|
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- BURMA RELATED NEWS - January - 16, 2001. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- HEADLINE
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- AFP - Myanmar regime says ready to "join hands"
after talks announcement
The Japan Times - Hope for Myanmar's
democrats
AFP - God's Army troops surrender to Thai
military
AFP - ASEAN meet in New Delhi to review
trade, security
AP - German Fin Min Says "No Chance" To
Asian Version of EU
AP - Senior Myanmar Leader: Foreign
Pressure Counterproductive
Xinhua - Bangladesh Suggests High-Level
Meeting With Myanmar on Border Issue
Xinhua - Myanmar Holds National Seminar on
Health Environment
Kyodo - Myanmar urges
end to foreign pressure to realize democracy
The China Daily - Dam creates Bangladesh, Myanmar tension
The Straits Times - Editorial - Hopes rising in Myanmar
Tuesday, January 16 5:00 PM SGT
Myanmar regime says ready to "join hands" after talks announcement BANGKOK Jan 16 (AFP) -
Myanmar's military regime said Tuesday it was ready to "join hands with all the
forces in the nation" in an apparent reaction to the announcement of landmark
contacts with Aung San Suu Kyi.
But the junta's first secretary Lieutenant General Khin Nyunt said the
international community must roll back sanctions if it wants to see "the
emergence of a peaceful, modern and democratic state."
The United Nations announced last week that secret talks between Khin Nyunt
and opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi were being held to prepare the way for an
historic dialogue between the warring sides.
The regime has so far made no official response to the news, but Khin
Nyunt's comments during an opening ceremony for a government training course for
the first time link the political thaw with the end of sanctions.
Nations using pressure tactics and sanctions on Myanmar "should give them
up" if they wanted to see national reconciliation begin in the military-run
country, he said.
"It is now generally accepted by most observers that these tactics have not
worked and can be counter-productive.
"Presently (Myanmar) is beginning to achieve sound political, social and
administrative foundations and it is most important that these nations, even if
they are not in a position to assist us, do not impede the progress being
made."
The heavy burden of sanctions, which has helped bring Myanmar's economy to
its knees, is credited with being one of the major factors behind the junta's
new willingness to countenance political change.
Khin Nyunt urged foreign nations holding "pessimistic and narrow-minded
views" on Myanmar to review their stance.
"Even as we look forward to joining hands with all the forces in the nation
in the march towards the national goal ... it is our earnest desire to establish
friendly and mutually beneficial cooperation with all the nations of the world,"
he said.
New signs have emerged in recent days of an improvement in the political
atmosphere in Myanmar as the junta and the opposition edge towards an historic
dialogue, their first since 1994.
Junta officials have told the NLD that 86 of its supporters jailed since
September, when Aung San Suu Kyi was also placed under house arrest, will be
allowed to receive food parcel and letters.
In another indication of the thaw, the regime has ordered the state-run
media to halt its routine attacks on the opposition leader.
The Japan Times: Jan. 14,
2001
Hope for Myanmar's democrats The announcement that Myanmar's military government and prodemocracy leader
Aung San Suu Kyi had entered into direct talks is a welcome surprise from a
country that has only managed to disappoint in recent years. Given the junta's
stubborn refusal to negotiate with Ms. Suu Kyi, it is hard to be optimistic
about the outcome of any talks. Nonetheless, concerned governments should keep
the pressure on Yangon and encourage a dialogue.
Reportedly, direct contacts between Ms. Suu Kyi and Lt. Gen. Khin Nyunt,
the third-ranking leader in the ruling junta, began last October but had been
kept secret until this past week. The secrecy is a good sign: It indicates that
Myanmar's leaders are not just going through the motions to ease international
pressure. The contacts also cover a longer time period than the last, abortive
discussions with Ms. Suu Kyi in 1994. This is also encouraging.
The United Nations is playing a key role in the talks. The U.N. envoy to
Myanmar, Mr. Razali Ismail, a Malaysian diplomat appointed to this post last
April, has been able to bring the two sides together. Mr. Razali voiced optimism
about the initial meetings, although the substance of the talks remains
confidential.
There is every indication that the discussions between Ms. Suu Kyi and the
junta will continue. That alone will satisfy some critics, but national
reconciliation and the restoration of democracy remain the ultimate objective.
That will take time.
There is much to overcome and much bitterness to address. The latest
chapters in the sad history of Myanmar, once called Burma, began in 1988 with
prodemocracy demonstrations, ruthlessly and bloodily suppressed by the military.
