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BURMA RELATED NEWS - June 09,
2001.
----------------------------------------------------------------
HEADLINES
---------------------------------------------------------------- AP - Thai Premier Says He Will Visit Myanmar To
Mend Ties
Reuters - Thai PM sets
June 19 for Myanmar drugs talks
Channel NewsAsia - Youths hatch business plans
in entrepreneurship programme
BBC - Indonesia holds foreign 'tourist'
activists
IHT - Burma's 20 Jews Live Freely, but Community
Shrinks
The Nation - 'Relations face lasting damage'
Bkk Post - Textbook is 'part of a big
campaign'
Bkk Post - Locals hoist flag at Fang
flashpoint
Bkk Post - Chuan not
sure if government wrong
Xinhuanet - Thai PM Announces Visits to Three
Neighboring Countries
Xinhuanet - Myanmar, India Sign Contracts to
Purchase Machinery
Xinhuanet - Myanmar's Bilateral Trade With NEA
Countries On Rise
Xinhuanet - Chinese-Built Dredgers Delivered to
Myanmar for Services
SCMP - PM to visit Burma to mend
ties
NSTP - Problems seen in Singapore's free trade
agreements
AsianWeek - Senate Bill Bans Burma ---------------------------------------------------------------- Saturday June 9, 1:25 PMThai Premier Says He Will Visit Myanmar
To Mend Ties
BANGKOK (AP)--Thailand's prime
minister has said he will visit Myanmar this month in a bid to patch up
relations that have hit a nadir over several differences, mainly drug
trafficking.
Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra told reporters late Friday that he plans
to go to Yangon June 19-20 following his visits to Laos and Cambodia.
Myanmar's ruling military junta has not publicly invited Thaksin, who said
he was confident that all issues would be resolved once he meets with the
neighboring country's top leaders. The Myanmar government didn't immediately
respond to Thaksin's announcement.
The already-sour relations between the two countries came under fresh
pressure this week after the Myanmar government introduced a new school textbook
that belittles Thai people, calling them lazy, servile and war mongers.
Observers say the textbook is a retaliation against Thai textbooks,
literature and popular culture that portray Myanmar people negatively.
Myanmar-Thai relations took a turn for the worst this January after their
armies clashes at the border. The fighting has continued sporadically.
Thailand accuses Myanmar's junta of turning a blind eye to a major drug
ring, The United Wa State Army, operating along the border with Thailand. The
group has been listed by the U.S. State Department as the biggest drug
trafficker in Asia, and Thailand says it is responsible for the growing number
of addicts in the country - more than 2.8 million people, most of them
youngsters hooked to illegal stimulant methamphetamines.
Myanmar says it's doing its best to stop the drug trade and in turn accuses
corrupt Thai officials of abetting the smuggling. It also accuses Thailand of
aiding anti-government ethnic rebels, a charge Thailand denies.
---------------------------------------------------------------- Saturday June 9, 4:48 PM
Thai PM sets June 19 for Myanmar drugs
talks
BANGKOK (Reuters) - Thai Prime
Minister Thaksin Shinawatra said on Saturday he would visit Myanmar on June 19
to defuse growing tension between the two Southeast Asian neighbours.
Last week a row over a Myanmar school textbook describing Thais as lazy and
opportunistic further soured already tense relations between the two countries.
But Thaksin told reporters talks with Myanmar's military government would
focus on curbing the drugs trade.
"I think the clouds will disappear," Thaksin said. "I'm going to fly
straight from Cambodia to Myanmar, and all problems will be solved then."
Thaksin's two-day visit to Myanmar will follow trips to Laos on June 12 and
Cambodia on June 18.
Since coming to power in January's landslide election victory, Thaksin has
promised to stem the flow of an estimated 700 million methamphetamines tablets
entering Thailand each year through its porous northern border.
The Thai army says the Yangon-backed ethnic Wa group is the main producer
of methamphetamines.
Myanmar has blamed ethnic Shan rebels, under the protection of Thai
authorities, for the drugs trade.
This year fighting between the Myanmar army and the Shan has often spilled
into Thai territory, sometimes leading to skirmishes between Thai and Myanmar
troops.
