[burmanet2-l] Burma Related News - Dec 23, 2002.

["TIN KYI" <tinkyi@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

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BURMA RELATED NEWS - December  23, 2002.
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HEADLINES
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AFP - Myanmar's democracy leader political trip deemed a success
AFP - Myanmar rejects fresh US rape accusations

AP - Myanmar opposition accuses authorities of further interference
PD - Chinese Jingdezhen Ceramics Exhibition Opens in Myanmar
WP - Close Shave on Burma
The Nation - The long shadow of Ne Win's legacy
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Myanmar's democracy leader political trip deemed a success

YANGON, Dec 23 (AFP) - Myanmar's Aung San Suu Kyi on Monday wrapped up a
week-long political trip to western Rakhine state, her party deeming it a
success despite attempts by authorities to keep people away from the popular
leader.

"Aung San Suu Kyi's present trip to Rakhine state in western Myanmar has
been an unqualified success despite numerous attempts by the authorities to
keep the crowds in their thousands away from her," the opposition National
League for Democracy (NLD) spokesman U Lwin told reporters.

The most serious confrontation with authorities occurred in Myauk-Oo, an
ancient town the state, where the Nobel peace laureate climbed on top of a
fire engine to prevent it from dispersing a crowd of 20,000 people with
high-pressure hoses.

It was also the most blatant case of interference since Aung San Suu Kyi
began travelling around the country in May, after being released from 19
months of house arrest with a promise of freedom of movement by the ruling
junta.

Despite the confrontation, U Lwin said Aung San Suu Kyi was pleased with the
trip.

"The trip has highlighted the fact that the local population are fully
behind me... that the people came not just to see me... but took great risks
to give their encouragement and show their support," he cited her as saying.

U Lwin said that intervention from more senior members of the military
regime had managed to knock down various obstacles created by minor
officials along the way.

"Official intervention from higher authorities smoothed out most of the
problems," he said, adding that authorities had promised to take action
against those officials who had hindered her if they could be specifically
identified.

The leader managed to stop in all of the townships she intended to visit
despite the arduous conditions of the journey, which included a 36-hour
continuous drive.

"She would not stop anywhere to eat or drink during this whole time, except
for a few short stops to stretch her legs," U Lwin said.

The leader and her entourage are expected to arrive back in the capital
within the next day or two after travelling through a long stretch of hills
called the Arakan Yoma which are difficult to negotiate throughout most of
the year.

The hills effectively divide Rakhine state from the rest of Myanmar.

Earlier this month the NLD leader completed an extensive tour of Shan state
in northeast Myanmar. After that trip, the NLD complained there had been
excessive surveillance of their leader.

During this trip, which began last Monday, security laid on by the military
government was extremely tight due to the presence of Muslim extremists in
the region which borders Bangladesh.
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Myanmar rejects fresh US rape accusations

YANGON, Dec 23 (AFP) - Myanmar's military government on Monday rejected
fresh charges of gang rape and torture made by the United States last week
that resuscitated controversy over earlier allegations.

"The recent release by the US of additional specific allegations of rape as
a weapon of war in a 'preliminary' study... is a rehash of the Shan Human
Rights Foundation study in order to further attack and isolate Myanmar,"
government spokesman Hla Min said in a statement.

The State Department said last Wednesday that the US consulate in the
northern city of Chiang Mai had found evidence supporting accusations by
rights groups -- including the Shan Human Rights Foundation -- that Myanmar
troops used gang rape of ethnic Shan women as a weapon of war.

The groups released a report earlier this year documenting 625 sex attacks
on Shan women and girls by Myanmar soldiers. It drew international outrage
and has been repeatedly rejected by the Yangon junta.

During a short preliminary investigation, State Department officials said
they found many victims whose stories were similar to those documented in
reports by non-governmental organisations.

"Of the 12 rape victims interviewed, all stated that they had been
gang-raped by Burmese soldiers sometime over the past five years," the
department said in a fact sheet.
"Most also reported knowing several other women or girls who had been raped
and/or killed. The most recent incident was reported by a 13-year-old girl
who said that she was raped in June 2002."

But spokesman Hla Min denied it had ever ordered, supported or condoned rape
in any form.

"We condemn rape in the strongest possible terms. It is not, nor has it ever
been an instrument of government policy," Hl Min said.

"We are committed to finding and severely punishing the individuals guilty
of committing these heinous crimes, if the allegations are true."

Washington has already called on the Myanmar government to investigate such
abuses and to punish those responsible.
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Myanmar opposition accuses authorities of further interference
Dec 23 8:00 AM ET

YANGON, Myanmar (AP) - Military authorities in northwestern Myanmar allowed
thousands to gather for a visit by democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi over
the weekend - but according to her party she wasn't allowed to speak.

Some 5,000 supporters congregated on Saturday in Taungup, 300 kilometers
(185 miles) north of Yangon, but Suu Kyi was blocked from using a public
address system by authorities who said it was against the law, U Lwin,
spokesman for her National League for Democracy said on Monday.

However, the Nobel Peace Prize laureate still managed to speak to members of
the crowd for about five minutes, thanking them for coming out despite the
attempts by officials to interfere with the meeting, U Lwin said.

