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BurmaNet News: October 5
************************** BurmaNet **************************
"Appropriate Information Technologies, Practical Strategies"
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BurmaNet News: Wednesday, October 5, 1994
Issue #28
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Contents:
NATION: INDOCHINESE REFUGEES' REPATRIATION PRESSED
AP: BURMA GUARDS AGAINST PLAGUE
NATION: BURMA, CHINA AGREE ON JOINT HYDRO-POWER DAM
BKK POST: BURMA TO BUY CHINESE SHIPS
AFP: KNU--JUNTA CHANGE COSMETIC
BKK POST: KINKEL MEETS BURMESE FM, CALL FOR RELEASE OF SUU KYI
NATION: IN RANGOON, RUMINATING ON NE WIN'S DEATH
REUTERS: TWO KILLED, THREE HURT IN BURMA BOOBY-TRAP BOMB
NATION: BURMA SOLICITS GOLD DIGGERS
NATION: POST: M.P.s BACK INDOCHINA AND BURMA TO FORGE ASEAN LINK
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NATION: INDOCHINESE REFUGEES' REPATRIATION PRESSED
October 3
THAILAND will push for the United Nations High Commission for
Refugees (UNHCR) to speed up repatriation of Indochinese refugees
remaining in Thailand during an international meeting on refugee
problems which begins in Geneva today, National Security Council
secretary-general Charan Kullavanijaya said.
Gen Charan, who will attend the refugee meeting, said a large number of
refugees still remain in Thailand.
They include over 10,000 Laotian refugees, thousands of Vietnamese
refugees and displaced Burmese.
The refugees must all be repatriated since the situation in Indochina as a
whole has returned to normal, he said.
Gen Charan said he will ask the UNHCR to quickly arrange for them to
return to their homelands.
During his recent meeting with the new Australian ambassador to
Thailand, Gen Charan said they discussed problems concerning
refugees, mostly Laotian and Vietnamese, in Australia.
The ambassador suggested that these refugees could submit requests to
become Australian citizens, he added.
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AP: BURMA GUARDS AGAINST PLAGUE
3 October
RANGOON - Burma is guarding its entry points, attacking its rat population
and educating the public about the plague to keep the epidemic sweeping India
from crossing their common border.
The official New Light of Myanmar daily reported yesterday that the National
Health Committee was discussing ways to block the spread of the plague across
the more than 1,280 kilometers of border Burma shares with India.
At least 58 people have been killed in India since plague broke out there
several week ago. Unofficial estimates put the dead toll at 300.plague is
carried by rats and fleas, and can be spread by a cough from an infected
person. It is easily cured with antibiotics if caught early, but kills
quickly if untreated. At Saturday's meeting, Lt Gen Khin Nyunt, Chairman of
the Burmese Government's health committee and secretary of the ruling Slorc,
stressed the need for public awareness of the disease and further strategies
to keep the plague epidemic from sweeping Burma.
Official newspapers have been carrying educative articles about the plague
and state radio and television broadcast warnings and discussions about the
epidemic.
The Health Ministry has posted health officials at airports, jetties and
border crossing points to watch for people with the symptoms of the
plague.The Ministry also has launched a sanitation drive with municipal
authorities to curb the rat population and alert the public to report any
symptoms.
A health official, who requested anonymity, said isolated outbreaks of the
plague - usually the bubonic from - are common in Burma, noting that they
often arise in the dry central part of the country from November through
March.
The official said there were 528 cases of plague reported in 1992 in one part
of the country, with three deaths. There were 87 cases of plague in two parts
of the country in 1993 with no fatalities, the official added.
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REUTERS: BURMA, CHINA AGREE ON JOINT HYDRO-POWER DAM
Oct 1
BURMA and China have signed an agreement to build a hydroelectric power
station in central Burma, a state-run Radio Rangoon reported.
