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

July 27, 2000

Issue # 1585


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



*Inside Burma

XINHUA: MYANMAR'S FOREIGN TRADE, INCLUDING THE BORDER TRADE, TOTALED 
3.814 BILLION

*Regional

THE GUARDIAN: TWO LITTLE BOYS

AP: ASEAN WELCOMES NEW PRAGMATIC EUROPEAN APPROACH TO MYANMAR

AP: ASIAN NATIONS AGREE TO COOPERATE AGAINST CRIME, DRUGS

REUTERS: MYANMAR MILITARY SAYS IT'S NOT EVIL, BUT LOVING

AP: MALAYSIA, MYANMAR TO BUILD DLRS 8.9 MILLION PLANT

DEUTSCHE PRESSE-AGENTUR: MYANMAR CLAIMS NO PROBLEM IN MEETING "DRUG 
FREE" DEADLINE

AFP: EU WELCOMES KICK-STARTED DIALOGUE WITH ASEAN

KYODO: MYANMAR CLAIMS NO PROBLEM IN MEETING "DRUG FREE" DEADLINE

KYODO: MYANMAR TO CONSIDER RESUMING TIES WITH N. KOREA



__________________ INSIDE BURMA ____________________
	


XINHUA: MYANMAR'S FOREIGN TRADE, INCLUDING THE BORDER TRADE, TOTALED 
3.814 BILLION

July 27, 2000

Yangon. U.S. dollars in fiscal year 1999-2000 which ended in March, a 
6.9-percent drop from the previous fiscal year, according to the 
country's Central Statistical Organization (CSO).
 
Of the total trade volume, imports were valued at 2.642 billion 
dollars, while exports amounted to 1.172 billion dollars, producing a 
trade deficit of 1.47 billion dollars, the CSO said in its latest 
data released for the 1999-2000.
 
The import value of capital goods, consumers goods and intermediate 
goods  accounted for 40.95 percent, 41.77 percent and 17.28 percent 
of the total imports respectively, the statistics show.
 
The figures also indicate that Myanmar's private sector is playing a 
leading  role in the country's foreign trade. During the 1999-2000 
fiscal year, the import value of the private sector made up 69.57 
percent of the total imports, while its export value represented 
72.41 percent of the total exports.
 
The import and export value of the government sector during the 
period accounted for only 30.43 percent and 27.59 percent 
respectively.
 


___________________________ REGIONAL ___________________________



THE GUARDIAN: TWO LITTLE BOYS 

July 27, 2000

Johnny and Luther Htoo are fighting a hopeless war. The small band of 
guerrillas they command is up against 21,000 troops of the Burmese 
army who have wiped out or displaced most of their people. But the 
war is really about a gas pipeline - and the company behind the 
pipeline is British. 

By Maggie O'Kane 


There is a crunch of bamboo stalks underfoot and the first of four 
bodyguards appears, wearing a black judo guerrilla uniform and a 
black headscarf. He scans the clearing. Then the 12-year-old 
commander of God's Army of the Holy Mountain arrives. 
Luther Htoo is dressed in a short-sleeved khaki shirt with an 
Airforce One badge on his right arm. On his forearm is the tattoo of 
a fish pierced with a spear. He nods to one of the bodyguards, who 
passes him a lit cheroot, then he spits and climbs on to his 
bodyguard's knee. His special protector is called Rambo, a 28-year-
old fighter who has been with him for three years. He likes playing 
with Rambo's long, thick, black hair. 

Luther, the leader of the youngest and most desperate guerrilla army 
in the world, accepts a chocolate biscuit. He says his younger twin, 
Johnny, second in command of Burma's God's Army of the Holy Mountain, 
might be along later. Or he might not. 

The meeting with the twins has taken two months to organise. The 
final part of the journey began in the middle of the night with a 
nervous, greedy taxi driver who could be bribed to drive to the 
jungle, but who played the Best Gospel Album in the World over and 
over to comfort himself. As he raced against the dawn to pass the 
last military checkpoint while its guards were still sleeping, a 
young Vera Lynn-like voice belted through Soul of My Saviour again 
and again. 

