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______________ THE BURMANET NEWS ______________
        An on-line newspaper covering Burma 
______________ www.burmanet.org _______________

July 14, 2000

Issue # 1576


The BurmaNet News is viewable online at:
http://theburmanetnews.editthispage.com


*Inside Burma

BANGKOK POST: JUNTA CLAIMS IT FOILED EMBASSY RAID
OPPOSITION MEMBERS ARRESTED IN RANGOON

BANGKOK POST: BORDER CLASH

BANGKOK POST: WA AND SHAN POISED FOR BATTLE
TASK FORCE SECURES STRATEGIC POSITION IN ANTICIPATION OF FIGHT

REUTERS: MYANMAR LETS ETHNIC ARMY BUILD ROAD ON THAI BORDER

*Regional

ASSOCIATED PRESS:CONFIRMATION AWAITED ON BURMA CLAIM 

THE NATION: GOVT BEARS COST OF PTT DEFAULT

AFP: MYANMAR EXILE GROUP REJECTED JUNTA'S PLOT ALLEGATIONS

AP: THAILAND SKEPTICAL ON REPORTED CONSPIRACY TO ATTACK EMBASSY IN 
MYANMAR

*International

THE NATION: EU REVIVING KEEN INTEREST IN ASIA, SAYS PATTEN 
		
KOREA ECONOMIC WEEKLY : HYUNDAI CORPORATION TO EXPORT PIPING WORTH $ 
30 MILLION TO MYANMAR

*Opinion/Editorials

THE NATION: LETTERS TO THE EDITOR 
CHINESE DELEGATION SHOULD MEET WITH AUNG SAN SUU KYI



_______________ INSIDE BURMA ____________________
								
			


BANGKOK POST: JUNTA CLAIMS IT FOILED EMBASSY RAID
OPPOSITION MEMBERS ARRESTED IN RANGOON
AGENCIES, BANGKOK POST IN RANGOON

July 14, 2000

Burma has arrested 11 people for distributing anti-junta leaflets and 
planning attacks on government buildings and the Thai embassy, 
official media reported yesterday. The "expatriate destructive 
elements", alleged to be linked to the National League for Democracy, 
the All Burma Students Democratic Front (ABSDF) and other ethnic 
groups, were arrested in May and June.

The New Light of Myanmar daily said they planned to launch the 
attacks on May 27 this year, on the anniversary of the NLD's sweeping 
election victory in 1990.

"The intention was to frighten the Thai government.. and to create 
conditions to sour relations between Myanmar and Thailand," it said. 
They were also trying to stir up friction between Burma's police and 
army, and organise army deserters, official media said.

The reports were accompanied by photographs of items allegedly seized 
from those arrested, including eight grenades, a walkie-talkie, 
pamphlets, stickers and computer diskettes.

But the Thai Foreign Ministry expressed reservations about the 
alleged intentions of the suspects, saying the Thai embassy in 
Rangoon should have filed a report by now if it was targeted for 
attack.

Oum Maolanond, the ministry's deputy spokesman, also said 11 people 
would have a "slim chance" of carrying out terrorist acts in a 
capital city that was well guarded and where movements were 
restricted.

But, he said: "If it is true that they had bad intentions, then the 
Thai government has to thank the Burmese government for obstructing 
these people." Mr Oum also doubted the arrested included members of 
the ABSDF as the group had not shown any intention to use force 
against Thailand
 .
The ABSDF also had shown differences with the God's Army, suspected 
to have been behind the occupation of a hospital in Ratchaburi in 
January in which 10 rebels were killed.

Soe Aung, director of foreign affairs for the ABSDF in Bangkok, said 
he had received no reports of ABSDF members being arrested in Burma.


____________________________________________________


BANGKOK POST: BORDER CLASH

July 14, 2000

Mae Hong Son-Burmese troops and Democratic Karen Buddhist Army 
fighters attacked anti-Rangoon Karen rebels in Burma, opposite Sop 
Moei district to Mae Sariang district, earlier this week.