In a broadcast monitored by the British Broadcasting Corporation, the report
said the two countries's energy authorities signed an agreement in Rangoon on
Thursday to build a medium-sized power plant in Mandalay district. The
Paunglaung power project involves building a 131-meter high dam and
installing four 70 MW turbines, the radio said.
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BKK POST: BURMA TO BUY CHINESE SHIPS
Bangkok (AFP) - Burmese military authorities on Sep 29 signed an agreement
with a leading Chinese shipping firm in Rangoon to purchase new ships,
state-run Radio Rangoon reported. The agreement to purchase new ocean-owned
Myanmar Five Star Shipping Line was signed with China ship Building Trading
Company, the radio said in a broad cast monitored here.
The signing ceremony was presided over by Burmese Transport Minister, Thein
Win and senior Chinese diplomats to Rangoon, according to the radio.
The interest-free loan for the project has been provided by Beijing, it
added. The official radio also reported, without elaborating, that visiting
Chines experts and Burmese officials signed to joint survey memorandum for a
hydropower station in central Burma.
China, one of the major investors in Burma, was the first to recognise the
Rangoon's military regime, which took power after a bloody coup in Sep 1988,
in which thousands of pro-democracy protesters died.
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AFP: KNU--JUNTA CHANGE COSMETIC
Oct 4, 94
THE Karen National Union (KNU) has reported only "cosmetic
change" in Rangoon's stance but no substantive progress following
a second visit to KNU headquarters by the Anglican Archbishop of
Burma. In a continuing effort to mediate between the KNU and the
junta in Rangoon, the Reverend Andrew Mya Han paid a second visit
to Manerplaw, on the Thai-Burma border, September 21-28, the KNU
said. In a statement received yesterday in Bangkok, the KNU said
Rangoon has not made any real change in attitude and policy,
apart from some cosmetic change to improve its international
image."
The statement indicate the KNU was willing to listen to further
approaches by the Anglican archbishop or others, but remarked:
"The task of making an intractable dictatorship to see reason, and
to relinquish its power and privileges is rather exacting, to say
the least." The statement said that the State Law and Order
Restoration Council (SLORC) - the official name of the junta -
had flatly refused to accept KNU letters setting out conditions
for talks.
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BKK POST: KINKEL MEETS BURMESE FM, CALL FOR RELEASE OF SUU KYI
By Saritdet Marukatat
New York
THE European Union has reiterated its stance on Burma by calling on the
Rangoon government to release Burmese opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi,
German Foreign Minister Klaus Kinkel said yesterday.
Speaking as representative of the EU presidency, Mr Kinkel told a press
conference he made the call during a "critical dialogue" with Burma's Foreign
Minister Ohn Gyaw on Monday.
It was the first meeting between the EU and the Burmese government, known as
the State Law and Order Restoration Council (Slorc), since the European
grouping announced in Bangkok in July that it was opting a so-called critical
dialogue with Rangoon.
But Mr Kinkel declined to give details of the discussion. Germany currently
holds the six-month rotating EU presidency. Mr Kinkel and Mr Ohn Gyaw are
attending the 49th session of the United Nations General Assembly here.
Senior EU officials were also present at the talks, Thai Foreign Minister
Prasong Soonsiri said. EU officials have said they want to use dialogue as a
means of expressing concern over political and human rights situations in
Burma to Slorc directly.
Mr Ohn Gyaw is scheduled to address the UNGA on October 11. Sources said the
Burmese minister might use the opportunity of a relatively long stay in New
York to hold talks with UN Secretary-General Boutrous Boutrous-Ghali.
The UN two months ago proposed a dialogue with Slorc. The Burmese junta
agreed with the proposal idea by using Thailand to convey the message to the
UN secretary general.
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NATION: IN RANGOON, RUMINATING ON NE WIN'S DEATH
Aung Zaw writes on hot topic of discussion among Burmese.
