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BURMA RELATED NEWS
- November 04, 2002.
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HEADLINES
------------------------------------------------------------------------ AFP - Southeast Asian leaders vow to
unite in terror fight
AFP - ASEAN, China to sign agreement
for landmark free trade pact
AFP - Southeast Asia, China create
world's biggest free trade area
AFP - 13 Asian leaders urge North
Korea to halt nuclear programme
Reuters - Bosnia Serbs admit planned
to sell arms to Myanmar
Reuters - Asian leaders agree on
Spratlys, terror and trade pact
Reuters - Asian leaders want peaceful
solution as N.Korea lashes out
Reuters - Southeast Asia urges world
not to warn against visits
Reuters - ASEAN and China to sign
trade pact as AFTA falters
AP - Ethnic rebel group holds peace
talks with Myanmar junta
AP - Activists dispersed at ASEAN
summit, opposition leader fasts to
Common Position
Burma/Myanmar
Council of EU - Common Position
Burma/Myanmar
Asian tribune - Burma/Myanmar ?
Common position and Council conclusions
Business Day - China's clout worries
South East Asia
Bkk Post - Wa launder
proceeds at gems auction
------------------------------------------------------------------------ Monday November 4, 7:13 PM
Southeast Asian leaders vow to unite in terror fight (AFP) - 'Southeast Asian leaders put on a united front as they tried to reassure the international community they were serious about combatting regional terrorism after the Bali bombing.ay "We resolve to intensify our efforts, collectively and individually, to prevent, counter and suppress the activities of terrorist groups in the region," the leaders said in a joint declaration. Opening the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) summit, Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen emphasised: "We can not allow the terrorist scourge to worsen." "Prosperity for all cannot be attained in the absence of security and peace. This we know from painful, recent experience. We should take more concerted actions to combat terrorism." An ASEAN official told AFP the leaders decided to release the anti-terrorism statement at the start of the summit to underline the group's commitment to fighting the problem. The ASEAN leaders called on their law enforcement agencies to work more closely together and said they were committed to working with other global leaders to fight terrorism. ASEAN leaders were meeting face-to-face for the first time since the car bomb attack on the Indonesian island of Bali killed at least 190 people, mostly foreign tourists, three weeks ago. More than 20 other people were also killed last month in a series of bomb attacks in the Philippines. Suspicion for all the attacks has fallen on the regional Islamic militant group, Jemaah Islamiyah. Some Western governments and Indonesian officials have also linked Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda terror network, blamed for last year's September 11 attacks on the United States, to the Bali blasts. Western leaders, particularly the United States, were critical of the Indonesian government after the Bali attack, saying Jakarta had not acted on warnings that the archipelago was increasingly becoming a home for terrorists. Malaysian Foreign Minister Syed Hamid Albar told AFP that the declaration was aimed at telling the rest of the world Southeast Asian leaders were getting tough on terrorism. "We have to work hard to change this perception to create better confidence," Syed Hamid said. However the leaders also criticised Western governments for their recent spate of warnings against travelling in many parts of Southeast Asia because of other potential terrorist attacks. "We call on the international community to avoid indiscriminately advising their citizens to refrain from visiting or otherwise dealing with our countries, in the absence of established evidence to substantiate rumours of possible terrorist attacks," the declaration said. The leaders also announced Thailand's entry into a regional anti-terrorism pact, which already groups Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines and Cambodia and is focused on sharing intelligence and resources. And Philippines President Gloria Arroyo urged Singapore to join and expand the group to six, according to ASEAN officials, although there was no immediate response from Singaporean Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong. The declaration outlined five specific measures ASEAN would undertake to fight terrorism. They include an international conference on anti-terrorism measures and tourism recovery in Manila next week, a regional meeting on money laundering and terrorist financing in Bali in December, an ASEAN ministerial summit to include China, Japan and South Korea in Bangkok late next year, and the setting up of a regional counter-terrorism center in Kuala Lumpur. ASEAN groups Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Monday November 4, 5:00 PM
ASEAN, China to sign agreement for landmark free trade pact (AFP) - Southeast Asian leaders and China are due to sign a landmark agreement here leading to the world's biggest free trade area embracing 1.7 billion people and trade worth 1.2 trillion dollars. The framework pact, scheduled to be signed later Monday on the first day of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) summit, is due to be implemented within about 10 years and would create a trade area with an economy worth almost two trillion dollars. According to a draft of the framework pact obtained by AFP before the summit, tariff cuts on selected farm products under an "early harvest package" will start as early as next year. Products covered under the early harvest package include live animals, meat, fish, dairy produce, other animal products, live trees, vegetables, fruit and nuts. Under the framework, negotiations will start next year for a full free trade area covering goods, services and investments. Chinese Prime Minister Zhu Rongji and the leaders of the 10 ASEAN nations are expected to make the final decision on when the free trade agreement will be established when