The BurmaNet News, May 1, 1997

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------------------------ BurmaNet ------------------------  
"Appropriate Information Technologies, Practical Strategies"  
----------------------------------------------------------  
  
The BurmaNet News: May 1, 1997  
Issue #709

Noted in Passing: 

?Perhaps if the government slaughters five million people in Burma.?
--Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad on what would stop Burma from
being admitted to ASEAN (see REUTER: MAHATHIR SAYS ASEAN TO ADMIT BURMA
DESPITE PRESSURE)

HEADLINES:  
========== 
BORDER REPORT: REFUGEES ARRIVING AT KANCHANABURI, 
BKK POST: BURMESE TORCH MON VILLAGES
SLORC : INFORMATION SHEET NO. A-0037
AFP: JAPANESE MPS IN RANGOON
REUTER: MAHATHIR SAYS ASEAN TO ADMIT BURMA 
BKK POST: KAREN REBELS BACK DOWN ON GAS THREAT
REUTER: BURMA SAYS TRAITORS BECOMING ``TERRORISTS''
THE NATION: WHICH DIRECTION FOR ASEAN?
WALL STREET JOURNAL: SPOTLIGHTING SLORC
THE NATION: MINISTERS TO MEET ON ASEAN BIDS
THE NATION: ROJANA SIGNS BURMA PROJECT DEAL
REUTER: BUDWEISER  SUSPENDED EXPORT BEER TO BURMA
XINHUA: MOTOR VEHICLES IN MYANMAR'S CAPITAL EXCEED
ANNOUNCEMENT: FORUM BURMA 97, SWEDEN
ANNOUNCEMENT: "BEYOND RANGOON" REVIVAL IN ADELAIDE
-----------------------------------------------------------------

BORDER REPORT: REFUGEES ARRIVING AT KANCHANABURI, 
RATCHABURI AND PROVINCES TO THE SOUTH
April 29, 1997

The 9th Division have apparently agreed to amalgamate the camps 
presently set up in the provinces of Kanchanaburi and Ratchaburi.  Huay 
Sut and Bo Wi are due to be consolidated at one site in Ratchaburi.  The 
fate of Pu Muang is not yet clear.  The new place is named Tham Hin and 
is about 16 kilometers from Huay Sut and about 10 kilometers from the 
border. Agencies at the border visited the site and found it satisfactory.
A deadline of two weeks has been put on the move by the Thai authorities.
The total population could be as high as 7,200 if all three sites are merged.

Meanwhile, Htee Lai Pah and Thu Ka are due to be combined at a new site 
named Maw Raka.  This is located  between Huay Malai, near Sanklaburi, 
and the Burma border.  The UNHCR visited the site and found it satisfactory.
No timetable has been put on the move yet.  The total 
population could be as high as 3,800-4,000.  However, it is not clear 
whether all of the refugees will agree to move to the new site.  Some from 
Htee Lai Pah may elect to go to No Pho in Umphang.

KANCHANABURI PROVINCE

Po Muang
The population is now around 2,400 consisting of about 557 families.  All 
the refugees are still sheltered under plastic and they now complain that  
the  plastic has deteriorated due to the action of sun and rain.  As of the 
25th of April they were apparently unaware of any plan to move them to a 
new site.

On the 2nd April Major Sai Aung, Commander of the SLORC 112th regiment, sent
a letter to Colonel Manat of the Thai 9th Division asking for assistance in
receiving food supplies from Thailand.  The letter was in English and had to
be translated by refugees in the camp.  Later, on the 4th of April, Colonel
Manat was said to have arranged two truck-loads of food supplies to be sent
to the SLORC base across the border.  

On the 22nd April a group of around 30 Thai officials including army
officers entered the camp and met with the camp committee.  They asked the
committee to tell them how many adult men were in the camp, and they also
inquired about general conditions in the camp.  

RATCHABURI PROVINCE

Huay Sut
The population is approximately 2,700, with around 570 families.  The camp
has been informed of the planned move to the new site, and the refugees have
been instructed to be prepared to move on Monday 28th April.  Apparently the
refugees will not be allowed to set up thatched dwellings when they arrive
at the new site.  It is hoped that they will be allowed to build simple low
bamboo platforms to raise themselves off the ground.  Roofing will still be
plastic sheets.

