burma. The government has brokered
deals with at least 15 other armies.
The KNU has said it will give up its armed struggle if its political rights
are guaranteed.
Monday, November 6 12:50 PM SGT
India And Myanmar Discuss Combatting Terrorism NEW DELHI, Nov 6 Asia Pulse -
India and Myanmar have discussed ways of combating terrorism, insurgency,
narco-trafficking and gun-running in addition to illegal border
crossing.
This figured during talks visiting Myanmar Home Minister Tin Hlaing had with the Indian External Affairs Minister Jaswant Singh here. Hlaing, on a eight-day visit, had been instrumental in setting up an
institutional mechanism between the two countries to deal with these
issues.
Singh underscored the need for expanding cooperation particularly in
infrastructure-related projects.
The two sides also agreed to explore avenues for improving transborder
infrastructural links, a foreign office spokesman told reporters. India and
Myanmar have a 1,600 km-long border.
The spokesman said the Tamu-Kalemyo road link in Myanmar built by the
Border Roads Organisation would be made operational soon.
Myanmar sought more facilities from India to provide training to its
security personnel in the country.
During his stay, Hlaing will hold parleys with the Indian Home Minister L K
Advani, Defence Minister George Fernandes besides Minister of State for
Personnel Vasundhra Raje. He will also visit Bodhgaya, Mumbai and
Hyderabad.
Monday, November 6 3:50 PM SGT
India, Mekong Basin Countries to Launch Tourism Project NEW DELHI, Nov 6 Asia Pulse -
An ambitious Ganga-Mekong Suvannaphoom linkage project to promote tourism,
culture and education between India and Mekong basin countries of Myanmar,
Thailand, Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam would be formally launched in the Laotian
capital Vientiane on Nov 10.
Indian External Affairs Minister Jaswant Singh, who is embarking on a
week-long tour of Vietnam and Laos early this week, would launch the project
along with his counterparts from the five Mekong basin countries during their
historic meeting.
A decision to launch the project was taken by the six ministers at a
meeting held on the margins of ASEAN Post Ministerial Conference in Bangkok last
July.
The project in its second phase is expected to take up cooperation among
these countries in transport and infrastructure sector, including railways,
roads and air travel as well as greater cooperation in science and technology
and human resources, a senior External Affairs Ministry official said.
Higher education and areas relevant to knowldege-based industries within
the ambit of cooperation in the education sector have been included on India's
suggestion.
In this sector, cooperative efforts would draw on India's experience in
Information Technology and various other high technology areas, the official
said.
In the tourism sector, focus would be on promoting it based on cultural
resources and the common heritage of the region. The project envisages package
tours to the region focussing on Buddhist pilgrimage sites in the six countries.
India is likely to be a major beneficiary in this project.
"Given the commonalties of cultural traditions, including the Buddhist
heritage, there is good scope for India and these countries to join hands to
promote tourism as well as educational and cultural interaction," the official
said.
During his visit to Vietnam and Laos, the External Affairs Minister would
also attend bilateral joint commission meeting besides holding wide-ranging
discussions on regional and international issues of mutual concern.
Singh would be in Vietnam on a three-day bilateral visit from tomorrow
during which he would attend the 10th meeting of the Indo-Vietnam joint
commission to explore avenues for giving new thrust to the existing trade and
economic ties between the two countries.
Vietnam has been pressing for more Indian investments in that country.
Negotiations in this regard were underway at various levels, the spokesman
said.
Bilateral trade, heavily weighing in favour of India, stood at US$154
million in 1999-2000. Indian exports to Vietnam accounted for $143 million,
while imports amounted to $11 million during this period.
Several Indian investment projects have been licensed in Vietnam. These
included a sugar processing plant by the Nagarjuna Group. ONGC is involved in
offshore oil and natural gas exploration in the southern part of Vietnam. In
addition Godrej, Shiva Plastics, Arihant Oil Mills have plants in the
country.
Some Indian companies have shown interest in tea, coffee and paper and pulp
industries in Vietnam. Ranbaxy group is pursuing a license to set up a
pharmaceutical unit and the United Phosphorous, a pesticide plant.
On the politcal front there has been close identity of views on several
international issues between the two countries.