The active Rangoon rumour mill went to overdrive recently when former
strongman Gen Ne Win summoned Lt-Gen Khin Nyunt, first secretary of the
Slorc, to his resident.
The reason of the meeting, according to talk on the street, was the death of
Dr Maung Maung who suffered a fatal heart attack in July. Maung Maung, 69, a
western-educated intellectual, ruled for one month amid the political turmoil
of 1988. He was the only civilian president since Ne Win took power in 1962.
Ne Win had said to be disturbed that Maung Maung was only given an ordinary
funeral. "He was upset and angry because he wanted a state funeral for Maung
Maung and his body to be entombed," claimed one Rangoon resident, passing on
information said to have come from sources close to Ne Win.One of his sources
quoted Ne Win as saying, "You cannot even make a state funeral for Burma's
last president." Khin Nyunt apparently could not offer a satisfactory
explanation and left Ne Win's stately house.
Indeed, Ne Win who is believed to be ailing might be worry for his future
funeral. Will Slorc entomb him or simple cremated his body.
In 1947, when former UN General Secretary U Thant's body was brought to
Rangoon by family members, Ne Win's regime refused to honour it. Ne Win is
known to hold a jealous hatred of U Thant. As a result, students and monks
forcibly took the body of U Thant and placed it in a mausoleum they had built
themselves. Later, soldiers stormed the Rangoon University compound and took
the body back. Many students were killed and jailed. But unlike U Thant,
there is little popular support for New Win and the fate or his body is
uncertain. Who will sponsor his funeraL? Who will mourn for his death apart
from his family? Will Slorc build a beautiful mausoleum for Ne Win? Will
students and monks take Ne Win's body and make their own mausoleum and honour
it? Rangoon residents asked even if they (Slorc) entomb Ne Win, who will go
to visit or salute Ne Win's cemetery? A Rangoon University lecturer predicted
that unlike Gen Aung San, the father of opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi,
Slorc will do little for Ne Win. "Even if they want to or if Ne Win wanted,
they will have to build a cemetery at his home. So no one will go to destroy
it," he said. Ne Win, his original name was Shu Maungborn, was born in 1911.
He was a post office clerk in Rangoon and member of the nationalist Dohbama
Asiayone (We Burma Association) in the 1930s. Ne Win seized power in 1962 and
officially retired in July 1988. Nevertheless, most Burmese people and
foreign observers believe that he still pulls the strings.
But at 83, however, Ne Win can no longer run the country's day-to-day
affairs. During his 26 years of rule, Burma became one of the poorest
countries in the world and Ne Win, one of the richest men in Asia. In 1987,
when Burma was accorded Least Developed Country (LDC) status, Ne Win was
living a life of luxury, taking yearly trips to an exclusive Swiss health
resort, the Clinique Le'mana-Rustica, prompting some to liken him to Filipino
dictator Ferdinand Marcos. Speculating on Ne Win's death is a popular
past time for the long-suffering population of Burma. "I think he will feel
guilty before he dies, but I don't think he will apologise to us," said one
resident, Htun Htun Aung.
"If he did something constructive, productive a meaningful we would not
hesitate to appreciate and thank him, if he did," said Htun. Htun said
present leaders who had grown up under Ne Win may take a lesson from their
godfather.
"If Ne Win did good things for country, he would not have to worry for his
future funeral. We ourselves will entomb him and build a colourful
mausoleum."
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REUTERS: TWO KILLED, THREE HURT IN BURMA BOOBY-TRAP BOMB
BANGKOK, Thailand (Reuter) - Two people were killed and four
others wounded when a bomb planted in a radio transmitter
exploded in a crowded room in a town in southwest Burma, Burmese
state television reported.
An unidentified man took the booby-trap device last week to
the house of Thaung Han, local secretary of the State Law and
Order Restoration Council (SLORC) at Kwan Hla village in Mudon
town, Mon state, according to a television report monitored
Wednesday night in Bangkok.