---------------------------------------------------------------- Channel NewsAsia
Saturday June 9, 6:19 PM
Youths hatch business plans in
entrepreneurship programme
Some 35 teenagers have been coming up with workable business plans during a
five-day youth entrepreneurship programme.
A business plan by some junior college students for a website giving advice
on romance and sex education to male teenagers beat three other finalists to win
the Central Singapore District Youth Entrepreneurship award.
The students hit on the plan for luvq.com when they realised there was a
lack of such websites.
A student from Myanmar took second place with her idea of a childcare
centre serving vegetarian food.
With the support of her businesswoman mother, enterprising teenager
Victoria Zhuang hopes to realise her plans after her 'O' Levels.
"There's not much competition in the vegetarian market... With such a high
demand, and because Singaporeans is fussy about food, healthy life, I got this
idea," said Ms Zhuang, a student at Braddell-Westlake Secondary School.
The five-day programme to develop young entrepreneurs is the brainchild of
Central Singapore District Mayor Yaacob Ibrahim.
"We want to expose our youths to the ups and downs, the knocks and what
have you about entrepreneurship, so that at the end of the day, they understand
what it's about," Associate Professor Yaacob said.
To continue to identify budding talent, the CDC will set up some 10 young
entrepreneurship clubs in schools and community clubs.
---------------------------------------------------------------- BBC - Saturday, 9 June, 2001, 14:05
GMT 15:05 UK
Indonesia holds foreign 'tourist' activists By Richard Galpin in Jakarta
Police in Indonesia have been questioning for a second day more than 30
foreigners who have been attending a seminar on economic and labour issues being
held in the capital, Jakarta.
A police spokesman said they had been detained on Friday for violating visa
regulations, having allegedly entered the country as tourists.
One of Indonesia's most prominent left-wing activists was also taken in for
questioning.
Participants at the seminar described how armed police raided the meeting
room in a Jakarta hotel on Friday afternoon, causing panic.
"We were quietly sitting around conference tables ... Suddenly, at three
o'clock, about 50 people burst into the room with handguns strapped to their
waists, even with teargas launchers on their backs, and they surrounded
everybody in the room, secured the doors, wouldn't let anybody leave."
The majority of foreigners detained are from Australia but there are also
Europeans and Pakistani, Japanese and Thai nationals.
They are all accused of having entered the country on tourist visas.
Specific permission
The police say they should have obtained specific permission if they
planned to attend a conference.
After being questioned for a second day, most of the foreigners are likely
to spend the rest of the weekend in a local hotel, having surrendered their
passports.
Diplomats say immigration officials will then take up the case when they
return to work on Monday.
They will then either be deported or the matter will be dropped altogether.
Indonesia activist
In the raid on Friday, the police also detained eight Indonesians,
including Budiman Sudjatmiko - head of the left-wing People's Democratic Party.
He is a prominent political activist who was imprisoned under the regime of
former President Suharto.
It is not at all clear why the police should have taken such drastic action
against a group of people attending a seminar.
The most plausible explanation is that the authorities are still not
willing to give a totally free rein to left-wing political activities, despite
the rebirth of democracy over the last two years.
Under former president Suharto the Communist Party was banned and hundreds
of thousands of alleged members killed.
---------------------------------------------------------------- The International Herald Tribune
Burma's 20 Jews Live Freely, but
Community Shrinks
The Associated Press Friday, June 8, 2001 RANGOON Moses Samuels refuses to migrate to Israel. He has a legacy to tend
to. The caretaker of Burma's only synagogue, Mr. Samuels is the standard-bearer
for the country's rapidly shrinking Jewish community, now just 20 people and in
danger of disappearing in another generation.