they announce the deal. ASEAN officials said Monday there had been some disagreement over the timing of the implementation of the agreement. However they said 2010 had now been set for China and the six original ASEAN states -- Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand -- and 2015 for the less developed ASEAN members of Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam. According to officials, Philippines President Gloria Arroyo told the ASEAN leaders during the summit Monday there should be flexibility among the six original member nations in implementing the 2010 deadline because they had different levels of economic development. She called for special and preferential tariff treatment among the six countries, saying certain products may not be ready to be included in the deal by 2010. China, which is holding meetings with ASEAN nations during parallel talks at the two-day summit, is steadily forging closer ties with Southeast Asia. Chinese officials announced over the weekend China would give preferential tariff treatment to three of the poorest Southeast Asian nations -- Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar. China also wrote off Cambodia's debt, which is believed to be worth more than 200 million dollars. Analysts said the free trade agreement will provide an avenue for ASEAN to engage its giant neighbour as an economic partner rather than a competitor. "It means we have freer access to the huge domestic market of China," National University of Singapore economics professor Jose Tongzon told AFP before the summit. "This is where ASEAN should explore the possible areas where we can benefit from China's free market." ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Monday November 4, 10:50 PM
Southeast Asia, China create world's biggest free trade area (AFP ) - Chinese Prime Minister Zhu Rongi and Southeast Asian leaders signed an historic agreement to create the world's biggest free trade area embracing 1.7 billion people and two-way trade worth 1.2 trillion dollars. Zhu hailed the deal Monday, saying it would benefit the global economy and lift his nation's relations with the 10 members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) to "unprecedented heights". The free trade area should be completed in 2010 between China and the six original ASEAN members -- Brunei, Malaysia, Indonesia, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand and eventually create a trade area with an economy worth almost two trillion dollars. The deadline for the less developed ASEAN nations -- Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam -- was pushed back until 2015. Zhu said the agreement gave a "forceful impetus" to his nation's relations with ASEAN and "exerted a positive impact in the region and the world". "This will also contribute to faster progress of East Asia cooperation," he said. "The China-ASEAN relationship has reached unprecedented heights in history." Tariff cuts on selected farm products under an "early harvest package" will start as early as next year, officials said. Products covered under the early harvest package include live animals, meat, fish, dairy produce, other animal products, live trees, vegetables, fruit and nuts. Zhu said China would faithfully deliver its commitments and implement the early harvest and other arrangements on schedule. "We stand ready to make joint efforts with all ASEAN countries to move forward our all-round economic cooperation through the establishment of the Free Trade Area," he said. A statement issued after the signing ceremony said ASEAN and China would progressively eliminate tariffs and non-tariff barriers on "substantially all" trade in goods while taking similar steps to free trade in services. The two sides also agreed to establish an "open and competitive" investment regime. Under the pact, China also accorded the most-favoured nation treatment to Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam, the three ASEAN members which are not yet members of the World Trade Organisation (WTO), the statement said. China will reduce or eliminate tariffs imposed on exports from the three countries, a Chinese official told AFP. Based on the timeframes for implementing the ASEAN-China FTA agreement, negotiations to reduce and eliminate tariffs will start early next year and be concluded by mid-2004. For services and investment, negotiations are to start early next year and be concluded "as expeditiously as possible". Negotiations between the two sides are to be carried out by an existing body known as the ASEAN-China Trade Negotiations Committee, which would report to the ASEAN economic ministers and China's Ministry of Foreign Trade on the progress and outcomes of negotiations. Bilateral ASEAN-China trade totalled 41.6 billion dollars last year, making China the sixth and ASEAN the fifth biggest trading partners to each other. Analysts said the free trade agreement will provide an avenue for ASEAN to engage its giant neighbour as an economic partner rather than a competitor. "It means we have freer access to the huge domestic market of China," National University of Singapore economics professor Jose Tongzon told AFP before the summit. "This is where ASEAN should explore the possible areas where we can benefit from China's free market." ASEAN and China also signed a pact to co-operate on non-traditional security issues that covered a range of issues including terrorism. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Monday November 4, 10:49 PM
