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BURMA RELATED NEWS - July 24,
2001.
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HEADLINES
---------------------------------------------------------------- Newsweek - Land of the
Lost
AP - NZ Will Resume Contacts
With Myanmar This Week
AP - Asean Nations Discuss Security, Taking More
Active Role
AFP - Talks with Myanmar dissident Aung San Suu
Kyi on track: minister
AFP - Powell joins Asian gathering abuzz with
Indonesia
AFP - ASEAN foreign ministers express concern
over gloomy economic outlook
AFP - Indonesia another Asian nation to be
seduced by family name
AFP - Southeast Asia adopts declaration to
narrow rich-poor divide
Dow jonesm - Asean Min Mtg Ends: More Economic
& Security Coop Sought
Reuters - Under Megawati, military comeback, end
of reforms are predicted by experts
The Nation - Chavalit
seeks end to junta's import ban
Bkk Post - Burma and the learner
Bkk Post - Khin Nyunt in surprise visit to hold
talks
Bkk Post - Woman
arrested for murdering procurer
---------------------------------------------------------------- NEWSWEEK
INTERNATIONAL
Land of the
Lost
Even Burma’s generals are beginning to realize that they can no longer keep their country isolated from the world By Brook Larmer July 2001 — Burma’s military rulers love to bash the evil influence of the Western world. But there is one legacy of colonialism they can’t seem to live without: golf. Over the past decade, as the generals have gained notoriety for running one of the world’s most repressive (and economically disastrous) regimes, few people have given them credit for dramatically improving their golf games. But sneak into almost any golf club in Burma—the old British-era courses or the new ones feverishly being built by businessmen with military ties—and it’s plain to see: the names of Army officers are engraved on the championship plaques THEIR PROWESS is unsurprising, given how thoroughly
the game has pervaded the ranks. Every morning at the City Golf Club in Rangoon,
dozens of military officers in creased khakis and saddle shoes traipse off the
first tee, followed by platoons of young female caddies. (The girls, who wear
bright red lipstick and easy smiles, perform different jobs for their 35-cent
fee: one hauls the clubs, another holds the parasol, one lines up the putts —and
all applaud politely after each successful shot.) Not every officer hones his
game in such luxury. Along a mountain road in rural Shan state, two rifle-toting
soldiers recently kept watch over a group of slave laborers chained together at
the ankles. Twenty yards away, under a grove of trees, several military officers
gathered solemnly around their superior—and watched him practice his putting in
the bumpy red dirt.
The
military’s obsession with golf reveals the deep chasm between rich (them) and
poor (nearly everybody else) in Burma. Even more dangerous: it exposes the
hypocrisy of a junta that has self-righteously isolated the country from “the
decadence” of the West while enjoying its luxuries themselves. During nearly
four decades of Burma’s hibernation, the generals have tried to legitimize their
brutally inept rule by claiming the mantle of the ancient Burmese kings. But
they have succeeded only in turning Burma (which the regime renamed Myanmar in
1990) into the most needlessly miserable country in the world. Now, as
globalization makes isolation seem ever more anachronistic, Burma’s
long-suffering population is craving contact with the outside world. So, in
their own way, are the golfers in the saddle shoes.
Underdevelopment has an undeniable charm. At first glance, the Burmese
countryside is an achingly beautiful reminder of what Southeast Asia must have
been like before the onslaught of the modern world. No urban sprawl, no belching
factories, no McDonald’s or 7-Elevens. Burmese men still wear traditional,
skirtlike longyis. Burmese girls still apply dashes of sandalwood paste to their
faces as an alluring sunblock. And at dawn young monks in saffron robes still
walk barefoot along dirt roads, alms bowls in hand. The grace and simplicity of
life in Burma—and the visitor’s sense of being the first to encounter it—owe
much to the country’s long isolation.
But behind the
beauty lies profound misery. Withdrawing from the world has not simply locked
Burma into a time warp; it has sent the country hurtling backward. Fifty years
ago newly independent Burma had Asia’s most vibrant economy. Today it is a
basket case that ranks among the poorest economies in the world. The main thing
keeping Burma afloat is an illegal narcotics trade that is reportedly twice the
size of the official economy. Forced labor is widespread, and the paying jobs
aren’t much better. Near the village of Penwe Gone in central Burma, a group of
teenage girls trudge up and down a steep river embankment carrying buckets of
sand on their heads to a road-construction site. One of the girls, wearing a
green headdress and red lipstick, says she walks three hours to and from the
river each day to go to her job. She works eight hours a day for the equivalent
of five cents an hour. She is 13 years old.
Burma’s health and
education systems were once the envy of Asia, but they have been gutted even as
the military has doubled in size, to more than 400,000 men. The universities,
hotbeds of protest in 1988 and 1996, have been closed for much of the past
decade. (They reopened last year on campuses far from the city centers, and
students have to sign a written promise that they will not engage in any
antigovernment activity.) But education doesn’t count for much these days; few
jobs pay a living wage. Why else would a college graduate with a degree in
physics be cleaning toilets at a five-star hotel, or a clerk at an appliance
company be selling her body at night in Rangoon’s
Chinatown?
More than half a
million people (out of a population of 42 million) are infected with HIV,
including 90 percent of all intravenous drug users and nearly half of all sex
workers, according to foreign aid groups. More Burmese are dying each year from
malaria and tuberculosis epidemics, but AIDS is already killing an estimated
48,000 a year. The regime, which had outlawed the use of condoms until 1993, has
made matters worse by publicly denying the existence of the epidemic. “The
government says Burma is the most moral place on earth,” explains one foreign
aid worker, “so how could it admit to having an AIDS crisis?”
Burma’s rulers
could do what they have always done: blame their crises on sinister intrusions
from outside. In 1988, when a student uprising pushed out longtime ruler Ne Win,
the military called the protesters “stooges of external elements” and restored
order by gunning down more than a thousand demonstrators. Two years later they
annulled an election won by opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi because
Western-style democracy was “inappropriate” for Burma. To this day they justify
imprisoning her supporters and keeping her under house arrest by arguing that
the democrats are being manipulated by foreign interests.
