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BURMA RELATED NEWS - April 19 -
21, 2002.
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HEADLINES
----------------------------------------------------------------- Reuters - Myanmar deputy military ruler to visit
Thailand
Reuters - Myanmar says over 2,200 workers return
from Thailand
AFP - Myanmar, Thailand to tackle hot issues
during army chief's visit
Asia Pulse - S Korea, Myanmar Seek Cooperation
in IT Sector
Reuters - Domestic difficulties dull ASEAN trade
ambitions
Reuters - Myanmar tells rebels no peace without
surrender
Reuters - Time for Myanmar's generals to bite
the bullet
AP - Secretary-general hopes upcoming visit of
U.N. special envoy will provide "fresh momentum" to Myanmar reconciliation talks
VOA News - UN Burma Envoy to Visit
Rangoon
Bkk Post - Rock
blasting clears channel
----------------------------------------------------------------- Sunday April 21, 3:58 PM
Myanmar deputy military ruler to visit Thailand YANGON, April 21 (Reuters) -
General Maung Aye, the second most powerful leader of Myanmar's ruling military
government, will pay an official visit to Thailand soon, reflecting warmer ties
between the two countries.
"At the invitation of the Prime Minister of Thailand ... the Vice Chairman
of the State Peace and Development Council, General Maung Aye and wife Daw Mya
Mya San, will pay an official visit in the near future," the official news
agency reported.
For security reasons, the agency rarely reveals the exact dates of travel
for senior officials but according to a foreign ministry source the visit will
be from April 23 to 26.
It will be his first visit since becoming Vice Chairman of the SPDC in
1992, but he had visited Thailand before then.
General Maung Aye -- who is also Deputy Commander in Chief of Defence
Services and Commander in Chief of the Army -- is the second most powerful
leader in the military government.
Thailand and Myanmar enjoy a rollercoaster relationship at times, with
disputes over border transgressions frequently erupting into bloodshed.
----------------------------------------------------------------- Sunday April 21, 3:16 PM
Myanmar says over 2,200 workers return from Thailand YANGON, April 21 (Reuters) -
Over 2,200 illegal Myanmar workers have so far returned from Thailand under a
new repatriation scheme that will not see them punished for any law they may
have broken while seeking employment, official media said on Sunday.
The papers said that a leading committee on receiving Myanmar illegal
workers -- in Thailand in their tens of thousands -- had been formed.
"Although these Myanmar citizens went to Thailand and worked there
illegally, the Government is systematically receiving them out of sheer goodwill
without taking any legal action and in the manner of receiving sons and
daughters who are in trouble," newspapers said.
According to Thai media, there are hundreds of thousands of illegal Myanmar
workers in Thailand.
----------------------------------------------------------------- Friday April 19, 3:30 PM
Myanmar, Thailand to tackle hot issues during army chief's visit (AFP) - Thailand and Myanmar
will tackle a range of contentious issues including narcotics, illegal workers
and fisheries disputes when Yangon's army chief General Maung Aye visits next
week, officials said.
Maung Aye, number two in the ruling State Peace and Development Council
(SPDC), will also be granted a royal audience with King Bhumibol Adulyadej
during the four-day trip that starts on Tuesday.
The general is the first top Myanmar official known to have travelled out
of the isolated country since the junta announced last month it had foiled a
coup attempt by relatives of former dictator Ne Win.
Foreign Minister Surakiart Sathirathai said during the talks with Maung
Aye, Myanmar will be notified that Thailand will deport "hundreds of thousands"
of illegal Myanmar workers.
"Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra will ask Myanmar to expedite the
signing of a memorandum of understanding which will deal with illegal workers,"
he told reporters on Friday.
On the narcotics suppression issue, Thailand will offer assistance for
schemes like crop substitution which are designed to decrease the production of
opium inside Myanmar, he said.
The two sides will also try to reach agreement on fishing licences for Thai
boats, which were suspended a year ago after a half-day border skirmish between
the two national armies.
"Thailand will ask Myanmar to speed up a written answer concerning the
joint fisheries agreement," Surakiart said.
The two countries will also discuss joint tourism projects and road links
across Thailand's western border with Myanmar, which Thailand will provide loans
funds for.
