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Friday July 25, 4:54 PM
Taiwan Proposes Trade Pact
with ASEAN
By Wong Choon Mei
KUALA
LUMPUR, Malaysia (Reuters) - Taiwan
has told the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) that it wants talks
on a free trade agreement, a move likely to be blocked by China, which is in the
middle of its own negotiations.
"I would like to propose that ASEAN take
the next logical step, to agree to form an ASEAN-Taiwan FTA," Steve Ruey-Long
Chen, Taiwan's Deputy Minister of Economic Affairs, told a business forum held
in the Malaysian capital.
Chen told Reuters on the sidelines he hoped
for an agreement within a year, and did not see any reason why China should
object as both countries were members of the World Trade Organization.
"The FTA is about economics and trade. China should not try to
politicize this sort of agreement, that would be unfortunate."
The move
by the island state of 23 million people follows last year's agreement between
China and ASEAN to start talks on creating the world's largest free-trade bloc.
The Association of South East Asian Nations groups Brunei, Cambodia,
Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and
Vietnam.
Most of Taiwan's efforts to join other global trade groups have
been blocked by China, which considers the island part of its territory and
fears such membership would imply Taiwan sovereignty.
Experts doubt if
Beijing would change its past policy, adding it was difficult to tell how ASEAN
nations would respond to Taiwan, which has invested $42.2 billion in the region.
"Taiwan has sent messages to the ASEAN governments but we don't know
their answer," said Rong-I Wu, president of Taiwan Institute of Economic
Research.
Mirzan Mahathir, Asian Strategy and Leadership Institute of
Malaysia president, said the process of trying to start an ASEAN trade deal with
Taiwan would not be easy.
"I guess it will go through the normal
turbulence that Taiwan and China usually face in these matters," he told
Reuters.
Two-way trade between Taiwan and ASEAN nations reached $32.4
billion in 2002, or 13.35 percent of Taiwan's total global trade.
"For
Taiwanese investors, ASEAN as a whole is our second largest destination for
outbound investment only after mainland China," Chen said.
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The Washington Post
Burma Launches
Effort to Defend Suu Kyi's Arrest
By Ellen
Nakashima
Washington Post Foreign Service
Friday, July 25,
2003; Page A21
JAKARTA, Indonesia, July 24 -- In the face of
growing international criticism over Burma's detention of opposition leader Aung
San Suu Kyi, the military government has launched a campaign to give its version
of the events that led to her arrest, sending envoys to Asian capitals and
publishing a serialized newspaper account of the incident that portrays the
democracy activist as a power-crazed saboteur.
Suu Kyi was detained on
May 30 for the third time in 14 years after assailants attacked her convoy on a
campaign trip in northern Burma. The Nobel laureate has been held in isolation
since then, except for a brief visit with a U.N. envoy. At the end of June, she
was moved from the notorious Insein Prison to an undisclosed location,
diplomatic sources said.
The clash, believed by analysts to have been
prompted by the government's fear of Suu Kyi's increasing popularity, likely
killed or injured scores of people, U.S. officials say.
At a meeting on
the Indonesian island of Bali today, foreign ministers from key European and
Asian countries, including China and Japan, called on Burma to immediately
release Suu Kyi. Previously, China alone among Asian countries had characterized
her detention as an internal affair of Burma's. The move was also a break from
the long-standing policy of noninterference among members of the Association of
Southeast Asian Nations.
Burma was not represented at the meeting.
The appeal followed a suggestion last weekend by Malaysia's prime
minister, Mahathir Mohamad, that Burma, which calls itself Myanmar, might have
to be expelled from the ASEAN "as a last resort" if it did not release Suu Kyi
and begin national reconciliation.
Indonesian officials said Wednesday
that Mahathir was speaking for himself, but Indonesia's foreign minister, Noer
Hassan Wirajuda, said at the Bali conference that ASEAN was becoming "impatient"
with Burma. He said Burma's foreign minister would arrive in Jakarta, the
Indonesian capital, on Monday to discuss Suu Kyi's detention, which has prompted
increasing calls for stiff sanctions from many countries. In Washington,
Congress passed legislation last week barring all Burmese exports to the United
States.
