|
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
BURMA RELATED NEWS - April 11,
2001.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
HEADLINES
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- AFP - Asia's tourism industry urged to be more open about
HIV-AIDS
AFP - EU renews
Myanmar sanctions for another six months
Reuters - ASEAN
economic ministers to meet in Cambodia
Asia Pulse - Four
Nations to Launch Shipping Service on Lancang Mekong
Rivers
Reuters - ASEAN chief
calls on U.S. and China to settle row soon
BBC - Burmese rebels
to petition UNHCR
BBC - Burma rejects
'EU bullying'
The Daily Star - Economic ties between Bangladesh, Myanmar hold immense
potential
The Independent -
Bangladesh - BDR asks NASAKA to free 10 abducted
Bangladeshis
The Daily Star - NASAKA takes away two trawlers
The Straits Times -
Distrust bedevils Thai-Myanmar relations
Bkk Post - Burmese poised for attack on
Karenni
Xinhuanet - China
Presents Literature Title to Myanmar Poet
Xinhuanet - Large
Amount of Stimulants Seized in Myanmar
Xinhuanet - Myanmar
Destroys Illegal VCD Discs
Xinhuanet - Myanmar
Opens Second Resource Center
Tuesday April 10, 6:11 PM Asia's tourism industry urged to be more
open about HIV-AIDS
KUALA LUMPUR, April 10 (AFP) -
Experts Tuesday urged Asia's tourism chiefs to be more open about the AIDS
epidemic in the region, saying it was still in an early development stage.
"We cannot fool the public... we need to be open about it,"
said Bill Black, chairman of the Thailand Business Coalition
on AIDS.
Black said Thailand, which has some 700,000 HIV cases, had addressed the
issue head-on by safe sex campaigns and other government policies but there had
been no decrease in tourist arrivals.
The industry could help slow the growth of the disease by being educated to
deal with it in a more positive manner and give accurate information to tourists
so they could make informed decisions, he said.
"HIV/AIDS is going to be a mainstream issue in businesses sooner than later
and we need to be more proactive to that," he said, adding that there was "no
gain to secrecy."
He and other speakers were addressing a session on AIDS and tourism on the
sidelines of an Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA) conference.
Black said national tourist organisations must be informed about their
countries' HIV/AIDS situation. He urged industry players like hotels and tour
agents to develop an action program to manage AIDS in the workplace.
Steven Krauss, UNAIDS program and external relations adviser, said
Asia-Pacific accounts for more than six million out of 36 million people
worldwide infected with the HIV virus, the second highest after Africa.
"The AIDS epidemic in Asia-Pacific is 10 years behind the scenes in Africa
and is still in an early development stage," he said.
Krauss said "mobility, tourism, unprotected heterosexual contact, very
active sexual patterns and injected drug use" in Myanmar, China, Malaysia and
Vietnam were fuelling the disease in the region.
"Suppression, incarceration and an enforcement approach to injected drug
use and commercial sex does not solve the problem ... young people who work in
the sex industry need access to education, care and support."
Krauss said the region must "promote the use of condom" such as in Thailand
and provide workplace education.
"Many countries are still teaching their young people the same way as 20
years ago before HIV was around ... we need in the long-term to develop good
life skills and reproductive health programs in schools," he added.
Tuesday April 10, 1:02 AM
EU renews Myanmar sanctions for another
six months
LUXEMBOURG, April 9 (AFP) - The
European Union renewed Monday its sanctions against military-ruled Myanmar for
six more months, stating that the human rights situation in the Southeast Asian
nation remains "extremely serious."
In a statement, EU foreign ministers said the common position of the 15 EU
member states -- including an arms embargo, a visa ban on junta members and
associates, and a suspension of non-humanitarian aid -- would remain intact
through October.
They said they welcomed "initial contacts" between the Yangon junta and
Aung San Suu Kyi, the Nobel Peace Prize winner who leads Myanmar's democratic
opposition, who is under house arrest in Myanmar's capital.
But the foreign ministers added that, in their view, there has been "no
substantive progress towards the objectives set out in the common position" set
out in October 1996.
"In particular, the human rights situation in Burma/Myanmar remained
extremely serious," they said.