To justify
their own rule, the generals have hearkened back to Burma’s past. Today the
tightly controlled media portray the current leader, Than Shwe, and his two
deputies, Army chief Maung Aye and intelligence chief Khin Nyunt, as the natural
heirs to the Kingdom of Pagan, the monarchy that reigned between the 11th and
13th centuries in what is considered Burma’s most glorious era. The military men
ride around Rangoon in a parade of Land Rovers rather than elephants, but they
govern using the same old rituals of royalty. They take endless tours inspecting
the hundreds of dams and bridges being built, in part, as monuments to their
regime. They hold court with groups of engineers and economists, dispensing
wisdom about the glories of the precolonial past. And all the while they require
their subjects to show them respect with a shikho, the deep Buddhist bow made
with hands clasped together in front of the face.
Like the kings
of old, Burma’s generals have made exaggerated shows of Buddhist devotion. They
have donated money to build or repair hundreds of shrines, and they even added a
ton of gold to the sublime Shwe Dagon Pagoda in Rangoon. Of course, most
Burmese—80 percent of whom are Buddhist—see through these political ploys. (The
generals don’t help matters by walk-ing into monasteries wearing military
uniforms and sidearms.) “The regime is seeking solace in illusions of grandeur,”
says one former government official in Rangoon (who, like every other Burmese,
refuses to be quoted by name). “They’re intent on reviving the glories of the
past instead of coming to grips with the changes in the world.”
But the world
is not ignored so easily. Their own economic situation is not a problem for the
generals; most of the military brass are members of the elite, with mobile
phones, computers, golf clubs and a cut of highly profitable business deals,
both on the books and off. But for the rest of the population, more than half of
which is under 25 years old, the feudal economy has proven a disaster. “It’s a
tale of two nations,” says one diplomat. “The elite live in the First World of
Rolexes, Land Rovers and gold rings. The rest live in the Third World.” In
Rangoon homeless migrants sleep in bundles on the streets. In Mandalay people
tie plastic bags filled with leftovers to the lampposts so the poor have
something to eat. “The generals know the economic situation is irreversible,”
says one shopkeeper in Mandalay. “They can continue to make millions, but it’s
not sustainable as a nation. The economy will bury them.”
Like North
Korea—the only other Asian country to reject globalization—Burma has taken
tentative steps to break out of its isolation. In the mid-1990s the country
opened up to foreign investment and gained acceptance in the Association of
Southeast Asian Nations. But most of the foreign investors who had plans for
factories, infrastructure projects and five-star hotels pulled out a year or two
later. (The amount of foreign investment approved in 1998-99 was $30 million,
just 5 percent of the total the year before.) Why? A combination of the Asian
financial crisis, the 1997 U.S. sanctions against new Ameri- can investment and
Burma’s predatory capitalism. (The local partners of joint ventures had a bad
habit of usurping any business that was profitable.) The International Labor
Organization tightened the noose in November 2000 with a new set of sanctions.
“We have lived in a shell for 30 years,” said Foreign Minister Win Aung
recently. “Now we are trying to get out of isolation. I hope the international
community will not force us into a corner.”
It’s unclear
how far the regime really wants to emerge, though. “Isolation is good for them,”
says one Burmese businessman in Rangoon. “If they open the doors, it threatens
all they have.” As in Pyongyang, the generals in Rangoon want to attract
investment from the West without letting in dangerous Western influences. At
most the regime is loosening up some restrictions on Western entertainment as an
escape valve for citizens. In a Rangoon cafe crowds of Burmese can gather to
watch men in tights beat each other silly in World Wrestling Federation matches.
At least 30 new sports journals have opened, mostly to follow English Premier
League football and financed mostly by avid gamblers.
What most
people really want, however, is to connect with the world. At night, residents
of Rangoon and Mandalay tune in to the BBC, Radio Free Asia or a Burmese- exile
program from Oslo—all broadcast in Burmese. “It’s the only information from the
outside world we can get,” says one Rangoon teacher, noting that e-mail
service—which started last year—is still limited to 2,000 subscribers, who are
tightly controlled. Like many others, a tour guide listens to the BBC with
earphones so his neighbors won’t report him. He should know: he says a friend of
his, an Army captain, manages a network of 6,000 informants.
Listening to
the BBC is not the only form of escape. With schools closed for so long, tens of
thousands of young students are enrolled in private classes for English
instruction or computer training. In the town of Nyaunglebin, about four hours
north of Rangoon, 150 men and boys sit in the shade of a video theater watching
“The Rocketeer” in English. Outside, the Burmese owner speaks in fluent English,
which he learned entirely by watching American movies. He’s never met an
American before, so he wants to try out a phrase he learned in a movie the day
before. “Get outta my face!” he says in a perfect Brooklyn
accent.
That, of
course, is what Burma’s rulers continue to say to the rest of the world—and what
most Burmese wish they could say to their government. But as in other repressive
societies, the most insidious consequence of Burma’s long hibernation is the
chilling effect it has had on individuals. No one dares criticize the regime in
a group or on the phone; people feel safe expressing their feelings only with a
trusted family member or friend. “Our greatest isolation is the isolation we
feel from one another,” says a woman in Mandalay, shaking her head wearily.
There is one place that businessmen and diplomats go to make sure there are no
bugs or informants listening: the golf course. But even there they have to watch
out for those guys in the saddle shoes.
---------------------------------------------------------------- Tuesday July 24, 12:58 PM
NZ Will Resume Contacts With Myanmar This Week WELLINGTON (AP)--New Zealand
will resume contacts with Myanmar this week, ending a decade-long breach in
relations fueled by disapproval of the South Asian state's military regime,
officials said Tuesday.
Foreign Minister Phil Goff will hold talks with his Myanmar counterpart at
the meeting of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations in Hanoi.
The talks follow what he called democratic progress in Myanmar.