In recent weeks, the Burmese regime, which calls itself the State
Peace and Development Council, has sent envoys to China, Bangladesh, Pakistan,
Thailand, India, Malaysia and Japan, Burma's biggest aid donor. The envoys have
carried letters that accuse democracy activists of trying to overthrow the
government. In a rambling, seven-page letter seen by a Western diplomat in
Bangkok, the junta leader, Gen. Than Shwe, accuses Suu Kyi's followers of
"conspiring to create an anarchic situation . . . with a view to attaining
power." It also says Suu Kyi attempted "to lure armed groups . . . to join in
the planned uprising." A coup was to have taken place by June 19, Suu Kyi's 58th
birthday, according to the letter.
"They basically say that she rejected
the signs of moderation on their part and took a very uncompromising attitude,"
the diplomat said. "The letter and the claims are totally bogus."
On
Tuesday, the Burmese government faxed to foreign diplomats in Rangoon, the
capital, a communique announcing that 91 people had been released from prison,
said a Western diplomat there, but it was not clear how many had been arrested
in connection with the clash on May 30. At least 29 were identified as members
of Suu Kyi's party, the National League for Democracy.
The move did
little to assuage critics. "If you really look at it, it's just more of the
same. It's smoke," the diplomat said. "They're not taking concrete steps of
releasing all the people they're holding without reason and without
charge."
In recent weeks, the diplomat added, the government has released
some of the opposition party's members but arrested others. With such "rolling
arrests," the diplomat said, the release of 91 people is not
significant.
Zin Linn, director of the Bangkok office of the National
Coalition Government of the Union of Burma, the coalition government in exile,
said that according to contacts inside Burma, most of those released likely were
not members of Suu Kyi's party. They were made to sign notes promising not to
discuss the clash, Zin Linn said.
Since the crackdown, the junta has
attempted to quell concerns by allowing the International Committee of the Red
Cross to visit detainees. The head of the mission in Burma, Michel Ducraux, said
tonight that the Red Cross had visited the vice chairman of Suu Kyi's party, U
Tin Oo, 75, in Kalay prison in Burma's remote northwest. "He was in good health
and uninjured," Ducraux said.
Meanwhile, the government's New Light of
Myanmar newspaper is publishing a serialized account of Suu Kyi's seizure,
purportedly written by a member of her party who has misgivings. In today's
installment, the writer, Maung Yin Hmaing, discussed the "root causes" of the
clash. "If I have to give my frank and honest opinion concerning all that
happened on the way," he wrote, "it cannot be denied that our group of NLD
members led by Auntie Suu, from the very outset, had embarked on this campaign
with the sole purpose of inciting unrest in every place we visited, to
destabilize the situation and destroy peace with the ultimate plan of laying
blame on the government."
He wrote that the protesters opposing the party
did not wield weapons. "It was our people who showed their true colors by
physically attacking the demonstrators."
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The Washington Times
Burma cautioned
to release dissident
RANGOON, Myanmar, July 24 (UPI) --
Ministers of several European and Asian governments are again calling for the
release of Aung San Suu Kyi, who is being held in Myanmar.
The
pro-democracy leader's release was a key topic in a statement released Thursday,
after two days of earlier talks. A military junta rules the nation of Myanmar,
which was formerly known as Burma.
Ministers from several Asia and Europe
countries also demanded the military government resume moves towards national
reconciliation.
The BBC said the statement summing up the fifth meeting
of the Asia-Europe Meeting in Bali was issued later than expected after
disagreements over its wording.
European governments want to increase
pressure on Burma's military junta. But many Asian states are advocating a
softer line, focusing on further negotiations
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The Nation
BURMA: 'Thailand siding with hated regime'
Published on Jul 25, 2003
US senator says PM should
be trying to get Suu Kyi freed, warns aid may be cut
The second most
powerful member of the US Senate has criticised Thailand's handling of Burma,
saying the government's "business-as-usual" stance aligns the country with one
of the world's most condemned regimes.
In his statement to the US Senate
on Tuesday, Senator Mitch McConnell said he was "becoming increasingly convinced
that Thailand is on the side of the repressive junta in Rangoon".
"Thai
Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra must defend democracy in Burma and should join
with Malaysia and other Asean members in holding the SPDC [the military junta
State Peace and Development Council] accountable for their actions," McConnell
said.
His comment came as Asean foreign ministers gathered in Bali to
discuss their relations with European countries under the Asia Europe Meeting
framework. Asean foreign ministers had an informal discussion about Burma
yesterday.
"Instead of trying to find an 'exit' for the repressive State
Peace and Development Council, SPDC, Thailand should be trying to secure the
release of democracy leader Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and other democrats jailed in
the wake of the brutal May 30 attack on the National League for Democracy
(NLD)," McConnell said.
