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BURMA RELATED NEWS - March 26,
2002.
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HEADLINES
----------------------------------------------------------------- AFP - Thailand seals Myanmar border, sends in
reinforcements after clashes
AFP - Myanmar junta fetes Armed Forces Day under
tight security
AFP - EU hails Thai moves to clean up shrimp,
chicken exports
Reuters - Myanmar military hints at political
change
Reuters - ANALYSIS-Russia woos Southeast Asia
with weapons, technology
BBC - Burmese leader dodges key
issues
South Nexus - Jaswant to visit China, South
Korea, Myanmar
Xinhuanet - Myanmar Leader Meets Chinese
Tourism Official
----------------------------------------------------------------- Wednesday March 27, 5:55 PM Thailand seals Myanmar border, sends in reinforcements after clashes BANGKOK, March 27 (AFP) -
Thailand has sealed off part of its northern border with Myanmar and sent in
several hundred troop reinforcements after a series of clashes with ethnic
fighters, military sources said Wednesday.
The Third Army, which patrols Thailand's troubled far north region, closed
the border Tuesday in Wieng Heang district in a bid to wipe out rebel forces
that sparked two bloody firefights over the past week, they said.
"It was a temporary closure, but there is no schedule to reopen it yet,"
the military source told AFP on condition of anonymity.
Thai army spokesman Colonel Somkuan Saengpattaranter said an extra
battalion of 700 troops was being rotated in to Wiang Haeng to ensure tight
levels of security.
"However, the region is calm today, there's nothing happening," he
said.
The "strategic" closure of Baan Pieng Luang border gate, north of
Thailand's second largest city Chiang Mai, followed a gunbattle Monday that left
left one Thai soldier dead and another injured.
The clash, which the Thai army said involved up to 30 members of the United
Wa State Army (UWSA), forced the cancellation of a scheduled visit by Queen
Sirikit to a royal-sponsored demonstration farm along the border.
And on Friday, a fierce firefight between a Thai border patrol and a drug
caravan also linked with the UWSA left 12 alleged drug runners and a Thai
soldier dead.
The UWSA, a group also known as the Red Wa which has signed a ceasefire
with the military regime in Yangon, is widely accused of controlling the drugs
trade in the region.
Third Army sources told the Bangkok Post Wednesday that soldiers were being
deployed to Wiang Haeng in preparation for strikes on four UWSA outposts in the
area.
Thailand lodged an official protest with Myanmar Tuesday over the previous
day's clash, but the army said Myanmar denied it had a hand in the attacks.
Heroin and amphetamine trafficking is rife along the Thai-Myanmar border,
and clashes between narcotics-financed ethnic armies are common during the dry
season.
Myanmar's junta insists the UWSA is trying to stamp out narcotics, but
western governments accuse Yangon of turning a blind eye to the group's
activities in return for the ceasefire agreement.
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Wednesday March 27, 4:11 PM
Myanmar junta fetes Armed Forces Day under tight security Yangon, March 27 (AFP) - Both
sides on Myanmar's political divide adopted a conciliatory tone in speeches to
mark Armed Forces Day, the ruling's junta's headline event held under tight
security shortly after a coup attempt.
More than 7,000 representatives from the army, navy and air force dressed
in immaculate combat fatigues filed into Yangon Resistance Park for an
early-morning parade that formed the centrepiece of the celebrations.
Under the golden spires of the city's stunning Shwedagon pagoda, the
national symbol of peace, junta leader Senior General Than Shwe urged the
assembled military ranks to "guard against internal and external dangers".
But for a second straight year he eschewed the angry rhetoric usually
employed in Armed Forces Day addresses, saying the military should "strive
together with the people for emergence of a peaceful and modern nation."
In a ceremony at its Yangon headquarters, the opposition National League
for Democracy (NLD) also took a soft tone, dropping its usual demands for the
release of its leader Aung San Suu Kyi who is under house arrest.
The NLD marked the event under its original name, Resistance Day, when
Myanmar's independence hero General Aung San -- Aung San Suu Kyi's father --
called on resistance fighters to throw out the occupying Japanese forces.
In a statement read out by party vice-chairman Tin Oo, the NLD urged
Myanmar's military to create an environment where peaceful dialogue could
flourish successfully.
