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BurmaNet News: October 28, 1995 #26
- Subject: BurmaNet News: October 28, 1995 #26
- From: strider@xxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Sun, 29 Oct 1995 09:50:00
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Date: Sun, 29 Oct 1995 09:50:20 -0800
Subject: BurmaNet News: October 28, 1995 #264
------------------------ BurmaNet ------------------------
"Appropriate Information Technologies, Practical Strategies"
----------------------------------------------------------
The BurmaNet News: October 28, 1995
Issue #264
Noted in Passing:
As they look out from their run-down government office windows,
it has hard to know what the generals see that makes them so
confident they can possibly run the country without the
cooperation and support of the people. The only thing staring
back at them is a sullen, cowed population - and poverty, the
only undeniable product of their rule since 1962. - Nation Editorial
(quoted in: NATION: CLOSING THE DOOR ON SUU KYI)
HEADLINES:
==========
BURMA GROUPS IN INDIA: COMBINED DECLARATION
NCGUB: REPORT FROM THE OFFICE OF THE UNITED NATIONS MISSION
NCGUB: RESPONSE TO GENERAL MAUNG AYE'S SPEECH
JAPAN TIMES: JAPAN-MYANMAR RELATIONSHIP COMES INTO FOCUS
NATION: CLOSING THE DOOR ON SUU KYI
BKK POST: THE OPTIONS NARROW IN SLORC-SUU KYI STANDOFF
BKK POST: AMNESTY: BURMA RIGHTS SITUATION STILL CRITICAL
INDEPENDENT REPORT: THAI GOVT OFFICIAL'S COMMENTS ON BURMA
NATION: ORIENTAL HOTEL BOARD APPROVES JOINT VENTURE PROJECT
BKK POST: DIVE OPENING UNITE IN TO EXPLORE BURMESE SITES
BKK POST: KHUN SA IN LOOSE TRUCE ACCORD WITH RANGOON
REUTER: TALKS TO END BURMA'S WAR WITH REBELS NEARING END
BKK POST: BORDER REOPENING WITH BURMA SOUGHT
**************************************
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BURMA GROUPS IN INDIA: COMBINED DECLARATION
ABSDF (WB) Foreign Affairs; FTUB (WB); WRWAB
October 27, 1995
We are very glad to learn that various democracy loving people
all over the world will join hands together in performing various
activities against the military dictatorship on October 27, 1995, the
international action day for a free Burma.
Although we can not do any activities due to the belated arrival
of information, we unanimously convey our moral support to all the
activists taking part in the movement on the international action
day for a free Burma.
********************************
NCGUB: REPORT FROM THE OFFICE OF THE UNITED NATIONS MISSION
24 October 1995
(on the activities of the National Coalition Government of
the Union of Burma (NCGUB))
429, East 52nd Street, Suite 5H, New York. 10022
Tel (212) 751 5312 Fax: (212) 759 4149)
REPORT 1:
19 October 1995: Returning from Manila and London, Prime Minister, Dr
Sein Win, arrives in New York to join Dr Thaung Htun, CEC Member ABSDF
and NCGUB Represeentative to the United Nations.
Manila. The International union conference inManila, Philippines titled
"Democratic Trade Union and Other Human Rights in burma", called
together international unions from 134 different coutnries with a
membership of 126 million people. The Prime Minister was invited as a
special guest speaker to explain the situation in Burma. He asked that
the unions lend their support to the democratic movement led by Aung San
suu Kyi. Included as part of a tough resolution the confernce called on
trade unions around the world to "Press all governments to insititute
comprehensive economic sanctions against th eSLORC and to include this
demand in the "United Nations General Assembly Resolution on Burma".
Pariticpating in the Confernece, Maung Maung, Secretary, Federation
Trade Unions, Burma, called on the unions to take tough and decisive
action.
London. Burma Donor Forum met in London to discuss funding priorities
in 1996. Organised in conjunction with the Forum Meeting, a Burma
Briefing was held by UK based NGOs to which the Prime Minister, Dr Sein
Win was invited to speak.
20 October 1995: Amanda Zappia arrives New York. 1995 NCGUB UN Mission
delegates will include Prime Minster, NCGUB, Dr Sein Win, Dr Thaung
Htun, ethnic leaders and Amanda Zappia. The names of the ethnic leaders
will remain confidential until their arrival in New York.
23 October 1995. Maung Maung Aye, Vice Chairman, SLORC, addresses the
United Naitons General Assembly and the NCGUB respond. Speech and
Statement are included in this report.
24 October 1995: SLORC has declared Aung San Suu Kyi's re-appointment as
Secretary General of the National League for Democracy illegal according
to reports in the New York Times and Dallas Morning News. NCGUB issues
a press release.