"Given the SPDC's refusal to release Suu Kyi and
other Burmese democrats, Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir rightly commented
that Burma could be expelled from Asean 'as a last resort'," the Deputy Senate
Majority Leader added. He said Thailand should take note of the provision he
included in Senate Resolution 1426 - the fiscal year 2004 Foreign Operations
appropriations bill. It "conditions United States assistance to Thailand on a
determination by the Secretary of State that: one, it supports the advancement
of democracy in Burma and is taking action to sanction the military junta in
Rangoon; two, is not hampering the delivery of humanitarian assistance to people
in Thailand who have fled Burma; and three, is not forcibly repatriating Burmese
to Burma''.
McConnell led the successful Senate move to pass the Burmese
Freedom and Democracy Act of 2003, which seeks to ban Burmese exports to the
United States and freeze assets of the regime in the US.
The EU and
Japan toughened their sanctions against Burma after the May 30 attack, after
which Suu Kyi was thrown into jail.
There has been growing criticism,
both locally and internationally, that the government has been acting as the
junta's "spokesperson".
Foreign Ministry spokesperson Sihasak
Phuangketkeow said Thailand did not take the side of Burma, nor did it act as
the junta's "mouthpiece".
Thailand was helping push Burma towards
national conciliation and eventually democracy, he said. Thailand, as an
immediate neighbour of Burma, needed to have its own stance in accordance with
the reality in Burma.
"We cannot criticise Burma and demand democracy
without taking any action," he said.
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The Nation
Wei arrest report denied
Piyanart Srivalo
Don Pathan
Published on
Jul 25, 2003
Burma's drug czar Brigadier General Kyaw Thein
yesterday dismissed reports that fugitive heroin kingpin Wei Hsueh-kang had been
arrested in his country, saying that the Rangoon government did not know his
exact whereabouts.
"No. I don't think that's true at all," said Kyaw
Thein in response to the reports.
"Are you even sure that Wei Hsueh-kang
is really in our country?"
Kyaw Thein is also a department head at the
Office of the Chief of Military Intelligence in the Burmese Ministry of Defence.
Wei, a fugitive drug lord who is wanted by Thailand and the US and who
has a US$2-million (Bt83.7-million) bounty on his head, is the commander of the
United Wa State Army (UWSA)'s 171st Division, located just kilometres from the
border with Chiang Rai.
Also known by his Thai name Prasit
Cheewinnitipanya, Wei was sentenced to life imprisonment by a Thai court in
1987, but jumped bail shortly afterwards while the sentence was under appeal.
Thailand's Interior Ministry revoked his Thai nationality in 2001.
Division 171 is one of the three UWSA units located near the Thai border.
Intelligence officials said that Wei had a wide range of investments in
China, Burma and Thailand, which he keeps under close wraps.
The
international community has accused the military junta in Rangoon of turning a
blind eye to the illicit activities of armed drug-trafficking groups along its
borders and has also condemned their refusal to go after convicted drug lords
like Wei and Khun Sa.
Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of the
five-nation drug meeting here yesterday, Kyaw Thein called on the international
community to stop "finger-pointing" at Burma, the world's No-1 producer of
illicit opium.
He also called on the international community to treat
politics and narcotics as two separate issues, saying the sanctions imposed
against his country could have an adverse effect on government efforts to
eradicate illicit drugs.
"If they really want to impoverish our country,
then it will hurt. We are doing this [drug trade eradication] on our own limited
resources," Kyaw Thein said.
The military government of Burma has come
under tremendous political and economic pressure following the detention of
pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi and her supporters.
The US
Congress recently passed a resolution banning Burmese imports, while the
European Union has issued a visa ban for top Burmese officials.
"I think
if we become poorer it will be more difficult for us to achieve our goals," Kyaw
Thein said.
He said Burma realised that it alone could not solve the
problem. "We need to cooperate with other countries", he said.
Kyaw
Thein expressed hope that yesterday's meeting would be the beginning of the end
for finger-pointing.
Burma has been bogged down by decades of fighting
between the central government and armed ethnic groups seeking autonomy.
Thailand and the rest of the international community said a number of
these groups, some of whom have signed cease-fire agreements with Rangoon, are
heavily involved in the production and trafficking of methamphetamines and
heroin.
Rangoon has ruled out suggestions that military options should
be used to take down these groups, saying "the international community should
look at Myanmar [Burma] from the inside".