It was reported the DKBA and Burmese troops launched the attacks on 
Tuesday and Wednesday as they wanted more than 5,000 teak logs 
belonging to the KNU's small 5th division. More than 200 Karen 
villagers subsequently fled into Thailand, border sources said.


____________________________________________________


BANGKOK POST: WA AND SHAN POISED FOR BATTLE
TASK FORCE SECURES STRATEGIC POSITION IN ANTICIPATION OF FIGHT

July 14, 2000.

Troops of the Pha Muang task force are securing Doi Thuay mountain, 
on the border of Chiang Dao district, Chiang Mai, where a fight is 
impending between two Burmese ethnic groups, the United Wa State Army 
and the Shan State Army.

Sources from the task force said ethnic troops reinforcing 
theirpositions have intruded intoThailand as they move along a 
winding trail that cuts back and forthacross the border on Doi 
Thuayridge.

"The trail has been used by the UWSA, the SSA and Thai people seeking 
forest products. It also serves drug smugglers. However, Pha Muang 
troops have secured the area," a source said.

The UWSA and the SSA previously used the BP1 road, linking with Ban 
Kew Pha Wok border pass in Chiang Dao district, to demarcate their 
respective territories.

However, UWSA troops have moved into the SSA's area south of the road 
lately, claiming the Burmese government ordered them to upgrade a 
border road in the SSA's area. The Shan army objected.

The SSA, which separated from Khun Sa's Mong Tai Army, has about 
2,000 soldiers, the sources said. The UWSA is stronger and is sending 
soldiers into Shan territory from an area opposite Chiang Mai's Mae 
Ai district.The Wa troops are heading to Ho Mong, the former 
strongholdof former drug kingpin Khun Sa, opposite Muang district of 
Mae Hong Son province.

Another source said the attempted theft of about 20,000 M-16rifle 
rounds destined for anti-Rangoon rebels from the Police Ordnance 
Division late last month signalled preparations for an imminent clash 
between the UWSA and theSSA.

The Doi Thuay mountain was a battlefield of the UWSA andthe MTA years 
ago as the twofought to expand influenceand a route to smuggle drugs 
into Thailand.


____________________________________________________


REUTERS: MYANMAR LETS ETHNIC ARMY BUILD ROAD ON THAI BORDER

July 14, 2000

Myanmar's military government has allowed an allied ethnic army to 
repair a strategic 150-km (95-mile) road along the Myanmar-Thai 
border, border sources told Reuters, raising fears of increased drug 
smuggling.

The permission to the United Wa State Army (UWSA) to fix the road and 
run bus operations along it was interpreted by Thai security 
officials as an attempt to suppress the rival Shan State Army (SSA), 
which is still fighting Myanmar's government.

 Thai border officials said repair of the bus route would fuel 
sporadic conflicts along the Thai border, and income from the bus 
operations would help expand the drug distribution network of the 
UWSA into Thailand.

Khuensai Jaiyean, secretary-general of the Shan Democratic Union, 
told Reuters the bus route from Mongkyawt to Ban Ho Mong, a former 
stronghold of drug warlord Khun Sa, ran parallel to the Thai border.

Khuensai said about 800 UWSA soldiers, led by commander Wei Xeu Kang, 
were posted along the road in mid-June to guard it during the 
rebuilding. The United States has indicted and offered a $2-million 
reward for the capture of Wei Xeu Kang on drug trafficking charges.  
A senior Thai military officer told Reuters Myanmar was using the 
UWSA to fight the SSA.

 ``If the UWSA can seize the SSA's base, all kinds of narcotic drugs 
will flood to Thailand and create severe problems for us,'' the 
officer said.

 The UWSA, which says it has 20,000 armed fighters, fought Myanmar's 
military rulers in the past for greater autonomy for the Wa region in 
the northern Shan state while engaging actively in the opium trade.  
But in 1989 it unexpectedly agreed a ceasefire with Myanmar's 
military government.

