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Subject: [theburmanetnews] BurmaNet News: Weekend of March 25-26, 2000
________________ THE BURMANET NEWS _________________
An on-line newspaper covering Burma
_________________ www.burmanet.org _________________
Weekend of March 25-26, 2000
Issue # 1494
This edition of The BurmaNet News is viewable online at:
http://theburmanetnews.editthispage.com/stories/storyReader$270
*Inside Burma
AP: MYANMAR BANS IMPORTS OF THAI COMMODITIES AT BORDER CROSSING
DIE WELT: POVERTY IS THE BREAD FOR THE DICTATORS
MICB: DESTRUCTION OF MOSQUE, DEATHS OF FORCED LABORERS
*International
BURMANET: NIGHTLINE TO AIR TWO PART PROGRAM ON UNOCAL/YADANA PIPELINE
NATION: US WARNS LAOS AND BURMA OVER RIGHTS
AP: JAPAN DONATING 5.5 MILLION FOR UNICEF PROJECT IN MYANMAR
SASAKAWA PEACE FOUNDATION: MOBILIZATION OF FINANCIAL RESOURCES FOR
DEVELOPMENT IN MYANMAR
BANGKOK POST: NSC SOFT-PEDALS ON JUNTA
*Opinion/Editorials
NATION: BURMA'S DRUG LORDS ARE WINNING THE WAR
*Other
JOURNAL OF BURMA STUDIES: VOLUME FOUR, CONTENTS
___________________ INSIDE BURMA ______________________
AP: MYANMAR BANS IMPORTS OF THAI COMMODITIES AT BORDER CROSSING
March 25, 2000
MAE SOT, Thailand (AP) _ Myanmar has banned imports of 26 key
Thai commodities across the Thai-Myanmar Friendship Bridge in an
apparent effort to help Yangon-based importing companies losing out
to border traders, Thai and Myanmar merchants said Saturday.
Under a regulation issued Friday by provincial authorities in
Myawaddy, on the Myanmar side of the bridge, anyone found with the
banned products will have the vehicle or house where the
commodities are found confiscated and could face a jail term,
merchants said.
The banned commodities include edible oil, sugar, beverages and
monosodium glutamate, which are imported in large quantities from
Mae Sot in Tak province, 370 kilometers (230 miles) northwest of
Bangkok, on the Thai side bridge.
The regulation has virtually halted border trade. The usually
bustling markets of Mae Sot were quiet Saturday, and few merchants
were crossing the bridge, although the steady flow of migrant
Myanmar workers to Thai factories around Mae Sot continued.
Mae Sot is one of the three main official checkpoints on the
over 2,000 kilometer (1,250 mile) Thai-Myanmar land border. It was
not immediately clear if the other checkpoints were covered by the
ban.
The border was totally closed for two months late last year
after Myanmar insurgents protesting the Yangon military regime took
hostages at the Myanmar embassy in Bangkok. The incident fractured
Thai-Myanmar relations. Like then, this ban will hurt the livelihood
of hundreds of Thai and Myanmar traders and could cause shortages
in basic commodities on the Myanmar side of the border.
The Tak Chamber of Commerce in Mae Sot declined to comment on
the ban.
A Myanmar merchant, who requested anonymity, said the ban was
requested by importers based in the Myanmar capital who ship
commodities in by sea.
The regime in Myanmar, also known as Burma, has instituted
various import bans before, in a bid to stem the flow foreign
currency from the cash-strapped country, which is suffering from
prolonged economic malaise.
Previous bans have caused an increase in smuggling along the
Thai-Myanmar frontier.
_______________________________________________________
DIE WELT: POVERTY IS THE BREAD FOR THE DICTATORS
25. 03. 2000
Burma, disappointed of Suu Kyi and of the junta, searches for a third
way
[Original in German, translation by the Burma Group Tuebingen]
By Daniel Kerstenholz
Rangoon - Once a month Burma's economic elite meets at the "Tuesday
Club", where big ranking government officials are available for
questioning - "also for uncomfortable question", the German
businessman Jerzy Wilk asserts. A "critical dialogue" with the Nobel
Price laureate Aung San Suu Kyi could end the international
proscription of the junta and allowing funds of the World Bank. But
even this advice of the Tuesday Club, the junta ignores. The patron
of the club, the economy czar and minister David Abel can only show
poverty, isolation and empty pockets.
"Only a change of the generation can sweep away the junta," says a
western diplomat in Rangoon. "The junta ignores Suu Kyi up to their
end." The courageous and charismatic lady gets side-tracked and more
and more a tragic person. The people continue to hail Suu Kyi because
they hate the army. But even within Suu Kyi's National Leage for
Democracy (NLD), the overwhelming election winner of 1990, the
members think on other alternatives.
In Rangoon Suu Kyi and US diplomats are the only people which welcome
santions. "Sanctions are not harming the people," says a US diplomat.
"Why to enable jobs for a few people by investing if at the same time
49 million people stay oppressed and the regime gets stronger?" Asked
about the double strategy of the USA and of the British, which are
the most sharp critics but also the main investors in Burma, he stays
mute.
"Eleven years after imposing sanctions it is visible, that they are
useless," says an European ambassador, who calls the US delegation as
"increasing isolated colleagues". "Everywhere on the earth dictators
feed themself with poverty," says a diplomat. "The scourge had no
effect. We need a new way."