---------------------
Drug raid nets Bt100m
More than 500 drug
enforcement officials yesterday searched 16 premises in Chiang Mai linked to the
Wei Hsueh-kang drug syndicate, confiscating assets worth about Bt100 million,
the Pa Muang joint military-police force said.
The search was launched
to ascertain the whereabouts of Thaweesak Charassitthisin, alias Ah Chiang, a
close aide to drug kingpin Wei Hsueh-kang, and to trace his assets, said
Narcotic Suppression Police commissioner Lt-General Chalermdet Chompoonuch.
Authorities were unable to locate Thaweesak, but police confiscated
land, orange orchards, houses, gold accessories and cash worth more than a
combined Bt100 million from the syndicate, Chalermdet said.
Two of the
16 premises were in Chiang Mai's Muang district, the rest in Fang district. The
16 locations were allegedly related to the drug network operated by Thaweesak
and his brother Ekkapol, alias Ah Lhoo. Both of them are close aides to Wei.
Chalermdet said Thaweesak disappeared three years ago and that Ekkapol
was totally paralysed after being shot.
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The Nation
Rangoon keen on road map
Supalak Ganjanakhundee
Published on
Jul 25, 2003
Burmese Foreign Minister Win Aung has responded
positively to a Thai proposal to hold a "Burma forum" to draw up a road map
towards national conciliation and political reform.
In a telephone
conversation yesterday with Win Aung, Thai Foreign Minister Surakiart
Sathirathai told his counterpart that his idea had received wide support from
participants at the Asia-Europe Meeting (Asem).
"What I feel from the
immediate reaction of minister Win Aung is encouraging," he told reporters.
Win Aung promised to discuss the proposal with the junta leaders, he
said, noting that the forum could be held in Thailand before the end of this
year pending Rangoon's agreement.
China, the United Kingdom, Austria and
some members of Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) have expressed
interest in participating in the forum.
Surakiart said that all
political groups, not just opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, but also armed
minority groups, would be invited to the forum.
"We need [to invite]
them since they know the situation best. So, they can make constructive comments
about the road map and about the opinions of other participants as well," he
said.
Surakiart said the release of Suu Kyi would be a sine qua non for
the forum to be organised, as the Noble laureate was the key figure in the
process of national conciliation and could not be ignored.
The Thai
government also welcomed the release of 91 prisoners linked to the incident in
which Suu Kyi was arrested. "It is a good signal and I would like to see Rangoon
do more," he said.
Indonesian Foreign Minister Hassan Wirajuda, who is
chairman of both Asean and Asem, said Thailand's proposal would complement other
efforts to break the political deadlock in Burma.
"But Thailand's
proposal needs further discussion and elaboration," he told a press conference.
Asean agreed in June to send a mission to Rangoon, but it remains
unclear if the junta would welcome such a mission. Wirajuda said he would
discuss the possibility of the mission when Win Aung visited Jakarta on Monday.
In the Asem chairman statement issued yesterday, the grouping called for
the immediate release of Suu Kyi and other opposition leaders and the resumption
of political dialogue towards national reconciliation.
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Bangkok Post - Friday 25 July 2003
Burma again denies sheltering kingpin
Local officials
insist Wei across border
Anucha Charoenpo
Burma yesterday rejected Thai intelligence reports that wanted drug
kingpin Wei Hsueh-kang is hiding in Shan State.
``We don't believe those
reports,'' said Gen Kyaw Thein, chief of military intelligence and in charge of
drug control in Burma.
No country, not even Thailand, could produce solid
evidence to verify Wei's whereabouts.
``Who knows where Wei is hiding?
Tell me, I will arrest him,'' he said. To his knowledge, Wei was not in
Burma.
Gen Kyaw Thein challenged the government to present Burma with
more solid information.
He also said he had no information that Wei was a
key financier of the United Wa State Army's (UWSA) illicit drug-making
operation.
Gen Kyaw Thein also denied a Thai radio report that Burma had
arrested Wei at the Chinese-Burmese border.
``I haven't received such
information. If it's true, I should have been informed,'' he said.
Wei,
alias Charnchai Cheewinnitipanya, jumped bail in 1990 after his arrest on
charges of trafficking 680kg of heroin in Chumphon province in 1987. The
shipment was destined for the United States.
He was arrested in Chiang
Mai one year after the drugs were seized. He was sentenced to death in
absentia.