On the political front, Thailand will reiterate its support for the
national reconciliation process in Myanmar, where the junta is holding 18-month
talks with democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi.
"Thailand will reiterate the importance of national reconciliation and
Thailand is ready to help realise the reconciliation process which will be
positive for everyone," Surakiart said.
After arriving at a military airport Tuesday, Maung Aye will be whisked to
the Chitralada Palace for an audience with King Bhumibol Adulyadej before
attending a dinner hosted by Thaksin.
He then leaves for the resort island of Phuket, where he will play a round
of golf and dine with Surakiart before returning Thursday for talks with the
premier.
Thai military sources told the Bangkok Post that border areas would be
under the "highest security" to prevent unrest during the visit.
But Thai army spokesman Somkuan Saengpattaranetr rejected the report,
saying there was "nothing to be concerned about" as there was no indication of
upcoming trouble.
----------------------------------------------------------------- Friday April 19, 5:31 PM
S Korea, Myanmar Seek Cooperation in IT Sector SEOUL, April 19 Asia Pulse -
South Korea Friday asked for Myanmar to help Korean firms join the project to
modernize telecommunications network of the southeast Asian nation.
Vice Information and Communications Minister Kim Tae-hyun made the request
at a meeting with his Myanmar counterpart Thien Zaw.
At the meeting, the vice minister explained Korea's e-government project
and other current information policies and requested Myanmar to join hands with
Korean businesses for its own e-government and network modernization
projects.
In response, the Myanmar minister said the country has forged an
"e-national task-force" to proceed with information projects and asked the
Korean government to impart its own experience and know-how to the task
force.
Earlier, Vice Minister Kim held the Korea-Myanmar IT Forum which was
attended by 200 government officials and IT experts from research institutes and
businesses.
----------------------------------------------------------------- Sunday April 21, 3:15 PM
Domestic difficulties dull ASEAN trade ambitions By Patrick Chalmers KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) - With a
six-country trade deal completed this year and talks due for a free trade
agreement with China, ASEAN supporters could be forgiven for feeling peeved at
critics who suggest the grouping has stalled.
But even fans of the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) say
the best it can hope for is steady progress.
Political or economic problems in most of ASEAN's 10 members mean few have
time to champion big ideas beyond their borders, like a China-ASEAN free trade
area (FTA) taking in a quarter of humanity.
Chayachoke Chulasiriwongs, head of international relations studies at
Thailand's Chulalongkorn University, sees ASEAN members as still preoccupied
with the fallout from the 1997-98 financial crisis and the recent admission of
new, poorer members.
"Some people question whether it's going to be dissolved -- I don't think
so. It will probably go on like this, like a lame person hobbling on and on," he
said.
"If most of these countries can start solving their internal problems --
political, economic and social -- I am quite sure that the bloc will be
strengthened," he added.
But one luxury ASEAN lacks is time, as large chunks of foreign investment
bypass the region in favour of China.
Singapore says it is blazing the way for the region through bilateral trade
deals outside the ASEAN Free Trade Area (AFTA), upsetting neighbour Malaysia
which prefers a regional approach.
FROM SECURITY TO TRADE
Conceived as a security grouping in 1967 -- a time of Communist insurgents,
border disputes and the Vietnam War -- ASEAN initially grouped Indonesia,
Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand. Brunei joined in 1984, 11
years before Vietnam. Laos and Myanmar signed up in 1997 and Cambodia in 1999.
Ambitions of economic cooperation began with preferential trade deals in
1977, leading to the more ambitious AFTA in 1992 -- due originally to start in
2007 but largely complete by 2002.
ASEAN Secretary-General Rodolfo Severino, whose five-year term in office
ends in December, says progress has been steady.
"There's change, we're moving, you just have to be realistic about what is
possible in a region that not so long ago was involved with a lot of suspicion
and hostility," he said.
ASEAN bloc countries are at widely different stages of development, from
market-friendly Singapore to military-ruled Myanmar and communist Vietnam and
Laos. Cambodia, Vietnam and Laos have yet to join the World Trade Organisation
(WTO) and view trade liberalisation with distrust.