"March 27, 1945, marked the closing chapter of Myanmar's armed struggle for
independence. After that it was only through peaceful means that we gained our
freedom," Tin Oo said.
"Bearing this in mind, various organisations and individuals concerned
should seek rapprochement only through peaceful dialogue."
Analysts in Yangon said the unusually calm atmosphere surrounding Armed
Forces Day, despite unprecedently tight security in the run-up to the event, was
a positive sign for ongoing talks between the junta and Aung San Suu Kyi.
"It was very mild and the subject matter was much more mundane. This is not
the usual speech that is delivered for Armed Forces Day," one observer said of
Than Shwe's address.
"In effect he was saying that they are trying to do the most they can in
the short time they have. Which may or may not signify change is in the
offing."
In another positive sign, Foreign Minister Win Aung said Tuesday that UN
envoy Razali Ismail, who helped broker the talks with Aung San Suu Kyi that
began in October 2000, would be allowed to visit next month.
A trip originally scheduled for last week was abruptly postponed in the
aftermath of what the military government said was a coup plot orchestrated by
relative of former dictator Ne Win.
The junta announced on March 9 that the son-in-law and three grandsons of
the 92-year-old autocrat had been arrested, and that Ne Win and his daughter
Sandar Win were under virtual house arrest.
As a result of the coup revelations, security surrounding Armed Forces Day
has been much tighter than usual this year, and Resistance Park has been
crawling with security forces for several weeks.
Squads of army personnel have swept for mines in and around the park every
morning for weeks, walking along five-abreast and poking steel rods into the
ground while others shook down trees looking for explosives.
The roads approaching the park were also blocked to traffic as the security
forces went through their paces each morning in elaborate rehearsals.
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Wednesday March 27, 7:19 PM
EU hails Thai moves to clean up shrimp, chicken exports BANGKOK, March 27 (AFP) - The
European Commission (EC) Wednesday applauded a series of measures by Thailand
aimed at overcoming recent discoveries of harmful antibiotics in Thai shrimp and
chicken exported to the EU.
Last week the European Union (EU) said it would step up testing of shrimp
and chicken from Thailand, as well as shrimp from Myanmar and Vietnam, after
spot checks revealed nitrofuran residues in shrimp imported from all three
countries, and chloramphenicol in Thai chicken.
Both substances have been banned for use in food-producing animals in the
15 EU member states for several years, due to concerns they could harm human
health.
"The European Commission has had useful and fruitful discussions with the
Thai authorities on this matter who have rapidly responded by deciding to take a
series of measures," its Bangkok office said in a statement.
The EC said Thailand committed to reinforce checks on its shrimp and
poultry products, ban 16 chemicals already banned in the EU and the United
States, recall consignments bound to the EU for further inspection and testing,
and impose penalties for persons who infringe the export conditions.
"The European Commission welcomes the co-operative and constructive
approach of the Thai government to this problem, and is confident that these
measures will contribute to a rapid resolution of the problem and to a return to
the normal procedure for imports as quickly as possible," it said.
The statement also said the European Commission "has not threatened to ban
imports of shrimps and poultry from Thailand should any shipment test positive
for nitrofurans in the coming weeks".
The Business Day reported that Thailand's cabinet on Tuesday agreed to set
up an ad-hoc committee to monitor the ban on the toxic additives.
The daily also said that the department of livestock development was
stepping up inspections of the country's 17,033 registered chicken farms.
Thailand is a major source of shrimp for Europe, exporting over a billion
dollars worth of the crustaceans to the EU each year.
Vietnam, also a major shrimp exporter, last week denied the presence of
harmful antibiotics in its shrimp exports to the EU.
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Wednesday March 27, 5:21 PM
Myanmar military hints at political change By Aung Hla Tun YANGON (Reuters) - Myanmar's
military government hinted on Wednesday that this month's crushing of a planned
coup by relatives of former dictator Ne Win could eventually lead to political
change.
In a speech marking national Armed Forces Day, junta leader General Than
Shwe for the first time blamed Ne Win's regime for plunging the country into
turmoil in 1988.
He said the ruling military was in the process of changing the political
and economic system it inherited from Ne Win.
"In 1988, due to an atmosphere of general dissatisfaction based on low
levels of economic performance, the situation went out of control," Than Shwe
told a military parade of more than 7,000 armed forces personnel, or Tatmadaw.