. In this predominantly Buddhist country, Mr. Samuels, 50, is as much an icon of Judaism as the 105-year-old Musmeah Yeshua synagogue, one of Rangoon's most distinctive buildings with its blue Star of David and brown window shutters. . "If I leave, who will look after this place?" asked Mr. Samuels, who inherited the voluntary caretaker's job from his father. "This is our heritage. It is more important to me than Israel. Nobody can force me to emigrate," he said as he walked a visitor through the synagogue. . The two-story, whitewashed synagogue in central Rangoon was built between 1893 and 1896 in British colonial architecture, replacing a wooden structure erected in 1846. It is on a narrow one-way street lined with hardware stores owned mostly by ethnic Indians. . Its interior offers a vivid contrast between the old and the new. On the walls hang Israeli tourism posters and an oil painting of the Western Wall in Jerusalem's Old City looking down on colonial-era teak benches with woven wicker seats. . Two 100-year-old copies of the Torah, Judaism's holy book, are encased in Oriental silver cylinders. . The Jews of Burma are descendants of 19th century migrants from Iraq, Europe and India who came either with the British colonial army or as traders of teak, rice and cotton. . Before World War II, more than 2,500 Jews lived in Burma, most of them with roots in Baghdad, which once had a thriving Jewish community among its predominantly Muslim population. . By 1969, the number of Jews here had dwindled to 500, and now only eight families remain. The rest moved to the United States, Australia, India and Israel in search of better lives or drawn by their faith to the Promised Land. Mr. Samuels, who lives in a predominantly ethnic Indian neighborhood, runs his family's party-furniture rental business. . Jews have fared well in military-ruled Burma, says Amir Shaviv of the New York-based American Joint Distribution Committee, a nonpolitical Jewish relief group. . Burma's junta is widely criticized for its human rights record against political opponents such as the democracy activist, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, and her followers. But it is generally acknowledged that the government permits freedom of worship to all faiths. . The politics of Burma has "not affected the status of the Jewish community at all. They don't suffer as Jews," says Mr. Shaviv, whose group has been helping Jews here for 50 years. . The real threat to the Jewish community comes from a circle of self-destruction. Emigration has made it harder for young members to find spouses, leading to more migration and marriages outside the community. . "Demographically speaking it seems that the community faces extinction," Mr. Shaviv says. "However, in our experiences many communities that were labeled extinct have come to life when circumstances changed rapidly." . For example, he says, political change in Burma could spur business, bringing foreign businessmen including Jews who could re-establish a community just as others did two centuries ago. . But until then, the future looks gloomy. Among Burma's 20 Jews, only five are unmarried: Mr. Samuels' 20-year-old son and 22- and 25-year-old daughters, and a 38-year-old man and a 35-year-old woman. None has any immediate plans to marry. . Sammy Samuels, the youngest of Burma's Jews who recently returned after spending a year in Israel at a kibbutz, plans to go to college in the United States to study computer software. . "But if I marry, I would want her to move to Burma. Otherwise I won't marry," he said. . With such a small community, Friday prayers are subdued affairs, attended by four or five people. Always in attendance are Mr. Samuels and his son. . The synagogue has not had a rabbi since 1968, so Sammy leads the prayers, being the only person who can read Hebrew. . Mr. Samuels says money for the old synagogue's upkeep is always a problem. He depends mostly on donations and help from the Joint Distribution Committee. . Mr. Samuels, who has an Iraqi, Iranian and British heritage, often ends up using money from his family business. . "My father made me promise that I would never allow the synagogue to close down as long as I live," her said. "I can't let him down." ---------------------------------------------------------------- The Nation - June 09,
2001.
THAI-BURMA AFFAIRS: 'Relations
face lasting damage'
Vorapun Srivoranart
Academics fear long-term effects from text painting Thais as enemy
Introducing a new Burmese history textbook slighting Thai people and kings
signified a bilateral relationship approaching crisis point, with long lasting
permanent effects if left unattended, prominent Burmese experts warned
yesterday.
The scholars said the incident was a culmination of different problems with
different sources, and a prudent and holistic approach was warranted.
They strongly opposed a rush visit by Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra to
Burma, which they believed would not help address the root cause of
conflicts.
"A visit by the Prime Minister must mean something," said Burmese expert
Sunait Chutintranon of Chulalongkorn University.
He said that as a national leader, Thaksin' s trip to Rangoon should come
only when the situation was ready, instead of going at all costs. "We have a
very limited understanding of our neighbour...What would we do if there is
another textbook after the PM's visit?" he said.
The problems with Burma were too complicated to expect leaders to sit
together and resolve everything, he said, adding that any move should not serve
merely domestic political purposes.
"Burma should be among the last countries the PM should visit or else it
would send out a message that we are weak," said Charnvit Kasetsiri, from
Thammasat University's Southeast Asian Studies department. He questioned the
motive behind the desire for an early visit and whether it was based truly |on
national or individual interests.