The Jakarta-based Severino, who saw AFTA slash tariffs this year between
ASEAN's six longest-standing members to 0-5 percent for most goods, said talks
set for next month on an ASEAN-China trade deal were solid evidence of progress.
"Looking at things like the ASEAN China FTA, that would have been
unthinkable not so long ago," he said.
Such an arrangement, planned to be in place within 10 years, would create a
bloc with a gross domestic product of $2 trillion and two-way trade of $1.23
trillion.
Mohamed Ariff, executive director at the Malaysian Institute of Economic
Research, said AFTA's speedier-than-planned entry into force had silenced those
who predicted its derailment.
"Many people thought the crisis that ASEAN countries went through would
have really dented the AFTA process, the argument being the countries would be
too preoccupied by these problems.
LEADERSHIP NEEDED
"These kinds of expectations have been proven wrong," Ariff told a recent
round table on ASEAN and the European Union.
What ASEAN lacked was not political will, but leadership, he said.
"We do have a serious leadership problem in ASEAN," said Ariff, who saw
former heavyweight Indonesia as preoccupied at home, likewise Thailand, and
Singapore as just too small.
"Malaysia? I think that's the logical choice but because of our position on
automotives, we cannot play that kind of role because leadership means
leadership by example."
Kuala Lumpur irked its partners by opting out of AFTA for finished car
imports. It is protecting its vehicle makers until 2005 with tariffs of up to
300 percent.
"Now we are not even sure whether Malaysia will open up in 2005, which is
not acceptable to countries like Thailand."
Ariff characterised the row as a hazard of AFTA -- which he quipped meant
"Agree First, Talk After" -- where ambiguity allowed the grouping to survive.
But he adds this mush change if the bloc is to progress.
"The world has changed so rapidly that the old approaches won't really be
effective in the future."
----------------------------------------------------------------- Friday April 19, 12:50 PM
Myanmar tells rebels no peace without surrender By Aung Hla Tun YANGON (Reuters) - Myanmar's
military government has brushed aside an olive branch from the largest rebel
force still fighting its grip on the country, saying the Shan State Army (SSA)
would have to surrender if it wanted peace.
Thailand's Bangkok Post newspaper quoted SSA commander Yod Suk on Thursday
as saying he wanted Thailand to mediate truce talks with the Yangon junta. But
he said the SSA, which has battled Myanmar troops in the volatile Golden
Triangle region for years, would not agree to lay down its weapons before
starting peace talks.
A senior Myanmar military intelligence officer said the junta regarded the
SSA as nothing more than a splinter group of the Mong Tai Army of former opium
warlord Khun Sa, who surrendered in 1996 with many of his troops.
"There is no way we will have peace negotiations with the (SSA) because
they are a splinter group of the Mong Tai Army that has already surrendered
unconditionally to the government," Lieutenant-Colonel San Pwint told Reuters.
"But if they want to exchange their weapons for peace, they are welcome."
Several guerrilla groups operate in Myanmar, a product of the country's
bloody history and its fractured patchwork of different ethnic groups and
religions.
The military, which has ruled Myanmar since 1962, has often cited the
danger to national unity posed by rebellious ethnic minorities as a
justification for its grip on power.
PEACE AGREEMENTS
Over the past decade the military government has pursued a policy of
seeking deals with the ethnic minority rebel groups, and has reached peace
agreements with 17 of them.
But three major groups still stand against Yangon -- the SSA, the Karenni
National Progressive Party and the Karen National Union (KNU). The first two are
separatist groups while the KNU is fighting for greater autonomy in a federal,
democratic Myanmar.
Many of the government's deals have involved giving the former rebel groups
considerable autonomy in return for dropping their fight against Yangon.
Ceasefire groups such as the United Wa State Army have been allowed to keep
control over their territory and retain their weapons. The United Wa State Army
is widely accused of being the region's main narcotics producer.
But Myanmar's government says the United Wa State Army is committed to
eradicating drugs, and accuses the SSA of being the country's main narcotics
producer and trafficker.
Yod Suk was formerly a lieutenant of Khun Sa, who now lives in Yangon after
surrendering to the Myanmar military. Khun Sa was a major opium producer, but
claimed he was forced to grow the crop to finance his struggle against the
Myanmar government.