Furture Agenda: The Delegation will meet with Australia's Foreign
Minister, Senator the Hon. Gareth Evans on the 25th October. NGOs and
Burma support groups will meet with the Delegation up to the end of the
month. Official meeting with UN Mission will commence on the 6th
Novermber.
Report Ends.
******************
NCGUB: RESPONSE TO GENERAL MAUNG AYE'S SPEECH
National Coalition Government of the Union of Burma Office of the UN Mission
October 23, 1995
In his address to the 50th Anniversary Special Commenmorative Session of
the United Nations General Assembly, General Maung Aye, Vice Chairman of
the State Law and Order Restoration Council (SLORC), supported the
instituion of the United Nations. He said, "There is no better
alternative to the United Nations. In an increasingly inderdependent
world, the United Nations is the only forum for multi- lateral cooperation.
I would like to reaffirm Myanmars's abiding faith in the United Nations as
a center for harmonizing the actions of nations in the attainment of universal
peace and cooperation". General Maung Aye also renewed SLORC's commitment
to the principles and purposes of the Charter of the United Nations and pledged
SLORC's continued cooperation with the United Nations.
The National Coalition Government of the Union of Burma (NCGUB),
representing the will of the people of Burma as expressed in the 1990
general elections, welcome SLORC's commitment to the UN and its pledge
to cooperate with the world body which represents the international community.
Since 1991, the UN Commission on Human Rights and the UN General
Assembly have consistently passed consensus resolutions calling on SLORC
to honor the results of the 1990 elections, to accelerate the pace of
democratization in Burma and to improve the human rights situation in
Burma. The resolutions are consistent with the Charter of the United
Nations which clearly states that all Member States have an obligation
to promote and protect human rights and fundamental freedoms for all
without distinction as to race, sex, language, or religion. They are
also consistent with the Universal Declaration of Human Rights
whichstate that "the will of people shall be the basis of the authority
of government".
SLORC cannot pledge to support the UN and at the same time claim that it
has the right to ignore the will of the Burmese people as well as the
will of the international community because the situation in Burma is an
internal affair. Neither can General Maung Aye claim that to maintain
international peace and security, the UN should not "internal affairs".
The UN Secretary-General has stated in his 'Agenda for Peace' that
security does not merely mean the lack of military threat. Human Rights
violations, poverty, humanitarisn crises and natural disasters also
threaten international peace and security. The current situation in
Burma and SLORC's refusal to address them is beginning to threaten
regional security. Given SLORC's professed commitment to the UN, the
NCGUB calls on the international community to require SLORC to live up
to its obligations.
The preamble of the UN Charter quoted by General Maung Aye in his speech
obliges Member States, "to practice tolerance anigh live together in
peace with one another as good neighbours". It also calls for Member
States not to use armed forced and to establish conditions under which
justice can be maintained. Given SLORC's systemic gross violation of
human rights in Burma, its persecution of religious and ethnic
minorities, its indiscriminate use of armed force to suppress dissent,
and its blatant disregard for the territorial integrity of its
neighbors, it is right that the UNGA should continue to express its
concern about the situation in Burma.
The NCGUB would also like to remind General Maung Aye and SLORC that
Article 6 of the UN Charter staes that a Member State which persistently
violates th eprinciples ocntained in the Charter may be expelled from
the UN by the General Assembly.
The NCGUB, therefore, calls on SLORC to make good without further delay,
its commitment to the UN and its pledge to cooperate with it by fully
implement the UN resolutions. Since October 1994, the UN Secretary-General
has been trying to engage in a dialogue with SLORC about the human rights
situation in Burma in order to facilitate a dialogue between the Burmese military
led by SLORC, the democracy movement led by Nobel Peace laureate Daw Aung
San Suu Kyi, and ethnic leaders, as a means to national reconciliation. At the
very least, SLORC should cooperate with the UN Secretary-Genral and initiate
a dialogue with Daw Aung San Suu Kyi.
**********************************
JAPAN TIMES: JAPAN-MYANMAR RELATIONSHIP COMES INTO FOCUS
October 27, 1995 By Hisane Masaki
Tokyo visit of Gen. Maung Aye underscores growing importance of bilateral ties
Gen. Maung Aye, a top leader of Myanmar's military-led government, comes
to Tokyo next week on a five-day informal visit, apparently courting
increased Japanese economic aid and investment to help his country's switch
to a free market economy from a socialist-style, centrally planned economy.
Maung Aye, the vice chairman of the State Law and Order Restoration
Council -- as the military junta refers to itself -- is to arrive Monday on
his way back home from a trip to New York to attend the 50th anniversary
celebrations of the United Nations.
He will be the highest-level SLORC official to visit Japan since the
military took power in Myanmar in a 1988 coup. There is a speculation that
the 57-year-old military official may replace Than Shwe as SLORC chairman as
early as next spring.