Then, mosquitoes and steamy jungle heat along a path that went up and 
up. A mountain jungle blocked by fallen trees, sprinkled with giant 
anthills and odd, empty cartons of UHT milk chucked into the bushes 
by passing guerrillas. 

God's Army of the Holy Mountain was born three years ago when the 
Burmese army moved in to swamp the route of a multi-million pound gas 
pipeline and clear thousands of people before them. For 50 years the 
Burmese army and the Karen, one of Burma's three main ethnic groups, 
had skirmished, but in the early 90s the Burmese army launched opera 
tion Spirit King. Its aim was to wipe out the Karen and secure the 
route of the pipeline. A hundred thousand Karen fled to refugee camps 
across the Thai border. 

The British consortium Premier Oil began pumping gas through Karen 
land in April. The UK energy consultant Wood McKenzie estimates that 
the pipeline will earn Premier Oil - which includes Japanese and Thai 
oil companies and the brutal Burmese regime - almost ¡¦500m over the 
next 25 years. 

The roof of the jungle is webbed in a fine green net from the ferns 
of the bamboo trees. Today, there is a wind rattling the stalks of 
bamboo. When the wind stops there is complete silence. There are no 
birds: the people have eaten them, as they have eaten most of the 
jungle cats and wild monkeys. 

Luther and Johnny were discovered three years ago by a television 
crew who went looking for the Burmese students who had fled after 
taking over the Burmese embassy in Bangkok. The cameras found the 
students in the camp of the twins, who were nine years old at the 
time, and the myth of the guerrilla children who smoked cheroots and 
were scarcely big enough to hold an M16 rifle was born. In Canada, 
prompted by the TV pictures, a retired Playboy bunny offered to adopt 
them. A website, johnnyandluther.com, was registered. 

Then the twins disappeared in the jungle. Now, they keep disappearing 
in the middle of a question to slide down the river banks with the 
other boys in their group on the back of a cardboard box with the 
words "Instant Noodles in Sour Shrimp Paste" written on in black ink. 
Their army is an army of orphans, their camp a mobile foster home for 
the remnants of the Karen people's 50-year fight for independence 
against the Burmese. 

Two years ago, at the end of 1998, God's Army had 500 soldiers and 
Johnny and Luther were reported to be working miracles: landmines 
were jumping up in front of them and soldiers who fought with them 
were able to brush off bullets like a jungle shower. The Baptist 
preachers who had brought Christianity to the Burmese jungle from 
Salem, Massachusetts, 100 years ago had also brought the cult of 
deliverance to a destroyed people. The Karen needed saviours. 

In March 1997, in the Htaw Maíímaw district of eastern Burma, a local 
pastor brought two illiterate nine year olds to the military chief 
and said the Lord had spoken to them and they would save the Karen 
people. News of the visitation passed through an area where the 
Burmese army was cracking down hard after the Karen had killed eight 
workers on the pipeline. 

The military chief gave the children a "pistol complete with bullets 
and everything", says the pastor, Thah Hpay, who also went with the 
twins into their first battle. 

"That morning there were 20 enthusiastic men there and our commander 
Luther shouted 'God's Army!' and everyone in the cart shouted 
back 'God's Army!' At 6.20pm at the Manderlay church where the enemy 
was we selected eight from among us to serve as commandos and we 
named them 'Jesus Commandos'. We attacked the enemy at Manderlay and 
shot dead 24 of them. For the next battle, at Aíímlat, we started to 
fight at 3pm and the battle lasted for two hours. Those that attacked 
were 16 but the enemy were hundreds." 

So the beautiful myth of divine salvation for a desperate people was 
born and the cult of the twins began to grow. The old Karen military 
had become corrupt, and the twins represented purity. Hovering in the 
background at the camp, dressed in loud Hawaiian shirt, is the twins' 
dwarf uncle, a man called Mr David, who reminds them of the 
rules: "No duck, no pork, no eggs, no swearing, no womanising." 

