[theburmanetnews] BurmaNet News: Ju

[theburmanetnews-owner@xxxxxxxxxxx]

Reply-To: theburmanetnews-owner@xxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [theburmanetnews] BurmaNet News: July 26, 2000

--------------------------------------------------------------------<e|-
Get a NextCard Visa, in 30 seconds!
1. Fill in the brief application
2. Receive approval decision within 30 seconds
3. Get rates as low as 2.9% Intro or 9.9% Fixed APR
http://click.egroups.com/1/6631/7/_/713843/_/964649198/
--------------------------------------------------------------------|e>-



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

July 26, 2000

Issue # 1584


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



*Inside Burma

AP: NINE JOURNALISTS OF OPPOSITION NEWSPAPER BEING HELD IN 

AFP: MYANMAR STUDENTS RETURN PEACEFULLY TO UNIVERSITY

*Regional

AP: ASEAN AT ODDS OVER POWER FOR DIPLOMATIC FIREMEN

AFP: POWERFUL EAST ASIAN CAUCUS LAUNCHED

AFP: DRUGS, TRANSNATIONAL CRIME ON AGENDA OF ASIA'S SECURITY FORUM

AP: EAST ASIA PUSHES FORWARD FLEDGLING ECONOMIC BLOC

XINHUA: MYANMAR HOLDS SEMINAR ON HUMAN RESOURCES DEVELOPMENT

AFP: MALAYSIAN FIRM TO BUILD ACID FACTORY IN MYANMAR

*International

REUTERS: INTERVIEW-NO MYSTIQUE TO CHINA DIPLOMACY-PATTEN

REUTERS: EU'S PATTEN SAYS TIME TO RESUME SE ASIA CONTACTS

AFP: EUROPEAN UNION SAYS POLICY TOWARDS MYANMAR STAYS UNCHANGED

AP: EU WILL CONTINUE TO HOLD MYANMAR AT BAY, SOLANA SAYS 

__________________ INSIDE BURMA ____________________
	


AP: NINE JOURNALISTS OF OPPOSITION NEWSPAPER BEING HELD IN 

July 26, 2000

BANGKOK, Thailand.  At least 12 journalists, including nine from an 
opposition newspaper, are being held by the military regime in 
Myanmar, a media protection group said Wednesday. 
 
The France-based Reporters Without Borders said it had send a letter 
to Myanmar calling for the immediate release of the nine if their 
arrests were connected with work for their newspaper MoJo, or 
Lightning. 
 
The newspaper, published in Thailand, is banned in Myanmar, also 
known as Burma, where all media are under tight control of the 
government. The group said it knew of at least 12 journalists 
imprisoned in Myanmar. 
 Three of the journalists for MoJo, who were working in Myanmar, were 
arrested in May and are believed to be accused by authorities of 
collecting news from dissidents and secretly distributing their 
publication, a statement from the group said. 
 MoJo is linked to the National League for Democracy, led by Nobel 
Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi, it said. The nine, the statement 
said, faced jail sentences of up to 10 years. 
 
The military government has rejected allegations by Western 
governments and human rights organizations that it is suppressing 
basic human rights. The regime came to power in the wake of a bloody 
military crackdown on a pro-democracy uprising in 1988. 



____________________________________________________



AFP: MYANMAR STUDENTS RETURN PEACEFULLY TO UNIVERSITY

July 26, 2000

YANGON.   Myanmar's university students -- once the leaders of the 
country's pro-democracy demonstrations -- have returned to the 
schools the Yangon junta closed for fear they would breed opposition 
to its iron-fisted rule. 
 
Myanmar's military rulers this week re-opened all university classes, 
including those suspended since 1996 following anti-government 
demonstrations, sources in Yangon told AFP. 
 
However in downtown Yangon -- the site of several violent student 
disturbances -- the streets have been quiet this week and there has 
been no political unrest. 
 
Myanmar's universities had been sporadically closed since a popular 
uprising in the summer of 1988 threatened to topple the military 
regime. 
 
Prior to that, the Yangon junta imposed strict restrictions on 
universities in the wake of massive and violent anti-government 
protests in December 1996, formally suspending classes for all second 
and third-year university students. 
 
Though the students appear to be returning peacefully to school. 
Myanmar's leaders are taking no chances. 
 
According to figures provided by the ministry of education, 75,000 
Myanmar students can register to attend university classes this week, 
but only as long as they sign a contract pledging to stick to 
peaceful studies, government officials told AFP. 
 