Certain major Japanese trading firms are so enamored of new business
opportunities in Myanmar -- a potentially lucrative, resource-rich market
with the population of 45 million -- that they are preparing to roll out the
red carpet for him, according to sources familiar with corporate thinking on
the matter.
Marubeni Corp. and Mitsubishi Corp., according to the sources, both of
which signed comprehensive cooperation agreements with Myanmar earlier this
year, and Mitsui & Co. Ltd. have already appointed a full day each during
Maung Aye's Japan stay for business discussions and consultations.
After Myanmar -- formerly Burma -- became internationally isolated,
especially from the West, in the late 1980s, its economy demonstrated slack
economic growth, at best, until a recovery began in 1992.
Even after posting a robust growth of 9.3 percent in fiscal 1992, the
country's economy has continued to grow strongly amid accelerated
free-market reforms, although at a slightly slower pace.
Japan made direct investment of only $101 million in Myanmar between
September 1988 and March 1995, as compared with $632 million by Britain,
$465 million by France, $398 million by Thailand, $293 million by Singapore
and $226 million by the United States, according to Myanmarese government
statistics.
In a sharp contrast to the sentiment within the private business sector,
the Japanese government apparently wants to keep Maung Aye's Tokyo trip as
low-profile as possible for fears of sending the wrong signal to both SLORC
and the rest of the world, especially the West, about its policy toward Rangoon.
Prim Minister Tomiichi Murayama will probably not meet Maung Aye, although
Foreign Minister Yohei Kono may do so, a Foreign Ministry official said, on
the condition of anonymity.
The official also said that even if Kono or other government officials
were to meet with Maung Aye, they would convey to him a strong message that
SLORC must make more democratic reforms and improve protection of human
rights despite the release in July of opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi.
"The Japanese side will not start talking with Maung Aye about official
economic aid for Myanmar, even though he may raise the subject, "the
official said.
SLORC put Suu Kyi under house arrest in 1989 and annulled the results of a
democratic election in 1990, in which her National League for Democracy, or
NLD, won a landslide victory.
The United States and other Western industrialized countries have harshly
condemned SLORC for blatant violations of human rights and democracy and
frozen official economic aid for the impoverished Southeast Asian country.
Although Japan also suspended official development assistance to Rangoon
following the 1988 military coup, it has advocated a policy of
"constructive engagement" with Rangoon, rather than seeking to isolate
Myanmar, so as to encourage changes there. Myanmar's Asian neighbors have
chosen to pursue a policy of constructive engagement with Myanmar.
Maung Aye's visit comes at a time when Tokyo is gearing up -- albeit
cautiously -- to make a full-scale resumption of offical development
assistance, or ODA, to Myanmar following Suu Kyi's release.
The trip also comes less than one month before Myanmar's National
Convention, which has been involved in the drafting of a new constitution
since 1993, is to resume Nov. 28 after a hiatus of about seven months.
The National Convention was originally to have reopened at the end of
October. Although nearly 10 percent of 700 delegates are from the NLD,
SLORC opponents dismiss the convention as a sham designed to perpetuate the
military's grip on power.
The one-month delay in resuming the convention is seen by some foreign
diplomats in Rangoon as a deliberate and considered tactic by SLORC to draw
Suu Kyi and her NLD into discussions at the resumed convention by giveing
her extra time to determine her position on a dialogue with SLORC.
The worst case scenario for Japan is that confrontation between the Suu
Kyi-led NLD and SLORC would develop into another bout of political
repression, including the possible use of force, by the military.
That scenario, if it were to actually take place, would be a severe
embarassment for Japan, which claims that the policy of constructive
engagement has, so far, reaped tangible results, as exemplified by Suu Kyi's
freedom.
Another flareup of political and social upheaval in Myanmar would also put
the brakes on -- and could even reverse -- Japan's policy of gradually
increasing ODA, including resumption of suspended low-interest yen loans,
to Myanmar.
Since the military grabbed power in the 1988 coup, Japan has put on hold
the disbursement of yen loans it pledged earlier to Myanmar for six
infrastructure projects, including 27 billion yen for the repair and
expansion of an international airport in Rangoon.
The U.S. and Europe insist that Suu Kyi's freedom alone is far from
sufficient and oppose any economic aid for the military-led government in
Myanmar, whose legitimacy they do not recognize.
This stance by other governments and Suu Kyi's critical views on Japanese
aid, especially for nonhumanitarian purposes, voiced repeatedly in
interviews with the foreign media after her July release, have made Tokyo
cuaitious about freely turning on the aid tap to Myanmar.
Aside from such political reasons, it is likely to take about one year --
or even longer -- before Japan can resume the provision of the yen loans to
which it has already committed itself for all six projects because of
technical reasons, such as the need to re-evaluate the projects.
