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BurmaNet News: July 11, 1996
- Subject: BurmaNet News: July 11, 1996
- From: strider@xxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Thu, 11 Jul 1996 03:31:00
-------------------------- BurmaNet -------------------------------
"Appropriate Information Technologies, Practical Strategies"
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
The BurmaNet News: July 11, 1996
Issue #464
Noted in Passing:
All things change eventually, even the government of
Burma, said ASSK(see: TIME INTERNATIONAL:
STALKING THE STUNT PRINCESS)
HEADLINES:
=========
AP: BURMA LESS ATTRACTIVE FOR INVESTMENT : FEER Poll
THE NATION: US COMPANIES FIGHT BURMA SANCTIONS BILL
THE NATION: INDOCHINA, BURMA MAY JOIN CAR PLAN
PRESS RELEASE: HEINEKEN PULLS OUT OF MYANMAR
BKK POST: LEADER CALLS FOR TOURISM BOYCOTT
STRAITS TIMES: TALKS WITH U.S. ONLY IF SUU KYI LEAVES
THE NATION: BURMA REGIME HAS REJECTED DIALOGUE PLEA
AP: CIA TRIED TO WIN OVER SUU KYI, SAYS JUNTA
BKK POST: GROUPS PRESS ASEAN FOR BURMA TALKS
BKK POST: MAE SOT ECONOMY SLUMPS AS TRADE SLOWS
BKK POST: NEW BURMESE PORT TO BOOST THAI TRADE
REUTER: SLORC INTERROGATING KHUN SA FOR SOME MORE ...
REUTERS: SLORC-WE CAN CONTROL MINORITIES IN BURMA
TIME INTERNATIONAL: STALKING THE STUNT PRINCESS
VOA: NEW US RADIO NETWORK FOR ASIA
USIA: WEB PAGE-DEMOCRACY AND HUMAN RIGHTS IN BURMA
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
AP: BURMA LESS ATTRACTIVE FOR INVESTMENT : FEER Poll
July 10, 1996
HONG KONG - According to the latest Asian Executives
Poll carried out jointly by the Far Eastern Economic Review and Asia
Business News, 70% of business leaders throughout the region say the
escalating war of attrition between Aung San Suu Kyi and the military
government has made Burma less attractive for investment. But the majority
of Indonesians (56%) and Malaysians (55%) disagree.
When asked if the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)
should reverse its policy of constructive engagement with Burma, the
majority of those polled in most ASEAN countries said no reversal is
required. The exceptions were South Koreans (78%) and Taiwanese (60%),
who said the policy should be reversed.
The weekly fax poll surveys top corporate executives in 10 Asian countries.
The poll also revealed that 74% of Malaysians and 67% of Indonesians
approve of 'national car' projects. When asked, however, if the U.S.'s
General Motors is justified in freezing its investment in Indonesia in
response to the country's national car program, the majority of respondents
in Indonesia (56%) say the move is justified.
**********************************************************
THE NATION: US COMPANIES FIGHT BURMA SANCTIONS BILL
July 10, 1996
WASHINGTON - American oil companies are fighting a controversial
bill aimed at banning US investment in Burma that should be
debated in the Senate from this week.
While two-thirds majority in both houses of Congress is needed to
override a likely presidential veto, US officials concede a
further crackdown on democracy activists in the Southeast Asian
country could be enough to ensure passage of strict new measures.
And if the junta was to re-arrest opposition leader Aung San Suu
Kyi, one State Department official said," We wouldn't wait for
Congress to act."
The White House opposes sanctions legislation. It does not want
Congress to dictate foreign policy and it believes sanctions will
fail without support from allies in Asia and European.
Lobbyists for the administration and US oil companies, with the
most to lose if restrictions on trade and investment start, are
working hard to counter a grassroots movement in favour of sanctions.
Los Angeles-based Unocal, which is collaborating on a US$1
billion (Bt25 billion) oil pipeline in Burma, is "doing
everything possible to make sure our views are heard," said
company spokesman David Garcia. Burma "isn't a front-burner issue
(with most members of Congress), but that hasn't stopped us from
working hard to present our case to as many legislators as possible."