Ban Bo Wi
The population is approximately 2,100, with around 417 families.  The Thai
Public Health Service visited the camp recently and offered Norplant
contraceptive implants to the residents.  Around 20 women agreed to have the
implant done.  There was some concern that without proper education and
instruction in the refugees? own language, some women might accept the
contraceptive without fully understanding how it works, its side effects, or
how to remove it, if necessary, in the future.

PRACHUAP KIRI KHAN PROVINCE

Htee Yaw Kee
There are reportedly over 930 refugees at this site, adjacent to Pranburi,
Hua Hin.  The Thai authorities officially do not recognise that there are
any refugees at this place, but they have unofficially been given leave to
remain on Thai soil until June.  The majority of the refugees are now on the
Thai side of the border near Suan Thanon, but a smaller number (246) are
still on the Burma side of the border.

The Burmese army is reportedly 2 days away.  Division 44 has now left the
northern part of the Tenasserim river and arrived at the southern part of
Mergui/Tavoy district.  Division 22 is now leading the fighting along the
Tenasserim river.  As previously reported, this small community of dislaced
people face considerable mortality due to illness.  (42 diarrhoea related
deaths, 4 malaria related deaths)

Mu Kho Paw
There are said to be around 150 refugees at this spot which is located near
the border, adjacent to Thap Sakae, Prachuap Kiri Khan Province.  The Thai
authorities do not want an NGO presence, and have refused permission to
deliver assistance.  The displaced persons are located on the Thai side of
the border, close to Ban Moo Gon Paw.  The area has been under heavy attack
with the SLORC taking the Muslim Headquarters and the ABSDF 8888 base on the
21st and 22nd of April.  Currently fighting seems to be focussed in this area.

CHUMPHON PROVINCE

Kho Theh Loo
There are 278 people in this area, north of Chumphon, under the control of
the Thai 4th Army.  Thai authorities expect that they will move back during
the rainy season, but otherwise local relations seem to be good.

Internally displaced people
It was reported that there are around 700 displaced people originating from
Ler Pa Doh, Da Baw Klo, Ta Mu and Te Rwa Hta - all in Ler Muh Lah township,
which is now totally occupied by SLORC. This group of people reportedly
settled at the edge of the Te Rwa Hta Stream two weeks ago.  Their food
supply is very low, and is now entirely restricted to plain boiled rice.
They have now moved out of the deep jungle to Pee Te Law Po Kee which is
three days walk from the border.  KNU officials in the area have sent men to
try to guide these people to safety.  If they can reach the border, the most
convenient point for them to cross would be near Pa Dae, and the Thai
authorities could then settle them at Htee Yaw Kee.    

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

BKK POST: BURMESE TORCH MON VILLAGES
April 30, 1997

Prachuap Kiri Khan - Two Mon villages with around 300 makeshift shelters
were set ablaze after Burmese forces overran a Mon military base at Tab
Guncha on Monday.

Around one thousand Mon refugees from Ban Chong Chi and Ban Tan Guncha
villages fled the attack and crossed over into Thailand to seek refuge in
Bangsaphan's Tambon Chaikasem where local public health officials provided
aid to the refugees, said a border official.

Some 2,000 Burmese troops were involved in Monday morning's large-scale
military drive against Mon rebel forces. The fighting lasted for nearly four
hours before the rebels decided to desert their military base.

"Mon forces could not resist the attack as Burmese forces were better
equipped with heavy weapons. The two villages were reduced to rubble," noted
a Mon leader. (BP)

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

SLORC : INFORMATION SHEET NO. A-0037
April 30, 1997

                             Information Sheet
                             ******************

No. A-0037                                                   Date. 30-4-97
         
	The U.S Charge d? Affaires Mr. Kent Wiedemann visited Mrs. Aris at her
University Avenue residence on the morning of 29th April.

	Mrs. Aris, U Aung Shwe and U Tin Oo visited the British Ambassador
Mr.Gordon at his residence in the afternoon of 30th April.

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

AFP: JAPANESE MPS IN RANGOON
April 29, 1997

BANGKOK, April 29 (AFP) - Visiting members of the Japanese upper house held
talks Tuesday in Rangoon with leading Burmese military junta members,
state-run Radio Rangoon reported in a dispatch monitored here.