Among the projects, the international airport poses the most complicated
problem, because the question of how to cover some 6 billion yen in losses
incurred by a Japanese corporate group, led by Marubeni and Taisei Corp. is
difficult to resolve, government sources said.
The sources said that the corporate group continued work on the airport
project for some time even after the flow of yen loans stopped in the wake
of the 1992 military coup, in anticipation of an early resumption of such aid.
The group paid some 6 billion yen from its own coffers to make up for
suspended yen loans before it was eventually forced to withdraw from the
project, the sources said. "Once the Marubeni-Taisei group determines to
swallow the loss, then fresh yen loans for the airport project will be
disbursed,"one source said.
Among the six Japanese-financed projects that have been on hold since the
late 1980s, resumption of yen loans for a 4.8 billion yen project to improve
the power supply network in Rangoon is expected to come first, possibly
early next year, the sources said.
Although Japan is preparing to resume the yen loans it already committed
to Myanmar, it will not make any additional pledge of loans in the
foreseeable future, partly for political reasons and partly because of the
unresolved question of some 80 billion yen in official debts that Myanmar
owes Tokyo.
"Japan's position is the same with that of the U.S. and Europe in that
transfer of power from the military to civilians must be made as soon as
possible, " a senior Foreign Ministry official said, on condition of anonymity.
"But Japan wants to see a soft landing for such a transfer of power in
Myanmar, without any serious turmoil there and damages to the country's
smoothly developing economy," the official added.
*****************************
NATION: CLOSING THE DOOR ON SUU KYI
October 27, 1995
SLORC's announcement barring Aung San Suu Kyi from resuming the
leadership of her old party, the National League for Democracy,
makes it succinctly clear to all that the junta has no intention
of working towards a negotiated settlement to Burma's political problems.
Their decision is a saddening one, not only for the long-oppressed Burmese
people, who are used to such duplicitous behaviour, but for Thailand as well.
With this one ruling, SLORC has extinguished the flickers of hope
generated by the release of Suu Kyi and returned Burma to the
debilitating political stalemate that has plagued the country for
the last six years. For Thailand, there is little reason now to believe there
will be any long-term stability along the western border for the foreseeable future.
Modern-day Burma, or Myanmar as the generals have taken to
calling it, is a fabrication built on lies and bayonet points.
And sooner or later it must collapse because of the crude imbalances that exist.
Lies, lies, lies
The biggest lies are political. The military rules under the
pretence of restoring law and order, refusing to let go seven
years after a popular uprising rocked the country and five years
since their leadership was overwhelmingly repudiated at the polls.
The National Convention that is supposed to draw up a new
constitution and pave the way for a transfer or power is pure
folly, a piece of absurdist theatre where time, words and action
all mean nothing. According to SLORC, the convention is still
years away from finishing its task, surely making it the world's
slowest-operating rubber stamp body.
Under pressure from the international community, the junta pledged to
work towards reconciliation with the opposition forces. But again, as
the Suu Kyi ruling shows, these were only more lies.
Burma's economy, much vaunted for its potential, is similarly
built on falsehoods. Not all are as glaring as the ludicrously
inflated kyat, but they should nevertheless give similar warning
to potential investors. Corruption, inflation, legal minefields,
infrastructure shortages, a missing technocrat class, no access
to international lending organizations - the problems are endless.
And while, yes, there is economic growth in Burma, it also is not
real in any sustainable sense. After decades of mismanagement at
military hands the only place the economy could go was up. But
critically, this growth is being fuelled by the export of jade,
timber and fish and other raw materials, none of it processed or
manufactured in Burma and none of it bringing any real benefit to
the population or economy.
Burma's leaders say it is a paradox of the switch to a
market-driven economy that things for most people get worse
before they get better. We predict things won't get any better
for most Burmese, they will merely stay the grinding same. The
only future that awaits Burma is as some form of banana republic,
with huge and volatile disparities between a handful of
military-connected rich and the general population as a whole.
SLORC's peace campaign with the ethnic groups, while perhaps not
an outright lie, is nevertheless built on bent truths and
cynicism. It has been bought at the cost of dividing the country.
The ethnic armies have not laid down their guns and should
Rangoon encroach on their commercial empires, fighting - as in
the case of the Karenni - will surely flare again.
Sullen population
As they look out from their run-down government office windows,
it has hard to know what the generals see that makes them so
confident they can possibly run the country without the
cooperation and support of the people. The only thing staring
back at them is a sullen, cowed population - and poverty, the
only undeniable product of their rule since 1962.
Similarly it is a mystery why they so fear this slight but
iron-willed lady. Her words are not about revenge or retribution.
Instead she talks of negotiation, reconciliation and working
together to build a new Burma.