Despite criticism that one of its pipeline partners is owned by
the military junta, Unocal - echoing other Western firms
operating in Burma - insists its presence has improved the lives
of its 100 local employees.
Human rights groups counter that any such improvements are too
localised to justify investments that ultimately served to
bolster the junta.
"There's been no benefit apparent at all" from Western investment
in Burma since 1988, said Sidney Jones, executive director of
Human Rights Watch/Asia. "We're actually getting a steady stream
of reports of a major deterioration in human rights across the
board" for Burma's 42 million people.
Atlantic Richfield and Texco, with exploration deals in Burma but
no long-term development plants yet, say they are making the same
points with legislators.
Putting more boycott pressure on the military government, Suu Kyi
called for foreign tourists to boycott her country, in an
interview with Kyodo news agency released yesterday, saying that
tourists who travel to Burma are supporting a repressive regime.
The Burmese government is in the middle of a "Visit Myanmar
Year" campaign in an effort to increase tourism revenues.
But Suu Kyi said "We are totally against the "Visit Myanmar'
campaign. This is tantamount to supporting authoritarianism in Burma."
Suu Kyi also repeated calls for foreign countries not to give
official aid to Burma and for companies not to invest in the
country until progress toward democracy is made.
Meanwhile, Burma's state-run media accused Suu Kyi yesterday of
exploiting the death in prison last month of Leo Nichols, her
close friend and honorary consul for four European countries.
Commentaries in the state-owned press called her the "Western
Queen Mother" and accused her of trying to "assemble a crowd" by
organising a Buddhist ceremony for Nichols seven days after death
on June 22.
Suu Kyi was accused of using Nichols' death as an excuse to draw
international attention to Burma, inappropriately using Buddhist
rites and trying to organise a Christian memorial service.
The authorities had given permission for the memorial service as
long as it would be purely religious and was not politicised, the
commentary said.
**********************************************************
THE NATION: INDOCHINA, BURMA MAY JOIN CAR PLAN
July 10, 1996
by Watcharapong Thongrung
THE Asean Industrial Cooperation programme could be expanded to
cover Laos, Cambodia and Burma as they develop automotive
industries, according to government officials.
Japan and Asean will play key roles in helping Indochinese
countries and Burma develop their industries, which will benefit
from tariff cuts on the exchange of auto components.
Sivavong Changkasiri, permanent secretary for industry, said
automobile experts from Japan and Asean agreed at the end of a
two-day meeting yesterday to send 12 specialists to survey
Cambodia, Laos, Burma and Vietnam.
To develop a market for automobiles, these countries will have to
come up with traffic laws and rules and long-term plans for an
auto and motorcycle industry.
The three countries and Vietnam will also be promoted to form
joint ventures with Asean countries under the Aico programme and
Asean's Common Effective Preferential Tariffs scheme, which
requires Asean counties to restructure tariffs into six rates and
lower duties on manufactured goods to between 0 per cent and 5
per cent by 2003.
Aico will lead to immediate tariff cuts to 0-5 per cent if a
final agreement is struck among member countries.
All four, except Burma, have agreed to assistance from Asean and
Japan, but Burma has yet to receive official approval from its
government.
Different assistance programmes will be designed to suit the
requirements of each of the countries, he said. Decisions will
be based on the facts gathered by the specialist team.
Cherdpong Sirivit, deputy chief of the Industrial Economic
Department, said Asean countries will also increase their
competitiveness by expanding their operations into Laos, Cambodia
and Burma. A report will be sent to a working group meeting
regarding these three countries on Aug 23 and a joint meeting
between Asean economic ministers and Japan's Ministry of
International Trade and Industry in October.
He said Japan has proposed a conference of industry
representatives related to the automotive sector to promote trade
and investment as liberalisation measures are under way. Medium
and small industries will be focus of this effort. Asean
countries also have to pay more attention to staff in terms of
education and training.
