AFP
- China, ASEAN to implement tariff reduction program in 2005
AFP
- Myanmar rebels welcome Thai PM's encouragement for talks with junta
Asia Pulse - Incb Concerned About Smuggling of Cough Syrups From
India
PD
- China-ASEAN Free Trade Deal Set to Boost East Asian Integration
Bkk
Post - Thais to help mediate Burma truce talks
Bkk
Post - Suspected officers transferred
BBC
- SE Asia remains drugs hotspot
Asian Tribune - Open Memo- Earth to Burmese Junta: Dialogue Begins
At Home.
ST
- Sharp rise in illegal production of methamphetamines
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Wednesday February 26, 4:29 PM
China, ASEAN to
implement tariff reduction program in
2005
(AFP) - China and the Association of Southeast
Asian Nations (ASEAN) plan to implement a round of tariff reductions beginning
in January 2005 as part of their greater plan to create a free trade zone, state
press reported.
Formal free trade area (FTA) negotiations will be
concluded by June 2004, according to the Framework Agreement on Comprehensive
Economic Cooperation between China and ASEAN set last year, the Xinhua news
agency said.
The first round of negotiations are due to take place
later this week in the southern province of Guangxi.
With the
establishment of the China-ASEAN FTA, China's exports to ASEAN are forecast to
increase by 10.6 billion dollars, the report said.
ASEAN's exports
to China are predicted to grow by 13 billion dollars.
Amid a shaky
global economy, trade between China and ASEAN continued to surge last year,
jumping 31.8 percent to a high of 54.8 billion dollars.
China has
long been keen to establish a Sino-ASEAN free trade zone and made that clear to
visiting Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra last week.
"China
will abide by its commitments and take measures to foster a Sino-ASEAN free
trade zone to promote the economic development of ASEAN countries and prosperity
of the region," Premier Zhu Rongji said.
"Efforts to establish a
Sino-ASEAN free trade zone is of important and far-sighted
significance."
ASEAN comprises the Philippines, Vietnam, Laos,
Cambodia, Thailand, Myanmar, Malaysia, Brunei, Singapore and Indonesia.
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Myanmar rebels welcome Thai PM's encouragement for talks
with junta
BANGKOK, Feb 27 (AFP) - An alliance of rebel groups fighting
Myanmar's military government said Thursday they welcomed Thai Prime Minister
Thaksin Shinawatra's promise to push for the government to sit down for peace
talks.
Thaksin pledged to work to persuade Myanmar to negotiate
with rebel ethnic minority groups prior to his visit there this month. After the
visit, Thaksin said the leaders told him they would talk with minority groups.
"We appreciate the Thai proposal but cautiously welcome Myanmar
leaders' response because we have had a lot of experience with them breaking
promises," said Nam Khur Hsen, spokeswoman for the umbrella Shan group,
Restoration Council of Shan State (RCSS).
She was speaking after a
meeting of the Military Alliance Group, an alliance of five rebel groups,
including the Shan State Army (SSA) and Karen National Union (KNU), held Monday
in a Myanmar's eastern border region.
"We held the meeting to
prepare for future peace negotiations with Myanmar's military regime," she said.
"However, we have not received any official information or
invitation on that matter from Yangon or the Thai government yet."
If the push for talks came to fruition, the leaders agreed that
negotiations should be attended by all groups and held in Thailand or another
third country, she said.
The spokeswoman added that the groups
would not surrender their arms before talks -- a key condition the Myanmar junta
has imposed on previous rebel groups before signing peace deals with them.
The SSA has independently offered to enter peace negotiations with
the junta several times, but has consistently refused to lay down arms first.
Rebel activity along the Thai-Myanmar border has been a perennial
irritant to relations between Thailand and Myanmar.
They
plummetted to a low last May when deadly border clashes led Myanmar to accuse
Thailand of assisting rebels fighting its troops.
