BurmaNet News: September 29

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************************** BurmaNet **************************
"Appropriate Information Technologies, Practical Strategies"
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BurmaNet News: Tuesday, September 29, 1994
Issue #26

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Contents:

1: NATION:  KHIN NYUNT SAYS MORE TALKS ARE PLANNED WITH SUU KYI 
2: BKK POST: NOT TIME TO INVEST IN BURMA   
3: NATION: KAREN REBELS SEEK THAI HELP TOP PRESSURE SLORC FOR TALKS  
4: AFP:  BURMA'S TOURISM MINISTER IN BALI

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NATION:  KHIN NYUNT SAYS MORE TALKS ARE PLANNED WITH SUU KYI 
September 29, 1994

HONG KONG - A Burmese leader has told time magazine that Burma's ruling junta
plans to hold more talks with Aung San Suu Kyi, the detained opposition leader.

Lt Gen Khin Nyunt, the junta secretary reputed to be its real strongman, said
the junta said not loathe Mrs Suu Kyi who it has detained for more than five
years, time reports in its Oct 3 issue.

Gen Than Shwe, chairman of the Slorc, met Suu Kyi last Tuesday. It was the firs
t face-to-face meeting between junta leaders and the 49-year old Nobel Laureate 
since her house arrest in July 1989.

"The government does not hold any animosity against her and we met her as if in 
a family reunion," Time quoted Khin Nyunt, who also was present at the meeting,
as saying in an interview.

"I think we were able to arrive at some understanding," Nyunt said. "There will 
be other discussions." The magazine said he declined to say what was discussed
with Suu Kyi, who looked slim and healthy on Burmese television reports.

He also refused to say when she would be released, Time said. The junta has held
power since violently suppressing pro-democracy demonstrations in 1988. Suu Kyi
was detained for allegedly endangering public security in 1989. She was awarded
the 1991 Nobel  Peace Prize for her non-violent promotion of democracy.

Time quoted her as telling US Republican Bill Richardson of New Mexico in a
meeting in February that she has "a vision of a country where we can sort out
our  problems by talking with one another."  "The word parliament comes from the
word "talk". It is better talk than shout,  but shouting is better than
shooting," Suu Kyi reportedly said, according to a  secret transcript of the
meeting obtained by Time.

Richardson was the first outsider to visit Suu Kyi during her house arrest.
After Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy (NLD) won a landslide victory in
a 1990 general election, the junta refused to allow the winning parliamentarians
to take their seats , and it has continued to stamp out all dissent.


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BKK POST: NOT TIME TO INVEST IN BURMA   

Dr Sein Win, prime minister of the parallel National Coalition Government of the
Union of Burma spoke to the National Press club in Washington DC on September 
16. Here are excepts from his address:

AS reported by the United Nation's Special Rapporteur for Human Rights, the
violation of human rights in Burma remains extremely serious.

However, in spite of Prof Yokota's report, there are some who believed that the 
Burmese military dictatorship, known as the Slorc, is changing and introducing 
reforms.

To back up their argument, they point to Slorc's intention to talk to Suu Kyi, 
Slorc's National convention, its ceasefire negotiation with ethnic groups and
its new, so-called "open" economy.

As a result of these developments, some argue that Slorc should be rewarded. T
hey say that the dictatorship can be coaxed into changing even more if they are 
giving aid and accepted into the international community.

They say that if the economy develops and the military feels more secure, the
generals will relax their grip on power and allow more freedom.

However, let me show you why i believe that these arguments are invalid. First, 
let us look at Slorc's intention to talk to Suu Kyi.Slorc always makes an
announcement before international  events, but never follows through after the
event has passed.  This makes me  doubt their sincerity.  And if they do not
discuss politics (with Suu Kyi), what will they discuss? Next, let us look at
SLORC's National Convention.  From the beginning it can be  seen that this is
an attempt by Slorc to delay handing over power.

It has no mandate to hold a National convention. If anyone can claim that
mandate, it is Suu Kyi and the NLD (which won over 80 per cent of the votes in
1990's election).

Out of the delegates to the National Convention, only 120 are elected people's 
representatives, and the declared purpose of the convention is to draw up a
constitution that will give the military leading role in Burma's political
future.

Under the new constitution, the president will not be elected and he must have 
military experience, the Commander-in-Chief can legally seize power, and will
appoint at least 25 per cent of all legislators, from the Senate down to
district councils. The list goes on.

Can we say that Slorc ceasefire negotiations are substantial? To tackle this
question, we should first note that the ethnic peoples of Burma are fighting (a
political) not an ethnic war. They took up arms four decades ago because of a
denial of their rights  and gross human rights violation against them by the
military.

Slorc has made it very clear that it is only negotiating a military ceasefire. 
It promises development assistance to the ethnic areas but say that all
political questions have to be address by the National convention.

It is also stated that groups like the Kachin, Karenni, Mon and Karens must
first lay down their arms if they want to participate even as observers in the
National convention.

Even if the ethnic groups agreed to first surrender in order to participate in 
Slorc's National convention(which is very unlikely), would the ethnic people of 
Burma be able to negotiate political rights for themselves? There are many facts
to show that even Slorc's "open" economy cannot be held as  evidence that Slorc
is changing. First, it is open only to private foreign investment. Internally,
apart from a small group of Slorc-related private business , the economy is
still controlled by Slorc.

