[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Date Index ][Thread Index ]

BurmaNet News March 13, 1996 #361



Received: (from strider) by igc2.igc.apc.org (8.6.11/Revision: 1.16 ) id KAA29192; Wed, 13 Mar 1996 10:04:14 -0800
Date: Wed, 13 Mar 1996 10:04:14 -0800


------------------------ BurmaNet ------------------------
"Appropriate Information Technologies, Practical Strategies"
----------------------------------------------------------

The BurmaNet News: March 13 , 1996
Issue #361  

Noted in Passing: 

		Out of sight of most visitors, citizens continued to live
		subject at any time and without appeal to the arbitrary 
		and sometimes brutal dictates of the military.
		(see U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE: BURMA HUMAN 
		RIGHTS PRACTICES, 1995)

HEADLINES:
==========
BURMANET EDITOR'S NOTE: THE SIGNIFICANCE OF MARCH 13TH
U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE: BURMA HUMAN RIGHTS PRACTICES, 1995
LOS ANGELES TIMES: BURMESE PRESS THEIR CAUSE HERE
LOS ANGELES TIMES: NO LONGER BURMA, STILL A TYRANNY
NATION: ALLEGED TRAFFICKER HELPS TO DESTROYED OPIUM 
BKK POST: RANGOON JUNTA BEGINS TO EASE ITS HOLD ON BUSINESS
TIMES OF INDIA: 'SURRENDERED SHAN SOLDIERS KILLED
ASIAN AGE: BURMA REBELS BRACE FOR MORE GROUND, AIR RAIDS
BURMA ACTIVISTS IN JAPAN: MARCH 13 ACTION IN JAPAN
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

BURMANET EDITOR'S NOTE: THE SIGNIFICANCE OF MARCH 13th

On March 13, 1988, riot police murdered Phone Maw, a university student, 
who took to the streets with thousands of others who had had enough of 
military rule.  Since then, March 13th has been marked annually by those 
who continue to mourn the loss of friends and family members who died 
during the pro-democracy uprisings or have been imprisoned ever since.  

It is also an appropriate occasion for reflecting on why democracy still eludes 
the citizens of Burma.  Reports from inside Burma indicate that almost
everyone hates the SLORC not only because of their brutal and oppressive 
rule, but also because of their corruption and greed.  They personally are
profiting enormously from foreign investment while the rest of the country 
is suffering from inflation and stagnant wages.  Even most civil servants 
find it difficult to like their employers, because the wages they receive are so 
woefully inadequate that they are forced to steal, take bribes, or work long 
hours on the side just to make ends meet.  According to one source, 
the SLORC intentionally keeps government salaries low so that workers
have to engage in illegal activities. Others have also argued that if the
people are busy enough just trying to survive, they won't have time to 
think about politics. The junta's lack of attention to the health and 
education sectors and their inefficient management of the economy 
infuriates professionals.  The poor and uneducated continue to find themselves the victims of forced labor, forced portering, extortion, and 
forced relocation.  In sum, the SLORC is not popular.  

It at first seems surprising that there could be such widespread hatred for the regime and yet so few visible signs of resistance.  While most people are firm in their conviction that democracy is their right, they 
know that effecting a transformation of the present system is no easy
feat.  When Aung San Suu Kyi tells the crowds at her gate to be patient, she is not booed.  The people inside Burma understand.  Rushing into the streets would not accomplish anything.  The goal is democracy not death.  

Aung San Suu Kyi and the NLD are attempting to slowly expand party activities both in Rangoon and elsewhere.  They are trying to build up a solid structure which could provide continuity and direction for the country.  Sources inside indicate that althoug

h it is difficult for some younger people to think long term, older pro-democracy supporters are generally satisfied with Suu Kyi and the NLD's careful approach.
Yes, people want change now, but most are realistic enough to realize that the constraints are formidable and the risks of failure great.  

Aung San Suu Kyi and the NLD appear to be operating with the philosophy that the means is as important as the end.  Thus they attempt to work by using persuasion rather than violence, resolving issues through discussion rather than orders, and refusing to

 slander those whom they oppose.  At her public forums, Suu Kyi has repeatedly urged the people that if they cannot do what is right, at least refrain from doing what is wrong.  By this she means that if it is too dangerous to confront the SLORC directly,

 at least people should refuse to participate in unlawful or improper activities, such as forced
labor or giving forced donations.

It is hard to accept that eight years have passed since Phone Maw's death and still the military rules Burma with an iron fist.  Nevertheless,
in the last decade, political changes in other parts of the world have
happened with dizzying speed.  Perhaps Burma's turn will come and the 
NLD's hard work in developing an alternative structure will provide the 
stability needed to ensure that the change is a permanent one.

*******************************************************

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE: BURMA HUMAN RIGHTS PRACTICES, 1995
March 1996   (excerpts)

The Government reinforces its rule via a pervasive security
apparatus led by the Directorate of Defense Services
Intelligence (DDSI).  Control is buttressed by selective
restrictions on contact with foreigners, surveillance of
government employees and private citizens, harassment of
political activists, intimidation, arrest, detention, and
physical abuse.  The Government justifies its security
measures as necessary to maintain order and national unity,
although almost all major insurgent groups have reached
accommodations with the SLORC in recent years, and the
others pose little threat to major population centers.
Members of the security forces committed numerous serious
human rights abuses.