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People's Daily - Thursday, February 27, 2003
China-ASEAN Free Trade Deal Set to Boost East Asian Integration
Senior officials and academics at the just-ended
China-ASEAN Free Trade Area high-level forum said the proposed free trade deal
will further boost economic integration in East Asia and stimulate the Asian or
even global economy.
Senior officials and academics at the
just-ended China-ASEAN Free Trade Area high-level forum said the proposed free
trade deal will further boost economic integration in East Asia and stimulate
the Asian or even global economy.
"Setting up the China-ASEAN Free
Trade Area will promote common prosperity in the region," said ASEAN chief
negotiator Kanissorn Navanugraha, at the forum held in Guilin, in south China's
Autonomous Region of Guangxi.
The trade between China and the
Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) expanded rapidly in 2002, with
bilateral trade generating 54.8 billion US dollars, a 31 percent increase
year-on-year, according to China's customs.
Its figures also show
that ASEAN enjoyed a surplus of 7.6 billion US dollars in 2002 when exports from
ASEAN to China reached 31.2 billion US dollars.
"The emerging
economy in China is now creating a new impetus mechanism for regional economic
integration and growth," said Zhang Yunling, director of the Asia Pacific
Institute with the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.
Zhang said
a new economic links were taking shape as China and ASEAN saw sustained
expansion in economic cooperation and investment during recent years, despite
the current global recession.
The proposed free trade area will
accelerate economic restructuring on both sides and create a win-win
opportunity, and through the division of labor will be able to face increasingly
acute international trade competition, says Professor Liao Shaolian, deputy
director of the Southeast Asia Research Center at Xiamen University, in
southeast China's Fujian Province.
ASEAN, China's fifth trading
partner for 10 consecutive years, consists of 10 member states: Brunei,
Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore,
Thailand and Vietnam.
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Bangkok Post - Thursday 27 February
2003
Thais to help mediate Burma truce talks
Five ethnic minority groups in Burma have agreed
to let Thailand mediate truce talks between them and the Rangoon
government.
The five are the Shan State Army (SSA), Karen National
Union (KNU), Karenni National Progressive Party (KNPP), Chin National Front
(CNF), and Arakan Liberation Party (ALP).
Their agreement was
reached on Monday at a meeting opposite Mae Hong Son province. SSA spokeswoman
Klue-saen said her group was represented at the meeting by Chao Tuen
Sang.
The other groups' representatives were Saw Tamalabaw of the
KNU, Aung Than and Betu of the KNPP, Chin Ju of the CNF, and Soe Naing Aung of
the ALP.
They want the talks in a third country.
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Bangkok Post - Thursday 27 February
2003
Suspected officers transferred
Extortion probe to
be concluded in a week
Subin Khuenkaew and Cheewin Sattha
Five Chiang Rai police officers were transferred to
inactive posts yesterday to facilitate an investigation into their alleged links
to an extortion of three Burmese drug suspects last week.
The five
were among 14 Thai border officials accused of extorting 1.06 million baht and
gold necklaces from three Burmese friends visiting Mae Sai on Feb
18.
Pol Maj Roongroj Riemdee, the deputy police chief of Mae Sai
district, was also among the transferred.
``I am not sure if they
really did that. It needs to be investigated. Regarding regulations, they must
be transferred to the Chiang Rai police command to facilitate the
investigation,'' said Pol Maj-Gen Wut Vithitanont, the Chiang Rai police
chief.
In Chiang Mai, Pol Lt-Gen Inthadet Pornpeerapan, the Police
Region 5 commissioner, said the probe against the suspected officers would be
concluded in the next seven days.
They were not suspended from duty
because of their impressive drugs suppression record in Mae Sai. Local police
would otherwise lose their morale if they were suspended, he
said.
Pol Lt-Gen Inthadet has assigned his deputy, Pol Maj-Gen
Kittithat Ruanthip, to supervise the investigation.
