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----------------------------------------------------------------- BURMA RELATED NEWS - June 07, 2001. ----------------------------------------------------------------- HEADLINE ----------------------------------------------------------------- AFP - US diplomat says Myanmar talks will soon
yield results
AFP - Japanese UNICEF ambassador decries
Philippine child sex trade
Reuters - U.N. brands Cambodia top world source
of marijuana
The Star - Ruse to
bring in illegals fails to fool authorities
VOA - US Official Urges Burma to Speed up Power
Sharing Talks
Bkk Post - No official protest over history
textbook
Bkk Post - Two rangers wounded in clash with Wa
troops
Bkk Post - Military
gets lion's share of drug fund
Bkk Post - Kraisak wants to end spat caused by
textbook slur
The Nation - Burma
text 'could hurt relations'
The Nation - Little love crosses region's
borders
FEER - Court to Hear Burma Brewery
Case
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Thursday June 7, 5:23 PM US diplomat says Myanmar talks will soon
yield results
BANGKOK, June 7 (AFP) - Landmark talks between Myanmar's junta and opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi should soon yield concrete results, visiting US Assistant Deputy Secretary of State Ralph Boyce has said. Boyce said Wednesday that he welcomed signs of a political thaw in Myanmar
where the junta and its pro-democracy nemesis are holding their first dialogue
since 1994.
"It has been going on for eight months," he told The Nation newspaper after
a meeting with Thai Foreign Minister Surakiart Sathirathai. "We expect to see a
concrete result in a short while."
The United States embassy Thursday confirmed the comments, which also
touched on the Japanese government's recent decision to give Myanmar its largest
aid package in a decade as an incentive to pursue democratic reforms.
Boyce said there was no conflict between Washington and Tokyo over the
approval of a 3.5-billion-yen (28.6-million-dollar) revamp of a hydropower dam
built by Japan in the 1960s.
But he indicated that the United States would wait to see more solid signs
of change in Myanmar before softening its position towards the military
regime.
"We did not disagree," he said. "We have our own approach."
Boyce's comments will be welcomed by dissident groups and pro-democracy
activists who have become increasingly frustrated at the apparent lack of
progress made in the secret talks which began last October.
At the outset the contacts were accompanied by a flurry of modest goodwill
gestures including an order to the state-run media to halt its vicious personal
attack on Aung San Suu Kyi.
However, in recent months the dialogue appears to have faltered after
reaching a sensitive decision-making phase that exposed splits within the
regime.
United Nations envoy Razali Ismail Monday ended a four-day mission to
Myanmar where he met with both sides on the country's political divide in a bid
to revive the talks, which he helped initiate.
The decision to allow Razali to visit, after a worryingly long absence of
five months, was hailed as a sign that the reconciliation process was back on
track.
And in another positive development, sources in Yangon said he was expected
to pay another visit in July.
But there was also disappointment over the fact that the Malaysian diplomat
left without any of the concessions he was expected to extract -- including the
release of a batch of political prisoners and permission to issue a statement on
the direction and intent of the talks.
Dissident groups and the nation's many ethnic minorities, whose support
will be crucial in any transition to democracy, have made increasingly loud
calls for light to be shed on the secret dialogue.
On Tuesday the All Burma Students Democratic Front (ABSDF) demanded that
the junta and the opposition National League for Demoracy (NLD) open the talks
to public scrutiny, claiming that they had failed to make any head way.
"The current talks are not open. People are frustrated waiting for
information while human rights abuses and forced labour are still occurring
inside the country," said spokesman Sonny Mahiner.
"We ask the NLD and SPDC to open up the talks so the people of Burma and
the world can see if there is progress."
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Thursday June 7, 6:26 PM
Japanese UNICEF ambassador decries
Philippine child sex trade
TOKYO, June 7 (AFP) - Japan and the international community must help stop the sexual exploitation of children in the Philippines, an ambassador for the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) urged here Thursday. "Japanese people are among the perpetrators. I want to say that out loud,"
said Agnes Chan, a Hong Kong-born singer who has had a successful career as a
television celebrity in Japan.
"The problem is overwhelming and complex," she told a press conference
after returning from a five-day tour of the Philippines to visit with child sex
victims and view efforts to help them.
Her trip was organised to precede the UNICEF-sponsored Second World
Conference of Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children, due to take place in
Yokohama, Japan in December.