"The responsibility to undertake a transition from one age and one system
to a new age and a new system that was in line with the political, economic and
social desires of the people fell on the Tatmadaw," he said.
Pro-democracy protests swept the country in 1988 after 26 years of harsh
military rule under Ne Win. He officially stepped down from power in the midst
of the protests which the army eventually suppressed after thousands of people
were killed.
Three weeks ago, Myanmar's ruling generals said they had thwarted a plot by
Ne Win's relatives and military associates to take power on Armed Forces Day,
the anniversary of the launch of nationwide resistance against occupying
Japanese in 1945.
The junta arrested Ne Win's son-in-law, three grandsons and three
high-ranking officers, interrogated more than 100 people and confined Ne Win and
his daughter Sandar Win to their home.
Many diplomats are sceptical a coup was planned, saying the allegations and
arrests may stem from disagreements in the government over how to deal with
opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi and her National League for Democracy.
Some observers say the regime wants to sideline Ne Win and his clan, so
that it can move ahead with some kind of power-sharing deal with Suu Kyi, who
won the Nobel Peace Prize for her efforts to bring democracy to the impoverished
country.
"UNTIRING EFFORTS"
The military, engaged in U.N.-brokered talks with Suu Kyi since late 2000,
has released more than 200 political prisoners but has shown little sign of
loosening its grip on power.
Suu Kyi is under house arrest and an estimated 1,500 political prisoners
still languish in Myanmar's jails.
But Than Shwe hinted of an end to the political impasse.
"Untiring efforts are being made...to ensure that when the time comes to
hand over the responsibilities of the state, succeeding governments will be able
to provide leadership with rectitude and with continuity to a nation where
favourable conditions of stability and peace prevail," he said.
"Our genuine goodwill and efforts have been proved and are being proved
with deeds, not words."
Myanmar analysts said the regime was trying to draw a line under the Ne Win
era so it could blame him for its economic woes.
"It's a bit of a departure to blame Ne Win," said Aung Zaw, editor of the
independent Bangkok-based magazine Irrawaddy. "But the economy at the moment is
worse than before 1988 and it's still just open to the elite and cronies."
Ne Win, now in his nineties, ruled Myanmar with an iron fist from 1962 to
1988.
After crushing the 1988 protests, the military, confident of victory,
agreed to democratic elections in 1990 but were handed a shock defeat by Suu
Kyi's National League for Democracy (NLD).
The ruling generals barred the NLD from power, saying a strong hand was
needed to keep the country from falling apart. Previously they blamed the 1988
unrest on "unruly mobs".
The NLD held its own commemoration of what it calls the 1945 "anti-fascist
resistance" at its headquarters on Wednesday.
"The most important lesson to draw from the anti-fascist resistance is that
no national endeavour of any kind can lead to success without the genuine
support of the people," NLD Vice Chairman Tin Oo told the gathering of around
400 people, which included leaders of ethnic groups and foreign diplomats.
"Peaceful negotiation is the only way to resolve national problems," he
said.
U.N. envoy Razali Ismail is likely to visit Myanmar at the end of April to
give a boost to the bogged down talks between the NLD and the military.
Last week, Myanmar stopped Razali from visiting the country at the last
minute, saying they were too busy dealing with the coup plot. This week, it said
Razali can visit from April 22.
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Wednesday March 27, 4:45 PM
ANALYSIS-Russia woos Southeast Asia with weapons, technology By Dan Eaton BANGKOK, March 27 (Reuters) -
Russia is seeking closer ties with Southeast Asia as its old spheres of
influence crumble, wooing countries in the region with high-tech gadgetry
ranging from nuclear reactors to missiles and fighter jets.
Regional economies are emerging from the crisis of the late 1990s and
mothballed weapons procurement programmes are being dusted off at a time when
Russia is losing ground in Central Asia as the U.S.-led war in Afghanistan
grinds on.
"The economic boom may be over, but there is a slow recovery underway in
the region and military programs that were suspended or scaled back are now
starting to surface again. Of course Russia is interested," said Robert Karniol,
Asia Pacific editor of Jane's Defence Weekly.
Late last month, Vladimir Artyakov, the director-general of Russia's state
arms-exporter Rosoboroneksport, said while attending the Asian Aerospace 2002
exhibition in Singapore that the arms market in Southeast Asia was estimated to
be worth $20 billion over the next decade.
