Japan Times article

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Burmese Relief Center--Japan
DATE:February 10, 1995
TIME:11:54PM JST
SUBJ:Japan Times Article

The Japan Times, Friday, February 10, 1995
Myanmar maneuvers hinder aid
Junta's failure to free Suu Kyi, jungle offensive trouble Tokyo

By HISANE MASAKI
Staff writer

Japan's policy of "constructive engagement" with Myanmar
has suffered some setbacks, as Rangoon's military rulers have
suspended dialogue with detained opposition leader Aung San
Suu Kyi and nearly crushed a major rebel group.

Until several weeks ago, Japan had been considering an early
resumption of low-interest official yen loans for the repair and
expansion of an international airport in Rangoon, government
sources said.

But the recent deterioration in Myanmar's political situation
has made that step impossible, the sources said.  The Japanese
credit for the airport project has been frozen since the Myan-
marese military leaders took power in a 1988 coup.

Following the first and second rounds of dialogue between the
military junta and Suu Kyi last autumn, Japan decided to
resume grant aid to Myanmar - formerly Burma - exclusively
for humanitarian purposes.

Until that point, Japan's aid to the country had trickled to just
minuscule amounts of grant aid funneled through
nongovernmental organizations.  Such aid started to flow from
Japan early last year.

The decision to resume humanitarian aid was in line with
Japan's declared policy of encouraging changes in Myanmar
through dialogue, instead of isolating it from the international
community.

"Japan will provide grant aid to help Myanmar purchase
medical equipment and increase agricultural production in
areas inhabited by the ethnic minorities," a high-ranking
Foreign Ministry official said.

The official, requesting anonymity, said that the 1992 Official
Development Assistance Charter leaves "room of flexibility"
for the government to provide such aid to countries like Myan-
mar.

Under the charter, the government is required to respect four
principles, including a restraint on ODA for countries known
to violate human rights and democracy or engage in
production of weapons of mass destruction.

Tokyo committed yen loans totaling some $BY(B8 billion for the
Rangoon international airport project and disbursed a tiny
fraction of the money to Myanmar before the military leaders
took power there in 1988.

"Resumption of yen loans for the Rangoon airport would not
necessarily represent a change in Japan's aid policy toward
Myanmar," a senior government official said on condition that
he not be named.

"Japan has taken the position that it considers provision of
fresh aid for projects that were already under way before the
1988 military coup, as well as extension of emergency or
humanitarian aid, on a case-by-case basis," the official said.

There are five projects, including the airport, for which Japan
committed financial support before the coup and which do not
fall into the category of humanitarian aid, the official said.

The Myanmarese military junta -- which styles itself the State
Law and Order Restoration Council -- wants to get the airport
project restarted as soon as possible to ensure the success of its
ambitious tourism promotion campaign, dubbed as "1996 Visit
Myanmar Year."

Under the campaign, the SLORC hopes to attract 500,000
foreign visitors in 1996 as part of Myanmar's efforts to attract
foreign investments, which are badly needed to accelerate
Myanmar's economic growth while it pushes ahead with free-market reforms.

Although Japan is moving to gradually increase its economic
aid for Myanmar, it will not commit yen loans for new projects
in the foreseeable future not only because of political condition
there but also of an unresolved debt issue.  Rangoon owes
Tokyo some $BY(B0 billion in outstanding official debts.

"When the SLORC held dialogue with Suu Kyi last September
and October, we expected a hop-step-and-jump progress
toward her release from house arrest," said a Foreign Ministry
source.

"'But our expectations were betrayed and the future
development in Myanmarese politics has become even murki-
er," the source said.

Myanmar has generally been shunned by the international
community, especially by the West, which refuses to recognize
the military junta's legitimacy because it had seized power by
annulling a 1990 democratic election won decisively by Suu
Kyi's National League for Democracy.

The United States and Europe have kept a tight lid on their
economic aid for Myanmar in protest against its military rulers'
violations of human rights and democracy.