The first conference was held in Sweden in 1996.
During her visit to the Philippines, Chan visited shelters for former
juvenile prostitutes and met with their families. She also toured red-light
districts to see the reality of child prostitution and the living conditions of
street children.
Between 60,000 and 100,000 Philippine children are victims of the country's
sex trade, Chan said.
Many of them are lured to urban areas from the countryside with promises of
jobs, she said, quoting information from non-governmental organisations (NGOs)
in Philippines.
"We must educate children in the countryside before they fall into the
trap," she said.
"For those who have already been victimised, we must arm them with
education and (job skills) training. That would give them the sense of
self-confidence," she said.
Many have been victims of domestic violence or incest, Chan said.
"The Philippines has strict laws...The government has made efforts to curb
the problem," she said. "But the enforcement of those laws does not seem to be
sufficient."
In March, Philippine President Gloria Arroyo said at least 200,000 homeless
children roamed the mean streets of cities, posing the risk of a "social time
bomb" that could lead to more serious national problems.
Half of the street children could be found in Manila, where they have
become beggars, child prostitutes, petty thieves and drug couriers, Arroyo said.
The president also appealed for more private sector help in funding welfare
projects.
Chan added that the child sex trade and child trafficking also existed in
Cambodia and Myanmar, among other nations.
The singer visited Thailand on a similar UNICEF mission in 1998.
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Thursday June 7, 3:41 PM
U.N. brands Cambodia top world source of
marijuana
PHNOM PENH, June 7 (Reuters) - The United Nations has branded Cambodia one of the largest suppliers of marijuana to the world, with business estimated to generate nearly $1 billion a year. The value of the export of marijuana is estimated to be on par with that of
Cambodia's top foreign exchange earner, the garment industry, which employs more
than 100,000 people, the U.N. International Drug Control Programme said in a
report.
"With Cambodia as one of the world's largest suppliers of cannabis, and in
combination with the destabilising effects the illicit profits of this trade has
on the country, this situation is clearly not acceptable," said the report,
obtained by Reuters late on Wednesday.
"If this phenomenon is not halted, it will have serious economic and social
implications."
The report said more than 200 tonnes of high-grade Cambodian marijuana had
been seized abroad since 1996, primarily in Europe but also in the United
States, Australia and Africa.
Significant quantities of heroin and methamphetamines from the Golden
Triangle of Myanmar, Laos and Thailand and chemicals used to produce narcotics
are also being shipped through Cambodia, the report said.
The UNDCP said Cambodian law enforcement officials were involved in the
drug trade.
"Military police could play an important role in dealing with drug
production and trafficking. Many observers, however, feel that the military
forces are presently more a part of the drug trafficking problem than its
solution," the UNDCP said.
Graham Shaw, UNDCP's Cambodia programme officer, told Reuters on Thursday
that the United Nations had committed $3.5 million to assist Cambodia in its
fight against drugs.
However, he described Cambodia as a "weak link" in regional anti-drug
efforts and said that reform would be "a long and difficult road".
The report, distributed to the government and the country's aid donors last
week, is expected to be discussed at a meeting of aid donors in Tokyo from June
11-13.
Cambodia is expected to ask for more than $500 million at the annual
meeting, but donor pledges are tightly linked to reform in areas such as law
enforcement and tackling drugs.
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The Star - June 07, 2001.
Ruse to bring in illegals fails to fool
authorities
KANGAR: A van with a Telekom Malaysia logo was intercepted and found to be
transporting 15 Myanmar illegal immigrants in Kampung Syed Omar, near here, on
Tuesday night.
An officer with the Chuping Smuggling Preventive Unit, Insp Azhari Chik, said the logo was used by the van driver to mislead the authorities. The 28-year-old driver was arrested under Section 56(1) of the Immigration
Act, he said, adding that the suspect might be charged for providing shelter to
illegal immigrants.
According to Insp Azhari, the driver said he had rented the van from a
"third party" to ferry the illegal immigrants who had been hiding in a village
for two days after crossing into Malaysia from Thailand at Bukit Syed Omar.
Officials also seized a quantity of rice from them, Insp Azhari added.
The Myanmars were between 14 and 42 years old.--Bernama.
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US Official Urges Burma to Speed
up Power Sharing Talks
VOA News 6 Jun 2001 15:53 UTC A U.S. official in southeast Asia has urged Burma's military government to
speed up talks with the democratic political opposition.
Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for East Asia Ralph Boyce made the plea
on a trip to Bangkok. He told Reuters news agency that Washington hopes the
Burmese political talks will produce an agreement in the near future.
Mr. Boyce also urged nations with an interest in the Burmese dialogue to
wait for its outcome before giving any extra assistance to Rangoon.
The United States has long been one of the strictest critics of Burma's
ruling military and its suppression of the democratic opposition. Washington has
imposed sanctions on Burma, including the suspension of aid programs and
opposition to multilateral loans for Rangoon.
The Boyce trip to southeast Asia follows a four day visit to Burma by
special United Nations envoy Razali Ismail. During Mr. Razali's visit, he spoke
with both sides in the Burmese political dialogue.
----------------------------------------------------------------
Bangkok Post - June 07,
2001.
No official protest over history
textbook
Achara Ashayagachat and Bhanravee Tansubhapol No official protest will be made over a Burmese school textbook which
distorts history, Foreign Minister Surakiart Sathirathai said yesterday.
However, Burma experts warned the textbook could instill a hatred of Thai
people in young BurmeseThammasat University history professor Charnvit Kasetsiri
said countries in Southeast Asia shared a common but indecent practice in
writing ultra-nationalistic history and teaching their youngsters to hate their
neighbours.
But Burma's introduction of a supplementary 12-page textbook for
fourth-grade pupils was an extreme case, he said.
The history textbook supplement, released Monday for the 2001-2002 academic
year in Burmese state-run schools, says: "Thai people are given to fun and
appreciation of beauty. They are disinclined to self-reliance and hard work."Mr
Charnvit said it would have a long-lasting impact as Burmese youth would be
taught to hate Thai people.
Historian Sunait Chutintranon, of Chulalongkorn University, warned that a
tit-for-tat war of words could have a deep impact on future relations.
"Now we have to look at ourselves. Our textbooks, literature, drama and
films have also portrayed our neighbours in a negative way," he said.
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Bangkok Post - June 07,
2001.
Two rangers wounded in clash with
Wa troops
Chiang Mai Two rangers were wounded yesterday when a patrol team clashed with United
Wa State Army guerrillas near Doi Lang in Mae Ai district.
Col Chainarong Kaewkla, commander of the 212th Cavalry Battalion, said the
Red Wa were probably trying to smuggle drugs across the Kok river.
After the clash, a combined unit of army-trained rangers and 2nd Cavalry
Regiment soldiers was sent to reinforce Ban Pakui, about 2km from Doi
Lang.
Meanwhile, Col Wanthip Wongwai, commander of the 3rd Cavalry Regiment task
force, said Burmese soldiers at Kuteng Nayong overlooking Mae Sai district were
continuing with construction of a pagoda in the disputed area despite a Thai
protest.
Under a standing Thai-Burmese agreement, neither side is allowed to build a
permanent structure in a disputed area.
On the Burmese side of the border, two battalions were reportedly sent from
Tachilek on Tuesday to beef up a Burmese border force opposite Doi Lang.
----------------------------------------------------------------
Bangkok Post - June 07,
2001.
Military gets lion's share of drug
fund
The Defence Ministry has been given the lion's share-328 million baht-of
the restored 1,012-million-baht fund to fight drugs.
The Budget Bureau had earlier slashed 1,012 million baht from the
government's proposed anti-drugs budget for fiscal 2002.
A meeting was held yesterday to divide the restored fund among agencies
involved in the fight against drugs.
The other recipients are: the Justice Ministry, 34 million baht; Education
Ministry, 105 million; Physical Education Department, 72 million; Public Health
Ministry, 111 million; University Affairs Ministry, 51 million; Royal Thai
Police Office 105 million; and Interior Ministry, 250 million.
PM's Office Minister Thammarak Issarangkura na Ayutthaya said anti-drug
squads would concentrate on promoting public participation in the war on drugs,
and rehabilitation of drug addicts.
----------------------------------------------------------------
Bangkok Post - June 07,
2001.
Kraisak wants to end spat caused
by textbook slur
Historians urged to clear misconceptions Surasak Tumcharoen and Sirikul Bunnag
Thailand and Burma should "clear up the historical mess" between them
rather than slandering each other about their past, claimed Senate foreign
affairs committee chairman Kraisak Choonhavan.