He told Russia's ITAR-TASS news agency Moscow was looking to expand its
lethal exports to the region.
Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Kasyanov is currently touring old communist
ally Vietnam to promote a strategic partnership which will include cooperNUCLEAR
REACTOR ation in nuclear energy, as well as arms sales to Hanoi's mainly
Soviet-equipped military.
Russia's LOMO Corp is due to deliver 50 portable SA-18 surface-to-air
missiles to Vietnam this year under a $64 million contract, according to
Russia's Interfax news agency.
Military-run Myanmar recently took delivery of a dozen Russian MiG-29
fighter jets, and in January confirmed for the first time that it was
negotiating to build its first nuclear reactor with Russian help.
The Malaysian air force is also mulling the purchase of a squadron of
general-purpose fighter planes. Russia's Sukhoi Corporation, offering
state-of-the-art Su-30MK fighters, is seen as a strong contender, say analysts.
Moscow is also pursuing Singapore, traditionally a client of U.S. and
European arms makers, to buy Sukhoi jets to replace its ageing McDonnell
Douglass A-4 Skyhawks.
During Southeast Asia's economic boom in the mid-1990s, Russia made several
breakthroughs selling arms to the region, including the sale of MiG-29 fighters
to Malaysia, surface-to-air missiles to Singapore and Mi-17 helicopters to
Myanmar.
Moscow also tried unsuccessfully to break into the market in Thailand with
advanced fighters and kilo class submarines.
Russia's interest in Southeast Asia is largely commercially driven, say
analysts, but it is not without a strategic dimension as the country seeks to
find new direction in the wake of its fall from superpower status and the end of
the Cold War.
That search has taken on a new urgency post September 11.
TIGHT BUDGETS
The U.S.-led war in Afghanistan has resulted in a Western military buildup
in Central Asia which Russia has traditionally jealously guarded as its own
backyard.
"There is another a strategic aspect to all of this...it has to do with
domestic issues," said Karniol.
"The Russian armed forces have been going through a very tough time for the
last decade and budgets have been very tight. Moscow has this vast defence
industry staffed by highly skilled people that has to be sustained."
For the next 10 years, while Russia rebuilds its military, the country's
desperate defence establishment will therefore have to focus on exports.
That plays into the hands of some Southeast Asian nations denied technology
and weapons by Western countries concerned over political reform and human
rights.
Many of the poorer countries in the region are also seeking to pay for
military hardware through barter deals.
"Russia is much more flexible on price and terms," said one Bangkok-based
diplomat on condition of anonymity. "With respect to human rights, they are also
somewhat less concerned."
A good example is Moscow's sale of fighter jets to Myanmar, and its
agreement to supply the impoverished military-ruled nation with a nuclear
research reactor in return for timber and agricultural products.
As Russian ambassador to Myanmar Gleb Ivashentsov explained to Reuters in
an interview last year:
"Do not demonise Myanmar. They should not be denied the right to develop
their own Atomic energy. The general situation (in Myanmar) is very much
misrepresented in the media. You do not see people in distress."
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Wednesday, 27 March, 2002, 10:48 GMT
Burmese leader dodges key issues By Larry Jagan BBC Burma analyst in Bangkok Burma's military leaders have celebrated a key occasion in the military's
calendar, Armed Forces Day.
The parade took place amid tight security arrangements, coming only three
weeks after the military authorities said they had crushed a planned coup
attempt by relatives of the former military dictator, Ne Win.
Since then, there have been rumours of a power struggle within the army
between liberals and hardliners, who oppose the secret talks with the opposition
leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, which started nearly 18 months ago.
So conscious of security were the generals, that a decoy convoy arrived
before the main guests.
In the keynote speech, the Burmese leader senior General Than Shwe stressed
the need for national unity and said the army was a reluctant ruler.
He said it had been forced to seize power in 1988 because of the economic
crisis and social unrest that had engulfed the country at the time, more or less
blaming General Ne Win for the mess.
But General Than Shwe made no mention of the recent coup attempt or the
secret talks with Aung San Suu Kyi.
Rumours
For the past week, the military government has taken great pains to dispel
rumours of a power struggle within the military, releasing pictures of the top
generals inspecting troops and visiting the National Museum together.
There is little doubt that General Than Shwe is in complete control.