Charnvit said publishing historical textbooks like the one concerning
Thai-Burmese ties was not unprecedented in Southeast Asia.
Education textbooks in the region always contained "a high degree of
prejudice" toward neighbours to serve a "hidden agenda" of nationalism, he
said.
"Every country needs a common enemy," he said, adding that this
indoctrination often led to chauvinism and the perception of an enemy. "It is
not about hatred but it is about looking down," Charnvit said in reference to
the controversial Burmese history textbook.
It was also possible the Burmese military junta was having problems
managing domestic affairs, as evident from various measures "which reflected
their weaknesses", and was attempting to divert attention overseas, he
noted.
Sunait expressed grave concern about the long-term effects of the Burmese
history textbook on the perception of Burmese people in the future and relations
with their Thai counterparts.
"Before, the Burmese text did not depict Thailand as chief villain. The
present incident is a crucial turning point," he noted, adding an attempt to
forge common understanding must be pursued in earnest. "The incident also
presents the country with a chance for self-reflection".
However, he said a joint committee to review history would risk raising the
matter to an international level which would entangle many actors.
"It is very worrying, the systematic shaping of the image of Thailand as a
main enemy. Indoctrinating the enemy perception at the people level will be hard
to heal," he said.
---------------------------------------------------------------- Bangkok Post - June 09,
2001.
Textbook is 'part of a big
campaign'
Historians told to revive patriotism Achara Ashayagachat and Bhanravee Tansubhapol
Burma's new textbook was part of a well-organised campaign by Rangoon in
response to what it sees as a multi-pronged attack by Thailand, historians said
yesterday.
Addressing a seminar at Chulalongkorn University, Sunait Chutintranon, a
history professor, said the Burmese elite had lost patience with "unacceptable
events" that had accumulated over a long period of time and come to a head since
the Thaksin Shinawatra government came to power. These included direct
confrontation between Thai and Burmese soldiers, the Chiang Rai workshop
fingerpointing Burma's Wa-controlled area as a drug production base, and
Bangrajan , a patriotic film, getting an airing in schools and military camps
along the border.
The Burmese government was reviving a spirit of courage against western
powers promoted by King Alaungphaya in the 18th century by having historians
take up themes of Burmese unity, western imperialism and Burma's struggle for
independence, he said.
A supplement to the fourth grade history book compared their self-reliant
king to Thai kings whom they accused of yielding to western powers.
The textbook marked a turning point as Thais previously had not been
villains in the eyes of Burmese people but had been regarded with a positive
attitude.
Now Thailand would be seen as the "real arch-rival" as the textbook was
used among young people where prejudice was easily implanted, he said. Charnvit
Kasetsiri, history professor at Thammasat University, said a description of Thai
people as servile and lazy showed Burmese contempt for Thais.
"It is not strange that schoolbooks in the region are very lopsided, full
of praise for their leaders' good deeds or justification for their indecent
actions in history, and portraying neighbours as enemies," he said. "Thai
textbooks do the same. So it's time to revise our region's textbooks," he
said.
At the Foreign Ministry, spokesman Norachit Sinhaseni said the textbook was
not conducive to good relations with Thailand or efforts to develop bilateral
relations.
Oum Maolanon, the Thai ambassador to Burma, had found two textbooks, one
for students in the ninth grade that did not contain much about Thailand, and a
12-page supplement to the regular history book for fourth graders, which was
critical of Thai foreign policy and past kings.
In use since June 1, and sold only in schools, the textbook said Thailand
applied a policy that bent with the wind, and claimed Thai kings had yielded to
the West in order to keep their kingdoms.
Mr Norachit said Thailand would not lodge a protest with Burma as the
Foreign Ministry had protested about the same thing in articles published in the
state-owned New Light of Myanmar last month.
In a sub-chapter on present-day Thai-Burmese relations, the text accused
Thais of being engaged in illegal fishing, log poaching, and drug-related
activities in Burma.
Four sub-chapters move from the birth of the Ayutthaya kingdom after the
fall of Sukhothai, up to the present.
---------------------------------------------------------------- Bangkok Post - June 09,
2001.