 The Thai army said last month drug production and trafficking from 
Myanmar was increasing rapidly and posed a serious threat to Thailand 
and other neighbouring countries because of the mass relocation of 
ethnic minorities within Myanmar in the past year.

However, a state-run Myanmar newspaper said on Tuesday Thailand was 
worsening its own drugs problem by harbouring insurgents and should 
work together with Myanmar to combat the problem rather than trading 
accusations.

Myanmar is the world's second largest producer of opium and its 
derivative heroin, as well as a major source of amphetamines.


___________________________ REGIONAL ___________________________


ASSOCIATED PRESS:CONFIRMATION AWAITED ON BURMA CLAIM 

July 14, 2000

THE Foreign Ministry is awaiting official confirmation of a reported 
plan by Burmese dissidents to attack its embassy in Rangoon. 

Deputy spokesman Oum Maolanon said yesterday the ministry had, so 
far, only heard about the alleged plan from media reports quoting the 
Burmese government. Other sources were not available at the moment, 
he said. 

Quoting a state newspaper report in Burma, Associated Press said 
yesterday that Burmese authorities had arrested 11 dissidents who 
were planning to carry out terrorist acts, including the attack on 
the Thai Embassy. 

According to the report, the alleged ringleader was said to be a 
former member of the Thai-based All Burma Students' Democratic Front 
(ABSDF), the main group for student activists living in exile from 
Burma's military regime. 

The outlawed group is made up of students who fled Burma after 
thousands of civilians were gunned down by the military to stop 
nationwide pro-democracy rallies in 1988.
 
Oum said if the report was proven genuine, the Thai government would 
thank Burma for preventing the attack.
 
However, the official said that as far as Thai authorities were 
concerned the ABSDF has no record of intending to use force against 
Thailand. The group was among many to condemn the hostage taking by 
the God's Army rebel group at a Ratchaburi hospital earlier this year.

He also said it would be almost impossible for a group of 11people to 
launch a series of raids in Rangoon because Burmese authorities were 
very vigilant when it came to people leaving and entering the capital.

Moreover, the Thai embassy was protected around the clock so there 
was no need to worry, he said.

Associated Press, quoting a report in the state-owned Myanmar Alin 
daily, said the 11 "expatriate destructive elements" were arrested in 
May and June, one in the town of Myawaddy, on the Thai border. It did 
not say where the others were arrested. Two of those arrested were 
women. The report named the rignleader as Ko Oo, alias Myo Oo. Most 
of the 11 were said to be members of another illegal Burma-based 
students' group.

They had allegedly planned "disruptive acts" to create public panic 
in Rangoon and in Pegu, 80 kilometres north of the capital, in bid to 
discredit the government and to damage Thai-Burmese relations, the 
report said.

The newspaper showed photos of seized materials, including hand-
grenades, pamphlets and stickers. Last year Ko Oo had repeatedly 
travelled to Mae Sod, on the Thai side of the Friendship Bridge 
opposite Myawaddy, and made contact with various dissident groups, 
including the ABSDF and ethnic Karen rebels active along the border.

They allegedly planned to blow up a communications centre in Rangoon 
and the offices in the capital and Pegu of the Union Solidarity and 
Development Association, a government-sponsored mass organisation  
that has over 11 million members.

The group had also planned to attack the Thai embassy in Rangoon on 
May 27, the anniversary of the 1990 poll victory of Aung San Suu 
Kyi's party that was not honoured by the military, the report 
claimed. The attack was to be in retaliation for the killing by Thai 
commandos of anti-Rangoon rebels - including members of the God's 
Army led by 12-year-old twins - who took hostages at the hospital in 
Ratchaburi earlier this year.

