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----------------------------------------------------------------- BURMA RELATED NEWS - June 03, 2001. ----------------------------------------------------------------- HEADLINE ----------------------------------------------------------------- AP - U.N. Envoy Meets With Suu Kyi For Second
Time
AP - Singapore PM: ASEAN-China Free-Trade Area
'Under Study'
BBC - China holds drugs kingpin
The Times of India - UN special envoy meets
Myanmar junta leader
Bkk Post - Army chief 'ill-at-ease' talking
about the border
Bkk Post - Editorial -
Rangoon tries to press its case
Xinhuanet - Myanmar's Foreign Trade Up in 1st
Two Months
Xinhuanet - Myanmar Produces Less Crude Oil in
1st Two Months
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Sunday June 3, 6:08 PM U.N. Envoy Meets With Suu Kyi For Second
Time
YANGON, Myanmar (AP)--A U.N.
envoy met with pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi for a second time on Sunday
in his latest attempt to push forward her reconciliation talks with the
country's military rulers.
Razali Ismail drove to Suu Kyi's lakeside villa where she has been held
under virtual house arrest since September even while she has been talking to
the junta's leaders.
The talks were initiated secretly by Razali in October. Although the existence of the talks was revealed in January, both sides have agreed not to divulge the agenda or their progress. Razali, who arrived in Yangon on Friday on a four-day visit, met with Suu
Kyi Saturday also. He had earlier that day held talks with Secretary One Lt.
Gen. Khin Nyunt of the ruling State Peace and Development Council. Details of
the talks have not been revealed.
Razali's visit, his third to Myanmar since his appointment as the United
Nations special envoy in April 2000, comes amid reports that the talks are not
progressing well.
The junta has come under widespread criticism, mainly by the West, for
refusing to hand over power to Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy party,
which won the 1990 general elections.
Instead, NLD members have been subjected to harassment and arrest.
Myanmar has been ruled by the military since 1962. The current group of
generals took power in 1988, gunning down thousands of pro-democracy protesters
nationwide. The National League for Democracy was formed two weeks later.
Last month the government denied that the talks were stalled and Foreign
Minister Win Aung said the negotiations were not merely a "publicity stunt" to
appease the West.
Until October, the junta had consistently refused to negotiate with the
opposition if Suu Kyi took part. The change of heart is believed to have been
brought about by Razali, a Malaysian, as well as Malaysian Prime Minister
Mahathir Mohammad.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sunday June 3, 8:52 PM
Singapore PM: ASEAN-China Free-Trade
Area 'Under Study'
SINGAPORE (AP)--A free-trade
area encompassing China and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations is under
study, Singapore's Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong said Sunday.
The 10 countries in ASEAN are already working to eliminate most import
tariffs on each other's products to form an ASEAN free-trade area.
"A study is under way on the feasibility of an ASEAN-China free trade
area," Goh said in a speech to central bank officials from around the world who
start a two-day conference in Singapore Monday.
Goh didn't give further details of the study.
The ASEAN member countries are Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia,
Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
BBC - Saturday, 2 June, 2001, 09:08
GMT 10:08 UK
China holds drugs kingpin From Rupert Wingfield-Hayes in Beijing
China is claiming a major victory in its war against armed heroin gangs
operating inside Burma's Golden Triangle.
State media has announced that one of the kingpins of the heroin trade - a
Chinese-born drug boss Tan Xiaolin - has been captured and handed over to China
by Burmese authorities.
They have also arrested 18 members of Tan's armed gang and seized three
tonnes of heroin.
State-run media is calling this the biggest coup against the Golden
Triangle drug gangs in nearly half a century.
For nearly 10 years, Tan had been running what the media are describing as
the biggest armed drug smuggling group inside the Triangle.
From there, the gang shipped large quantities of heroin through South-west
China to Hong Kong and then on to the rest of the world.
Preferred route
Tan was caught in April, after a year-long man-hunt which China says
involved close co-operation with police in Burma.
China has long been the preferred route of Burma's drug gangs to get their
product to the outside world.
But in recent years, China itself has started to become a major market for
the heroin producers.
Drug addiction is now a serious problem in many of China's cities.
It has prompted the authorities in Beijing to take a much tougher line
against the drug gangs and to strengthen co-operation - not just with Burma, but
also with Laos, Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Times of India - June 03,
2001.