"We've got to take all preventive measures to ensure peaceful pursuit 
of education for all students because each time student unrest arose, 
we had no choice but to close down universities," a high-ranking 
education ministry official said. 
 
Observers in Yangon have said the educational stalemate gave rise to 
a "lost generation" of students, compromising the future of the 
country formerly known as Burma. 
 
Some parents have charged that, despite the re-opening of schools, 
higher education in Myanmar is far from functioning normally. 
 
Though universities are open, more than two-thirds of Myanmar 
students will do their coursework by correspondence, resulting in 
campuses which are almost always empty. 
 
One bitter parent said they were "virtual schools" in which "people 
don't learn anything." 
 
But Myanmar authorities have insisted that they place a high priority 
on education. 
 
Sources in the Myanmar Education Ministry have claimed the level of 
higher education in Myanmar is "on a par with the developed countries 
of the region", and they take pride in an education plan for 2000-
2003 that emphasises multi-media training. 
 
Government claims that education is a priority are at odds, however, 
with a stagnant budget for the Education Ministry and the fact that 
only 0.5 percent of Myanmar's Gross National Product is allocated to 
education. 
 
Other countries in Southeast Asia spend approximately 2.7 percent of 
their GNPs on education. 
 
Opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, who has historically enjoyed 
great support from the students, routinely accuses the country's 
military rulers of "sacrificing the future" of Myanmar's youth to 
safeguard their hold on power. 
 
"Dictatorships don't really care to educate their people because they 
prefer to keep their people ignorant and subdued, that is the way of 
all dictatorships,' she has said. 



___________________________ REGIONAL ___________________________
					


AP: ASEAN AT ODDS OVER POWER FOR DIPLOMATIC FIREMEN 

July 25, 2000

BANGKOK, Thailand.   The Association of Southeast Asian Nations 
appeared set Tuesday to approve a diplomatic fire squad to help it 
react faster to regional crises, but the 10 states were at odds over 
how much power it should have. 
 
Thailand is keen to expand the role of ASEAN and has proposed 
authorizing the rotating chair of the grouping to call a taskforce of 
three ministers _ or troika _ in case of events that threaten peace 
and stability in the region. 
 
But Myanmar said Tuesday that the troika would still not have any 
right to interfere in the internal affairs of member states _ a tenet 
of ASEAN cooperation _ casting a major doubt on what kind of 
authority it could wield. 
 
``The troika is not a mechanism to deal within, it's to deal with 
outside,'' Myanmar Foreign Minister Win Aung said on the second day 
of the 33rd annual ASEAN ministers' meeting in Bangkok. 
 
He said the troika could deal with ``emergencies'' and help set the 
stance of ASEAN on international issues, but not take independent 
decisions. 
 
``It's a mechanism to represent the 10 foreign ministers, but they 
need to have the consent of the 10 foreign ministers,'' he said. 
 
The insistence by Myanmar, also known as Burma, on staving off 
outside interference in its affairs was not a surprise. 
 
The military-ruled country is heavily criticized by international 
groups for its iron hand on dissenters, and neighboring Thailand has 
said drug trafficking by former ethnic rebels there pose a regional 
security threat. 
 
ASEAN has set up a troika once before to bring warring parties 
together, after a coup in Cambodia in 1997 led by the current Prime 
Minister Hun Sen. 
 
But when East Timor was racked by violence after it voted for 
independence from ASEAN member Indonesia last year, ASEAN lacked 
consent from the disputing parties and took no action. 
 
That inaction galvanized critics of ASEAN, which was also found 
wanting during the Asian economic crisis that effected all its 
members: Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the 
Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. 
 
In response, ministers have this week urged more regional 
cooperation, not only in the traditional areas of trade and 
investment, but also in fighting transnational crimes like drug 
trafficking, human smuggling and the arms trade. 
 
Indonesian Foreign Minister Alwi Shihab said the troika could be used 
to address transnational problems like haze from forest fires _ that 
has in recent years spread from Indonesia across Southeast Asia _ and 
drug trafficking. 
 
But he ruled out involvement in the sectarian violence that has 
killed more than 4,000 people in the last 18 months on Indonesia's 
Maluku islands, despite calls from Christian leaders there for 
international intervention. 
 
``Maluku is solely an internal problem,'' he said. 
 