On traffic problems created by the auto industry, the report
suggested that governments should not restrict the number of
vehicles but use vehicle and fuel taxes to solve the problems,
such as building more roads and improving traffic management
systems. (TN)
********************************************************
PRESS RELEASE: HEINEKEN PULLS OUT OF MYANMAR
July 10, 1996 (Burma Centrum Netherland News)
from: david arnott <darnott@xxxxxxxxxxx>
Heineken-Press release (translation from the Dutch original by
BCN, with a little touching up by David Arnott)
Heineken N.V has decided to end its business activities in
Myanmar (former Burma). The beer-brewer will stop its
involvement in Myanmar Brewery Ltd. This was made known by the
Members of the Board of Heineken N.V. this afternoon.
Heineken entered this market one and a half year ago for
commercial reasons. "Since that time public opinion on
investing in this market has changed in such a way, that
[continued involvement] could have negative effects on the
Heineken-brand and on the reputation of our company",
according to Mr. K Vuursteen, Chairman of the Board, today.
"Heineken traditionally attaches great value to its
responsibility towards society in innumerable markets
around the world. On the basis of the changed circumstances,
we have reassessed the situation and have come to the
conclusion that we can no longer accomplish this goal [of
social responsibility]", said Mr Vuursteen.
The formal decision was made on the 30th of June, after it was
established that the general interests of Heineken could be
undermined if this project was continued. The partner in
Myanmar was informed on July 4, after which talks were held on
the consequences out of this decision.
********************************************************
BKK POST: LEADER CALLS FOR TOURISM BOYCOTT
July 10, 1996 (abridged)
BURMESE opposition leader Daw Aung San Suu Kyi called for foreign
tourists to boycott her country, in an interview with a Japanese
news agency released yesterday.
The head of the National League for Democracy, who was released
from house arrest one year ago, told Kyodo news agency that
tourists should not support the military junta in Burma.
The Burmese government is in the midst of a "Visit Myanmar
[Burma] Year" campaign in an effort to increase tourism revenues.
But Daw Aung San Suu Kyi said "We are totally against the "Visit
Myanmar" campaign.
She added: "This is tantamount to supporting authoritarianism in
Burma.
The Nobel Peace Prize winner also repeated calls for foreign
countries not to give official aid to Burma and for companies not
to invest in the country until progress toward democracy is made.
"The party is stronger and the public support is stronger," she
said in the interview.
*********************************************************
STRAITS TIMES: TALKS WITH U.S. ONLY IF SUU KYI LEAVES
July 11, 1996
YANGON -- Democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi must cease her
activities and leave Myanmar if the United States wants to discuss
matters of mutual interest with the Myanmar government, state-run
newspapers said yesterday.
Official newspapers carried a commentary saying: "If we are going to
discuss matters of mutual benefit, it will be necessary to close the soap
opera on University Avenue."
Ms Suu Kyi lives on University Avenue and "soap opera" was apparently a
reference to activities at her home which include regular weekend talks to
supporters who gather outside her house.
The commentary, published on the first anniversary of the 1991 Nobel
Peace Prize winner's release from six years of house arrest, was entitled
Time They Realised. It focused on relations between Myanmar and the US.
The commentary said: "The puppet princess and her director who
manipulates from behind the curtain should be withdrawn from the
Myanmar stage. Instead, they should be made to play a role on an
appropriate higher stage, for instance like the United Nations."
Myanmar's tightly-controlled media has published regular attacks on Ms
Suu Kyi, referring to her as a puppet princess and as a stooge of
foreigners, in particular the US Central Intelligence Agency.
Yangon residents said the commentary was clearly a reflection of
government thinking.
Ms Suu Kyi has said she is willing to discuss anything except leaving the
country.
***********************************************************
THE NATION: BURMA REGIME HAS REJECTED DIALOGUE PLEA
July 10, 1996 (abrigded)
BURMESE pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi has sent a letter
to all countries in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations
(Asean) outlining the developing political situation in Burma and
her party's long-standing policy to seek a peaceful dialogue with
the country's ruling junta.