State enterprises and the Defence Ministry's Union of Myanmar Economic holding 
dominate everything. The foreign exchange rate is still controlled  (official: 
six kyat equals US$1: black market:120 kyat equals US$1), and profit cannot be 
repatriated by foreign investors. The dictators have just changed methods and
are using foreign cap ital instead of socialist dogma to retain political
control.

It is clear that the military is not introducing genuine democratic reforms -
nor it is capable of bringing about economic development in Burma. In this
respect, I would like to inform the potential American investor that this not
the time to be investing in Burma. Your investment will be at risk.

Slorc cannot bring about economic development in Burma because it doesn't have
t he support of the people. The level of discontent is rising. The same factors 
that sparked the nation wide unrest in 1988 are present today. Unless Slorc
negotiates with Suu Kyi  soon, there will be another outbreak of violence.  

Your investment in Burma will be seen as support for the dictatorship, which is 
on its last legs.  And when a democratically elected government of Burma comes
to power, it will b e under tremendous pressure not to honour contract signed
with foreign firms th at supported the dictatorship and prolonged the suffering
of the Burmese people.

This is especially true of the oil companies like Unocal and Texaco. Their
exploitation of Burma's natural gas will provide hard currency for the military
to  purchase more arms and further suppress the Burmese people.

Their proposed gas pipeline has already pushed the Burmese military to launch
a campaign to secure the pipeline area by forcefully relocating thousand of
villagers.

They are also using the refugees as salve labourers to clear the route and build
railway lines and roads in support of the pipeline. What damage the pipeline w
ill do to the environmentally sensitive areas has not yet been determined.

Once democracy is restored, we will welcome our friends who have stood by us in 
our time of need. Rewarding Slorc for changes which are designed to consolidate
its power does not make sense. We do not want change for change's sake. We want
democracy and freedom.

If we want to see democracy in Burma, there is only one way. Suu Kyi and her NLD
must be brought into the nation-building process.

Slorc cannot continue to ignore her. She has the legitimacy that Slorc can never
obtain. Any attempt to bring about democratic change in Burma without her is 
doomed to failure.

Therefore, I would like to urge the United States to maintain  its firm human
rights policy in Burma . Without a strong US position and an equally strong
United Nations Resolution, real democratic change in Burma will not take place.


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NATION: KAREN REBELS SEEK THAI HELP TOP PRESSURE SLORC FOR TALKS  
September 29, 1994

ETHNIC Karen guerrillas have urged Thailand and the world community "to use
influence" to persuade the Burmese junta to begin talks which go beyond a
ceasefire agreement.

They said the Karen National Union (KNU)  and the Burmese opposition alliance
long for a political solution to the country's political and armed conflicts and 
favoured a nationwide ceasefire and peace talks involving all ethnic and
political organisations.

The KNU, in a statement, said they continued to insist that "the necessary
dialogue can only satisfactorily occur on neutral ground and in the presence of
an independent international observer." There seems to be a slight shift in the
Karen position from its previous demand s that peace talks must take place
"outside Burma" and in  the presence of a UN  observer. The ruling Burmese State
Law and Order Restoration Council (Slorc) h as rejected the Karen's conditions
and demanded that any truce talks take place inside the country.

"The KNU therefore urges the Royal Thai Government and other members of the
international community to use their influence to persuade Slorc to acknowledge
th e need for genuine dialogue towards a real political settlement which goes
beyond separate ceasefires as a means of achieving lasting peace in Burma," it
said.

Karen officials reportedly said some progress was achieved during the recent
meeting between KNU leaders and Anglican Archbishop Andrew Mya Han, who has
shuttled between Rangoon and Karen headquarters at Manerplaw to work out a
formula  for Karen dialogue  with Rangoon.

The progress, while remained confidential to the public, has prompted
speculations that first bilateral encounter between the Slorc and the Karen
guerrillas could start soon.

The Karen statement said Slorc has repeatedly refused to address any political 
agenda and insisted only on demarcation lines for military activity, resulting 
in a deadlock in its negotiations with the armed ethnic Mon movement.

"According to the New Mon State Party, Slorc was still refusing to talk about
a ny issues other than demarcation lines, if it was refusing to talk about any
of  the political issues, including the question of displaced persons and
refugees ," said the Karen  statement. 

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AFP:  BURMA'S TOURISM MINISTER IN BALI
Jakarta
Burmese Tourism Minister Gen Kyaw Ba is on a three-day visit to the Indonesian
resort island of Bali to observe tourism there, the Antara news agency said
yesterday.

Kyaw Ba, who arrived with a number of Burmese tourism officials, started his
visit by meeting Bali Vice Governor Ahim Abdurahim. They exchanged views on
tourism, Antara said.

The Burmese minister is scheduled to visit several tourist sites in Bali and to 
watch several traditional dance and music performances. 

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ABBREVIATIONS USED BY BURMANET:

 AP: ASSOCIATED PRESS
 AFP: AGENCE FRANCE PRESSE
 AWSJ: ASIAN WALL STREET JOURNAL
 BBC: BRITISH BROADCASTING CORPORATION
 BI: BURMA ISSUES
 BIG: BURMA INFORMATION GROUP
 BKK POST: THE BANGKOK POST
 CPPSM: COMMITTEE FOR THE PUBLICITY OF THE PEOPLE'S STRUGGLE IN MONLAND
 DA:  DEPTHNEWS ASIA
 FEER: FAR EAST ECONOMIC REVIEW
 NATION: THE NATION (DAILY NEWSPAPER, BANGKOK)

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