Vietnamese leaders have publicly expressed their full support for New
Delhi's stand on Kashmir, terming it a "sacred and integral part" of India and
have criticised Pakistan's interference in India's internal affairs. Vietnam
also supports a permanent seat for India in an expanded U N Security
Council.
Singh, who will be arriving in Vientiane on Nov 8, would be attending
Indo-Laos Joint Commission meeting on trade, economic, scientific and
technological cooperation besides inaugurating the Ganga-Mekong project along
with his counterparts from Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam, Laos and Myanmar.
A number of Indian companies including textile, pharmaceutical, electrical
and leather goods manufacturers like TATA, PEC, Batliboi, Balmer and Lawrie and
Greaves International Ltd are seeking trade opportunities in Laos.
The Kirloskars have received an order to export pumps worth $3.14 million
to Laos. Similarly the Laos Ministry of Agriculture has placed order for
irrigation pumps worth $4.1 million with WPIL of Calcutta.
Malaysian National News Agency - BERNAMA.
November 06 , 2000 12:16PM ILO MAY STILL PUNISH MYANMAR DESPITE BAN ON FORCED LABOR By Yasushi Fujii GENEVA, Nov 6 (Oana-Kyodo) -
Myanmar's bid to dodge International Labor Organization (ILO) sanctions by
banning its practice of forcing citizens to toil on public works may not pass
muster with the body, diplomatic sources said Sunday.
They said an ordinance containing the ban, announced Thursday by the Yangon
junta, lacks ''the specifics'' needed to avoid punishing measures that could
include the suspension and downsizing of assistance from U.N. agencies and
international organizations.
The ILO governing body is to deliberate this month on whether to impose
sanctions on Myanmar under the ILO constitution's article 33, which the global
labor body has never invoked.
Countries such as the United States and Britain, critical of Myanmar's
human rights record, may argue for penalties by citing the lack of specifics as
an another attempt by the junta to thwart the will of the international
community, according to the sources.
A week after a five-member ILO mission to Myanmar completed six days of
talks with junta officials over the issue, Deputy Foreign Minister Khin Maung
Win said various government ministries had also issued orders banning forced
labor, but two laws -- the City Act and the Village Act -- allowing forced labor
have not been repealed.
Following the declaration of the ordinance by the Ministry of Home Affairs
under the guidance of the ruling State Peace and Development Council (SPDC),
Myanmar no longer has ''the legal basis which existed in the previous two
acts,'' the sources said. The ordinance also says government authorities cannot
''request forced labor.''
But diplomats see problems in the implementation of the ban.
For instance, the SPDC must send specific instructions to local military
commanders if the prohibition is to be effective and put into practice.
''So far, we have not seen any such thing,'' one diplomat said.
The mission may submit its report to the governing body as early as
Tuesday.
The document will serve as the basis for discussions on the matter at the
body.
The sources said Myanmar's omission of details on terminating forced labor
would be mentioned in the report, which will likely draw criticism of Yangon by
the U.S. and other states. An ILO spokesman declined to discuss the contents of
the report, saying it is still in the ''editing process.''
In addition, Myanmar has rejected repealing the two acts, saying the SPDC
is only a ''transitional authority'' with no mandate to scrap laws passed by a
legitimate legislature. In November 1997, the SPDC replaced the State Law and
Order Restoration Council (SLORC), which was formed following a military coup in
September 1988.
In 1998, the ILO adopted a resolution requesting Myanmar to end ''all forms
of forced labor.'' It calls for the repeal of the Town Act and Village Act, as
well as the punishment of officials involved in forced labor.
Article 33 states that the governing body can recommend the IlO general
conference take ''such action as it may deem wise and expedient to secure
compliance'' with a recommendation by an ilo commission of inquiry or a decision
by the International Court of Justice.
In June, the International Labor Conference, the ILO's highest
decision-making body, adopted a resolution saying article 33 will be invoked
unless Myanmar makes concrete progress that is satisfactory to the ILO by the
end of November.
The time-buying resolution was adopted following a fierce debate in which
Japan and other Asian states pressed for more dialogue with and encouragement of
the junta to bring about an end to its use of forced labor. The U.S. and
European countries, meanwhile, urged immediate invocation.