The letter is the first official contact or communication by Suu
Kyi and her National League for Democracy (NLD) with the regional
grouping, which has recognised the ruling State Law and Order
Restoration Council (Slorc) since it rose to power in a bloody
coup in September 1988.
Informed sources said Suu Kyi gave her account of the recent
massive Slorc crackdown on the NLD in which over 260 of its
supporters and elected MPs were arrested and detained ahead of a
scheduled party congress on May 26.
Suu Kyi said that she does not believe in a confrontational
approach and prefers a dialogue with Slorc to resolve the
country's political turmoil. The military regime has rejected her
initiatives all along, she was quoted as saying in the letter.
Suu Kyi also expressed her desire to see Asean play a role in
encouraging the dialogue process.
The sources said it was not certain whether Asean foreign
ministers would reply to Suu Kyi's letter or acknowledge its receipt.
Suu Kyi's message is seen as a response to the account given by
Burmese Foreign Minister U Ohn Gyaw in his letter to his Asean
counterparts last month.
In his letter, U Ohn Gyaw said the NLD members were not arrested,
but only temporarily detained for "questioning" as a pre-emptive
measure to prevent the political situation from deteriorating.
He said those detained were not jailed and were well treated in
state guest houses. Sources quoted U Ohn Gyaw as describing the
overall situation as under control and telling Asean members not
to worry about it.
**********************************************************
AP: CIA TRIED TO WIN OVER SUU KYI, SAYS JUNTA
July 10, 1996
Bangkok, July 8: Burma's military government said on Monday that the
US Central intelligence Agency and the local Communist party fought to
control pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi.
"In the htami{skirt} grabbing contest between the Communist and the
West bloc, the latter is the winner, said an article in the state-run New
Light of Myanmar.
The heavily censored press is considered to represent the view of the
military government, which has increased attacks on Suu Kyi since she
stepped up her campaign against the regime in May.
The article dealt with events during the years 1988-89, when a democracy
uprising erupted throughout Burma and Ms Suu Kyi emerged from
obscurity to lead it.
Burma's Communist Party, which operated in remote hills near the Chinese
border, collapsed in 1989. It is not longer a factor in Burmese politics or a
security threat. Neo-colonialists of the West bloc employ patent methods of
sabotage of the CIA, the article said.
Burma was British colony from 1824 until 1947. The Burmese military
overthrew a democratically elected government in 1962 and kept Burma
isolated for decades. The current regime still backs its claim to legitimacy
with ultra-nationalist propaganda.
**********************************************************
BKK POST: GROUPS PRESS ASEAN FOR BURMA TALKS
July 10, 1996 (abridged)
NON-government groups in Thailand want Asean to press for talks
between the junta and pro-democracy forces in Burma.
They also want the Association of Southeast Asian nations to
press for the immediate release of Aung San Suu Kyi's supporters.
Their call came in an open letter marking the first anniversary
of the pro-democracy leader's release from house arrest.
If the ruling State Law and Order Restoration Council failed to
respond positively, Asean and its dialogue partners should
reconsider inviting Slorc to Asean's next meeting in Jakarta, the
group said.
"Asean should encourage Slorc to immediately enter genuine
political dialogue with Aung San Suu Kyi and representatives of
the political and ethnic opposition," the letter said, adding
Asean should offer to help those talks.
The letter is likely, to be given to Deputy Foreign Minister
Pracha Gunakasem and Bangkok-based diplomats of Asean and its
dialogue partners.
Signatories include the Asian Forum for Human Rights and
Development (Forum-Asia), Amnesty International (Thailand), the
Asian Cultural Forum on Development, the Thai Action Committee
for Democracy in Burma, and the Union for Civil Liberty.
They said Asean played a leading role in bringing about peace and
democracy in Cambodia and should do the same in Burma.