His comments follow a diplomatic spat after the AP news agency reported
Rangoon had described Thai people in Burmese school textbooks as "lazy and
servile".
Mr Kraisak suggested historians from both countries hold a seminar so Thai
and Burmese schoolchildren could learn the truth about their shared past.
The senator said the remarks contained in the textbook would not seriously
affect relations, or a planned trip to Rangoon by Prime Minister Thaksin
Shinawatra.
The movie Bang Rachan , which portrayed Thais as freedom fighters and the
Burmese as invaders, may have raised Burmese hackles, he said, as well as claims
that Burmese authorities were involved in drug trafficking. "Don't let whatever
happened 500 years ago disrupt relationships."Kobsak Chutikul, a former
director-general of the Foreign Ministry said: "The Burmese should not prolong
ill-feelings they have long adopted against Thais. It's a sensitive matter which
might affect future agreements. Mr Thaksin's visit could merely become a
short-lived rapprochement."The premier declined to comment on the book and urged
both sides to stop trading angry words.
"Burma is very sensitive to news reports from Thailand, so the best thing
for both sides is to stop trading accusations and let the leaders settle
matters."The premier said Rangoon has been agitated by a news article in a
Thai-language daily which reportedly entertained the idea of sending someone to
assassinate the Burmese leadership.
Other Thai historians pointed out anti-Burmese bias in Thai textbooks which
portrayed medieval Burmese kings as thieves who only wanted to loot Siam, as
Thailand was formerly called.
Sulak Sivaraksa, a leading Thai social critic, said the textbook might be a
Burmese government effort to deflect attention away from its own troubles of a
weak economy, accusations of human rights abuses and international pressure to
allow civilian rule.
The Education Ministry is to get a copy of the book, in a bid to rectify
any inaccuracies.
Education Minister Kasem Wattanachai said no one in the government had seen
or read the book and the permanent secretary is to study the content.
Education Ministry officials want to know the author's name, who translated
it into English, and the purpose of publication.
Interior Minister Purachai Piemsomboon said it was more important to make
younger generations understand national history.
"What others say about us isn't the substance. What matters is how we feel
about ourselves."He said past leaders had saved Siam from foreign colonialists
because they exercised wisdom rather than emotion.
Mr Purachai suggested neighbouring countries' cultures be included in the
Thai curriculum to enhance awareness.
"We shouldn't let a trivial matter snowball into something more serious
than it deserves to be," hesaid.
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The Nation - June 07,
2001.
Burma text 'could hurt relations'
The release of a Burmese textbook that condemns Thais as servile and lazy
would worsen already fragile bilateral relations, Foreign Minister Minister
Surakiart Sathirathai said yesterday.
Surakiart ruled out lodging a diplomatic protest against the textbook, but
said he would raise the issue with Burmese leaders when he accompanies Prime
Minister Thaksin Shinawatra on an upcoming trip to Rangoon.
The depictions of Thais in the textbook, which will be used to teach
fourth-graders from this academic year, looks set to further fuel tensions with
Burma, which have been worsening over the past five months. It is the latest in
a string of tit-for-tat moves that began with a border incursion and have
recently evolved into invoking past animosities.
"The references to Thai people are very explicit," Surakiart said. "We do
not agree with this interpretation. They [Burmese authorities] should be careful
because this is not conducive to building strong ties.
"I don't know whether or not publication of the textbook was an order [from
Burmese authorities], but it is not constructive."
Surakiart urged more exchanges between academics and historians from both
countries to help bridge historical differences, adding that Thai historians
should also accurately present facts to the public.
"Disseminating the facts to a civil society would have a more profound
effect," he said.
Historically, relations with Burma have often deteriorated into hatred and
warfare. Thaksin said yesterday that the portrayal of Thais in the textbook was
a result of lingering mutual mistrust.
He also blamed elements of the media for being too heavy-handed in their
comments on Burma, saying the Burmese leaders were very sensitive about what
appeared in the Thai press.
However, Thaksin was optimistic that foundations could be laid for future
relations during his upcoming trip.
Surakiart said the date of the visit was only a matter of scheduling.
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The Nation - June 07,
2001.