Commenting on how the troika would work, Thai Foreign Ministry 
spokesman Don Pramudwinai said if the issue in question impinged on 
the sovereignty of a state, the chair would call a meeting of all 10 
ministers. 
 
``In principle, the ASEAN troika will deal with every kind of 
problem, both internal and external,'' Don said. 
 
Thailand has pushed in recent years for ASEAN to relax the non-
interference principal, stating that issues should at least be 
discussed if they affect neighboring states. 
 
But the Thais have found little support except from the Philippines. 
The two countries are the most democratic in the region. 



____________________________________________________



AFP: POWERFUL EAST ASIAN CAUCUS LAUNCHED 

July 26, 2000

BANGKOK.   A powerful East Asian caucus, shot down in the guise 
originally proposed by Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad 
three years ago, met formally here for the first time Wednesday. 
 
Chinese Foreign Minister Tang Jiaxuan, South Korean Foreign Minister 
Lee Joung-binn and Yohei Kono of Japan joined their 10 counterparts 
from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). 
 
Their first formal meeting in the Thai capital officially launched 
the East Asian forum under the "ASEAN plus three" framework -- 
previous meetings have been held on an informal basis. 
 
Although the grouping is still in search for a name, it closely 
parallels an East Asian Economic Caucus proposed by Mahathir in 1997 
which was torpedoed by the United States and other countries on 
grounds it could form a protectionist trade bloc. 
 
ASEAN groups Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, 
the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Malaysia. 
 
A senior ASEAN official who attended a meeting to lay the agenda for 
the ministerial caucus told AFP that South Korea's foreign minister 
was expected to brief the forum on the results of the historic June 
leaders summit between the two Koreas. 
 
The source said it was up to South Korea to raise the issue of North 
Korea's inaugural participation at the ASEAN security forum which 
convenes Thursday. 
 
He said "it was only a matter of time" before the Stalinist North 
Korea would also be added to the ASEAN plus three discussions. 
 
"I think eventually the ASEAN plus three would become ASEAN plus 
four. After all, North Korea is part of East Asia." 
 
Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam -- ASEAN's poorer members -- were 
also expected "to push hard" for funds to develop the Mekong basin 
region, which was halted after the Asian financial crisis in 1997, 
the source said. 
 
"It is these countries, especially Japan and South Korea, which have 
the investment capital. It will test Japan's sincerity in its policy 
of narrowing the development gap (within ASEAN)," he said. 
 
Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer welcomed the launching 
of the East Asian grouping. 
 
"I think it's a good development. It depends how it evolves over the 
years but it may be appropriate for Australia and New Zealand to 
participate in it," Downer told reporters. 
 
Kobsak Chutikul, director-general for economic affairs at the Thai 
foreign ministry, said Tuesday that the caucus was unlikely to turn 
into a trade bloc. 
 
"The thinking now is that it's okay if you can get your act 
together ... as long as you dont make it into an exclusive 
protectionist bloc and put up walls and barriers. Certainly that's 
not what we are doing," he said. 



____________________________________________________



AFP: DRUGS, TRANSNATIONAL CRIME ON AGENDA OF ASIA'S SECURITY FORUM

July 26, 2000

BANGKOK.  North Korea's debut will hog the limelight at Asia's only 
security forum here Thursday, but officials say the critical problems 
of drugs and transnational crime will also be high up on the agenda. 
 
The seventh meeting of the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) has been hailed 
as a landmark with the entry of North Korea, whose nuclear weapons 
development is of deep concern to the international community. 
 
But while talks will focus on confidence-building in the Korean 
peninsula, other countries will seek a deeper commitment from the 
loose 23-member grouping to eradicate drugs, piracy and human 
trafficking from the region. 
 
Thailand and China will raise the drug problem at the ARF, Thai 
Foreign Minister Surin Pitsuwan told reporters after talks with his 
Chinese counterpart Tang Jiaxuan on the eve of the annual meeting. 
 "I told China that China, Thailand and their neighbouring countries 
should discuss the drug problem and find a way to solve it. Drugs 
come into our region and cause problems worldwide. We will raise this 
at the ARF," he said. 
 
Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer said transnational 
problems particularly the deadly drugs trade posed serious challenges 
to regional security. 
 
"These are concerns to all of us -- the illegal immigration movement, 
drug movement and piracy," Downer told reporters after meeting with 
Surin. 
 