According to the NGOs, 27 of the 262 National League for
Democracy (NLD) delegates arrested in the run-up to the party's
may 26-28 congress remain under arrest. The NGOs also expressed
concern about a "repressive law" announced on June 7 which
decreed stringent penalties for those obstructing Slorc's
drafting of a constitution, a process the NLD has rejected.
The NGOs urged Asean make clear to Slorc that "significant
improvements" in human rights in Burma were a prerequisite for
that country joining the group. Rangoon has indicated it wants to
become a full member of Asean by 1998.
They called on the group and its partners to refrain from
investing in Burma, and to support a moratorium on any new aid or
funding for Rangoon until human rights and the political
situation there improved.
An arms embargo should be enforced against the government and all
armed opposition groups in Burma, they said.
Asean groups, Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines,
Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam. It's dialogue partners include
the united States, the European Union, Australia, New Zealand,
Canada, Japan, South Korea and India.
*********************************************************
BKK POST: MAE SOT ECONOMY SLUMPS AS TRADE SLOWS
July 10, 1996
by Supamart Kasem
MAE Sot is losing its lustre as a trading point with Burma
following a sharp drop in cross-border trade and the sluggishness
in the tourism industry.
Cross-border trade has steadily declined since Burma closed the
checkpoint at Myawaddy opposite Mae Sot in March last year after
differences with Thailand over construction of the Thai-Burmese
friendship bridge, the digging of water channels, in the Moei
River, and Rangoon's rejection of Thai proposal to open customs
checkpoints to regulate two-way border trade.
Tak chamber of commerce deputy chairman Panithi Tangpati said
exports to Burma through Mae Sot checkpoint have tumbled from a
high of 200 million baht to less than 40 million baht a month,
while imports had fallen from 4-5 million baht a month to less
than 1 million baht now.
A Mae Sot trader said the slump in border trade and tourism
triggered a chain reaction which spread to other businesses such
as restaurants, taxis and souvenir shops. Sales of consumer goods
at groceries and supermarkets have also dropped significantly.
One salesman said his orders declined by almost 90 percent last week.
He said that usually he received orders worth about 2 million
baht a month to supply consumer products such as instant noodle,
snacks, canned food and canned juice, but last week he only
received orders worth 200,000 baht.
The jewellery market at Prasart Vithi Road has not been spared either.
The jewellery and ornament sector is usually active between 9 a.m
and 3 p.m but the last two days saw sales picking up at noon and
at 2 p.m it was all over.
The situation in the jade and ruby market at the foot of the
Thai-Burmese friendship bridge was no better. Only about 10
coaches visited the market last weekend bringing in about 100
tourists. Normally at least 400-500 tourists visit the market on weekends.
Banpot Korkiatcharoen, manager of Nguan Heng Partnership Ltd in
Mae Sot, said political and economic instability in their country
prompted Burmese traders to cut down their orders from Thailand.
Banpot, who also owns a trading company in Burma, said the
closure of the Mae Sot-Myawaddy border recently forced him to
ship goods to Burma through Klong Toey Port in Bangkok via Singapore.
But the shipment cost, he said was two times higher than sending
gods through Mae Sot and it took two months for the goods to
arrive in Rangoon as Singapore authorities strictly inspected the shipments.
Banpot said border trade was so sluggish that many traders may be
forced to stop business, adding that several exporters had
already turned to retailing.
Panithi said the reopening of the checkpoint on March 19 has not
helped revive cross-border trade because Burma allows its people
to only buy consumer goods and the value of the kyat is now down
to 16.7 satang, the lowest in 16 years.
Panithi said loan extension to Burmese authorities and Rangoon's
attempts to intimidate National League for Democracy leader Aung
San Suu Kyi have driven Burmese people to hoard goods and gold
out of fear of unrest, leading to sharp rise in inflation.
**********************************************************
BKK POST: NEW BURMESE PORT TO BOOST THAI TRADE
July 10, 1996
TRADE between Thailand and Burma is expected to boom once Burma's
deep-sea port on the Andaman Sea opens for business.