Locals hoist flag at Fang
flashpoint
Subin Khuenkaew Residents will today plant trees and erect the Thai national flag on Hua
Lone hill, Fang district, where Thai and Burmese soldiers crossed swords
recently.
Thai troops clashed with Burmese and Wa forces early last month when the
intruders crossed the border to take the hill. Fang district chief Krisda
Boonrat said residents would plant trees and erect the national flag on the hill
in Doi Angkhang. Soldiers from the Pha Muang task force, led by Maj-Gen Nakhon
Sriphetphan, would be sent to participate in the ceremony, he said.
"The villagers will have a 3m wide and 4.5m long national flag hung on top
of a mast on the hill.
I think this will be an auspicious occasion as they want to honour His
Majesty the King," he said. Four members of the Third Army's mine clearance team
were reported to have sustained injuries after stepping on mines planted on the
hill.
Security was stepped up in the area, which was found to have long been used
as a drug smuggling route.
---------------------------------------------------------------- Bangkok Post - June 09,
2001.
Chuan not sure if government
wrong
Former prime minister Chuan Leekpai said the constant stream of verbal
abuse between Thailand and Burma was as much to blame for deteriorating
relations as the on-going border conflict.
The Democrat leader said he was following developments but could not yet
decide whether the widening rift resulted from the government's foreign
policy.
He wondered why relations had soured so much that the monarchy was being
dragged over the coals.
Mr Chuan said something needed to be done to correct the misunderstanding
resulting from a Burmese textbook which contained derogatory remarks about
Thailand.
---------------------------------------------------------------- Thai PM Announces Visits to Three
Neighboring Countries
2001.06.09 21:31:19 BANGKOK, June 9 (Xinhuanet) --
Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra announced here Saturday that he
would pay official visits to Laos, Cambodia and Myanmar, starting from
next week.
Thaksin said during his weekly address to the public through the
state-owned radio that he would visit Laos between June 13 and 14, Cambodia
between June 18 and 19, and Myanmar between June 19 and 20, to clear all
pending problems and skepticism with these countries for restarting smooth
cooperation on border trade and fishery.
"Goodwill and sound understanding with the three close neighboring
countries will bring peace to all of us, which facilitates and promotes
investment and tourism in the region," the premier pointed out.
For his Myanmar trip, the Thai leader said he was confident that
disputes and misunderstanding between the two countries would end following his
talks with Myanmar leaders, including the recent row over a Myanmar history
textbook which reportedly condemned Thais "as servile and lazy
people".
Thaksin also said the Thai government was working on the problem of
refugees from Myanmar with a plan to close a refugee camp in Thailand by
early next year, and to send Myanmar refugees there to third countries.
The two countries had frequent tensions and clashes over the border
area and other issues so far this year.
---------------------------------------------------------------- Myanmar, India Sign Contracts to
Purchase Machinery
2001.06.09 13:48:24 YANGON, June 9 (Xinhuanet) --
Myanmar Ministry of Industry-2 and Angelique International Ltd of India
have signed contracts for purchasing machinery worth 4.8 million U.S.
dollars, according to the Myanmar Industry-2 Ministry Saturday.
Managing Directors of departments and enterprises under the Myanmar
Ministry of Industry-2 and Vice Chairman of Angelique Ltd of India signed
the contracts here on Friday.
The event was witnessed by Myanmar Minister of Industry-2 Major- General
Saw Tun and First Secretary of the Indian Embassy AC Pandey.
The machinery will be used at iron casting, ball bearing, cable and
electric meter workshops of the ministry.
India has extended to Myanmar credit lines for twice, of which the
first one in 1998 was worth 10 million dollars while the second one in
2000 was valued at 15 million dollars. The prior credit line was utilized
by the Myanmar side for setting up industrial plants and for supply of
railway rolling stocks from India, while the latter one was used for
sourcing industrial and electrical equipment from India.
---------------------------------------------------------------- Myanmar's Bilateral Trade With NEA
Countries On Rise
2001.06.09 12:47:53 YANGON, June 9 (Xinhuanet) --
Bilateral trade between Myanmar and three Northeast Asian (NEA) countries
-- China, Japan and Republic of Korea (ROK) -- totaled 187.69 million U.S.
dollars in the first two months of this year, a 36.3 percent rise compared with
the same period of 2000, the latest Economic Indicators issued by
the government show.