The generals can shun Aung San Suu Kyi, detain her or blacklist
her, but as long they do, it is they who will remain imprisoned
by the injustices and inequalities they have created. They will
remain international pariahs, overseeing a country that will
continue to simmer with discontent.
Power is said to be corrupting, but it is also blinding. Suu
Kyi is only human, but her unique position as the daughter of
national hero Aung San, her international following, her
non-violent ideology and her domestic popularity offer SLORC
their best hope of coping with the tumult and conflicting
interests at play in Burma.
Tragically, though, they seem absolutely blind to it.
*****************************************************************
BKK POST: EDITORIAL - THE OPTIONS NARROW IN SLORC-SUU KYI
STANDOFF October 27, 1995
SLOWLY, the political battle lines are forming in Burma between
the government and an opposition committed to profound change.
The military regime has decided to try to harass its opposition
with a short-sighted and trivial legal manoeuvre. In recent days,
it has barred Aung San Suu Kyi from regaining leadership of her
National League for Democracy (NLD). The government has drawn on
a 1990 law which permits the regime to approve the leaders of
political parties. After locking up Ms Suu Kyi and other NLD
leaders without charges, the regime pressured the party to
dismiss them in 1991. Now it has released them, but is insisting
on its right to bar them from resuming their former positions.
The hatchet men in this business are actually an anonymous
five-member election commission, appointed by the junta to
conduct the 1990 elections. But they are merely toadies to the
State Law and Order Restoration Council (SLORC). The NLD met
openly (and legally) earlier this month to discuss party
business. One of the urgent matters was party leadership. There
was little surprise when Ms Suu Kyi was reelected as head of the
NLD, and U Kyi Maung and U Tin Oo were also reappointed. All
three are former political prisoners of the regime.
The changes were submitted, as the law demands, to the election
commission. There was little surprise when it gave formal refusal
to the new party hierarchy, but worse was yet to come. It now is
common knowledge SLORC leaders dictated the refusal of the new
NLD lineup. It is feared they will stand by this unwise and
confrontational decision. The aim seems to be to force the NLD
out of existence. It is hard to imagine a more ill-considered action.
The legal existence of the NLD depends upon its having a
five-person executive committee. At present, it has seven. Six of
these men are more than 70 years old, and the seventh is 69. An
eighth member died last July, just days after the release of Ms
Suu Kyi began to raise hope the despotic Rangoon regime was
willing to discuss change in Burma. The junta's refusal to allow
a rejuvenation of the NLD leadership raises the obvious question
of whether the regime wants the party literally to die off.
Life for the NLD is already extremely difficult. Its members have
faced imprisonment without charges since it first was formed.
Leaders are followed and harassed. Contact with foreigners is
generally forbidden, even with the Press. As an illustration of
tight control, SLORC has given permission to the NLD to publish
material _ and has awarded licences for it to own and operate two
typewriters and a stencil-type reproduction machine. Of course, paper
supplies and distribution are closely monitored and closed on a whim.
All of these controls, petty and major, are black marks on the
Rangoon regime. Its claims to be obeying its own laws are
meaningless, since it is the existence of such restrictions which
has fostered the political opposition to SLORC in the first
place. The obvious must be stated: South Africa was obeying its
law by jailing Nelson Mandela, and Nazis were obeying the law by
gassing millions of people. The point of the political debate in
Burma is not that SLORC members are obeying the laws, but that
the laws are unjust and harmful.
The short-term thinking of Burma's military regime is depressing.
Clearly, it has given little thought beyond extending its own
power for a short while. But by swimming against the tide, it is
ensuring that when - not if - conflict occurs, it will be greater
than necessary.
The leaders of SLORC appear to feel that by ignoring their
political opposition, it will go away. Ms Suu Kyi and many other
Burmese disagree. Since her release from house arrest, she has
waited patiently for the regime to begin talks on reconciliation.
She has held all along that only serious bargaining can help
Burma emerge from its dictatorship.
There is little sign this is about to happen. A report issued
yesterday by the human rights group Amnesty International said
that thousands of dissidents remain imprisoned in appalling t
conditions and that other serious human rights abuses continue in
Burma, despite the release of Ms Suu Kyi. The new report claims
that hundreds have died from harsh conditions and poor treatment
in the prisons with convicted criminals being singled out for
forced labour on roads and other projects in terrible conditions.
The junta leaders must come to grips eventually with these human
rights violations and the fact of political opposition. They
should recognise that the Burma of the future must be a more open
society. All citizens are entitled to have a voice in their
nation's future. If SLORC continues to insist on enforcing
outdated and unpopular laws, it will face the consequences. Far
better that the regime enter meaningful negotiations aimed at
reconciliation of all Burmese for the sake of the nation.
*****************************************************************
BKK POST: AMNESTY: BURMA RIGHTS SITUATION STILL CRITICAL
October 27, 1995
(note: The Nation printed a shorter article on the same topic)
BURMA'S human rights situation remains critical despite the July
release of democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi, Amnesty International
said in a report released here yesterday and received by Reuters.