They led to a brief breath of freedom, which culminated in parliamentary
elections on May 27, 1990. That vote, to the military's surprise, was won in a
landslide by the National League for Democracy, the opposition group headed by
Ms. Suu Kyi. But the elected representatives of the people never took their
seats in Parliament. Instead, the government refused to honor the vote and
cracked down on the opposition. Many NLD members fled to Thailand and
established a government in exile. Others were arrested; some, like Ms. Suu Kyi,
were kept under house arrest. She endured six years at home, and since 1995 her
movements and activities have been severely proscribed. After trying to leave
the capital of Yangon last September, she again was restricted to her
home.
But her devotion to the fight to bring democracy to her homeland and her
defiance of the military dictatorship have won her acclaim and the highest
respect worldwide. She was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1991. The NLD has
been weakened by deaths and defections, but Ms. Suu Kyi and her remaining allies
have continued the struggle against the junta.
There are several reasons for the present breakthrough. Mr. Razali deserves
some credit. He has been a tireless envoy, and has shuttled between the two
sides trying to get some form of dialogue started.
External pressure has also been important. Last year, the International
Labor Organization voted to impose sanctions on the government. The United
States and the European Union have been relentless critics of the junta; for
three years, the EU refused to hold regular high-level talks with the
Association of Southeast Asian Nations because of Myanmar's membership in the
group. Last December, foreign ministers for the two groups met in Laos. Now we
know why.
It is also likely that ASEAN brought pressure to bear on the government in
Yangon. ASEAN was much criticized for accepting Myanmar as a member three years
ago, but Southeast Asian leaders have maintained that constructive engagement
was always a better bet than sanctions. And despite the professed policy of
noninterference in the domestic affairs of member states, it is very likely that
ASEAN diplomats have made it clear that dialogue is the only option.
Even the junta may be ready to accept that. Diplomatic isolation,
corruption and economic mismanagement have reduced Myanmar's economy to near
ruins. Foreign investors have been deterred by the government's international
image. Inflation is running at 50 percent, exports are one-half imports, and
annual per capita income is $1,200 and shrinking.
The junta's capacity for stubbornness should not be underestimated,
however. The government has responded to external pressure in the past, but only
to deflect it. For example, talks also began in 1994, but they quickly broke off
without progress. Realism will be the key to success. Ms. Suu Kyi and her
supporters, both at home and abroad, must be prepared for a long and difficult
process. There is reason to hope, but only just.
Wednesday, January 17 12:04 AM SGT
God's Army troops surrender to Thai military BANGKOK, Jan 16 (AFP) - Fifteen
members of the God's Army rebel group, including its teenage leaders Luther and
Johnny Htoo, surrendered Monday to the Thai military in the western province of
Ratchaburi which borders Myanmar, army sources said.
"The two twin children are among the fifteen," said a senior army official
in Bangkok after several Thai television stations reported that members of the
anti-Myanmar opposition militia had turned themselves in.
The army official said the group included three guerrillas suspected of
being involved in a New Years Eve raid on a village in Ratchaburi that left six
Thais dead.
Thai Prime Minister Chuan Leekpai vowed to track down and punish the God's
Army rebels over the raid, where a gang of at least five fighters held up a
grocery store at gunpoint and demanded staple foods like noodles and salt before
firing into a crowd as they fled.
Tuesday, January 16 8:52 PM SGT
ASEAN meet in New Delhi to review trade, security NEW DELHI, Jan 16 (AFP) -
Officials from the 10-member Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN)
will meet here Wednesday to review regional issues including the group's trade
imbalances with India, officials said Tuesday.
They said the two-day meeting, to be kicked off by India's junior Foreign
Minister Ajit Panja, would involve wide-ranging talks on issues of common
interest in the region.
Foreign Ministry spokesman R.S. Jassal said the meeting would "provide a
forum for the 10-member ASEAN and India to conduct a dialogue on political,
security economy and functional cooperation."
India, which became a full "dialogue partner" of ASEAN in 1996, hopes for a
better toehold in the region not only to bolster trade, which is heavily tilted
in favour of the grouping, but also to cement military cooperation.
ASEAN groups Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the
Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.
India's cumulative trade with the ASEAN nations in 1999-2000 totalled 7.4
billion dollars, with Indian imports accounting for 5.1 billion dollars.
