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BurmaNet News Aug 11th 1995



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The BurmaNet News: August 11, 1995


~BURMA'S ENTRY INTO ASEAN: A NEAR REALITY?
~MAE SAI TRADERS CRYING FOUL AS BORDER PASS ABRUPTLY SHUT
~SUU KYI AGREES TO SEND MASSAGE TO BEIJING MEET
~SUU KYI BESTOWS HER BLESSING ON BURMA'S ACCESSION TO TREATY
~MAN ARRESTED HELPING ALIENS
~CHAVALIT TRIP TO MEND TIES
~BURMA STUDENTS DREAM OF REVIVING 8888 MOVEMENT
~ETHNIC MINORITIES 
~CHAVALIT TRIP TO MEND TIES

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===== item =====

~BURMA'S ENTRY INTO ASEAN: A NEAR REALITY?
10 AUGUST 1995, The Nation
    
The Burmese military junta surprisingly announced its desire to become an
Asean observer. Yindee Lertcharoenchok looks at this crucial stage of Burma at
a political crossroads.
    
With Burma's accession to the 1976 Treaty of Amity and Cooperation last month,
Asean members are jubilant that their founding father's dream of seeing a 10-
member Southeast Asian grouping is finally materializing before the turn of
the century.
    
 Asean members belive that the five year time frame is a reasonable possibil
ity as Vietnam has just become a full member, with Laos and Cambodia expected
to head in the same direction as both have been granted observer status.
    
 It has been the dream of our founding fathers that there will eventually be
an Asean 10. I would like to see it happen by the turn of the century. There
are still five years to work on this. It is possible,  said Malaysian Foreign
Ministry Permanent Secretary Ahmad Kamil Jaafar in Kuala Lumpur on the eve of
the annual Asean Ministerial Meeting in Brunei last month.
    
In early July, the Burmese junta instructed its ambassador to Indonesia to
inform the Asean Secretariat Office in Jakarta of its wish to become an
observer at Asean.
    
At the same time, Burmese Foreign Minister U Ohn Gyaw informed his counter
part, Prince Mohamed Bolkiah of Brunei, who chaired the Asean meeting, of
Rangoon's decision to accede to the Asean treaty. By tradition, this
automatically gives a treaty partner an observer status in Asean.
    
With no prior hint, Asean countries were caught off guard by the sudden
decision of the ruling Burmese State Law and Order Restoration Council
(Slorc). They were even more surprised to hear about the Slorc's unconditional
release on July 10 of its  arch enemy  and pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu
Kyi, who had spent nearly six years under house arrest.
    
Upon arrival in Brunei on July 27, U Ohn Gyaw presented to Prince Bolkiah
Slorc's  instrument of accession  to the Bali Treaty. However, Asean members
decided to stand by their previous decision to have Ohn Gyaw attend the Asean
forum as  guest of the host country.  During the Asean meeting in July last
year, he also represented his country as guest of Thailand.
    
In principle, Asean foreign ministers agreed that Burma would officially enjoy
observer status at their annual gathering next year in Indonesia.
    
Slorc's abrupt but deliberate move to associate itself with Asean is not
without hidden motives when one takes into account its refusal to join
Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand when they founded
the grouping in 1967.
    
Since Burma's independence in 1948 after 62 years of British colonial rule,
successive governments_ parliamentary and military_ have strictly adhered to 
neutrality  in foreign policy partly due to its strategic geopolitical
location as a country that borders two Asian giants, China and India.
    
They also adopted the concept of five principles of peaceful coexistence
proclaimed at the Afro-Asian Conference in Bandung, Indonesia in April, 1955
where Burma was one of the key participants.
    
The Bandung Declaration, which has served as the basic principle of Burma's
foreign relations with countries across the globe, calls for mutual respect
for each other's territorial integrity and sovereignty, mutual non-aggression
and non-interference in each other's internal affairs, equally and mutual
benefits, and peaceful coexistence.
    
When the Revolutionary Council of Gen Ne Win seized power on March 2, 1962, it
announced Burma's  adherence to a policy of positive neutrality,  guaranteeing 
the continuity of existing cordial relations with all countries. 
    