"Unhappy with the Thai government's killing of 10 terrorists who 
raided the RAtchaburi hospital in Thailand, destructive groups 
planned to take revenge on the Thai government ... and damage Thai-
Burmese relations," the report said.

____________________________________________________


THE NATION: GOVT BEARS COST OF PTT DEFAULT

July 14, 2000

BY WATCHARAPONG THONGRUNG  

THE government will shoulder most of the burden expected to result 
from the Petroleum Authority of Thailand's (PTT) failure to fulfil a 
natural-gas purchase contract in Burma, the National Energy Policy 
Committee has revealed. 

In a surprise announcement yesterday, the supreme energy board said 
that the state will share 75.8 per cent of the total burden, with the 
PTT carrying 11.4 per cent, and the Electricity Generating Authority 
of Thailand (Egat) 12.8 per cent. It is not yet clear how much this 
will cost the taxpayers in actual baht figures. 

According to government estimates based on the current 6-per-cent 
interest rate cost, the extra burden from the Burmese gas contract 
would be about Bt6.5 billion. 

"The PTT will coordinate negotiations with the Finance Ministry on 
how the state will come to share the extra cost. This burden will not 
be realised for another three years, in any case," said PM Office 
Minister Savit Bhotiwihok. 

Savit said the government should share the burden because it was the 
Cabinet that approved the Yadana gas purchase contract with the 
international gas producer consortium. 

Also, following the de facto devaluation of the baht in July 1997, he 
said, it was the Cabinet that approved a decision for the government 
contractors to delay the completion date by 180 days. One of the 
projects affected by the Cabinet resolution was the Ratchaburi power 
plant, the initial sole consumer of the Burmese gas. 

He added that Egat should also take responsibility for the delay of 
the Ratchaburi plant. PTT should also share the financial burden, as 
it could not complete the con 

struction of the Ratchaburi-Wangnoi pipeline, so that the plant was 
the only source that could use the Burmese gas. 

PTT sealed the gas purchase contract in September 1994 with the 
Yadana gas developer. The consortium was comprised of Unocal Corp of 
the United States, Total of France, Burmese's Myanmar Oil and Gas 
Enterprise, and Thailand's PTT Exploration and Production Plc. Extra 
costs are expected, as PTT has purchased a much lower volume of gas 
than promised in the contract, which is based on a take-or-pay basis. 
However, the agreement allows PTT to accumulate the gas for 
consumption within the next three years. 

However, Savit said the NEPC has assigned PTT to renegotiate the gas 
contracts it inked with Yadana and Yetagun developers in Burma and 
also with domestic gas producers. 

The plan is for PTT to increase the contractual amount of gas 
purchases for 1998 and 1999 while reducing the amount obliged for 
this year. 

By using this method, he said, PTT may be able to accumulate a 
greater amount of cheaper gas for 1998 and 1999 to use in later years 
while cutting the amount of expensive gas. As gas prices have been 
pegged with oil prices, this year's gas price is much higher than in 
recent years. Pending the resolution of the take-or-pay burden, PTT 
has postponed payment of the US$280 million (Bt11.21 billion) to the 
Yadana consortium for the contractual amount of gas it intended to 
take during 1999 from the original date set for February of this 
year. 


____________________________________________________


AFP: MYANMAR EXILE GROUP REJECTED JUNTA'S PLOT ALLEGATIONS

July 14, 2000

(Bangkok)  A group of exiled Myanmar students Friday rejected the 
military government's claim that one of its members was the 
ringleader in an alleged plot to raid the Thai embassy in Yangon.

The All Burma Students' Democratic Front (ABSDF) said the claims 
were "unfounded and clearly intended to create misunderstanding 
between Burmese pro-democracy groups and the Royal Thai Government".

Myanmar's military government said Thursday that it had arrested 11 
dissidents who had planned to raid the Thai embassy to mark the May 
27 anniversary of the opposition's historic election victory.