Burma is a poor country, with an average per capita gross
domestic product of about $200 to $300 a year.  Since 1988 the 
Government has slowly opened up the economy to permit expansion 
of the private sector and to attract foreign investment.  Some
economic improvement has ensued, but major obstacles to
economic reform persist.  These include restrictions on
private commerce, constantly changing rules and regulations;
overcentralized decisionmaking, a bloated bureaucracy, a
greatly overvalued currency, poor infrastructure, and
grossly disproportionate military spending.

The Government's severe repression of human rights continued
essentially unchanged during 1995, despite a few potentially
significant moves on the political front and the appearance
of greater normalcy fostered by increased economic activity.
Out of sight of most visitors, citizens continued to live
subject at any time and without appeal to the arbitrary and
sometimes brutal dictates of the military.  There continued
to be credible reports, particularly from ethnic minority
dominated areas, that soldiers committed serious human
rights abuses, including extrajudicial killings and rape.
Disappearances continued, and members of the security forces
beat and otherwise abused detainees. Prison conditions
remained harsh, and the judiciary is not independent of the executive.

The use of porters by the army--with attendant mistreatment,
illness, and even death for those compelled to
serve--remained a standard practice.  The military continued
to force ordinary Burmese on a massive scale (including
women and children) to "contribute" their labor, often under
harsh working conditions, on construction projects
throughout the country. 

Although the Government continued to release some prisoners, it 
continued arbitrarily to arrest and detain citizens for the slightest 
expression of dissenting political views.  Several hundred, if not more,
political prisoners remained in detention, including approximately 20 
Members of Parliament elected in 1990.

The regimen at Insein prison near Rangoon remained extremely
harsh, including widespread use of solitary confinement,
little or no exercise, no mosquito nets or reading or writing materials 
for virtually all prisoners, poor nutrition, and inadequate medical care. 

The SLORC continued to restrict severely basic rights to
free speech, press, assembly, association, and privacy.
Worker rights are also severely limited.  Political party
activity remained severely restricted, and citizens do not
have the right to change their government. 

Roughly 90,000 Burmese were residing in ethnic minority camps in 
Thailand, among them many thousands of new arrivals driven out 
by Burmese army attacks on the Karen and Karenni ethnic
minority controlled areas.  Discrimination against ethnic
minorities and violence against women remained problems.

[I]n January 1993 the SLORC established the "National
Convention," a body ostensibly tasked with working out a new
constitution and primarily made up of delegates handpicked
by the military.  The SLORC has carefully stage-managed the
Convention's proceedings and ignored even limited opposition
views.  Despite having no mandate from the people, the SLORC
seems determined to draft a constitution that will guarantee a dominant 
role for the military in the country's future political structure
the military "had yet to make a fundamental break with its past behaviour 
and demonstrate a willingness to cede its hold on absolute power".

The security services continued to clamp down on those attempting 
to express opposition political views, such as by handing out flyers or 
chanting slogans.  Many more refrained from speaking out for fear of 
arrest and interrogation.

There continued to be credible reports that security forces
subjected ordinary citizens to harassment and physical
abuse.  In rural villages the military routinely entered
villages to confiscate property and food and used abusive
recruitment methods to procure porters.  Those forced into
porterage or other duties faced extremely difficult conditions and 
mistreatment that sometimes resulted in death.  There was a steady 
pattern of reports that soldiers raped ethnic minority women.

Late in the year, the Government's own mass mobilization organization, 
the Union Solidarity and Development Association (USDA), 
orchestrated a series of rallies as a mass demonstration of support for 
the SLORC's political objectives.  With few exceptions, attendance 
was coerced, with explicit threats of penalities for those who
contemplated staying away.  Religious groups, by contrast,
sometimes encountered problems holding outdoor gatherings

The State continued to interfere extensively and arbitrarily
in the lives of private citizens.  Through its extensive
intelligence network, the Government closely monitored the
travel, whereabouts, and activities of many citizens,
particularly those known to be politically active. Security
personnel selectively screened private correspondence and
telephone calls and conducted warrantless searches of
private premises. On occasion the Government attempted to
jam foreign radio broadcasts. Government employees were required 
to obtain advance permission before meeting with foreigners.

The SLORC continued to move people out of cities to
peripheral new town settlements, though not on the same
scale as in the early 1990's.  The military also continued to relocate 
forcibly some rural villages, especially in ethnic minority areas.

Those able to remain in established cities and towns were
subject to arbitrary seizure of their property.  In a number
of urban areas, residents were compelled to cede land for
road-widening projects decided upon without any public
consultation or endorsement.  Other long-term city residents
were required to cede land for commercial redevelopment and
were compensated at only a fraction of the value of their
lost homes.  Automobiles and other movable property remained
vulnerable to arbitrary seizure.  In rural areas, military
personnel at times confiscated livestock and food supplies.

*****************************************************

LOS ANGELES TIMES: BURMESE PRESS THEIR CAUSE HERE
March 11, 1996

Subhead:  Resistance: Expatriates are becoming more organized and vocal in
their opposition to the military junta that rules their homeland.  Living
with the memory of protesters slain in 1988, many toil at menial jobs while
campaigning for democracy.