Johnny doesn't smile much. He is dressed in a black judo suit and his 
long chestnut hair just covers his shoulders, where a badge 
reads: "Number One Military Commander". 

Luther does the talking from his bodyguard's knee, swatting at a 
yellow butterfly that comes again and again to settle on his head. 

"I shoot the Burmese army because of what they do to our people," he 
says. "They beat and rape Karen women, they steal from us and burn 
down our houses. Some holy thing touched my heart and I became a 
soldier." 

"How did the holy thing touch you. Did it come in the night?" 

"No, in the day." 

"How did it touch you?" 

"I don't remember." 

"Would you like to go in an airplane and see the world outside the 
jungle?"


					
____________________________________________________



AP: ASEAN WELCOMES NEW PRAGMATIC EUROPEAN APPROACH TO MYANMAR

July 27, 2000
 
BANGKOK, Thailand (AP) _ The outgoing chairman of the Association of 
Southeast Asian Nations welcomed Thursday the European Union's new 
``pragmatic'' approach to military-run Myanmar. 

 Dropping tactics that stopped the EU from meeting ASEAN ministers as 
a group for the past three years, the EU announced new plans 
Wednesday to keep sanctions against Myanmar but not let them prevent 
ministerial dialogue with the Southeast Asian bloc as a group. 
 
Sanctions aimed at pressuring Myanmar's generals to allow more 
democracy forbade high-level contacts between EU and ASEAN officials 
after Myanmar was allowed into ASEAN over Western protests in 1997. 

 The new policy will allow Myanmar to sit at a joint ASEAN-EU 
ministerial dialogue, to be held in Vientiane, Laos, Dec. 11-12. 

 ``I am glad that we can restore the relations between the EU and 
ASEAN after years,'' said Thai Foreign Minister Surin Pitsuwan. 

 Issues for discussion will include drug problems, human trafficking, 
science and technology, human resources development and ``political 
troubles and security,'' Surin said 

 The comments followed Surin's meeting with Chris Patten, head of 
external relations for the EU's executive commission, and foreign 
policy chief Javier Solana, and French minister of state Charles 
Josselin. 

 All are taking part in the ASEAN Regional Forum, Asia's largest 
security conference. 

 Myanmar, also known as Burma, has been ostracized by much of the 
world since a bloody crackdown on pro-democracy protesters in 1988, 
followed by its refusal to honor the 1990 election victory of the 
opposition party led by Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi. 

 The EU objected strongly to Myanmar's admission to ASEAN and has 
refused to have high-level talks with members of its military regime 
present. ASEAN has refused to hold a dialogue with the EU without 
Myanmar. 

 ASEAN comprises Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, 
Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. 

 ``The EU has had a more pragmatic attitude about Myanmar. The EU 
understands that isolation is not the way out,'' Surin said. ``We 
have wasted years with nothing getting better, so confrontation is no 
good.'' 

 On Wednesday, Patten said the EU had recently beefed up its 
sanctions against Myanmar and _ in a major change of policy _ had 
decided not to let ``the issue of Burma to hold the E.U.-ASEAN 
dialogue hostage.'' 

 Patten nonetheless slammed the regime for suppression of democracy 
and abuse of human rights and said it had a destabilizing influence 
on Southeast Asia. He praised Suu Kyi as a ``torchbearer for 
democracy.'' 

 Patten said the EU plans to expand humanitarian aid to Myanmar _ 
which under 38 years of military rule has slipped from being a rice 
bowl of Asia to one of the world's poorest countries. It is the 
second-largest world producer of heroin after Afghanistan. 

 Suu Kyi has opposed foreign aid to Myanmar, on the grounds that it 
props up the regime. Patten said she was not in a position to veto 
provision of EU humanitarian assistance. 

 An upcoming EU diplomatic mission would try to seek dialogue between 
the regime, opposition and ethnic minorities, he said. A similar 
mission last year made no headway. 