They refer on Burma's Third Force. Win Naing, the spokesman of the
Third Force, accuses the junta of broken promises and the NLD he
critisizes of her permanent attacks on the miltary government. The
people are dissatisfied with both sides. "The opinions of the
students, the politicians and of the people have changed. First, we
should renounce to give the power to the people," says Win Naing,
"then maybe the junta will agree with more freedom."
Instead from the NLD and students the paranoid junta is now
threatened by the resistance of the clerus [clergy or sangha] , which
has been formerly very close to the student resistance. In November,
Ashin Kunthalabhivamsa, an abbot of Mandalay, demanded in a letter
signed by 1000 monks, to Suu Kyi, the chief of the Junta Than Shwe
and to the former dictator Ne Win, "to work together for the
prosperity of the nation". Since them the old man gets
surveiled by military intelligence spies, he seems to be very
anxious.
The generals are afraid of the wrath of the clerus since the biggest
humiliation of the Buddhism: in 1990 monks in Mandalay turned their
rice dishes upside down, when Generals wanted to offer them their
donations. Would the monks go on the streets, the people would follow
- like at the bloodshed of the 8th August 1988. However, observers
exclude the possibility of another revolutions as long as the prices
for rice are no more rising and as long as the soldiers are not
mutinying.
Meanwhile, the SPDC junta (State Peace Development Council) is
watching the events in Jakarta. The constitution of Indonesia, which
ensures a political role for the army, was a template for the regime
in Rangoon. Former president Suharto worked similar like former
dictator Ne Win. But Indonesia experienced an astonishing change from
a military regime to a civilian regime. "Now, the generals of Rangoon
are checking how much power they can give away without loosing all,"
says a diplomat.
"Asia's economic boom can solve the political crisis of Burma," says
the Australian Ross Dunkley, who is publishing the english-lanhuage
"Myanmar Times", which is in circulation since one month. It is
Burma's first independent newspaper, that's a small sensation. He is
practising self-censorship, says Dunkley, but he got no restrictions.
The junta get also praised by the Red Cross, since they have been
allowed to visit prisoners. The Red Cross visited 25,000 prisoners
and recently even a labour camp. "In China, Laos or Viet Nam such
visits are impossible," says Léon de Riedmatten, the leader of the
delegation of the Red Cross in Burma. "In China there are more bad
circumstances," confirms Richard Dickins of the UN Narcotics Control
Programme in Rangoon. "There, an opposition leader like Aung San Suu
Kyi would be disappeared long time
before."
***
[Original Text:]
Die Welt: 25. 03. 2000
Armut ist das Brot der Diktatoren
Birma sucht, von Suu Kyi und der Junta enttäuscht, nach einem dritten
Weg
Von Daniel Kestenholz
Rangun - Einmal im Monat trifft sich Birmas Geschäftselite zum
"Tuesday Club", wo hohe Regierungsvertreter Rede und Antwort stehen -
"auch auf unangenehme Fragen", beteuert der deutsche Unternehmer
Jerzy Wilk. Ein "kritischer Dialog" mit Nobelpreisträgerin Aung San
Suu Kyi könne Birmas internationale Ächtung enden und Weltbankgelder
fließen lassen. Doch selbst auf diesen Rat des Tuesday Club hört die
Junta nicht. Der Patron des Klubs, Birmas Wirtschaftszar und Minister
David Abel, kann nur Armut, Isolation und leere Staatskassen
vorweisen.
"Nur ein Generationswechsel wird die Junta hinwegfegen", sagt ein
westlicher Diplomat in Rangun. "Die Junta sitzt Suu Kyi aus. Die
mutige und charismatische Frau wird kaltgestellt und zunehmend zur
tragischen Gestalt." Das Volk verehre Suu Kyi weiterhin, weil die
Armee verhasst sei. Doch auch in Suu Kyis Nationalen Liga f?E
Demokratie (NLD), der ?Eerwältigenden Wahlsiegerin von 1990, habe ein
Umdenken eingesetzt.
Suu Kyi und die US-Diplomaten in Rangun scheinen die einzigen im Land
zu sein, die Sanktionen bef?Eworten. "Sanktionen tun dem Volk nicht
weh", sagt ein US-Diplomat. "Warum mit Investitionen ein paar Leuten
Arbeit geben, wenn 49 Millionen Menschen unterdr?Ekt bleiben und das
Regime stärker wird?" Zur Doppelstrategie der USA und auch der
Briten, die Birmas schärfste Kritiker, aber gleichzeitig auch
Hauptinvestoren sind, schweigt der Diplomat.
"Elf Jahre nach Verhängung der Sanktionen zeigt sich, dass sie nichts
bringen", sagt ein europäischer Botschafter, der die US-Gesandten als
"zunehmend isolierte Kollegen" bezeichnet. "Überall auf der Welt
ernähren sich Diktaturen von Armut", so ein Diplomat. "Die Peitsche
hat nicht gewirkt. Wir brauchen einen neuen Weg."
Verwiesen wird auf Birmas dritte Gewalt. Win Naing, der Wortf?Erer
der Third Force, wirft der Junta gebrochene Versprechen vor, der NLD
ver?Eelt er die ständigen Attacken gegen die Militärregierung. Das
Volk sei mit beiden Seiten unzufrieden. "Die Ansichten der Studenten,
der Politiker und des Volkes haben sich geändert. Wir sollten vorerst
auf die Forderung einer Macht?Eergabe an das Volk verzichten", so Win
Naing. "Dann stimmt die Junta vielleicht mehr Freiheiten zu."