By K. Connie Kang, Times Staff Writer

   When KoLatt lies down to sleep in his modest room in Alhambra after a
long day's work as a packer, he often pictures the magnificent rain forests
and sun-drenched beaches of his beloved Burma.
   More often than not, however, his memories of the lush jungles and
tranquil waters are pushed aside by another image--the bloodied faces of his
classmates, slaughtered by soldiers during the 1988 pro-democracy protest at
the University of Rangoon.  
   It is the remembrance of the 49 friends murdered before his eyes that
keeps KoLatt packing boxes by day and working the telephone and fax machine
by night.
   "Because I'm alive, I owe it to them to continue the movement to free
Burma," said KoLatt, 32, his gentle demeanor belying a steely determination.
   KoLatt belongs to a small but growing Burmese expatriate community of
about 10,000 in Southern California that is becoming more organized and
vocal in its resistance to the military junta in Myanmar.
   Like KoLatt, many Burmese activists toil at menial jobs, beneath their
training and education, because they want more time to give to the cause.
They live together in cooperative arrangements to reduce expenses.  And,
like KoLatt, their dream is to return to a democratic homeland.
   For KoLatt, a slender man with a shock of black hair, his whole life
revolves around the lonely struggle.  Awake or asleep, he says, Burma is on
his mind.  
   "I love my country even more since I came to America," he said, adding:
"Please call it Burma, not Myanmar.  That's the name the military gave to
try to fool the world."
   KoLatt's readiness to make sacrifices for democracy is not an easy thing
for Americans to comprehend, says anthropologist Carol Richards, a Burma
specialist and co-founder of the Los Angeles-based Burma Forum, an
organization that coordinates the movement in California.  Most Americans
take freedom for granted because they haven't had to make life and death
choices for democracy, she said.
   Democracy is a guiding power by which KoLatt lives.
   "Every decision KoLatt makes, including the one to talk to The Times, is
based on whether it will benefit the people of Burma," said Richards, who
has worked closely with him for the past five years.  
   "Ironically, every decision he makes to help Burma takes him one further
step from going back home--another clang of the door closing."  
   KoLatt, a devout Buddhist, is not afraid.
   On his chest, he wears a button with a picture of his hero, Aung San Suu
Kyi, the Burmese opposition leader who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1991
while she was under house arrest.
   It reminds him: "Fear is a habit.  I am not afraid.  Free Suu.  Free Burma."
   And, on his back, he wears a shirt that says:
     I am wounded,
     But I am not dead as yet.
     Let me down
     and let me bleed a while.
     Tomorrow, 
     I will rise and fight again.
			[]
   The 1988 military crackdown forced KoLatt and thousands of pro-democracy
proponents to flee.  Most live as refugees on Myanmar's borders with
Thailand, Bangladesh, India and China, where many of Burma's indigenous
peoples also dwell.
   Others managed to get away to Japan, Europe and North America, where they
maintain an international network that stretches from Los Angeles to Tokyo
and New York to Paris.  
   They are succored by non-Burmese human rights activists, such as
Richards, who befriend and help them overcome the barriers of language,
culture and institutions and offer Western know-how.  
   In the United States alone, more than 80 campus and community groups
support the Burmese movement.  
   A focus of their campaign has been Unocal, the Los Angeles-based energy
company, and its prominent role in building a $1 billion pipeline in Myanmar.
   Critics say the pipeline will enrich the illegitimate regime, plunder one
of the largest remaining tropical rain forests and disperse villagers along
its route--charges denied by Unocal.
   "We are trying to speak for the people who cannot speak," KoLatt said.
He said forced labor is being used on the project--a charge denied by Unocal.
   "It's an uphill battle because giant corporations, such as Unocal, have
all the resources," says Richards.  "We're just volunteers trying to bring
the issue to public light."
   A boycott campaign against Unocal gas stations and demonstrations in
front of the company headquarters are part of the pro-democracy campaign here.
   Much that goes on, however, is unseen--a vigil of nameless people
reaching across geographical, linguistic and cultural boundaries.
   The work is risky for Burmese nationals.
   Despite the 10,000 miles that separate him and Burma, KoLatt feels the
long arm of the State Law and Order Restoration council, or SLORC, a panel
of soldiers who rule the country now known as Myanmar.  
   Informants watch his movements, have his picture taken at demonstrations
and monitor his mail and phone calls to Myanmar, he said.
   Officials with the Myanmar Embassy did not respond to Times requests for
comment on the allegations or the activities of the resistance movement.
   His activities have made relatives back home targets of government
surveillance, too.  
   "Sometimes agents show up [at their home] after midnight to check who is
sleeping under the mosquito nets," he said.
   When KoLatt called his sister earlier this year, she told him not to
contact her again, he said.
   Since the former student leader eluded authorities in the fall of 1988,
his activist brother was imprisoned and his mother died of a heart attack
after visiting her youngest son in prison.  Soon afterward, his father fell
ill and died.  And his oldest brother, a physician, has been missing ever since.
   KoLatt's career is on hold, too, because his homeland comes first.
Though KoLatt studied botany at the prestigious University of Rangoon, he
cannot consider moving on from his $55-a-day job because he has to take so
much time off from work.
   Where would he find another employer who'd let him work when he can? 
he asks.
				[]
   Though his blood family in Myanmar is all but gone, KoLatt has found
spiritual kinfolk in a Burmese couple in Alhambra.
   KoLatt met Khin Maung Shwe and Taw Myo Myint in the jungles after his
escape, when he was ill with malaria.  They nursed him back to health.  
   When Maung and Taw, who also were active in the 1988 anti-government
protests, came to the United States, KoLatt followed them.
   Today, their Alhambra home is both a center for what they call "Our
Movement for Democracy," and home away from home for unmarried Burmese who
gather to share food and to work for a better day.
   The couple's American-born daughter, Stephanie, 4, is everyone's niece.
   Maung, a former manager of the state-run Salt Industry Corp., now works
nights as a chemical technician so he can work the phone and fax machine and
demonstrate days.  
   The advent of the Internet has made it easier to communicate with
activists inside Myanmar when they slip out to the Myanmar-Thailand border.
   Maung and KoLatt cannot afford a computer, so they rely on Richards and
UCLA students.
   International phone calls, faxes, printing leaflets and posters drain
their limited budgets.  But they persist.
   Their efforts appear to be paying off.
   The cities of Santa Monica, Berkeley and Madison, Wis., have banned
contracts with companies doing business in Myanmar.  UCLA will no longer
sponsor its "Burma Passage" tour.  USC's Student Academic Senate has
unanimously condemned USC Alumni's "Road to Mandalay" tour and is 
urging the alumni group to do likewise.
   Some American businesses, including Levi Strauss, Macy's, Eddie Bauer and
Liz Clairborne [sic] have pulled out of Myanmar.
   But the formidable target is Unocal.
   Unocal, Total, a Paris-based oil company, and a Thai firm are partners
with Myanmar in the Yadana pipeline project that would transfer natural gas
to Thailand.
   "The pipeline is the centerpiece of the regime's economic development
plan," says Richards.
   By going ahead with the project, activists charge that Unocal is, in
effect, in partnership with the brutal government and helping it to remain
in power.
   Not true, said Unocal spokesman David Garcia, emphasizing that the
company stays out of Myanmar's internal affairs.
   Garcia, who visited Myanmar in January, accused critics and the press of
ignoring "positive benefits" of the project.
   For example, he said, villagers along the pipeline welcome a chance to
become economically self-sufficient.
   In Mawgyi, 75 villagers in January completed a 2.3-acre shrimp farm with
the money provided by Unocal and its partners, Garcia said.
   "Reception to our programs has been very positive," Garcia said.  
				[]
   Meanwhile, SLORC is tightening its rein on Aung San Suu Kyi, activists say.
   "Immediately after her release, there was much euphoria and attention of
the international press, but in the last few weeks, the government has
tightened its rein on her," said Burma Forum co-founder Louisa Benson,
quoting her contacts in Myanmar.  
   "The government realizes that information is power, and people listen to
what Aung San Suu Kyi has to say.  They are limiting people who can visit
her, including U.S. congressional staffers."
   There has been a flurry of bad news from Myanmar, activists say.
   When Maung, whose parents and six siblings live in Myanmar, recently
called home, he was told not to call again.
   The prospect of losing contact with his family is heartbreaking, he said.
   But his wife, Taw, said the couple reconfirmed their vow to the movement
by remembering: "Forty million Burmese are more important than one family."
   A proof of the couple's conviction is their daughter, who participates in
all the protests with her parents.
   Instead of nursery rhymes, Stephanie chants, "Democracy is our duty," and
"Unocal out of Burma."  
   Dressed in a longyi--a Burmese sarong--Stephanie hands out leaflets and
recites slogans at every event.
   Even stern-looking passersby are charmed when Stephanie walks up to them,
and hands them a leaflet with a big smile on her innocent face.