____________________________________________________



AP: ASIAN NATIONS AGREE TO COOPERATE AGAINST CRIME, DRUGS 

July 27, 2000

BANGKOK, Thailand  _ Asia's biggest forum on security issues Thursday 
took up for the first time the issues of transnational crime and drug 
trafficking. 

 The talks follow an international trend where non-defense issues _ 
ranging from grinding poverty to AIDS _ are increasingly seen as 
threats to peace and stability. 

 Foreign ministers from 23 countries attended the ASEAN Regional 
Forum, organized by the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian 
Nations and joined by others with security interests in Asia, 
including the United States. 

 The forum dealt with plenty of traditional security issues _ from 
U.S. plans to erect missile defenses to the perennial disputes over 
the mineral-rich Spratly islands _ but also addressed so-called human 
security. 

 Drug trafficking is a major threat faced by many Asian nations. 
Others are piracy, illegal migration _ including trafficking in 
humans, particularly women and children _ and smuggling small arms. 

 The ministers agreed that money laundering, corruption and computer 
crime also need to be addressed, according to a final statement 
issued by host Thailand. 

 They pledge to cooperate more closely on transnational crime issues, 
though no specifics were announced. 

 The list of woes not only challenge peace and stability, the 
statement said, but also impair countries' efforts in economic 
development and improving the lives of their people. 

 Thailand, long considered a world drug problem because of its 
position in the opium-producing Golden Triangle, took a lead role in 
putting the issues on the agenda. 

 ``Drugs are high on our priority list,'' Foreign Ministry spokesman 
Don Pramudwinai said. 

 Thailand's relations with a fellow ASEAN nation, Myanmar, also known 
as Burma, are under strain because of the huge amounts of 
methamphetamine produced by a former ethnic rebel group and smuggled 
to the Thai market. 

 Methamphetamines have joined opium and heroin as a significant money-
spinner for the drug lords in the Golden Triangle, where the 
mountainous borders of Thailand, Laos and Myanmar converge. 

 Thai officials have described the methamphetamine plague as a 
national security issue and deployed the army to block the smugglers. 

 Myanmar is also the world second-biggest producer after Afghanistan 
of heroin, much of which makes its way to the United States. Large 
amounts also supply addicts in neighboring China. 

 Myanmar says it is doing all it can to fight drugs, but with few 
options for earning hard currency open to its widely shunned military 
regime, critics say it turns a blind eye as long as some drug profits 
are plowed back into the economy. 

 Myanmar Foreign Minister Win Aung told the forum that a 15-year plan 
``for the total eradication of narcotic drugs is being carried out.'' 

 The members of ASEAN agreed among themselves Tuesday to fight to 
make the region a ``drug-free zone'' by 2015. 

 Traffic in human beings is widespread throughout Southeast Asia, and 
one of the region's smaller nations, Cambodia, is a transit point for 
illegal migrants from China to the West. 

 Piracy is a serious problem is the busy waters around Indonesia and 
the Philippines. 



____________________________________________________



REUTERS: MYANMAR MILITARY SAYS IT'S NOT EVIL, BUT LOVING

July 27, 2000

By Vissuta Pothong 

 BANGKOK - Under pressure at an Asian security forum, Myanmar's 
military government said on Thursday it was not evil but a group of 
loving, caring and kind-hearted human beings. 

 Myanmar Foreign Minister Win Aung told counterparts at the ASEAN 
Regional Forum (ARF) meeting in the Thai capital that his country had 
been vilified by its pro-democracy opponents but posed no threat to 
its neighbours. 

 ``If it were so the country would be in flames. In fact, it is we 
who have extinguished the fires. Peace prevails throughout the length 
and breadth of the country like never before,'' he said. 

 ``What we have is a happy people.'' 

 Win Aung said Yangon's generals, who have ruled the country for most 
of the last 40 years and ignored the results of its last elections in 
1990, were trying to build a democratic nation. 

 ``We love our country as you love yours,'' he said. 

 ``We are not evil persons as portrayed by some. We are loving, 
caring and kind-hearted human beings.'' 