13 Asian leaders urge North Korea to halt nuclear programme (AFP) - Thirteen Asian leaders urged North Korea to immediately stop its nuclear weapons programme. The leaders from Southeast Asia, China, South Korea and Japan "expressed a strong consensus that North Korea should immediately stop its nuclear weapons programme in accordance with its commitments in international treaties and understanding," Philippine Foreign Secretary Blas Ople told reporters. "This is the message that North Korea should heed without delay," he said. Ople was speaking after the meeting between the 10 leaders of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and their three East Asian neighbours here. ASEAN comprises Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. Washington revealed last month that North Korea had admitted it was running a clandestine nuclear weapons programme based on enriched uranium, in violation of a 1994 arms control deal. Washington insists that North Korea must dismantle the programme before any further dialogue is held on a possible warming of ties between the long-standing Cold War adversaries. North Korea has denied the US accusations and wants Washington to abandon what it called "hostile" policy designed to allegedly torpedo the country's drive to improve ties with Japan and other countries. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Bosnia Serbs admit planned to sell
arms to Myanmar
By Dragana Dardic BANJA LUKA, Bosnia, Nov 4 (Reuters) - Bosnia's Serb Republic faced fresh embarrassment over weapons trading after it admitted on Monday it was negotiating a deal with Myanmar when a scandal over illegal exports to Iraq broke out last month. ``There were attempts...to sell weapons but after learning that Burma (Myanmar) was under unilateral sanctions, (although) not under U.N. sanctions, the agreement was put out of force,'' Prime Minister Mladen Ivanic told a news conference. Many Western countries, including the United States and the European Union, have imposed political and economic sanctions on Myanmar, formerly known as Burma, over its human rights record. Bosnia has been under close international scrutiny since NATO troops found evidence in October that the Bosnian Serb state-owned company Orao exported parts for military jets to Iraq via a Yugoslav firm in violation of a U.N. arms embargo. International peace officials have pressured Bosnian Serb authorities to conduct a detailed investigation into the Iraq-related exports, as well as into any other trade deals that might have violated international sanctions. In response, the Bosnian Serb government first sacked three officials over the export of parts for Iraqi MiG-21 aircraft by the Orao company and Bosnia's central government imposed an indefinite ban on all exports of arms and military equipment. But even as the investigation was going on, a top Bosnian Serb military delegation departed for Myanmar to discuss the possibility of a weapons trade deal and other forms of cooperation, Ivanic said on Monday. He said the officials learned that the Asian nation was under a European Union arms embargo only during the visit to Myanmar two weeks ago and decided to stop the talks. Bosnian Serb Defence Minister Slobodan Bilic and army chief-of-staff Novica Simic headed the delegation to Myanmar. They turned in their resignations over the Iraq affair to the government immediately upon their return to Bosnia last week. Western diplomats had no immediate comment on Monday's disclosure. But a Western source who asked not to be named said it was hard to believe that Bosnian Serb officials were unaware Burma's military rulers are ostracised by the West. Bosnia's top international peace official Paddy Ashdown said he expected the Bosnian Serbs to show political responsibility and take further action as their investigations go on. ``If they don't, I am prepared to use my power to make sure that happens,'' Ashdown told reporters in Banja Luka, referring to his sweeping powers to remove officials and impose decisions. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Monday November 4, 10:44 PM
Asian leaders agree on Spratlys, terror and trade pact By Ed Cropley PHNOM PENH (Reuters) - China and Southeast Asia signed a deal on Monday to give birth to the biggest free trade zone on earth, encompassing more than 1.7 billion people struggling to attain prosperity after centuries mired in poverty. "I would say that this is one of the most significant agreements to be signed this year anywhere in the world," Rodolfo Severino, secretary general of the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN), said earlier. Another landmark accord underscored China's foray to mend fences when it signed a deal with its southern neighbours to avoid conflict over the disputed Spratly islands in the South China Sea over which Beijing has come to the brink of war with Vietnam and the Philippines several times in recent years. The deals culminated a day of talks among the 10 ASEAN members as well as China, South Korea and Japan that was dominated by a declaration condemning militant violence as a threat not only to people but to prosperity. Reeling from last month's bombing on the paradise Indonesian island of Bali, leaders of some of the world's most populous Muslim nations urged the international community not to issue warnings against travel to countries increasingly reliant on tourism or to blame specific religious groups. DON'T PICK ON PEOPLE "We deplore the tendency in some quarters to identify terrorism with particular religious or ethnic groups," an ASEAN statement said. With participants agreeing that the war on terror had become an essential ingredient of prosperity, leaders turned their attention to ways to boost trade and foster economic integration. The China agreement fitted the bill. "Facts have shown that economic growth in China has not come about at the expense of the development of others," Chinese Premier Zhu Rongji told the meeting, pre-empting a growing chorus of concern that the Chinese behemoth could swamp its neighbours. Negotiations on the Southeast Asia-China free trade area with a potential combined market of 1.7 billion people will start next year. China and ASEAN have a combined gross domestic product of $1.5 trillion to $2.0 trillion. The free trade area that will stretch from the frozen steppes of China's northern Mongolia region to the palm-fringed beaches of Indonesia will be the largest in the world. However, stumbling blocks lie in its path, including fears among several Southeast Asian nations that their fading tiger economies risk being swallowed up by the dynamic China dragon. Analysts said one aim of the agreement was to enable China to sideline once-mighty Japan, and position its rapidly growing industries not only to