BURMA RELATED NEWS - July 08,
2003.
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HEADLINES
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AP - Myanmar
economy a slippery target for sanctions by West
AP - Sanctions May
Have No Effect on Myanmar
AP - EU imposes
tougher sanctions on Myanmar for 'serious violations of
AP - Myanmar state
media launches fresh attack against Suu Kyi
BBC News - India
closes Burma border
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Myanmar
economy a slippery target for sanctions by West
By GRANT PECK
The Associated Press
7/8/03
7:52 AM
BANGKOK, Thailand (AP) -- With Myanmar's democracy leader
Aung San Suu Kyi again under arrest, the United States is preparing tough
economic sanctions against the ruling military junta to make it change its
course.
But history and politics argue that such moves may have little
effect.
Myanmar, also known as Burma, has come under intense
international criticism since arresting Nobel Prize winner Suu Kyi on May 30.
Japan, Myanmar's largest aid donor, has announced plans not to extend new
development assistance.
Now an imminent U.S. ban on imports from Myanmar
could cut its export earnings by one-quarter to one-third. The country's exports
to the United States totaled about $356 million in 2002, mostly in garments.
The import ban is part of a package of measures the U.S. Congress
assembled to punish the ruling junta for its fresh crackdown on the country's
pro-democracy movement. A bill passed by the Senate is awaiting House approval,
and President Bush is expected to quickly sign it into law.
Lawmakers
were angry at the apparent violent provocation by Myanmar's military which
triggered the crackdown and has put Suu Kyi in detention for an indefinite
period. Never convicted of a crime, the 1991 Nobel Peace laureate was previously
held under house arrest in 1989-95 and again in 2000-02.
"The message
that we are sending to the ruling junta in Burma is clear: Its behavior is
outrageous," said Sen. Patrick Leahy of Vermont.
Proposed European Union
trade barriers would also chip away at export earnings.
But Myanmar,
long ruled by generals, has a long history of economic isolation giving it a
certain immunity against sanctions.
The late military dictator Gen. Ne
Win, who ruled from 1962 to 1988, espoused a "Burmese Road to Socialism" banning
most foreign investment which turned one of Southeast Asia's most prosperous
economies into a basket case.
The country has gone without much
bilateral aid and no new aid from the World Bank and the International Monetary
Fund since 1988 when the military brutally crushed a pro-democracy uprising.
Washington banned new investment by U.S. companies in 1997.
"People have
mixed feelings about sanctions," said U Saw, a businessman. "They know there is
a need, but it affects the people."
People are used to hardship, U Saw
said. "Forty years ago we are suffering. Today we are suffering," he said.
Global maneuvering may lessen the impact of sanctions.
As
Western nations ostracized the military regime, China seized the opportunity to
become Myanmar's closest political ally, main military supplier, and, in
essence, banker of last resort.
Senior Gen. Than Shwe reaped a $200
million loan in a trip to China along with agreements on health, technical and
economic cooperation and the prospects for new industrial projects.
Playing the China card has also pulled India -- once an outspoken friend
of Myanmar's pro-democracy movement -- into Yangon's corner.
India has
agreements with Myanmar to develop road and port facilities, and to explore for
offshore and onshore petroleum and gas. Gas and mineral investment by many
countries already promise future income for the junta.
Still, Western
nations are committed to imposing sanctions, although their effectiveness as a
form of political leverage is sharply debated.
Proponents claim
sanctions forced South Africa to abandon its racist apartheid system. Opponents
cite Cuba's survival through four decades of financial ostracism by Washington.
"The proposed new sanctions will bring about neither freedom, nor
democracy to the Burmese people," said Bill Reinsch, president of the National
Foreign Trade Council and co-chairman of USA Engage, a group which opposes
economic sanctions.
Sanctions, he said, will hurt the Burmese people
because many depend on the export market to earn a living.
But the
nonpartisan New York-based Council on Foreign Relations said in a June study
that sanctions can make an impact.
"Economic sanctions against the
Burmese regime adversely affect industries that directly benefit the military
and deprive it of an important source of revenue," says the report.
Repression has driven many of the country's best and brightest abroad,
including some notably gifted economists, while the economy is close to
dysfunctional.
"Pervasive corruption and continuing economic
mismanagement by the regime have hurt the Burmese people even more than
sanctions," says the Council on Foreign Relations report.
