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Subject: [theburmanetnews] BurmaNet News: September 2, 2000 Regular Issue
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______________ THE BURMANET NEWS ______________
An on-line newspaper covering Burma
_________September 2, 2000 Issue # 1610__________
REGULAR ISSUE
[Due to the volume of news on the stand off at Dala, this issue of
BurmaNet is divided into articles on the incident at Dala and all
other news. This is the segment carries news not related to Dala.]
INSIDE BURMA _______
*Asiaweek: A Gaffe, or a Career Move?
*SHAN: Chairman Maung Aye will be tough, says Insider
*Living Color Magazine (Burma): Internet use and the potential
[translation]
REGIONAL/INTERNATIONAL _______
Times of India: India soft on Myanmar for security reasons
ECONOMY/BUSINESS _______
*Le Soir: The Belgian government turns its back on TotalFinaElf
*AFX: TotalFinaElf boycotted by 4 Belgian ministers over Myanmar
links
*Bangkok Post: Burma, China in Pulp Factory Pact
OTHER _______
*PD Burma: Calendar of events with regard to Burma
The BurmaNet News is viewable online at:
http://theburmanetnews.editthispage.com
__________________ INSIDE BURMA ____________________
Asiaweek: A Gaffe, or a Career Move?
September 1, 2000
With the kyat down to about 380 to the U.S. dollar, maybe it
wasn't -- or just maybe it was -- the right time to take a swipe at
Myanmar's leadership. Deputy minister for national planning and
economic development Brig.-Gen. Zaw Tun would have known he was
entering a minefield when he did exactly that. And indeed he was
sacked after addressing a seminar on July 7 at the Myanmar Business
Association in which he said (among other things): "Some who are
holding responsibilities in the country lack proper 'awareness.'"
He's hinted at his frustration before, but this time he went public--
and was punished. An act of self-immolation? Doubtful. Zaw Tun is
savvy, well respected and considered among the next wave of leaders.
Among those he chastised was Senior General Than Shwe, who more or
less runs the country. Than Shwe oversaw the calculation of the
country's economic growth rate, and under his direction GDP grew
10.9% in 1999-2000 -- an improbable (and inaccurate, says Zaw Tun)
surge from the 5.8% registered the previous year. Zaw Tun went on to
criticize those responsible for souring the investment climate,
delivering an inconsistent trade policy and the budget deficit the
country has run ever since these generals seized power in 1988. Why
isn't the citizenry up in arms? "The fact is people turn off the TV
when the news is shown and turn on their videos," Zaw Tun says he
told Than Shwe. "Only after the news do they switch the TV on again
to view Chinese movies. Perhaps it is only the Senior General who
watches the news." Not much of a career move, but you have to wonder
if Zaw Tun -- and other young officers -- have a plan to make some
news of their own.
____________________________________________________
SHAN: Chairman Maung Aye will be tough, says Insider
Shan Herald Agency for News
1 September 2000
No: 9-1
Chairman Maung Aye will be tough, says Insider
The winds of change in the army structure
Ceasefire groups being put on the alert
General Maung Aye, slated to succeed the outgoing Chairman of the
State
Peace and Development Council, Senior general Than Shwe, 67, is going
to
wield a no-nonsense hand with all including Lt-Gen Khin Nyunt,
according to
an insider.
The new Vice Chairman shall be Lt-Gen Tin Oo, 60, until now Secretary-
2 and
Chief of Staft of the Army, and Lt-Gen Win Myint, 57, currently
Secretary
3, shall become Secretary-2 who will receive his orders straight from
Maung
Aye instead of Khin Nyunt, 61, said the source.
Maung Aye, 60, is reported to have said repeatedly that he will not
accept
any office in which he is merely a "figurehead" like Gen Than Shwe.
The Army shall also be divided into 2 armies the 1st Army, with base
in
Prome, shall be responsible for southern Burma, and the 2nd Army,
with
headquarters in Maymyo (Pyin Oo Lwin), for northern Burma, he said.
The 1st Army is to be commanded by Gen Sit Maung, at present,
Commander of
the Coastal Region, and the 2nd by Gen Tin Aung Myint Oo, at present,
Commander of the Northeastern Region. The vacated offices shall be
filled
in by Brig-Gen Aung Min and Brig-Gen Htay Oo, currently commanders of
light
Infantry divisions, the 66th and 99th, respectively.
Apart from that, most of the important posts shall be held by the
Defense
Services Academy (DSA) graduates. "At present, only 2 of the 12
regional
commands are held by the OTS (Officers Training School) graduates,
and that
is only out of courtesy," he said. [Gen Khin Nyunt is also one of the
OTS
graduates]. "Maung Aye and his cronies are going to do their best to
outmaneuver Khin Nyunt."