Statt von der NLD und Studenten droht der paranoiden Junta neuerdings
von den Mönchen Widerstand, die fr?Eer eng mit dem
studentenwiderstand liiert waren. Ashin Kunthalabhivamsa, ein Abt in
Mandalay, forderte im November in einem von 1000 Mönchen
unterzeichneten Brief an Suu Kyi, Juntachef Than Shwe und Altdiktator
Ne Win, "gemeinsam f?E das Wohl der Nation zu arbeiten". Seither wird
der Greis von Militärspitzeln beschattet, er wirkt verängstigt.
Die Generäle f?Echten den Zorn der Mönche seit der größten
Erniedrigung, die es im Buddhismus gibt: Mönche in Mandalay drehten
1990 ihre Reisschalen um, als Generäle Opfergaben reichen wollten.
Gingen die Mönche auf die Straße, das Volk w?Ede folgen - wie beim
Blutbad am 8. August 1988. Beobachter schließen eine Revolution
jedoch aus, solange der Reispreis nicht weiter steigt und die
Soldateska nicht meutert.
Die SPDC-Junta (Staatsrat f?E Frieden und Entwicklung) beobachtet
derweil die Vorgänge in Jakarta. Indonesiens Verfassung, die den
Streitkräften eine politische Rolle zusicherte, galt dem Ranguner
Regime als Modell. Altpräsident Suharto arbeitete ähnlich wie Birmas
Altdiktator Ne Win. Indonesien erlebte jedoch einen erstaunlichen
Wandel von einer Militär- zu einer Zivilherrschaft. "Ranguns Generäle
pr?Een, wie viel Macht sie abgeben können, um nicht alles zu
verlieren", sagt ein Diplomat.
"Asiens Wirtschaftsaufschwung kann Birmas politische Krise lösen",
sagt der Australier Ross Dunkley, der seit diesem Monat die
englischsprachige "Myanmar Times" herausgibt. Sie ist Birmas erste
unabhängige Zeitschrift, das ist eine kleine Sensation. Er ?Ee
Selbstzensur, sagt Dunkley, erhalte aber keine Auflagen.
Lob erhält die Junta auch vom Roten Kreuz, seit Gefangenenbesuche
erlaubt wurden. Das Rote Kreuz besuchte 25 000 Gefangene und k?Ezlich
erstmals Arbeitslager. "In China, Laos oder Vietnam wären solche
Visiten undenkbar", sagt Léon de Riedmatten, der Chefdelegierte des
Roten Kreuzes in Birma. "In China herrschen schlimmere Zustände",
bestätigt Richard Dickins vom Drogenkontrollprogramm der UNO in
Rangun. "Dort wäre eine Oppositionelle wie Suu Kyi längst
verschwunden."
_______________________________________________________
MICB: DESTRUCTION OF MOSQUE, DEATHS OF FORCED LABORERS
No.005
March, 24, 2000
MUSLIM INFORMATION CENTRE OF BURMA(MICB)
P. O. Box 96, Chiangmai 50000, Thailand: P. O. Box 85, Maesot,
Tak
63110, Thailand.
Destruction of mosque and deaths of forced labourers
Tha Khwet Phoe Village in Hlaing Bwe township comprised (400)
houses, over(2000) villagers and a mosque more than 300 years old.
In 1997, SPDC and DKBA officers seized a plot of land belonged to the
mosque, built a pagoda near it and ordered all the houses to go away
from the pagoda. 15/ 3/ 99, some SPDC and Democratic Buddhist Army
(DKBA) officers ordered the villagers to destroy their mosque.
However, the villagers have been requesting the authorities to have
sympathy and spare their mosque from destruction. On February, 2,
2000, some officers of SPDC and DKBA led by Captain Na Khan Mhwe
and Captain Rambo arrested five Muslim villagers {(1) Siddiq Meah,
35 (2) Salim, 20 (3) Abdul, 25 (4) Suleiman, 23 and (5)
Soe Naing, 25 } of the village with an accusation that they are in
contact with the insurgents and brought them to their army camp and
shot them dead there at about 8.00 P.M. the same day. The families
of the deceased and some villagers left the village for refugee camps
along the Thai-Burma border. On 5/ 2/2000, some SPDC officers and
one Bo Bya, a DKBA officer, again ordered the Muslims to destroy
the mosque or to pay Kyats 15 millions to the SPDC authorities as
extortion money. Many villagers left the village for the refugee
camps near the Thai border.
Phone No. (01)472 8933
Muslim Information Centre of Burma ( MICB)
___________________ INTERNATIONAL _____________________
BURMANET: NIGHTLINE TO AIR TWO PART PROGRAM ON UNOCAL/YADANA PIPELINE
March 25, 2000
ABC News Nightline with Ted Koppel is scheduled to air an
extended piece on Unocal's involvement with the Yadana
pipeline project in Burma. The first part is set to air on
Tuesday, March 27th at 11:30PM in the US. The schedule
is subject to change should some major news event occur
between now and Tuesday.