ABSDF vice president Moe Thee Zun said none of its members were among 
the group detained. He said the junta's announcement was a "clumsy 
plot" to incite a crackdown on Thai-based pro-democracy groups in the 
lead-up to a meeting of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations 
here this month.  In an official report, the Myanmar government said 
the 11 dissidents arrested had brought explosives into the country 
ahead of the anniversary of the election won 10 years ago by the 
National League for Democracy.

Myanmar's junta refused to recognise the result of the election and 
has since tried to crush the NLD, led by nobel laureate Aung San Suu 
Kyi.  The New Light of Myanmar daily accused the NLD, the ABSDF and 
other ethnic groups of backing the plan to hit the embassy and other 
targets in the capital.

Thai Foreign Ministry spokesman Oum Moalanon said the claim was being 
investigated, but he questioned the likelihood of an attack on the 
heavily guarded building.

 "The plot against such a strategic target, carried out with only 11 
people, seems to be less than possible as the Myanmar authorities 
have strict security around the capital," he said.  And he noted the 
ABSDF had denounced a hospital siege in provincial Thailand mounted 
by Myanmar rebels earlier this year.

____________________________________________________


AP: THAILAND SKEPTICAL ON REPORTED CONSPIRACY TO ATTACK EMBASSY IN 
MYANMAR

July 14, 2000

(Bangkok) Thailand said Friday that it was skeptical about a 
newspaper report that its embassy in Myanmar had been threatened with 
terrorist attack by anti-Yangon dissidents.

 The Thai ambassador to Myanmar had not been informed by Myanmar 
authorities of any planned attack, nor of the arrests of 11 people 
allegedly involved, a foreign ministry spokesman said.  The group was 
led by a former member of the Thai-based All Burma Students' 
Democratic Front, an anti-Yangon exile group, state newspaper Myanmar 
Alin reported Thursday.

 ``As far as Thailand is concerned, this group has never used or 
planned to use force to attack Thailand,'' said deputy Foreign 
Ministry spokesman Oum Maolanon in a statement late Thursday.  He 
said the ABSDF condemned a siege on a Thai provincial hospital 
earlier this year by anti-Yangon Karen rebels that ended with Thai 
commandos killing all 10 rebels involved.

 But Oum said it was unlikely 11 people would dare such an attack 
because of tight security by Myanmar authorities in Yangon and at the 
embassy.  Myanmar Alin reported that the 11 people were arrested in 
May and June, one of them in the town of Myawaddy on the border with 
Thailand where they had linked up with anti-Yangon rebel groups.

 They had allegedly planned ``disruptive acts'' and to create public 
panic in Yangon and in Bago, 80 kilometers (50 miles) to the north of 
the capital, in a bid to discredit the government and to damage Thai-
Myanmar relations, the report said.

On Friday, ABSDF vice-chairman Moe Thee Zun said the Myanmar military 
regime was trying unsuccessfully to frame the ABSDF as being a threat 
to Thailand. None of the 11 alleged terrorists were actually ABSDF 
members, he said in a statement.  He dismissed it as a ``clumsy 
attempt'' to incite a crackdown on Thai-based prodemocracy groups in 
the lead-up to a ministerial meeting of the Association of Southeast 
Asian Nations in Bangkok later this month. Myanmar
is a member of ASEAN.  Students were at the forefront of prodemocracy 
demonstrations in 1988 that
ended with a bloody clampdown by the Myanmar military. Thousands of 
civilians were gunned down and many protesters fled into exile in 
Thailand.  Myanmar, also known as Burma, has been ruled by its 
military since 1962, which ignored the results of democratic 
elections in 1990.


__________________ INTERNATIONAL __________________

		
THE NATION: EU REVIVING KEEN INTEREST IN ASIA, SAYS PATTEN 

July 14, 2000

BY KAVI CHONGKITTAVORN

STRASBOURG, France - What is the future of Asia-Europe relations? 
Will it be marked by divergence or commonality, cooperation or 
division? 