With regards to the ceasefire groups, together with the
still "legitimate"
National League for Democracy of the beleaguered Aung San Suu Kyi, he
would
not be "wishy-washy" like Gen Khin Nyunt, according to him.
"With the ceasefire groups, he will have only 3 options for them to
decide
upon:
One, to surrender their arms and establish legal political paties
instead;
Two, to return to non-political and non-partisan civilians life; and
Three,
to return to the armed struggle. They can make their own choice and
he's
ready to accommodate them," he said.
It appears that Gen Khin Nyunt has to content himself "playing second
fiddle" to Gen Maung Aye from now on, because whereas in the past,
the
Military Intelligence Service, headed by the former, had
been "calling the
shots", during the past six months or so, he is witnessing the MIS
requesting endorsements from the local commanders for its activities.
"We've been hearing about this imminent reshuffle for so many times
and
nothing has happened so far," said a Burma watcher in China. "It can
still
turn out in an unexpected way."
Living Color Magazine (Burma): Internet use and the potential
[translation]
[Translation from Burmese]
Since June 2000, Dept of Post and Telegraph and Myanmar
Communications has given permission for internet use. Fees are high
and there seems to be limited use. Preference for connectivity is
given to govt offices, diplomats, int'l corporations and hotels.
Initial deposit of $1,080 is high for most people. Monthly fees for
30 hours of internet use is $65 which seems to be reasonable at the
rate of $2/hour. E-mail charges are $3/hour. Investment for internet
set-up is almost Kyat 10,00,000. Going price for a computer is about
$900. Digital phone lines cost K 8,00,000. Total cost for the
internet set-up is K15,00,000. Even though there are consumers who
can afford the expenses, limited expansion is foreseen due to lack of
familiarity with computers and limited knowledge of English language.
Therefore, the internet business will not be popular in the black
market.
Roughly, users can be divided into 3 groups:
a. Age 16-25
b. Age 25-55
c. Age 55 and above
Group C cannot be the target group for internet set-up since members
of this group have resistance to change and are unable to accept the
introduction of any new technology eventhough they have better
language ability.
Group B includes entrepreneurs who can afford to pay the costs. In
general, Group B is the target group. However, members of this group
do not meet the basic English language criteria required for using
the internet. They also lack the computer skills and experience
because they grew up in the environment that had very little exposure
to either English language or computer skills. Due to these reasons
even with the financial capability, they feel reluctant to purchase
computers. Present situation at Myanmar Communications are not
favorable to meet the purchasing power of the consumers. It is hoped
that once modems can be used, the market will improve and there will
be a remarkable increase in the number of buyers. Current e-mail set-
up is noted to be expensive due to connectivity via Thai Com 3
satellite.
Myanmar.com has information on latest news, NLM, etc. (mentions
contents) To advertise, please contact their address.
Myatmyanmar.com was set-up by Myat Myanmar Group in 1999. Their web
site includes newsletters from the Ministry of Information.
Myanmars.net web site was introduced to promote tourism. To
advertise, contact their address.
mpt.mail.net was sponsored by Myanmar Communications Dept.
With the growing number of internet users, there will soon be web
sites for consumers. Web site designing and web page advertising will
become popular. Among the existing 4 web sites, Myanmar.net and
mpt.mail.net are aimed to promote business.
To raise public awareness, computer labs should be introduced in
public libraries. Computer education should be considered a national
cause especially by those entrepreneurs whose photographs are
published in the newspapers when they give donations.
Having few internet users will not help build an open society or
bring remarkable changes in the country's development. We will see
changes and development only if internet use become part of our daily
lives.
We are hopeful that members of group A will become internet users in
21st century. In addition, we also optimistic that the new
generation (especially youth from cosmopolitan cities) will help with
the development of Myanmar and contribute more towards the nation
building process than the present generation.
Dr. Ko Ko
Economic Analyst
Living Color Magazine
June 2000
___________________ REGIONAL/INTERNATIONAL___________________
Times of India: India soft on Myanmar for security reasons
September 2, 2000
By Seema Guha
New Delhi: India and Myanmar completed the seventh national level
meeting between their senior officials on Thursday. Started in 1994,
these meetings are held alternatively in New Delhi and Yangon.
Though since Pakistan's military coup India has campaigned for
democracy, the continued house arrest of Myanmar's pro-democracy
leader
Aung San Suu Kyi has evoked little response from New Delhi.
Much of this is because of practical considerations. New Delhi needs
the
cooperation of the military junta in Myanmar to combat the North-east
rebels, who have camps in the loosely administered areas on both sides
of the border.
"Engagement with the military government has become a strategic
compulsion because of China's growing influence in a country on our
borders," a senior Indian official said.