Burma's  neutrality  was well recognized, especially at the height of the Cold
War in Southeast Asia. During that rough and tough period, the country avoided
suspicion from both the Communist world and the  free world  by refusing to
align itself with either camps and keeping itself apart from regional
associations, including Asean, which it considered as a staunchly anti-
communist, pro-Western apparatus and lackey of American imperialism in the
region.
    
In Sept 1979, Burma withdrew from the Non-Aligned Movement (Nam), citing the
violations of the Movement's basic principles, including the emergence of some 
active factions  within the organization, the use of force by some members for
the settlement of disputes and interference in the internal affairs of others.
    
Only after the Cold War over did Burma seek to restore its Nam membership.
Senior Thai government officials and some Asean diplomats share the view that
Burma would not rush to become a full member of Asean and that the status of
observer would sufficiently serve, at least for the time being, its internal
and external interests, politically and economically.
    
Unlike Vietnam and the two other Indochinese countries, Burma's integration
into the Southeast Asian club would be a  cautious gradual  process.
    
As an observer, Burma would be able to enjoy distant relations with Asean,
which has yet to set a new post-Cold War policy direction and principles,
while earning global acceptance, recognition and legitimacy from the
grouping's growing international prominence.
    
Slorc knows that Asean is a good steeping stone into the global arena and that
it can easily pass the test with full regional recognition. The Burmese regime
is confident that, as an observer, its self-interests would not be hurt and
Asean can always be relied upon to stand up to deflect and challenge Western
pressure and criticism of Slorc's poor human rights records and refusal to
initiate democratic reforms.
    
The benefits also include the invitation to attend separate annual meetings of
Asean foreign and economic ministers and , more importantly, the two-year-old
Asean Regional Forum (ARF) where Asean and its dialogue partners from the
world's developed economies hold talks on political, security and defence
matters in Asia and the Pacific.
    
Several ARF members, particularly the West, have identifies Burma and the
Spratly islands as the  two potential hot spots  in Southeast Asia. They have
also commissioned studies to seek preventive measures against a possible
violent scenario..
    
Slorc has clearly timed and used the release of Suu Kyi and its appropriate
association with Asean to neutralize international outrage and backlash. The
stunning release of the 1991 Nobel Peace Prize winner was not only a domestic
agenda but a global requirement and Slorc maximized its effects to its utmost
benefit.
    
While Burma realizes its inevitable integration into Asean, Slorc has
absolutely no desire or proven sincerity, at least for now, to be a full
member of Asean. Although Vietnam's entry last month meant the official ending
of ideological hostilities in the grouping, Burma has always pursued a more
global outlook and prefers to associate itself with the United Nations or the
Non-Aligned Movement where its interests and presence are best served and
recognized.
    
Asean diplomats believe that while Burma would have less difficulty than the
three Indochinese status, it would study and watch Vietnam's integration in
Asean closely. Unlike Cambodia and Laos, Burma has not publicly announced or
committed itself to becoming an Asean member, they noted.
    
Slorc is fully aware that before becoming an Asean member, it would be
required to fulfill certain criteria and obligations, although exceptions are
possible like in the case of Vietnam requesting a three-year grace period
before it fully joins the Asean Free Trade Area.
    
Among other requirements, Burma has to carry out internal administrative,
structural and even policy reforms and preparations to cope with intensive
Asean political and economic activities - around 200 meeting yearly, huge
expenses and an annual US$ million membership contribution.
    
It also has to conform to numerous Asean rulers and regulations as well as the
grouping's principles and stance towards various international issues which
Burma, with its global neutrality image, could find itself reluctant to commit
to.
    
Although Asean countries have tried to assure Rangoon that membership into
Asean will not be gauged on the basis of the political situation there, Slorc
knows that unless it improves its human rights records and implements further
political reforms, its efforts to normalize relations with the world
community, and come into association with Asean, will not be without
criticism.
    