Six Japanese legislators led by Ichiyo Ishikawa called separately on Burmese
military junta's powerful secretary general, Lieutenant-General Khin Nyunt
and National Planning and Economic Development Minister Brigadier General
David Abel, the report said.

They discussed bilateral relations and economic cooperation between the two
countries as well as the foreign investment situation in Burma, it said.

David Abel also explained the development of junta's economic reform program
and bilateral trade between Burma and its neighbouring countries, according
to the radio.

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

REUTER: MAHATHIR SAYS ASEAN TO ADMIT BURMA DESPITE PRESSURE
April 30, 1997 [slightly abridged]

KUALA LUMPUR, April 30 (Reuter) - Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad
said on Wednesday the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) would
admit Burma into the grouping ``unless something unusual happens.''

ASEAN would shrug off pressure from Washington to keep Burma out, Mahathir
told reporters at the end of a conference on Malaysia's development strategies.

``Unless something unusual happens, I think Burma will be admitted. Whatever
pressure is exerted on them, we feel we are independent enough,'' Mahathir said.

Malaysia is this year's chairman of ASEAN, which also groups Brunei,
Indonesia, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

Mahathir is keen to have Burma, Laos and Cambodia admitted this year, the
30th anniversary of the grouping, thus completing ASEAN's original ambition
of including all 10 Southeast Asian nations.

``There will be problems but remember the business community in America does
not support the government's action. Governments come and go,'' Mahathir said.

Asked what would stop Burma from being admitted, Mahathir said: ``Perhaps if
the government slaughters five million people in Burma. If we are really
concerned for people and we want the people to enjoy a good life and
freedom, they should be admitted.''

ASEAN foreign ministers will meet in Kuala Lumpur on May 31 to decide when
to admit the three new members.

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

BKK POST: KAREN REBELS BACK DOWN ON GAS THREAT
April 30, 1997
Bangkok, AP

US sanctions save Unocal from sabotage

Ethnic rebels who are fighting Burma's military government said yesterday
they would not attack a gas pipeline, partly owned by American oil company
Unocal, because the United States had imposed economic sanctions against Burma.

The Karen National Union (KNU), which has been fighting for autonomy for the
Karen people since 1949, had vowed to destroy the $1.2 billion (31 billion
baht) gas pipeline owned by Unocal, the Burmese government, Total of France
and the Petroleum Authority of Thailand.

A rocket attack by KNU insurgents in February 1996 killed five Burmese
pipeline workers.

"Our friends have asked us to reconsider, and the United States has put a
lot of pressure on with sanctions," Ner Dah, the KNU's assistant secretary
for foreign affairs, said.

But Mr Ner Dah said that if destroying the project helped end military rule
in Burma, the rebels would resort to attacking it.

"If it is good for democracy, and if it is the will of the people, then we
will do it," he said, noting that Burmese pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu
Kyi has also voiced opposition to the project.

President Clinton announced on April 22 that he was banning new American
investment in Burma because of stepped up repression against Mrs Suu Kyi and
the country's democracy movement.

The sanctions do not affect investment projects which are already underway
but Unocal had wanted to pursue further oil and gas exploration in Burma. It
lobbied vigorously against punitive action against the Burmese.

The pipeline, which runs through an area the Karen consider part of their
homeland, is due to deliver gas to Thailand in 1998 and eventually provide
Burma's cash-strapped government with $200 million a year in profits.

The Karen, Mon ethnic people and human rights groups have  accused the
Burmese army of human rights abuses in securing territory for the pipeline,
and Unocal and Total of complicity.

They say the army has burned down villages, tortured and executed ethnic
people, raped women and press-ganged people into working as forced labour. (BP)

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

REUTER: BURMA SAYS TRAITORS BECOMING ``TERRORISTS''
April 30, 1997 [abridged]

RANGOON, April 30 (Reuter) - Burma's army chief of staff said traitors
within the country are turning into ``terrorists'' with foreign backing,
official media reported on Wednesday.

Lieutenant General Tin Oo, also Secretary Two of the ruling State Law and
Order Restoration Council (SLORC), was speaking to farmers on Tuesday.