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Sanctions May Have No Effect on Myanmar
Tue
Jul 8, 5:54 AM ET
By GRANT PECK,
Associated Press Writer
BANGKOK, Thailand - With Myanmar's
democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi again under arrest, the United States is
preparing tough economic sanctions against the ruling military junta to make it
change its course.
But history and politics argue that such moves may
have little effect.
Myanmar, also known as Burma, has come under intense
international criticism since arresting Nobel Prize winner Suu Kyi on May 30.
Japan, Myanmar's largest aid donor, has announced plans not to extend new
development assistance.
Now an imminent U.S. ban on imports from Myanmar
could cut its export earnings by one-quarter to one-third. The country's exports
to the United States totaled about $356 million in 2002, mostly in garments.
The import ban is part of a package of measures the U.S. Congress
assembled to punish the ruling junta for its fresh crackdown on the country's
pro-democracy movement. A bill passed by the Senate is awaiting House approval,
and President Bush is expected to quickly sign it into law.
Lawmakers
were angry at the apparent violent provocation by Myanmar's military which
triggered the crackdown and has put Suu Kyi in detention for an indefinite
period. Never convicted of a crime, the 1991 Nobel Peace laureate was previously
held under house arrest in 1989-95 and again in 2000-02.
"The message
that we are sending to the ruling junta in Burma is clear: Its behavior is
outrageous," said Sen. Patrick Leahy of Vermont.
Proposed European Union
trade barriers would also chip away at export earnings.
But Myanmar,
long ruled by generals, has a long history of economic isolation giving it a
certain immunity against sanctions.
The late military dictator Gen. Ne
Win, who ruled from 1962 to 1988, espoused a "Burmese Road to Socialism" banning
most foreign investment which turned one of Southeast Asia's most prosperous
economies into a basket case.
The country has gone without much
bilateral aid and no new aid from the World Bank and the International Monetary
Fund since 1988 when the military brutally crushed a pro-democracy uprising.
Washington banned new investment by U.S. companies in 1997.
"People have
mixed feelings about sanctions," said U Saw, a businessman. "They know there is
a need, but it affects the people."
People are used to hardship, U Saw
said. "Forty years ago we are suffering. Today we are suffering," he said.
Global maneuvering may lessen the impact of sanctions.
As
Western nations ostracized the military regime, China seized the opportunity to
become Myanmar's closest political ally, main military supplier, and, in
essence, banker of last resort.
Senior Gen. Than Shwe reaped a $200
million loan in a trip to China along with agreements on health, technical and
economic cooperation and the prospects for new industrial projects.
Playing the China card has also pulled India ? once an outspoken friend
of Myanmar's pro-democracy movement ? into Yangon's corner.
India has
agreements with Myanmar to develop road and port facilities, and to explore for
offshore and onshore petroleum and gas. Gas and mineral investment by many
countries already promise future income for the junta.
Still, Western
nations are committed to imposing sanctions, although their effectiveness as a
form of political leverage is sharply debated.
Proponents claim
sanctions forced South Africa to abandon its racist apartheid system. Opponents
cite Cuba's survival through four decades of financial ostracism by Washington.
"The proposed new sanctions will bring about neither freedom, nor
democracy to the Burmese people," said Bill Reinsch, president of the National
Foreign Trade Council and co-chairman of USA Engage, a group which opposes
economic sanctions.
Sanctions, he said, will hurt the Burmese people
because many depend on the export market to earn a living.
But the
nonpartisan New York-based Council on Foreign Relations said in a June study
that sanctions can make an impact.
"Economic sanctions against the
Burmese regime adversely affect industries that directly benefit the military
and deprive it of an important source of revenue," says the report.
Repression has driven many of the country's best and brightest abroad,
including some notably gifted economists, while the economy is close to
dysfunctional.
"Pervasive corruption and continuing economic
mismanagement by the regime have hurt the Burmese people even more than
sanctions," says the Council on Foreign Relations report.
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EU imposes tougher sanctions on Myanmar for 'serious
violations of human rights
Mon Jul 7, 1:34 PM ET
BRUSSELS, Belgium
(AP) _ The European Union on Monday
broadened its arms embargo against the military regime in Myanmar, accusing the
junta of serious human rights violations.