"We have kept at arms length from Myanmar because of the overthrow of the
democratically elected government a decade or more ago," Goff said.
Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy won the 1990 elections but
the military refused to allow her to take power.
Australia has already opened dialogue with Myanmar, with Foreign Minister
Alexander Downer actively encouraging liberalization by the country's military
rulers by pushing ahead with human rights training projects, in spite of
criticism of his actions.
Goff said he also would meet representatives from Canada, Thailand, East
Timor, the U.S. and China during the Hanoi meeting.
Topics for discussion included New Zealand's continued push to end nuclear
testing, reducing nuclear stockpiles and the ultimate elimination of all nuclear
weapons.
---------------------------------------------------------------- Tuesday July 24, 5:39 PM
Asean Nations Discuss Security, Taking More Active Role HANOI (AP)--Southeast Asian
nations Tuesday discussed ways to get the major powers to recognize their
nuclear weapons-free zone, and prepared for talks on tensions between the U.S.
and China and between the two Koreas.
Foreign ministers of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, or Asean,
hope to persuade U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell - visiting Vietnam for the
first time since the Vietnam War - that Washington should remain committed to
the region's security and not be preoccupied with North Asia.
Powell will attend Asean-sponsored security talks and meet in Hanoi with
Chinese Foreign Minister Tang Jiaxuan. He said he may also meet with a senior
North Korean official instead of Foreign Minister Paek Nam Sun, who said he was
too busy to attend the security forum.
Asean comprises Brunei, Cambodia, Laos, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines,
Myanmar, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.
The U.S. and China have been sparring in recent months over U.S. plans for
a missile defense system and other issues. That has left Asean nations grappling
with how to balance relations with the two powers, both of which play key roles
in regional security and economic revival.
The Asean foreign ministers, in a two-day meeting that ended Tuesday,
committed their countries to sharing resources to narrow the huge gap between
the better-off and poor member countries.
They also welcomed Monday's peaceful political transition in Indonesia, in
which the national assembly voted to oust President Abdurrahman Wahid and
install Megawati Sukarnoputri.
"Indonesia is the greatest country in our association," Vietnamese Foreign
Minister Nguyen Dy Nien said. "Stability in Indonesia is stability in Asean."
The ministers also discussed ways to persuade the world's nuclear powers to
sign on to a treaty creating a nuclear weapons-free zone in Southeast Asia. The
treaty went into force across the region in June after the Philippines became
the last Asean member to ratify it.
"It's a question of getting the nuclear weapons states to respect the
treaty," said Rodolfo Severino, Asean's general secretary. "They're the ones
that matter."
On Wednesday, Asean and 23 "dialogue partners" - including the U.S., China,
Russia, South Korea and the European Union - attend the Asean Regional Forum,
the annual security talks which Asean has been hosting since 1994.
South Korean Foreign Minister Han Seung-soo said the forum will call on
North Korea to resume a dialogue with the rival South. The talks have been
stalled since early this year, when U.S. President George W. Bush called for a
reexamination of U.S. security policy toward the North.
This year, the security forum is expected to tentatively endorse the
principle of "preventive diplomacy," a more active approach to solving security
issues. In the past, Asean has limited itself to mild confidence-building
measures between rivals because of its basic principle of non-interference in
the internal affairs of member states.
East Timor's foreign minister, Jose Ramos-Horta, said the transition to
preventative diplomacy won't be easy for the Asean countries. His country won
independence in a bloody break from Indonesia in 1999 while Asean largely stood
by.
"It's very easy to talk about preventive diplomacy, but it's not so easy in
reality," Ramos-Horta said. "Preventive diplomacy ... can be a reality if
countries are prepared to surrender a bit of their pride, their sovereignty to
outsiders, to an international body."
---------------------------------------------------------------- Tuesday July 24, 7:17 PM
Talks with Myanmar dissident Aung San Suu Kyi on track: minister HANOI, July 24 (AFP) - Myanmar Foreign Minister Win Aung said Tuesday his military regime's release of dozens of political prisoners showed that watershed talks with opposition leader Aung Sun Suu Kyi remained on track. "If the talks are not smooth and if the confrontational approach went on,
there will not be any releases, of course," Win Aung told AFP on the sidelines
of a meeting of Southeast Asian foreign ministers in Hanoi.
Myanmar's ruling State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) earlier this
month released prominent journalist San San Nwe along with many other political
prisoners.
The releases came amid talks between the junta and the dissident leader
brokered by Malaysia's Razali Ismail, a special envoy of UN Secretary General
Kofi Annan.
Win Aung said that he did not believe reports that political restrictions
had been imposed on Aung San Suu Kyi, who has been held under de facto house
arrest since September just before she embarked on the talks with the
junta.
"Whatever requests she has, the government is allowing her. Her living
conditions and movements are according to what both sides will like to see," Win
Aung said, suggesting that she herself shunned the public.
"She will also like to remain like this," he said.
Win Aung refused to give a time frame for the holding of multi-party
elections or define the type of government that would emerge if there was a
breakthrough in talks with Aung San Suu Kyi.
"Let us not forecast what kind of government structure will come out next
but our ultimate aim is the emergence of a democratic, multi-party system of
government elected by the people," he said.
Win Aung said the release of political prisoners was "not a public
relations stunt or to please anybody" and not done with the hope that the
European Union (EU) would lift sanctions imposed on Myanmar for alleged human
rights abuses.
The EU renewed its sanctions, including a visa ban on junta officials, for
six more months in April.
Win Aung said the country's remaining political prisoners would be released
on a "case by case" basis.
"If possible we want to close our prisons. Our prisons and legal system are
part of preventive measures against those who want to take a confrontational
approach," he said. "Now the country is stable and let's not go back to square
one."
---------------------------------------------------------------- Tuesday July 24, 8:08 PM
Powell joins Asian gathering abuzz with Indonesia HANOI, July 24 (AFP) -
Southeast Asia grappled Tuesday with the ramifications of the momentous
political upheaval in Indonesia at annual talks joined by US Secretary of State
Colin Powell, who staged an emotional return to Vietnam.