Nevertheless, the ministers said they "sincerely hoped" that contacts
between the junta and Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy (NLD)
"would soon lead to concrete steps toward national reconciliation, democracy and
respect for the human rights of all the peoples" of Myanmar.
The European Union, they added, "stands ready to support such
developments."
Last year EU sanctions were beefed up to include a ban on exports of
equipment that might be used for interal repression, and a freeze on funds held
abroad by those on the EU visa black list.
But at the same time the European Union expressed a desire to open a
dialogue with Yangon -- a move that lead to a visit to Myanmar last January by
an EU delegation that met Aung San Suu Kyi as well as junta members.
Monday's statement declared that a similar mission could be sent again to
Yangon "in due course."
In the meantime, the situation in Myanmar will remain "under close review,"
with the common position liable to be reconsidered "at any time shouold
developments ... so require."
Monday's declaration also followed a visit to Yangon last week by the UN's
new human rights expert for Myanmar, Brazilian academic Paulo Sergio Pinheiro --
the first of its kind since 1996.
The EU ministers said they supported UN efforts in Myanmar, and backed an
International Labour Organization (ILO) resolution calling on Yangon to put a
"verifiable and definite end" to the use of forced labor.
Tuesday April 10, 6:53 PM
ASEAN economic ministers to meet in
Cambodia
PHNOM PENH, April 10 (Reuters)
- Economic ministers of the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations
(ASEAN) will meet in the northern Cambodian town of Siem Reap from May 3 to 5,
officials said on Tuesday.
An informal meeting known as a retreat will be held on May 3, and the
ministers will meet their counterparts from China, Japan and South Korea on May
4.
"This meeting will concentrate on overall economic cooperation among ASEAN
countries," Sok Siphana, secretary of state for the Cambodian commerce ministry,
told Reuters.
Sok Siphana will attend the meeting along with Commerce Minister Cham
Prasidh.
Topics to be discussed include the promotion of information technology
under a so-called e-ASEAN Initiative and plans for economic cooperation between
ASEAN and Australia and New Zealand, a Thai commerce ministry official told
Reuters in Bangkok.
Specifically, the ministers are expected to find ways to help newer members
of ASEAN -- Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam -- forge closer economic
development, he said.
Thai Commerce Minister Adisai Bodharamik will chair the Siem Reap meeting.
Sok Siphana said he expects the meeting to raise the profile of Cambodia
and boost tourism in Siem Reap, home of the fabled 9th-12th century Angkor
temples.
"This will show that our country has the facilities to host such a meeting,
and it shows that Cambodia's economy is growing," he said.
"It also will project a good image for tourism because when
(the delegates) return to their countries, they will tell people that
Cambodia is a nice place to visit," he added.
Other ASEAN member countries are Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the
Philippines, Singapore and Thailand.
Tuesday April 10, 5:25 PM
Four Nations to Launch Shipping Service
on Lancang Mekong Rivers
KUNMING, April 10 Asia Pulse -
A commercial shipping service jointly established by the governments of China,
Laos, Myanmar and Thailand on the Lancang-Mekong River will be launched in late
June.
The four companies signed the agreement for the service in February, last
year. Transport ministers of the four countries will attend the launching
ceremony by then in Jinghong, a city in southwest China's Yunnan Province, the
provincial shipping administration said Tuesday.
Under the agreement the four countries inked on April 20 last year in
Myanmar's border town of Tachilek, vessels of any signatory nation are entitled
to sail freely on a 886.1-km section of the Lancang-Mekong River between Simao
of China and Luangprabang of Laos.
Along the section, 14 ports will be opened to ships and boats from the four
signatory countries, including four in China, six in Laos and two in Myanmar and
Thailand respectively.
The Lancang-Mekong River, 4,880 km long, originates in China and runs
through Laos, Thailand, Myanmar, Cambodia and Vietnam. International shipping
service did not begin on the river until 1990 when China and Laos jointly
organized a trial sailing.
It is estimated that by the year 2010, ships traveling on the upper reaches
of the Mekong, mainly in China and what is called Lancang, will carry 1.5
million tons of cargoes and 400,000 passengers.
Wednesday April 11, 6:02 PM
ASEAN chief calls on U.S. and China to
settle row soon
By Nopporn Wong-Anan BANGKOK (Reuters) - The head of
Southeast Asia's regional grouping, ASEAN, called on Wednesday for China and the
United States to settle their spy plane row quickly for the sake of stability
and security in Asia.