"The trade deficit is on India's side," Jassal said, adding that ASEAN
nations were keen on tapping India's reservoir of IT talent.
The scheduled ASEAN officials' meet comes on the heels of an eight-day trip
to Vietnam and Indonesia by Indian Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee, who
returned on Sunday.
ASEAN launched a new forum with China, Japan and South Korea last year
while India remained on the fringes.
Tuesday January 16, 2:49 PM
German Fin Min Says "No Chance" To Asian Version of EU SINGAPORE (AP)--Germany's
Finance Minister said Tuesday that Asia had "no chance" of creating a common
market or a common currency in the near future because the region was too
politically and economically divided.
Hans Eichel, on an overnight stopover in Singapore, said recent calls for
an Asian version of the European Union were premature because "regional
cooperation in Europe is political" whereas in Asia "it is not as friendly."
During a breakfast lecture in Singapore, Eichel said the E.U. was formed in
the wake of World War II in an effort to maintain peace and that the common
market was a result of, not a prelude to, the political union.
"There is no chance in Asia today to have a common currency because there
is no chance to have common political policies or have common economic
policies," Eichel said.
He said Europe's common market and monetary union were a sign of strong
regional cooperation.
"Cooperation in Asia I think is not as friendly," he said.
Singapore said earlier this month that Asia should create its own version
of the E.U., saying the region needed more integration to compete and thrive in
an increasingly technological world.
Singapore's Yeo Cheow Tong, minister for communications and information
technology, said Asia should build a model of "regionalism" similar to the
E.U.'s, but not necessarily of the same "brand."
Asian leaders have often said that their idea of regionalism is purely
economic, unlike Europe's which includes political and human rights issues. Yet
even economic integration in Asia isn't nearly as advanced as in Europe, with
much work still do be done before free-trade zones are created.
The Association of Southeast Asian Nations is working toward a regional
free trade zone. The Asean Free Trade Area, or AFTA, aims to eliminate most
tariffs within the Southeast Asia by 2002. Asean member countries are Brunei,
Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore,
Thailand and Vietnam.
Tuesday January 16, 2:40 PM
Senior Myanmar Leader: Foreign Pressure Counterproductive YANGON (AP)--As Myanmar's
military government moves toward substantive talks with the pro-democracy
opposition, a senior general has appealed to foreign countries to stop
pressuring the ruling junta.
"It is high time such nations give up sanctions and pressure tactics if
they really wish to see the emergence of a democratic state in Myanmar," Lt.
Gen. Khin Nyunt, the third-ranking member in the junta said.
"These tactics are counterproductive since it hinders the very process of
democratization in Myanmar," he said, speaking at the opening ceremony of a
diplomatic skills training course at the Foreign Ministry in Yangon Monday.
His speech was reported in all three state-controlled daily newspapers
Tuesday.
For several years, the military government has come under intense
international criticism for human rights abuses and repressing Myanmar's
pro-democracy movement. The National League of Democracy led by Aung San Suu Kyi
was never allowed by the junta to take power after a sweeping general election
victory in 1990.
The U.S. and the European Union have been particularly outspoken in their
criticisms of the military regime, and instituted limited diplomatic and
economic sanctions against the junta.
Khin Nyunt didn't name any country but said his remarks were addressed to
"to those nations that have negative and biased views on Myanmar."
Last week, the U.N. announced that Khin Nyunt and Suu Kyi had held their
first talks in six years. The government had previously refused to deal directly
with Suu Kyi, insisting it would talk only with other leaders of her National
League for Democracy.
The two sides are expected to hold more discussions on national
reconciliation soon. The government and Suu Kyi, who remains under virtual house
arrest, have yet to comment.
In similar past remarks about foreign interventionism, Khin Nyunt usually
included attacks on Suu Kyi's movement, but his remarks Monday were
conciliatory.
Khin Nyunt declared that Myanmar "is beginning to achieve political,
economic, social and administrative foundations. It is important that these
pressuring nations don't hamper the progress even if they don't want to assist
us."
Khin Nyunt said that although the country received practically no foreign
assistance, the economy grew by an average 7.2% in the first four years of the
five-year economic plan beginning 1996-97 because of the government's economic
policies. Independent economists have expressed doubt over such optimistic
statistics.
Khin Nyunt also invited the Karen National Union - the sole major ethnic
rebel group that hasn't signed a cease-fire with the junta - to work for peace
and development like 17 other armed rebel groups that joined hands with the
government.