The soldier-turned-statesman, returning to the communist nation for the
first time since fighting in the Vietnam War more than 30 years ago, was due to
join foreign ministers in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) for
a regional security forum.
The secretary of state said he was "very emotional" to return to a country
where many of his comrades fell in combat.
"I'm very pleased to be back," Powell told reporters.
While tackling integration efforts in a region of immense divisions of
wealth, the two-day ASEAN foreign ministerial gathering in Hanoi ended abuzz
with talk of Indonesia and the dramatic installation of Megawati Sukarnoputri as
the new president.
The foreign ministers of Singapore and Malaysia, the closest neighbours of
Southeast Asia's biggest country, had already lined up behind Megawati after
parliament dumped the beleaguered Abdurrahman Wahid.
The Philippine foreign minister and vice president, Teofisto Guingona, said
the region was unfazed by the election of the largely untested Megawati.
"The proof of the pudding is in the eating," he told reporters in
Hanoi.
ASEAN was happy "as long as the process is peaceful, legal and in
accordance with the law," Guingona said.
Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer also congratulated Megawati.
But he noted that "she has very substantial challenges before her,
especially in unifying the country and making sure Indonesia effectively deals
with its economic problems, and get off the economic plateau it's on at the
moment."
"We will do all we can to assist her government in that process," he told a
news conference in Hanoi.
Downer will also take part in Wednesday's regional security forum set to be
joined by the foreign ministers of Russia and China.
In their formal deliberations, the ASEAN ministers adopted a "Hanoi
Declaration" pledging to narrow the income gap in a region whose richest
country, Singapore, is 100 times wealthier than its poorest, Laos.
Human resources, infrastructure and information technology were the
battlefronts on which ASEAN would fight its development campaign to integrate
newer members Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam, the declaration said.
The Southeast Asian bloc agreed to step up regional trade initiatives and
work towards implementing an agreement for a free-trade area by 2003 among core
members Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and
Thailand.
In a separate joint communique, the ministers welcomed dialogue between the
United States and other major powers, such as China and Russia, over contentious
US plans for a national missile defence system.
They welcomed progress in consultations between ASEAN and China for a code
of conduct to ease conflicting territorial claims in the South China Sea.
The Hanoi meeting also called on the five recognised nuclear powers to
accede to an ASEAN treaty making Southeast Asia a nuclear-free zone that bans
the passage of atomic materials including nuclear submarines.
Officials were holding the usual flurry of private meetings away from the
formal talks.
Japanese Foreign Minister Makiko Tanaka met China's Tang in an attempt to
calm a row over Japan's refusal to revise school history textbooks accused of
glossing over wartime atrocities, which has also infuriated South Korea.
"We were very frank," Tanaka said after the 45-minute meeting. Tang pressed
for Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi to abandon plans to visit a controversial
war shrine in Tokyo on the anniversary of Japan's World War II surrender on
August 15.
---------------------------------------------------------------- Tuesday July 24, 5:47 PM
ASEAN foreign ministers express concern over gloomy economic outlook HANOI, July 24 (AFP) -
Southeast Asian foreign ministers on Tuesday expressed concern over the US-led
economic slowdown which has plunged wealthy Singapore into recession and is
threatening other regional economies.
The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) ministers, ending their
annual meeting here, vowed to "accelerate cooperative endeavours" to enhance the
region's competitiveness and help them weather renewed threats to economic
growth.
"We expressed concern over the global economic outlook, especially the
economic downturn in the US, Japan and Europe, which in turn could hamper the
prospects for continued growth in the ASEAN region," the ministers said in a
joint communique issued at the end of a two-day meeting.
"We resolved to accelerate existing cooperative endeavours to enhance
ASEAN's dynamism and competitiveness," the statement said.
The ministers also discussed the challenges facing the 10-nation regional
bloc, with the focus on the "economic outlook, the impact of globalisation and
the region's political and economic situation that could undermine ASEAN's
development and progress."
Singapore, ASEAN's most developed economy, has fallen into a recession due
to weak exports and plunging industrial production. The slowing US economy and
dwindling demand for electronics products have hammered the city-state's key
manufacturing sector.
Analysts have raised the possibility that Singapore's gross domestic
product (GDP) could fall into negative territory over the full year, from a
sizzling 9.9 percent expansion last year.
Other export-driven ASEAN economies are also flirting with recession or
have slashed economic growth targets this year.
ASEAN groups Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the
Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.
Differences in the levels of economic development, political systems and
cultures have prevented the region from presenting itself as a potentially
formidable bloc of 500 million people.
In their statement, the ministers said they discussed how ASEAN could reap
the benefits as well as meet the challenges of increased globalisation,
including the need to address the wide gap in information technology.
They discussed "the need to promote regional stability, sustain econnomic
growth (and) enhance ASEAN's comeptitiveness" in the face of a growing challenge
from other regions and countries such as China.
---------------------------------------------------------------- Tuesday July 24, 4:53 PM
Indonesia another Asian nation to be seduced by family name JAKARTA, July 24 (AFP) -
Megawati Sukarnoputri's rise to Indonesia's presidency 34 years after her
charismatic father was forced from power underscores the importance of family
names in Asian politics, analysts said Tuesday.
With the masses yearning for the return of a leader like Indonesia's
legendary founding president, Sukarno, Megawati used her father's image to great
advantage to be secure the presidency on Monday.
"It was her main capital as a politican," Mochtar Buchori, an academic and
executive of her People's Democratic Party of Struggle, told AFP.
"If she was not the daughter of Sukarno, I don't think she would have
reached as far."
Megawati has been criticised for lacking political savvy and being too
remote from the people she now rules -- a far cry from her father who enthralled
the nation with his fierce, witty speeches laced with nationalism and pride as
he led the country after its independence from Dutch colonial masters.