"While we welcome some positive steps made by Myanmar's [Burma's]
military government, thousands of political prisoners still
remain behind bars _ among them at least 50 prisoners of
conscience," the London-based human rights organisation aid.
It defines a prisoner of conscience as someone sentenced for the
peaceful expression of his views.
"The military government's actions this year amount to giving
with one hand while taking away with another," said the report
which looked at human rights in Burma after seven years of
military rule.
Amnesty said less than two weeks before Nobel Peace laureate Suu
Kyi was released from six years of house arrest, three veteran
politicians were sentenced to seven years' imprisonment _
apparently for meeting with foreigners and criticising the ruling
State Law and Order Restoration Council.
"Political arrests remain a major tool of repression used by the
Myanmar Government to suppress any criticism of its policies and
practices," the report said.
"The military continues to arrest people whom it deems a
threat to "national security" but Amnesty International believes
that those people are only peacefully attempting to I express
their political views.
The report also said conditions in prisons and labour camps
remain extremely harsh and prisoners are subjected to beatings
and other forms of ill-treatment.
It said human rights violations occur throughout the country,
with civilians in the border regions, where large populations of
ethnic minorities live, at risk of arbitrary arrest.
The Army continues to seize members of ethnic minorities for
forced portering and labour duties, holding them in unhealthy
conditions for weeks or months and mistreating them, it said.
Amnesty called on the SLORC to release all prisoners of
conscience and to review the cases of all political prisoners. It
also urged the Government to abolish the practice of seizing
civilians for forced labour and portering.
The group also called for the international community to continue
its commitment to protect human rights in Burma
##AFP reports from Tokyo: Japan will offer $16 million in grants
to Burma in line with its decision to resume aid to the country
following Suu Kyi's release, the Foreign Ministry said yesterday.
The aid is aimed at financing a project to enlarge a university
to train nurses in Burma. Officials from the two countries will
exchange documents on the aid Monday in Rangoon, ministry
officials said.
************************
INDEPENDENT REPORT: THAI GOVERMENT OFFICIAL'S COMMENTS
RE: BURMA October 24, 1995
Dear Burma Watchers,
On Monday, October 23, Dr. Amnuay Virawan, one of the Deputy Prime Ministers
of Thailand, appeared at John Hopkins School of Advanced International
Studies (SAIS) and made a presentation which I attended. During the
question and answer period that followed, he was asked about the situation
with Thai-Burma relations and also about ASEAN concerns of SLORC's closeness
to the People's Republic of China.
He answered first of all that the SLORC/PRC ties are "not a matter of major
concern to ASEAN" -- the standard line to cover up significant concern,
privately expressed behind closed diplomatic doors, of course. He then
added that the Thai Goverment is engaged with a "close dialogue with top
Burmese authorities" and that he expects the relations will be "normalized
soon". He added that a draft "border trade agreement" will be finalized
"soon", mentioned that his invitation to Khin Nyunt to visit Bangkok had
already been accepted and finally, the Thai Prime Minister Banharn
Silipa-archa has decided to make an official visit to Burma sometime soon
after Khin Nyunt's visit to Thailand.
Since the party that Amnuay leads -- Nam Thai -- holds the Minister portfolio
for the Ministry for Foreign Affairs, he would certainly be in a position to
know much of this, esp. the Banharn visit. Of course, much of this may be
old news to some, but coming from the source, it's worth noting none the less.
Cheers,
Phil Robertson
reaproy@xxxxxxxx
***************************
NATION: ORIENTAL HOTEL BOARD APPROVES JOINT VENTURE
PROJECT IN BURMA October 27, 1995
Firm holds 50% stake in five star resort hotel project in Bagan
ORIENTAL Hotel (Thailand) Plc's board of directors has approved a
joint investment plan in Bagan Hotel Holding Company to operate a
five star resort hotel in the Burmese city of Bagan.
Oriental Hotel reported to the Stock Exchange of Thailand that it
had acquired a 50 per cent stake in the Bagan Hotel Holding,
while the remaining shares would be held by Mandarin Oriental
International and Italian-Thai Development Plc at 25 per cent, respectively.
The hotel, to be named the "Mandarin Oriental Bagan", is located
on 95 rai of land on the Irawaddy river in one of Burma's most
important historical areas. The company will restore the
historical sites surrounding the project.
Oriental noted that the Burmese government has already approved
in principle details of the project and a draft of the
leasing contract for land use. It is expected to receive a
licence for building and operating the hotel soon.
The project investment cost is estimated at US$22.75 million to
build a 100-hotel room. The hotel will be designed to comply with
local culture and environment.