Some diplomats are concerned that resorting to the measure may open a
pandora's box of labor-practices cases, leading to sanctions against countries
such as Iraq and Cuba.
-- Oana-Kyodo
The Times of India - Nov 6,
2000.
Myanmar troops launch new offensive against rebels MAE SOT, Thailand: Myanmar troops and their Democratic Karen Buddhist Army
allies have launched a heavy offensive against rebel Karen National Union troops
near the Thai border, officials said Sunday. The fierce fighting has forced the
evacuation of 143 villagers on the Thai side of the border, the commander of the
fourth infantry task force Colonel Chainarong Thanaroon said.
Another 120 ethnic Karen civilians have also crossed into Thailand to
escape the conflict, he said, adding that the fighting was continuing. The Thai
military has deployed 100 soldiers along the border opposite the battleground in
Phop Phra district to prevent any incursions.
"We will protect our sovereignty from any armed intruders" Chainarong told
AFP, adding that the contingent would be backed up with heavy weaponry if
necessary. The fighting, now in its fifth day, intensified Saturday when the
Myanmar troops and about 400 DKBA fighters began bombarding the KNU stronghold
with mortars and grenade launchers. It was not known whether there were any
casualties in the battle.
The KNU has fought an exhausting 51-year battle for greater autonomy
against the central government in Yangon and is one of the last major insurgent
groups fighting the junta. Thailand is home to more than 120,000 refugees from
Myanmar, many of whom live in camps on the Thai side of the border. (AFP)
The Taipei Times - Nov 6,
2000.
Burmese scholar drops integrity to rewrite country's history A close friend of the country's ruling junta, academic and former president of Burma Maung Maung has written a revisionist take on the 1988 uprising that rocked the world By Bertil Lintner SPECIAL CONTRIBUTOR In August 1988, millions of people took to the streets of Burma's capital
Rangoon (now called Myanmar and Yangon by its military regime), and every town
and major village across the country.
They demanded an end to 26 years of military-dominated dictatorship, and to
a disastrous economic policy called "The Burmese Way to Socialism," which had
turned what used to be Southeast Asia's most prosperous country into an economic
and social wreck.
What had begun as peaceful demonstrations turned into a bloodbath when the
military stepped in, first to crush the demonstrations in early August and, when
that failed, again on Sept.18 to reassert power.
On both occasions, thousands of unarmed demonstrators were gunned down in
massacres far bloodier than China's more publicized crackdown on its
pro-democracy movement a year later.
Dr Maung Maung, who served as Burma's president for a month during the
upheaval of August-September 1988, purports to chronicle these dramatic events
in this book.
But it is more an attempt to rewrite history, a white-wash of one of the
most brutal massacres in modern Asian history. More precisely, it is a blind
eulogy to Burma's ageing strongman Ne Win, and Maung Maung's reverence for the
"Old Man" is extended even to his children and grandchildren. For these reasons
alone, Maung Maung's book is worth reading because it shows how far an academic
sycophant is prepared to go to please his mentor.
One of the worst examples of a deliberate distortion of history is Maung
Maung's version of Ne Win's infamous warning in July 1988 to the increasingly
restless people of Burma, who by then had begun to protest against the old
order: "As for the control of civil disturbances, I have to inform the people
that when the army shoots, it shoots to hit, it doesn't fire into the air to
scare. Therefore, I warn those causing disturbances that they will not be spared
if in the future the army is brought in." However, Maung Maung quotes Ne Win as
saying: "Soldiers are trained to shoot straight on order, not overhead into the
air. Let those inclined to anarchy be duly warned: if they have to face the
troops it will be no laughing matter."
But then the army didn't use violence at all. In Maung Maung's bizarre
interpretation of what happened in Rangoon 12 years ago, some Buddhist monks
opened fire on "looters." The president at that time and Maung Maung's
predecessor as head of state, Sein Lwin, who became universally known as "the
Butcher of Rangoon" for his role in the killings, was "as soft as soft could
be."
The people of all ages who in 1988 risked their lives to demand political
and economic change are called "hooligans, looters, arsonists, headhunters" and
the only reason why the world paid any attention to the upheavals was because
"sensational news was not breaking out elsewhere in the world in 1988."