But Buchori said millions of Indonesians were ignoring the differences in
leadership styles between father and daughter because they desperately wanted a
ruler of Sukarno's ilk, and Megawati's parentage made her the best choice.
Many other leaders in Asia have risen to power thanks in part to their
family names.
In the Philippines, President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo is the daughter of
Diosdado Macapagal, the country's president between 1961 and 1965.
And Cory Aquino was able to use the passions aroused by the 1983 political
assassination of her husband, Benigno "Ninoy" Aquino, to overthrow Filipino
dictator Ferdinand Marcos three years later.
The Gandhi-Nehru dynasty is one of the most famous in Asia, having given
India three prime ministers.
The family's fame began when Jawaharlal Nehru joined the Congress party as
a protege of independence hero Mahatma Gandhi and became India's first prime
minister after independence in 1947.
Nehru's daughter, Indira, married Feroze Gandhi (no relation to the
Mahatma) and became prime minister in 1967. Their son, Rajiv, a commercial
pilot, then entered politics and led the country after Indira was assassinated
in 1984.
Rajiv was himself assassinated in 1991 and the mantle of the Gandhi dynasty
was taken up by his Italian-born wife Sonia, currently president of the Congress
party and parliamentary opposition leader.
Similar tales of tragedy and the struggle of families determined to stay in
power reach across Asia -- from Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Pakistan on the sub
continent to Myanmar and Cambodia in the south east.
Regional political analyst Alan Dupont believes a lack of education and
unsophisticated electorates in Asia are vital factors in ensuring families stay
in, or return to, power.
"It tends to happen in the developing countries where family names mean
much more," Dupont, from the Australian National University, told AFP.
"They can have tremendous advantages because they are already well-known
regardless of their political skills.
"For the average person working in the rice fields in Indonesia, they have
no knowledge whatsoever about politicans except for the really big names."
But Dupont said it would become increasingly difficult for people to
inherit power as electorates became more politically aware.
"They (politicans) will have to have recognisable skills rather than
relying on their families to rise to power," he said.
Dupont also rejected the idea that Asia was more mired in nepotism than
other developing regions.
"Asian societies are starting to move away from patronage," he said.
The only nation in Asia where old-style political nepotism at the highest
level existed was in North Korea, Dupont said.
"That's a classic example where the father has bequeathed the running of
the country to his son without the population having a say in the
decision."
Kim Jong-Il has led the reclusive Stalinist state of North Korea since
1994. He took over after the death of his father, Kim Il Sung, who ruled the
nation with a dictatorial hand from the country's birth in 1948.
Dupont also drew comparisons with the United States -- where the Bush and
Kennedy clans have played dominant roles in the nation's recent political
history -- to show Asia was not unique in being seduced by famous names.
---------------------------------------------------------------- Tuesday July 24, 12:39 PM
Southeast Asia adopts declaration to narrow rich-poor divide HANOI, July 24 (AFP) -
Southeast Asian governments Tuesday promised to narrow the chasm that separates
the region's richest nation from countries still mired in third-world
poverty.
Foreign ministers of the Association of Southeast Asian Nationsadopted a
"Hanoi Declaration" pledging to bring impoverished members closer to the
first-world standard of living in Singapore.
"We resolve to promote, through concerted efforts, effective cooperation
and mutual assistance to narrow the development gap among ASEAN member countries
and between ASEAN and the rest of the world for the sake of dynamic and
sustained growth of our region and prosperity of all our peoples," the
declaration said.
"We shall work together to identify, through research, analysis and
consultation, the comparative strengths of our economies and their potential for
complementarity, with a view to promoting regional economic integration and a
sense of community and shared responsibility among our nations."
The declaration was formally adopted late Monday and would be issued at the
end of a two-day meeting in the Vietnamese capital later Tuesday.
ASEAN countries face an enormous task in bridging a gap that has Laos, on
one side, 100 times poorer than Singapore in terms of income per head.
The ministers said they would "devote special efforts and resources to
promoting the development of the newer member countries of ASEAN, Cambodia,
Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam" through improving infrastructure, human resources and
information-technology.
"We shall continue to expand and deepen our linkages with the rest of the
world, particularly with China, Japan and the Republic of (South) Korea within
the ASEAN Plus Three framework, and with the other dialogue partners of ASEAN,"
the declaration said.
The private sector would also be involved in the drive, the ministers
pledged, in a region where communist members Laos and Vietnam still insist on
the leading role of state enterprise.
The 10 nations agreed to step up regional trade initiatives and work
towards implementing an agreement for a free-trade area by 2003 among founding
members Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and
Thailand.
"We place the highest priority on the development of our human resources as
the key to economic growth, social stability and human fulfillment," the
declaration continued.
"ASEAN is determined to use information and communication technology as a
tool for narrowing the development gap and closing the digital divide within and
among member countries as well as between ASEAN and the rest of the world," it
added.
---------------------------------------------------------------- Tuesday July 24, 6:53 PM
Asean Min Mtg Ends: More Economic & Security Coop Sought HANOI (Dow Jones)--Association
of Southeast Asian Nations, or Asean, foreign ministers have finished a two-day
Asean Ministerial Meeting during which they discussed the need for greater
economic and security cooperation both within the group and with other
countries.
According to a joint communique issued Tuesday afternoon, member countries
"discussed the challenges facing Asean, in particular the global economic
outlook (and) the impact of globalization on the region's political and economic
situation that could undermine Asean's development and progress."
It added that ministers "resolved to accelerate existing cooperative
endeavors" and also "reaffirmed the fundamental principles of Asean," which
focus on regional cooperation but a policy on nonintervention in domestic
affairs.
Asean comprises Brunei, Cambodia, Laos, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines,
Myanmar, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. Foreign ministers from the 10
countries are in Hanoi this week for a series of intra-regional meetings as well
as meetings with representatives from dialogue partners such as China, Japan,
Korea, U.S. and others.