AP: JAPAN DONATING 5.5 MILLION FOR UNICEF PROJECT IN MYANMAR
March 24, 2000
YANGON, Myanmar (AP) _ Japan is donating dlrs 5.5 million for a
UNICEF program to improve health care services for mothers and
children in Myanmar.
Japanese Ambassador Kazuo Asaki on Friday handed over a note of
intent for the grant aid to Carroll Long, UNICEF deputy director
for the East Asia and the Pacific, at a ceremony in Yangon, also
attended by the Myanmar health minister, Maj. Gen. Ket Sein.
Long said that with the new grant, 319 townships in Myanmar
would receive essential drugs and basic medical equipment, to be
distributed to township hospitals and rural clinics with the help
of the Myanmar government.
Japan hopes to benefit over four million children under five in
the impoverished military state. Last year, Japan gave dlrs 2.7
million for the same project.
Major donor nations maintain an embargo on most foreign aid to
Myanmar, also known as Burma, because of the human rights record of
the country's current military regime that came to power after a
bloody crackdown against pro-democrats in 1988.
Humanitarian assistance is allowed under the embargo but not
much is forthcoming. The Myanmar regime devotes around a third of
its budget to the military, and little to health care.
According to UNICEF, out of the 1.3 million children born in
Myanmar every year, 92,500 die before their first birthday.
_______________________________________________________
NATION: US WARNS LAOS AND BURMA OVER RIGHTS
March 25, 2000
A senior American official yesterday praised Indonesia's handling of
the postSuharto crisis, but gave stern warnings to Laos and Burma
about possible fallout with Washington over deteriorating political
and human rights situations.
US Assistant Secretary of State Stanley Roth said Laos was unlikely
to get mostfavourednation (MFN) trading status if the government
failed to cooperate fully in accounting for two naturalized US
citizens, Houa Ly, 56, of Wisconsin, and Michael Vang, 36, of
California, both members of the Hmong ethnic minority, who went
missing last year.
"Unfortunately, I think that until we can resolve the matter of the
two disappeared, it's going to be virtually impossible to envision
Congress extending MFN status," Roth said.
"Furthermore, if it becomes apparent the authorities in Laos are
either not cooperating with the investigation, or are impeding it, I
think that could have a spilledover effect to other aspects of the
relationship," he said. "The burden really is on the government in
Laos."
Vientiane says it knows nothing of the men's whereabouts, and has
blamed the uproar on the Hmong community in the US.
On the issue of political reform in Burma, Roth accused the Rangoon
military government of using dirty tactics by arresting opposition
members to contain their movement.
The next step for the UN Security Council was to name a replacement
for special representative Alvaro de Soto and continue the dialogue
with Burma, he said.
"The big picture was laid out in the first mission (by de Soto) that
there is a different world out there that Burma can choose. A
political reform could lead down the path of greater economic
cooperation," he said.
But since the "grand bargain didn't fly" during de Soto's first trip
to Rangoon, the question of how to achieve desirable change remains.
Roth also blamed the junta for ongoing drug trafficking.
"When you invite a major drug trafficker to live in Rangoon, nothing
you say about your desire to fight narcotic trafficking is
convincing," Roth said, in reference to former opium warlords Khun
Sa and Lo Hsingsan, both of whom surrendered in return for amnesties
from Rangoon.
Meanwhile, Roth praised President Abdurrahman Wahid for his
"impressive start" to consolidate Indonesia after a troubled period
of major change postSuharto.
Indonesia had pulled no punches, Roth said, against a wide range of
people, from senior military officials to former armed forces
commander General Wiranto, in its ongoing official investigation into
massacres in East Timor. The killing spree took place after an
overwhelming vote by East Timorese for selfrule to end 24 years of
Indonesian occupation.
_______________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________
SASAKAWA PEACE FOUNDATION: MOBILIZATION OF FINANCIAL RESOURCES FOR
DEVELOPMENT IN MYANMAR
===================================================
Internationalization of the Yen
Keynote Address
Delivered at the International Symposium
"Mobilization of Financial Resources for Development in Myanmar"
on 17-18 December, 1999
Yangon, Myanmar
By
Mr. Setsuya Tabuchi
Chairman, The Sasakawa Peace Foundation
Co-sponsored by
Institute of Southeast Asian Studies (ISEAS) and
Myanmar Institute of Strategic and
International Studies (MISIS) With the support of
The Sasakawa Peace Foundation
E xcellencies,Distinguished Participants,Ladies and Gentlemen,
It is indeed my great privilege and pleasure to address you in this
distinguished gathering here this morning. At the outset, I wish to
thank the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, and Myanmar Institute
of Strategic and International Studies for organizing on this timely
and highly relevant subject. At the same time, I also wish to express
our highest appreciation for the support provided by the Myanmar
government, represented here by the Minister of Finance, Minister of
the Prime Minister's Office and Minister of Foreign Affairs.
The information revolution is in full swing.
In 1995 there were half a million Internet users in the world. In
1999 there are 200 million users and in 2005 there are likely to be 1
billion. The scale of US e-business in 1998 was 50 billion dollars,
in 2003, it is estimated, it will reach 1,400 billion. These numbers
suggest that the world economy will be enormously changed by the
information society - in other words, the Internet society.