UN special envoy meets Myanmar junta
leader
YANGON: Attempting to reconcile Myanmar's military rulers and democracy
advocates, a special UN envoy met on Saturday with a powerful figure in the
junta.
It was the third visit to Myanmar by Razali Ismael since his appointment as
envoy in April last year. During his last trip, in January, Razali announced
that the opposing sides had been holding secret talks.
Official sources said Razali met with Secretary One Lt. Gen. Khin Nyunt of
the country's ruling body, the State Peace and Development Council.
Details of the meeting were not immediately known and it was also unclear
if Razali would meet with pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi, who is being
held under virtual house arrest.
Razali, who will be in the country until Monday, met with Foreign Minister
Win Aung on arrival Friday and was scheduled to talk with representatives of the
country's ethnic minorities.
The junta has come under widespread criticism, mainly by the West, for
refusing to hand over power to Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy party,
which won the 1990 general elections.
Instead, NLD members have been subjected to harassment and arrests. Suu Kyi
has lived under virtual house arrest since Sept. 22, when she tried to defy a
long-standing travel ban.
After his January visit, Razali revealed that the junta and the opposition
have been holding secret talks since last October.
Both parties have agreed to keep the content of the dialogue confidential.
There has been no news about the developments after nearly eight months.
Razali's visit assumes greater significance in the light of reports by
diplomats that the talks are not showing any progress.
Last month the government denied that the talks were stalled and Win Aung,
the foreign minister, said the negotiations were not merely a "publicity stunt"
to appease the West.
Until October, the junta had consistently refused to negotiate with the
opposition if Suu Kyi took part. The change of heart is believed to have been
brought about by Razali, a Malaysian, as well as Malaysian Prime Minister
Mahathir Mohammad.
Myanmar, also known as Burma, has been ruled by the military continuously
since 1962. The current group of generals took power in 1988, gunning down
thousands of pro-democracy protesters nationwide. The National League for
Democracy was formed two weeks later. (AP)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Bangkok Post - June 03,
2001.
Army chief 'ill-at-ease' talking
about the border
A national hero, or plain warmonger? Kunsiri Olarikkachat and Wassana Nanuam
Third Army commander Watanachai Chaimuanwong feels ill at ease now when
asked to comment about border troubles with Burma.
"A warmonger. A big money spender on war. Those are the remarks about me
lately.
"I have already been shown the yellow card several times. I can't say
anything. I have to talk less," Lt-Gen Watanachai said. "I feel awkward."Outside
the Defence Ministry, the commander has achieved national hero status, the
legacy of his tough response to a spate of northern border incidents including
Burmese-backed troop incursions in recent months.
Criticism has rained down from within the ministry, however, headed by
former prime minister Chavalit Yongchaiyudh, that the Third Army was running an
"expensive war".
Military sources said the cost of all that fighting was several hundred
million baht. More than 1,000 artillery shells, they said, had been fired since
border tensions intensified.
Burmese leaders, meanwhile, said they were unhappy with the way the Third
Army commander was handling border conflicts. In an indication of how seriously
they viewed the matter, they took their messages to the top, relaying them
through PM's Office Minister Thammarak Issarangkura na Ayutthaya.
In February, a Burmese force seized a Thai army outpost in Ban Pang Noon in
Chiang Rai's Mae Fah Luang district in pursuit of Shan rebels.
Lt-Gen Watanachai told them to pull out, but they ignored his deadline. He
ordered a strike which resulted in heavy casualties among the Burmese
troops.
Burma perceived Lt-Gen Watanachai as too "belligerent".
In a recent interview with the Bangkok Post, Lt-Gen Watanachai said that as
a soldier, he had to do a soldier's job.
"My duty is to safeguard our territorial integrity," he said. "I'll drive
out whoever comes in. I'll fire back at whoever fires the first shot."Lt-Gen
Watanachai said there was no choice but to fight back when the Red Wa captured
Doi Hua Lone in Chiang Mai's Fang district last month. "Who could let them
stay?" he said.
Taking back what belonged to this country came at a price.
"We had to shell intruders. We could not make our soldiers walk over there
and shoot them. That's crazy. Our men would get killed first," Lt-Gen Watanachai
said.
But the real cost was far below the figures cited. Lt-Gen Watanachai said
less than 300 shells had been fired since violence erupted in February.
