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BURMA RELATED NEWS - March 19,
2003.
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HEADLINES
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AFP - Divided ASEAN
foreign ministers cut short retreat
AP - Bangladesh
leader to visit Myanmar to bolster trade, transport links
Reuters - Myanmar
opposition criticises visiting U.N. envoy
Reuters - SE Asia
divided on war, looks to post-Saddam world
Asia Pulse -
Vietnam's Trade With Myanmar on the Rise
Asia Pulse -
Japanese PM Favours More Investment in Southeast Asia
Asian Tribune -
Joint Vietnam-Myanmar communique
Asian Tribune -
Party general secretary meets Myanmar leader
BBC - UN rights envoy in
Burma
BBC - Zia to meet Burmese
premier
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Wednesday March 19,
2:43 PM
Divided ASEAN foreign ministers cut short
retreat
(AFP) - Southeast Asian foreign ministers, divided
over a looming US-led attack on Iraq, cut short their informal talks here with
most heading home before war breaks, officials said.
Ministers from
the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) decided to wrap-up their
talks at a secluded resort here on the eve of a US deadline for Iraqi President
Saddam Hussein to go into exile or face war, officials
said.
"Everybody wants to go home to monitor the situation," one
ASEAN official told AFP.
Talks which were scheduled to continue
through Thursday would end after lunch Wednesday, with most ministers planning
to leave as soon as possible, officials said.
The 10-member ASEAN
is split over the US-led war on Iraq, with traditional US allies Singapore, the
Philippines and Thailand pitted against Muslim nations Indonesia and
Malaysia.
Malaysian Foreign Minister Syed Hamid Albar warned the
war could spark a "catastrophe" and urged the international community to stand
up against this "unlawful act."
"This will be a very sad day and it
will be a big mistake that has serious repercussions the world over," he told
reporters.
But Singapore and Philippines played down the
differences and urged the grouping to focus instead on ways to cope with the
aftermath of war, such as ensuring adequate oil supplies and enhancing
anti-terrorism cooperation.
Philippines foreign affairs
undersecretary Lauro Baja said Manila was among the 30 countries that have
openly backed Washington, while Singapore and Thailand were on the list of 15
nations that lent support but wished to remain anonymous.
Baja, who
is representing Philippines Foreign Minister Blas Ople, said Manila "perceives
there is a failure of the UN to act."
"Our national interest also
dictates that we support a method which will really disarm Iraq and perhaps
promote a safer and more stable Middle East region where we have 1.5 million
workers," he said.
Baja urged ASEAN to discuss ways for
oil-producing nations like Indonesia and Malaysia to be on stand-by to help
neighbours in need, and to intensify cooperation to counter an expected increase
in terrorist attacks.
Singapore Foreign Minister S. Jayakumar said
action against Iraq would benefit world peace and
stability.
Despite their differences, he said ASEAN ministers would
study the economic implications of war, how it could be exploited by terrorists
in the region and the possible long-term strategic consequences.
"I
am not unduly despondent by the fact that ASEAN does not have a homogeneous
position on Iraq but the fact that we are here to discuss the implications is a
good sign," he added.
Despite the slim chance, Thailand still hoped
for a peaceful approach to the issue, Foreign Minister Surakiart Sathirathai
said.
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Bangladesh leader to visit Myanmar to bolster trade,
transport links
Tue Mar 18,10:43 PM ET
DHAKA, Bangladesh (AP)- Bangladesh's prime minister was visiting
Myanmar Wednesday on a three-day trip aimed at boosting trade, economic
cooperation and diplomatic ties between the two neighbor countries.
Prime Minister Khaleda Zia was to leave for Yangon at 11:30 a.m.
(5:30 GMT), her office said.
Zia was expected to discuss setting
up road and shipping links between the two countries, along with improving
commercial and bilateral relations, a government statement said.
Several agreements on shipping and bilateral trade were expected
to be signed during the visit, which comes three months after Myanmar's leader,
Senior Gen. Than Shwe, traveled to Bangladesh in December.