***********************************************************

LOS ANGELES TIMES: NO LONGER BURMA, STILL A TYRANNY
March 11, 1996  (front page)

Subhead:  Several years after its military rulers re-christened it Myanmar,
the Southeast Asian nation is busily seeking foreign money.  But most of its
people remain impoverished, and dissent is uneasily tolerated at best.

By Scott Kraft, Times Staff Writer

   YANGON, Myanmar--The lesson in democracy begins promptly at 4 each
weekend afternoon.  Several thousand people gather behind barricades, eyes
trained on the fence surrounding a two-story lakeside home on University
Avenue.  Traffic cops, dressed smartly in pressed white coats, keep two
lanes open for passing cars.
   When Aung San Suu Kyi, pink orchids in her brushed-back hair and
microphone in hand, appears from behind the fence, the crowd breaks into
cheers and applause.  For the next hour, the 1991 Nobel Peace Prize winner
gamely conducts a forum on democracy in a country run by generals.
   She often answers questions, submitted in advance, about new quotas for
rice farmers or the burden of inflation on pensioners, the use of forced
labor to build a dam or involuntary "donations" for computers in schools.
   "If we had democracy tomorrow, we would still have problems.  It's just
that we could talk about them openly," Suu Kyi told her listeners the other
day.  "Security for our children will not come overnight with democracy.
But we certainly won't have to worry about the knock on the door in the
middle of the night."
   Suu Kyi's remarks do not appear on television or radio or even in the
next day's newspapers.  But a transcript lands on the generals' desks.  And
a few days later, newspaper articles, written under pseudonyms, criticize
the folly of "that girl," as they refer to Suu Kyi, 50.
   Such is the uneasy standoff between the generals and the democrats in the
steamy Southeast Asian nation of Myanmar, formerly known as Burma.  Eight
months have passed since Suu Kyi was freed from six years of house arrest,
and yet there still is no sign of national reconciliation or real progress
toward democracy.  
   Instead, the military rulers here are engaged in a broad effort to win
the hearts and minds of Myanmar's 46 million people with a stage-managed
constitutional conference, replete with pep rallies, and an economic boom
fed by foreigners dreaming of quick profits.
   The linchpin of that strategy is an ardent courtship of foreign tourists
and investors.  While this remains one of the world's poorest countries,
building cranes fill the skyline of Yangon, the capital; traffic jams the
streets around the dome of the 2,500-year-old Shwedagon Pagoda; billboards
advertise Toshiba computers and Kirin beer.  An emerging elite of
millionaires can be found at the yacht club, the glitzy new nightclubs or
the three new driving ranges for golfers.
   Suu Kyi is biding her time.  "When do we want democracy?  Well, we want
it now, of course," she said in an interview.  "But we are not that
impatient.  We have other work to do, and we carry on."
   Indeed, she is quietly rebuilding her political party, the National
League for Democracy, of which she is general secretary.  Though still
facing restrictions and government harassment, the party appears to have
retained the support that gave it 80% of the vote in 1990 elections, a vote
that the military rulers annulled.  
   Although Suu Kyi calls for dialogue with the ruling junta, it sees no
need to talk to her.  The rulers, a committee of 21 generals known as the
State Law and Order Restoration Council, or SLORC, operate in what one
diplomat here describes as "their own Kafkaesque reality."
   And they are carefully pursuing a course designed to maintain their hold
on power.
   "So far, the generals haven't had to deal with Aung San Suu Kyi," said
Khin Maung Thwin, a local journalist.  "They're selling their hopes on
making things economically stable.  If they do that, they figure they won't
have to worry about her."
   