Though New Delhi's natural inclination is to support the pro-democracy
movement, it is perhaps more important to counter the Chinese
penetration in Myanmar, the official added.
Earlier, India had an overwhelming presence in Myanmar. However, since
the late '80s, as New Delhi turned away from the military junta, China
filled the space left vacant.
When the Congress came to power in July 1991, Narasimha Rao decided to
take a second look at India's Myanmar policy. The growing influence of
China at India's doorstep caused concern among policy planers in New
Delhi.
Even as New Delhi's stock fell in Yangon, China's ratings with the
military junta skyrocketed. "This led us to take a hard look at our
previous policy and decide to build bridges with the government in
power," an Indian diplomat explained.
Reports of the build-up of Myanmar's armed forces with Chinese arms
rather close to the country's turbulent North-east caused anxiety.
"Border management" was an imperative for India.
A hostile Myanmar, which could encourage separatists in the North-
east,
was a danger New Delhi could not ignore. Improved relations with
Myanmar
would ensure that insurgent groups in the area did not use Myanmarese
territory for their camps.
While the official New Delhi policy is not likely to change despite a
lot of public support for Suu Kyi, defence minister George Fernandes
has
made known he is an ardent admirer of the jailed leader.
The Hindustan Times (New Delhi): Suu Kyi's agitation casts shadow
over Indo-Myanmar talks
August 30, 2000
New Delhi, August 29: The Timing of the Indo-Myanmarese bilateral
meetings could not have been more inconvenient for India.
Home Secretary Kamal Pande today reached Yangon to hold talks with
his counterpart in the military junta at the same time as Nobel Peace
prize wining pro-democracy activist Au San Suu Kyi's third Mahatma
Gndhi style satyagraha reaches its peak.
External Affairs Ministry spokesman R.S. Jassal tried to explain the
necessity of the meeting in the context of its "usefulness as a
mechanism for peace" along the border of the two countries.
The spokesman said the bilateral talks are held annually under a
memorandum of understanding which dates back to 1997. "The objective
of these meetings is to maintain tranquility along the border and the
prevention of insurgency," he said.
Asked to comment on the ongoing political stand-off between the
military government and the Suu Kyi-led National League for Democracy
(NLD), Mr Jassal said that "the Government of India hopes there will
be a peaceful solution". For the past five days, Ms Suu Kyi has been
holding a sit-in against the junta in the Yangon suburb of Dala after
the military blocked her access to the countryside where she was
planning to hold meetings.
This is the second time she has staged such a demonstration. In 1988,
she stayed in her car for two prolonged stints.
External Affairs Ministry sources say that New Delhi believes in a
policy of non-interference in the internal affairs of Myanmar, even
though Ms Suu Kyi enjoys wide sympathy in the Indian government
circles.
India is keen to do business with the military rulers of Myanmar and
during the Asean Regional Conference meeting in Bangkok last month, a
Gango-Mekong Swarnabhoomi project was conceived for development of
infrastructure projects.
Ms Suu Kyi, daughter of nationalist leader General Aung San, won 82
per cent of the vote in the country's national elections in 1990,
despite being under house arrest. But the regime did not relinquish
power.
India, despite being one of the convenors of the Concert of
Democracies established in Warsaw last month, finds it hard to
justify its appeasement of the military dictators in Yangon.
Not only does India recognise the military government, it also shares
plank with it in ASEAN and the recently formed BIMST forum.
Simultaneously, India continues to demand the restoration of the
elected regime of deposed Prime Minister Mahendra Chaudhry in Fiji.
India has also suspended the South Asia Association for Regional Co-
operation on the grounds of "political instability" in Pakistan
following the October 1999 coup.
____________________________________________________
AFP: Protestors try to storm Myanmar embassy in Australia
CANBERRA, Sept 1 (AFP) - Riot police clashed Friday with 50 pro-
democracy
protestors waving portraits of opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi as
they
attempted to storm Myanmar's embassy in Canberra.
Two men were arrested as they tried to penetrate a blockade and scale
the
embassy gates as other protestors fought with police from the
specialist
Tactical Response Group.
Demonstrators smashed a sign outside the compound and burnt Myanmar's
national flag before being forced back, police said.
The clash turned into a tense two-hour stand-off as the protesters
took up
positions on the road outside the embassy and demanded that Yangon
cease its
harassment of Suu Kyi, the leader of Myanmar's National League for
Democracy
(NLD).
Suu Kyi has been stranded by the roadside outside Yangon for a week
by a
ruling military regime determined to quarantine her activities.
Her attempt to leave the capital on August 24 to attend an NLD
meeting in a
village was halted by officials and police blocking the road and
enforcing
the junta's ban on Suu Kyi's freedom of movement.