 Win Aung spoke after a barrage of criticism of Yangon by other 
members of the ARF, which groups 37 countries from across Asia, the 
United States and the European Union. 

 Reflecting a consensus among most developed nations, EU External 
Affairs Commissioner Chris Patten told reporters this week Yangon 
represented a real risk to Asian regional security. 

 The EU would discuss this at a meeting on Friday with the 10-nation 
Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN), of which Myanmar is 
a member, Patten said. 

 APPALLING ABUSE OF HUMAN RIGHTS 

 ``The suppression of democracy, the appalling abuse of human rights, 
the use of forced labour, the treatment of ethnic minorities... the 
extent to which an unstable military regime has become a 
destabilising political influence in the region -- those are all 
issues that we wish to discuss,'' he said. 

 The EU and the United States have both condemned Yangon for its 
treatment of its pro-democracy opposition, led by Nobel Peace Prize 
winner Aung San Suu Kyi, whose National League for Democracy won the 
1990 polls with an overwhelming vote. 

 The United States raised concerns over labour and human rights 
issues at the ARF meeting on Thursday, Thai Foreign Affairs spokesman 
Don Pramudwinai told reporters. 

 Canada was among several mostly Western countries which raised the 
issue of drug problems in Myanmar, Don said. 

 The EU asked Myanmar at the ARF meeting about the possibility of 
going to Myanmar to observe the situation there, Don said. Myanmar 
did not respond to the request. 

 Myanmar is the world's second biggest producer of opium and its 
derivative heroin and a major supplier of amphetamines and other 
stimulants, regional health officials say. 

 Some have even accused the Myanmar military of supporting and 
profiting from narcotics, an allegation which Yangon denies. Thai 
officials have said Myanmar's drug industry represents a major threat 
to its neighbours. 

 But Win Aung rejected this and said his government was waging war 
against drugs as best it could. 

 ``We are trying to solve the drug problem and expect the problem 
would be all solved within the next 15 years starting from 1999,'' 
Don quoted the Myanmar foreign minister as saying. 

 Yangon did get a sympathetic ear from two of its communist 
neighbours, China and Laos, who both said they supported what they 
saw as Myanmar's efforts to solve its problems. 



____________________________________________________



AP: MALAYSIA, MYANMAR TO BUILD DLRS 8.9 MILLION PLANT 

July 27, 2000

YANGON, Myanmar (AP) - In the largest Malaysian investment in this 
country since the Asian economic crisis struck, Amalgamated Metal 
Corporation signed a joint venture agreement with a local partner to 
build a dlrs 8.9 million dollar sulfuric acid plant, the companies 
said Thursday. 

 The agreement, signed Wednesday between the Malaysian company and 
Myanmar's Serge Pun and Associates, calls for the plant to be 
constructed in the Mingaladon Industrial part in a northern Yangon 
suburb, a statement by the joint venture said. 

 Full-scale production is planned to begin by the end of 2001. 

 The AMC, a leading engineering firm in Malaysia, will invest 60 
percent and the SPC 40 percent in the project to be known as Myanmar 
Industrial Chemical Resources Ltd. 

 Malaysia is the fourth largest investor in Myanmar, also known as 
Burma, among 23 investor countries. Out of total investment of over 
dlrs 7 billion, investment by Malaysian companies as of December 1998 
was over 580 million dollars. 

 More recent statistics were not immediately available but foreign 
investment has dropped dramatically in recent years, and began to 
decline even before the Asian crisis struck in mid-1997. 



____________________________________________________



DEUTSCHE PRESSE-AGENTUR: MYANMAR CLAIMS NO PROBLEM IN MEETING "DRUG 
FREE" DEADLINE 

July 25, 2000

The government of Myanmar (Burma), the prime source of heroin and 
methamphetamines in Southeast Asia, foresees no difficulty in turning 
its country into a "drug free" zone by the year 2015, Myanmar Foreign 
Minister Win Aung said on Tuesday.
 