---------------------------------------------------------------- WIRE: 07/24/2001 0:48 am ET
Under Megawati, military comeback, end of reforms are predicted by experts The Associated Press JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP)
Indonesia's first leader, President Sukarno, was ousted from office 35 years ago
by right-wing army generals. Now Sukarno's daughter has rissen to the presidency
on a wave of support from the military brass still this nation's kingmakers.
Several other groups that were part of the corruption-ridden, 32-year
dictatorship of former President Suharto the five-star general who brought down
Sukarno in 1966 also backed Megawati on Monday. These include Indonesia's
powerful business elite, the state bureaucracy and the judiciary.
"This is very bad news for Indonesia's democratic reforms and for the
concept of civilian supremacy over the military," said John Roosa, a historian
specializing in Southeast Asia.
The army's support for Megawati in the political struggle to replace Wahid
strikingly demonstrated when they deployed nearly 100 tanks around the
presidential palace on Sunday may enable them to regain the pre-eminent position
they held during the dictatorship.
This is not the hopeful vision of a new Indonesia that emerged when Suharto
fell. In the heady days of June 1999, after huge pro-democracy protests and
riots forced Suharto from office, "Reformasi," Reforms became the rallying cry
for Indonesians ecstatic with their new democratic experiment.
The military, seen as Indonesia's most corrupt institution and accused of
bloody human rights abuses in East Timor and elsewhere, appeared on the verge of
losing legitimacy.
Megawati was in the forefront of the reform movement. Her family pedigree
and the fact that Suharto's thugs attacked her party's headquarters in 1996 to
remove her as its leader made her a hero and natural candidate for president.
Her Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle won the largest share of votes
mainly from poor and working class voters in democratic elections in 1999, but
failed to achieve a clear majority.
Inexplicably, Megawati demonstrated no interest in the electoral college
which picks Indonesia's presidents. Her passivity allowed a coalition of other
groups, many of them holdovers from the Suharto regime, to sideline her and
elect Wahid in October 1999.
The moderate Muslim cleric was not expected to deliver significant reforms.
But once he became head of state, Wahid angered his backers by moving
tentatively to eliminate the corruption that marked Suharto's regime.
The government prosecuted several of Suharto's wealthiest cronies and even
attempted to bring charges against the aging dictator himself. Wahid also tried
but eventually backed off to replace the military brass with reformist generals
advocating civilian control over the armed forces.
In April last year, the only human rights trial of soldiers in Indonesian
history ended in 24 convictions for the massacre of dozens of students at a
religious school in Aceh.
Although most of Wahid's initiatives fizzled, they earned him the loathing
of the military and business oligarchies, which gradually switched their support
to Megawati.
In the meantime, the vice president had done little to formulate a cohesive
political platform. Her rare public speeches were full of nationalist
exhortations and nursery rhymes but short on substance.
She had nothing to do with the running of the government and quietly evaded
Wahid's request to mediate in peace talks between warring Christians and Muslims
in the Maluku islands.
"This is somebody who would normally be considered completely incompetent
to be a politician," said Roosa, a postdoctoral fellow at the University of
California at Berkley.
Megawati is widely seen as lacking intellectual ability and being heavily
influenced by her millionaire husband, Taufik Kiemas, and a coterie of advisers.
Kiemas has established an armed party militia commanded by Eurico Guterres,
a notorious army-backed paramilitary leader from East Timor wanted by the United
Nations on charges of war crimes.
Megawati's advisers include Arifin Panigoro, an oil baron and former
Suharto crony, who as her party's parliamentary chief has worked hard to forge a
coalition with the generals and tycoons.
"She thinks it is her birthright to be president and will enjoy the glory
associated with it, but others will be running things for her," predicted George
Aditjondro, a University of Newcastle professor and a leading expert on
corruption in Indonesia.
Aditjondro said Megawati will be a mere figurehead for the military and the
oligarchies that benefitted from association with Suharto.
"I foresee a pessimistic future. We'll probably see a rotation of
short-term presidents, while the military make sure that there are no serious
trials for corruption or human rights abuses."
---------------------------------------------------------------- THE NATION - July 24,
2001.
Chavalit seeks end to junta's import
ban
Panya Tiwsangwan
Burma says it is prepared to resume the fishing concession for Thailand
that was abruptly cancelled in 1999 following the Burmese Embassy hostage
crisis, Defence Minister General Chavalit Yongchaiyudh said.
Chavalit arrived in Rangoon yesterday for a two-day visit aimed at
strengthening bilateral ties and securing a promise that Rangoon would lift its
ban on Thai imports.
Two years ago Burma unilaterally ended the fishing concession, and Chavalit
wants this decision rescinded, too.
Speaking after his meeting with General Than Schwe, chairman of the ruling State Peace and Development Council, Chavalit said the matter had been raised with Than and that Singapore could also now be included in the scheme. According to Chavalit, the Burmese leader defended Rangoon's recently
announced decision to purchase a squadron of 10 MiG29 jet fighters from
Russia.
The Burmese leader said negotiations began two years ago and their
acquisition had nothing to do with the cross-border shelling in the North
earlier this year.
Before leaving for Rangoon, Chavalit dismissed suggestions that the
situation along the border was still tense despite the high number of troops
there.
"They are just there to keep law and order," he said, in reference to what
appeared to be a standoff between Thai and Burmese troops in a number of hot
spots, including the de-militarised zone bordering Chiang Rai
province.
Thai-Burmese relations were severely strained earlier this year following border clashes and a war of words. Trouble erupted after fighting between Burmese government troops and Shan rebels spilled into Thailand, drawing Thai troops into the picture. Burma closed the border and posted a number of battalions on the front
line. The border crossing was opened earlier this month.
---------------------------------------------------------------- Bangkok Post - July 24,
2001.
Burma and the learner
Dr Sunait Chutintaranond has a mission _ to challenge prejudices about Burma by presenting balanced historical perspectives, and to encourage questioning minds Story By HEAMAKARN SRICHARATCHANYA Every time a conflict between Thailand and Burma arises, the name of Dr
Sunait Chutintaranond springs up in the media for his expert opinion on
sensitive Thai-Burmese relations.