Bilateral trade, both official and informal, mostly in raw
materials, agricultural products and consumer goods, currently favors Myanmar.
Last year, Bangladesh's imports from Myanmar totaled US$18 million, while its
exports to the country amounted to only US$2.5 million.
Zia was
leading a 50-member official delegation that includes Foreign Minister Morshed
Khan, Communications Minister Nazmul Huda and Commerce Minister Amir Khosru
Mahmud Chowdhury.
Meanwhile, about 300 Bangladeshi businessmen
were also promoting their products at a trade fair in Yangon, Myanmar's
capital.
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Myanmar opposition criticises visiting U.N. envoy
By
Aung Hla Tun
YANGON, March 19 (Reuters) - Myanmar's pro-democracy opposition has
criticised a U.N. rights envoy, due to arrive in the country on Wednesday,
saying he has strayed from his mandate by urging the world to stop isolating the
junta.
The National League for Democracy (NLD), led by Nobel
laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, said Brazilian academic Paulo Sergio Pinheiro should
concentrate on human rights.
It said political issues should be
left to veteran Malaysian diplomat Razali Ismail, a special envoy chosen by U.N.
Secretary General Kofi Annan.
``His duty is to focus on the human
rights situation, while Razali's duty is to focus on the political situation,''
NLD spokesman U Lwin told Reuters.
``What he is doing is quite
different from what he should be doing. He doesn't seem to discriminate whether
or not something is in his mandate.''
U.N. special human rights
rapporteur Pinheiro, who was due to arrive in Yangon late on Wednesday for his
fifth visit to assess the rights situation, has urged the international
community to engage with Myanmar's junta rather than isolate it.
In a recent report to the U.N. Human Rights Commission, Pinheiro
said the world should recognise that political change was slowly occurring in
Myanmar.
``The policy option now should be engagement, not
isolation,'' Pinheiro said.
But Suu Kyi has said it is not yet
time for the United States and the European Union to lift economic and other
sanctions on the military regime because the junta has failed to respond to the
NLD's calls for real political dialogue.
She says humanitarian aid
should only be given to the impoverished country if it is well managed.
``The NLD has never protested against humanitarian assistance to
Myanmar, we only demand terms and conditions under which humanitarian assistance
should be provided,'' Suu Kyi told the Voice of America's Burmese-language radio
service this week.
``We insist that there should be transparency,
accountability and independent monitoring of every project.''
Many
Yangon-based diplomats say the NLD wants a role in distributing foreign aid as a
first step towards cooperation with the junta that could lead to an orderly
democratic transition.
The NLD, which swept to a landslide
election victory in 1990 but was never allowed to rule, entered into
U.N.-brokered confidence-building talks with the ruling generals in late 2000,
which led to Suu Kyi's release from house arrest last May.
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Wednesday March 19, 5:54 PM
SE Asia divided on war,
looks to post-Saddam world
By Jane
Macartney, Asian Diplomatic Correspondent
KOTA KINABALU, Malaysia, March 19 (Reuters) - Southeast Asian nations, split over
imminent war in Iraq, agreed on Wednesday to join forces to avert reprisal
attacks by extremists in their region and to offer humanitarian assistance to a
post-war Iraq.
Foreign ministers of the 10-member Association of
South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) cut short a two-day annual retreat at a
secluded resort in Malaysia's Sabah state to fly home as President George W.
Bush's 48-hour ultimatum to Iraq expires.
"We are not trying to
find a consensus," said Malaysian Foreign Minister Syed Hamid Albar as he
arrived for the day-long retreat on Borneo island.
The aim of the
meeting was to compare positions on Iraq as well as on North Korea and to show
support for the U.N. process, he said.
ASEAN members range from
Indonesia, the world's largest Muslim country, to tiny communist Laos and the
prosperous city state of Singapore. Their positions on the war vary greatly.
"If this war is seen as unjust, it could create a lot of anger and
encourage people to take extreme positions," Syed Hamid told a closing news
conference, adding that threats by Iraqi President Saddam Hussein to take the
war to the world should not be taken lightly.