expand trade to the south but to increase overseas investment as China moves from exporter to importer and from cheap manufacturing source to higher-end buyer. DEAL, BUT WHERE'S THE INTEGRATION? The deal comes as current efforts to set up an ASEAN Free Trade Area (AFTA) have lost their way. "It is critical for ASEAN to know its destination and which path will take it there at the crucial crossroads in its history," Severino told the leaders in a swansong speech. "Regional economic integration seems to have become stuck in framework agreements, work programmes and master plans," he raged in a thinly veiled reference to the deal with China. The reluctance of some countries to make changes had stalled integration of the entire group, he told leaders in the Cambodian capital, Phnom Penh. He did not identify the member states. ASEAN groups Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. Under AFTA, six of the 10 ASEAN nations are due to cut tariffs next year to between zero and five percent on all but a few goods traded in the region. The four less developed members are to reduce tariffs over the next decade. The summit aims to promote economic integration, tackle terror and paper over cracks that perennially open up among 10 states that range from impoverished Laos to oil-rich Brunei and giant Indonesia, the world's most populous Muslim nation. But officials at the talks, in a plush hotel surrounded by tight security in streets where the Khmer Rouge launched their "Killing Fields" genocide three decades ago, said leaders evinced few signs of understanding each other's positions. The issue of North Korea's nuclear weapons programme nudged its way onto the agenda when the prime ministers of China, Japan and South Korea urged the group to join tough talk to urge the unpredictable communist state to abandon its ambitions. Rare unanimity was also achieved in the war on terror. "We call on the international community to avoid indiscriminately advising their citizens to refrain from visiting ...in the absence of established evidence to substantiate rumours of possible terrorist attacks," ASEAN said in its declaration. The United States is among the many countries that have urged citizens not to visit Indonesia. It has withdrawn families of embassy staff from the country, citing fears of more attacks. A statement on tourism pledged cooperation among law enforcement agencies to protect visitors seeking sun and sand. The group also vowed to set up a regional counter-terrorism centre in the Malaysian capital, Kuala Lumpur, but said individual groups should not be singled out. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Monday November 4, 8:32 PM
Asian leaders want peaceful solution as N.Korea lashes out By Elaine Lies PHNOM PENH (Reuters) - Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi urged his Southeast Asian counterparts on Monday to cooperate to find a solution to the threat posed by North Korea's nuclear programme, calling for tough talk. Koizumi stressed that regional stability and good behaviour would benefit Pyongyang, which shocked the world in October with the revelation it was pursuing a nuclear weapons programme. "In cooperation with Southeast Asia, we'd like to make efforts through firm talk to persuade North Korea to take part constructively in international society," he told a summit of Southeast Asian leaders in the Cambodian capital, Phnom Penh. "As talks continue, we will be tough," Koizumi said. It would be to Pyongyang's benefit to become a responsible member of the international community, he said, echoing last week's demand by the United States and Asia-Pacific nations that Pyongyang demonstrate it was abandoning the programme or risk the potential benefits from economic partnerships in the region. Several Southeast Asian leaders voiced their agreement, a Japanese Foreign Ministry official said, reporting on the talks. "They said its nuclear programme is a threat to the stability not only of the Korean Peninsula but also to Asia as a whole," the official said, declining to identify countries that spoke. GROWING INTERNATIONAL PRESSURE North Korea lashed out against the gathering international opposition, saying it was nothing more than "hectic U.S. diplomacy". "The U.S. demanded the DPRK (North Korea) scrap its 'nuclear programme', saying that this would bring 'economic benefits' to it," said a report carried by the Korean Central News Agency. "This is an unbearable insult. The DPRK cannot sacrifice its army for a piece of gold." Meeting earlier in the day with the prime ministers of China and South Korea, Koizumi said pressure on Pyongyang should stop short of forcing the unpredictable state into greater isolation. He has in recent weeks spearheaded efforts to restart Japanese normalisation talks with the North and last month became the first Japanese leader to visit the reclusive communist state. He said he had conveyed his views to North Korean leader Kim Jong-il when they met in Pyongyang last month. China, the North's last remaining ally, said it had not known Pyongyang was engaged in developing nuclear arms and fully backed a nuclear-free Korean peninsula, the Japanese official said. Japanese Foreign Ministry officials said Japan, South Korea and China all stressed the importance of a peaceful solution, but did not specify how to achieve this. "A peaceful solution to this problem is essential and I hope that China and Korea will take a constructive role," an official quoted Koizumi as saying. South Korea's Kim said he was committed to a diplomatic solution, the official said. "The nuclear issue is a serious problem that influences the East Asian region. I would strongly urge finding a solution to the problem in a transparent way," Kim was quoted as saying. "For this reason, international cooperation is essential." COVERT ARMS PROGRAMME North Korea stunned U.S. officials last month when it said it was engaged in a covert nuclear arms programme despite a pledge to stop under a 1994 agreement. Pyongyang last week raised the stakes again, in talks with Japan, by rejecting a call to scrap the programme and insisting it would talk only to the United States. In the talks with Tokyo on normalising diplomatic ties, North Korea said it needed nuclear arms to cope with a U.S. threat. Pyongyang did agree, however, to discuss security matters with Tokyo in a new forum to be set up next month. Both Pyongyang and Tokyo are believed to be eager to keep the door open to talks. North Korea wants aid for its struggling economy and a way to keep open a route for talks with Washington. Japan wants to continue talks on the question of Japanese kidnapped by North Korea in the 1970s and 1980s. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Monday November 4, 2:36 PM