Myanmar's Storied History
   Myanmar's history is long and rich, dating to the 11th century Bagan
Dynasty.  It covers a kite-shaped area roughly 1-1/2 times the size of
California, the largest of any country in mainland Southeast Asia, with vast
teak forests, deposits of jade and rubies, and oil fields.  Buddhism is the
predominant religion.  More than 100 distinct languages are spoken in the
40,000 mostly remote villages.  
   The country, long a favorite subject for English novelists and travel
writers, won its independence from a century of British colonial rule in
1948.  A year earlier, independence leader Aung San, the head of a
provisional government and Aung San Suu Kyi's father, was assassinated along
with members of his Cabinet.
   Gen. Ne Win took power in a military coup in 1962, instituting three
decades of socialist policies that devastated the country's economy.
Massive unrest forced him to step down in 1988, but the new military rulers
cracked down brutally on dissent, killing an estimated 3,000 protesters and
changing the nation's name from Burma to Myanmar in 1989.
   Suu Kyi returned in 1988, after 28 years abroad, to lead the
pro-democracy struggle.  She was placed under house arrest in 1989, and,
although her party won election in a landslide a year later, the junta
refused to surrender power.  
   These days, the junta, under Gen. Than Shwe, remains in firm control.
Though most martial law decrees have been lifted, military intelligence
agents continue to watch citizens and to harass and detain dissidents.
Thousands have been forced to move, without compensation, for government
development projects; tens of thousands have been forced to leave their jobs
and work on those projects, where they have to provide their own meals and
tools.  
   "These men are authoritarians," said a diplomat in Yangon, formerly
Rangoon.  "They are used to giving orders, and everybody else is supposed to
salute and obey.  Even if a person is not directly affected, everyone lives
in fear that this regime can do whatever it wants."
   Yet the generals clearly consider themselves Myanmar's saviors, men who
came to power "only because we had to," as one put it, and who have turned
the nation's fortunes around.
   The junta has managed to end 15 rebel conflicts in border regions and has
opened the economy to foreign investors.  The government counts $3 billion
in foreign investment and expects $4 billion by year's end.  Independent
analysts say the accumulation thus far is less than $1 billion and has been
slowing.  Still, in one recent week, the daily papers ran photographs of
generals meeting the chairmen of top Japanese companies, and a French bank,
the 32nd in Yangon, opened its doors.
   Tourism increased 50% last year, the government says, and 34 hotels, most
paid for by foreign companies, are under construction.  The government has
hopefully declared 1996 "Visit Myanmar Year" and eased restrictions on visas.
   "We dismantled the socialist system, so it's just a matter of drawing up
the constitution," said Brig. Gen. David Abel, minister of national planning
and economic development.  "Once that's done, the country will be very
stable.  What we have done in such a short period, it is amazing, you know?"
   
Doubts About Reforms
   But neither the economic recovery nor the political reforms hold up to
scrutiny, opponents of the regime say.  
   The handpicked constitutional convention, now in its third year, operates
in secret, without such distractions as honest debate or votes.  Debt relief
from Japan is being spent on televisions and VCRs for government employees.
The size of the army has doubled--to 300,000--in recent years, gobbling up
40% of the state budget.  Inflation rages at 35%, and the black market rate
for the currency, the kyat, is one-twentieth the official rate, a sure sign
of economic difficulty.
   American consumer boycotts have forced many companies to stop doing
business in Myanmar, and legislation pending in Congress would impose
investment, import and travel restrictions on the country.  
   But other investors, chiefly from Singapore, Thailand and Japan, have
jumped in.  And the largest American investor here, Los Angeles-based
Unocal, has resisted efforts to stop construction of the gas pipeline it is
building with the French oil company Total.  
   From the seaport of Yangon to Mandalay in the north and throughout the
country, the overwhelming majority of the people are deeply impoverished.
   "We are not hungry or dying.  We're not at that stage yet," said Nyein
Khin, 69, who runs a small shop in Yangon.  "But there's a lot of hardship.
People with contacts in the ruling class get richer, but the average person
can barely make ends meet."
   Civil servants and university professors make less than $20 a month.
Gasoline is rationed to two gallons a week, at $6 a gallon.  After that,
drivers head for the black market, where gasoline goes for $35 a gallon.
   Though the country still produces enough to feed itself after government
export quotas are met, rice prices have risen and meat is a once-a-week
event for most families.  And even locals boil their water before drinking it.
   Government assessments, which the regime calls "contributions," never
end.  Nyein Khin was ordered to pay 10,000 kyat (almost $2,000) to repave
the street in front of his shop, a decision that was made by his local,
unelected representatives.  "They know who has money and who doesn't," he
said.  "That is their way of ruling."
   