Rodolfo Severino, secretary-general of the 10-member Association of
Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), told Reuters the superpowers, both allies of
ASEAN nations, should not be "sidetracked" by national concerns.
"All I would like to see is that the issue is resolved in a way that
satisfies both sides," he said in an interview.
"The relationship between China and the United States is very important for
the security and stability in the region."
"What we are concerned with is that the United States and China maintain
good relations, rational relations so that they've taken into account their own
interests -- the interest of each of them, the interest of both of them, and the
interest of the region and of the world," he said.
A U.S. Navy aircraft on a spying mission over the South China Sea collided
in mid-air with a Chinese fighter jet on April 1, sparking a major standoff
between Washington and Beijing.
The spy plane's 24 crew are being detained on the southern Chinese island
of Hainan, where the plane was forced to make an emergency landing. The Chinese
pilot is missing and feared dead.
The row showed signs of entering its final act on Wednesday as the 24 crew
spent their 11th day in detention.
The most significant signs came from China's state-run media, which
appeared to be preparing the angry nation for a resolution which could be
presented as the apology from the United States that Beijing has demanded, but
Washington refuses to give.
Severino said he hoped the talks would be resolved soon.
"We hope they will approach this rationally, in a manner that will improve
the security and stability of the region," he said at the end of a four-day
informal visit to Thailand.
China and the United States are major trading partners of ASEAN and the
regional bloc has tried hard to maintain friendly relations with both sides
during the standoff.
Both countries are members of a 23-country regional security group called
the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF).
The ARF, whose foreign ministers meet every year, comprises the 10 members
of ASEAN and 13 other countries, including South Korea, the United States,
Russia, China and Japan.
ASEAN groups Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the
Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.
BBC - Wednesday, 11 April, 2001, 07:53
GMT 08:53 UK
Burmese rebels to petition UNHCR A court in India's eastern Andaman islands has allowed the leaders of a
group of 36 Burmese rebels to go to Delhi to appeal for the protection of the
United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.
The court said the five could stay in the capital for two months to present
their case.
The rebels, from the Arakan and Karen regions of Burma, have been held
without trial on the Andaman Islands for more than three years.
Their lawyer Nandita Haskar has asked the court to order their release,
saying no charges have been brought against them.
The rebels want UNHCR protection to ensure they are not deported to Burma
where their lives might be in danger.
From the newsroom of the BBC World Service
BBC -Wednesday, 11 April, 2001, 08:25
GMT 09:25 UK
Burma rejects 'EU bullying' The military government in Burma has rejected the extension of European
sanctions on the country as bullying tactics.
In a statement to the BBC, the Foreign Ministry says Burma will disregard
foreign pressure, and that Burma is a dignified country which refuses to beg.
On Monday, the European Union announced that continuing human rights abuses
in Burma warranted the extension of sanctions for another six months.
Europe has banned visits from ruling military generals, refused arms sales
and suspended non-humanitarian aid.
The sanctions remain under review and the European Union has welcomed signs
of what it's described as meaningful dialogue between the leaders of the regime
and the pro-democracy movement.
From the newsroom of the BBC World Service
The Daily Star - April 09,
2001.
Economic ties between Bangladesh,
Myanmar hold immense potential
Speakers tell seminar in the city
Diplomatic Correspondent
Speakers at a seminar here yesterday said that the cost of non-cooperation
between Bangladesh and its eastern neighbour Myanmar is much higher given the
strategic geographical location of the two countries.
Besides, it is sapping the immense potential of development of economic relations that will be of mutual benefit. The seminar on Bangladesh-Myanmar Relations was organised by the Center for
Strategic and Peace Studies at the CIRDAP Auditorium in the city.
The speakers felt that the two neighbours should not lose any time and the
opportunity to link their economies and act as a land-bridge between two
strategic parts of Asia sandwiched by the two most populous nations of the
world-- China and India.
Presided over by the Center's Executive Director Major General Syed
Muhammad Ibrahim, Bir Pratik, the session was moderated by Ambassador Anwar
Hashim.