Suu Kyi's trip to Rakhine state is the latest test of the ruling junta's
willingness to allow her political freedom since releasing her from house
arrest on May 6.

The military has ruled Myanmar, also known as Burma, for 40 years and keeps
a tight grip on public and political meetings. State-run organizations
periodically organize pro-government rallies, but before Suu Kyi's release,
mass opposition gatherings were virtually unprecedented in recent years.

"Daw Suu and the party have faced a variety of inconveniences throughout the
Rakhine trip," U Lwin said. Daw is an honorific.

U Lwin said last week that a crowd of 20,000 gathered to see Suu Kyi at a
stopover in Maruk Oo, about 530 kilometers (330 miles) northwest of Yangon,
and was ordered to disperse by local military officials.

"In Maruk Oo, authorities did not want crowds to gather, but in Taungup,
they allowed crowds to gather but did not allow the use of the public
address system," U Lwin said.

He said the opposition leader, who is traveling with NLD Vice Chairman Tin
Oo and a group of young NLD members, had erected a party signboard in
Sandoway, a town 270 kilometers (170 miles) northwest of Yangon, on Monday
afternoon.

The group will visit the town of Gwa, in southern Rakhine state, and several
towns in the Irrawaddy delta before returning to Yangon in the next few
days.
The trip is Suu Kyi's fifth such political tour of the Myanmar countryside
since her release in May.

Suu Kyi's release from house arrest was the result of reconciliation talks
with the junta. But the talks have achieved no real progress in ending the
country's political deadlock.

The current junta came to power in 1988 after crushing a pro-democracy
movement. It called elections in 1990 but refused to honor the results when
the NLD won a thumping victory. The junta says the country is not yet ready
for democracy.
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The People's Daily Online
Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Monday, December 23, 2002
Chinese Jingdezhen Ceramics Exhibition Opens in Myanmar

A 12-day exhibition of fine ceramic products of China's Jiangxi Jingdezhen
opened at the Yangon Trade Center Monday.

Attending the inaugural ceremony were Myanmar Minister of Commerce
Brigadier-General Pyi Sone, Chinese Ambassador to MyanmarLi Jinjun, Economic
and Commercial Counselor of the Chinese Embassy Jin Honggen, Chairman of the
Myanmar China Huanyu Thama (Group) (MCHTG) Co Ltd Zhao Jidong and Deputy
General Manager of the China Jingdezhen International Economy and Technique
Cooperative Company (CJIETCC) Ning Ruhe.

Ambassador Li said at the ceremony that Jingdezhen city is China's most
famous origin of ceramic products. This exhibition will display to Myanmar
people ceramic products featuring a complex of traditional handicraft and
modern arts, classic cultureand modern civilization, showing a development
trend of China's ceramics in the new era and enabling Myanmar people to know
more about China's ceramics culture.

He hoped that through the exhibition, it will deepen the exchange of
ceramics culture and links between the two countries and promote their
friendship and cooperation in the ceramic field.

At the ceremony, Vice-General Manager Ning said the year 2002 is the first
year after China's entry into the World Trade Organization and is also the
opening year when China's economy heads for the junction linking the world
in all aspects.

This exhibition also builds a platform of carrying out productsdeal and
information exchange for China's ceramics culture, havingan important
significance in speeding up the link of China's traditional ceramics culture
with international junction and development of China-Myanmar bilateral
trade, he added.

The exhibition is jointly sponsored by the MCHTG Co Ltd and theCJIETCC.

Participating in the exhibition are 36 manufacturers with theirproducts of
more than 2,000 kinds in six categories.

It is the first Chinese ceramics exhibition to have been held in Myanmar.
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The Washington Post
Close Shave on Burma
By Al Kamen
Monday, December 23, 2002; Page A17

Who can forget that fateful chat then-Ambassador to Iraq April C. Glaspie
had with Saddam Hussein in 1990, just before the Iraqi president invaded
Kuwait? Of course, it was policy then to kow-tow to Hussein.

But it appears she may have started a diplomatic trend, for now we have our
top official in Burma saying nice things about the military thugs who run
the country. Worse, chargé d'affaires Carmen M. Martinez -- our top diplomat
there -- did it in an "exclusive interview" in the weekly Myanmar Times, a
rag that makes the old Pravda look like a hard-hitting investigative
journal.

Word leaked out in November that the State Department was considering
recommending that Burma be certified as cooperating in the war on drugs.
Such a move would have given the military, once known by its initials as
SLORC, a major political and economic boost.

Furious editorials and congressional protests, plus a Time magazine Asian
edition story detailing the repressive regime's links to major drug dealers,
helped persuade State to reverse course. The department may have been in the
process of that course correction Dec. 3, when Martinez praised the regime
for "a good job on counternarcotics efforts."

Martinez, according to the paper, said Washington supported democracy, but
the Burmese have to find a solution in "their style of government." A lot of
Burmese probably thought they did just that when they overwhelmingly elected
Aung San Suu Kyi's party in 1990, just before the military arrested her. "We
are not trying to impose our style on this country," Martinez said.