Lobsters and Nightclubs
   But if the scene in downtown Yangon is any indication, at least some here
have money to spend.  New nightclubs, serving lobster at $100 a plate, are
opening at the rate of one a month.  They are sandwiched by billboards for
Lucky Strike cigarettes and Hang Ten clothing.  
   Rugged, once-empty streets are now clogged with new Japanese and German
cars, a surprise in a country without a single new-car dealership.
(Creating even more confusion, most cars are outfitted for British left-side
driving, though traffic in Myanmar moves on the roads' right side.)
   A new driving range opened here the other day, with buckets of golf balls
priced in both dollars and kyats.  One of its proud owners, Aung Hla Han,
explained its certain successes this way: "All the generals play, so more
and more businessmen are coming to learn."  
   So, who is taking advantage of this new Myanmar?  Meet Khin Shwe, owner
of a hotel and construction business whose government concessions helped him
post revenue of $60 million last year, four times what it took in two years
earlier.  Shwe now owns a large home, three new cars and 14 thoroughbred horses.
   "This government believes in me," said Shwe, a rotund 45-year-old,
relaxing in the lobby of one of his hotels.  "They are honest and straight.
But we have to give them hard work."
   Doing business in Myanmar may require not only hard work but plenty of
"tea money," as the generals call it.
   "Yes, they're getting a piece of the pie, and some are hungrier than
others," said Pat James, an American who married a local woman and works as
a consultant to foreign investors.  "But these guys are children compared to
politicians in Thailand.  Here, you can get what you want for one set fee.
It's agreed upon and honored.  These guys actually have the interests of the
country at heart."
   
Scotch at $300
   Whatever the reason, Thein Tun, 59, seems to have the corner on the
consumer product market.  He is the exclusive importer for such diverse
items as Safeguard soap ($6 a bar at the official rate of exchange) and
Chivas Regal Scotch ($300).  "It's expensive, but now people can afford to
pay," he said.
   Tun's biggest success has been his contract with PepsiCo.  His 2-year-old
soft drink factory produces 600,000 bottles a day.  He plans to increase
production soon to 1 million.  "I wouldn't say it's a gold mine, but it's a
good investment," Tun said modestly.  Chuckling, he added: "I already do
gold mining, and, up to now, I haven't made money there yet."
   Tun says his motto is: "Low profile, move fast, make money, live peacefully."
   The military regime is banking on these early signs of economic recovery
to bury the memories of the 1988 blood bath and the annulled 1990 election.
But government opponents contend that the growing gap between rich and poor
will only hasten the generals' demise.  
   Resentment is building, and the government, increasingly worried about
Suu Kyi and her followers, has stepped up petty harassment.
   Security agents routinely make late-night visits to homes of party
leaders, ostensibly to check for guests.  Under the law, anyone with an
overnight guest must register that person at the local police station.  In
the provinces, agents have confiscated videotapes made by party members of
their meetings with Suu Kyi.
   The generals are laying the foundation to limit the power of Suu Kyi's
party in any future government.  Parts of the new constitution, already
finalized, would give the military 25% of the seats in parliament, enough to
block any amendments.  And the constitution would keep intact the law that
prevents people married to foreigners from holding office.  Suu Kyi is
married to a Briton, Michael Aris.
   "She's an educated person," said Abel, the government minister.  "She
knows very well what the law clearly states--that she cannot get involved in
the political arena."
   They may not admit it, but the generals listen and even react to what Suu
Kyi says.  After she complained in one weekend speech about forced labor in
a northern village, the government sent a bureaucrat to the region to free
the villagers and offer them salaries for their work.
   
Fears of Another Massacre
   Still, the likelihood of social unrest appears small.  "People in this
country understand that if they get overly excited and go out into the
streets, another massacre will occur," said Kyi Maung, 78, one of Suu Kyi's
political aides.
   For her part, Suu Kyi appears willing to wait out the generals.  If
anything, the years of house arrest and isolation have made her more
patient.  The new constitution, she said, "will not last. . . because a
constitution is just a piece of paper unless it has the support of the
people."  And she expects that one day, the generals will be forced to adopt
a democratic constitution.
   "We don't really believe that the way to bring about democracy is by
encouraging popular uprisings," she said.  "We believe in a steady, solid
political approach.  Democracy should come through the political will of the
people, expressed through political parties."

***********************************************************

NATION: ALLEGED TRAFFICKER HELPS TO DESTROYED OPIUM 
POPPIES
March 12, 1996
Associated Press

RANGOON - Burmese and Chinese government officials oversaw 
the destruction of drug-refining chemicals and 400 acres of 
opium poppies in a province near the border with southern 
China, a state-run newspaper reported yesterday.

Leading the destruction was Peng Chiasheng, a commander in 
the Burma National Democratic Alliance Army, comprised 
mainly of ethnic Kokang Chinese who were once part of a 
Communist insurgency.

Peng was named as one of Burma's top drug traffickers in a 
United States  department report on narcotics released this month.

The report said that since signing a cease-fire with the 
military government, Peng and his cohorts have been allowed 
to freely produce and traffic in opium - the raw material for heroin. 
Burma is the world's leading producer of opium and heroin.

The newspaper New Light of Myanmar said villagers led by 
Peng fanned out across a 200-acre opium plantation in the 
village of Tashwetan in the Kokang region of Shan state and 
cut down poppy plants. Later, Peng led them in a similar 
sweep through another 200-acre plantation in the village of  Mong Ko.