Two papers were presented at the seminar, one on A Friendly Myanmar for
Bangladesh: Necessity and Reality by Md. Obaidul Haque of the faculty of
International Relations, Dhaka University while the other on Myanmar-Bangladesh
Strategic Security Concerns Keeping in View the Quadrangular Relationship among
China, India, Myanmar and Bangladesh by Brigadier General (retd.) Syed Jahangir
Kabir, a former Defence Adviser at the Bangladesh embassy in Yangon.
Both papers argued that Myanmar, once known as the rice bowl of Asia, has
vast untapped resources of timber, agricultural surplus, sweet and sea water
fish, cotton, mineral products like copper, gold, silver, tin and coal, precious
stones, and oil and gas. Its vast unexploited lands can be utilised also to set
up joint venture manufacturing plants and Special Economic Zones.
Myanmar's admittance to ASEAN has great significance for Bangladesh, as it
has brought the south-east Asian nations' grouping just next to the border,
opening a new vista of unfolding opportunities for Bangladesh.
"Myanmar's enrolment in BIMSTEC is seen as a scope which will provide a
missing link and a valuable land bridge to expand trade, investment and joint
development between South and Southeast Asia. BIMSTEC hopes to move from a
Preferential Trade Area ultimately to a Free Trade Area," said one of the
speakers at the seminar.
Myanmar and Bangladesh has much to offer to each other and Yangon with its
enormous natural resources can look forward to a market of 125 million people of
Bangladesh, it was observed.
Obaidul Haque said that trade between Bangladesh and Myanmar is still very
insignificant compared to the potential due to lack of proper infrastructure and
administrative machinery required to promote the volume.
"Expanding road, river and air linkages between the two countries is of
crucial importance. Building a bridge over Naf River for easy interactions
between the two peoples is of utmost importance," observed Haque.
The discussants said that the two neighbours had some irritants in their
relations, which could be solved amicably.
"Myanmar should also seriously consider changing it flawed citizenship law,
which fails to recognise the Rohingya as citizens. Lack of citizenship restricts
the freedom of the Rohingya to travel outside and within the country, to partake
in public service, or pursue some types of higher education. It is of interest
to us because only the integration of the Rohingyas into the mainstream society
can stop any further exodus," Haque said in his paper.
Most discussants, however, felt that despite some irritants, such as the
Rohingya issue and the recent border flare-up, the best of economic relations
should be established between the two countries for mutual benefit.
Rashed Maksud Khan, Chairman of Myanmar-Bangladesh Business Promotion
Council, said that border incidents and Rohingya problems should not distract
trade between Bangladesh's only other neighbour, except India.
Khan pointed out that India had recently gone for establishing deep
relations with Myanmar and had even started building roads.
Enayetullah Khan, a former ambassador to Myanmar and Editor of Holiday,
said the two countries shared many commonalties, and different political systems
should not interfere in building up trade and other bilateral relations.
Ambassador Arshaduzzaman, Ambassador Shafiullah, Sheikh Raquibuddin and Dr
Shaheen Afroze of Bangladesh Institute of International and Strategic Studies
(BIISS) also spoke of the benefits of better ties with Myanmar and insisted that
Bangladesh's foreign policy should be diversified in dealing with
neighbours.
The ambassador of Myanmar and its political counsellor said that their
country believed in having friendly ties with Bangladesh.
Brigadier General (retd.) Syed Jahangir Kabir pointed out that both China
and India are trying to woo Myanmar for their own strategic interests.
Warning about China's interest, he said, "Obviously, a permanent naval base
facility in Arakan coast duly supported by road and railway from mainland will
be perfect setting for China. Rumours persist that China is acquiring a naval
air base facility in Rumree Island on the Arakan coast. Worried Indians and
western powers exaggerate most of it, and China will need more than one
permanent base facility if she wants to emerge as an Indian Ocean power."
The former defence adviser pointed out that India is afflicted by the fear
of China creating another strategic ally like Pakistan on her eastern
fringe.
"India is building a highway between Imphal and Myanmar through Shagain
division via border town of Thamu and trying to push both Asian highway and
railway through that corridor bypassing Bangladesh."
Stressing on building friendship between the two neighbours, he said, "We
can gradually draw SAARC and ASEAN together for bridging on an immensely wide
River Naf."