``There are still internal axe-handles who are pushing the nation to become
a minion while saying they love it,'' Tin Oo was reported as saying.

``Similarly, there are also big nations using pressure to try and interfere
in the internal affairs of the small nations to make them their disciples.''

Tin Oo and other top leaders in the military government regularly refer to
Nobel Peace laurerate Aung San Suu Kyi and her opposition movement as ``axe
handles'' or traitors and say they are ``lackeys'' or ``minions'' of the West.

``Relying on alien nations for their survival as a last straw, these
internal traitors are gradually becoming terrorists,'' Tin Oo said.

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

THE NATION: WHICH DIRECTION FOR ASEAN?
April 30, 1997
Walden Bello

The regional grouping is at the point where it must choose between deepening
its economic cooperation or enlarging its borders, writes Walden Bello. 

Like the European Union, Asean faces the choice of either ''enlarging" or
''deepening". And the choice it makes will have major consequences on the
prospects of two of its key projects, the Asean Free Trade Area (Afta) and
the Asean Regional Forum (ARF). The deepening strategy is dictated by the
vision of regional economic cooperation articulated in the group's founding
document, the Bangkok Declaration of 1967. Deepening would focus the
regional body's energies on making Afta a reality. This is the complex and
challenging process of bringing down tariffs among the Asean countries to
zero by the year 2003 in order to create a market of some 400 million that
could serve as the basis of a coordinated regional industrialisation. 

As we all know, Asean in its first 20 years failed miserably as a body to
bring about greater regional economic integration. Scheme after scheme
failed, from the ambitious Asean Industrial Projects, which sought to assign
large-scale complementary capital-intensive projects to different countries
to develop, to the Asean Industrial Complementation Scheme, which planned to
divide different production phases of the automobile and other industries
among member countries. Afta, which was launched in 1992, is Asean's latest
attempt at serious integration via trade policy, a task made urgent by the
competition offered by the Apec pan-Pacific free trade area plan pushed by
the United States and Australia, which make coordinated regional integration
at the Asean level simply impossible. 

Will Asean succeed this time? The continuing strong hesitations of the
different Asean elites to open up their respective markets have so far made
their declared commitments to bring down tariffs to agricultural and
industrial goods nominal, leaving many observers sceptical about Afta
meeting the 2003 free trade deadline. 

Another major problem is US opposition to Afta trade liberalisation that
does not take place as part of a larger Asia-Pacific-wide trade
liberalisation. Afta, according to US Trade Representative Charlene
Barshefsky, is an example of how ''governments are pursuing strategic trade
policies, and in some cases preferential trading arrangements, forming
relations around us, rather than with us, and creating new exclusive trade
alliances to the potential detriment of US prosperity and leadership." 

Enlargement strategy 

Probably the most serious threat to making Afta a reality is the
"enlargement" of the Asean project that some elements in Asean have
designated as a priority. 

Enlargement would bring enormous complications to Afta. Unlike the Western
European members of the EU that are contemplating bringing in new economies
into the union, the members of Asean have still to carry out the first phase
of economic integration via a free trade area. Yet they have moved quickly
to bring in four economies, Vietnam, Burma, Cambodia, and Laos, which are
quite different from the original six, in that all four not only are at a
much lower stage of development and three out of the four are marked by a
much greater role of the state in the economy than the original Asean members. 

True, Vietnam has already been admitted, but this is not the time to
complicate Afta's future even more. Cambodia, Laos, and Burma should be
admitted into Asean, yes, but only after there are, among other conditions,
substantive steps taken in the enormously complicated phase of economically
integrating the existing members. The enlargement strategy is dictated by
political considerations, and in pursuing it, Asean courts a repeat of its
earlier history. For it was regional realpolitik that sabotaged Asean's
earlier efforts to move towards meaningful integration. From the late '60s
to the early '70s, the Asean governments were preoccupied by the Cold War
and the Vietnam War, where they were allied with the US. 

And in the late '70s, in a move that went against the spirit of the Bangkok
Declaration, Asean allowed itself to become an anti-Vietnamese alliance. Its
programme for economic cooperation was placed indefinitely on the
back-burner as it became the most active backer of the opposition coalition
in Cambodia (of which the Khmer Rouge was the main component), following a
common strategy with China and the United States. 