The Bangkok Post quoted Yod Suk as saying neither side should set
preconditions for talks. It said the SSA commander wanted similar privileges to
those granted to the United Wa State Army -- which runs its part of Myanmar in
northeastern Shan State as an autonomous fiefdom.
The newspaper said Yod Suk suggested that Thai Defence Minister Chavalit
Yongchaiyudh help broker peace talks.
It said Chavalit would informally raise the issue of talks with Myanmar
army chief General Maung Aye during his visit to Thailand on April 23 to 26.
Myanmar has in the past accused the Thai army of giving support to the SSA,
and the two countries have fought sporadic skirmishes along their border over
the issue.
----------------------------------------------------------------- Sunday April 21, 6:48 PM
Time for Myanmar's generals to bite the bullet By Andrew Marshall BANGKOK (Reuters) - It's crunch
time for Myanmar's ruling generals.
A visit by U.N. Special Envoy Razali Ismail this week could be the last
chance for the military to show it is serious about political change in the
impoverished and isolated country.
Diplomats say patience with the military rulers is running out after more
than 18 months of secretive talks with opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, and
unless it can prove the dialogue is more than just a sham, heavier sanctions are
set to follow.
If Razali, who is due to arrive in Myanmar on Tuesday, fails to find signs
that concrete progress is being made in the talks, the process could well
unravel.
"This is probably the biggest test he has had," said a senior Western
diplomat in Yangon. "If he leaves Burma at the end of this visit with nothing,
then it could be all over. People can't keep giving the government the benefit
of the doubt forever."
Top of the international community's demands is the release of 56-year-old
Suu Kyi, winner of the 1991 Nobel Peace Prize, who has been held under house
arrest for 18 months.
"Releasing her is the one thing they could do now that would give them some
breathing space and keep the talks on track," the diplomat said. "They can't
carry on claiming to be building democracy while Suu Kyi is in confinement."
SILENCE
The talks between Suu Kyi and the junta were hailed by the international
community as a breakthrough. Since they began, the government has released more
than 200 political prisoners and ended its criticism of Suu Kyi in state media.
But more than 1,000 political prisoners are still in jail, and the
government has been silent on what progress the talks have made -- if any.
Suu Kyi, too, is silent. Her telephone line is cut, she cannot leave her
house, and her visitors are screened by the military and limited to a handful of
diplomats.
Activists in Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy (NLD), which won
Myanmar's last election in 1990 but was never allowed to take power, are
increasingly restless over the lack of progress. So too are the country's many
ethnic parties, who fear they could be left out of any political settlement.
Razali himself has said progress in the talks has been too slow. The
credibility of the dialogue is now on the line.
"The question is how many more times can Razali keep going back if there
has been no progress? If the government is playing a game, it can't do it
forever," said Aung Zaw, editor of the Thai-based Irrawaddy magazine which
focuses on Myanmar.
Diplomats say Razali may resign if this trip yields no progress. That would
probably lead to stricter sanctions by the United States, Europe and Japan,
pushing Myanmar's tottering economy even deeper into crisis.
"More sanctions would be the next step," the diplomat said. "There has been
a carrot-and-stick approach so far, but if there is no progress then we will
throw away the carrot."
BAD OMENS
The omens are not good ahead of Razali's trip.
The military said last month it had foiled a coup bid by relatives and
cronies of elderly former dictator Ne Win. His son-in-law and three grandsons
were arrested and are to be put on trial for high treason, which carries the
death penalty.
Many in Myanmar welcomed the arrests -- Ne Win began decades of dictatorial
military rule in Burma when he seized power in 1962, and presided over the
country's decline from being one of Asia's richest countries to one of its most
backward.
But many analysts doubt a coup was ever seriously planned, and say the
allegations are being used by the military to purge its ranks. They say the
purge has strengthened the hand of hardliners opposed to making any concessions
to Suu Kyi.
Razali's latest visit was initially scheduled for last month, but the junta
asked him to postpone it at the last minute, fuelling fears about the future of
the dialogue with Suu Kyi.