Suu Kyi's release was warmly welcomed internationally, but the move does not
translate into any political reform in Burma. Slorc has not projected a
softened or reconciliation stance towards the pro-democracy movement or ethnic
guerilla forces.
    
before Burma is fully welcomed with open arms as a member, Asean has to make
sure that Slorc accomplishes the other fundamental international requirements
stated in successive annual UN resolutions. This includes the release of all
political detainees, respects of human rights, freedom of access to political
prisoners by the International Committee for the Red Cross, and progress
towards dialogue and national reconciliation with the country's pro-democracy
and ethnic movements. (TN)
    

===== item =====

~MAE SAI TRADERS CRYING FOUL AS BORDER PASS ABRUPTLY SHUT
10 August 1995, THE NATION

THE Burmese junta on Tuesday ordered the abrupt closure of five temporary
border checkpoints between Tachilek and Thailand's Mae Sai district, and
threatened a six-month jail term for anyone caught illegally crossing into
Thailand.

Thai merchants and the Mae Sai Chamber of Fem Traders said the closure will
badly affect the town's already poor economy. It relies on border trade and
local tourism.

Chamber president Pichai Kongsricharoen said he did not know why the ruling
State Law and Order Restoration Council had closed the checkpoints, which were
opened last month by Chiang Rai officials to facilitate and tourism.

He said Slorc had threatened to jail people who illegally crossed the border
for six months without bail or visitation rights.

The closure was made without warning. Pichi said Mae Sai's whole economy was
damaged when Slorc closed the official Tachilek-Mae Sai crossing early this
year, after a dawn raid on Tachilek by opium warlord Khun Sa's Mong Tai Army.
(TN)


===== item =====

~SUU KYI AGREES TO SEND MASSAGE TO BEIJING MEET

10 August 1995, THE NATION

BURMESE dissident Aung San Suu Kyi will send a videotape address to the non-
governmental forum on women in Beijing this month, the chairwoman for the
conference said yesterday.

Aung San Suu Kyi agreed to record a message for the conference, which beings
on Aug 30, after having turned down an invitation to attend the forum, which
precedes the UN world women's conference, Supatra Masdit told reporters in
Bangkok.

The Burmese dissident was invited to attend the meeting by the UN organizers,
but declined, saying she was not yet prepared to travel outside Burma.

Suu Kyi would talk about her political struggle and describe her experience up
to her release from almost six years of house arrest on July 10, said Supatra,
a Thai MP.

We want her to talk about her inspirations, her belief in talking a political
role for the world's women, she said.

She will also tell of her experiences, which will benefit women who wish to
take a political role- especially for dissident movements fighting undemo
cratic forces, Supatra said.

Burma has announced that it will send an official delegation to the Beijing
forum. (TN)


===== item =====

~SUU KYI BESTOWS HER BLESSING ON BURMA'S ACCESSION TO TREATY
11 AUGUST 1995, The Nation

Aung San Suu Kyi has told Thai Ambassador Poksak Nilubol that she
supports the Burmese military junta's decision to accede to Asean's
Treaty of Amity and Cooperation.

Suu Kyi, released last month after six years of house arrest, also
repeated her earlier comment that she does not want to leave Burma.

"Suu Kyi informed the Thai envoy that she agree with Burma's
accession to the treaty because it showed that her country respects
regional principles," a well informed source in Rangoon said in a
telephone interview.

Poksak was the first Asean envoy to visit Suu Kyi, after receiving
instructions from Thai Foreign Minister Kasem Kasemsri. He was seen
entering Suu Kyi's house last Thursday carrying a bouquet of
flowers, and spent about an hour inside.

Kasem had earlier said that Poksak did not carry any official
message from the Thai government, since Suu Kyi was now free person
and could make her own decision on matters concerning Burma.

"Therefore, I allowed the ambassador to arrange the visit. The envoy
is a good listener and we want to know her opinions on many issues,"
he said.

A group of Asean ambassadors in Rangoon had earlier arranged a
"working lunch" with Suu Kyi only to be asked to reconsider by the
military junta, the State Law and Order Restoration Council (Slorc).

Kasem a former permanent secretary for foreign affairs, had said
earlier that Thailand would begin either concerted or individual
attempts to help promote democracy in Burma.

"Some people, including ministry officials, have accused me of being
two-faced [for contacting both Slorc and Suu Kyi]," the minister
said.

Burma acceded to the treaty during the Asean Foreign Ministers
meeting in Brunei last month. It also applied for observer status.

The seven-member Asean is considering the application and, if
approved, Burma would be granted the status at the next Asean
meeting in Indonesia.

In a separate interview, Kasem yesterday said Defence Minister
Chavalit Yongchaiyudh is expected to help ease "tense relations"
between Thailand and Burma during his visit to Rangoon early next
month.