Myanmar Foreign Minister Win Aung earlier this week urged the 
international community to do more to help it combat the drug trade, 
as he admitted that amphetamines production within its borders had 
risen this year. 
 
"The production of amphetamine tablets has increased. More than 17 
million tablets have been seized so far this year," he said. 
 
"We need to tackle this cooperatively. Nobody should put the 
responsibility on only one government, on only one country. It is the 
responsibility of many, many countries too." 
 
The Thai army estimates that 600 million amphetamine tablets -- known 
as "ya baa" or "crazy drug" here due to their catastrophic effects -- 
flooded over the porous border with Thailand last year. 
 
Heroin trafficking is now yesterday's problem, and amphetamines have 
been named Thailand's number one national security threat. The United 
States has also said it is extremely concerned about the spread of 
the new drug. 
 

Myanmar is widely accused of turning a blind eye to the ethnic armies 
who churn out heroin, amphetamines and ecstasy from refineries inside 
the border with Thailand. 
 
In return, critics of the junta say, the the rebel armies have agreed 
to fragile ceasefires with the military government. 
 
Downer meanwhile hailed North Korea's participation in the ARF and 
said the "vastly improved" environment in the Korean peninsula would 
greatly benefit the Asia-Pacific region. 
 
Regional security was "generally good," although there were still 
problems in Fiji and the Solomon Islands and Indonesia was wrestling 
with internal difficulties, he said. 
 
"I think you will see a very positive reaffirmation of the commitment 
of all the countries to a stable regional security environment," he 
said. 
 
"We have a sort of power balance in the Asia-Pacific region which 
holds up well. The relationship between the major powers are on the 
whole pretty stable and pretty good," he added. 
 
The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) groups Brunei, 
Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, 
Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. 
 
The ARF also includes Australia, Canada, China, the European Union, 
India, Japan, Mongolia, New Zealand, North Korea, Papua New Guinea, 
Russia, South Korea, and the United States. 
 


____________________________________________________



AP: EAST ASIA PUSHES FORWARD FLEDGLING ECONOMIC BLOC

July 26, 2000

BANGKOK, Thailand (AP) _ Foreign ministers from the Association of 
Southeast Asian Nations plus Japan, China and South Korea were 
holding their first ever formal joint meeting Wednesday, pushing 
forward plans for an East Asian economic bloc. 
 
It marked the latest step toward stronger pan-Asian regionalism in 
the aftermath of the financial crisis that struck in 1997 and exposed 
the weakness of international financial institutions and the 
reluctance of the West to come to Asia's rescue. 
 
Leaders of ASEAN's 10 member states and the three Northeast Asian 
powers agreed late last year to advance cooperation and lay 
foundations for a new pillar of the global economy to rival the 
European Union and the North American Free-Trade Area. 
 ``The two parts of Asia, the Southeast and the Northeast, can no 
longer live apart in isolation of each other,'' Foreign Minister 
Surin Pitsuwan of Thailand said Tuesday. 
 
Earlier this year, ASEAN Plus Three, as the grouping has become 
known, announced in Chiang Mai, Thailand, the creation of a system to 
rescue each other's currencies in case of new financial crises. 
 
Trade ministers meeting in Myanmar meanwhile mooted the idea of 
expanding the planned ASEAN Free Trade Area, which is to eliminate 
most tariffs by 2002, in some sectors. 
 
First proposed by Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad a decade 
ago, but opposed by the United States for fear it would split the 
Asia-Pacific into east and west, an East Asian bloc is increasingly 
seen as a positive for the global economy and for stability of 
financial markets. 
 

The aggregate economy and external trade of East Asia is already 
about as large as those of the United States and European Union, 
according to Fred Bergsten, director of the Washington-based 
Institute for International Economics, writing in the July 15 edition 
of The Economist magazine. 
 
The region's collective purchasing power _ dlrs 9,431 billion in 1997 
_ actually surpassed both the E.U. and the United States, Bergsten 
said. 
 
Alexander Downer, Australia's foreign minister, said Wednesday that 
while ASEAN Plus Three is at an ``embryonic'' stage, it was ``an 
enormously positive step.'' 
 
For the Asia-Pacific region to prosper, after enduring conflict for 
much of the 20th century, it was essential to expand cooperation 
between countries _ something that Australia could eventually be part 
of. 
 
``If we are invited to participate in it, we will be happy to do 
so,'' Downer told reporters. 
 