Southeast Asia urges world not to warn against visits By Ed Cropley PHNOM PENH (Reuters) - Southeast Asian leaders called on the world on Monday not to target the tourism-dependent region in its war on terror as it put the finishing touches to a deal with China to create the world's largest free trade area. The summit in Cambodia aims to promote economic integration, tackle terror and paper over cracks that perennially open up among 10 ASEAN member states that range from impoverished Laos to oil-rich Brunei and regional giant Indonesia, the world's most populous Muslim nation. However, the issue of North Korea's nuclear weapons programme nudged its way onto the agenda when the prime ministers of China, Japan and South Korea met on the sidelines of the summit to urge the unpredictable communist state to abandon its ambitions. Guarded by thousands of police and military around a plush hotel in the heart of the capital, Phnom Penh, the leaders of the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) gathered around a table bedecked with their national flags. They launched their summit with a declaration pledging to battle terror, and demanding the rest of the world stop issuing warnings against travel to a region where earnings from tourism have been crucial in its drive toward prosperity. Still reeling from the shock of a devastating bombing on Indonesia's paradise island of Bali last month that killed more than 180 people, many of them tourists dancing at a popular nightspot, the appeal marked rare unanimity from ASEAN. "We call on the international community to avoid indiscriminately advising their citizens to refrain from visiting ...in the absence of established evidence to substantiate rumours of possible terrorist attacks," ASEAN said at the start of the two-day summit that will be joined by Japan, South Korea and China. A copy of a statement on tourism obtained by Reuters showed the group pledged cooperation among law enforcement agencies to protect visitors seeking sun and sand. The group also vowed to set up a regional counter-terrorism centre in the Malaysian capital, Kuala Lumpur, but said individual groups should not be singled out. DON'T PICK ON PEOPLE "We deplore the tendency in some quarters to identify terrorism with particular religious or ethnic groups," it said. Just days earlier, Indonesian President Megawati Sukarnoputri told members of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Mexico to lift travel warnings against her country, which relies on income from tourism for a large chunk of its economy. The United States is among the many countries that have urged citizens not to visit Indonesia and which has withdrawn families of embassy staff from the country, citing fears of more attacks. China was set to add its voice to the statement to battle terror later in the summit. However, bringing prosperity to the estimated two billion people who live in the vast region of ASEAN and China is to take centre stage after the anti-terror declaration that underscored how security has become a vital ingredient of economic growth. ASEAN and China are to sign a deal that will mark the first step in a lengthy process, taking as long as 10 years, to create a free trade area stretching from the frozen steppes of China's northern Mongolia to the palm-fringed beaches of Indonesia. LARGEST FREE TRADE ZONE ON EARTH The free trade area will be the largest in the world. However, stumbling blocks lie in its path, including fears among several Southeast Asian nations that their fading tiger economies risk being swallowed up by the dynamic China dragon. The deal comes as current efforts to set up an ASEAN Free Trade Area (AFTA) have lost their way. "Progress has fallen short of being commensurate to the challenges confronting our region," ASEAN Secretary General Rodolfo Severino said in a statement. "Regional economic integration seems to have become stuck in framework agreements, work programmes and master plans," he said. Under AFTA, six of the 10 ASEAN nations are due to cut tariffs next year to between zero and five percent on all but a few goods traded in the region. The four less developed members are to reduce tariffs over the next decade. Negotiations for a Southeast Asia-China free trade area with a potential combined market of 1.7 billion people will start next year, under the agreement to be signed on Monday. China and ASEAN have a combined gross domestic product of $1.5 trillion to $2.0 trillion. This year's ASEAN summit has attracted unusual interest, with Indian Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee to attend for the first time, raising the potential for an east-west corridor that could carry trading ambitions from India, through Burma and into Thailand and beyond. ASEAN groups Malaysia, Indonesia, Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, Thailand, Myanmar, Singapore, Brunei and the Philippines. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Monday November 4, 6:06 PM