"We can understand how it is difficult to have a democracy in a multiracial
and multireligious society," she observed. "There are similarities between
our country and this country; we have diverse ethnic groups, diversity of
religions." It might be a whole lot less difficult if the Burmese army would
stop using rape as a weapon against those minorities.

"We wish that foreign journalists could be permitted to visit the country,"
she said, "because there are positive things going on . . . and the story of
this country will be written by the press."

There would be no need for foreign journalists, of course, if the pond scum
in charge would allow the opposition to publish a newspaper.
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The Nation
The long shadow of Ne Win's legacy
DR PAVIN CHACHAVALPONGPUN
Published on Dec 23, 2002

The recent death of ex-despot General Ne Win received little fanfare despite
his high-profile political career in the past. But do not let his political
legacy disappear like the release of his ashes into the Rangoon river. There
is much to remember, and more importantly much to remind the Burmese of the
political and economic misfortunes they are facing today.

One of Ne Win's legacies that left a deep scar in Burmese politics was his
attempt to perpetuate authoritarianism while normalising it as though it was
a part of Burmese culture. From Ne Win's assumption of power in 1962, the
new political regime was ideologically linked to militarism and a cult of
the leaders with the intention to make them acceptable and legitimate to the
Burmese people.

But what allowed Burmese despotism to thrive in spite of the fact that the
level of the people's political consciousness was no less than in other
countries in Southeast Asia?

Ne Win fully recognised that Burma had long been suffering from political
disintegration with various ethnic groups seeking to destabilise his
centralised power. He thus proclaimed in the wake of political uncertainties
that Burma was urgently in need of a martial regime and leadership.

As a result, the Panglong Agreement which guaranteed a certain degree of
autonomy among the Shans, the Kachins and the Chins was further abandoned.
On these grounds, Ne Win bluntly reproached European imperialism for causing
national fragmentation by its divide-and-rule policy.

In the meantime Ne Win also exploited the concept of Western colonialism by
designing a new power structure for Burma, based on, or inspired by,
examples of European colonial administration that had ruled the country
until the outbreak of the Second World War.

In other words, he created a mini-Burmese colony dominated by himself.

This legacy has been inherited down to the present day. Whereas the SPDC
remains unchallenged, the current ethnic insurgencies largely contribute to
the absolutism of the military regime, though there is nothing new in
employing Ne Win's old tricks to hold on to power.

The new face of Burma, led by the three eminent military officers General
Than Shwe, General Muang Aye and Lt-Colonel Khin Nyunt, continues to treat
ethnic insurgencies as the number-one enemy of the state. By ostracising the
ethnic rebels, Ne Win's old recipe yields legitimacy to the military
institution in protecting so-called national survival and interests while
committing genocide on those considered as national traitors.

The same tactic has also been applied to curb local supporters of democracy.
Democracy, condemned as a vestige of Western hegemony, is perceived as
foreign political thought.

The assassination of Suu Kyi's father, Aung San, in 1947, might have thrown
Burma into a state of flux and eventually to the verge of collapse in the
hands of Ne Win. But some had high hopes that Aung San Suu Kyi, his only
daughter, would come to rescue of Burma, only to see her put under house
arrest for a decade.

Another memorable legacy of Ne Win is the spread of corruption within the
Burmese bureaucracy. In retrospect, the raison d'etre behind the
introduction of the "Burmese Way to Socialism" was to generate social
equality while supporting an egalitarian economy among poor Burmese farmers.
But the doctrine was abused by Ne Win himself. Financial self-aggrandisement
permitted Ne Win to build an economic empire together with the rise of
nepotism.

Today corruption is the norm in Burmese politics and is continually
expanding in intensity. The narcotics trade has become part of this vicious
cycle. Some among the military elite and inn government service are involved
in the drug business,which helps sustain the Burmese regime in the face of
international condemnation.

Here, Ne Win's legacy is bitter medicine. It is required to prolong a frail
system but also hard to swallow. This explains why the Burmese military
government simply ignored the death of Ne Win, once a national hero.

The SPDC is greatly concerned about the international image it tries so hard
to establish. Particularly since joining Asean in 1997, the SPDC has
intended to show its civilised side by supporting national reconciliation
and subsequently offering freedom to Suu Kyi. Any official recognition of Ne
Win's death would only jeopardise its pretentious projection of being a
peaceful nation. Domestically, it would also resurrect anger among those who
were deprived by the Ne Win regime, those who were victims of his racist
warfare and those who were robbed under the pretext of Burmese socialism.

To show political purpose, the SPDC had already frozen the assets, economic
enterprises and financial accounts of Ne Win's daughter, Daw Sander Win.
Moreover, some of his family members have been sentenced to death for
conspiracy.

In the end what all that appeared in the New Light of Myanmar newspaper was
a tiny obituary put in by Ne Win's family. An attempt to underplay the death
of Ne Win may show the SPDC's awareness of international denigration. But
does it really cover the smell of bad governance and long years of
suppression of the people's liberty? Only the Burmese government has the
answer to that.

Dr Pavin Chachavalpongpun is a guest lecturer in the Thai Studies Section of
the Faculty of Arts, Chulalongkorn University.
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