"Gen Chavalit is expected raise bilateral problems and help solve
them," Kasem said, adding that the Foreign Ministry will do nothing
that might harm the already delicate border situation.

Chavalit is scheduled to visit Rangoon on Sept 1-2 as guest of the
Burmese Defence Ministry.

Thai and Burmese relations have been strained since Rangoon began
suppressing armed ethnic groups in the country, including drug
kingpin Khun Sa's Mong Tai Army.

The military action forced Burmese refugees to flee to Thailand and
Slorc has accused the Thai government of harbouring them.

Recently leaflets were distributed in Rangoon and border provinces
telling the Burmese to boycott Thai products in favour of those from
Japan and Singapore. (TN)


===== item =====

~MAN ARRESTED HELPING ALIENS
11 AUGUST 1995, Bangkok Post

Police yesterday arrested a man for smuggling 22 Burmese immigrants
from designated areas along the border.

The man, Sao Jaiya, 52, was caught while trying to lead 17 Burmese
men and five women into the forest to avoid Ban Huay Ya U checkpoint
on the Mae Sot-Tak road.

The immigrants were charged with illegal entry. Sao, who has been
arrested on the same charge six times, intended to take the people
to Muang district in Tak and other provinces on a pick-up truck,
police claimed.

Mae Sot immigration authorities yesterday arrested San Htay, 42, a
Burmese immigrant, who was allegedly trying to take 43 Burmese to
work in Phitsanulok, Nakhon Sawan and Bangkok. (BP)


===== item =====

~CHAVALIT TRIP TO MEND TIES
11 AUGUST 1995, Bangkok Post

Foreign Minister MR Kasem S. Kasemri says he hopes the visit to
Burma by the defence minister will improve sour relations between
the two countries.

MR Kasem said he was confident the trip by Gen Chavalit 
Yongchaiyudh, set for August 26-29 would resolve all problems
including the closure of five temporary checkpoints along the Thai-
Burmese border in Mae Sai, Chiang Rai Province.

He noted the good personal relations between Gen Chavalit and
Burmese military officers. (BP)


===== item =====

~BURMA STUDENTS DREAM OF REVIVING 8888 MOVEMENT
11 AUGUST 1995, The Nation

Aung Zaw talks to ABSDF chairman Moe Thee Zun.

The release of opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi has revived the
hopes of Burma's beleagured student activists, many of whom have
spent the last eight years in the jungles, under arrest or in exile
after leading protests that toppled the Burma Socialist Programme
Party (BSPP) regime of Ne Win in 1988.

Their once-powerful All Burma Students Democratic Front (ABSDF) is
split today, but its revolutionary zeal has not diminished and its
aims remain intact, said the best known of its leaders, Moe Thee
Zun.

The former physics student said he believed Slorc was trying to
avoid possible unrest by implementing short-term solutions, like the
release of Suu Kyi, to appease the public and the world community.

"Slorc may have released Suu Kyi, but many others are still de
tained, including students and able politicians. What they should do
is give people the freedom to work abroad.

They should also offer incentives for those who want to put up a
business. Instead, they are trying to buy of many activists and
forgoing separate ceasefire agreements with armed ethnic organiza
tions," he said.

"Dialogue between Slorc and Suu Kyi is the first step that should be
taken. And after this other parties must participate," he added.

Moe Thee Zun said that despite the current weakness of the student
movement, it still had an important role to play in the rebuilding
of Burma. "We are the future," he proudly says.

"We had nothing when we fled to the jungle. We started from zero,"
he said. But their experience has served them well and they have
learned valuable lessons from their mistakes.

Moe Thee Zun, who was one of the leader of the 8888 (8.8.1988)
movement, was confident that the popular group could be reformed.

"We can't say if this will lead to democracy. But as far as we are
concerned, we are committed to genuine democracy and peace in Burma.
Although we will carry on with the armed struggle," he added.

He said the lives of ordinary people had not improved, but instead
were getting harder and harder. "Only a handful of people are
getting richer and richer," he said.

"When the people are starving, who can control their frustrations
and anger?" After he fled to the jungle to escape the political
crackdown in Rangoon in 1989, Moe Thee Zun declared, "We could not
solve our problems by political means. That's why we resorted to
armed struggle. We were forced by the Tatmadaw [military] to take
arms."