The Independent - Bangladesh
BDR asks NASAKA to free 10 abducted
Bangladeshis
from Our Correspondent
BANDARBAN, Apr 10: Bangladesh Rifles (BDR) has asked Myanmar border
security force (NASAKA) to immediately release 10 Bangladeshi nationals abducted
from the bordering area of the hill district, official sources said.
A team of NASAKA personnel entered Bangladesh through pillar no 37 in
Dumdum union of Naikhyongchari upazilla on April 5 and abducted 10 Bangladeshi
citizens from village Tambru at gun point, the sources said.
Of the abducted persons, five were identified as Aungcha Prue, Pathrau
Aung, UBA Thoai Aung, Sai Aung and Thai Hla Prue.
BDR battalion commander of Naikhyongchari visited the bordering area on
April 9 and asked NASAKA to release the victims immediately.
The Daily Star - April 11,
2001.
NASAKA takes away two
trawlers
Staff Correspondent,Cox's Bazar
Myanmar border force NASAKA early yesterday hijacked two Bangladeshi
fishing trawlers after opening fire on the vessels and injuring five fishermen.
Locals said two trawlers belonging to Moktar Ahmed and Farid Alam of Purba Para in Saint Martin Island went to the Bay of Bengal on Monday night for fishing. There, NASAKA members who entered Bangladesh territorial waters fired on the trawlers injuring five fishermen. They also pushed off another 13 fishermen into the deep sea before taking the trawlers away. The five fishermen with bullet injuries are: Nurul Amin, 25, Fazal Ahmad,
22, Jafar Alam, 24, Dudu Miah, 40, and Rafiq Ahmed, 21. They were admitted to
the Teknaf Upazila Health Complex.
The Straits Times - April 11,
2001.
Distrust bedevils Thai-Myanmar
relations
By Lee Kim Chew CHIEF REGIONAL CORRESPONDENT BANGKOK - Long at loggerheads, Thailand and Myanmar are finally talking
instead of firing mortar shells into each other's territory.
A peace mission led by Third Army Commander, Lt-Gen Wattanachai
Chaimuanwong, to Yangon last week has improved the atmosphere.
This could pave the way for Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra to visit
Yangon, a trip he had to shelve after the two neighbours fought an artillery
duel in February at the Tachilek-Mae Sai border-crossing point.
Mr Thaksin is anxious to mend fences with Myanmar. It is not just the flood
of drugs from across the border that poses a security threat to Thailand. He
wants to rebuild ties with the junta to expand Thailand's economic space.
Thais have long nourished the concept of Suwannaphomi (the Golden
Peninsula). The late former Prime Minister Chatichai Choonhavan had dreamt of
turning Indochina from battlefield to a marketplace, with Thailand as the
hub.
Its neighbours in Indochina reject any notion of Thai tutelage, but this
has not deterred Bangkok. Thai and Cambodian officials are meeting this month to
work on expanding trade and tourism.
But making peace with Myanmar, its historical enemy, is something else. Mr
Thaksin has, first of all, to undo some of his predecessor's policies and
overcome the institutional resistance in the Thai establishment.
He is taking a Thailand-first approach with a business-driven foreign
policy to engage Thailand's immediate neighbours, and he will not, as former
Prime Minister Chuan Leekpai did, be overtly critical of Myanmar's military
government.
Mr Thaksin's tack could well improve Bangkok's relations with Yangon, but
it is a tricky balancing act and there are prejudices to overcome.
Thailand and Myanmar have a thorny relationship bedevilled by mutual
distrust, not least because the two have a history of waging war against each
other.
The current Thai box-office hit Bang Rajan, which features heroic Thais
defending the country against an invading Burmese army in the 18th century,
offends Myanmar sensibilities.
Yangon's generals complain that the movie inspires hatred for Myanmar. Even
Myanmar's political exiles, who live in Thailand on Thai sufferance, snort at
its anti-Burmese slant.
Chulalongkorn University's Dr Sunait Chutintaranond, a historian who
specialises in Thai-Myanmar relations, notes that such movies sour ties between
the two neighbours.
They are prejudiced and perpetuate the stereotype among Thais of the
Myanmar people as 'agents of darkness', he says.
Both countries will have to overcome the antipathy before things can
improve, and they have many outstanding problems.
Only 59 km of the 2,400-km border are properly demarcated and much of the
rest in remote and mountainous terrain are in dispute.