Add in soldiers' allowances, petrol and other expenses, the 100 million
baht cost of defending the border should come as no surprise, he said. "Burma
fired 60 shells, we returned 80. That was strategy. We never fired at Burma
first," said the commander.
Despite negative reactions from some circles, Lt-Gen Watanachai said he and
his soldiers did not feel discouraged and were still in good morale.
Army chief Surayud Chulanont also gave him full support.
"I will continue to do what I used to do," he said.
Lt-Gen Watanachai, however, believed Burma was not ready to wage a
full-scale war with Thailand. Rangoon had been battling to gain control over
various minority tribes struggling to form independent states for decades.
Burma, he said, had cited its campaign against minority forces as a reason
for being unable to eliminate drug production at its border.
Lt-Gen Watanachai said he had offered help in the form of joint border
patrols and combined suppression forces but Burma turned him down.
"They said that they could not explain to their people why foreign forces
were on their soil if they let us in," he said.
Lt-Gen Watanachai said he could not see an end to the drug problem.
There was little Thailand could do if Burma did not stop drug activities in
its own country, he said.
"Only if producers stop making drugs will we get rid of the problem. But
drugs are being made outside our country so we can't do anything."The Burmese
government had declared an anti-drugs policy and pledged co-operation in
crackdown operations, he said.
"Anything's possible at the negotiation table. But in reality it is a
different story," Lt-Gen Watanachai said. "Whenever we wanted to check progress,
Burmese officials would say they had yet to receive orders from their
government."In April, Burma pledged help to destroy methamphetamine factories if
Thailand gave it information about their whereabouts, he said.
"But I have yet to hear that Burma has destroyed even one," Lt-Gen
Watanachai said.
"Greedy" Thais were partly to blame, for supplying precursor chemicals and
production gear to Burma.
Major producing areas were Mong Yawn and Mong Mai, controlled by the United
Wa State Army. There were also speed factories in border areas opposite Tak run
by the pro-Rangoon Democratic Karen Buddhist Army.
"We can say that Burma trusted the Red Wa to take care of the northern
part, and DKBA the southern part.
"And Burma had already declared that a violation of Wa territorial
integrity is like a violation of its own integrity, " Lt-Gen Watanachai
said.
It was within the power of the National Security Council to boycott trading
with any minority group dealing in drugs.
When border passes in some northern provinces eventually reopened, border
security authorities would allow trading only with the Burmese, not the Red
Wa.
The Third Army closed all border checkpoints with Burma in Chiang Rai,
Chiang Mai, Mae Hong Son and Tak after Rangoon attacked the Shan State Army in
February.
Since suppression of drugs at origin was nearly impossible, Lt-Gen
Watanachai said state agencies needed to work with solidarity in disrupting
trafficking.
He said intelligence must be improved and X-ray machines bought for drug
searches.
The Phitsanulok-based Third Army was buying more weapons and equipment for
Task Force 399, dealing specifically with drug suppression, including two Black
Hawk helicopters which were capable of operating at night, he said.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Bangkok Post - June 03,
2001.
Editorial - Rangoon tries to press its
case
Two weeks ago, the Perspective section of the Sunday Bangkok Post featured
a front-page story on Burma and its drug trade. As usual, the feature delved
deep behind the headlines of border problems and drug trafficking. It delved too
deeply for some. Last week, the government of Burma issued a formal diplomatic
protest to the Thai government. Burma alleged that the story was part of an
organised campaign by the Thai media against Burma.
Rangoon was wrong on all counts, and only a paranoid regime could see a
Thai media conspiracy where none either exists or is even possible. But in fact,
such claims by the Burmese are not new. Rangoon has seen a non-existent
conspiracy against Burma for a generation. In particular, the Bangkok Post has
long been banned in Burma. Most people outside of the military government
believe that is because this newspaper carries truthful reports about Burma and
the region, and not because of the bias that Rangoon alleges.
All of this is normally unremarkable, but last week's silly protest by
Burma illustrated vividly that Burma just doesn't get it. Rangoon cannot
comprehend that a free press-and not the Thai government-is fully responsible
for its articles. It does not understand the difference between major media
offence and a disagreement. It refuses to accept that it must account for its
own actions, no matter how strongly it opposes the actions of others.