ASEAN and China to sign trade pact as AFTA falters By Jane Macartney, Asian Diplomatic Correspondent PHNOM PENH (Reuters) - Southeast Asia's once-vibrant economies face a crossroads, ill-equipped to meet the challenges of embarking towards a free trade zone with China that will be the biggest on earth, a senior official said on Monday. The entrenched differences that have long divided members of the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) -- many at varying stages of economic development -- and their inability to embrace a single goal threaten their future, said a report commissioned by the ASEAN secretariat. "Progress has fallen short of being commensurate to the challenges confronting our region," ASEAN Secretary General Rodolfo Severino said in a statement to an ASEAN summit meeting issued to accompany the report by consultants McKinsey & Co. "The other foundations for regional integration have not been built upon. Regional economic integration seems to have become stuck in framework agreements, work programmes and master plans," he said. The reluctance of some countries to make changes had stalled integration of the entire group, Severino told summit leaders in the Cambodian capital, Phnom Penh. He did not identify the member states. ASEAN groups Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. His statement came just as the 10-member group, first set up to combat the threat of communism, prepared to sign on Monday an agreement with China to launch negotiations over the next decade towards forming the largest free trade zone in the world with a population of around 1.7 billion. KNOWING WHERE TO GO "Having a clear idea of its destination would enable ASEAN to proceed more rapidly and smoothly on the path of economic integration," said Severino. "It is critical for ASEAN to know its destination and which path will take it there at the crucial crossroads in its history," he said. ASEAN's lack of clarity had bogged down progress towards greater economic integration beyond mere tariff cutting, he said. Citing studies on integrating capital markets, adopting an ASEAN currency unit, liberalising financial services and removing restrictions on capital account transactions, Severino hinted that consensus appeared out of reach. "Again, some idea of the eventual objective has to take shape," he said. Under plans for a free trade area (AFTA), six of the 10 ASEAN nations are due to cut tariffs next year to between zero and five percent on all but a few goods traded in the region. The four less-developed members are to reduce tariffs in the next decade. They will make little headway against the advance of behemoth China if ASEAN nations cannot get their own house in order. "What kind of integration should ASEAN strive for? Should ASEAN now aim for a customs union? A common market? A single market? An economic union?" Severino said. China and ASEAN have a combined gross domestic product of $1.5 trillion to $2.0 trillion. CUTTING TARIFFS The agreement with China will call for a provision on cutting tariffs on a number of goods to take effect within a target of three years from July 1, 2003 when the pact comes into force. While Severino may have pulled his punches, the McKinsey report was more of a wake-up call. "ASEAN's small, fragmented markets are not attractive to investors compared to the large Chinese market and more integrated regions elsewhere in the world," it said. ASEAN had failed to capitalise on its strengths despite a total market size comparable to coastal China, with more than 75 percent of the region's exports in the highest growth sectors globally, Severino said in his statement to summit leaders. China has been winning the lion's share of foreign direct investment into Asia at the expense of Southeast Asia due to the attractions of its huge potential market of one billion people. The study said ASEAN nations needed to abandon their scattergun approach to economic development, cut the costs of doing business -- particularly red tape -- and achieve economies of scale. It identified two key sectors -- electronics and consumer goods -- as having potential for growth. "More economic integration reduces the cost of doing business, facilitates new investment and encourages convergence to ASEAN best practices," the McKinsey study said, adding that the economic impact could equal 10 percent of gross domestic product (GDP). ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Ethnic rebel group holds peace
talks with Myanmar junta
Mon Nov 4, 4:09 AM ET MAE SOT, Thailand (AP) - A Myanmar ethnic rebel group has started preliminary peace talks with the military government, seven years after their cease-fire broke down, rebel officials said Monday. They said a 16-member delegation from the Karenni National Progressive Party, which operates along the Thai-Myanmar border, left on Friday for the Karenni state capital Loi Kaw at the invitation of the Myanmar junta. The government did not immediately comment on the talks. "We sent our delegation because we would like to know whether they want the real peace or not," said Karenni party Secretary-General Rimond Htoo in a telephone interview. Htoo said it was not known how long the talks will last, or who will represent the government. The Karenni party, which claims to have about 1,500 troops, has been fighting the government in a five-decade struggle for more autonomy. A cease-fire in March 1995 broke down three months later, after government troops reportedly entered Karenni party territory. Some 21,000 Karenni villagers, displaced by the fighting, still shelter in refugee camps in Thailand. Htoo said his party is entering the talks with nine demands, including that the government stop uprooting Karenni villages, stop using the villagers as porters in the battlefield and stop the killing and rape of Karenni people. The party also wants the junta to resolve the country's political stalemate with pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi, whose party won the 1990 general elections but was never allowed to take power. The Myanmar regime has reached cease-fires with most of the country's several ethnic insurgent groups since it took power in 1988, but has not reached a political settlement with any of them. Loi Kaw is 885 kilometers (550 miles) northeast of the Myanmar capital, Yangon, and 100 kilometers (60 miles) northwest of the Thai border. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Activists dispersed at ASEAN
summit, opposition leader fasts to