"I will not be
surprised if the repercussion is an increase in extreme activities," he said.
The region is home to 250 million Muslims and considerable militant activity.
A bomb attack on the Indonesian resort island of Bali last
October, which has been blamed on a pan-Asian radical Muslim network, killed
about 200 people.
The ASEAN nations, which boast some of the most
dynamic economies in Asia and whose biggest single trading partner is the United
States, said they had agreed on the immediate need to study what Cambodian
Foreign Minister Hor Namhong described as the "very, very serious consequences"
of war on their economies.
These countries, frequently divided by
different priorities and interests, will tread a delicate path over war in Iraq
to maintain ties with the United States without alienating their large Muslim
populations, senior officials said.
Further complicating their
position are concerns over the potential for more deadly attacks by Islamic
militants and the impact of high oil prices.
KEEPING TERROR AT BAY
"What will be the implications of a war that could be exploited by
terrorists and by extremists in the region?" said Singapore Foreign Minister S.
Jayakumar, whose country's stand has been among the closest in the region to
that of the United States.
Last October's Bali bombings prompted
countries in the region to look at their security and to work to win the hearts
and minds of their people away from militancy, officials said.
The
meeting agreed on the need to help the people of Iraq.
"ASEAN
should play a role in providing humanitarian assistance to Iraq, especially
after the war, in order to help prevent a humanitarian disaster," said the
Cambodian minister.
Differences between the neighbours over war
were underscored by Malaysia and Singapore.
"This is not a
question of support for Iraq or of being anti-American. We want to look at
principles and the U.N. process," said Syed Hamid. However, he was careful after
the meeting not to criticise the United States directly, urging civil action
instead to call for peace.
His Singaporean counterpart took a
different position.
"Does it serve the interests of the
international community and does it serve the interests of international
stability for there to be inaction?" Jayakumar said. "Or is it better that
prompt and immediate action be taken for the disarmament of Iraq?"
While ASEAN had never sought a consensus on Iraq and expected its
statements to be interpreted by Washington as playing to huge Muslim domestic
audiences, some members were likely to offer quiet support, such as helping with
passage of personnel, ships and aircraft.
Indonesia and mostly
Muslim Malaysia are firmly against any U.S. attack on Iraq. They are worried
anger among their people may lead to more militancy in a region where Osama bin
Laden's al Qaeda network has already established ties with local groups and is
suspected of plotting the Bali bombings.
The United States can
count on greater support from staunch allies Singapore and the Philippines.
The other ASEAN members are Brunei, Cambodia, Myanmar, Thailand
and Vietnam.
MORE THAN WAR
Also high on the agenda
was North Korea, bracketed by U.S. President George W. Bush with Iraq and Iran
in an "axis of evil".
ASEAN members pledged to use their Regional
Forum security meeting in June, attended by North Korea and the United States,
as an opportunity to bring the two together while finessing Pyongyang's demand
for bilateral talks to resolve the nuclear crisis and U.S. insistence on a
multilateral meeting.
"Iraq and North Korea are paramount," said
Syed Hamid.
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Wednesday March 19, 11:34 AM
Vietnam's Trade With
Myanmar on the Rise
HANOI, March 19 Asia Pulse - Trade between Viet Nam and Myanmar is
expected to reach US$30 million by 2005. It topped $12 million in 2002, against
$4 million in 1998.
Viet Nam exports instant noodles, consumer
goods, fine art products and construction materials to Myanmar, while importing
from it precious stones and timber.
Last October, Viet Nam
organised for the first time a trade fair in Myanmar's capital, Yangon, which
drew the participation of 32 businesses displaying rubber-based products, home
appliances, pharmaceuticals and cosmetics.
Also last year, a number
of Vietnamese entrepreneurs visited Myanmar to explore the prospects of
investment in areas like construction, transport, oil and gas exploration and
development.
Myanmar business people also came to Viet Nam to seek
opportunities in areas such as pharmaceuticals raw materials, wet rice
cultivation and shrimp rearing.