Of the total, Myanmar's imports from the three NEA countries amounted
to 167.02 million dollars, while its exports to them was valued at 20.67
million dollars.
The bilateral trade between Myanmar and the three NEA countries during the
two-month period accounted for 24.4 percent of Myanmar' s total foreign trade
which was registered at 769.15 million dollars. The trade deficit stood at
146.35 million dollars during the period.
Of this, Myanmar's bilateral trade with China represented 81.47 million
dollars or 10.59 percent of Myanmar's total foreign trade, followed by that with
Japan at 58 million dollars or 7.54 percent and that with ROK at 48.22
million dollars or 6.26 percent.
Of the three NEA nations, China, which has border trade with Myanmar
in addition to normal trade, stood as Myanmar's third largest trading
partner for the period after Thailand and Singapore, while Japan and ROK
remain as the country's fourth and fifth largest trading partners
respectively.
According to official statistics, in 2000, Myanmar's foreign trade,
including the border trade, totaled 4.086 billion dollars, of which
imports were valued at 2.567 billion dollars, while exports were worth
1.519 billion dollars. The trade deficit stood at 1.048 billion dollars
during the year
---------------------------------------------------------------- Chinese-Built Dredgers Delivered
to Myanmar for Services
2001.06.09 12:47:06 YANGON, June 9 (Xinhuanet) --
Three dredgers, purchased by the Myanmar water transport authorities from
a Chinese Yunnan company, were formally handed over Saturday to the Myanmar side
for services.
The three dredgers, built by Tianjin Xinhe Shipyard, were exported by
the Yunnan Machinery and Equipment Import and Export Corporation (YMEC) of
China to the Directorate of Water Resources and Improvement of River
System of Myanmar.
The delivery ceremony, held at Yangon's Nanthida Jetty, was attended
by First Secretary of the Myanmar State Peace and Development Council
Lieutenant-General Khin Nyunt, Myanmar Minister of Transport Major-General
Hla Myint Swe and Chinese Ambassador to Myanmar Li Jinjun.
The three dredgers, which worth 8.9 million U.S. dollars, are the
first batch of dredgers of its kind imported by Myanmar from
China.
The commission of the three dredgers into services are expected to greatly
speed up Myanmar's dredging work, thus promoting the development of the
country's water transport.
---------------------------------------------------------------- South China Morning Post
Saturday, June 9, 2001
THAILAND - PM to visit Burma to mend
ties
ASSOCIATED PRESS in Bangkok Thailand's prime minister has said he will visit Burma this month in a bid
to patch up relations that have hit a nadir over several differences, mainly
drug trafficking.
Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra was reported on Saturday saying he plans
to go to Rangoon on June 19-20 following his visits to Laos and Cambodia.
Burma's ruling military junta has not publicly invited Mr Thaksin, who said
he was confident that all issues would be resolved once he meets with the
neighbouring country's top leaders. The Burma government did not immediately
respond to Mr Thaksin's announcement.
The already-sour relations between the two countries came under fresh
pressure this week after the Burma government introduced a new school textbook
that belittles Thai people, calling them lazy, servile and war mongers.
Observers say the textbook is a retaliation against Thai textbooks,
literature and popular culture that portray Burmese people negatively.
Burma-Thai relations took a turn for the worst this January after their
armies clashes at the border. The fighting has continued sporadically.
Thailand accuses Burma's junta of turning a blind eye to a major drug ring,
The United Wa State Army, operating along the border with Thailand. The group
has been listed by the US State Department as the biggest drug trafficker in
Asia, and Thailand says it is responsible for the growing number of addicts in
the country - more than 2.8 million people, most of them youngsters hooked to
illegal stimulant methamphetamines.
Burma says it is doing its best to stop the drug trade and in turn accuses
corrupt Thai officials of abetting the smuggling. It also accuses Thailand of
aiding anti-government ethnic rebels, a charge Thailand denies.
---------------------------------------------------------------- The New Straits Times Press
June 09, 2001.