The government at first said it had requested the delay because the deputy
foreign minister had suffered a heart attack, but then said it was too busy
dealing with the alleged coup plot to meet Razali.
"It was certainly worrying that the visit was postponed," the diplomat
said. "If the military is trying to stall his arrival, it means they have no
good news to tell about the talks. And that means the whole process is probably
in real danger."
----------------------------------------------------------------- Secretary-general hopes upcoming
visit of U.N. special envoy will provide "fresh momentum" to Myanmar
reconciliation talks
Fri Apr 19,11:11 PM ET UNITED NATIONS (AP) -
Secretary-General Kofi Annan hopes the upcoming visit of a U.N. special envoy to
Myanmar will provide "fresh momentum" to reconciliation talks between the
country's military government and pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi, a U.N.
spokesman said.
Malaysian diplomat Razali Ismail, who has been a key broker in the
slow-moving talks, will visit the capital Yangon from April 23-26 to continue
his efforts to help facilitate the reconciliation process in Myanmar, U.N.
spokesman Fred Eckhard said Friday.
Myanmar's regime postponed Razali's scheduled visit starting March 19 after
announcing it had uncovered a coup plot by family members of former dictator Ne
Win. The government said its officials were "preoccupied" because of the
plot.
During next week's visit, Razali is expected to meet senior government
leaders including Senior Gen. Than Shwe, the chairman of the ruling junta known
as the State Peace and Development Council. He is also expected to hold talks
with Suu Kyi, the 1991 Nobel peace laureate who has been under house detention
for more than a year, and senior members of her National League for
Democracy.
Annan hopes Razali's mission "will provide the process with a fresh
momentum to assist the two sides to develop their confidence-building talks into
a more substantive dialogue in the near future," Eckhard said.
This will be Razali's seventh visit to Myanmar since he was appointed U.N.
envoy in April 2000.
Myanmar, also known as Burma, has been ruled by the military since 1962.
The current group of generals took power in 1988 after a bloody crackdown on
pro-democracy demonstrations.
The junta refused to hand over power when Suu Kyi's party won 1990 general
elections and jailed hundreds of party activists.
The regime has freed about 250 of Suu Kyi's supporters since January 2001,
three months after the reconciliation talks began. But more than 1,500 political
prisoners are estimated to remain behind bars.
----------------------------------------------------------------- UN Burma Envoy to Visit
Rangoon
VOA News 20 Apr 2002 11:21 UTC The United Nations' special envoy to Burma will visit Rangoon next week in
a bid to facilitate talks between the military government and opposition leader
Aung San Suu Kyi.
During his four-day visit, which begins on Tuesday, Razali Ismail is
expected to meet with government leaders, including Senior General Than Shwe,
and senior members of the National League for Democracy, including party leader
Aung San Suu Kyi.
A U.N. spokesman said Secretary-General Kofi Annan hopes the visit will
provide what was described as "fresh momentum" to the reconciliation
talks.
The NLD won general elections in 1990 but the military refused to hand over
power and has jailed hundreds of party activists.
----------------------------------------------------------------- Bangkok Post - Sunday 21 April 2002
Rock blasting clears channel
The blasting of rocks in the Mekong river to clear water transport routes
between China, Burma, Laos and Thailand is expected to be completed in the next
two months.
PM's Office Minister Somsak Thepsuthin, in charge of tourism, said the job
would be speeded up to take advantage of lower current levels in the
river.
Passage would be improved for some 2,000 ships and smaller craft travelling
from China to Thailand, Burma and Laos every month.
He would talk to Transport Minister Wan Muhamad Nor Matha about putting on
more one-hour flights between Chiang Mai and China's Jin Hong, to save time for
investors and tourists who spend more than 20 hours travelling by boat.
An opium museum in Chiang Saen district is expected to open in August.
Pruet Phutthanop, assistant director of the northern tourism district 2, said
the tourism authority was hoping to attract at least 1.2 million tourists to
Chiang Rai this year.
Chiang Saen district chief Wisit Sitthisombat said construction of a new
port worth more than 180 million baht along the Mekong river in Chiang Saen
would be finished early next year.
China had agreed to invest 500 million baht in a tax-free industrial estate
project in the district, he said.
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