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Wednesday March 19, 3:41 PM
Japanese PM Favours More
Investment in Southeast Asia
BATAM, Riau, March 19
Asia Pulse - Japanese Prime Minister
Junichiro Koizumi has expressed concern that Japanese investors who have focused
their business in China instead of members of the Association of Southeast Asian
Nations (ASEAN), Japanese investors said here Tuesday.
The Japanese
leader wants Japanese investors to give special attention to the ASEAN region,
chairman of Japan's Small and Medium Enterprises Consultants Association
(J-SMECA), Yasudo Hirao, said.
Hirao made the statement during a
meeting with officials of the Batam Authority over the possibility of making
investments in Indonesia's industrialized island of
Batam.
Indonesia, he said, has an important position in the ASEAN,
which groups Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar,
Singapore, Thailand, the Philippines, and Vietnam.
"That is why we,
as consultants, want to hold direct promotions in Japan on interesting
investments in Indonesia," he said.
"We also want to help any
Japanese company which is interested in doing business in Indonesia," he
said.
Japanese industrialists have always asked J-SMECA to make
feasibility studies on small- and medium-scale enterprises worldwide before
making business outside Japan.
J-SMECA and the Batam Authority
signed a memorandum of understanding on the exchange of data and business
information.
At least 611 domestic and foreign companies have
invested more than US$9 billion in Batam.
Some 76 percent of the
611 companies are foreign firms, mostly Singaporean.
Japan's
investment in Batam has stood at US$428 million.
The Batam
Authority expects 80 new foreign investors this year.
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Asian Tribune
Date : 2003-03-19
Joint Vietnam-Myanmar communique
Hanoi,
Vietnam, March 18: A joint Vietnam-Myanmar communique was issued in Hanoi on
March 17 at the end of a three-day official visit to Vietnam by Senior General
Than Shwe, chairman of the State Peace and Development Council.
The
communique says:
"During the visit, Chairman Senior General Than
Shwe held talks with President Tran Duc Luong, paid a courtesy visit to Party
General Secretary Nong Duc Manh and met with Prime Minister Phan Van Khai and
National Assembly Chairman Nguyen Van An. Chairman Senior General Than Shwe paid
a floral tribute to President Ho Chi Minh at his Mausoleum and visited some
economic and cultural establishments in Hanoi.
"The talks between
President Tran Duc Luong and Chairman Senior General Than Shwe took place in an
atmosphere of friendship, mutual understanding and trust. The Vietnamese
delegation to the talks also included Vu Khoan, deputy prime minister; Nguyen Dy
Nien, foreign minister; Nguyen Van Chien, chairman-director of the Presidential
Office; Le Huy Ngo, minister of agriculture and rural development; Truong Dinh
Tuyen, minister of trade; Hoang Trung Hai, minister of industry; Tran Thi Trung
Chien, minister of public health; Pham Quang Khon, Vietnamese ambassador to
Myanmar; Nguyen Van Thanh, assistant to the State President; Le Cong Phung,
deputy foreign minister; Nguyen Van Rinh, permanent deputy minister of national
defence; Nguyen Khanh Toan, permanent deputy minister of public security; and
Nguyen Viet Thang, deputy minister of fisheries. The Myanmar delegation to the
talks included all official members of the mission accompanying Chairman Senior
General Than Shwe.
"The two heads of state informed each other
about the recent situation in their respective countries and exchanged views on
directions and measures to boost the friendly and co-operative ties for mutual
benefits between the two countries as well as international and regional issues
of common concern.
"Chairman Senior General Than Shwe informed the
Vietnamese president of Myanmar's progress in politics, economy and social
development especially achievements recorded in establishing peace and stability
as well as in developing the economy. Chairman Than Shwe also reiterated
Myanmar's independent and positive foreign policy. Chairman Than Shwe stressed
that Myanmar attached great importance to maintaining friendship with all
countries in the world, particularly neighbouring countries in the spirit of
goodwill, friendship and mutual understanding on the basis of five principles of
peaceful co-existence, particularly principles on mutual trust, respect for
sovereignty and territorial integrity of each other, non-interference into
internal affairs of the other country and settlement of disputes through
peaceful means.