His is considered the voice of reason when most Thais harbour deep mistrust
of the Burmese. This grudge has been kept alive in Thai minds by Thailand's
nationalistic history textbooks which portray Burma as an arch- enemy.
History, he argues, is not _ and should not _ be the tool to perpetuate
prejudice and hatred.
"And history is more than knowledge of the past. It offers valuable lessons
for the future. It teaches us not to judge people from our biases, be they race,
ethnicity or our historical past," said Dr Sunait, 45, a lecturer of history at
Chulalongkorn University's Faculty of Arts and deputy director for academic
affairs, Institute of Asian Studies.
As Thailand's top specialist in Burmese history, Dr Sunait's knowledge
about "the other side of the story" based on Burmese and foreign historical
records of Thai-Burmese relations poses fresh questions on standard Thai
history.
Among them is the question over the second fall of the Ayutthaya empire in
1767.
The Thai court and popular history attributed Burma's quick conquest to the
weak character of King Ekatat, Ayutthaya's last monarch. But Burma's historical
records suggested otherwise.
The Burmese records, he said, offered rich information which often did not
appear in Thai chronicles, such as the causes of the wars, itinerary of the
Burmese troops, topography of the battlefields and the roles of ethnic
minorities in warfare.
These records, however, described this war as the longest one in
Thai-Burmese history, depicting elaborate military strategies that took 14
months to penetrate Ayutthaya, he said.
"This implies that Ayutthaya was not as easily beaten and King Ekatat not
as weak as Thais have been led to believe," he explained.
According to Sunait's interpretation, the gap of information might stem
from Thai historians not wanting to recognise the enemy's military prowess.
Thus, they highlighted the Ayutthaya king's personal weaknesses instead of
focusing on Ayutthaya's failed military strategies.
Although strictly academic, new historical information has political
ramifications; it reminds the Thai public to question what they have been taught
as sacred historical truths, thus shaking the basis of Thai nationalism. In the
case of Thai-Burma relations, it nudges the Thais to rise above historical
resentment and look at the present situation with more objectivity.
Because of his expertise, Dr Sunait was asked to be a consultant to
Thailand's much-awaited epic movie Suriyothai, directed by MC Chatrichalerm
Yugala, which will be screened nationwide on August 17.
Dr Sunait sees his stint on the movie as a chance to share his knowledge
beyond the academic realm in order to disseminate more accurate information
about Burma through the medium of entertainment.
His interest in history was groomed in childhood by his aunt, Suda
Dhasanonda. She did not only read to him about history and turned him into a
bookworm, but also made an actor out of him.
"My aunt owned an elementary school and she encouraged all students to join
a historical play on TV Channel 4 (now Channel 9)," said Sunait.
The love for history blossomed when he became a child star for a theatrical
troupe, Natthasilp Samphan, run by then National Artist Samphan Phanmanee. In
his debutperformance, he played the lead role, Kaew, in Luk Tas (Children of
Slaves), a much-loved Thai classic novel on the abolition of slavery in
Thailand.
Young Sunait was also an avid reader of historical literature including the
classic Sam Kok (Romances of the Three Kingdoms), although it is considered
difficult reading for youngsters.
"I had fun learning about history in an entertaining manner, but what I
learned from literature did not help me much in the history classes," he said
with a smile.
Few who knew him as a child would expect him to turn out to be a prominent
academic, however.
"My mother always tutored us for the exams and I was the worst of my
siblings," Dr Sunait recalled with amusement. "The only thing I was good at was
writing compositions."
But that changed when he was in high school at St Gabriel. "I found out I
did well in Thai, literature and history. I realised that I was interested in
social sciences. That was a turning point for me.
"Finding one's calling normally takes time. I am lucky that I discovered
myself at an early age," he said.
He was enrolled as a student of history at the Faculty of Liberal Arts,
Thammasat University, two years after the 1973 Student Uprising which ended the
Thanom-Prapass dictatorship. Democracy was in the air. Banned books were sold
openly. Protests were part of university life. And questioning minds were
encouraged.
Being part of this landmark period in Thai history, he said, widened his
views on the world and reshaped his perception of historical pursuits.
"I've come to realise that the study of history is not about memorisation
of historical records. But it is about posing questions and looking to history
to find the answers.
"I've also learned that history is related to our present life. And that
classroom knowledge will be more meaningful if the students who study the past
can make it relevant to the world of the present."
The era of political progressiveness, however, ended abruptly in 1976 with
the October 6 massacre when the government viewed the students' movement as too
radical. As a result, a large number of Sunait's friends fled for the jungle
while Sunait, not as politically active, stayed on to finish his studies.
"Looking back, I'm glad that I was not at the core of the protest as many
of my friends were. It is true that many of them have become heroes. But to
attain their political idealism, they had to sacrifice so much of themselves.
And the loss incurred was too great."
After graduating with first class honours, he did his MA in Southeast
History at Cornell University and returned to teach at Chulalongkorn University.
It was not until 1988 when he went back to Cornell again to do his doctorate
that he focused his attention on Burma.
Thailand and Burma had just renewed relations during that period.
He chose to study Burma because Thailand still had very little knowledge
about its westerly neighbour.
Also, he only had to master one new language, Burmese, because the
country's historical records were already available in English. Had he chosen to
study Vietnam, Laos or Indonesia, he would not only have their respective
languages to learn, but also French or Dutch, their colonisers, he
explained.
But he found out soon enough that there was no easy route for him. The
grammatical structures of the Burmese language are totally different from Thai.
Its verbs, for instance, are put at the end of the sentences _ which at first he
found baffling.
Another surprise awaited him at his first class on Burmese Studies. "There
was only two persons in class, me and my professor!" Sunait said with a laugh.
That showed how little academic interest there was regarding Burma back then, he
explained.
The Burmese language later opened doors for him to understand the country's
history, arts and cultures, geography, economy and politics _ all of which
contribute to a better understanding of Burma as it is now.