Today, regional realpolitik is again driving the enlargement agenda.
Bringing in Vietnam in 1995 was largely a strategic move to strengthen
Asean's military capabilities vis-a-vis China ­ one which was, incidentally,
in step with the United States' evolving strategic policy of ''containing" a
country that was seen by Washington as a rival regional hegemony. 

Burma and authoritarianism 

The current enlargement effort is centred on bringing in Burma. It has been
mainly pushed by President Suharto, who has deployed all his resources as
the ''grand old man" of Asean, the only chief of state who was in power when
the formation was established in 1967. 

Realpolitik is a major consideration in Suharto's moves, and this is the
realpolitik of authoritarianism. Suharto is increasingly worried about the
pressures for democratisation in Indonesia, which he sees as being
influenced by the rising pressures for greater democracy throughout the
region. Bringing in more non-democratic regimes would strengthen the
authoritarian pole in the balance of power within Asean: it would serve to
neutralise the formal democratic regimes within Asean ­ the Philippines and
Thailand ­ and prevent them from following foreign policies that would be
more sympathetic to democratic movements on the ground. 

Moreover, bringing in more authoritarian regimes would create a solid front
against external criticism of the repressive practices not only in Indonesia
but in the majority of the Asean states. 

Ideologically, ''Asean brotherhood" is being defined as a brotherhood of
authoritarian states ranged against liberal democracy, human rights, and
other ''western biases". It is not surprising, then, that the other
authoritarian governments, notably Malaysia, Singapore, and Brunei, have
lined up strongly behind Indonesia. 

This anti-democratic realpolitik is working. Isolated, weak-kneed, and
almost ashamed of their democratic credentials, the Thai and Philippine
governments have, predictably, allowed themselves to be pushed into
endorsing the majority position on Burma. And, with Burma in Asean,
opposition at the state level to the democratic current would be even stronger. 

Burma and the future of the ARF 

The authoritarian realpolitik promises to damage not only Afta but another
key project, the ARF, which the body wished to make the principal mechanism
for the resolution of conflict and security issues in the Asia-Pacific region. 

The ARF has a structure that might be best characterised as one of
concentric circles. The core, or inner circle, is the Asean member
countries, who have the initiative in setting the agenda. The next circle is
made up of the seven ''dialogue partners", which include, among others, the
United States, Australia, and Japan. An outer circle is made up of Russia
and China, Asean's ''consultative partners", followed by the periphery
composed of ''Asean observer states", namely Papua New Guinea, Laos, Burma,
and Cambodia. Making Burma a member of Asean would mean bringing an
extremely controversial actor from the periphery to the very centre of ARF
decision-making, and this can only bring a great deal of opposition and
criticism from many of the key dialogue partners ­ opposition which is
justified, since the Burmese junta is a totally illegitimate regime that is
in power in defiance of the clear cut results of a democratic election. 

Burma's central role in the ARF will become the issue in the ARF, and this
can only distract the forum from the pressing peace and security concerns,
such as the Spratly Islands dispute and the effort to gain the nuclear
powers' assent to the creation of a nuclear weapons-free zone in the region.
All this can only contribute to undercutting the ARF as an effective
multilateral security mechanism. 

Such a situation would play into the hands of the powers that are suspicious
and even unsympathetic to the ARF, like the United States. Washington has
often dismissed the ARF as a ''talk shop", and its strategy has been to
undercut its development as an effective multilateral structure for conflict
resolution, preferring to limit the forum to serving as a weak adjunct to
Washington's preferred security mechanisms in the Asia-Pacific region: its
bilateral treaties with East Asian countries, and its 100,000 troops
deployed to the area. 

In sum, granting Burma membership in Asean is an ill-advised move the
regional body cannot afford at this point, since it would distract its
members' attention from the complex and challenging Afta project and weaken
the ARF. It is partly for the reasons laid out above, incidentally, that the
network of institutes of strategic studies in Asean that were so influential
in the formation of the ARF are said to have recommended against the entry
of Burma at this time. 