But Myanmar's developing Asian neighbors, which are more
strongly committed to constructive engagement with Rangoon
than Japan is, are seeking to forge closer political and
economic ties with Myanmar through high-level contacts.

The six Association of Southeast Asian Nations, for example,
invited Myanmarese Foreign Minister Ohn Gyaw to their
annual foreign ministerial meeting in Bangkok last July as a
special guest of host nation Thailand.

Analysts agree that, in general, the ASEAN members -
Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, the Philippines, Brunei and
Thailand - are not only sympathetic with the SLORC but are
also increasingly alarmed by Myanmar's growing military and
economic ties with China.

ASEAN nations see China as a potential security threat and
fear that the communist giant is trying to expand its sphere of
influence to the Indian Ocean via Myanmar, the analysts say.

In recent months, the United States and Europe, while harshly
condemning the Myanmarese junta over human rights and
democracy, have moved toward constructive engagement with
Rangoon.

Last November, the U.S. reopened high-level government
contacts with Myanmar's military rulers by sending Thomas
Hubbard, U.S. deputy assistant secretary of state for East Asia
and Pacific Affairs, to Rangoon.

Hubbard's visit prompted one Japanese government official to
say, half-jokingly: "Japan has taken a unique policy toward
Myanmar that is different from that of both the other Asian
nations and the West.  But Japan's uniqueness may be lost if
the West employs an approach that is similar to Japan's."

U.S. dialogue with Rangoon could be stalled, however, by the
recent military assault on the Karen National Union, the
military arm of the Karen ethnic insurgency.  The Myanmarese
troops took control of Manerplaw, the main stronghold of the
Karen rebels, late last month.

The U.S. administration of President Bill Clinton, apparently
concerned about Japan's aid policy toward Myanmar, has
urged Tokyo to refrain from economic aid until major progress
is made in Rangoon, especially granting Suu Kyi her freedom.

The American request was made most recently when Winston
Lord, U.S. assistant secretary of state, met with Yutaka Kawa-
shima, director general of the Foreign Ministry's Asian Affairs
Bureau, in Washington on Jan. 20.

Strobe Talbott, U.S. deputy secretary of state, said in Tokyo on
Jan. 25," I believe it is high time to discard the myth that only
the West cares about freedom or that Asia is predisposed to
authoritarianism.

"To be sure, there are various forms of democracy.  Different
political cultures do emphasize different values and virtues. 
That is natural, that is inescapable and that is healthy," Talbott
said in a rather conciliatory tone at the Japan National Press
Club.

Talbott said, however, that there is a universal principle that
transcends those differences: that governments should treat
people with fairness and dignity and allow them to participate
in making decisions that affect their destinies.

A senior Foreign Ministry official in Tokyo said, "Japan and
the U.S. share the same policy goal of making Myanmar a
democratic nation that protects human rights.  But our
approaches are different.

"Japan and the U.S. can be compared to the sun and the biting
north wind, respectively, as in Aesop's Fables," the official
said.  "The U.S. approach has so far failed to work as far as
Myanmar is concerned."

The official said the U.S. and Europe should recognize the
progress made by the SLORC so far in easing its grip, such as
releasing many political prisoners and initiating reconciliation
dialogues with most of Myanmar's ethnic minority groups,
instead of focusing on Suu Kyi's fate alone.

"Japan will give a fair appraisal to those positive
developments, although they are far from sufficient," the
official said.  "Japan will continue pushing a policy of
constructive engagement with Myanmar to encourage further
progress."

Two pictures:
1  Myanmar's military rulers hope to attract more tourists to
the country, designating 1996 as Visit Myanmar Year.  One of
the tourist attractions is exotic Pagan, shown here, which offers
pagoda, stupas and temples by the hundreds.  But recent
political developments could block the flow of yen loans
needed for the expansion of Myanmar's tourism gateway,
Rangoon airport.
2  Aung San Suu Kyi -- Her fate is still on hold.