Oriental Hotel (Thailand) believes that the project will help
increase business at the Oriental Hotel in Bangkok because
tourists will travel through the city as part of their itinerary.
The Mandarin Oriental Bagan will be managed by Mandarin Oriental
International which operates 12 hotels worldwide. In addition,
advanced technology will be an important part for management and
marketing strategies, especially for international reservation networks.
The investment in Burma will be a part of the Oriental
(Thailand)'s plan to expand its business activities in the region.
Chaiyudh Kanasutra, chairman of Oriental (Thailand), earlier said
that the company also surveyed other potential markets in the
region including Cambodia.
Meanwhile, the Oriental (Thailand)'s board approved a change to
its par value from Bt5 to Bt10 as well as a change to the
company's books to help raise funding.
Chaiyudh is also a major shareholder in Thailand's largest
construction firm Italian-Thai Development, which since last year
has operated the Amari Watergate on Petchaburi Road.
*****************************************************************
BKK POST: DIVE OPERATORS UNITE IN BID TO EXPLORE BURMESE SITES
October 27, 1995 By Ken Scott Phuket
PHUKET diving operators have joined forces to form Myanmar Diving
Services Co Ltd in an effort to gain access to the Mergui
archipelago in southern Burma an area virtually cut off from
outside exploration for 50 years.
The aim of the company is to create a united front in the quest
to secure diving access to the waters surrounding hundreds of
islands within a 500-kilometre area north of Ranong. The move is
potentially lucrative, but not without logistical and political headaches.
The dive companies are not revealing much about their plans
because they fear it may upset what one diver called "very
sensitive" negotiations with Burmese authorities. The diver
didn't even want it known how many operators had combined to form
Myanmar Diving Services.
At the moment, only Fantasea Divers South East Asia Divers and
Sim Diving Centre offer live-aboard trips to the Burma Banks, a
highly acclaimed dive site just north of the Thai maritime border.
The new limited company is dealing with a wholly Burmese-owned
company called Myanmar Economic Holdings, which represents the
Burmese government and navy. An expatriate in Burma is acting as
a go-between for the two sides. One diver described the Burmese
authorities' attitude as "encouraging".
"They're pushing us to go for Burma, saying, 'What can you do for
the country?"' he said.
Despite a handful of Thai survey trips and progress with
representatives from Thailand's Channel 7, the TAT and Ranong's
hotel sector, negotiations have been painstakingly slow.
One diver said this was due to a lack of transparency over who's
making the decisions on the Burmese side. There appeared to be a
lack of unity and communication among Rangoon and the army and
navy commanders in charge of the archipelago, he added.
In Phuket, however, one of the participating divers said: "I feel
the waiting is over. They [the Burmese authorities] are just
nervous because they want to make sure everything is covered....
They may want to pass the blame if something goes wrong."
The dive operators have identified three areas they want to
explore. The first comprises Western and Northern Rocky Isles,
Boulder Rock, South Twin, North Twin, and the Burma Banks. The
second is Black Rock, Nearchus Rock, Torres Fletcher, Hayes, West
and East islets. The third is from Sergent to Kabosa islands.
Charts suggest submerged rock pinnacles in the latter two areas
up to 90 metres deep may provide "world class" diving.
Nevertheless, one of the Phuket-based divers said it was too
early to promote new sites other than the Burma Banks, which are
already heavily booked for the new tourist season.
Some of the divers have inspected Mergui and Tavoy as potential
bases for a diving operation. They were shocked to find a lack of
basic infrastructure, as well as fuel, food supplies, drinking
water and even simple commodities such as ice.
According to one diver, live-aboard trips from Phuket will remain
the only practical way into the area for the time being. Another
noted that the start of four flights a week linking Ranong to
Phuket and Bangkok from October 29 raised interesting
possibilities. Although Mergui, Tavoy and Victoria Point have
airstrips, foreigners need special permission to fly there from Rangoon.
The Phuket operators describe the main market for the unexplored
depths as high-paying, very experienced divers from the United
States and Europe who are likely to be tempted by what one diver
described as the "romantic" and "historical" appeal of the archipelago.
He said such finicky divers expect fully-provisioned, powerful
and spacious live-aboard boats, and easy access to harbour
departure points. Accordingly, only Phuket or Ranong would be
viable bases. The divers hope dynamite fishing hasn't wreaked
havoc on corals. The waters have to be "world class", they say.
*****************************************************************
BKK POST: KHUN SA IN LOOSE TRUCE ACCORD WITH RANGOON
October 27, 1995
(editor's note: last part of article about Karen cut, see following article from
Reuter for the full story.)
OPIUM warlord Khun Sa has reached a tentative ceasefire agreement
with Burmese government forces, a Thai army officer and a
guerrilla official said yesterday.
The loose agreement, reached earlier this month, might avert a
long-expected Burmese army offensive against the notorious Shan
guerrilla commander, the Thai officer said.