Answers may be found in Europe's handling of longstanding issues and 
pending new initiatives. 

European powers dominated Asia for half a millennium until its last 
colony, Macau, was returned to China in December. That was supposed 
to herald the "Asian Renaissance" but, with the region in the midst 
of a deep financial crisis, no Asian country felt comfortable saying 
it. 

The Asian economic recovery is now around the corner and Europe has 
got its house in order after a long string of leadership crises and 
corruption scandals that sapped the European Union's energy and 
tested its morals. Asia and Europe are now ready to do business. 

According to Chris Patten, EU External Relations Commissioner, the EU 
is reviving its 1994 strategic policy towards Asia, which was the 
first document that demonstrated Europe's keen interest in Asia. 

Before the economic bubble burst, Asia was a magnet for European 
money because of high economic growth and its investment potential. 
Expansion of trade and economic cooperation was the main focus. 

Patten, former governor of Hong Kong and an old hand at Asia, knows 
exactly what has been missing in Asia-Europe cooperation. 

To move Asia-Europe relations forward, he said there must be new 
agendas that reflect the changes which have taken place in the last 
half a decade. 

It must, also include two important dimensions: social and political. 

He said Europe was more confident and had a new attitude toward major 
Asian powers such as China, Japan, South Korea and India, and even 
Pakistan and North Korea, which would strengthen its future 
cooperation with them.
 
Patten cited several examples. The EU supported China's entry into 
the World Trade Organisation, and has held summits with China, Japan 
and South Korea. Recently, for the first time, the EU held a summit 
meeting with India. The EU has also paid special attention to the 
situation in Pakistan and the latest outcome of the Korean summit. It 
has started establishing contacts with North Korea. Other EU 
officials here readily agreed Europe was willing to listen to Asia 
and its rationales. 

As a policy, the EU views Asian powers as major players on the global 
and regional stage. But at the same time Asia has the world's major 
potential flashpoints, including the divided Korean peninsula, 
Kashmir and the Spratly Islands. 

The Association of South-East Asian Nations (Asean) is also pivotal 
to the overall EU strategy, given longstanding Asean-EU relations 
since 1977. The EU is the biggest donor to Asean among all its 
dialogue partners. But political repression in Burma and its 
admission into Asean has dampened otherwise excellent relations. 
Patten, who will join the EU delegation to the Asean post-ministerial 
meeting in Bangkok at the end of the month, said problems in Burma 
had affected its neighbouring countries as well. The EU will continue 
its current sanctions, which include visa bans on senior officials of 
the Rangoon regime, while it tries to open dialogue with Burma. 

The EU and Asean have agreed to hold a ministerial meeting in 
Vientiane later this year. Burma, which has not yet signed the Asean-
EU economic cooperation framework agreement, will attend the meeting 
as part of Asean. 

A senior French official confirmed that under French presidency the 
EU position on Burma will remain firm, but said the EU would like to 
keep its options open. He said the EU will dispatch a troika team to 
Burma later this year to assess the political and social situation 
there. Last year, the EU troika team was disappointed with its trip 
to Burma.
 
Within the EU, the UK and Denmark have maintained hardline positions 
on Burma, urging the regime to open dialogue with the opposition and 
release political prisoners. 

Looking to the future, Patten outlined three important issues in EU-
Asia relations: expanded political and security dialogue, increased 
educational exchanges between Asia and Europe, and more dialogue on 
consumer issues. 

He said Europe and Asia should increase political and security 
cooperation in new areas such as conflict prevention, peacekeeping, 
international crime and terrorism, money laundering, crime against 
women and children and the proliferation of nuclear weapons.
 
At the upcoming Asia-Europe Meeting in Seoul, the European side 
wishes to see the meeting affirming the principles of good governance 
and the rule of law. 

Both sides must increase educational exchanges in the next 10 years 
through various scholarship programs, Patten said, adding that the EU 
was working on an Asia-Europe student exchange project called "One 
European, One Asian".
 