But despite such far-fetched interpretations, the book contains precious
little about the events of 1988. Nearly three quarters of the text is a glowing
account of Ne Win and his efforts to build up Burma's armed forces to a
formidable and "responsible" institution. It is even questionable whether the
title of the book, "The 1988 Uprising in Burma," is Maung Maung's own. Nowhere
in the text does he call the events of 1988 an "uprising." Instead, he uses "the
disturbances" and similar terms to describe the events of 1988, echoing the
military regime's own description of the popular uprising.
It is far more likely that the title was given by the American scholar,
Franklin Mark Osanka, who met Maung Maung in Burma in the mid-1990s and then
obtained the original manuscript. Osanka's foreword to the book also reveals
some astonishing ignorance about Burma and Maung Maung. Osanka, for instance,
believes that Maung Maung was elected President of the Union of Burma on Aug.
18, 1988. Maung Maung was appointed -- not elected -- president on Aug. 19 by
the inner circle of the then besieged ruling party, the Burma Socialist Program
Party (BSPP).
This is a very sad book. Under different circumstances, an obviously
intelligent and well-educated person such as Maung Maung could have been an
outstanding scholar. But he decided to adjust his scholarship to please one of
Asia's cruelest dictators and, in the process, to become a defender of mass
murder. It is perhaps even more astonishing that Yale University's Southeast
Asia Program, a respectable institution, chose to publish this book without a
serious and objective commentary.
Myanmar's Metal Export Doubled in First
Half of 2000
YANGON (Nov. 4) XINHUA -
Myanmar exported 14,000 tons of base metal and ores in the first six months of
this year, doubled as compared with the same period of 1999, according to the
latest official economic indicators.
Meanwhile, the country imported base metal manufactures worth of 113
million dollars in the half-year period, 93 million less than the same period of
1999.
Myanmar annually exports 19,460 tons of base metal and ores, while
importing 255 million dollars of such manufactures.
Myanmar is well endowed with mineral resources, having two state
enterprises under the Ministry of Mines undertaking the production of metallic
minerals such as gold, copper, silver, lead, zinc, tin and tungsten, and one
enterprise dealing with non- metallic minerals or industrial minerals such as
iron, steel, coal, barytes, limestone, gypsum and dolomite.
The production of precious stones such as gems, jade and diamond are
handled by another state enterprise known as the Myanma Gems Enterprise under
the same ministry.
Bangkok Post - Nov 6,
2000.
BORDER - Tourism hit by fighting, casino ban Supamart Kasem Local tourism has dropped by two-thirds because of fighting across the
border in Burma and strict measures to prevent Thais from visiting a casino in
Myawaddy.
Samart Loyfa, Mae Sot district chief, said 500-600 tourists used to visit
the weekend Ban Rim Moei market, near the Thai-Burmese Friendship Bridge. Last
weekend there were only about 200.
He blamed the decrease on a clash last month between the army and Burmese
soldiers in Umphang district, which claimed the life a Thai soldier.
A battle between Burmese troops and the Karen National Union opposite Phop
Phra district was another cause for concern.
A National Security Council ban on Thais from outside Tak crossing the
border in Mae Sot, to prevent people visiting the casino, was also having an
effect.
Pol Capt Sombat Phannarong, owner of Umphang Hill Resort, said 200 tourists
have cancelled trips to the area because of the fighting.
Only 70 people had confirmed their bookings.
"Some tourists have cancelled bookings to visit Thi Lor Su waterfall
because they believe it is near the war zone. "They are actually 30km apart," he
said.
Junta troops attack Karen strongpoint
Tak-Burmese soldiers from the 2nd infantry battalion attacked a Karen
National Union position at Waley Khee, about 10km from the Thai border,
yesterday afternoon.
A KNU source said four Burmese soldiers were killed and one Karen trooper
wounded in the clash, opposite Phop Phra district.
About 500 Burmese soldiers moved against the strongpoint under the
protection of an artillery barrage, the source said. The Karen were commanded by
Maj Nada, son of Gen Bo Mya, the KNU military leader.
The source said the Burmese recruited villagers from Palu Camp, opposite
Mae Sot district, to transport weapons and supplies during the offensive.
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