Here in Myanmar what I just said may not seem real to you yet. Sooner
or later you will be using personal computers to play your role in
the midst of the war of information. I feel that you will be able to
apply yourself much faster than I was to the information society. You
will be able, much better than I, to see clearly the future of the
information society. Having said that, I believe there are things
that change and things that do not change in our society. The
Internet will most certainly change the world economy, and I will
talk about this later in more detail. Let me first talk
about something that does not change, and that is the gambling mind
which is common to all human beings. Asians are considered to have a
gambling mind, don't you agree?
The United States of America dominates the world economy at present.
This is symbolized by high stock prices and the prosperity of the
securities markets. In other words, it enjoys prosperity based on
speculation. It is my feeling that the weight of speculation is
shifting from the paper market of stocks and bonds to the spot market
of raw materials...
Let me now turn to the main subject of my talk, the
internationalization of the yen. What have we learned from Asia's
financial crisis that started in July 1997? The first lesson was that
a financial crisis can occur even in a strong macro-economy. As for
the other lesson, wasn't it that an exchange rate system that is
excessively dependent on the dollar does not function in
Asia? If that is true, in order to prevent another Asian financial
crisis I wish to propose the establishment of a Yen Economic Bloc. In
other words, if we wish to avoid recurrence of the crisis we must
renounce the dollar-pegged system. As an alternative, I believe Asia
should adopt a basket of many currencies pegged heavily on the yen.
Let me explain why I have reached this conclusion by analyzing policy
measures taken so far to cope with the crisis...
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Let me ask you a question: "Who can name all the currencies of the
member states of ASEAN?" We all live in Asia but few of us can name
the currencies of Vietnam, Cambodia or Laos. How many Asians do you
think know the name of the currency in Myanmar? I would think very
few. I can name all the Asian currencies because I checked before
coming to Myanmar! I must confess, however, that I don't know some of
the European ones such as the Greek, Turkish and Rumanian.
As for Europeans' knowledge of Asian currencies, they may only be
familiar with the Japanese yen and perhaps the Chinese yuan. Among
the 15 member states of the European Union, 11 signed the Maastricht
Treaty, abolishing their own currencies and adopting a single
currency, the euro. The European Union was created in order to
integrate the European Economic Bloc. The adoption of a single
currency, the Euro, takes this process a step further.
Before the Euro was adopted the key currency for the European Bloc
was the German mark. Euro was created around the German mark.
Let us now talk about the Asian Economic Bloc. Whatever happens, the
Asian Economic Bloc will be the growth region of the world as we go
forward to the 21st century. The North American Free Trade Agreement
(NAFTA) and the Central and South American countries can be entrusted
to the United States as they belong to the dollar bloc. The US
dollar, --in other words, the United States-- should not be the only
currency or power that dominates Asia. Asian countries should form an
Asian economic bloc and manage it in an independent way. Only when
Asia does that can the world have a tri-polar system that creates a
balanced economic environment...
Last year the Japanese government issued a comment that the
International Monetary Fund may not have functioned too well in the
face of the Asian crisis. That is to say, because of the diversity of
the Asian economies and the discrepancies among their respective
levels of development, the IMF prescription, which characteristically
uses a single measurement worldwide, and its injection of funds
lacked the necessary sensitivity.
In other words, the IMF's uniform conditionality and policy
recommendations emphasizing only structural adjustment were not
satisfactory assistance. Finance minister Miyazawa announced the
Asian Monetary Fund (AMF) Initiative, a Japanese version of the
International Monetary Fund. Realizing that Asians knew Asia best,
the initiative proposed to set up a financial assistance scheme in
Asia focusing on stabilizing Asian currencies. The AMF
initiative unfortunately did not materialize since it did not receive
support of the United States and the IMF.
The Japanese government followed up, however, and at the IMF General
meeting in 1998 Finance Minister Miyazawa announced a new initiative,
part of which has already been implemented. This is a bilateral
scheme with Japan providing assistance to Asian economies hit with a
currency crisis, so as to stabilize the international financial
market. Unfortunately, Myanmar is not a party to this scheme. Without
going into detail, the new Miyazawa scheme offered a package of
thirty billion dollars, 15 billion dollars for medium
and long term financial support and another 15 billion dollars to
finance short term financing requirements.
Needless to say, the new Miyazawa scheme has as its objective the
internationalization of the yen. The Japanese government, therefore,
is expected to increase the number of target countries and expand its
scope. Myanmar will most certainly be included among the countries
that are targeted. In fact, the Japanese government will not only
increase the number of countries that benefit from this scheme but
also the amount of financial support, in order to come close as soon
as possible to the realization of the AMF initiative for which
preparations are already under way in the financial market. Also, the
government abolished the securities transaction tax, as well as
taxation at source for foreign investors. The short-term financial
market has grown substantially.
In other words, the Japanese financial market has become convenient
for foreign financial institutions. That is to say, the financial
"big bang" is proving comparable to that experienced by Western
markets. Just the other day, three major banks, the Industrial Bank
of Japan and Fuji and Dai-ichi Kangyo banks, completed a merger and
now has the world's largest asset base. This was followed by an
announcement of their intention to merge by the two major Zaibatsu
banks, Sumitomo and Sakura. These moves are part of the preparation
for the internationalization of the yen. It makes me think that
it is most desirable for the currency systems within the Asian bloc
to be reorganized with the yen serving as the anchor currency.