Southeast Asian policymakers hope the cooperation will stimulate 
economic development in ASEAN, which includes some of Asia's richest 
and poorest nations. 
 
ASEAN comprises Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, 
the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. 

The budding bloc has been cemented by Japan's financial support to 
Southeast Asian countries during the crisis and help in developing 
human resources and information technology. 
 
Kobsak Chutikul, director of economic affairs at the Thai Foreign 
Ministry, said the currency rescue program could be the beginning of 
an Asian Monetary Fund. 
 
The idea was mooted by Japan three years ago after the crisis struck, 
but was knocked down by Washington, which saw it as a challenge to 
the International Monetary Fund. 
 
The IMF became deeply unpopular in Asia after its own rescue programs 
made conditions in some stricken countries worse. 
 
Boosters hope that ASEAN Plus Three can eventually evolve into 
something more cohesive along the lines of the European Union, but 
acknowledge that remains decades off. 
 
``In a region encompassing nearly a third of humanity, it's an 
enormous undertaking,'' Kobsak said. 
 
``It took Europe 30-40 years to achieve a single currency and free 
trade area,'' Kobsak said. ``It may take us half that time.'' 


 
____________________________________________________



XINHUA: MYANMAR HOLDS SEMINAR ON HUMAN RESOURCES DEVELOPMENT

July 25, 2000 
 
YANGON.  A seminar on development of human resources is being held 
here to enable small and medium-sized enterprises in the country to 
participate in the international economic circle and promote their 
management skill. 
 
The six-day seminar, which began on Monday, is jointly sponsored by 
Myanmar's Coordinating Commission on Foreign Economic Affairs and the 
Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP). 
 
Speaking at the opening of the seminar, Myanmar Minister at the 
Office of the Chairman of the State Peace and Development Council 
Brigadier-General Abel said the seminar is a pilot plan for the 
development of human resources in the Mekong Region. 
 
Topics under discussion cover agricultural businesses, handicraft and 
tourism, natural and human resources in the Asian region, and Myanmar 
private entrepreneurs' participation in the agricultural sector. 
 
Attending the seminar are officials from Myanmar ministries of 
agriculture and irrigation, finance and revenue and education, 
Myanmar Federation of Chamber of Commerce and Industry as well as 
those of the ESCAP and tour operators. 
 
In addition to human resources development, transport, trade and 
tourism are also among the projects of cooperation between Myanmar 
and other countries in the Mekong region. 
 
In April this year, four countries -- China, Laos, Myanmar and 
Thailand -- signed an agreement in Myanmar on the opening of 
commercial navigation on the Lancang-Mekong River by 2001, thus 
paving way for the development of transportation, trade and tourism 
in the subregion.



____________________________________________________



AFP: MALAYSIAN FIRM TO BUILD ACID FACTORY IN MYANMAR

July 26, 2000
 
BANGKOK.  A Malaysian hardware firm has signed an agreement with a 
Myanmar company to build a factory in the military-ruled country to 
produce sulfuric acid, state-run media reported Wednesday. 
 
The deal, between Serge Pun and Associates Myanmar Ltd. and Kuala 
Lumpur-based Amalgamated Metal Corp, was signed in Yangon on 
Wednesday, TV Myanmar said in a dispatch monitored here. 
 
The report did not mention the value of venture. 



__________________ INTERNATIONAL __________________

		

REUTERS: INTERVIEW-NO MYSTIQUE TO CHINA DIPLOMACY-PATTEN

July 26, 2000

By Patrick Chalmers 
 
BANGKOK.  Asian nations opening their doors to newly gregarious 
Chinese diplomats should be wary of treating them any differently to 
others, EU Foreign Affairs Commissioner Chris Patten said on 
Wednesday. 
 
Patten, a constant irritant to China as Britain's last governor of 
Hong Kong, was speaking in a Reuters Television News interview on the 
margins of an Asian regional security meeting. 
 
``I don't think there is a particular mystique about dealing with 
China,'' said Patten, whose bluntness irked the Chinese during talks 
leading to the British colony's reversion to Beijing's control in 
July 1997. 
 
``I think one of the most successful aspects of Chinese diplomacy is 
to give the impression that there is a particular way that you have 
to deal with the Chinese,'' he added. 
 
His remarks came in reply to questions about how the 10 members of 
the Association of South East Nations (ASEAN) could avoid being 
dominated by China in talks this week which also include northern 
neighbours Japan and South Korea. 
 