The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) agreed on Monday 
to push its deadline for turning their ten-country region into 
a "drug free zone" by the year 2015, instead of the previous target 
of 2020.

ASEAN, which was holding its annual ministerial powwow in Bangkok on 
Monday and Tuesday, comprises Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, 
Malaysia, Myanmar, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.
 
"Our drug eradication program can fit into the ASEAN program. Now we 
have a comprehensive plan for total eradication of heroin," said Win 
Aung.
 
He claimed that the junta's eradication and crop substitution program 
had already helped reduce Myanmar's opium cultivation area from 
150,000 acres in 1998 to about 90,000
 acres last year.
 
The minister, however, was less confident about efforts to eradicate 
methamphetamine production, a relatively new drug menace to Southeast 
Asia.
 
According to Thai anti-narcotics authorities there are currently 
about 50 illegal laboratories making methamphetamines along the Thai-
Myanmar border, most of which are under the control of the Wa ethnic 
minority rebels with which Yangon (Rangoon) has signed a cease fire 
agreement.
 
"Our country has a lot of places under the control of armed groups. 
We have a cease-fire agreement with (the Wa) but those areas are 
still under their control," said Win Aung.
 
That said, it was unclear how Myanmar could assure that Wa areas 
would be drug-free by 2015.

"We are trying to encourage our people that these amphetamines are a 
menace to mankind, and I think production in this business will also 
go down," said the minister.
 
Thailand, which is currently flooded by Myanmar-made 
methamphetamines, has been irked by Yangon's seeming reluctance to 
pressure the Wa to stop the illegal activity.
 
"We never support them. We don't have any intention to make trouble 
for Thai people," insisted Win Aung.



__________________________________________________



AFP: EU WELCOMES KICK-STARTED DIALOGUE WITH ASEAN

July 27, 2000
 
BANGKOK, July 21 (AFP) - French Cooperation Minister Charles Josselin 
Thursday welcomed the revived dialogue between the European Union and 
the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) after a long 
freeze. 

 Josselin, representing the European Union presidency, met Thursday 
with two ASEAN foreign ministers on the sidelines of an Asian 
security forum here. 

 The EU cut off ministerial talks with ASEAN three years ago after it 
admitted Myanmar as a member despite European nations' strong 
objections. 

 However, the two blocs will hold a ministerial-level meeting in Laos 
in December that is designed to warm relations. 

 "France and Europe are ready to show understanding but will also be 
expecting a lot of accountability on the Myanmar issue," Josselin 
said. 

 EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana and external relations 
commissioner Chris Patten said Wednesday that the EU's policy of 
keeping Myanmar at arm's length would remain unchanged as long as 
human rights violations continued. 

 "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," Solana said. 

 Josselin said however that it was more useful to engage with Myanmar 
rather than isolate it. 

 "If we are going to effectively address the drug crisis in the 
region, we must not isolate Burma," he said. 

 Myanmar's military government is widely accused of turning a blind 
eye to massive drugs production along its southern border with 
Thailand. 

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



___________________________________________________



KYODO: MYANMAR CLAIMS NO PROBLEM IN MEETING "DRUG FREE" DEADLINE

July 26, 2000

Bangkok. Myanmar is ready to welcome a mission from the European 
Union (EU) in Yangon by the end of this year, Myanmar Foreign 
Minister Win Aung said Wednesday. 

'We have agreed to welcome them without any conditions and (we have) 
a lot of realities in our country to tell them,' said the minister in 
an interview with Kyodo News.
 
'After that they will realize and would say 'why didn't anybody tell 
us about that',' Win Aung said.
 
In an attempt to explore avenues for encouraging democracy and better 
respect for human rights by Myanmar's military rulers, including the 
possibility of engaging in 'critical dialogue' on the issue, the EU 
will send a second mission to Myanmar to establish links with both 
junta and pro-democracy figures.
 
The EU made a decision in April to dispatch a 'troika' mission to 
Myanmar after a similar EU mission spent several days in Yangon last 
year for the same purpose.