Governments would be well advised to listen to their arguments instead of
plunging into a dangerous and foolish strategy of enlargement that can only
set back the realisation of Asean's vision of becoming a prosperous bloc of
integrated economies that serves as the hub of a peace and security
framework for the Asia-Pacific region. 

Walden Bello is co-director of Focus on the Global South, a programme of
Chulalongkorn University's Social Research Institute, and professor of
sociology and public administration at the University of the Philippines. (TN)

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

WALL STREET JOURNAL: SPOTLIGHTING SLORC
April 29, 1997

Review & Outlook

Human rights advocates are cheering United States President Bill Clinton's
decision to ban future American investment in Burma. The sanctions announced
last week are a response to unrelenting political repression by Rangoon's
ruling State Law and Order Restoration Council. Sanctions are not the cure-
all that some human-rights activists seem to believe they are;
Slorc has a habit of shrugging them off. But at least they are an expression
of displeasure that draws international attention to the offending country,
perhaps causing some other regimes to consider what kind of behavior might
damage their own reputations.

A measure passed in the U.S. Congress last year called for sanctions against
Burma if political repression intensified or if Aung San Suu Kyi--the
opposition National League for Democracy leader who spent six years under
house arrest after her party won democratic elections in 1990--was
re-arrested. Many lawmakers and citizens groups in the U.S. argue that
last week's announcement was long overdue. Amnesty International calls 1996
Slorc's worst year for human rights abuses since the military junta seized
power in 1988: Thousands of political prisoners were arrested, student
demonstrators were severely restricted, and what appears to have been a
Slorc-organized mob attacked Ms. Suu Kyi's motorcade in December. Moreover,
Ms. Suu Kyi has been under effective house arrest (her movements severely
limited "for her own safety," officials say) since November.

Yet it is political realities in the U.S., rather than Rangoon, which seem
to be behind President Clinton's announcement. When he made it, a bipartisan
group of U.S. Senators was preparing to introduce a bill that could have
compelled the president to enact sanctions. Further pressure
probably came from a wave of local-level sanctions against Burma. Several
cities and states, including Massachusetts and Connecticut, have passed laws
forbidding government from doing business with firms that invest in Burma.

Whatever the motive, it is encouraging to see Washington standing up for the
people of Burma, who have found so few official friends in their own part of
the world. Asia is home to the most fervent preachers of "constructive
engagement," the idea that doing business in a country while
ignoring its domestic politics is the best way to help a persecuted
population. The Association of Southeast Asian Nations invokes the argument
in defense of bringing Burma, Cambodia and Laos into their club this
summer--a schedule that will not be delayed by the U.S. announcement,
according to Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad. The American oil
company Unocal, a partner in a $1.2 billion
project to build a natural gas pipeline in Burma, is another advocate of the
creed. The pipeline project will be unaffected by the sanctions, but the
company says other projects it had in mind will be blocked.

Outside Asean, constructive engagement in Burma's case clearly isn't winning
any new converts these days. Anyone who sincerely wants their policy to
result in less repression can clearly see that engagement thus far has not
encouraged Rangoon's generals to loosen their iron grip on the population.
In some circles and on Western campuses, it must be said, it's become
fashionable to denounce doing business in this particular repressive state.
But none of this suggests that unilateral sanctions are the
answer.

American investment in Burma is too limited for sanctions to put a serious
economic squeeze on Rangoon. True, the U.S. is the country's fourth-largest
investor, after France, Singapore and Thailand, with approved investment at
the end of last year totaling $243 million. Burmese government figures claim
American investments swelled to $582 million
for the month of February as companies rushed to get a foothold before
Washington introduced sanctions. But even if that is accurate, the
continuing trend has been for businesses to move out of the country to
sidestep bad press, consumer boycotts or sanctions. In recent months Apple
Computer withdrew from Burma, and last week Anheuser-Busch pulled out.

Where U.S. sanctions could have some impact is outside Burma. The U.S.
announcement is only the latest censure of Slorc in a long list of
international actions that includes removal of trade benefits by the
European Union, suspension of development aid from the Asian Development
Bank and a condemning resolution passed by the United Nations Human Rights
Commission in Geneva. The U.S. sanctions might
encourage other countries to take even stronger action. The more democratic
members of Asean are also uncomfortable associating with this international
pariah. They could seize this moment to tell their fellow members that the
group can save itself inevitable embarrassment--and win some international
respect--by using Asean membership as a carrot to induce improved behavior
by Slorc.