Thailand is host to about one million illegal Myanmar workers who are
exploited as cheap labour in Thai factories, and about 100,000 re- fugees who
fled the fighting between Yangon troops and insurgents at the Thai-Myanmar
border.
Since tensions rose in February, Yangon has kept the key border checkpoints
closed, and the Thais who depend on the cross-border trade have been badly
hit.
Yangon banned the Thais from fishing in Myanmar waters after the Chuan
government's lenient treatment of the rebels who seized its embassy in Bangkok
in 1999.
The Thai fishing industry in Ranong province loses about 150 million baht
(S$5.9 million) a day because of the ban.
These problems, plus the flood of some 700 million amphetamine pills, a
stimulant drug, into Thailand each year are pressing issues which Mr Thaksin
wants to raise with the Myanmar government.
But there are conflicting views within the Thai establishment on how to
solve the problems.
A senior Foreign Ministry bureaucrat who was critical of Mr Thaksin's
policy has been removed from his job, and Defence Minister Chavalit
Yongchaiyudh, who has close ties with Yangon's generals, tried unsuccessfully to
replace Lt-Gen Wattanachai as the Third Army commander.
Lt-Gen Wattanachai, who oversees the Thai-Myanmar border, had accused
Yangon of involvement in the drug trade and escalating border tensions.
Some Thais are suspicious that Gen Chavalit may be tempted to use his
personal links with Yangon's generals to cut lucrative business deals, like he
did when he was Prime Minister.
Dr Kraisak Choonhavan, chairman of the Senate Commission on Foreign
Affairs, says Mr Thaksin has to seek a balance between Thailand's national
security and business profits.
'He will have to moderate Chavalit's business-driven deals,' he says.
It is not just Mr Thaksin who faces difficulties within his own government.
Over in Yangon, the junta is not in full control of the local warlords in
the border areas.
Yangon, which has been battling the insurgents fighting for independence,
is happy to give its ethnic minorities autonomy in exchange for a ceasefire and
money from the drug trade.
Associate Professor Chaiyachok Chulasiriwongs of Chulalongkorn University
notes that relations between Thailand and Myanmar deteriorated during Mr Chuan's
watch.
Myanmar saw the Democrat's flexible engagement policy as a blatant move to
meddle in its domestic politics, and it was displeased by his government's
handling of the 1999 embassy siege. 'That's why Mr Thaksin is in a difficult
position to mend fences,' he says.
'There is a need to change mindsets. The old formula is about the
exploitation of Myanmar's resources. That is outdated and wrong. Now it should
be about fair deals for the two sides. This is what Mr Thaksin intends to
do.'
Thus far, Yangon's generals have been receptive to Mr Thaksin's overtures.
They, too, are in a conciliatory mood. The Myanmar economy is in a shambles and,
like Thailand's, it needs foreign capital badly.
Both governments are now trying to remove the barbs that have spiked their
relations. They have agreed to cease their war of words, and Yangon has promised
to help stem the drug flow into Thailand.
Theirs is a longstanding spat which Asean can do little to help. Nor do
they welcome third-party intervention.
But their dispute, if not resolved peacefully, reinforces the perception
that Asean has turned from marketplace into a political minefield.
The two have taken the first steps to manage their differences.
There are hopes for a fresh start, but it will be a long and bumpy trip
with unexpected turns.
Bangkok Post - April 11,
2001.
Burmese poised for attack on
Karenni
Mae Hong Son-Thousands of Burmese troops have been deployed near the border
to mount an offensive against the last stronghold of ethnic Karenni
rebels.
A border source said more than 1,000 guerrillas of the Karenni National
Progressive Party were preparing to defend their stronghold in Burma's Kayah
state, opposite Mae Hong Son.
Four Burmese battalions have been deployed in the Khun Huay Dua area,
opposite Muang district.
The Karen National Union and the Shan State Army are also prepared to help
their Karenni allies in the fighting, which is expected to force more than 1,000
refugees into Thailand next week.
Thai soldiers of the 7th Infantry Regiment have been placed on alert.
China Presents Literature Title to
Myanmar Poet
2001.04.11 13:27:25 YANGON, April 11 (Xinhuanet) --
The Chinese Writers Association Wednesday honored Myanmar Deputy Culture
Minister and noted poet U Soe Nyunt, the Chinese people's old friend, with a
title of " Friendly Literature Envoy".
