The BurmaNet News: August 19, 1998

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"Appropriate Information Technologies, Practical Strategies"
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The BurmaNet News: August 19, 1998
Issue #1077

HEADLINES:
===========
AWSJ: TIGHTENING THE SCREWS ON BURMA'S GENERALS
AWSJ: ASEAN TO CHANGE WITHIN YEAR, SAYS MINISTER
THE NATION: SUU KYI REMAINS DEFIANT AS NLD, JUNTA HOLD TALKS
THE NATION: RANGOON 18: THE GENERALS BLINKED
BKK POST: JUNTA BOASTS OF 'FRUITFUL' NLD TALKS
BKK POST: ASEAN URGED TO CARRY OUT REFORMS
THE NATION: ASEAN SEX TRADE FEEDS MILLIONS
THE NATION: FOREIGNERS HELP GIVE VOICE TO THE SILENCED
THE NATION: BE PREPARED FOR THE ULTIMATE SACRIFICE
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THE ASIAN WALL STREET JOURNAL: TIGHTENING THE SCREWS ON BURMA'S GENERALS

18 August, 1998

By GARY WOODARD

It appears that the Burmese military regime's unerring capability for
shooting itself in the foot is not about to change. For all their exposure
over the past year to their Association of Southeast Asian Nations
partners, including the top leadership of Singapore and Malaysia as well as
former President Suharto, they are clearly intent on an implacable show of
force against their own people in the month of the 10th anniversary of the
Rangoon massacre. Burma's leaders are adopting the old Ne Win approach of
1962, 1974 and 1988.

Democratic leader Aung San Suu Kyi is once again being held in her car at
the height of the monsoon heat after setting out to visit other officials
of her National League for Democracy in Bassein six days ago. This is the
fourth time in two months that the elected leader and Nobel laureate has
been detained in this manner. According to the Burma Lawyers' Council,
during the last incident Ms. Suu Kyi was forcibly returned to Rangoon
sitting on the lap of a male security officer locked in his arms, with
female security officers sitting on either side.

More than eight years after their election, the members of the NLD who
survive in Burma plan to come together this month as a legislative body.
The military junta, the State Peace and Development Council will prevent
this, and will, characteristically, exact retribution. In such a scenario,
Ms. Suu Kyi's freedom, and even her life, must be judged to be endangered.

Governments have appealed to United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan to
intervene personally. Compared to his predecessors, Mr. Annan is certainly
showing a greater, sense of engagement, as well as more sensitivity to the
damage done to the United Nations by toothless resolutions. Pre-occupied
though he is with another Southeast Asian problem, East Timor, he quickly
took the initiative of appointing a personal representative to go to
Rangoon. With characteristic flair, however, the generals have refused to
admit this envoy, Razali Ismail, special adviser to one of their hitherto
strongest backers, Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad, and last
year's U.N. General Assembly president.

The next step will be for the international community to ratchet up the
diplomatic pressure on Burma's generals. While efforts should continue to
be made to communicate with them, governments must give serious
consideration to qualifying the SPDC's right to occupy the U.N. seat for
Myanmar, and the right of SPDC Foreign Minister Ohn Gyaw and his minions to
take the floor there, with some mark of dissociation similar to that which
the European Union has taken in the Asean-European Meeting. A further
damning condemnation of the Burmese military will emerge this week, this
time from the International Labour Organization.

The SPDC's regional supporters are showing increasing discomfiture at the
generals' behavior, as was apparent at the Manila Asean Regional Forum (and
indeed as was entirely predictable when they rushed into admitting Burma on
Asean's 30th anniversary). After all, well-connected Singapore, Malaysian
and Indonesian businessmen have suffered heavy losses from the SPDC's
ineptitude and corruption, which was sufficient to excite personal
intervention by Suharto and Lee Kuan Yew with Ne Win. Plus the region's
reputation has been tainted by the association between investment and
narcotics revenues.

It is significant and disappointing that in opting at the Manila conference
to make no modification to the doctrine of non-interference, Asean has
flouted one of its other important traditions, to defer to the front-line
state. In the case of Burma, that is Thailand. Thailand has changed its
policy to demand that the SPDC make "forward movement which will make it
more acceptable for the international community to lend a hand." 

This is not a decision that was taken lightly, Burma being a matter on
which the King of Thailand himself takes an interest. It reflects the
severe and direct consequences to Thailand of a continuance of the present
situation of economic stagnation, military repression and consequent
refugee outflow, and associated health, law and order, social and
environmental fall-out.

China, the SPDC's main military backer, is also showing concern about the
lack of movement within Burma and the long-term implications of economic
downturn and foreign aid bans. Since the arrival of the new Chinese
ambassador, the Chinese Embassy has had regular informal contacts with the
NLD, sending a clear signal to the SPDC. China has control over the
movement of people across its border but otherwise faces similar problems
to Thailand. 

It has a growing economic, political and strategic interest in a stable
Burma. There are many signs that it sees these interests as endangered by
the SPDC going inexorably down its current track. It has had plenty of
experience of blind xenophobia and immature recalcitrance in the bumpy
history of the paukpaw, or elder brother-younger brother, relationship.

In recent months visitors to Burma claim to have found an encouraging
degree of sophistication and flexibility in the military circle surrounding
General Khin Nyunt. These unofficial contacts may prove an effective
conduit to convey the mounting international concerns that a bridge must be
built to the democracy movement. But if they do not, the generals who know
only brutal force will shortly have their way. Then Burma's neighbors will
have to grapple with the failure of engagement, as the country's rulers
make a mockery of efforts to turn it into a regional "partner."

MR. WOODARD IS A FORMER AUSTRALIAN AMBASSADOR TO BURMA AND CHINA.

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THE ASIAN WALL STREET JOURNAL: ASEAN TO CHANGE WITHIN YEAR, SAYS MINISTER

18 August, 1998

By JON LIDEN
STAFF REPORTER

MANILA -- Less than a month after the Association of Southeast Asian
Nations rejected changing its policy against members commenting on or
intervening in one another's internal affairs, one of the foreign ministers
urging that change said he expects "a whole new Asean" within a year.

"Just wait 12 months -- for elections in Indonesia; wait for developments
elsewhere. It will be a totally different Asean," said Philippine Foreign
Secretary Domingo Siazon at a luncheon with foreign reporters.

Non-interference in one another's affairs is the cardinal principle of the
conservative organization, formed 31 years ago as a common front against
communism. But at a meeting of Asean foreign ministers last month, Thai
Foreign Minister Surin Pitsuwan pushed for members to abandon their
longstanding reluctance to criticize one another when politics or economics
in one country affects another.

Mr. Siazon backed him, but none of the other seven nations -- Brunei,
Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Singapore and Vietnam -- wen along.

Mr. Siazon, though, takes a more patient approach than Mr. Surin, saying
change within Asean depends on the right timing. These days, the Asian
economic crisis threatens to cause more bickering among members formerly
bound together by prosperity. The crisis already has caused political
turmoil in countries such as Indonesia, where riots and protests recently
forced long-time ruler Suharto to resign.

Skeptics say Asean's recent track record on cooperation isn't good. They
point to a new economic-monitoring mechanism -- an exchange of economic
information among members -- that was hailed as a victory for openness and
closer cooperation when members agreed to it in November. Yet, it still
hasn't gone into effect because some members object to sharing the required
information with each other.

Mr. Siazon, in meeting with reporters, tried to reverse the sense of drift
and lethargy that characterized last month's meeting. Asean already
functions as a constructive force in the region, Mr. Siazon said. For
example, if Myanmar -- formerly Burma -- hadn't been admitted as a member
last year, 18 foreign activists -- 11 from Asean countries -- would now be
serving five-year sentences for passing out pro-democracy leaflets, said
Mr. Siazon. Instead they were deported Saturday.

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THE NATION: SUU KYI REMAINS DEFIANT AS NLD, JUNTA HOLD TALKS

19 August, 1998

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE

RANGOON -- Burma opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi yesterday spent the
seventh day in a battle of wills with the junta on a bridge, while her
National League for Democracy (NLD) and the junta held landmark talks in
Rangoon.

"It's way to early to say there is any rapprochement, but it is progress,"
said one Western diplomat.

The opposition party's chairman Aung Shwe met for nearly an hour with junta
intelligence chief Lt Gen Khin Nyunt, widely seen as the number two in the
military hierarchy, the NLD and junta said in separate statements. 

The junta described the talks as "open, cordial and frank". 

"We hope this is the first in a series of confidence-building talks between
the government and the NLD," Khin Nyunt was quoted as saying. "We have had
a fruitful meeting and we also have appreciated the NLD's acceptance of our
offer of a meeting."

The NLD had declined previous invitations for talks as they excluded party
secretary-general Suu Kyi and other key members.

Diplomats and residents said the capital was calm but reported widespread
rumours there would be unrest on Friday, when the Nobel peace prize winner
has demanded the parliament, elected in 1990, meets for the first time.

The NLD expressed concern about Suu Kyi's health and asked that her doctor
be allowed to examine her.

"Their food is running low and this could adversely effect her health," the
party said late on Monday, adding the doctor had seen her and would make
daily examinations.

The party has also demanded the release of two NLD supporters -- Thein Oo
and Ohn Hla -- who it said were detained when they tried to visit the site
of the stand-off on a small bridge linking a highway to rice paddies 25
kilometres from Rangoon.

Suu Kyi, along with two drivers and an NLD official, was stopped by
authorities last Wednesday as she tried to travel to meet supporters
outside Rangoon.

It was her fourth failed bid to visit provincial supporters in a little
over a month.

The junta has played down the latest stand-off as a "camping" expedition
and has repeatedly said it is doing all it can to ensure her welfare.

The NLD held the junta responsible for Suu Kyi's illness following the last
confrontation, which ended after six days on July 29 when she was forcibly
driven back to Rangoon.

The NLD-led opposition won the 1990 polls by a landslide but the junta has
refused to give up power.

The NLD has not said what action it will take if parliament is not convened
but other opposition groups have called for a mass campaign of civil
disobedience.

Analysts said there was little chance of serious confrontation. A limited
protest by the NLD was seen as the most likely scenario if the junta, as is
expected, ignores the deadline.

Exiled Burmese student groups yesterday pledged support for Suu Kyi's
stand-off and the demand that parliament be convened.

"We hereby denounce the regime for still barring Daw [honorific] Aung San
Suu Kyi from freedom of movement," the Thailand-based groups said in a
statement.

"The regime has not shown any signs to convene a democratic parliament that
must be convened within four days.

"We therefore will need to stand by Daw Aung San Suu Kyi to make her able
to convene democratic parliament herself."

The statement was issued by Overseas National Students Organisation of
Burma, the All Burma Basic Education Students Union, and the Burmese
Students Association.

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THE NATION: RANGOON 18: THE GENERALS BLINKED

19 August, 1998

EDITORIAL

It would be laughable if it wasn't true -- five years of hard labour for
distributing "goodwill messages". Clearly, the sentence meted out to the 18
foreigners by a Burmese makeshift court last Friday had exposed, once
again, the brutal reality of the military regime. That the activists were
immediately deported only served to add mockery to the junta's judicial
system.

The Rangoon 18 richly deserved a hero's homecoming, but there should be no
illusion as to why they were freed. After all, they had behind them the
weight of a number of governments, and countless NGOs and individuals who
had worked tirelessly for their freedom. The activists had gambled and won
-- the generals blinked. If they were Burmese, their fate would surely have
been very different.

Last week's detention of the foreign activists had also laid bare deep
divisions within Asean. Philippines President Joseph Estrada provided
exemplary leadership when he made no bones about demanding that the junta
"let his people go". On the other hand, when Thailand's "flexible
engagement" rhetoric was put to the test, it turned out to be nothing but
hot air.

Bangkok failed miserably to follow Manila's example to press for the
activists' release, and even Foreign Minister Surin Pitsuwan's expression
of personal support for the detained activists could not smooth over such a
shameful sell-out. For post-Suharto Indonesia, there was no official
reaction, but its diplomats did offer help to the detainees and their
families.

Malaysia, however, was completely out of step. Foreign Minister Abdullah
Badawi said he had no sympathy for Malaysians who enter other countries and
consciously commit wrongdoings. Such an insensitive stance came as no
surprise -- anyone caught doing the same in Kuala Lumpur would be similarly
punished.

Surely any governments who throw activists into prison for handing out
leaflets, especially ones which merely express support for the democratic
aspirations of the people, must be condemned. Such muzzling of dissidents
would be severely criticised if it were to occur in Thailand. Likewise, the
Burmese junta has no right to detain anyone -- whether local or foreign --
for such innocuous acts. True, the 18 foreign activists may have broken a
number of the junta's laws, but such repressive laws are evidently against
international norms. 

That said -- and now that the 18 are released -- perhaps it's also apt to
reflect on whether it was wise for foreigners to be leafleting in the
streets of Rangoon, no matter how righteous the cause is. The struggle for
democracy in Burma should be determined by the Burmese. Yes, as members of
the global community we should support that struggle. However, whether
going to Rangoon and leafleting Burmese "not to give up hope" is going way
beyond "support" is a question that should be discussed by foreign NGOs.

In some countries such direct actions would have seriously backfired. For
example, a few years ago Malaysia saw a number of foreign activists slip
into the country and chain themselves to trees to protest against the
rapacious logging of Sarawak's rainforests. The authorities wasted no time
in painting them as outsiders telling Malaysians how to run their country,
and having an iron grip on the media, the government had no problems in
rallying citizens to back its stance.

But given the level of opposition to the Burmese regime, the situation may
be different. It did not, however, stop the generals from trying to exploit
the foreign intervention. Indeed the Burmese media had a field day in
depicting the 18 as alien saboteurs bent on "inciting unrest", and
ridiculing the democratic opposition as a tool of foreign agents.

With the saga of the Rangoon 18 now over, global attention can now focus on
the continuing drama at Anyarsu bridge where opposition leader Aung an Suu
Kyi is holding her ground since she was stopped from proceeding to Bassein
seven days ago.

The noose on the junta is being tightened. Suu Kyi has demanded the junta
convene the parliament by this Friday or face unspecified "consequences".

Last week, United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan requested an urgent
visit by his envoy for talks which was subsequently rejected by the junta.
And last Wednesday, eight leading nations, including Japan, began a
concerted action to press the junta into opening dialogue with the opposition.

The military has bowed to international pressure and freed the 18 foreign
activists. It's time for the junta to free 45 million Burmese.

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

BKK POST: JUNTA BOASTS OF 'FRUITFUL' NLD TALKS

19 August, 1998

DOCTOR VISITS DEFIANT BUT STRANDED SUU KYI

RANGOON, REUTERS

Senior members of Burma's military government and the pro-democracy
opposition met for the first time in more than a year yesterday while
opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi kept up a weeklong roadside protest.

The head of Burma's military intelligence arm, Secretary Lieutenant General
Khin Nyunt, met U Aung Shwe, chairman of the opposition National League for
Democracy (NLD), for 45 minutes in the afternoon, government officials said.

"We hope this is the first in a series of confidence-building talks between
the, government and the NLD," a government statement quoted Lt-Gen Khin
Nyunt as saying.

"We have had a fruitful meeting and we have also appreciated the NLD's
acceptance of our offer of a meeting."

The statement did not say what was discussed at the meeting, which comes
ahead of a Friday deadline set by the NLD for the convening of a parliament
of members elected at a general election in 1990.

The NLD won the poll by a landslide but the government ignored the result.

During the meeting, Mrs Suu Kyi, the 1991 Nobel Peace Prize laureate,
remained stuck in a minivan on a country bridge 32 kilometres southwest of
Rangoon for a seventh day, having been prevented from driving to see
supporters in western Burma.

She has refused government demands for her to return to Burma and diplomats
say the protest has highlighted both her lack of freedom of movement and
the NLD's deadline.

The government offered talks with the NLD on August 7 but the party turned
them down as they would have excluded Mrs Suu Kyi.

The NLD, described by Burma's government-run newspapers on Monday as the
"Number One Enemy," confirmed that the meeting with the government had
taken place but gave no details.

Diplomats said it was not clears why the opposition had changed its position.

The NLD said authorities permitted Mrs Suu Kyi's doctor to see her
yesterday to cheek on her health. It said she required a daily cheek up and
arrangements were being made for this.

After a similar six-day stand-off last month, which was forcibly ended by
the military, Mrs Suu Kyi suffered from dehydration and had to rest for
several days.

A commentary published in three government-run newspapers yesterday accused
foreign governments and news organisations of colluding in Mrs Suu Kyi's
protest.

It accused the Voice of America, the British Broadcasting Corp and Radio
Free Asia, of interfering in Burma's internal affairs by "profusely
advocating the demand of the lady".

"Some so-called diplomats and foreign correspondents, making arrangements
beforehand with so-called NLD leaders, spread invented and exaggerated
news, a pack of lies," it said.

"Some Western governments, with their eyes shut, shouted at the top their
voice, protested and meddled."

The government has so far ignored the NLD's call for a parliament and has
ridiculed Suu Kyi's protest by sending gifts, including a beach umbrella.

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BKK POST: ASEAN URGED TO CARRY OUT REFORMS

19 August, 1998

EXPEDITE POLITICAL CHANGE, SAY THAIS

BY NUSSARA SAWATSAWANG

Thailand yesterday called on member states of the Association of Southeast
Asian Nations to expedite political reforms in order to cope with economic
and social challenges resulting from globalisation.

Addressing a seminar organised by the Faculty of Political Science of
Chulalongkorn University, Deputy Foreign Minister Sukhumbhand Paribatra
said the extent to which the grouping will cooperate in future depends
largely on how it manages to adjust to outside forces.

He cited the need for the region to comply with global standards in
business administration, production of goods, marketing, financial rules
and regulations, education and employment of skilled labour.

"But this [adjustment with the global trend] cannot take place unless there
are political reforms in Asean," M.R. Sukhumbhand said in prepared remarks
for the seminar.

Failure would leave the Asean economies weak from the economic crisis that
has devastated the region since last year, he added.

The deputy foreign minister, however, acknowledged that vested interest
groups in Asean member states were the main obstacle to the grouping's
achievement of political reforms.

As for handling social trends in the region, he said Asean member states
must "open up," and look after the needs of their people, including
increasing demands for political participation, respect of human rights,
and for freedom of religious belief.

Asean groups Brunei, Burma, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, the Philippines,
Thailand, Singapore and Vietnam.

M.R. Sukhumbhand's calls for political reforms in the region followed
Thailand's recent initiative for Asean to adopt a "flexible engagement"
policy so that member states can express concern about other member states
internal problems that threaten regional stability.

The initiative found support only in the Philippines, with most other Asean
member states staunchly opposed to it.

He emphasised Asean's principles of non-intervention in other countries'
domestic affairs must be tested "in the context of the world's reality that
a problem in one country might affect others as well."

Saroj Chavanaviraj, the Foreign Ministry's Permanent Secretary said, that
Thailand's call for flexible engagement reflects current trends in the
world and the region. "The reality is whether everybody in Asean is
prepared for it," he said.

He admitted that the new policy is difficult to implement, and needs time
to be better understood and accepted by Asean states.

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THE NATION: ASEAN SEX TRADE FEEDS MILLIONS

19 August, 1998

MANILA -- Millions of people across Southeast Asia depend for their
livelihoods on the sex industry, which in some countries makes up a
staggering 2 to 14 per cent of gross domestic product, a ground-breaking
study said yesterday.

The International Labour Organisation (ILO) has compiled studies of
prostitution into a book entitled "The Sex Sector" comparing the sex
industry in Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines and Thailand.

Studies carried out from 1993-1994 estimated there were as many as 200,000
to 300,000 prostitutes in Thailand, 140,000 to 230,000 in Indonesia, around
100,000 to 600,000 in the Philippines and between 43,000 to 142,000 in
Malaysia.

Prostitution also supports a whole hive of secondary industries such as
bars, hotels and taxis and has even kept food vendors, janitors, cashiers
and security guards in jobs while helping the families of prostitutes.

In Indonesia, the annual turnover of the sex industry was placed at US$1.2
to $3.3 billion while the annual income from prostitution in Thailand was
estimated at $22.5 to $27 billion, the book said.

Prostitution is illegal in the Philippines and Thailand. It is allowed in
Indonesia and Malaysia, but pimping is illegal.

Although the ILO is not advocating legalising prostitution, it recommended
"official recognition of the activity" to be able to monitor the health
impact and the spread of sexually-transmitted diseases.

Legalisation would also help governments draw up policies to deal with the
sector and even find ways of taxing it.

Although the studies were done before the currency crisis hit the region,
Lin Lim, head of the ILO women's job programme who edited the book, said
the tough economic climate could lead to a rise in the number of prostitutes.

Previous recessions in the 1980s showed that women who lost their jobs,
mainly in manufacturing and services, were increasingly drawn to
prostitution, especially if they had families to support in rural areas,
she said.

And despite the lack of spare cash, the ILO study said: "Poverty has never
prevented men from frequenting prostitutes."

"The trend is not an encouraging one," Lim added, although she said most
customers were local men not sex tourists.

She defended the choice of the four countries for the study saying it was
because there were already active researchers there and not because
prostitution was particularly common.

However, poverty does not always drive women to prostitution, and many join
the oldest profession in the world for pragmatic reasons, she said. . 

Street-walking was often the best option for young, uneducated women, with
higher financial rewards than unskilled labour.

And at the end of the 1990s the sex industry was having to move with the
times and modernise, with many, clients contacting prostitutes on their
mobile phones, Lim said.

But she called for child prostitution to be outlawed, saying it was
completely different as children were forced into the sex trade.

Many adult prostitutes in these countries, Lim pointed out, have also
become trapped in the life after being forced into the trade while under age.

Lim said there were also increased signs of trafficking in women and
children beyond national borders with girls from China, Cambodia, Laos and
Burma working as prostitutes in Thailand while Thai and Filipino women were
working as prostitutes in Japan, South Africa and Europe.

Some Indonesian, Thai and Filipino women were reported to be working as
prostitutes in some Malaysian states, while Malaysian women reportedly
worked as prostitutes in Singapore and Hong Kong.

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THE NATION: FOREIGNERS HELP GIVE VOICE TO THE SILENCED

19 August, 1998

LETTER TO THE EDITOR

This is a response to the letter "Activists are not above the law" by David
Oldfield [The Nation, Aug 13]. The free media covered the arrest of the 18
foreigners in Burma. Many world leaders expressed their concerns. Many
governments requested their release. Many organisations issued statements,
calling or their freedom. But David Oldfield said it was an "outcry".

In reality, it is not an "outcry" against the recent arrest of 18 foreign
activists in Burma. It is simply an expression of international concern. It
is normal for duly elected governments to take care of their citizens who
are in trouble in other countries. The so-called government of Burma never
cares for its people whether they are inside or outside the country.
Instead, the junta oppresses the people.

For example, in Madras, India, there are hundreds of Burmese citizens
detained for months for illegal fishing. The embassy in New Delhi does not
pay attention to them. The Burmese monks who want to study in India are
turned away or are forced to delay their travel arrangements many times.

It should not be forgotten that there is no law under military rule.
Punishment is given in anger and with vengeance. Those who read the
non-violence theory and practice booklets are sentenced to seven years. The
judiciary system is completely biased.

The military elite are above the law. They can trade narcotics. Rapes
committed by soldiers are not crimes. They can kill the people 8-8-88 was a
real incident. Democracy is what the people have voted for eight years ago.
These are true facts. Is telling the truth so disruptive? We thank those
foreigners who, while our people are silenced, spoke for us.

TINT SWE
MEMBER OF PARLIAMENT (NLD)
NEW DELHI

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THE NATION: BE PREPARED FOR THE ULTIMATE SACRIFICE

19 August, 1998

LETTER TO THE EDITOR

One should take note of the Burmese junta's move to release the democracy
students last week. I applaud those courageous activists from all the six
countries. I find them having more courage than governments who for the
past 10 years speak with no action.

Knowing the history of Burma, leniency is not expected from these goons. In
fact, look for a major collision coming up soon. Burma is on the brink of
starvation and bankruptcy. In order to keep the regime in power they will
step up the campaign against Suu Kyi and her followers.

If 1988 was a sign of their commitment in seizing power, 1998 will show us
their brutal force in retaining control. The NLD and its supporters should
be prepared for this and be willing to make the ultimate sacrifice. A
hit-and-run strategy will not work.

INFORMED OBSERVER
CANADA
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