The Myanmar junta wants to inform the EU mission about the situation 
and the plans the generals want to implement to achieve what he 
called 'true' democracy in the country, Win Aung said.
 
But the minister said his country expected nothing much from the 
mission, saying, 'after the visit they always say (the mission) has 
to report to their governments...that's all.'
 
Relations between Myanmar and the 15-member EU soured after the EU 
determined Yangon was suppressing democracy and ignoring human 
rights. The determination led to sanctions on Myanmar, including 
barring junta officials from entering EU countries.
 
The EU has accepted, however, junta officials attending a ministerial 
dialogue with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) that 
is to resume after a stalemate since 1997 in Laos in December.
 
The Myanmar minister said some members of the EU want to resume 
relations with Yangon while other members want to impose more 
sanctions.

 'We have to consider if having (good) relations with them is 
beneficial to people or not. If people get nothing from such 
relations, we do not have to push forward,' he said.
 
EU officials said in Bangkok last week the EU would extend 
humanitarian aid to Myanmar to ease suffering from economic 
difficulties. The offer of humanitarian aid is also a signal 
indicating the EU intends to have a constructive communication with 
the junta.
 
But Win Aung said his country does not want assistance 
because 'people get less benefit' and rely too much on foreign aid.
 
'We don't want free money, but (we want) trade, investment and 
tourism to make our own (income),' he said, noting a campaign against 
tourism in Myanmar in some European countries hurts ordinary people 
because they have no chance to do business with foreign visitors.
 
Tourism is a way to reduce suffering of people from economic 
difficulties since the money tourists spend in Myanmar goes to taxi 
divers, tour operators, tourism guides and pagodas, not to the 
government, he said.
 
Following the military crackdown in Myanmar in 1988, the EU suspended 
bilateral cooperation for all but strictly humanitarian action.

 Currently, EU funding is limited to programs by the U.N. High 
Commissioner for Refugees and small projects run by nongovernmental 
organizations in minority areas.





___________________________________________________



KYODO: MYANMAR TO CONSIDER RESUMING TIES WITH N. KOREA

July 26, 2000

Bangkok. Myanmar has decided to set aside for the moment its 
diplomatic differences with North Korea, allowing it to join the 
ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) and have more opportunities to interact 
with the international community, Myanmar Foreign Minister Win Aung 
said Wednesday.

 Myanmar suspended diplomatic relations with North Korea in 1983 
following a terrorist bombing in Yangon that killed 17 visiting South 
Korean government officials.
 
In an interview, Win Aung said Myanmar is 'considering' resuming ties 
with North Korea, but added Yangon is not in a 'rush' to do so. 'It 
is not the time for us to start talking.'

 Despite problems in diplomatic relations, Myanmar consented to North 
Korea's participation in the ARF as a member to bring Pyongyang into 
the body.
 
'We cannot neglect North Korea, which is one of the military powers 
in Asia,' he said.
 
'Having North Korea inside the ARF is a step forward for peace and 
security in the region, rather than leaving it out,' he said.
 
The integration of North Korea into the ARF is not only beneficial in 
terms of regional security, but it also paves the way for many 
countries to establish ties with Pyongyang, Win Aung said.
 
He said, however, Myanmar did not give its consent to North Korea's 
membership in the ARF only because Yangon wants 'a quick resumption 
of diplomatic relations.'

He said Myanmar supported North Korea's bid to become an ARF member 
to demonstrate Yangon is sensitive to its 'responsibility to the 
region.'
 
To resume relations with North Korea, Myanmar has stressed it wants 
an official apology for the 1983 bombing, which was tied to agents 
from Pyongyang.
 
But Win Aung declined to say whether Myanmar is still insisting on 
that official apology.
 
Win Aung, who is in Bangkok for a series meetings of the Association 
of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), including the ARF, has no 
scheduled meeting with North Korean Foreign Minister Peak Nam Sun. 
North Korea is attending the Thursday ARF as its newest member. ARF 
has 23 members.



___________________________________________________
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