Problems seen in Singapore's free
trade agreements
From Nuraina Samad in Tokyo SAT: MALAYSIA is concerned that Singapore's proposed free trade agreement
with Japan and the United States will have disastrous effect on the economies of
Asean countries.
Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Mahathir Mohamad, expressing this view
yesterday, said he found it strange that Singapore, which was already a
free-trade area, would have such an arrangement with Japan and the US.
(Singapore has already signed a similar agreement with New Zealand).
"We want to know the conditions in the co-operation between Singapore and
these countries.
"We want to know Singapore's contributions ... whether it is giving more
than that, whether there is any link to AFTA.
"We don't want anyone entering through Singapore and use privileges under
AFTA," he told Malaysian journalists at his suite at the Imperial Hotel
here.
He was asked to elaborate on this issue which he raised during a dialogue
at the Seventh Nikkei International Conference on the "Future of Asia Beyond
Globalisation".
Dr Mahathir singled out the automotive industry which he felt would be
badly hit if foreign cars which were assembled elsewhere but were using 40 per
cent local content (as required under AFTA) enter local (Asean) markets at
cheaper prices.
He said while Malaysian-made cars contain 90 per cent local content, the
country's production was small compared to that of other big foreign companies
with huge economies of scale which design and test their cars elsewhere.
"So Malaysian cars with 90 per cent local content cannot compete with
foreign-made cars assembled in an Asean country and having 40 per cent local
content," he said.
When it was pointed out that there had been criticisms that the 40 per cent
(of local content) was too low, thus making it all too easy for other countries
to enter local Asean markets, he said when negotiations were made for AFTA,
Asean governments had not experienced the results of globalisation.
"Our experience has shown that opening like that (Singapore's free trade
arrangement) can have disastrous effect on our economy.
"We discovered late, that's why we have asked for deferment to 2005,
instead of 2003."
Earlier, during the dialogue with participants of the conference, Dr
Mahathir was asked on Malaysia's stand on Myanmar, to which he replied that
Malaysia did not believe in isolating a country and punishing its people because
it disagreed with the policies of its government.
"Isolating a people will mean that we have no influence over them and we
will have no way of helping them along the way."
Dr Mahathir said because Malaysia believed in "talking" to Myanmar, it has
established good relations with the country including having trade and
investments.
He pointed out that a Malaysian, (Tan Sri Razali Ismail) has been appointed
by the United Nations as special envoy to Myanmar.
---------------------------------------------------------------- AsianWeek - June 8 - 14,
2001
Senate Bill Bans Burma
By Janet Ng Amid allegations ranging from forced labor to rape, Burma’s factories may
soon find goods sitting worthless on their shelves, if two senators have their
way. On May 22, Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, and Jesse Helms, R-N.C., introduced
legislation prohibiting all imports from Burma.
The sanctions bill comes in response to a request from the International
Labor Organization (ILO). Last November, the organization called for its members
to end support of forced labor in Burma. The ILO, a branch of the United
Nations, is made up of countries, companies, and labor unions. It had given
Burma a year to stop its “modern form of slave labor.”
The bill has bipartisan support, including that from California Senator
Dianne Feinstein. Before taking effect, it must be passed by both houses of
congress and signed by the president.
One of Burma’s fiercest critics, the Washington, D.C.-based Free Burma
Coalition, alleged the Burmese government, a member of the ILO, put up a lot of
show in attempting to end forced labor.
“Thankfully, the ILO recognized that it was a lie,” said Jeremy Woodrum,
director of the Free Burma Coalition. “Burma was suspended from all meetings,
which is the first time this has happened in the 82 years of ILO’s
existence.”
Woodrum also accused Burma’s factories of practices that amount to some of
the worst forms of slavery. “It’s really disgusting” and “pretty gross” is about
all he can utter when describing the forced labor conditions there.
“They have no food, no water, and no shelter when working on these
projects,” he said. “It’s a sick form of torture for women who have to do what
is called ‘double-duty.’ Women are forced to work during the day, then raped or
gang-raped by the official overseeing their work detail during the night.”
Woodrum cited widespread cases of human rights violations throughout the
country. Villagers, he said, are forced to porter for the military and walk in
front of the army to detonate mines. The coalition also reported cases in which
children are forced to join the army. If they can’t keep up or are ill, they are
beaten up or drugged with amphetamines or tranquilizers before entering battle.