Also known Myo Than Htut, Moe Thee Zun (June hailstorm) is a
graduate from Rangoon University. He became a popular student leader
during the 1988 uprising and was the general secretary of the All
Burma Federation of Students' Unions (ABFSU) (Ba Ka Tha).

Like other organizations established before the uprising, the ABFSU
was forced to go underground. After the bloody coup in September,
Moe Thee Zun established and later led a political party, the
Democratic Party for New Society (DPNS), which attracted a large
number of students.

While thousands of students fled to the jungle to take part in the
armed struggle against the State Law and Order restoration Council
(Slorc), Moe Thee Zun and his close friends, including Burma's most
popular student leader, Min Ko Naing (Conqueror of Kings), decided
to remain in the cities initially "to watch the situation and to
test the political waters."

However, the continued to play hide-and-seek with the military
intelligence service. At the same time, Moe Thee Zun's newly-founded
DPNS linked up with other political organizations, including Aung
San Suu Kyi's national League for Democracy (NLD).

Even before the general election, the political clampdown had
already begun. Many well-known and popular figures, including Tin
Oo, Aung San Suu Kyi and Min Ko Naing were arrested.

In Aug, 1989, then Brig Gen Khin Nyunt, Burma's powerful military
intelligence chief, accused many pro-democracy activists of being
Communist Party of Burma (CPB) supporters and traitors.

At the situation deteriorated, and with most of his friends in
prison, Moe Thee Zun disguised himself to evade intelligence
officers searching for him and fled to the jungle. Apart from
torture, including electric shocks, he faced at least 20 years in
prison if captured like close friend Min Ko Naing, who was serving
time at Insein prison.

The ABSDF has become a target of ridicule for some but Moe Thee Zun
said it was important to continue the struggle. "It is like a big
rock on the road. If we just keep looking at it, it will never move.
But if we all help each other, we can move it," he said. (TN)  


===== item =====

~ETHNIC MINORITIES 
The Nation/letters/11.8.95

One thing that can easily be gleaned from The Nation's excellent
interview with Aung San Suu Kyi is the lucidity with which she
was able to enunciate her vision for a truly democratic Burma.

As one whose own life has been intrinsically linked to the
freedom struggle for one's people particularly to heighten the
awareness of the minority problem, it is heartening for me to
know that Daw Suu Kyi indeed comes from a different mould.
Whether and to what extent the status of minorities bear
relevancy to the solution of Burma's malaise has become a leit
motif that may bore people no end.

Nonetheless, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi has stated "without the
participation of the minorities, there will be no lasting peace
in the country." Clearly, she is cognizant of the pivotal role of
the majority in her nation's affairs such as the launching by the
Allies of the reconquest of Burma by organizing the gill people
(CBI Theater) to drive the Japanese out of northwest Burma, the
unity which Aung San sought and received from them (a critical
condition of the British for granting independence), and the
rescuing o  the newly-freed nation from collapse at the height of
the insurrection when loyal Kachin soldiers broke the siege of
Rangoon or what was left of  e government of Burma. No amount of
revisionist writing could smooth away these particular contours
of history.

And today, despite being short shifted again and again, the
minorities stand to join hands with the rest in restoring
democracy, not to blunt it or delay it as some might suggest when
referring to a possible dialogue with Daw Suu Kyi, Slorc and
themselves. Some even suggest that all problems, for minorities
or otherwise. would evaporate once democracy is restored. In the
meantime, stay marginalized, be patient, we know what's good for
you.
    
Michael Maran Jala
Bangkok


===== item =====

~CHAVALIT TRIP TO MEND TIES
Bkk Post/ home region/11.8.95

FOREIGN Minister M.R Kasem S. Kasemsri says he hopes the visit to
Burma by the defence minister will improve sour relations be
tween the two countries.

M.R Kasem said he was confident the trip by Gen Chavalit
Yongchaiyudh, set for August 26-29, would resolve all problems
including the closure of five temporary checkpoints along the
Thai-Burmese border in Mae Sai, Chiang Rai Province.

He noted the good personal relations between gen Chavalit and
Burmese military officers.
   
==================================================================


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