To prevent problems, Thai investors must begin studying Burmese
trade regulations now according to Commerce Minister Chucheep
Harnsawat.
Speaking after a meeting with officials from Burma's Transport
Ministry and National Plan and Economic Development Ministry,
Chucheep said the Burmese were keen for Thai companies to invest
in the country's industrial sector.
He added that increased ties with Burma, with its wealth of
natural resources and good purchasing power, would benefit both sides.
Deep-sea projects in both countries could further pave the way
for joint projects and open trade to the Andaman region, he said,
noting that Thailand was also looking to build a manufacturing
base in Tavoy, Burma, and an 80-kilometre road linking
Kachanaburi to Tavoy.
When asked about reports of conflicts over border trade, Chucheep
said the two governments had no disagreements at present.
However, he stressed that the Thai private sector must understand
and study Burmese investment laws which change rapidly.
The president of the Kanchanaburi Chamber of Commerce, Singh
Tangcharoenchaichana, said he had recently provided information
about the combined deep-sea port resources of Thailand and Burma
to Prime Minister Banharn Silpa-archa and other ministers
concerned with trade and investment relations between Thailand
and Burma.
He said the two sides should consider combining the potentials of
their deep-sea ports, explaining that if merchant ships no longer
had to travel around the Malayan Peninsula, trade between
Thailand and Burma could expand more quickly.
Singh said Burma was interested in combining the resources and
the potential of deep-sea ports operated by both sides, adding
that the Burmese government had already approved the details for
such a project.
The Federation of Thai Industries and the Commerce Ministry are
now studying a similar proposal.
He said deep-sea port projects would lead to the expansion of
industrial plants, the creation of free trade zones and even
border industrial estates
********************************************************
REUTER: SLORC INTERROGATING KHUN SA FOR SOME MORE ...
July 10, 1996
RANGOON, - Burma's former opium warlord Khun Sa, who surrendered
at the beginning of the year, is being interrogated about his past activities,
including his foreign connections, a government offical said on Wednesday.
Lieutenant-General Kyaw Ba, a member of the ruling State Law and Order
Restoration Council (SLORC), told Reuters in an interview it might take up
to a year before the government decided what to do with the man authorities
once promised to hunt down and execute.
"It all depends on him. What he's going to say, what he's going to
confess," Kyaw Ba said.
"We are now investigating him and asking him what we want to know
about his different connections in different countries," he said, without
elaborating.
Khun Sa, who international narcotics officials say was responsible for
approximately half of Burma's annual opium crop of more than 2,000
tonnes, surrendered to governemnt forces in January with thousands
of his guerrillas.
The government rejected a request from the United States to extradite
him to face heroin trafficking charges in a U.S. court, saying he would be
dealt with according to Burmese law.
Kyaw Ba said whether Khun Sa was charged and prosecuted depended
on what information he was willing to divulge, but he hinted the veteran
guerrilla commander might be pardoned.
He also said there was a Burmese tradition "to forgive and forget when
you come back into the legal fold."
Before Khun Sa's surprise surrender, the Rangoon government vowed to
crush his guerrilla army and said he would be caught and hung.
Kyaw Ba declined to say where Khun Sa was being detained. Former
associates now based on the Thai-Burmese border said Khun Sa was living in
a military guest house in an exclusive Rangoon neighbourhood.
**********************************************************
REUTERS: SLORC-WE CAN CONTROL MINORITIES IN BURMA
July 10, 1996
RANGOON, A senior official of Burma's military government said on
Wednesday it was illegal for democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi to write
a constitution to rival a pro-military charter being drafted.
"That is not acceptable and is illegal," Lieutenant-General Kyaw Ba, a
member of the ruling State Law and Order Restoration Council (SLORC),
said in an interview.
"The constitution must be drafted by all kinds of people, all ethnic
groups and different levels of people," Kyaw Ba said when asked about Suu
Kyi's plans to draft a democratic constitution.
A SLORC-organised national convention has been meeting since
January 1993 to draw up a charter that will guarantee the military a
"leading role" in politics.