The five will
face legal action if the allegations prove to be true.
Earlier, six
border patrol police, an immigration officer, a customs official and a tourist
policeman were ordered transferred for the same reason.
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BBC News
SE Asia remains drugs
hotspot
Wednesday, 26 February, 2003, 00:01 GMT
By Larry Jagen
BBC Burma analyst
Poppy cultivation has dropped in some areas
South-East Asia remains one of the world's key transit areas for
illicit drugs.
More than 70% of the seizures of methamphetamines
worldwide take place here, according to the latest global report on the illegal
drugs trade.
The latest International Narcotics Control Board
report also says Burma is still the world's second largest producer of opium,
after Afghanistan.
But the INCB also points the finger at
Cambodia, saying it is the region's largest producer of cannabis and a major
supplier of the world market, as well as being a significant transit point for
heroin, most of which is produced in the notorious Golden Triangle which lies
across Burma, China and Laos.
The INCB's annual Global Report on
Drugs warns narcotic producing countries that they must find an alternative or
face economic ruin, political instability and social disintegration.
Burma of 15 years ago is cited as a case study, when opium
production increased 10-fold and the country's economy tumbled to be the poorest
in South East Asia.
The good news, according to the report, is
that Burma's opium production has fallen significantly in recent years to less
than half what it was seven years ago.
United Nations officials
believe this is the result of the military government's commitment to stamp out
drug production within the next few years.
Mixed results
Last year alone, poppy cultivation fell by nearly a third
in the areas that are under the control of one ethnic rebel group, the Wa, UN
anti-narcotics officials in Rangoon told the BBC.
Burma lies at
the heart of the Golden Triangle
But production in other parts of
Burma's Golden Triangle remained high. These are areas which are controlled by
another ethnic rebel group, the Kokang.
The Burmese Government has
now put increased pressure on the Kokang to reduce their opium cultivation this
growing year, and early indications are that substantially less poppy has been
planted, according to UN officials.
But that is little comfort for
Burma's neighbours, as the production of methamphetamines does not seem to have
been affected by the military government's campaign to stamp out opium
production.
More tablets than ever are flooding across into
Thailand and China. Experts believe this traffic is likely to grow even larger
in the coming year, despite increased regional co-operation to stem the flow of
drugs out of the Golden Triangle.
Burma's generals have vowed to
halve the cultivation of opium poppies this year, but few expect them to meet
this target.
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Asian Tribune
Date : 2003-02-27
Open Memo- Earth to Burmese Junta: Dialogue Begins At
Home.
Bangkok, Feb. 27: The State Peace and
Development Council's (SPDC) recent statement calling for "constructive
dialogue" with the United States of America is outrageous in the light of the
junta's refusal to enter into "constructive dialogue" with the people of Burma,
declares Altsean-Burma.
Altsean-Burma - Alternative Asian Network
on Burma, made the statement in response to a press release issued by the SPDC
calling on the US to engage in dialogue with them on economic, humanitarian and
political issues.
祢t has been more than 9 months since the SPDC
declared the 'turning of a new page' for the people of Burma but substantive
dialogue still has not begun between the SPDC, the democracy movement led by Daw
Aung San Suu Kyi, and ethnic nationality groups,ã?»Alternative Asian Network on
Burma reminds the SPDC in its statement.
It further adds: the SPDC
implied that the US-backed sanctions were to blame for poor growth of the
economy, education and healthcare systems. The reality is that the regime's
gross economic mismanagement is hurting the people of Burma more than any
sanctions could. A redistribution of the SPDC's enormous military budget to
social services could provide basic healthcare and education to the people of
Burma.ã?»br>
Altsean-Burma alleges that the SPDC is deluding itself by
imagining that permission for certain international agencies to visit Burma is a
sign of reform. It is merely a gesture of hospitality commonly extended without
comment by most countries of the world.