"President Tran Duc Luong warmly congratulated
Chairman Senior General Than Shwe for the socio-economic achievements obtained
by the Myanmar people under his leadership in the past years. President Luong
renewed Vietnam's support for the Myanmar government and people's efforts in
maintaining territorial integrity and national unification, unity and national
reconciliation and political stability and in building a country at a constant
growth rate, thus contributing to peace, stability, co-operation and development
in Southeast Asia and the world at large.
"Chairman Senior General
Than Shwe expressed his delight to witness important achievements recorded by
the Vietnamese people under the leadership of the Communist Party of Vietnam. He
expressed his belief that Vietnam would obtain more and greater achievements in
realising socio-economic development targets set for the coming years, thus
helping raise Vietnam's prestige and position in the region and the
world.
"Chairman Than Shwe highly valued Vietnam's foreign policy
of independence, self-reliance, openness and multilateralisation and
diversification of international ties and its active international integration
efforts, noting that this open policy has contributed positively to peace and
stability in the region and the world as a whole.
"The two heads of
state expressed satisfaction that since President Luong's visit to Myanmar last
May, the two countries' economic and commercial ties have yielded considerable
developments. Agreements reached by the two leaders during the visit have since
been carrying out effectively step by step. The two leaders appreciated these
positive steps, underlining the two countries should further bilateral economic,
investment and trade ties on a par with their political ties and
potential.
"The two sides reiterated the importance of bilateral
economic ties, particularly the promotion of investment and trade between the
two countries. To this end, the two sides agreed to make full use of existing
bilateral co-operative mechanisms, especially the Joint Committee for Bilateral
Co-operation and the Sub-committee for Trade. The two sides also agreed on
closer co-operation in agriculture, forestry, fisheries and concerned sectors
and energy.
"The two sides agreed to continue promoting
co-operative relations in security by strengthening exchanges of information and
co-operation in fighting terrorism and preventing terrorist activities targeted
to their respective governments. In this spirit, the two heads of state welcomed
the two sides? consideration of an early signing of an agreement between the two
countries on anti-crimes.
"The two sides held that the two
countries should further their co-operation bilaterally as well as within the
ASEAN framework with an aim of consolidating solidarity and boosting
co-operation to cope with challenges and to raise the ASEAN?s role and position
in the region and the world. They also agreed to boost co-operation in other
regional and international political and economic forums.
"The two
sides acknowledged that Vietnam?s admission to the World Trade Organisation
(WTO) and its integration into the world?s economy would play an important role
in the development of a sustainable and prosperous economy in Vietnam and the
region. In this spirit, Myanmar supports Vietnam?s early joining the
WTO.
"The two sides were of the same view that together with the
fruitful results of the official visit to Myanmar by Vietnamese President Tran
Duc Luong last May, the official visit by Chairman Senior General Than Shwe
would promote the traditional relationship and comprehensive co-operation
between Vietnam and Myanmar for the benefits of both peoples and for peace,
co-operation and development in the region and the world.
- Nhan
Dan: VNA -
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Asian Tribune
Date : 2003-03-19
Party general secretary meets Myanmar
leader
Hanoi, Vietnam, March 18: Party General
Secretary Nong Duc Manh has said he is very delighted with the growing
multi-faceted co-operation between Vietnam and Myanmar.
Talking
with Than Shwe, chairman of the State Peace and Development Council of Myanmar,
in Hanoi on March 17, Mr Manh said the two countries should bolster bilateral
co-operation, then help to consolidate ASEAN unity and co-operation in the
interests of each country, as well as for peace, stability, co-operation and
development in the region and the world at large.
Senior General
Than Shwe expressed his pleasure at the two countries' longstanding friendship,
recalling the visit to Myanmar by President Ho Chi Minh.
The
Myanmar leader also expressed his satisfaction with developments in the two
countries' multi-dimensional co-operation, emphasising Myanmar's policy of
strengthening friendship and co-operation with Vietnam.