Burma's fake outrage at our investigation of the drug trade and border
problems was a clear attempt to ignore and evade responsibility for a truly
egregious offence by their own media. As the Thai foreign ministry pointed out
in their own, earlier, protest note, Burma's New Light of Myanmar committed one
of the worst offences possible when it attacked the Thai Royal family and
institution. Burma not only laughed off this grave and outrageous offence, but
ordered a second offence on the Royal institution last Monday.
The protest against the Bangkok Post article is Rangoon's clumsy, offensive
way of laughing off one of the worst possible outrages against Thailand. The
incident shows the crucial differences between the two countries. The Burmese
newspaper, and all media, are mouthpieces of the regime. The Rangoon dictators
are responsible for what appears in them. The Thai media-with clear, known
exceptions-are independent, and the government is not responsible for their
contents.
The only thing that is unclear is whether the isolationist dictators in
Rangoon realise these vast differences. It is clear, for example, that Burma is
shameless about such matters, or it would have ordered the second story be
withheld, at least.
Burma has granted amnesty to the two biggest drug dealers in Asian history,
Lo Hsing Han and Khun Sa, then has insisted on the right to host anti-drug
agents in conferences while the criminals walk free, outside. Rangoon has
ordered military attacks into Thailand and then blamed ethnic allies. As
recently as last week, Rangoon has ordered media to attack two of the three Thai
institutions-nation and monarchy. Then, it protested an even older story in this
newspaper.
It is depressing to many that Burma fails to address its own serious
failings. Instead of halting the media attack on the monarchy and addressing the
problem, Burma has tried to deflect responsibility. The protest note to the Thai
government explains a lot about Burma and how it approaches foreign relations.
Rangoon is unwilling to explain or discuss its most serious problems. This could
make it impossible to solve the current conflicts between Thailand and Burma
that Rangoon continues to ignore or even to exacerbate. Blaming the Bangkok Post
or a Thai press conspiracy for its diplomatic problems is a useless
approach.
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Myanmar's Foreign Trade Up in 1st
Two Months
2001.06.03 10:08:06 YANGON, June 3 (Xinhuanet) --
Myanmar's foreign trade, including the border trade, totaled 769.15
million U.S. dollars in the first two months of this year, up 35.64 percent from
the same period of 2000, the country's Central Statistical Organization
(CSO) said in its latest data.
Of the total trade volume during the two-month period, imports were
valued at 431.15 million dollars, increasing by 10.71 percent, while exports
amounted to 338 million dollars, rising by 90.3 percent.
However, the trade deficit stood at 93.15 million dollars, the CSO
said.
During the period, the import value of consumers goods, capital goods and
intermediate goods accounted for 30.73 percent, 40.9 percent and 28.37
percent of the total imports respectively.
Myanmar mainly exports agricultural products, timber and marine
products.
The figures also indicate that Myanmar's private sector is playing a
leading role in the country's foreign trade. During the period, the import
value of the private sector made up 68.68 percent of the total imports,
while its export value represented 59.84 percent of the total
exports.
The import and export value of the government sector during the period
accounted for only 31.32 percent and 40.16 percent respectively.
Myanmar's main foreign trading partners are Singapore, China,
Thailand, south Korea and Japan.
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Myanmar Produces Less Crude Oil in
1st Two Months
2001.06.02 10:31:36 YANGON, June 2 (Xinhuanet) --
Myanmar produced a total of 533,000 barrels of crude oil in the first two
months of this year, 11 percent less than the same period of 2000,
according to the latest data issued by the country's Central Statistical
Organization.
During the two-month period, the country yielded 230.47 million
cubic-meters of natural gas, also falling by 9 percent from the
corresponding period of 2000.
In 2000, the country produced 3.538 million barrels of crude oil and
1.538 billion cubic-meters of natural gas.
Since Myanmar opened to foreign investment in late 1988, such
investment in the oil and gas sector coming from oil companies of
Australia, Britain, France, Indonesia, Japan, Thailand and the United
States has reached 2.355 billion dollars in 51 projects, taking up 32.2
percent of the country's total contracted foreign investment by
sector.
So far Myanmar's petroleum and its products are insufficient to meet the
demand and the country still has to import 280,000 to 300, 000 tons of crude oil
and 100,000 to 150,000 tons of diesel oil annually.
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