Altsean-Burma is a regional
human rights and advocacy network focusing on Burma. It has a strategic women's
program aimed at increasing the political profile of women in Burma. Its
secretariat is located in Bangkok, Thailand.
The regional human
rights group announces that the only way forward is for the SPDC to cease
committing the massive human rights violations that plague not just the people
of Burma, but also the world. Substantive dialogue needs to begin now. This is a
'systematic' and efficient method to bring about a 'new page' of political,
economic and humanitarian developments to Burma as well as better relations
within the international community.
Altsean-Burma openly declares:
We echo the voice of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and the democracy movement in support
of sanctions as a viable non-military option to support irreversible, positive
change in Burma. Until the military regime is serious about democratic reforms
in Burma, sanctions will at least deprive them of foreign exchange to buy arms
used to oppress the peoples of Burma.ã?»
The group further explained:
As UN Special Envoy Tan Sri Razali Ismail said, "It is not a question of asking
for sanctions to be lifted, it is having things happen in the country that would
make it unnecessary for the sanctions to be there."
Alternative
Asian Network on Burma in its statement continues as follows:
Ultimately, reform lies in the political will of the SPDC, led by
Senior General Than Shwe. Therefore, just in case Sen. Gen. Than Shwe has
somehow forgotten what needs to be done, we reiterate the key steps that should
be prioritized on his "to-do" list:
1.Immediately and unconditionally release
all political prisoners and halt all new politically motivated
arrests.
2.Enter into constructive and substantive political
dialogue with the democracy movement led by Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, and ethnic
nationality leaders
3.Implement a nation-wide cease-fire based upon
dialogue and negotiation within a specific timeframe
In conclusion,
the Bangkok based human rights group correctly pinpoints: the world is getting
fed-up of the SPDC's empty promises, systematic human rights abuses, man-made
economic crisis and increasing harassment of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and democracy
supporters. The SPDC must take responsibility for its own actions and put their
money where their mouth is by taking concrete, irreversible steps towards
democracy and national reconciliation in Burma.
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The
Straits Times - FEB 27, 2003 THU
Sharp rise in illegal production of
methamphetamines
VIENNA - Illicit manufacture of
methamphetamines has risen significantly in South-east Asia, the International
Narcotics Control Board warned yesterday in its annual
report.
'There continues to be indications that manufacturers of
heroin are increasingly shifting their attention to methamphetamine,
particularly in Myanmar,' the United Nations organ said.
The
psychotropic substance is 'clandestinely manufactured on a large scale along
Myanmar's border with Thailand and in China and the Philippines', the
Vienna-based board said.
Methamphetamine remains 'the main drug of
concern in Japan, the Philippines and Thailand', it said, noting the Thai Health
Ministry has estimated that three million people, or 5 per cent of the country's
population, abuse the substance regularly.
That would make
Thailand the world's largest consumer of methamphetamines. In Japan, the
authorities have reported a rise in the abuse of stimulants, the board said.
A sharp rise in methamphetamine abuse has also been noted in
Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia and Vietnam, while in China there has been a
rise in arrests related to the drug, the report noted.
In
Cambodia, the abuse of amphetamines among children has risen sharply, it said.
Law-enforcement efforts had led to major busts of amphetamines in
East Asia, the UN organ said, noting that more than '70 per cent of all the
seizures in amphetamines made in the world took place in East and South-east
Asia, mainly China and Thailand.
'In recent years, most of the
world manufacture of amphetamine-type stimulants, with the exception of MDMA
(Ecstasy), has taken place in the region.'
The production of
methamphetamine poses a growing threat to other regions, the report said, noting
that seizures of the drug have been increasing in Europe and the United States.
Meanwhile, illicit opium poppy cultivation was falling in Laos and
Myanmar, the board said but cautioned that the region still witnesses massive
amounts of trafficking.
The region remains the second largest
source of opium and heroin in the world, behind Afghanistan, it noted. --AFP
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