However, it is difficult to achieve a single currency as Europe did
through the Maastricht Treaty. For the time being, I believe the best
way to avoid triggering another financial crisis is to put foreign
reserves of the Asian countries into a basket, and gradually increase
pegging to the yen while diluting its relations with the dollar. The
difficulty for Japan is that if it wants to internationalize the yen
it must become a major importer. And that means Japan has to reduce
its rate of industrialization from the present level of
25% to 20% or less.This in turn means an increase in unemployment and
a mismatch and mobility of workers in the tertiary and fourth
industries. This cannot be helped. Also it is not easy for Japan to
increase imports as demanded by Asian countries. It will take some
time...
Of course, while we say that the Japanese economy is in depression it
still represents about 60% of Asia's GDP. The US current account
deficit is likely to increase to nearly 400 billion dollars this
year, while its cumulative deficit stands at about 1,600 billion
dollars. On the other hand, Japan's cumulative debt must now be in
excess of 1,200 billion dollars. In other words, Japan is financing
nearly all the US current account deficit. This cannot continue
forever. We will not say we want to be paid back soon, and
that is not a realistic proposition. If Japan were to suddenly demand
to be paid back, the world economy itself would be destabilized. The
US, as a key currency country, freely mints dollars today. Economic
principles will not allow this situation to continue for long. In the
next presidential election the US current account deficit should
become one of the points at issue.
Ladies and Gentlemen, H
Now let me talk about Myanmar and how it is seen from the outside.
For 26 years up until 1990 Myanmar had a Burmese-style socialist
economic system. Any system after twenty-six years will begin to
experience various contradictions and fail to function well. This is
called system fatigue. So Myanmar renounced its planned economy under
Burmese-style socialism and adopted a new system called a market
economy and opened its doors to the outside. Incidentally, Japan is
no exception to this kind of systemic fatigue. For example, many
countries made fun of Japan, pointing out that it has a "capitalistic
socialist" economy. This was because the controlled economic planning
put in place during World War II was continued all these years by the
bureaucrats; in particular, the finance ministry officials held the
initiative in economic matters. In the process of the recent bursting
of the bubble, the bureaucracy-led economy collapsed and we are just
beginning to have a real capitalist market economy. This, I think,
was the greatest benefit of the collapse of the bubble. But I have
strayed from my theme.
For Japan and the Japanese, Myanmar is very close to our hearts.
There are many reasons for this but I believe the historic background
is the main one. Myanmar to the Japanese is in a sense a country that
saved our lives. For the Japanese of my age, we remember very clearly
and with great appreciation the Burmese rice that was sent as a gift
when we were so short of food after the Second World War. For
businessmen, Myanmar presents an attractive market
with enormous potential and abundant resources.
Your country, however, is forced to steer a difficult economic course
due to the hard sanctions imposed by western countries against the
present government. I admire you for acting as you do without aid
from the international community including Europe and America. In
particular, you deserve respect for achieving an annual average
growth of more than 7% GDP in your four year plans since 1992. The
contribution made by the agricultural sector to the growth is
particularly immense. I cannot but feel that this is suggestive of
the future of Myanmar. In other words, I believe that it is right for
you to continue to aim at economic development based on agriculture.
As you know, our foundation is giving various grants focusing on the
development of the human resources essential for Myanmar's continued
growth and capacity-building in policy implementation. Also, Myanmar
occupies an important position where Asia's food, energy and security
are considered. Without the help of Myanmar in the fields of food and
energy, Asia's prosperity in the 21st century may turn out to be
difficult to achieve. Although what we can give may be limited, we
wish to continue, in fact do more, to assist in the development of
your country.
Ladies and Gentlemen, H
Let us once more have a look around the whole world. In the last two
to three years, what impressed me most were the mergers among many of
the world's largest companies. Huge corporations that have no
particular management problems have chosen to join forces to become
even larger. This applies to banks, petroleum companies, automakers,
information and network-related companies. There is no end to the
list.
For example, we have distributed to you some material listing recent
mergers. Why do major corporations merge? Is it because they want to
be hegemonies in the global economy? Or do they do this simply to
prevail against other big competitors? Or are companies preparing to
survive and prosper even after countries disappear? I don't know, but
history will give us the answer.
In the past, mainstream corporations were conglomerates with a
pyramid structure. No one talks about this today. The term "new
economy" is used to explain the permanence of the present American
prosperity. It means that in the information and network society,
past does not apply. Is this really true? I have my doubts. We shall
await history's verdict.
_______________________________________________________
BANGKOK POST: NSC SOFT-PEDALS ON JUNTA
March 25, 2000
Kachadpai insists relations on track
Yuwadee Tunyasiri
The National Security Council chief is at odds with the military's
view that the Rangoon junta is insincere in helping Thailand stem the
massive flood of drugs from illegal methamphetamine labs in Burma.
Army top brass also accused the junta of being unco-operative over
the repatriation of Burmese refugees and urged a review of the policy
of constructive engagement which delivered Burma membership of Asean.
NSC secretary-general Kachadpai Burusphat yesterday also called for a
review of government policy to ensure the security of Thailand's
borders, but backed away from the military's hard line. He said the
security agency and the military always consult each other about how
to tackle national security issues, but they also need the co-
operation of neighbouring countries.
The time had come for Thailand to review its policies to ensure
border security, he said, and to better its relationships with
neighbours through the establishment of trust, friendship and
sincerity.