On consumer dialogue, the commissioner said the two sides needed to 
learn more from each other and understand the spirit of competition 
and consumer behaviour, both in Europe and Asia. 



_____________________________________________________


KOREA ECONOMIC WEEKLY : HYUNDAI CORPORATION TO EXPORT PIPING WORTH $ 
30 MILLION TO MYANMAR

July 17, 2000

Hyundai Corporation announced on July 9 that the firm has contracted 
with MOGE(Myanmar Oil and Gas Enterprise) to export 45,000 tons of 
steel pipe worth $30 million.

The export amount of 20-inch pipe will be loaded from September this 
year through March in 2001. The pipe will be used to construct a gas 
pipeline promoted by Myanmar government.


Hyundai said that it had created a consortium with Hyundai Pipe, SeAH 
Steel and Shinho Steel to win the supply contract through a public 
tender.  "Korean steel industry which has been depressed by the 
recent anti-dumping suit filed by the US firms will retake vitality 
with this contract
said an official of Hyundai.

 
_________________OPINION/EDITORIALS________________


THE NATION: LETTERS TO THE EDITOR 
CHINESE DELEGATION SHOULD MEET WITH AUNG SAN SUU KYI

July 14, 2000

THE Nation (July 11) reported on the forthcoming visit to Thailand of 
Chinese vice president Hu Jintao, noting "China's delegation aims to 
meet all political leaders". Hu is said to be visiting Burma before 
arriving here. Hu's plan to meet "a wide variety of political [Thai] 
leaders", is a departure from the past. It represents a historical 
shift in China's concept regarding the fact that a ruling party 
doesn't necessarily represent a nation and that there are other 
components that constitute a nation. 

This is the hallmark of democracy. The report described the meetings 
as part of China's "omnibearing" policy: while Beijing respects the 
sovereignty of other countries, it will work with any political party 
in power. 

In regard to Burma, Beijing, while implementing the first part of the 
policy, has to have a rapport with the ruling party, although the 
ruling party is not a political party. This dilemma has to be 
resolved on the universally accepted principle of pluralism of 
society; in political terms, meeting the recognised political 
opposition.
 
In Burma, the National League for Democracy is a legal party and the 
recognised political opposition. In the free and fair election in 
1990, NLD was voted a massive mandate. United Nations officials, 
other agencies, and government leaders from time to time have met 
with NLD leader Daw Aung San Suu Kyi on the issue of political change 
in Burma. Her credentials are on record. 

Importantly, the Chinese delegation will be meeting a variety of 
political leaders while in Thailand. On the principle of non-
discrimination, such a meeting cannot have technical difficulties. 
Failure in initiative will send a wrong signal to the peoples of the 
two countries, Burma and Thailand, who are next door neighbours. The 
pro-democracy civil society in Burma deserves recognition. China, for 
reasons of her own, has kept herself in total isolation in respect of 
the present Burmese opposition. The opposition force unwittingly 
distanced itself from China. The resultant mutual isolation has bred 
misunderstanding and misgivings. 

It should be recalled, however, that Burma was the first country to 
give diplomatic recognition to the People's Republic of China at a 
time when she was heavily condoned by Western powers. Burma had sent 
her previous UN Ambassador, Dr Myint Thein (later Chief Justice of 
the Supreme Court) to show respect. Burma was just then born a 
democratic country. 

In return, Burma's democracy is full of expectations that the leader 
of the Chinese delegation will meet with Burma's democratic leader 
even if it is without a political agenda. "Asian values" perhaps 
warrants it. The meeting will be a golden event in bilateral 
relations between China and Burma on the occasion of the Golden 
Jubilee of the founding of diplomatic relations of the two countries. 
It is hoped the Chinese delegation will consider this aspect to their 
meetings.
 
BK Senvia 
VIA INTERNET 


____________________________________________________

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