``They should treat China as they would treat any other country. It's 
bigger than any other, but I think that you should apply the same 
principles,'' he said. 
 
China has stepped up its regional diplomacy in recent months with 
senior ministerial visits to several ASEAN capitals. 
 
Patten was part of a European Union delegation visiting Bangkok for a 
series of meetings including bilateral talks with ASEAN, a bloc that 
includes Myanmar. 
 
TIME TO MOVE ON 
 
The commissioner said the EU was moving on from its policy of 
shunning ministerial contact with Burma -- using the name the 
country's military rulers changed to Myanmar after seizing power. 
 
``We've said it would make some sense to involve Burma in a dialogue, 
if only to get across to Burma the strength of our feeling in Europe 
about Burma's deplorable human rights record, about Burma's 
deplorable record in overturning an elected government. 
 
``I think the best way we can put that across is by talking to the 
Burmese government ,'' Patten said. 
 
The European Union and ASEAN suspended regular meetings in 1997 after 
EU criticism of Myanmar's admittance to ASEAN. The EU is strongly 
critical of Myanmar's human rights and political record, while it is 
the policy of ASEAN states not to interfere in each others' internal 
affairs. 
 
Other ASEAN members are Brunei, Cambodia, Laos, Indonesia, Malaysia, 
the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. 



____________________________________________________



REUTERS: EU'S PATTEN SAYS TIME TO RESUME SE ASIA CONTACTS

July 26, 2000

BANGKOK.  Vexed relations between European Union countries and 
Myanmar's military regime should no longer hijack wider dialogue with 
Southeast Asian nations, EU External Relations Commissioner Chris 
Patten said on Wednesday. 
 
``For us the important thing is to re-establish the dialogue with 
ASEAN on a sensible basis,'' Patten told reporters. 
 
He was speaking as part of a European Union delegation visiting 
Bangkok for a series of meetings including talks on Friday with the 
Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). 
 
The EU and ASEAN suspended regular meetings in 1997 after ASEAN 
admitted Myanmar, whose leaders violently suppressed democracy 
protests in 1988 and rejected the 1990 election victory by Nobel 
Peace Prize winner and opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi. 
 
``I think that we were right not to allow the issue of Burma to take 
the EU-ASEAN dialogue hostage,'' Patten said of the decision by EU 
governments to resume ASEAN ministerial-level contacts. 
 
``The suppression of democracy, the appalling abuse of human rights, 
the use of forced labour, the treatment of ethnic minorities...those 
are all issues that we wish to discuss,'' he said. 
 
Myanmar's military regime changed the country's name from Burma after 
consolidating power. 
 
Patten praised Aung San Suu Kyi for a recent speech reminding the 
world of the plight of her country's people. 
 
``Aung San Suu Kyi has been one of the torch bearers of democracy and 
freedom for many years and we need to go on underlining our 
commitment to the values which she stands for,'' he said. 
 
ASEAN countries, which pride themselves on the principle of not 
interfering in the affairs of fellow members, stood by their regional 
neighbour despite EU criticism. 
 The other members are Brunei, Cambodia, Laos, Indonesia, Malaysia, 
the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.




____________________________________________________



AFP: EUROPEAN UNION SAYS POLICY TOWARDS MYANMAR STAYS UNCHANGED 

July 26, 2000

BANGKOK. - The European Union's policy of keeping Myanmar at arm's 
length will remain unchanged as long as human rights violations 
continue, EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana and external 
relations commissioner Chris Patten said Wednesday. 
 
"EU sanctions will continue until Myanmar's rulers address their 
human rights abuses," said Patten, considered an expert on Asian 
affairs, in Bangkok to attend the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) meeting. 
 
"There's no question of ganging up on Burma. This is just an effort 
to convince Burma's (Myanmar) regime to change the error of their 
ways." 
 
"We have not changed our position from the position we had before," 
the former NATO secretary general told reporters Wednesday after 
delivering a speech in Singapore. 
 
"I think that everything has been tried ... it has not changed," said 
Solana. 
 
Despite its ban on contacts with senior members of the military junta 
that rules Myanmar, the EU is taking part in the ARF, at which 
Myanmar will also be represented as an ASEAN member. 
 
The EU and Myanmar have been at loggerheads for nearly four years. 
 
In October 1996, the EU adopted economic sanctions as a protest 
against Myanmar's reported human rights abuses. 
 