The government had been trying to heighten co-operation with the
Burmese government in combating the drug problem.
He said Rangoon was being co-operative in exchanging information and
cracking down on drug labs in Burma, but authorities there still said
that areas held by minority ethnic groups were beyond their control.
However, the two countries were on the right track in helping each
other combat drug trafficking and opting for talks at local and
national level in case of conflict.
Mr Kachadpai said security agencies were keeping a close watch on the
United Wa State Army, accused of producing most of the
methamphetamines smuggled into Thailand.
Drug suppression efforts along smuggling routes in the North have
prompted the Wa to shift to shipping drugs to Thailand.
Mr Kachadpai said the government had begun using active, instead of
passive, policies to tackle the problem.
On refugees, he said Rangoon had responded positively to the United
Nations High Commissioner for Refugees' repatriation plan by saying
it would allow their return after a ceasefire between its troops and
Karen rebels.
So far, more than 3,000 Mon refugees and Democratic Karen Buddhist
Army guerrillas have returned to their hometowns in Burma.
Mr Kachadpai also said the government has a clear policy to
discourage Thais from entering neighbouring countries to gamble.
The opening of border checkpoints was aimed at promoting cross-border
trade and travel. Military leaders have accused Rangoon of duplicity
in border relations. They pointed out that whenever there is a
dispute, Burma closes all border crossings except those which give
Thais access to casinos.
Bangkok Post (March 25, 2000)
________________ OPINION/EDITORIALS ___________________
NATION: BURMA'S DRUG LORDS ARE WINNING THE WAR
March 25, 2000
Thailand's antinarcotics agencies are getting frustrated,
increasingly frustrated. The country seems to be losing in its war
against drugs - ya baa or methamphetamines, to be exact. And in the
absence on Burma's part of political will and intensified cooperation
to suppress the production and flow of the illicit pills from the
major sources in the Shan State, the situation in Thailand will
continue to deteriorate.
Quietly, Thai authorities are acknowledging the country's failure to
stem the trafficking of methamphetamines from Burma - the key source
of supplies for Thailand and other neighbouring states - and to keep
track of the fastchanging pattern of trafficking routes into the
Kingdom. Moreover, they are extremely worried about the surge in drug
abuse, especially among young people for fun and enjoyment.
Traditional users - truckdrivers and agricultural and factory workers
- tend to take the drugs for performance enhancement.
Although the authorities have yet to explain how they came up with
their estimates of methamphetamine production by ethnic insurgents in
Burma - about 200 million pills in 1999 and 600 million this year -
the increase in the number of drug seizures in Thailand since 1995
paints a gloomy picture of the ya baa epidemic in the country.
According to Office of the Narcotics Control Board (ONCB), 541
kilograms of methamphetamines (about 6 million pills) were seized in
1995. The number increased to 4,250kg (about 48 million tablets) last
year.
Although the seizure of 28.8 million tablets in Burma last year was a
"notable increase" over the previous year's record of 15 million,
Thai and international antinarcotic officials believe that figure is
just the tip of the iceberg. They concur that as long as the Burmese
junta continues to tolerate the heavy engagement of armed ethnic
groups, especially the Wa and the Kokang, in narcotic trafficking as
their income source, Thailand and other regional countries will
continue to suffer from drug problems originating in Burma.
To suppress the trafficking of methamphetamines into northern
Thailand, antidrug agencies - ONCB, the Police Suppression Bureau,
the Border Patrol Police, the Provincial Police and the Army - have
for the past two years, strictly patrolled and virtually sealed off
several border provinces bordering Burma: Chiang Rai, Chiang Mai, Mae
Hong Son and Tak. Their efforts have paid off to a certain extent but
still failed to deter smuggling groups, which since the middle of
last year have been rerouting their traffic through northeastern
Thailand. Since then the authorities have intensified their
antinarcotic surveillance on the northeastern border with Laos.
Thailand's strict control over its northern and northeastern border
crossings with Burma and Laos have only forced the traffickers to
look for new routes. Thus it came as a big shock on March 14 when the
authorities seized a record haul of 4.35 million methamphetamine
pills, with an estimated street value of Bt500 million, in Prachuap
Khiri Khan province in the South. On Tuesday another two million
tablets were seized in a house in a Bangkok suburb.
In interviews yesterday senior government officials expressed grave
concern over the "worsening trafficking situation".
"The more Thailand has intensified its antinarcotic operations, the
more the traffickers have tried to outdo the Thai efforts," said one
official. "We are still trying to figure out what exactly is the
cause of such a drastic surge in the production of ya baa in Burma,
whether it's purely a financial factor or a political factor."
Thai agencies, said the officials, are keeping a close watch on the
changing routes through central and southern provinces and the
pattern of trafficking. The change, one official noted, took place
about the time when the United Wa State Army began a major relocation
of an estimated 200,000 Wa, Akha, Lahu and Chinese from their
villages near the SinoBurmese border to a southern area of the Shan
State on the ThaiBurmese border.
Thai authorities also detected the movement and limited presence of
UWSA representatives in Myawaddy opposite Thailand's Tak province in
the northwest and in the Three Pagodas Pass area opposite
Kanchanaburi province in the west.
Antidrug officials also discovered that trafficking groups were now
employing "human couriers" to transport small amounts of
methamphetamine tablets to certain meeting points where they were
then collected into sizeable shipments to be smuggled into Thailand.