Senior
General Than Shwe invited Party General Secretary Manh to pay an official visit
to Myanmar and General Secretary Manh accepted with pleasure.
In
the afternoon, a farewell ceremony was held in honour of Myanmar Chairman Senior
General Than Shwe. Speaking the ceremony, President Tran Duc Luong said he
highly valued the agreements on boosting the traditional friendship and
multi-faceted co-operation between Vietnam and Myanmar reached during Senior
General Than Shwe's visit to Vietnam. He expressed his belief that the two
countries would move to closer ties.
For his part, Senior General
Than Shwe expressed his pleasure at the new development in the Vietnam-Myanmar
relations and invited President Tran Duc Luong to visit Myanmar. The host
accepted the invitation with pleasure.
- Nhan Dan -
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BBC - Wednesday, 19 March, 2003, 13:34 GMT
UN
rights envoy in
Burma
The United Nations special
human rights envoy for
Burma, Paulo
Sergio Pinheiro, has begun a week-long visit to the country.
Mr Pinheiro will meet
officials from the Burmese military government for discussions on the human
rights situation.
He is also expected to visit
prisons and meet opposition leaders - including Aung San Suu Kyi.
The UN said he will raise the
issue of alleged abuses against ethnic minorities.
Mr Pinheiro has proposed an
independent inquiry into the reports. A BBC correspondent in the region says Mr
Pinheiro's recent report on
Burma - in which
he appealed to the international community not to isolate the military regime -
has provoked widespread criticism.
From the newsroom of
the BBC World Service
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BBC - Tuesday, 18 March, 2003, 18:42 GMT
Zia to meet Burmese premier
By Larry Jagan
BBC South East Asia analyst
Bangladesh's Prime Minister Khaleda Zia is due in Rangoon
on Wednesday on the start of an official three day visit.
More
than 300 government officials and businessmen will be accompanying her on the
visit aimed at boosting bilateral trade.
This is the first ever
trip by a Bangladeshi prime minister to Burma and it is being described by
government officials in both capitals as a landmark visit.
Ms
Zia's main official purpose on this trip is to open the Bangladesh trade fair in
Rangoon.
More than 90 Bangladeshi businesses are participating in
the week-long trade promotion, with key companies in the pharmaceutical,
cosmetic, garments and electronics industries represented.
Trade boost
The prime minister will
also be addressing members of Burma's business community and meeting senior
members of Burma's military government, including her counterpart senior General
Than Shwe.
The Bangladesh government hopes this visit will help
boost bilateral trade.
At least two economic agreements will be
signed during the visit, including one which will establish a joint trade
commission.
Improved road, sea and air links will also be
discussed during the visit.
Last month, the first legal sea link
between the two countries was established, linking the Bangladesh port of
Chittagong to Burma, via India.
Dhaka is now keen to establish
direct shipping links, allowing container ships to ferry between the main ports
of the two countries.
Dhaka is also anxious to explore increased
air links. The once weekly flight was increased to four per week earlier this
year.
Highway
Bangladesh also wants
to discuss the possibility of increased routes especially from Dhaka, through
Mandalay to the northern Thai city of Chiang Mai.
There is likely
to be further discussion of the proposed highway linking Bangladesh and Burma
that was agreed in principle during General Than Shwe's visit to Dhaka last
December.
Improving these communications links with Burma is
crucial to the government's new 'look east' policy.
Bangladesh
sees good relations with Burma as part of a longer-term strategy to draw Dhaka
closer to East Asia.
Foreign Minister Morshed Khan recently told
the BBC that improved communication links between the countries and stronger
economic ties are the first step towards establishing closer relations with
China and South East Asia.
But senior Bangladeshi officials insist
the prime minister's trip is more than a trade and commerce visit.
It is intended to boost all bilateral issues and talks will be far
reaching.
Discussions are expected to include the problem of
Burmese Muslims still seeking refuge in Bangladesh.
But Prime
Minister Zia will not be discussing the state of politics in Burma and is not
planning to see the opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi - or even sending a
representative on the behalf of the government to talk to her.
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