Whatever happens next, Mr. Clinton's announcement is welcome in at least one
respect: By finally acting on the long- discussed investment ban, Washington
proves that these were no empty threats. Just as important, though, if the
sanctions  are to have any hope of success in nudging Burma
in the  right direction, they must include a set of guidelines and  goals
that set out what Slorc must do to have them lifted. A clear standard of
acceptable behavior, with muscular world-wide backing, could further the
cause of human rights not only in Burma but in other countries where
citizens live in fear of their own governments.

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

THE NATION: MINISTERS TO MEET ON ASEAN BIDS
April 30, 1997 
Don Pathan, Yindee Lertcharoenchok

PHUKET ­ Asean foreign ministers will converge here on May 31 to work out a
''recommendation" for their leaders on the timing of the admission of Burma,
Cambodia and Laos into the regional grouping, Thai Foreign Minister Prachuab
Chaiyasarn said yesterday. 

He said the heads of government of the seven Asean countries would then have
to make a final ''political decision" on the issue and make either an
official collective Asean announcement or individual announcements of the
entry date of the three candidates. 

''The leaders will make the political decision based on the recommendation
submitted by their foreign ministers. Foreign ministers will not make the
decision, it is entirely up to the leaders to decide," Prachuab said. 

But while Asean members remained committed to welcoming Burma, Cambodia and
Laos into Asean this year, it was uncertain if they would be admitted in
July when Asean foreign ministers hold their annual ministerial meeting
(AMM) in Kuala Lumpur. 

Asean's newest member, Vietnam, was officially accepted into the grouping at
the AMM in 1995. 

According to Foreign Ministry Permanent Secretary Saroj Chavanaviraj and
Philippine Undersecretary Rodolfo Severino, it was possible that the three
countries would be admitted either in July or in December when Asean leaders
hold their summit meeting. 

''Either they will join in July or not in July ­ both are possible. Asean
has its own way of deciding one way or the other," Saroj said. 

When asked of the possibility of the three candidates not joining Asean this
year, the Thai secretary responded: ''Only if something very dramatic happens." 

At the end of their informal summit meeting last December, Asean leaders
announced that the three observer countries would be granted full Asean
membership simultaneously. 

Asean foreign ministers stated earlier this month that they would decide and
announce the timing of the admission of the three countries when they meet
at a hastily called special meeting on May 31 in Kuala Lumpur. 

The obvious shift in the objective of the May meeting coincided with a call
by the United States for Asean members to reconsider the admission of Burma.
The US, which is a leading political, economic and strategic partner of all
Asean members, announced unilateral economic sanctions against Burma, citing
a regression in the political and human rights situation in the country. 

Philippine Foreign Minister Domingo Siazon said Asean members respected the
US decision on sanctions and would consider the US request. But he said that
Burma's relations with Asean had ''strategic implications" ­ in the same way
the US has pursued a comprehensive relationship with China. 

He said Washington last year had shifted its policy towards China from
essentially a one-dimensional relationship focused on human rights to that
of a more comprehensive relationship that involves other factors such as
non-proliferation and strategic issues. 

''They [the US] will understand that our relations with Myanmar [Burma]
cannot exist in only one dimension [of human rights] but there is also a
strategic relationship," he said. 

Philippine Undersecretary Severino said Asean was committed to seeing all 10
Southeast Asian countries in the grouping, as that was of ''strategic
interest in Southeast Asian solidarity". 

Siazon urged the US, a democratic society, to tolerate and respect the
differences in views and to respect the Asean decision in the same way Asean
respected Washington's decision. 

''We [Asean] believe that the United States of America has always prided
itself as one having supported democratic governments everywhere, and we
would expect them also to expect differences in views among democratic
governments," he said. 

Asean heads of government will meet in Malaysia twice this year ­ in August
to celebrate Asean's 30th anniversary and in December for the summit gathering. 