The EU also generally bars its member nations from giving visas to 
high-level officials of the Yangon military regime. 
 
The EU has frequently criticized Myanmar for alleged human rights 
abuses including the use of forced labor, repression of ethnic 
minorities and iron control over media outlets. 
 
Relations between the EU and ASEAN have been chilly since Myanmar 
joined the Southeast Asian organisation, but Patten vowed that 
Myanmar would not "take EU-ASEAN relations hostage" any longer. 
 
The EU and ASEAN will be holding a ministerial-level meeting in Laos 
late in 2000 designed to restore warm relations between the two 
organisations. 
 
And the EU will continue to provide humanitarian aid to Myanmar, even 
if Aung San Suu Kyi opposes the aid, Patten said. 
 
"We don't allow our political disapproval of Burma's government and 
the way it behaves to affect humanitarian aid," he said. 
 
"Nobody, not even Aung San Suu Kyi, has a veto on humanitarian 
assistance, though obviously we have to take into account an NGOs 
ability to deliver assistance." 

ASEAN groups all ten countries in the region: Brunei, Cambodia, 
Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, 
Thailand and Vietnam. 


	
____________________________________________________



AP: EU WILL CONTINUE TO HOLD MYANMAR AT BAY, SOLANA SAYS 

July 26, 2000

SINGAPORE.   The European Union's foreign policy chief on Wednesday 
said the 15-nation bloc will maintain its tough stance against 
Myanmar and keep barring it from high-level talks between ASEAN and 
EU nations. 
 
``We haven't changed our point of view,'' Javier Solana told 
reporters after delivering a lecture in Singapore on ``Future 
Relations between the European Union and Asia.'' 
 
The EU limits relations with Myanmar's ruling military junta to 
protest its poor human rights record and its failure to hand over 
power to a democratically elected government. The sanctions include a 
ban on high-level official contacts. 
 
``Everything has been tried,'' he said when asked whether the EU 
would consider opening a diplomatic dialogue with Myanmar. 
 
Since Myanmar's entry into the 10-member Association of Southeast 
Asian Nations in 1997, the EU and ASEAN have clashed over the issue 
of the country's human rights record. 
 
The EU objects to Myanmar's participation in meetings between the two 
blocs, while ASEAN insists they cannot take place with the exclusion 
of one of its members. 
 
In March last year, an EU-ASEAN ministerial meeting scheduled to be 
held in Berlin was canceled when the EU refused to lift its visa ban 
on Myanmar officials. 
 
The two sides have now apparently agreed on an EU-ASEAN ministerial 
meeting, which is to be held later this year in Vientiane, Laos. It 
is unclear what kind of compromise was reached. 
 
The EU toughened sanctions on Myanmar last April, saying the 
government has intensified repression of civil and political rights. 
 
In 1998, the EU banned visits by Myanmar officials, withdrew trade 
privileges and imposed an arms embargo. In April, the EU added a ban 
on equipment ``that might be used for repression'' and agreed to 
freeze funds held abroad by members of Myanmar's military junta. 
 
The visa ban on traveling officials also was toughened by listing 
specifically those members in Myanmar's military regime to whom it 
applied. 
 
ASEAN comprises Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, 
the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. 



____________________________________________________

________________


The BurmaNet News is an Internet newspaper providing comprehensive 
coverage of news and opinion on Burma  (Myanmar) from around the 
world.  If you see something on Burma, you can bring it to our 
attention by emailing it to strider@xxxxxxx

For a subscription to Burma's only free daily newspaper, write to: 
strider@xxxxxxx

You can also contact BurmaNet by phone or fax:

Voice mail or fax (US) +1(202) 318-1261
You will be prompted to press 1 for a voice message or 2 to send a 
fax.  If you do neither, a fax tone will begin automatically.

Fax (Japan) +81 (3) 4512-8143


On Editorial Policy

BurmaNet's editorial policy is weighted most heavily towards carrying 
news articles and secondarily to opinion/editorial pieces from 
publications capable of influencing public opinion or policy.  
BurmaNet generally will decline to carry individual opinion pieces 
but encourages news articles.

Except for articles authored by BurmaNet, the most important criteria 
inclusion in BurmaNet is the editor's judgement that an item is 
significant?not necessarily that it is true.  BurmaNet's goal is to 
bring a broad range of coverage to subscribers so that you can make 
such judgements for yourselves.


________________









To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
theburmanetnews-unsubscribe@xxxxxxxxxxx