PHNOM PENH, Cambodia (AP) _ Military police grasping batons chased away about 15 activists who attempted to breach a tight security cordon around a summit of Southeast Asian leaders to deliver protest statements. Police accused the activists, who wanted to urge delegates to place more emphasis on poverty eradication and human rights issues, of causing social disorder. In the wake of terrorist bombings in Indonesia and the Philippines, host Cambodia has tightened security in Phnom Penh for the Association of Southeast Asian Nations summit, barricading streets and deploying thousands of police. ``We are extremely disappointed. Definitely they are not interested in what we have to say,'' said Malaysian activist Irene Xavier, chairman of the Committee for Asian Women. The group is affiliated with the Asian Forum for Human Rights and Development, an Asia-wide network of non-governmental organizations. The only other known protest to have surfaced at the summit is a hunger strike by Cambodia's most prominent political opposition leader. Sam Rainsy said he was refusing food and water to highlight the hundreds of thousands of dollars being spent on the two-day conference in Phnom Penh while Cambodian farmers suffered from the worst drought to hit the country in years. Police evicted Sam Rainsy from a Buddhist temple Sunday night where he had hoped to undertake the fast. He told reporters at his party headquarters that he would continue his fast. ``(Indian freedom fighter) Gandhi went on hunger strikes for 21 days so I can stand it. I will continue my hunger strike until the last delegates depart from Cambodia,'' he said. ASEAN is comprised of Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Thailand, the Philippines, Singapore and Vietnam. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Council of the European Union, Nov
04, 2002
Common Position Burma/Myanmar
CFSP Presidency Statement: Brussels (28/10/2002) - Press:332 Nr: 13453/02 13453/02 (Presse 332) 1
Brussels, 28 October 2002 13453/02 (Presse 332) P 159/02 The Central and Eastern European countries associated with the European Union, the associated countries Cyprus and Malta and the EFTA countries Liechtenstein and Norway, members of the European Economic Area, declare that they share the objectives of common position 2002/.../CFSP defined by the Council of the European Union on 21 October 2002 on the basis of Article 15 of the Treaty on European Union concerning the extension of the Common Position on Burma/Myanmar. They will ensure that their national policies conform to that common position. The European Union takes note of this commitment and welcomes it. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Asian Tribune
Date : 2002-11-04 Burma/Myanmar ? Common position and Council conclusions The Council adopted a Common Position amending its Common Position in order to take into account changes in the composition of the regime in Burma/Myanmar and extending it for another six months. The Common Position includes restrictive measures (visa ban, assets freeze) against a number of persons. The Council adopted the following conclusions: "The European Union has long urged the restoration of democracy, the pursuit of national reconciliation and the protection of human rights in Burma/Myanmar. The European Union continues to follow closely developments in the country and the Council expressed its strong support for the efforts of Sri Razali, the Special Envoy of the UN Secretary General. The EU has welcomed the release of Aung San Suu Kyi from house arrest in early May 2002. The EU has also noted the subsequent release of a number of political prisoners, and the relaxation of some constraints on political activities in the country. The Council is disappointed, however, that these promising first steps have not led to the start of a wider political process. The European Union noted with grave concern the reports of recent politically motivated detentions and arrests in Burma/Myanmar, including the detention of several students in August and, most recently, of 30 people in the last week of September. The European Union calls on the authorities of Burma/Myanmar to immediately cease the arrest and detention of people on political grounds. The Council believes that the political process can no longer be put off if the Burma/Myanmar authorities? stated ambition of national reconciliation, respect for human rights and transition to civilian rule is to be achieved. The lack of progress casts doubts on the sustainability of the current process and serve to increase the human costs suffered by the people of Burma/Myanmar. Therefore, the Council stressed the necessity for the Government of Burma/Myanmar to engage, without further delay, in substantial dialogue with the opposition, leading to a peaceful political transition and national reconciliation. Such a dialogue should ultimately include all relevant political players, including the ethnic nationalities and lead to the re-establishment of a genuine and legitimate democratic government in Burma/Myanmar, which could benefit from full international support. The Council expressed its serious concern about the continuing human rights violations in Burma/Myanmar and reiterated its full support for the UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of Human Rights, Paolo Sergio Pinheiro. The Council urged for the immediate and unconditional release of all political prisoners, with a special priority for the elderly and sick detainees. The Council also invited the authorities to pursue the co-operation with the ICRC with a view to improve the conditions in the country?s prisons. The Council reiterated its call for the lifting of all restrictions on freedom of association and _expression_, including the freedom of the media. The Council expressed its serious concern about the disproportionate sufferings of ethnic minorities, women and children, and internally displaced persons also in the non-cease fire areas, from the ongoing and systematic violations of the civil, political, social, and cultural rights, including the use of rape. The Council urged the authorities to permanently eradicate the practice of forced labour and encouraged the Government to actively work with the ILO Liaison Officer in this field. The Council also urged the authorities to take vigorous action to combat the