But what intrigued him most was Burma's ancient military strategies which
are unavoidably related to old Siam. Such interest led to his PhD dissertation
entitled "Chakravartin", meaning great kings.
"I wanted to understand the thinking behind both Thai and Burmese kings,
why they waged wars. Few Thai chronicles mentioned this dimension," he
explained.
The fact that Burma closed its borders at that time posed a big hurdle for
his studies because he could not travel to Burma for research. Also, a lot of
historical records and evidence within Burma itself were destroyed during the
British invasion. As a result, he had to work primarily on Burma's historical
documents at Cornell.
Attesting to his ingenuity, his book based on the dissertation about the
Thai-Burmese wars which resulted in the second fall of the Ayutthaya empire in
1767 is now in its seventh edition since its first release in 1988.
It was not until 1993 that he had a chance to experience Burma firsthand.
He went there with a Foreign Ministry delegation on government business.
Despite his academic knowledge on the country, seeing Burma with his own
eyes had a powerful effect on him. "I was overwhelmed by its cultural richness,"
said Sunait. "Like us Thais, the Burmese people are friendly, kind, sincere and
religious." Such images are in stark contrast to what the Thai general public
think about the Burmese.
The eye-opening experience stirred in him a stronger desire to know and
understand Burma. He has since become an avid collector of rare Burmese books.
"I now have more than 1,000 of them."
He modestly adds, however, that he still considers himself green in the
Burmeselanguage and that he owes much to his Burmese friends and
English-language books in helping him to understand Burmesehistorical
documents.
Despite his modesty, Sunait's grasp on palace politics during the Ayutthaya
period, down to the details of how people spoke during that time, is accredited
with giving the 300-million-baht Suriyothai movie much of its
authenticity.
The father of two sons, the renowned historian said good-naturedly that he
did not expect his children to excel in history. Instead, he wishes that his
knowledge would contribute to a more open-minded society for his children to
grow up in.
Thailand's ability to see the Burmese people and their problems objectively
_ and compassionately _ would be a good indicator.
"We should not let the Ayutthaya ruins or any movies rule our views of
Burma as our neighbour.
"We should not allow the media portrayal of Burma as a country of military
dictators and drug dealers to dominate our views either.
"I don't want the Thai people to dehumanise Burma and its people when we
look at them. I don't want Thais to feel only hatred and revenge when they think
about Burma.
"I want Thais to uncover Burma the way it really is _ a culturally rich
country with a great history and wonderful people and with a myriad of problems
today _ just like us.
"And this can be done if Thai people choose to rise above prejudice."
---------------------------------------------------------------- Bangkok Post - July 24,
2001.
Khin Nyunt in surprise visit to
hold talks
Demarcating border, fishing on agenda Wassana Nanuam
Lt-Gen Khin Nyunt, first secretary of Burma's State Peace and Development Council, plans to visit Bangkok soon to help clear the air between the two nations. Burmese Prime Minister Than Shwe broke the news yesterday during Defence
Minister Chavalit Yongchaiyudh's two-day visit to Rangoon.
Lt-Gen Khin Nyunt would raise border disputes, long-delayed border
demarcation and fishing concessions during his visit to Bangkok, which is yet to
be scheduled.
Gen Than Shwe blamed delays in the border demarcation on Thai-Burmese
border skirmishes. He said Rangoon was ready to open talks on the issue.
Only 50km of the 1,900km-long common border has been demarcated so
far.
Col Pansak Chongsak Panichkul, the defence spokesman, said yesterday a
disputed area would be picked for demarcation to set a precedent.
Gen Chavalit expected the talks with Lt-Gen Khin Nyunt would prove most
fruitful in attempts to resolve Thai-Burmese conflicts, the spokesman
said.
Gen Than Shwe denied that the Burmese government supported the United Wa
State Army's methamphetamine trade, and pledged to give full co-operation in
drug suppression.
However, he stopped short of saying whether or not Rangoon would help stamp
out illicit drug factories located in the Wa-controlled area.
Thai authorities blame the drug plants across the border for the influx of
methamphetamines into Thailand.
Gen Than Shwe, also defence minister, accused the Thai and foreign media of
stirring up tension between the two countries.
Referring to reports of Burma's plan to purchase MiG-29 fighters from
Russia, he said his government could not afford the aircraft no matter how
cheap.
He stressed that the Burmese government, like any other government, was
working towards the people's well-being, except that its approach to the goal
might be different.
Gen Chavalit assured his counterpart that Thailand's procurement of
advanced medium-range air-to-air missiles (Amraams) from the US was not aimed at
putting pressure on Burma.
Gen Chavalit also sought the lifting of a ban on 17 products imposed after
border skirmishes between the two armed forces in the North.
After his meeting with key Burmese leaders, Gen Chavalit visited Shwedagon
pagoda and the Drugs Elimination Museum, which was opened on June 21 with
exhibitions showing Burma's determination to stamp out drugs through destruction
of opium fields.
A source said Burma also showed aerial photographs of the Wa's Mong Yawn
town, which Thai authorities believe is a major drug-producing centre.
Burma claimed large structures shown in the photos were reservoirs and
power plants, the source said.
Gen Chavalit's visit to Burma follows a trip to Rangoon by Prime Minister
Thaksin Shinawatra in June, which resulted in the reopening of the Mae
Sai-Tachilek border checkpoint.
---------------------------------------------------------------- Bangkok Post - July 24,
2001.
Woman arrested for murdering
procurer
A Burmese woman was arrested yesterday in Tak as she was about to flee the
country after allegedly colluding with a Nepalese woman to murder a Burmese
mama-san.
Sasa, 19, a Burmese, was apprehended at Mae Sot immigration checkpoint. She
told police she and a Nepalese woman named Ruma, 20, had used a cleaver to slash
the throat of Mariam, a Burmese, at SB Apartment in Sathon on July 21.
Police said Sasa had been approached by Mariam to work as a prostitute with
a promise of payment on which the latter reneged.
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