Suu Kyi pulled her National League for Democracy party out of the
SLORC convention last November, and in May said she and other party
leaders were drawing up a rival charter.
If Suu Kyi took power Burma could become like the former Yugoslavia,
with the country's many disparate minorities pushing for independence,
Kyaw Ba said. "Only we can control them (the minorities) and not let the
country disintegrate like... Yugoslavia."
**********************************************************
TIME INTERNATIONAL: STALKING THE STUNT PRINCESS
July 10, 1996
1 YEAR AFTER ASSK IS RELEASED, THE FATE OF DEMOCRACY
REMAINS IN DOUBT
by Anthony Spaeth
The main event in Rangoon's public life occurs each Saturday and Sunday
at 4 p.m., when Aung San Suu Kyi climbs a platform behind the closed
gate of her lakeside residence and addresses a crowd of several thousand
supporters. The 51-year-old winner of the 1991 Nobel Peace Prize,
invariably wearing a sprig of blossoms in her hair, speaks about
democracy and fundamental rights--rarities in military-run Burma,
even as conversational topics--and traffic on the road outside her house
clogs up as the city's less courageous steal glimpses of Suu Kyi from the
safety of their cars. A few muster the courage to wave. At the end of an
hour-long address, Suu Kyi instructs her loyalists to go home, but she
remains on the platform, watching to ensure that the crowd gets away
without arrest or harassment.
It's a touching gesture from a woman whose own safety is perpetually at
risk. Next week will mark one year since the ruling State Law and Order
Restoration Council released Suu Kyi from six years of house arrest.
SLORC has allowed her little genuine freedom--she has left Rangoon only
once--and the political situation has slid closer and closer toward
dangerous gridlock. In May the generals arrested 273 officials of Suu Kyi's
National League for Democracy to prevent them from attending a party
congress; later many were released. In early June, Suu Kyi's cousin U Aye
Win and another close aide were detained and have reportedly been given
harsh prison sentences on unspecified charges. A personal attendant, San
Hlaing, who vanished on June 13 on the way to a local video shop, has been
sighted in Rangoon's Insein prison. Nine days after that disappearance, Suu
Kyi's godfather, Leo Nichols, died in a Rangoon hospital; he had served just
2 1/2 months of a three-year jail term at Insein for having an illegal fax
machine. Nichols, former honorary consul for Norway, Sweden, Denmark,
Finland and Switzerland, used his fax to send Suu Kyi's regular column,
"Letter from Burma," to Japan's Mainichi Shimbun. Authorities refused to
release his body for an independent autopsy and buried the man Suu Kyi
knew as Uncle Leo within 27 hours of his death, following a government
arranged funeral that the Nichols family was advised not to attend.
The standoff in Rangoon is tense and stark. On one side is SLORC, united in
its desire to keep Burma orderly and under its rule while simultaneously
seeking aid money and foreign investments--a combination of goals
strikingly similar to China's. "There's good reason to believe the Chinese
are involved in advising SLORC on how to handle the political situation,"
says an Asian diplomat based in Rangoon. "China is a country and system
they understand well." On the other side is Suu Kyi, determined to bring
freedoms to Burma based on the popular mandate given her party in 1990
elections; the poll results were voided by SLORC after a resounding N.L.D.
victory. Though Suu Kyi enjoys wide sympathy abroad, diplomatic
pressure and protests on U.S. college campuses for a boycott of Burma have
minuscule impact within the country. "International opinion is only a
small part of SLORC's concern," says a Western diplomat. "Domestic
control is more important."
SLORC's attempts to marginalize Suu Kyi inside Burma are succeeding in
some ways, thanks largely to her nonconfrontational approach to the junta.
The government has confined Suu Kyi to her family compound in Rangoon,
first through the six-year house arrest and then, in the past year, by
forcibly discouraging her attempts to tour the countryside. Her only real
contact with the masses is from behind the residence's gate on Saturday and
Sunday afternoons. Average turnout: 3,000 per speech. "I come," says a
retired government official who turns out nearly every Saturday and
Sunday, "because I think what she says is the truth, and nobody else is
saying it."