Representing the Chinese Writers Association, Chinese
Ambassador to Myanmar Li Jinjun presented the title to U Soe Nyunt in
the presence of Myanmar Culture Minister U Win Sein and guests
from different walks of life totaling over 300.
Ambassador Li said at the presentation ceremony that the "Pauk- Phaw"
(fraternal) friendship between China and Myanmar has been long standing.
Culture is an important content in the friendly exchange and cooperation
between the two countries.
In recent five decades under the drive of leaders of the two
countries, China and Myanmar have achieved unprecedented development
in exchange and cooperation in the sector of culture, he noted.
He concluded that the works of U Soe Nyunt, "Ayeyarwaddy- Yangtze
Friendly Appraisal" is the outcome of impression of his visit
to China for five occasions. At the ceremony, U Soe Nyunt said Myanmar-China friendly ties has a
long history. The frequent exchange of visits of the leaders of the two
countries has strengthened the Myanmar-China friendly ties.
He pledged to make his best efforts to continue to contribute to the
friendly cause of the two countries.
The series of the poem "Ayeyarwaddy-Yangtze Friendly Appraisal" contain
"The Great Wall", "The Friendship Song in Heart" and so on totaling more than
40.
Large Amount of Stimulants Seized
in Myanmar
2001.04.11 12:35:06 YANGON, April 11 (Xinhuanet) --
The Myanmar authorities seized 30, 800 tablets of stimulant drugs last month in
Chanmyatharzi township, the country's northern Mandalay division,
state-run newspaper The New Light of Myanmar reported Wednesday.
The seizure was made by a combined team comprising local intelligence
unit and the police force when a drug trade was being conducted in the township
on March 12.
Four people in connection with the case were arrested by the
authorities, the newspaper said.
According to official statistics, since 1988 up to March this year,
82.58 million tablets of stimulant drugs were seized by the Myanmar
authorities along with 4,548 kilograms of heroin, 31,014 kilograms of
opium and 17,630 kilograms of ephedrine.
Myanmar Destroys Illegal VCD
Discs
2001.04.11 11:22:13 YANGON, April 11 (Xinhuanet) --
The Myanmar authorities Tuesday destroyed a large amount of local and
foreign uncensored, pornographic and pirated VCD discs and video tapes
valued at 20 million Kyats (40,000 U.S. dollars), official newspaper The
New Light of Myanmar reported Wednesday.
The records put on fire by the Directorate of Myanmar Defense
Services Intelligence included 16,042 illegal VCD discs and 6,248 video
tapes.
The report quoted an intelligence official as warning that illegally
imported feature VCD discs and video tapes may get youths to imitate
wrong life style, saying that the scenes which appear in these records,
are against Myanmar culture and traditions.
Action is also being taken against violators who pirated video
features and VCD discs legally produced by local distributors to prevent
exploitation of those in the profession, the report said.
The report added that the country's Video Scrutiny Central Committee
will continue to prohibit all the video tapes which are injurious to
Myanmar culture and traditions and curb all illegal acts of video
industry.
Myanmar Opens Second Resource
Center
2001.04.11 10:30:34 YANGON, April 11 (Xinhuanet) --
Myanmar has opened the second New Century Resource Center in the country's
second largest city of Mandalay following the inauguration of the first
such center in the capital of Yangon in last December.
The Mandalay center, which was opened on Tuesday, is aimed at
developing the highly-qualified national human resources in this age of
knowledge.
Myanmar Minister of Education U Than Aung stressed at the opening
ceremony the need for all Myanmar people, regardless of their age, to have
access to education, calling for extension of such centers in the entire
country, especially in other major towns.
The setting up of these centers represented the first stage of the
implementation of Myanmar's four-year special education promotion program,
which began in 2000, to face the challenges of the knowledge age and to
cope with the international education standard in the future, he
said.
He told the ceremony that 203 electronic(e)-education learning
centers have been opened throughout the country in the fiscal year 2000-01 which
ended in March, expecting that another 100 of such centers will be added
in the next fiscal year.
Meanwhile, Myanmar started introducing e-education data broadcasting
system in January this year, integrating the system into the country's
education system.
|