Burma, Cambodia and Laos could be admitted at either occasion, thus
fulfilling Asean founding fathers' dream of seeing all 10 Southeast Asian
nations in the group. (TN)

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THE NATION: ROJANA SIGNS BURMA PROJECT DEAL
April 30, 1997
Sasithorn Ongdee, The Nation

Rojana Industrial Park Plc has signed a US$24 million (Bt624 million) joint
venture contract with the Department of Human Settlement and Housing
Development of Burma to develop an industrial estate on 630 rai in Rangoon
economic zone.

Rojana holds a 60 per cent stake while the remaining 40 per cent will be
held by the state agency. The joint venture company has an initial
registered capital of $23.33 million.

Jirapongs Vinichbutr, the managing director of Rojana, said the industrial
estate is expected to be completed within two years. European, Japanese and
Asian investors are expected to be the target group.

The Burmese government will set leasing fees at an expected average of $45
per square metre.

Jirapongs said it is a pilot project in Burma for Rojana. If the company
achieves its targets, it will be able to ask for another 500 rai lot for
expansion.

Besides general public utilities, the company plans to build a small power
plant to supply electricity to the manufacturing facilities located in the
industrial estate.

Rojana Industrial Park last year generated revenue of Bt649.5 million, down
24.5 per cent from a year earlier. However, net profit fell only 5 per cent
with an earnings per share of Bt 21.41. (TN)

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REUTER: BUDWEISER  SUSPENDED EXPORT BEER TO BURMA
April 25, 1997

CHICAGO, April 25 (Reuter) - Anheuser-Busch Cos Inc confirmed Friday that it
suspended exports of its Budweiser brand beer to Burma after the United
States government enacted trade sanctions against the country. 

"Anheuser-Busch suspended its exports of Budweiser to Burma April 22 when
the U.S. government enacted trade sanctions," said Stephen Burrows,
president and chief operating officer of Anheuser-Busch International Inc, a
subsidiary of the St. Louis-based brewer. 

"Budweiser had been exported for two years to the country without any
company investment or employees working in Burma," he added in a statement. 

Burma activists had said earlier that Anheuser had pulled out of that country. 

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XINHUA: MOTOR VEHICLES IN MYANMAR'S CAPITAL EXCEED
April 20, 1997

The number of motor vehicles, which are registered in Yangon, the capital 
of Myanmar, has now exceeded 300,000, up from about 50,000 in the past 
ten years. According to a recent economic indicator published by the 
Myanmar Central Statistical Organization, the number of the registered 
motor vehicles in the Yangon municipal area as of October last year 
reached 328,356, increasing by 15.4 per cent over the same period of the 
previous year and by over six times that ten years ago.

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ANNOUNCEMENT: FORUM BURMA 97, SWEDEN
April 27, 1997

April 25 a nationwide Swedish Burma-cooperation was launched at a
conference initiated by the Jamshog College.  A statement regarding the 
current refugee situation along the Thai-Burma border was drafted by the 
organizations present.  It is expected that all Swedish NGO´s seriously 
promoting democracy and other human rights in Burma will endorse the 
statement as well as participating in future Forum Burma work.

For further information:
peterekdahl@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx (Forum Burma 97, Jamshog College)
and/or  burma_c@xxxxxxxxxx (Burma Center, Sweden)

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ANNOUNCEMENT: "BEYOND RANGOON" REVIVAL IN ADELAIDE
April 30, 1997

The Adelaide Stirling's Community Aid Abroad support group has organized the
Burma refugee benefit film at their local theatre. The group has been trying
to raise Burma awareness in Adelaide and our friends are invited to come and
see the educational film "Beyond Rangoon".

Following is detail of program:
--------------------------------------
COMMUNITY AID ABROAD FILM NIGHT
(Proceeds to aid the Burma Refugee Program)

AN ADVENTURE FILM BASED ON TRUE EVENTS IN BURMA

Time: Sunday 4th May 1997, 7:30 p.m.
Place: Aldgate Windsor Theatre
Admission: $10, Concession/Students $5
------------------------------------
I am told by the organizers that the Aldgate Windsor Theatre is at the
Corner of Churinga Road and Edgeware Road; a bit behind the Shopping
Centre and make a careful look for the Theatre (not a prominent Building).
To get to Aldgate from Adelaide, take the Stirling Exist from the freeway. 

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