STOOGES, HOLDING NEGATIVE VIEWS...
The official media recently began printing stories about the "traffic
nuisance" caused by the meetings, which some supporters see as a prelude
to a crackdown. Newspapers describe Suu Kyi as a "political-stunt
princess" or "Western fashion girl." She is frequently accused of being an
agent of the West--or, in more savage jargon, "ax handle of the neo
colonialists"--and her marriage to British professor Michael Aris is cited
as proof. Towering red billboards have been erected throughout the country
reading: OPPOSE THOSE RELYING ON EXTERNAL ELEMENTS,
ACTING AS (text not in original)
Many diplomats think SLORC is trying to keep Suu Kyi in virtual
seclusion until it can ram through a new constitution, already 3 1/2
years in the making, which is expected to reserve one-quarter of the
seats in parliament for the military, thus effectively preventing any
further constitutional change. Then elections would follow, in which a
SLORC-dominated political party might even manage some genuine
popular support. For though SLORC has been brutal with Suu Kyi and
the N.L.D., the junta has more achievements than the regime of Ne Win,
which ran Burma from 1962 to 1988. In the past few years, the government
has signed peace accords with 15 out of 16 tribal groups, most on the
country's borders, that have been fighting the Burmese military for
decades. Burma has received $2 billion in foreign-investment pledges.
Suu Kyi has allowed herself one area of confrontation: the new Burmese
constitution. Despite the N.L.D.'s strong showing in the 1990 elections, it
was given only 86 seats in the 677-member National Convention, which is
drafting the document. In November she ordered her delegates to walk out
in protest against the way the convention was functioning, and also because
elected representatives continued to be underrepresented. SLORC reacted
by getting the N.L.D. delegates expelled. Then in May she announced that the
N.L.D. would draw up its own proposed draft of a constitution. SLORC came
down hard: last month it proclaimed a new law prohibiting such activities.
Penalties range from five to 20 years in prison. After the law was issued,
Suu Kyi and her followers toned down their public criticisms of the
convention, but she is determined to go ahead with her own version of the
law of the land.
"She's a great ideologue and very disciplined, which attracts people," says
an Asian diplomat. "If she'd been a shrewd politician, she would have known
how to deal with the military regime. The only solution could be to make
some constitutional provision for the military to share power. But now the
N.L.D. is ranged in total opposition to SLORC." That analysis may not be
entirely fair: Suu Kyi says accommodation with SLORC was never possible
-not because she is inflexible or ideological but because the junta refused
to begin a dialogue. Now confrontation seems inevitable, and a rearrest of
Suu Kyi is not out of the question. "SLORC keeps misreading the situation
fundamentally," says a Western diplomat. "It miscalculated by holding the
elections, and it miscalculated by releasing her. Now it may be
miscalculating again." At one of the recent weekend gatherings of her
supporters, Suu Kyi could offer only pale words of hope. She talked about
"the law of impermanence." All things change eventually, she said--even
the government of Burma.
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VOA: NEW US RADIO NETWORK FOR ASIA
July 10, 1996
New US Radio Network for Asia -- the Asia-Pacific Network, US
government's new radio network beaming to Asia, will begin
broadcasting soon. Richard Richter, director of APN, told a
house subcommittee hearing on international operations and human
rights that Mandarin, Cantonese and Tibetan programs will start
in the fall, followed by broadcasts to Burma, Cambodia, Laos,
North Korea and Vietnam next year.
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USIA: WEB PAGE-DEMOCRACY AND HUMAN RIGHTS IN BURMA
July 10, 1996
The United States Information Agency has posted a new Internet home
page on democracy and human rights issues in Burma, on USIA's
International Home Page's East Asia Section. It contains transcripts of
State Dept. and White House press releases, congressional testimony,
the latest State Dept. Human Rights Report, etc.
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