"Most of these couriers are just ordinary people who are familiar
with the area," said the official. "They travel by land or sea
transport to the meeting point. Many groups are involved in this new
pattern of trafficking, but we are quite certain that the Wa [UWSA]
are involved in it."
As it turns out, government agencies, the Army and the Navy are now
forced to expand their antidrug operations to virtually the entire
Thai frontier with Burma.
In addition to the North and the Northeast, authorities are now
strengthening surveillance and intelligence in Kanchanaburi,
Ratchaburi, Petchaburi, Prachuap Khiri Khan and Ranong provinces.
Discreetly, Thailand is observing the Burmese junta's pledge to
cooperate with Thailand and international drug agencies in
suppressing the narcotics trade.
Although Thai authorities publicly praise their Burmese counterparts
whenever they meet, they expect the Burmese to take action against or
at least get tougher with key leaders of the drug groups instead of
targeting petty traffickers.
But as long as the ruling Burmese generals insist on cohabiting with
major Wa, Kokang and Shan drug warlords and tolerating their
narcotics business in exchange for their pledge of allegiance to
Rangoon, Thailand will continue to fight a losing war against drugs
from Burma.
The Nation (March 25, 2000)
___________________ OTHER ______________________
JOURNAL OF BURMA STUDIES: VOLUME FOUR, CONTENTS
Table of Contents of "The Journal of Burma Studies," Volume 4
(subscription information at the bottom)
"THE NORTH WIND AND THE SUN: Japan's Response To The Political Crisis
in Burma, 1988-1998," by Donald M. Seekins
Japan's response to the political crisis in Burma after the
establishment of the State Law and Order Restoration Council (SLORC)
in September 1988 reflected the interests of powerful constituencies
within the Japanese political system, especially business interests,
to which were added other constituencies such as domestic supporters
of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi's struggle for democracy and those who wished
to pursue 'Sun Diplomacy,' using positive incentives to encourage
democratization and economic reform. Policymakers in Tokyo, however,
approached the Burma crisis seeking to take minimal risks--a "maximin
strategy"--which limited their effectiveness in influencing the
junta. This was evident in the February 1989 "normalization" of
Tokyo's ties with SLORC. During 1989-1998, Japanese business leaders
pushed hard to promote economic engagement, but "Sun Diplomacy" made
little progress in the face of the junta's increasing
repression of the democratic opposition.
"POTTERY IN THE CHIN HILLS," by Charlotte Reith
During my research on contemporary pottery villages in Burma, I was
given the name of one such village, Lente, by a native now living in
the United States. Lente is located in the Chin Hills, a remote area
of western Burma difficult to access, inhabited by many tribes
speaking a large number of languages. Foreigners are rarely given
permission to visit the Chin Hills, and although I obtained
permission to travel to Lente, I was ultimately prevented by the
authorities from going further than nearby Falam. I was
nevertheless able to collect data from Lente in three ways: first, my
guide Daw Moe Moe was able to visit Lente and take photographs of the
potters there; secondly, Daw Moe Moe was able to return to Falam with
a potter from Lente village and with enough of the proper kind of
clay to facilitate a demonstration which I photographed and
documented; and thirdly, I was given a copy of a videotape showing
the potters working in Lente village. This tape was taken by a young
man from Falam who is interested in recording local crafts processes.
The tape allowed me to observe a process of making pots with which I
was totally unacquainted, and which has otherwise escaped recent
photographic or video documentation. This was a true "discovery"
concerning the ways in which pots can be made, and still another
indication of the imagination and ingenuity of humankind.
"LANGUAGES IN CONTACT: The Case of English and Burmese," by Julian
Wheatley, with San San Hnin Tun
This article deals with the nature and the effects of the long period
of linguistic contact between Burmese and English. Part 1 deals with
general issues of contact and borrowing; part 2 provides examples of
English loanwords in Burmese, and considers the processes of
phonological and semantic accommodation that they reflect.
"SARIPUTTA AND MOGGALLANA IN THE GOLDEN LAND: The Relics of the
Buddha's Chief Disciples at the Kaba Aye Pagoda," by Jack Daulton
In this article, the author reconstructs and documents the story of
the relics of the Buddha's chief disciples, Sariputta and Moggallana,
at the Kaba Aye Pagoda in Burma. Using previously unpublished
archival materials, including first-hand archaeological reports and
internal museum documents, as well as contemporary newspaper
accounts, the author details the discovery of the relics by British
military officers in 19th-century India, the subsequent removal of
the relics to England where they were placed on museum exhibition,
and their eventual reenshrinement in Burma and India 100 years later.
Purchase information:
Subscriptions to The Journal of Burma Studies are $16.00 for one
volume per year, shipping included. Paid members of the Burma Studies
Group of the Association for Asian Studies (membership is $25 a year)
receive the annual issue of The Journal of Burma Studies along with
two semi-annual issues of the Bulletin of the Burma Studies Group.
Add US$10 to ensure air mail delivery. Send subscriptions and
memberships to:
Center for Burma Studies,
Northern Illinois University, DeKalb IL 60115, USA
Phone: (815) 753-0512;
FAX: (815) 753-1776;
E-Mail: seap@xxxxxxx
________________
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comprehensive coverage of news and opinion on Burma
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write to: strider@xxxxxxx
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