The United States has offered a US$2-million bounty for Wei's
arrest.
Gen Kyaw Thein also denied that another drug ring leader,
Surachai Ngernthongfu, or Bang Ron, was hiding in his country.
He had no
knowledge of his whereabouts, he said.
Thai intelligence officials
believe Bang Ron went into hiding in Burma after police raided his home in Nong
Chok five years ago and seized 700,000 methamphetamine tablets.
Justice
Minister Pongthep Thepkanchana yesterday insisted the two drug barons were still
actively involved in drug trafficking.
He said Thai intelligence reports
that the two were hiding in Burma were reliable.
When advised of Gen Kyaw
Thein's flat denials, Rassamee Wisthawes, deputy secretary-general of the Office
of the Narcotics Control Board, replied: ``That's just Burma's view.''
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The Straits Times - JULY 25, 2003
FRI
Don't push Myanmar back into the shell
WIN AUNG
MINISTER FOR FOREIGN AFFAIRS OF THE UNION OF
MYANMAR
MYANMAR is a peace-loving nation. The people of Myanmar
love peace. They would like to see their country peaceful and developed,
standing tall among the nations of the world.
The majority of people of
Myanmar are Buddhists. Buddhism inculcates loving kindness, compassion and
sympathetic joy for all beings - celestial beings, humans and animals large and
small.
They lead simple lives and are content with whatever they have.
They seek happiness. From childhood, they are taught to behave properly and to
respect elders. They are also imbued with a sense of compassion for those who
are less fortunate, the poor and the helpless.
They lived in a peaceful
and bountiful land until the West discovered them and annexed their land to the
British Empire. They became a victim of their own success and their country's
strategic location.
In 2001, then president Jiang Zemin of China came to
Myanmar on a state visit. The president, on seeing pictures of the Myanmar king
and queen being taken away as prisoners by British troops during his tour of the
newly restored Mandalay Palace, turned to me and asked: 'Foreign Minister, why
did the British annex your country?'
I gave him a straightforward
answer: 'Mr President, the British did so because they wanted to open a trade
route from India to China through Myanmar.'
We lived under British rule for
more than a century.
During World War II, Japanese forces invaded
Myanmar. Why?
The answer: To cut off the supply route from India to
China through Myanmar. We lived under Japanese rule for about four
years.
When World War II ended, the Cold War began. Myanmar became the
bone of contention for the big powers because it was strategically located
between the two most populous nations of the world, India and
China.
Insurgencies in the country were instigated from abroad. They were
armed, trained and directed from overseas. National unity was threatened and the
Union faced total disintegration.
During the present government's time,
it has been able to solve problems amicably and peacefully. Seventeen armed
groups signed peace agreements with the government. They are not tiny bands. One
group is 40,000 strong.
The international media conveniently ignores this
important fact and chooses to highlight the activities of remaining insurgent
groups. The questionable behaviour of these terrorists is accorded more
attention.
Myanmar today faces many challenges - restoring law and order,
building national unity, alleviating poverty, restructuring the economy, working
on the national reconciliation process and writing a new
constitution.
Talk is cheap. Action is not.
It is one thing to
criticise and adopt sanctions. It is quite another to ensure that 52 million
people are well-fed, well-clothed and well-sheltered.
The enrolment in
the universities today exceeds 770,000. It contrasts with the 130,000 students
enrolled a decade ago. This speaks volumes for the work that has been done to
promote education in the country.
Myanmar has tried to come out of the
self-imposed isolation of the previous socialist government. It is trying to
solve outstanding political problems. The problem involving Daw Aung San Suu Kyi
is but one of many. If there exists sincere goodwill on all sides, the problems
of the country can be satisfactorily resolved. It needs two to
tango.
Putting all the blame on the government alone is not
fair.
Threats and imposition of sanctions are counter-productive.
Sanctions are blunt weapons. They do more harm than good. For many years now,
all forms of development assistance have been denied Myanmar by international
finance institutions.
Myanmar receives the least amount of official
development assistance among the developing countries. This is clearly reflected
in the statistical reports published by the United Nations.
Myanmar has
developed relying solely on its own resources.
It does not pose any
threat to regional or international peace and stability.
It does not
possess any weapons of mass destruction.
It has never supported
international terrorism. It never will. In fact, it has been a target of
terrorism.
All those who have visited Myanmar can attest that the people
of Myanmar are the most peaceful.
Why push Myanmar back into the shell
from which it has emerged?
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