Moreover, he alleged women and girls are forced into the sex industry in
Thailand or become beggars and hawkers. An estimated 60,000 illegal workers
there are Burmese, he said.
Dan Beeton, also of the Free Burma Coalition, said the organization had
worked with the former Clinton administration to pass an executive order, which
would have imposed sanctions immediately. The administration chose not to sign,
however, because dialogue with Burma had opened.
Where the Bush administration stands on the issue is not yet known. They
sent a non-committal letter that stated they are against sanctions in
general.
“This is a good test case of whether it will be business as usual with
anyone, regardless of how much some governments trample on basic human and
worker’s rights,” said Bill Goold, foreign policy advisor to Senator Harkin.
Goold hopes that the bill will go to a vote before the end of this year’s
session.
The Federated Trade Unions of Burma and Aung San Suu Kyi, Burma’s 1991
Nobel Peace Laureate and democratically elected leader, have both called for
U.S. businesses to avoid Burma as long as the military dictatorship remains in
power. The Federated Trade Unions operate in exile because Burma prohibits
independent trade unions.
Burma received independence from Britain in 1948 and was led by an elected
government until 1958, when a military government took power. In 1960, there
were democratic elections. However, in 1962, the head of the Burma Socialist
Program Party, Ne Win, led a military coup. The government saw pro-democracy
uprisings in 1988, but by September of that year General Saw Maung reasserted
direct military control and formed the State Law and Order Restoration Council
(SLORC).
Aung San Suu Kyi, leader of the National League for Democracy won the
democratic elections held in 1990. The SLORC refused to recognize her as the
elected leader, however, and instead, imposed military rule. The SLORC later
changed its name to the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC), which is a
purely militaristic government, and has no constituency among the general
people.
In 1989, this government changed the name of Burma to Myanmar. The U.S.
State Department does not recognize the name or the government it
represents.
The Burmese government profits from U.S. investments, which enable them to
continue their military regime. Currently, U.S. clothing and garment industries
support the government.
In a letter sent to major clothing companies with factories in Burma, the
Free Burma Coalition states: “Many factories are owned by SPDC-affiliated
companies, and profits from these factories facilitate the SPDC’s projects …
which exploit forced labor. Profits … are used to purchase arms and military
equipment used to enscript people into forced labor … The textile industry there
is also intimately tied to the massive illicit trade in narcotics.”
Nine companies and the U.S. Army and Air Force Exchange Service promised to
end ties with Burma. Last year, Kenneth Cole, the Dress Barn, Nautica, Wal-Mart
Canada, Warner Bros., and JanSport, promised to cease sourcing from Burma after
student protest. The National Labor Committee (NLC), though, still found Kenneth
Cole products in their flagship store in New York with the “Made in Myanmar” tag
in February, six months after the company claimed to have stopped ordering from
Burma.
Michael Colosi, corporate vice president of Kenneth Cole, responded in a
letter to the Free Burma Coalition: “… there may … be small quantities of goods
made in Burma on the shelves of other customers of our licensee or in other
outlets, but those products should be liquidated very soon.”
As of March 2001 well-known companies such as KMart, Tommy Hilfiger,
Jordache, and Columbia Sportswear were still selling products made in
Burma.
“Those products were determined to be counterfeit,” Emily Kaplan, a
spokesperson for Columbia Sportswear, responded. “Columbia sportswear has not
produced any clothing in Burma since 1996 as result of a perceived human rights
violation.”
Fila, Jordan, Arrow Golf, Asphalt, Marshalls, T.J. Maxx, and
Williams-Sonoma are also still in Burma, according to a July 2000 U.S. Embassy
cablegram from Rangoon to Washington, D.C., and the most recent PIERS import
shipments database.
The NLC states that Burmese apparel imports to the U.S. have increased from
$185 million in 1999 to $403.7 million in 2000. Although the U.S. implemented
sanctions that prohibited new U.S. investments in Burma in May 1997, imports
actually increased 50 percent the next year, and 45 percent the year
after.
“The Burmese garment industry is booming … most of the factories are [joint
ventures] between the [Government of Burma] and Hong Kong, Korean and Taiwanese
investors,” reports the U.S. Embassy cable.”
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