8888 in the Japanese Press

[carol@xxxxxxx]

Following are some reports on the Tokyo hunger strike from the
English-language press in Japan (there were also reports in the Japanese
language press).  The event was also covered by at least three local TV
stations and one worldwide one, Reuters, as well as by the Burmese language
services of NHK and BBC radio.  We will later post our own report on the
hunger strike.

==========================

Japan Times, Friday, August 9, 1996

MYANMARESE RALLY IN TOKYO: Hunger Strikers Complain ODA Keeps Junta in Power

	While 25 Myanmarese activists staged a 36-hour hunger strike in Tokyo's
Hibiya Park on Thursday, a visiting leader of the antigovernment movement in
Myanmar reiterated a demand that the Japanese government suspend official
development assistance to the military regime.
	"We want the Japanese government to suspend its ODA and business to refrain
from investing in our country," said Win Khet, the chairman of the National
League for Democracy (Liberated Area).
	The NLD-LA is an overseas body of the National League for Democracy, which
is led by Aung San Suu Kyi.
	Win claimed that the NLD, which won a majority of votes in the 1990
national election, is a legitimate government, and Japan should follow the
demand by the NLD.
	"I believe the main reason that (the military regime) has been able to keep
power so far is aid from foreign countries," Win said.
	He stressed that Aung San Suu Kyi also has repeatedly asked the Japanese
government to suspend ODA.
	The plea apparently has fallen on deaf ears.  According to the Foreign
Ministry, Japan was the biggest ODA donor to Myanmar in 1993.  In 1995, a
15.7 billion yen grant was given.
	The NLD-LA opened its Japanese office in Tokyo on the same day.
	The office will be the center of their Asian activities, the group said.
	Exactly eight years ago Thursday, a general strike and demonstrations by
people calling for democracy spread across the country.  Thousands of
antigovernment activists were believed to be killed by the military
government during the strike.
	"The number eight has a special meaning for us because the day (of the
general strike) was August 8, 1988, eight years ago," said a participant at
Thursday's rally in Tokyo.
	Win said they consider the Aug. 8 movement the most important democracy
movement of the country.

* * *

On the same day, the Mainichi Daily News carried a 2 column X 20 cm photo of
the hunger strikers with this caption: "EIGHT IS THE DATE -- Burmese
prodemocracy activists start a 36-hour hunger strike Thursday morning in
Tokyo's Hibiya Park to commemorate the eighth anniversary of the
prodemocracy uprising in Burma known by its date of '8-8-88.'" The Daily
Yomiuri carried a photo from Bangkok with this caption: "REMEMBERING 8-8-88
-- A member of a group supporting the pro-democratization movement in
Myanmar paints '8-8-88' with his blood on the wall of the Myanmar Embassy in
Bangkok.  The figures represent Aug. 8, 1988.  Exiled Myanmar dissidents
shed their blood and staged hunger strikes Thursday to mark the eighth
anniversary of one of the bloodiest days in a failed pro-democracy movement.
Dissidents in Japan and Australia marked the day by calling for stronger
international pressure on Myanmar concerning a recent crackdown on the
National League for Democracy party."

* * *

JAPANESE PROTESTERS ATTACK AID, INVESTMENT IN BURMA

	TOKYO (AP) -- Protesters staged a hunger strike and rallied in front of
three embassies in Tokyo on Thursday to mark the anniversary of the Burmese
military's crushing of a pro-democracy movement eight years ago.
	About 60 demonstrators marched in front of the Thai, Indonesian and Burmese
embassies to demand an end to aid and direct investment in Burma and protest
the military regime.
	At Tokyo's Hibiya Park, about 20 Japanese and Burmese protesters began a
36-hour hunger strike Thursday morning.  They sat near a park fountain and
displayed a picture of pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi.  A banner
read, "The blood on the ground is still red."
	The protests marked the crushing of pro-democracy demonstrations on August
8, 1988, when the army fired on demonstrators, killing hundreds.  The
military junta now ruling Burma took over two months later.
	Critics say aid and private investment in Burma is only propping up the
military regime.  Suu Kyi has urged foreign tourists to stay away from the
country, saying the money they spend helps keep the government afloat.
	Tin Khet of Burma said he joined the 1988 demonstrations while a student at
Rangoon University, and he remembered with tears in his eyes friends who
were gunned down.
	"The military fired at us, and many of my friends and brothers fell that
day," he said.  "I can still hear their voices."