The messenger said the transmitter belonged to local Mon
guerrillas who wished to discuss surrender terms.
The device exploded when Thaung Man inserted batteries and
switched the transmitter on, killing him, one other person, and
injuring four others.
The Mon are among the Burmese ethnic minorities which for
more than 40 years have been fighting the government in Rangoon
for independence.
At least 10 rebel factions including the Kachin Independence
Organization (KIO) have reached peace agreements since the
SLORC, the military junta's ruling body, offered peace talks two
years ago.
The New Mon State Party, political wing of the Mon
guerrillas, has also begun peace talks but they became
deadlocked in March, a Mon guerrilla source told Reuters.
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NATION: BURMA SOLICITS GOLD DIGGERS
RANGOON - The Burmese government has invited foreign companies to prospect
for gold and copper in an effort to exploit the country's rich natural
resources, an official newspaper said on Saturday.
Gold and copper mining, formerly the exclusive domain of a state enterprise,
have been opened to "interested foreign companies" who will be allowed to
"operate mineral prospecting and exploration in geologically prosperous
areas" of central and upper Burma, The New Light of Myanmar daily said.
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BKK POST: M.P.s BACK INDOCHINA AND BURMA TO FORGE ASEAN LINK
Oct 4, 94
THE Asian Inter-Parliamentary Organization (Aipo) is to invite
four other southeast Asian countries to join the Asian, thus
expanding the regional group and gaining bargaining power in the
world community, senator Prasop Ratanakorn and Khanin
Bunsuwan (Chon Buri-Solidarity) disclosed yesterday.
Prasop and Khanin told a news conference that Aipo had agreed that
the Asean should be expanded to included Vietnam, Laos, Burma,and
Cambodia, thus creating the so called South East Asean-10(Sea-
10).Asean at present consists of Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore,
Indonesia, Philippines, and Brunei.
The two senators made the comments after they returned from
leading a delegation of Thai parliamentarians to the 15th Aipo
forum in Manila from Sep 19-24.
All Aipo member nations,including, Malaysia, Indonesia, the
Philippine and Singapore, participate in the forum, while
parliamentarians from Brunei were present as observers. The form
also resolved to form the East Asian Growth Area, a regional
trade block. Prasop and Kachin said that despite this resolution
all the participants at the Aipo forum recognized the attempt
made in the General Agreement on Tariffs and trade to promote
free trade. The participants also pressed their support for
Singapore in its capacity as host of a World Trade Organization
meeting to be held in 1996. The forum agreed to protest the tying
of trade with human rights issues by developed countries, which
it saw as a means of gaining bargaining power over less developed
countries. Prasop and Khanin the Thai delegation pushed Aipo to
play a greater role and approaches to legislative cooperation.
Singapore proposed that the special committee consider laws
relating to the establishment of the Asean Free Trade Area
(AFTA)this year.
The forum participants also agreed in principle that the
bureaucratic structure of the United Nations should be amended,
particularly the criteria for membership of the UN Security
Council. There was also a proposal at the forum that Asean
countries should allow their citizens to travel freely in the
region. The cost os air fares, accommodation and services for
Asean tourists should be reduced to further this process. The
Aipo conference called upon Asean countries to establish laws
about social welfare and labour protection for foreign labour.
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ABBREVIATIONS USED BY BURMANET:
AP: ASSOCIATED PRESS
AFP: AGENCE FRANCE PRESSE
AWSJ: ASIAN WALL STREET JOURNAL
BBC: BRITISH BROADCASTING CORPORATION
BI: BURMA ISSUES
BIG: BURMA INFORMATION GROUP
BKK POST: THE BANGKOK POST
CPPSM: COMMITTEE FOR THE PUBLICITY OF THE PEOPLE'S STRUGGLE IN MONLAND
FEER: FAR EAST ECONOMIC REVIEW
NATION: THE NATION (DAILY NEWSPAPER, BANGKOK)
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