production and trafficking of drugs. The Council expressed its grave concern about the humanitarian situation in Burma/Myanmar and urged the authorities to ensure that humanitarian assistance reaches the most vulnerable part of the population. In particular the Council underlined the need to address urgently in collaboration with all interested parties, including the NLD, the HIV/AIDS epidemic given the exponential pace, with which this disease is spreading in Burma/Myanmar. In this context, the Commission is in the final stage of preparation of its Euro 5 million programme to assist in combating HIV/AIDS in the country. If Burmese authorities appropriately facilitate the implementation of the programme, the Commission and EU Member States will consider granting further assistance to the Burmese population. The Council expressed its preoccupation with the rapidly deteriorating economic situation in the country, and the first indications of social unrest due primarily to a failure to meet the basic need of some populations groups. The Council encouraged the Burmese authorities to accept the invitation from the International Financial Institutions to initiate a substantive dialogue on macro economic reforms. The Council also encouraged the early accession by Burma/Myanmar to the eight UN anti-terrorist conventions to which it is not a party, as well as the ratification of the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC), Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention (BTWC) and the Palermo Convention on Transnational Organized Crime. The Council decided to extend the EU?s Common Position on Burma/Myanmar for a further six months and to keep the evolution of the political situation in the country under close scrutiny. The Council is prepared to continue to react proportionately to developments in Burma/Myanmar, either positive or negative." ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Business Day - 04
November 2002
China's clout worries South East Asia PHNOM PENH - Southeast Asian nations are putting on a brave face as they seek closer ties to China through a free trade deal, maybe because they have no choice. Chinese Premier Zhu Rongji was meeting with leaders of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations yesterday and they were expected to announce a draft framework agreement that will liberalise trade within a decade, driving down tariffs and spurring investment. That may sound good for all concerned, but ASEAN members recognise that China has the upper hand in attracting outside investment. The trade deal is just one area where the world's most populous nation is bringing its power to the forefront in this region, leaving many worried about how much clout Beijing ultimately will end up with. Critics say development money handed out by Beijing is impossible to account for, and its projects on the Mekong River that flows through five nations after leaving China could bring profound and sometimes unwanted changes to the environment. They may not like it, but the ASEAN nations, many of them still developing, find themselves tagging along behind giant China in what they hope won't turn out to be a harmful undertow. Many are reluctant to say so publicly, however. Despite widespread concerns about Chinese dams in the Mekong River, which will affect flows to Cambodia, Vietnam, Laos, Thailand and Myanmar, there was apparently no criticism leveled at Beijing during a meeting on Sunday of the six members of the Greater Mekong Subregion grouping. "We are fully conscious that China is a superpower," a senior official with Cambodia's Ministry of the Environment said afterward. "Maintaining economic ties with it is very important for Cambodia in the future." China is a big donor to Cambodia. It provides water wells in the countryside and previously built a major annex to the National Assembly compound. Traffic lights around Phnom Penh were funded by Beijing, and Cambodia's King Sihanouk flies to China for regular medical checkups while maintaining a palace there, all provided at no charge. These may sound like good freebies, but social activists wonder what the payback will someday be, and they are blunt in their criticisms that China keeps silent about where all its money goes as it builds increasingly greater influence. "Everyone is afraid to stand up to China in this region," added Aviva Imhof, of the U.S.-based International Rivers Network, on the sidelines of the ASEAN summit. International lenders like the World Bank might be viewed as evil institutions by the enemies of economic globalization, but at least there is more accountability about where the money goes, activists say. With China and the 10 ASEAN members are set to sign a deal outlining a timetable for a free trade zone to be set up over the next decade, Japan is trying to provide a counterbalance with its own free trade package or packages. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Bangkok Post - Monday
04 November 2002
Wa launder proceeds at gems auction UWSA buys back own lots worth about $3m The United Wa State Army reportedly used a gems auction
held by the Burmese government in Rangoon last week to launder millions of baht
in drug money.
Wa traders bought gems from miners, which they then bid on at the auction, paying up to 10% more than the original cost to launder as much cash as possible, a source said. The highest Wa bid amounted to about 80 million baht. ``The Wa brought more than 500kg of gems worth at least US$1.5 million to the auction for the sake of money laundering, in addition to jade of around the same value,'' the source said. The junta and the UWSA signed an agreement in June 2001, under which the Wa were expected to cease production of drugs and switch to gem trading. Myanmar Gems Enterprise, under Burma's Ministry of Mines, holds gems auctions twice yearly. This year's event drew about 500 Thai investors, as well as businessmen from China, Hong Kong and Taiwan. During the event, most Rangoon hotels were full, and all Thai Airways International flights between Bangkok and Rangoon were sold out. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ |