[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Date Index ][Thread Index ]

The BurmaNet News: December 29, 199



Subject: The BurmaNet News: December 29, 1998

------------------------ BurmaNet ------------------------
 "Appropriate Information Technologies, Practical Strategies"
----------------------------------------------------------

The BurmaNet News: December 29, 1998
Issue #1168

Noted in Passing: " Other efforts of the EMEC (Electrical and Mechanical
Engineering Corps) include the 'Special Combat Vehicle,' a 1995 Nissan ULG 160
GS long wheel-base landcruiser sized vehicle, purchased with Japanese
Government debt relief grant credits and modified for crowd control and urban
warfare." - see JANE'S INTELLIGENCE REVIEW EXPOSED - BURMA'S WEAPONS INDUSTRY 

HEADLINES:
==========
SPDC: No Time for Playing Politics 
Letter to the Editor: Rule of Law in Burma? 
Jane's Intelligence Review: Exposed - Burma's Weapons Industry  
ABSDF: China-Burma Border Report 
The Hindu: India May Sign UN Convention on Refugees
****************************************************************

SPDC: NO TIME FOR PLAYING POLITICS
27 December, 1998 from <OKKAR66129@xxxxxxx> 

[Information Sheets issued under the email addresses MYANPERSP@xxxxxxx and
OKKAR66129@xxxxxxx match those issued by the Directorate of Defence Services
Intelligence (DDSI) in Rangoon, and can be assumed to reflect official SPDC
opinion.]

Myanmar Information Committee, Rangoon
Information Sheet No. A-0744(I)

No Time for Playing Politics 

The National League for Democracy stated in a statement last week that party
members should not worry of the rumour that Ms. Suu Kyi would be deported
after
New Year. The Government of Myanmar is working hard to develop Myanmar and
guide it through the current regional economic crisis. Much work remains ahead
of us. The regional economic crisis is not improving, and this is no time for
playing politics. As a nation, we need to work together to develop strong
policies on economic development, counter-narcotics, national security, and
the
establishment of a National Security. We hope the NLD will contribute in a
positive and meaningful way to achieving a better, fuller life for the people
of Myanmar and take a more responsible, constructive cooperation rather than
resorting to whimsical and symbolic gestures designed merely to attract
attention and create seasonal sensational headline.

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

LETTER TO THE EDITOR: RULE OF LAW IN BURMA?
29 December, 1998 from Warazein warazein@xxxxxxxxxxx

The innuendoes in the state-run media of Burma calling for Daw Aung San Suu
Kyi's deportation is not only absurd but go against the rule of law (that is,
if the regime has any respect for the rule of law). Everyone of us who knows
the regime, and we know that respect for the rule of law in Burma by the
military regime is the last thing to hope for. 

However, what surprised me most is the fact that despite the regime's
disrespect for law (laws of civil societies) most statesmen from both the
Western world and the ones in our region are very reluctant to exclude the
regime. One of the lame excuses is that isolating the regime might drive them
into non-cooperating with any other nation. Aren't we all hypocritical? Aren't
we all guilty by association? 

One would not need a high level of thinking to work this out. One would be
naive to think that goodwill shown by one nation towards another was based
simply on truly altruistic motives. There will always be "national interest"
behind whoever is taking the initiatives -- either economic sanctions,
military
blockade or humanitarian intervention. 

If the UN organisations and the nations that have met in England to come up
with a billion dollar deal proposal really want to do something about solving
the political stalemate in Burma it would be much simpler to exclude the
regime
from the association of world nations - the UN for a start. How far are we
going to let the regime kid us with all its ingenuine techniques? Or how far
are we going to kid ourselves? 

The world today is interdependent upon one another in many ways. Excluding
such
a regime from civil society will definitely hurt them. They may say that they
do not care but they do care about their image. The people of Burma have a
representative government-in-exile at the least to represent them in
international fora if we expel the regime and vacate the seat they hold at the
UN. What are all the credentials about? Credentials for what? 

If a regime like the SPDC in Burma is allowed to interpret their own laws -
whether they are just or not - we as human society are doing a disservice to
ourselves. If we let the military regime in Burma get away with this we will
not have a say in how Anwar is treated in Malaysia either. 

In contravention to basic human rights and any just laws we allow the
regime to
deport Daw Aung San Suu Kyi from her own country, I believe that the whole
international community has failed to uphold the rule of law. For exiles like
us we have let the regime get away with any injustice they have imposed on us
using their laws. We do not have a high political profile like Daw Aung San
Suu
Kyi but our basic rights have been trampled upon by the regime. This should
stop. 

Regards, 
Warazein
 
****************************************************************

JANE'S INTELLIGENCE REVIEW: EXPOSED - BURMA'S WEAPONS INDUSTRY
December, 1998 

Pointer

In order to lower the cost of military imports and circumvent possible arms
embargoes in the future the Burmese government is engaging in a major military
import substitution effort. The programme has produced a number of prototype
automatic rifles, light machine guns and vehicles modified for military
purposes. Burma is now manufacturing at least one of the prototype automatic
rifles in a custom-built factory supplied by Singapore earlier this year.

The Burmese military had for some years been looking for a replacement for its
locally manufactured G2 and G3 automatic rifles which are heavy and prone to
jamming. In 1995 the Electrical and Mechanical Engineering Corps [EMEC] has
designed 16 light machine guns and automatic rifles, all 5.56 mm except for
one
light machine gun which is 7.62 mm. Rangoon-based analysts believe the Burmese
received foreign assistance to design the weapons. The prototypes include 5.56
mm versions of the G3 automatic rifle, the Chinese Type 56 and Israeli Galil
assault rifles, and the radical EMERK-1 which comes in both LMG and automatic
rifle versions.

The EMERK-1 is designed in a shortened bullpup configuration with the magazine
behind the trigger. The AR and LMG versions look almost identical, both 832 mm
in length with stamped all-metal bodies, M16 magazines and the same effective
range and firing rate, given as 400 metres, and 650 rounds per minute. The
only
obvious difference is the LMG version weighs in at 4.5 kilograms [magazine
empty], 5 00 grams heavier than the AR. Previously Rangoon based analysts
believed the EMERK-1 was copied from the Austrian Steyr, but it may be
based on
a Chinese shortened bullpup configuration automatic rifle that was only
unveiled publicly during the Hong Kong hand-over in July 1997.

Other efforts of the EMEC include the "Special Combat Vehicle," a 1995 Nissan
ULG 160 GS long wheel-base landcruiser sized vehicle, purchased with Japanese
Government debt relief grant credits and modified for crowd control and urban
warfare. It features a roof-mounted 12.7mm Browning FN Herstal machine gun, a
bonnet-mounted 7.62 mm MG3 LMG, a bonnet-mounted 84 mm Carl Gustav M2 rocket
launcher and in the rear carries one each of 81 mm M29 and 60 mm Type 63
mortars. The Special Combat Vehicle made its first public appearance in
December 1996 patrolling the streets during student-led protests in Rangoon.
The 1996 "Armoured Fighting Car", an EMEC designed armoured car, sits on a
Ford
light truck chassis with a 1996 Nissan diesel engine which was probably bought
using Japanese debt repayment grant credits. The Armoured Fighting Car
features
a 12.7 mm Type 85 machine gun and a 7.62 mm MG3 LMG. It was also first seen in
December 1996 patrolling Rangoon.

Many of the duel use and intermediate goods used in weapons production appear
to have been paid for with Japanese Government debt relief grants in violation
of official Japanese Government policy. The most obvious examples, apart from
the "Special Combat Vehicle," are the Nissan 10 tonne military
container-transport trucks. Since 1988 the International Institute of
Strategic
Studies [IISS] has identified at least 20 Hino APCs and 30 Mazda scout cars
which were locally made in defiance of official Japanese Government policy not
to allow aid to be used for military purposes.

According to Rangoon based military analysts the import substitution effort is
coordinated by the Ministry of Science and Technology, which shares a compound
on Kaba Aye Pagoda Road with Myanmar Fritz Werner Industries Limited near the
headquarters of the Ministry of Industry 2 [heavy industry] and the workshops
of the Electrical and Mechanical Engineering Corps. The largest weapons
factory
is reportedly at Sindell [Sinde], just south of Prome. There are also
ammunition factories at Htonebo, Padaung and Nyaung Chidauk, four factories in
Rangoon and military supplies factories at Inndaing [Intaing] in Pego division
and in Mandalay.

The factories produce automatic rifles, light machine guns, light mortars,
grenades, anti-personnel mines, ammunition and military supplies such as
uniforms, parachutes and sports equipment. Burma manufactures much of its own
ammunition - 5.56 mm [since at least 1996], 7.62 mm and 9 mm bullets, 51
mm, 81
mm, 60 mm and 120 mm mortar bombs, 41 mm and 51 mm rifle grenades and probably
grenades for it s 40 mm launchers. Locally made BA88 offensive and BA91
defensive landmines, BA109 hand grenades, and also manufactures its own 81 mm
rocket launcher, the BA84.

In recent years two iron and steel mills, one at Ywama near Rangoon and the
other at Maymyo, north of Mandalay have been modernized in an effort to
eventually produce high quality and hardened steel. Maymyo is also the home of
the elite Defence Services Academy officer training school and the Defence
Services Institute of Technology where the Government intends to train
technicians and designers f or its weapons manufacturing industry. Machining
equipment has been obtained mainly from Germany, China and Singapore.

Burma took delivery of $15 million worth of Machine tools from China in early
1997 according to a Rangoon-based diplomatic source. Rangoon imports of
duel-use and intermediate goods for the 12 months ended March 31 1996 at $91
million, up from $35 million the previous 12 months according to US Embassy
estimates. There are no publicly available figures for later periods.

The United States appears to have sold small quantities dual use goods to
Burma
which ended up in its weapons factories. US Department of Commerce figures
indicate that in 1995 Burma directly imported from the US in 1995 $212,000
worth of explosives and pyrotechnic products, twice as much as in any previous
year; $88,000 worth of ball or roller bearings, more than ten times as much as
in any previous year; $568,000 worth of non-electrical machinery and tools,
more than 40 times more than in any previous year; and $2.93 million worth of
machinery for specialized but unspecified industries, more than six times more
than in any previous year. This figure does not include goods manufactured in
the US which are sold to middleman countries such as Singapore before final
sale to Burma. The figures, though largely irrelevant as a percentage of total
military imports, indicate an increasing emphasis put on local weapons
production. [I am still trying to get hold of more recent figures.]

Singapore has provided Burma with a state-of-the-art facility to manufacture
small weapons and ordnance. The modular, prefabricated factory was designed
and
built in Singapore last year by state-owned Chartered Industries of Singapore
[CIS] with assistance from Israeli consultants believed to be current or
former
employees of Israel Military Industries [IMI] last year. The plant was tested
in Singapore then dismantled and shipped to Burma in February of this year. It
is capable of making small arms or ordnance of up to 37 mm according to
sources
contacted by Jane's Defence Weekly in July. Its modular design allows for easy
factory expansion.

The Directorate of Defence Industries, Ministry of Defence, Burma's
state-owned
arms and ordinance manufacturer, took delivery of the facility. Because of the
factory's design it could conceivably have been re-assembled within a
matter of
weeks. It may also have been erected inside an existing building such as an
aircraft hanger or a warehouse. Rangoon-based diplomatic sources confirmed
that
troops guarding the Yadana Pipeline project at Kambauk had recently been
outfitted with EMERK-1 assault rifles and LMGs, apparently confirming the
factory has been operational for a number of months.

Burma first attempted to build its own arms in the 1950s. Copies of the
Italian
9 mm TZ45 sub machine gun [known in Burma as the BA52 or derisively
referred to
as "Ne Win's sten"] [sic]. This gun was first produced in Italy in 1944 but
production was halted with the end of the Second World War. The Burmese Govt
purchased the machine tools to manufacture a slightly modified version of the
gun. Ne Win, army chief at the time, was actively involved in the purchase
negotiations. There were financial irregularities regarding the deal.

The BA52 was manufactured at the Army Ordinance Workshop near Inya Lake,
Rangoon. One of the Italian designers of the gun was sent to Burma to oversee
the construction of the factory and installation of the machinery. The Italian
company also sent over an attractive Italian model to keep Ne Win company. The
democratically elected government of the time was so embarrassed that Ne Win
was almost fired from his position as army commander. In 1953 the BA52 became
the standard machine gun of the Burmese armed forces. The gun was a crude
design which made it easy to manufacture but prone to jamming.

In 1953 Fritz Werner GmbH agreed to build a factory in Rangoon [with the
assistance of West German arms firm Heckler & Koch] to produce Gewehr-3 rifles
[G3 rifles]. Fritz Werner was a small armourments engineering company in
Geisemheim which had gone bankrupt with the end of WW2 and was taken over by
the West German Government. 1953 was one year before the West German
Government
recognized Burma and two years before it had an embassy in Rangoon. Finance
for
the factory was provided on favourable terms by the West German Government.

A second factory was built at Prome to manufacture 7.62 mm and 9 mm
ammunition.
More arms factories were built in the 1970s, most by Fritz Werner, some with
the assistance of engineers from the German Technical Cooperation Agency. In
late 1984 Fritz Werner Industries Co, the only joint venture between a foreign
company and the Burmese Government at the time, was set up in partnership with
the state-owned Heavy Industries Corporation of Burma.

In 1988 following the massacre of thousands of anti-Government protesters in
Rangoon and other Burmese cities, the West German Government suspended
bilateral aid to Burma and Fritz Werner stopped supplying inputs for Burma's
factories. At that time Fritz Werner was still state-owned but in 1989 it was
privatized. Following its privatization Fritz Werner appears to have quietly
resumed exports of " industrial machinery" to Burma. In 1990 a joint venture
with a book value of $8 million was set up called Myanmar Fritz Werner
Industries Ltd.

Singaporean technicians have apparently replaced most of the German technical
staff at Padaung on the opposite side of the Irrawaddy river from Prome,
though
the Government of Singapore has categorically denied that Singaporean
companies
are in any way engaged in arms production there. There are still German
Nationals working for Myanmar Fritz Werner Industries Ltd in Rangoon and
senior
executives from the company's head office at Geisemheim, Germany, still make
regular visits to Burma where they meet with senior government and military
leaders.

Given the relative scale and sophistication of the import substitution
programme - upgraded steel mills, a technician training school, the
development
of new and in some cases radically designed weapons and the increasing amount
of money being spent duel use and intermediate military inputs, it appears the
Burmese Government has a long term vision to re-equip itself with locally made
modern assault rifles and light machine guns, with a view to exporting arms
and
ordnance in the future. It is open to question how practical this vision is,
given that Burma's previous attempts at building weapons have not been
particularly successful. To date Burmese military equipment has been of
inferior quality with guns prone to jamming and ordnance commonly misfiring.
The personal bodyguards of senior government officials still carry Uzis rather
than EMERK-1 machine guns, perhaps reflecting the level of faith the Burmese
leaders themselves place in the reliability of locally manufactured weapons.
 
****************************************************************

ABSDF: CHINA-BURMA BORDER REPORT
25 December, 1998 

Summary of Chinese Technicians' Arrival

A Chinese technician group consisting of about 260 crewmembers arrived
recently
to build a highway connecting Bamaw, Burma and Yunan State, China. This is an
implementation of the agreement between the Chinese government and the SPDC
last year. This project also includes the establishment of ports along the
Irrawaddy River. The Chinese crew entered into Burma via Lyal Jeal border
route
in Kachin State. The information from Chino-Burma border reveals that the crew
will survey land for the Shwe Le-Bamaw highway, ports and shipyards along
Irrawaddy River, and in Mandalay. China has already built a railroad from
Kumin, a city in Yunan State to Zingon near Bamaw, Burma. The famous highway
from Shwe Le to Bamaw during the Second World War ha also been restored. 

Some geopolitical analysts predict that India is uncomfortable with China's
potentiality to build highways along the Irrawaddy all the way to Min Hla from
which they can establish a highway to Kyawt Phyu seaport via the Arakan
Mountain Range near India.

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

THE HINDU: INDIA MAY SIGN UN CONVENTION ON REFUGEES
28 December, 1998 

New Delhi, Dec 27: In the face of growing complexity of  issues in the SAARC
region and the absence of a national legislation on refugees, India is
considering signing the 1951 U. N. Convention on Refugees, top government
officials have said.

"The government is examining the issue of refugee protection and India's
international obligations, including the option of signing the 1951 UN
convention," sources in the Ministry of External Affairs told PTI. The 1951
Convention and the 1967 Protocol relating to the "status of refugees," signed
by 132 countries, put the burden on the host Government for guaranteeing some
basic needs of the refugees, including food, basic education and employment.

India, which has about 2.5 lakhs refugees, however, would not enter into a
regional regime for refugee protection with the SAARC nations - the main
source
of refugee inflow into the country. According to the Ministry, there are about
100,000 Tibetan refugees in India, and around 64,000 Sri Lankan Tamil refugees
in camps. There may be another 30,000 outside the camps and 50,000 Chakmas
from
Bangladesh.

In addition, there are 17,000 Afghans and nearly a thousand others including
Iranians, Iraqis, Somalis, Sudanese and Myanmarese whom UNHCR has been allowed
to handle under its mandate. 

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