Protest organiser, Maung Maung Than, said they were demanding that
Myanmar's
ruling military regime allow Suu Kyi to proceed.
"We want to express our strong opposition to the current military
suppression against our leader," he said.
There were no injuries, and the two men arrested were released a
short time
later.
____________________________________________________
AFP: Nordic foreign ministers condemn military junta
[Abridged]
MIDDELFART, Denmark, Aug 29 (AFP) - Foreign ministers from the
Nordic
states condemned the military regime in Myanmar for its treatment of
opposition
leader Aung San Suu Kyi in a joint statement issued Tuesday.
The ministers from Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden
protested
against their treatment of the 55-year-old Nobel peace laureate, and
expressed concern for her safety and her health.
_______________ ECONOMY AND BUSINESS _______________
Le Soir: The Belgian government turns its back on TotalFinaElf
August 30
The Belgian government decided on Tuesday to maintain its petroleum
supply contract with the petroleum group TotalFinaElf, but to limit
its duration to one year. This follows a call to boycott by four
ministers of the green party in view of the group' s activities in
Burma, a country ruled by a military junta. Luc Van Den Bossche,
minister for public administration, announced that the supply
contract with TotalFinaElf, valid for a year from September 1st and
though in principle renewable twice, in fact shall not be renewed.
>From now on, when bids are prepared for the supply of goods and
services to federal administrations, ethical criteria will be taken
into account. He said it is excluded that contracts be signed with
companies which support dictatorial regimes.
AFX: TotalFinaElf boycotted by 4 Belgian ministers over Myanmar links
AFX, Brussels, 28 August> The government's four Ecology Party
ministers, including Transport Minister Isabelle Durant, said they
will boycott using TotalFinaElf fuel in their cars due to the
company's business links with Myanmar.
Durant, Health Minister Magda Alvoet, secretary of state for
cooperation Eddy Boutmans and secretary of state for energy Olivier
Deleuze said they made their decision after TotalFinaElf signed a
contract to be the official fuel supplier for government vehicles.
Bangkok Post: Burma, China in Pulp Factory Pact
Saturday, September 2, 2000)
Rangoon-State enterprises from Burma and China signed a $90-million
contract to jointly invest in a pulp and paper factory with a 200-
tonne daily output capacity, news reports said yesterday.
The contract was signed between the Myanmar Paper and Chemical
Industries enterprise and China Metallurgical construction
Corporation Thursday evening, said the New Light of Myanmar-
newspaper.
Myanmar Industry Minister Aung Thaung said the venture added "another
milestone to the history of relations between the Peoples Republic of
China and Myanmar."
The Chinese-Myanmar pulp factory wil1 be built in Thaboug township of
the Ayeyawady Division, southwest of Rangoon.-dpa
_____________________ OTHER ______________________
PD Burma: Calendar of events with regard to Burma
Published by PD Burma.
¨Z September 6-8 : The United Nations will
host the UN
Millennium
Summit, New
York
¨Z September 18th : Anniversary of SLORC Coup, 1988
¨Z September 24th : National League for Democracy
formed 1988
¨Z September 24th : Burma Solidarity Concert.
Organised
by Worldview Rights, the
Norwegian Burma
Council and the
Norwegian Church Aid, Oslo
¨Z September 26th : Open meeting: The cost of
Army
Rule.
Organised by the Norwegian
Burma Council, Oslo
¨Z September 27th : Board meeting for the
Burmese
Border
Consortium, Oslo
¨Z September : UN General Assembly, New
York
¨Z September : NCGUB Meetings
¨Z September/October : Second EU "troika" mission to Burma
¨Z October : EU Foreign Ministers to review
Burma Policy
¨Z October : Global Day of Action on
Open Schools
¨Z October 16-21st : 104th Inter-Parliamentary
Conference,
Jakarta
¨Z October 17-18th : 4th Annual Meeting for PD
Burma,
Jakarta
¨Z October 19- 20th : The Asem Summit, Seoul
¨Z October 26-28th : The 50th Congress of Liberal
International, Ottawa
¨Z November : ILO Review of Burma's
practises
¨Z November 2-17th : 279th Session of the Governing Body
and its
committees, Geneva
¨Z November 10-11th :Meeting of the Council of the
Socialist
International, Maputo
¨Z December 11-12th : EU and ASEAN Ministerial-level
meeting, Laos
¨Z January 2001 : Sweden takes over EU Presidency
¨Z February : Meeting of Solidarity
Groups,
Brussels
¨Z March/April : Teachers/ Students Union Conferences
¨Z March/April : EU Common Position Review
¨Z March/April : UN Human Rights Commission, Geneva
¨Z May/June : Meeting of Solidarity Groups
¨Z July : Belgium takes over EU Presidency
____________________________________________________
________________
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