They also burned 7,675 litres of acetic anhydride and 2,600 
kilogrammes of sodium carbonate - used to refine heroin.

Nearly 100 Shan soldiers who surrendered along with opium 
warlord Khun Sa in early January have been killed by troops 
from rival ethnic groups, a Burmese dissidents group said yesterday.

*******************************************************

BKK POST: RANGOON JUNTA BEGINS TO EASE ITS HOLD ON BUSINESS
March 12, 1996
Report: Supapohn Kanwerayotin, Rangoon

The Rangoon junta is gradually lifting up the lid on private sector growth, 
showing signs of having change its attitude towards a market economy.

However, the State Law and Order Restoration Council has made 
clear its intent to keep key sectors, such as rice milling and exporting, 
under its control for the foreseeable future.

Junta leaders have taken note of Vietnam's efforts to use cash buried in 
backyards, stashed under mattresses and generated in the black economy 
to lift the economy out of doldrums.

The  potential was identified by Serge Pun and his brother Martin, whose 
First Myanmar Investment Co Ltd became four years ago the first public 
company whose shares have been held and traded.

Martin Pun said: "Serge was invited to come back in 1989. 
After a year of research, he concluded that there's a large amount of 
money in this country that has not yet been mobilised. "So we told the 
government that let us put together this company to get part of that 
capital into the mainstream."

FMI's 2,000 shareholders include government clerks, house-
wives and teashops owners but no corporate or institutional 
investors, said Mr Pun, who is also chief executive of Serge 
Pun and Associates (Myanmar) Ltd, which is to issue a fourth 
batch of 16,000 shares, fully subscribed.

FMI is an offshoot of Serge Pun and Associates International 
which has businesses in Hong Kong and Thailand. Serge Pun & 
Associates (Myanmar) Ltd was set up in 1991 to undertake a 
wide range of businesses in Burma.

With property development as its main pillar, the company is 
running a host of other businesses including an investment 
consultancy, a bank, a motorbike dealership, an ice cream 
parlour, laundry, hotel and restaurant. It is pondering a 
cautious entry into infrastructure development.

While upbeat about Burma's future, Mr Pun is under no 
illusion that the untapped wealth will have as visible an 
impact as it had in Vietnam.

"I have travelled, looked and explored. I know the majority 
of Burmese are poor and this country is still poor," he said. 
"It's a totally different picture when compared with Vietnam.

We didn't have that war which brought about suffering as well 
as money. Besides, the majority of Burmese have never left 
this country, making money abroad and bringing it home to 
start businesses as is the case with Vietnam," he said.

Yet the enthusiasm FMI shares have generated among ordinary 
people who wish to use their savings to bring some returns 
had made Mr Pun believe elements required for a capital 
market are falling into place.

The Slorc, with help from Daiwa of Japan as consultant, plans 
to launch a mini-stock market this year, and if it does, it 
might steal a march on Vietnam, which has had a bourse on the 
drawing board for at least four years.

FMI is earmarked as one among 30 public companies whose 
shares can be traded when the Myanmar Securities Exchange 
Centre opens. "So there's a market, an education process 
ongoing and at the same time risk factors," said Mr Pun.

To the Pun family, who fled Burma's political turmoil in the 
early 1960s, what's happening on the entrepreneurial front 
amounts to a "total change of attitude" on the part of the junta.

"Private ownership and enterprises are being encouraged. 
Before that, if a foreign company came looking for a joint 
venture, the government would say, `Why a private company? Do 
it with us'. But now they tend to say, `go find a private 
company as your partner'," he said.

A factor in the new attitude among the military rulers is 
their exposure to economic reforms in China, their close 
ally. "They have learned from the Chinese that private 
enterprise is the only way to speed economic growth. Every 
government's venture moves like a big elephant, whereas 
private operations are like monkeys, jumping around the 
forest, moving fast."

It will perhaps take some time for the regime to adjust to 
the private sector's presence and needs. Mr Pun admits that a 
lot of companies have difficulties in Burma for a number of 
reasons, not least an inability to secure bank credits.

A clear example of this is the rice milling industry. 
Currently, the government monopolises rice exports, and 
private traders are restricted to domestic dealing and small-
scale processing. While the state has not officially barred 
the private sector from rice milling, it has not offered 
incentives for investment in this sector either.

A rice trader who requested anonymity, said: "Until the private 
sector's there, I don't think there can be substantial improvement in 
the quality of rice production. Financing and bank credit facilities are 
not there to boost private operators' roles in this business."

But on the whole, Mr Pun thinks Burma is on the path of an 
economic take-off, albeit not to the extent of Vietnam three 
years ago. "If you jump into the Mekong River in Vietnam, you
're bound to move along somewhere given the dynamic currents 
of the water. But in Burma, especially for private 
enterprises, the water is just not fast enough yet," he said.

Blockades of loans and development aid the Slorc is facing as 
a result of its political system remain a stumbling block. 
For example, the junta is reluctant to rectify the 
unrealistic exchange rate (six kyat per US dollar at the 
official rate, against 110 kyat on the streets) in the face 
of uncertainties in getting substantial funds to cushion the impact.

Foreign investors have cited this unrealistic rate as an 
impediment. "Hopefully, by the time the capital market comes 
into being, this problem will be resolved up to a point," 
said Mr Pun. "It's going to be resolved but it's a question 
of when. From our few meetings with them, the government has 
shown its determination to resolve it."

