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(11/19/91)Dr. Win Urged President B



Subject: (11/19/91)Dr. Win Urged President Bush 

                               The New York Times

                November  19, 1991, Tuesday, Late Edition - Final



HEADLINE: BURMESE WARNING ON ARMS BUILDUP

BYLINE: By BARBARA CROSSETTE,  Special to The New York Times

DATELINE: WASHINGTON, Nov. 18

 
   U  Sein Win  came to Washington last week to remind the Bush Administration
that his popularly elected Government in Myanmar, formerly Burma, remains
powerless because of a military dictatorship that is building an alarming
weapons arsenal with the help of China.

   A year and a half after winning a sweeping majority, Mr.  Sein Win's 
provisional Government is still barred from power by the State Law and Order
Restoration Council, which has hounded, imprisoned or driven underground many of
its victorious candidates.
 
Seeking Sanctions

    "There is only one superpower left in the world," Mr.  Sein Win  said in an 
interview on Saturday. "We want the United States to use its influence to get
other nations to cut links with the military regime and impose sanctions."

    That China is heavily arming the law and order council, known by its acronym
Slorc, has caused concern in other Asian nations, particularly India, said David
I. Steinberg, a Georgetown University Asian specialist who has written several
books on Myanmar. Mr. Steinberg said Beijing has sold $1.2 billion in arms,
aircraft and patrol boats to Myanmar since 1988.

   So far Mr.  Sein Win  has not been able to get an appointment with anyone at 
the White House, though he has been welcomed by members of Congress and had a
meeting with one State Department official.

   Mr.  Sein Win  is the Prime Minister of the National Coalition Government of 
the Union of Burma, an administration-in-waiting operating from rebel-held
territory near the Thai border, trying with scant resources to get the attention
of the democratic world. A 48-year-old mathematics professor educated in
Hamburg, Germany, Mr.  Sein Win  has been more successful in gaining support in 
Europe, where the European Parliament has pledged help and the Swedish
Government has sponsored a resolution on the restoration of rights in Myanmar to
be considered in the next week or two by the United Nations General Assembly.
 
'Uneducated Criminals'

    Mr.  Sein Win,  who has the backing of several ethnic rebel groups long
opposed to military governments in Myanmar, is the cousin of Daw Aung San Suu
Kyi, the leader of the national democracy movement and the winner of the 1991
Nobel Peace Prize. Their fathers, the independence leader Aung San and his
brother Ba Win, died together in an assassination in 1947. Mrs. Suu Kyi is under
house arrest in Yangon, the capital city formerly known as Rangoon.

   The provisional Government rejects as illegitimate both new spellings, Yangon
and Myanmar, because they were imposed without a popular referendum, and pledges
to restore the old names. Myanmar, Mr.  Sein Win  said, is an adjective meaning 
"Burmese" in the Burman language, and therefore not correct grammatical usage. 
He said that the country of 40 million people was being run by "uneducated
criminals."

   Mr.  Sein Win  fled to Manerplaw, in an ethnic Karen enclave of Myanmar, in
October 1990 as the Slorc's forces under Gen. Saw Maung were closing in on
leaders of the democracy movement. With Mrs. Suu Kyi in detention, he is acting 
as a stand-in until she is free to contest a by-election. She was barred from
the May 1990 election.

   "With democracy restored, Aung San Suu Kyi will lead the country, she will
lead the Government," said Mr.  Sein Win,  who won his seat by an overwhelming
majority in the birthplace of Myanmar's strongman for nearly 30 years, Gen. U Ne
Win. Most Burmese believe that General Ne Win, 82, is still in charge behind the
scenes.
 
'Great Concern in India'

    Mr.  Sein Win  and other exiles are asking that the democratic world not
only help in installing the Government the people elected, but also pay
attention to the Slorc Government's militarization, which could soon pose a
regional threat. The New York Times, November 19, 1991                      
                                                                                
   Professor Steinberg said in an interview Saturday that after the collapse of 
the Chinese-backed Communist Party of Burma insurgency and the improvement of
relations with Beijing, Slorc has bought about a dozen F-6 jet fighters, six
Hainan-class patrol boats, armored vehicles and a variety of guns. He said that 
the military Government was spending from a quarter to half its national budget 
on weapons, in a country that has been impoverished by 30 years of dictatorship.

   "There is great concern in India about this," Mr. Steinberg said. "India is
very interested in making sure that Burma is not too much in the Chinese camp
because it would be outflanked on its northeast frontier."

   He said the Chinese were also making substantial inroads into the Burmese
economy, challenging Thailand in supplying cheap consumer goods and in the
lucrative smuggling trade in timber, gems and narcotics. The Thai military, now 
Thailand after a February coup, is one of the main beneficiaries of commerce
with Myanmar, legal or illegal. The two armies have had very close relations.

   Pakistan and Bangladesh, friendly to China and wary of Indian intentions in
Myanmar, are also becoming military suppliers to Slorc. South Korea and
Singapore are also reported to be trading in strategic materials. The
Association of Southeast Asian Nations, to which Singapore and Thailand belong, 
has refused to be drawn into criticism of the military Government. The New
York Times, November 19, 1991