The 15 EU governments imposed
the tougher sanctions in line with an agreement reached at their summit last
month in Greece. They add the provision of any arms-related technical training
and assistance to a general arms embargo.
In a statement, the EU said it
acted ``in view of the further deterioration in the political situation there
and the continuing serious violations of human rights.''
The Red Cross
last week said the military regime in Myanmar has at least 30 prisoners from a
May 30 clash that triggered a crackdown on dissidents and to the jailing of
opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, who received the Nobel prize in 1991 for her
nonviolent promotion of democracy in the country also known as Burma.
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Myanmar state media launches fresh attack against Suu
Kyi
Tue
Jul 8, 5:08 AM ET
YANGON, Myanmar (AP) - Myanmar's state media stepped up its
criticism of detained opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi on Tuesday, accusing
her pro-democracy party of breaking the law by drafting a national constitution.
The charge was made in an article published in The New Light of Myanmar
newspaper, allegedly written by a disgruntled member of Suu Kyi's party who said
the plans showed that the party's leaders were ``not genuinely concerned in the
future of the country.''
Writing a constitution other than one being
drafted by the government is outlawed. Groups breaking the law face suspension
or dissolution while individuals face a penalty of five to 20 years in prison.
The article was the latest in a series in the state-controlled press
critical of Suu Kyi, who was detained after a bloody May 30 clash in northern
Myanmar between her supporters and backers of the ruling junta.
Diplomats and observers say the articles _ which in the past four days
have accused her of being inflexible, confrontational and a pawn of the United
States _ indicate that the Nobel Peace laureate will probably not be freed soon
despite a mounting international outcry for her release.
Myanmar has not
had a constitution since 1988, when the current military government took power
and the country's previous socialist constitution was abrogated.
An
officially sanctioned national convention to draw up guidelines for a new
constitution began in 1993 and has been suspended since 1996. It was rejected by
Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy as undemocratic.
The law
outlawing an alternative constitution was introduced in June 1996 after Suu Kyi
announced plans to draft one.
The NLD won 1990 general elections but was
barred by the military from taking power.
In Tuesday's article, by a
writer named as Maung Yin Hmaing, referred to a meeting of the NLD's central
executive committee that reportedly discussed certain provisions of the party's
draft constitution.
``Can a constitution of state, which is as precious
as life itself, be drawn up by just two or three people?'' the article said.
``Since this draft constitution had been drawn up and our party leaders had
accepted it, it obviously shows that they are not genuinely concerned in the
future of the country,'' it said.
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BBC News
India closes Burma border
By Subir Bhaumik
BBC correspondent in Calcutta
Tuesday, 8 July, 2003
Naga rebels have
fought India for more than 40 years
Indian military officials say they
have sealed off the border with Burma's Sagaing region after receiving reports
that the Burmese troops have overrun the headquarters of a Naga separatist group
in the remote Patkai mountains.
India's eastern army officials told the
BBC the Burmese army took over the headquarters of a faction of the National
Socialist Council of Nagaland (NSCN) led by Burmese Naga leader SS Khaplang,
without much of a fight.
The army's chief of staff, Lieutenant General
JR Mukherji, said his troops had been positioned to seal off possible routes
that the NSCN rebels may take to enter the Indian state of Nagaland and
Arunachal Pradesh.
The NSCN's breakaway Khaplang faction had been well
entrenched in the remote Patkai mountains in western Sagaing for well over a
decade.
Previous attempts by the Burmese army to drive the rebels out
had failed because the remoteness and inaccessibility of the hill terrain makes
sustaining an offensive difficult and logistics a nightmare.
Blistering attack
Lt Gen Mukherji said the
Burmese troops have stayed put after overrunning the rebel headquarters last
week and forcing the rebels to flee.
A spokesman of the NSCN's Khaplang
faction said two light infantry regiments of the Burmese army launched a
blistering assault on the group's headquarters using rockets and mortars last
week.
It was not yet clear whether the Burmese troops would dig in and
occupy the rebel camp during the monsoon.
The NSCN's Khaplang faction
maintains a ceasefire with Indian troops, but Delhi has not invited its leader
for the negotiations that has been going on with the NSCN's main faction led by
Issac Chisi Swu and Thuingaleng Muivah for six years now.
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