Bangladesh Suggests High-Level Meeting With
Myanmar on Border Issue
2001.01.16 21:24:49 DHAKA, January 16 (Xinhuanet)
-- Bangladesh has proposed a high- level meeting with Myanmar to look for a
solution to border disputes between the two countries, said an official
source of the Foreign Ministry here Tuesday.
As soon as a border conflict caused the attention of the Foreign
Ministry, Bangladesh has requested the Myanmar authorities to honor the border
agreement signed between them in 1966, the source added.
It was reported that the border forces of the two countries exchanged
fire last week along the Naf river, some 480 kilometers southeast to
Dhaka, as Myanmar had unilaterally resumed construction of an embankment
on the river, which allegedly violated an agreement signed between the two
countries that prevents any construction work on the dam.
Myanmar had demanded Bangladesh's suspension of shrimp cultivation,
but the Foreign Ministry source said shrimp cultivation has been going on
in the area for the last 15 years, and Myanmar had never raised the issue
before.
He added that shrimp cultivation is not contrary to the laid
conditions of the border agreement.
Bangladesh had insisted that if the embankment built by Myanmar is
completed, it will alter the course of the Naf river, causing flooding and
erosion in Bangladesh and damaging large areas dedicated to shrimp
farming.
Myanmar Holds National Seminar on
Health Environment
2001.01.16 12:18:14 YANGON, January 16 (Xinhuanet)
-- A national seminar-cum-workshop began here Monday to work out an action
plan on health and environment, official newspaper The New Light of
Myanmar reported Tuesday.
The two-day event is attended by Myanmar health officials,
representatives of U.N. agencies, non-governmental organizations and
experts.
Based on the "Framework for Health and Environment Action Plan, "which is
an outcome of a Regional Consultative Meeting of World Health Organization
South-East Asia Region held in October 1997 in Maldives, key environmental
health issues such as water, sanitation and water resources, clean air,
food safety, solid and hazardous waste disposal and safe use of chemicals
and occupational safety will be discussed at the seminar.
Myanmar is implementing its five-year national health plan ( 1996-2001)
which consists of six programs including the environmental health
program.
Health assumes an important role in Myanmar's social objective among
others for national development and health and development programs,
especially in the under-served rural and border areas, have been made
possible in harmony with its economic policies and extensive development
of infrastructure.
Myanmar urges end to foreign pressure to
realize democracy
YANGON Jan. 16 Kyodo - A senior
member of Myanmar's ruling junta has called for an end to international pressure
and sanctions aimed at spurring the emergence of democracy in the country, local
newspapers reported Tuesday.
The reports quoted Lt. Gen. Khin Nyunt, first secretary of the State Peace
and Development Council, as saying, ''It is time to give up pressure tactics and
sanctions if they really wish to see the emergence of a peaceful democratic
state in Myanmar.''
''These tactics are counterproductive since they hinder the very process of
democratization in Myanmar,'' the general reportedly said.
Khin Nyunt reportedly made the remarks Monday in an address to officials of
the Foreign Ministry.
He appealed to ''nations with pessimistic and narrow views on Myanmar to
have an objective understanding of the conditions and challenges of the
country.''
''It is important that these countries pressuring Myanmar, even if they
don't want to assist us, not to impede progress being made,'' the reports quoted
Khin Nyunt as saying.
''It is our earnest desire to establish and maintain friendly ties and
mutually beneficial cooperation with all countries of the world,'' he reportedly
said.
On Jan. 9, a U.N. spokesman said the Myanmar military government has opened
a direct dialogue with pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi and the two sides
are satisfied with the ''confidence building'' initiative.
Suu Kyi and nine National League for Democracy leaders have been restricted
to their homes since being forcibly removed from a sit-in at Yangon's central
railway station Sept. 22.
In December, the International Labor Organization (ILO) kicked off initial
measures in implementing sanctions against Myanmar over its forced labor
practices.
The sanctions are the first to be taken by the ILO in its 81-year history.
The decision asks ILO members and international organizations to review
their relationship with Myanmar, and, if necessary, sever ties with the junta if
they are directly or indirectly supporting Myanmar's forced labor practices.
While Asian countries including Japan and Malaysia asked for a delay in
implementing the sanctions since the junta was making some progress in complying
with the ILO demand, Western countries led by the United States and Britain
pushed for sanctions.
The China Daily - January 16,
2001.