"Khun Sa's delegates met the Burmese Army eastern commander in
early October and both sides agreed to halt military operations. Khun Sa
ordered his commanders to halt operations from October 15," he said.
Khun Sa commands the powerful Mong Tai Army guerrilla force which
operates in northeastern Burma's Shan State.
An MTA official confirmed the report but said as far as he knew
the ceasefire was limited to eastern Shan State. "The MTA eastern
commander Chao Sulai exchanged letters with the Burmese regional
commander and they agreed that both sides will halt military
operations, at least for the time being," he said.
But the Wa guerrilla force, allied to the Burmese Government, was
continuing to attack Khun Sa forces "The Wa continue to fight us.
There is intermittent fighting in the Mong Yon area (of southern
Shan State)," he said.
*************************************
REUTER: TALKS TO END BURMA'S WAR WITH REBELS NEARING END
October 25, 1995 By Robert Birsel
MAE SOT, Thailand, Oct 25 (Reuter) - Talks between the Burmese government
and Karen guerrillas are inching towards a conclusion, and the guns in
southeast Burma might fall silent for the first time in 47 years as early as
next month, guerrilla officials said on Wednesday.
But 70,000 Karen refugees now living in makeshift camps on the Thai side
of the border will need more than an end to the fighting before they feel
safe enough to return to their homeland, Karen refugee officials said.
Karen National Union (KNU) leaders have met government intermediaries
several times this year to try to end one of the world's longest-running
guerrilla wars.
A deputy of Burma's military intelligence chief Lieutenant-General Khin
Nyunt attended the most recent talks earlier this month.
``So far it's talking, talking, but there's no conclusion, no resolution,''
a senior guerrilla source who declined to be identified told Reuters.
``But if they are sincere, I think we can get something, stop the fighting.
We hope so,'' said the official, speaking on the Thai-Burmese border.
A high-level meeting is tentatively scheduled for early November in the
southeast Burmese town of Pa-an when an agreement to halt military action
might be reached, the sources said.
The guerrilla officials said the November talks will be the first
``official'' meeting after the preliminary talks which have taken place so
far and it was hoped the two sides could reach an understanding.
``Before it was only middlemen, only discreet meetings,'' another
guerilla official said. ``We may be be able to reach a ceasefire but so far
there's been nothing on solving the political problems.''
The agreement, if and when it comes, will bring a fragile peace to
virtually all of Burma, with the exception of northeastern Shan state, where
Burmese government forces and their allies are battling opium warlord Khun
Sa's powerful Shan guerrilla army.
Karen troops fought alongside the British after Japan's World War Two
invasion of Burma. Burmese nationalists, who at the time were allied with the
Japanese, massacred hundreds of Karen civilians in revenge attacks.
Karen guerrillas first took to the hills in 1949, one year after Burma
gained independence from Britain. Their original fight for independence was
later changed to a demand for autonomy in a federal Burma.
At the beginning of their war, Karen troops nearly succeeded in marching
on Rangoon but they were held off and have been steadily pushed back to
remote corners of southeastern Burma ever since.
Over the years, the Burmese army forced the KNU back towards the Thai
border. The fighting has steadily increased the number of Karen civilians
crossing the frontier in a bid to escape hostilities.
Karen refugee officials said the decades of warfare have left the 70,000
refugees now in Thai camps deeply suspicious of the Burmese army.
``It will take a lot of convincing for people to feel it is really
safe,'' Robert Shwe, a Christian pastor who heads the Karen Refugee Committee
told Reuters.
*****************************************************************
BKK POST: BORDER REOPENING WITH BURMA SOUGHT
October 27, 1995
TRANSPORT and Communications Minister Wan Muhamad Nor Matha will
try to negotiate for the reopening of Thai-Burmese border passes.
The minister, who inspected the closed border pass at Mae Sai
district of Chiang Rai yesterday, said he would invite the
Burmese transport minister to Thailand to discuss the issue in
preparation for further government-to-government talks.
Burma's closure of the border passes in Mae Sai district of
Chiang Rai, Mae Sariang of Mae Hong Son, Mae Sot of Tak, and in
Ranong has affected the economy of both countries, he said.
Chiang Rai Governor Khamron Booncherd said the closure has
reduced the volume of cross-border trading by 80-90 per cent.
Prior to the closure, the value of trading via the Mae Sai pass
was estimated at about two billion baht annually.
Burma is expected to reopen the border soon as it has set next year for
tourism promotion. Mr Khamron said he would meet with Burmese authorities
next Monday to discuss the possibility of reopening the border.
If their talks could be positively concluded, Burmese patients could
then seek treatment at Thai hospitals, Burmese workers could seek jobs
in Thailand, and Thai goods could be exported to Burma, he said.