Contrary to its public pronouncements that foreign aid does 
not matter, the junta is acutely aware of its limits in effecting 
economic reforms. The example of Vietnam is too obvious to ignore. 
The country cannot grow until  concessionary lending from Japan 
and international financial institutions is unleashed.

"I believe that they're working towards that goal in 
different ways," said Mr Pun of the Burmese generals. "They 
might not be singing the song the United Nations or the 
Americans want to hear. But they're doing what they think is 
right for the country and the people first." (BP)

***********************************************

TIMES OF INDIA: 'SURRENDERED SHAN SOLDIERS KILLED
March 12, 1996

Bangkok, March 11: Nearly 100 Shan soldiers who surrendered along with 
opium warlord Khun Sa in early January have been killed by troops from rival 
ethnic groups, a Burmese dissidents group in Thailand said today.
    The attacks show that deadly conflicts among a kaleidoscope of hill tribes and 
ethnic armies are continuing despite Khun Sa's surrender and a patchwork of 
cease-fire stitched together by the military government in Rangoon.
    About 80 troops from Khun Sa's Mong Tai Army were ambushed by 
guerrillas from the United Wa state in the second week of January, said a 
statement by the All Burma Students' Democratic Front.
    Causalities were high, but an exact number was not reported. The convoy of 
returning MTA troops was being escorted by Burmese government soldiers, the 
report said. There were no reports of Burmese deaths.
    The ethnic Wa, who until recent times were head-hunters, have long fought 
Khun Sa's soldiers. (AP)

******************************************************

ASIAN AGE: BURMA REBELS BRACE FOR MORE GROUND, AIR RAIDS
March 12, 1996  (abridged)
[email protected]

Bangkok, March 11: Karenni guerrillas in eastern Burma said they were 
preparing for more air and  ground attacks on Monday.

A guerrilla official speaking by telephone from the Thai-Burmese border 
said that air force PC-7 planes had bombed and rocketed their positions on 
Saturday and Sunday.  "Right now we're waiting. We think they will attack 
with aircraft again very soon," the official from the Karenni National Progressive 
Party told reporters.

The separatist rebels were forced to withdraw from a mountain-top stronghold 
late last week after repeated ground assaults by Burmese troops, the official 
said.

Burmese forces suffered heavy casualties in their attacks on Naung Long hill 
while Karen casualties were light, he said.

A Thai security officer monitoring the fighting said many Burmese army 
porters were killed in crossfire at the weekend when they were sent into a 
forward position ahead of Burmese troops. Several Burmese shells and bombs 
had landed on the Thai side of the border in recent day and Thai forces in the 
area were on alert to prevent any spill over of the fighting, the Thai source said. 
Rebel sources said government troops have been ordered to finish of the KNPP 
by March 27, Armed Forces Day in Burma.

Government forces have been attacking the KNPP since December, shortly 
after the guerrillas officially renounced a March 1995 cease-fire they agreed with 
the government.

The Karenni are ethnic cousins of the more numerous Karen people and 
Karenni guerrillas fought alongside British commandos behind Japanese lines 
during 2nd World War.

Burma has agreed cease-fires with 16 rebel armies since 1989 and while many 
of the truces are fragile, the agreement with the KNPP is the only one to have 
collapsed completely. (Reuter)

******************************************************

BURMA ACTIVISTS IN JAPAN: MARCH 13 ACTION IN JAPAN
March 12, 1996

Flower Power on Burma Human Rights Day

March 13 is Burma Human Rights Day, and Burmese democracy activists in
Tokyo will mark the occasion with a peaceful protest in front of Mitsubishi
headquarters in Otemachi.  Protestors will hand paper padauk flowers to
Mitsubishi employees on their way to work on Wednesday morning, along with a
letter which explains the conglomerate's involvement with the Burmese
military dictatorship and encourages Mitsubishi employees to raise the issue
with their company's leadership.

Organizers chose the Burmese padauk flower because, like the Japanese
cherry blossom, it is prized for its short-lived beauty and is symbolic of
the thousands of young people who have sacrificed their lives in the
struggle against the Burmese military junta, known as the State Law and
Order Restoration Council or SLORC.

The protest comes exactly eight years after riot police murdered Phone Maw,
a 23-year-old university student protester who is considered the first
martyr of the 1988 nationwide prodemocracy uprising in Burma. It also comes
exactly one month after a visit to Burma by Mitsubishi President Minoru
Makihara, during which he met with top leaders of the SLORC to discuss
investment prospects in Burma.  Activists believe Makihara's visit shows
Mitsubishi's contempt not only for official Japanese foreign policy but also
for appeals by Burma's democratic opposition, led by Nobel laureate Aung San
Suu Kyi, for foreign investors to wait until progress has been made towards
democratic reform.
	
The protest is also part of a worldwide day of action organized by
U.S.-based Free Burma Coalition.  Moreover, it will serve as a prelude to
another demonstration later this month which will also target Mitsubishi.
In Osaka on March 20, Burmese Relief Center--Japan, a Nara-based NGO, in
cooperation with U.S.-based Rainforest Action Network, will stage a "Haiku
d'Etat" -- an outdoor exhibition of haiku and other artwork spotlighting
Mitsubishi's responsibility for environmental destruction and human rights
violations in developing countries.
	
For more information on the Tokyo protest, contact Burma Youth Volunteer
Association at (03) 3916-4996; on the International Day of Action, contact
Free Burma Coalition at 1-608-256-6572; and on the Osaka protest, contact
Burmese Relief Center--Japan at (07442) 2-8236.

*********************************************************