The key issue is whether the coup attempt by Ne Win family members will
stall the dialogue process.
Negotiations are continuing between the United Nations and the Burmese
government to decide when the UN special envoy, Razali Ismail, can make his next
visit to Rangoon.
The Burmese foreign ministry said the envoy would be welcome in a month's
time - 22 April.
But the UN is insisting that Mr Razali should be allowed into the country
sooner.
A planned visit was postponed by the military authorities in Rangoon last
week, after the alleged coup plot was revealed.
The international community has made it clear to Rangoon that they expect
the military government to make some significant gesture towards national
reconciliation soon.
Now that Army Day is over, General Than Shwe will have to turn his
attention to this, or Burma could face increased international isolation and
possible economic sanctions.
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South Nexus
Jaswant to visit China, South Korea,
Myanmar
NEW DELHI, Mar 27: As part of intensified efforts to impart a new momentum in Sino-India ties, External Affairs Minister Jaswant Singh will leave for Beijing on Thursday for wide-ranging discussions with Chinese leaders. India's concerns over terrorism are likely to be conveyed during parleys
Singh will have with his Chinese counterpart Tang Jiaxuan.
During Chinese Premier Zhu Rongji's visit to India in January this year,
the two sides had agreed on a bilateral mechanism on counter-terrorism dialogue
for the first time.
Discussions on this is likely to be followed up by Singh during his visit.
He will also call on the Chinese Premier and Vice Premier Qian Qichen, External
Affairs Ministry spokesperson Nirupama Rao told reporters here on Tuesday.
During his stay in China from March 29 to April two, Singh will also meet
Dai Bingguo, Minister of the International Department of the Communist Party of
China.
Singh will take the inaugural direct service of China Eastern Airlines,
marking the resumption of direct air links between the two countries.
The External Affairs Minister will also visit South Korea and Myanmar for
discussions with his counterparts and other leaders on enhancing bilateral
co-operation in diversified fields.
Considerable significance is being attached to Singh's visit which comes as
a follow-up to the important visit to India in January by Chinese Premier Zhu
Rongji. Singh will be undertaking the visit at the invitation of his Chinese
counterpart.
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Myanmar Leader Meets Chinese
Tourism Official
Xinhuanet 2002-03-27 00:13:46 YANGON, March 26 (Xinhuanet) -- First Secretary of the Myanmar State Peace and Development Council Khin Nyunt met with visiting Chairman of the National Tourism Administration of China He Guangwei and his entourage here Tuesday afternoon. Present on the occasion were Charge d'Affaires of the Chinese Embassy Tang
Ying, Myanmar Foreign Minister U Win Aung and Minister of Hotels and Tourism Saw
Lwin.
Khin Nyunt said at the meeting that Myanmar and China are friendly
neighbors with a long-standing fraternal friendship. The Myanmar government will
always abide by the "One-China" policy.
Speaking on his country's tourism industry, Khin Nyunt noted that Myanmar,
like China, is a country with many famous heritage and beautiful scenery,
however, it is regretful that Myanmar's development of its tourism sector is
still inadequate.
He said that Myanmar, which is an agricultural country, is under-developed
in industry. The Myanmar government hopes that through development of tourism,
it will push the development of its economy and strengthen the two countries'
cooperation in the field of tourism.
At the meeting, He Guangwei said the Sino-Myanmar traditional friendship
was forged and nurtured personally by leaders of elder generations of the two
countries, and the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence, jointly advocated by
the two sides, are the foundation of the two countries' friendship.
With regard to the development of China's tourism industry, he noted that
China earned 17.8 billion U.S. dollars of foreign exchange through the industry
in 2001, 69 times of that obtained in 1978. He attributed China's achievement
made in the sector to the adoption of the country's open-door policy.
He said that in 1992, the governments of China and Myanmar signed an
agreement on cooperation in tourism, and in 2001, the two sides endorsed a
memorandum of understanding on the implementation plan for outbound travel to
Myanmar by Chinese citizens at own expense, bringing about smooth progress in
the twocountries' tourism cooperation.
After the meeting, He, U Win Aung and Saw Lwin held discussions on ways to
enhance the two countries' tourism cooperation.
He Guangwei arrived here Tuesday on a four-day visit to Myanmar at the
invitation of Myanmar Foreign Minister U Win Aung.
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