Dam creates Bangladesh, Myanmar tension COX'S BAZAR, Bangladesh: Bangladesh said yesterday its troops were ready to
respond quickly if Myanmar soldiers opened fire across the countries' border or
if Myanmar resumes construction of a dam on the Naf border river.
"We are ready for a prompt and appropriate response if they pull the
trigger again or resume construction of the dam," said Colonel Shawkat Ali, a
commanding officer of the Bangladesh Rifles (BDR) border force.
Tension along the border in southeast Bangladesh has been high for the past
two weeks since Myanmar began building a dam, or embankment, on the Naf river at
Totardia to divert water for irrigation and shrimp farming.
Bangladesh says the structure will cause soil erosion and flooding on the
Bangladesh side and has demanded that it be stopped. The two sides exchanged
fire across the Naf on January 8 but there were no casualties. Myanmar then
suspended construction of the dam but deployed some 35,000 troops along its 320
kilometres border with Bangladesh, Bangladesh military officers say.
The Naf forms part of the border. Ali said Bangladesh had deployed more
than 10,000 paramilitary troops to face any attack from Myanmar.
Witnesses said BDR troops have taken up position in fortified positions and
bunkers.
"We are maintaining a round-the-clock alert," Ali told reporters. "We are
ready to defend our interests along the frontier. ''
The Straits Times - January 16,
2001.
Editorial - Hopes rising in Myanmar THERE will be speculation aplenty about what drove the Myanmar military
government to reopen talks with the opposition leader, Ms Aung San Suu Kyi, six
years after the first contact. Myanmar had been in a state of suspended
animation in that time, neither in danger of splintering nor able to stitch
together a functioning economy on investments from the region alone. The
rumoured power manoeuvrings in the junta, between intelligence head Lt-Gen Khin
Nyunt and army chief Gen Maung Aye, do not appear a plausible trigger, as the
entire leadership is believed to be unified on this move. On Ms Suu Kyi's side,
speculation would centre on whether there had been yield. Did her party, the
National League for Democracy, fudge its standing demand that it be allowed to
execute its 1990 election mandate - or no deal? Has she learnt to compromise a
little, in the spirit of Nelson Mandela's magnanimity in engaging his
tormentors? One person knows about the motivations - Tan Sri Razali Ismail, the
Malaysian diplomat who is the United Nations' special envoy to Myanmar. He has
met both Ms Suu Kyi and the generals, and revealed the surprise that the Myanmar
antagonists had been in talks since October.
Tan Sri Razali has been guarded in interviews, but transmitted enough of
the positive vibes to encourage the belief that the outcome of the talks could
come close to the expectations of Asean, Japan and the West. He said both
parties had met in 'good faith... it's what the UN and the international
community were hoping would happen'. There is great promise that a sort of
settlement, if not a conjunction of interests, can be forged. It may be too much
to speak of a substantive reconciliation after 10 years of extreme hostility
between the generals and the woman whose stunning election triumph they would
not acknowledge. There are considerable obstacles that cannot be divorced from
the overall reconciliation package. Torture as a tool to break political
opponents, and the use of forced labour of men, women and children, have to be
renounced. The aspirations of the minority groups (the Shan, Karen and Karenni)
have to form part of a national consensus or else Myanmar will continue to
ulcerate. There has to be more respect for border integrity in the jungled
frontier with Thailand. And this is not the occasion for Western governments and
pressure lobbies to preach homilies in trying to accelerate the momentum of the
Yangon contacts. The junta has seldom heeded overt, self-indulgent hectoring of
the kind that the European Union and Western-based Myanmar watchdogs have
engaged in. Their enthusiasm in adopting Ms Suu Kyi's cause is not doubted; they
can even take some of the credit for the conciliatory tone now emanating from
Yangon.
But the Asean countries are best placed to navigate Myanmar's complex
politics, which Western nations do not take sufficient note of. Asean is rightly
concerned, not only that electoral and social justice prevail, but also that
Myanmar remains a unified country. Constructive engagement, its approach in
dealing with Myanmar, is now close to being vindicated, where once, it seemed at
risk of being exploited by the ruling junta. Malaysia has been particularly
active in bringing the generals around. Tan Sri Razali will be travelling to
China next. This is a crucial part of his mission as Beijing's influence on
Yangon is considerable, through its military and diplomatic links. He should
also persuade Japan to impress upon Yangon that economic support will be
forthcoming if the political stalemate is broken.
|