HISTORICAL ENMITIES: Little love
crosses region's borders
Academics say nationalism, bias common in Southeast
Asia
Thai academics and historians yesterday offered slightly differing views
about Burma's latest anti-Thai textbook - some said historical bias towards
neighbours existed in all Southeast Asian textbooks, while others said Burma was
unusually harsh in its recent portrayal of Thais.
The 12-page history textbook, which is supplementary reading for fourth
graders in Burma who began a new academic year Monday, portrays Thais as servile
and lazy.
One section of the book says: "Thai people are given to fun and
appreciation of beauty. They are disinclined to self-reliance and hard
work."
It also says Thailand has consistently throughout history launched
anti-Burmese campaigns, and those who grew up during such campaigns have a
deep-rooted hatred for people from Burma.
Chulalongkorn University history lecturer Sunait Chutintaranond said the
textbook could have a lasting impact on Thai-Burmese relations, particularly if
young people in Burma were taught to hate Thais.
Sunait said the Burmese had never generally thought of Thais as their
enemies.
The Burmese expert said, however, that Thailand should set its own house in
order and stop portraying its neighbours in a negative light in its own
textbooks and movies.
"In Thai history textbooks, we talk about our neighbours as our enemies. We
only tell stories of wars that we won and [how we] made people of neighbouring
countries our slaves," said Sunait.
"From now on we should put other aspects in our textbooks," he said.
Ramkhamhaeng University's Professor Pornchai Dheppanya said he saw nothing
wrong with Rangoon writing such a textbook.
"It is normal, because history texts in several other countries were mostly
written to glorify their countries, while cursing on others," the political
scientist said.
Pornchai said he wondered why Thailand was paying attention to the Burmese
textbook now - considering the fact they had always been written like that,
particularly when regarding ancient Thai-Burmese relations.
He said the government should act sensibly and avoid "dancing to the
Burmese tune".
"We cannot stop Burma from doing this," he said. "Nor do I think we should
protest. It is better not to pay much attention to it."
Professor Charnvit Kasetsiri, president of Thammasat University's Southeast
Asian studies programme, said that most textbooks in Southeast Asian countries
that touched on historic relations with neighbours tried to instil nationalism
among youths, and provoke a hatred of their neighbours.
However the latest Burmese effort was far too lopsided, and explicitly
targeted Thai people.
Charnvit said the release of the anti-Thai textbook was a spin-off related
to the current problems between the two countries.
He said it was a ploy to incite hatred among the Burmese people against
Thais and divert people's attention from the ruling military junta's
failures.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
'We want to see
results'
VISITING US Assistant Deputy Secretary of State Ralph Boyce said he hoped
results of the ongoing dialogue between the Burmese military junta and democracy
leader Aung San Suu Kyi would be revealed to the public soon. After meeting with
Foreign Minister Surakiart Sathirathai, Boyce said the US welcomes recent
developments in Burma, especially a visit by UN special envoy Ismail Razali, but
would like to see the outcome before taking any action.
"It has been going on for eight months," Boyce said. "We expect to see a
concrete result in a short while."
Boyce said there is no conflict between Washington and Tokyo over Japan's
decision to grant Rangoon lump-sum aid but said every party should wait to see a
result of the dialogue first.
"We did not disagree," the US diplomat said of Burma policy. "We have our
own approach."
THE NATION
----------------------------------------------------------------
Far Eastern Economic Review June 07, 2001.
Court to Hear Burma Brewery
Case
The International Court of Justice has decided to hear the controversial
case of the Burmese government's 1998 nationalization of Mandalay Brewery. On
May 16, the court, which is the United Nations' principal judicial organ and has
its seat in The Hague, appointed a three-member tribunal of international law
experts from the United States, Britain and France. The case is scheduled to
open later this month. Yaung Chi Oo Trading, the Singapore-based company that
invested $6.3 million in the Mandalay Brewery joint venture with the government,
had vainly attempted to get its case heard by the Association of Southeast Asian
Nations' dispute-settlement mechanism. The ICJ's willingness to hear the case
appears to have made certain quarters of Burma's ruling junta skittish. On May
31, military intelligence official Gen. Kyaw Min, recently assigned the task of
striking a settlement, made Yaung Chi Oo's managing director, Win Win Nu, a
do-or-die offer: Return to Burma and present her case in person to intelligence
chief Lt.-Gen. Khin Nyunt, or be banished permanently. Until it was
nationalized, Mandalay Brewery was Burma's largest taxpayer.
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