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BurmaNet News: Decemeber 13, 1996
- Subject: BurmaNet News: Decemeber 13, 1996
- From: strider@xxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Fri, 13 Dec 1996 22:01:00
>
>
>------------------------ BurmaNet ------------------------
>"Appropriate Information Technologies, Practical Strategies"
>----------------------------------------------------------
>
>The BurmaNet News: December 13, 1996
>Issue # 591
>
>HEADLINES:
>==========
>ABSDF STATEMENT: CURRENT SITUATION IN BURMA
>THE NATION: SLORC WORRIED UNREST COULD BE BOON TO DASSK
>FRANKFURTER RUNDSCHAU: INTERVIEW WITH DASSK
>THE ASIAN AGE: STUDENTS FOLLOW GANDHIAN WAY TO PROTEST
>AP: AUNG SAN BEGAN HIS CAREER AS A STUDENT LEADER
>THE NATION: AGITATION WILL END, SAYS CHETTHA
>FBC: HUMAN RIGHTS AWARD OR HUMAN RIGHTS MANIPULATION
>UPI: REEBOK PRESENTS HUMAN RIGHTS AWARDS
>UPI: BURMA PROTESTERS CALL FOR SANCTIONS
>REUTERS: PROTESTERS IN LOS ANGELES AGAINST BURMA PIPELINE
>STATEMENT: DEMONSTRATION IN LONDON
>XINHUA: SLEEPER FACTORY CONTRACT SIGNED WITH BURMA
>---------------------------------------------------------------------------
-----------------
>
>ABSDF STATEMENT: CURRENT SITUATION IN BURMA
>December 12, 1996
>
>10 am, 11th December, more than 400 students including medical
>students who wearing white shirts and green longyi, have demonstrated in a
>sit-in protest in front of the No. (2) Institute of Medicine in Rangoon.
>
>2 pm, 11th December in downtown Rangoon, more than 100 medical
>students have staged a sit-in protest against the Slorc military
>regime in front of the No.(1) Institute of Medicine.
>
>Now, all the high schools and universities and colleges are shut
>down in Burma by the Slorc military regime without any
>announcement in state run newspapers, on radio and television.
>
>11th December, 20 military trucks full of soldiers are in the
>position of alert and being lined up in front of the Rangoon city
>hall, 300 meter opposite of US embassy.
>
>11th December, the military, riot police trucks and some army
>ambulance cars are patrolling in Rangoon.
>
>At the moment, it is very difficult to make phone calls
>between Rangoon and Mandalay, second city of Burma.
>
>Now, the main strategy of the Slorc is to cut any kind of
>communication system between present student demonstrators and
>experienced 1988 students and the citizens.
>
>There are some hit and run demonstrations in Mandalay by
>students and Buddhist monks.
>
>It is heard that more than 200 lawyers in Burma around the
>country have had their licences banned by the Slorc military
>regime since 1989.
>
>Since 5th December, altogether 6 foreign journalists have been
>deported from Rangoon to Bangkok by the Slorc military
>intelligence. One is from Norway and another from Holland. The
>rest of four are still unknown.
>
>*****************************************************************
>
>THE NATION: SLORC WORRIED UNREST COULD BE BOON TO DASSK
>December 12, 1996
>
>RANGOON -Aung San Suu Kyi remained confined to her home yesterday
>as the Burmese junta told embassies that the pro democracy leader
>might take advantage of student demonstrations.
>
>Amid reports of a brief demonstration outside the US embassy
>overnight, Rangoon missions received a Foreign Ministry statement
>yesterday saying that authorities had requested the National
>League for Democracy (NLD) leader to stay inside her compound
>"for her own safety until the situation returns to normal "
>
>"Since it is likely that she may try and take advantage of the
>situation and that some international media may be misled by her
>claims, the true fact is that the authorities have asked for her
>cooperation in true sincerity, it said.
>
>Yesterday morning, about 10 NLD members were escorted by security
>officials to her compound on University Avenue which is still
>blockaded for a meeting originally to be held at the NLD
>headquarters about two kilometers away, a source within the
>house told Agence France Presse by telephone. The NLD leader has
>not left home since Saturday.
>
>Student protesters have said their demonstrations are non-
>political, and customarily chant the name of the late Burmese
>independence hero and father of the armed forces, Aung San, and
>not his daughter Aung San Suu Kyi.
>
>Yesterday, witnesses and diplomats said Burmese security forces
>late on Tuesday arrested about 20 students amid scattered
>protests in the capital Rangoon.
>
>They were among a group of 50 Rangoon University students who
>staged a brief anti-government protest in front of the US Embassy
>in the centre of the city at 10 pm.
>
>About 20 of them were still unaccounted for and believed to be
>under detention, they said, adding that a further 30
>demonstrators were missing following a march from Kyimyindine
>college in downtown Rangoon on Monday.
>
>Government confirmation was not immediately available.
>
>On Tuesday, students from university and high schools staged
>protests in several locations across the city but face mounting
>problems in grouping together.
>
>There is stringent security, including a blockade of several
>square kilometers surrounding the main university campus, while
>students also face pressure to return home after the suspension
>of classes on Monday.
>
>While their educational institutions remain officially open,
>students have been requested to submit a leave application for two weeks.
>
>Parents and families face repercussions such as the withdrawal of
>business licences if their children are caught demonstrating,
>said students, who also fear government infiltration of their ranks.
>
>More than 100 students at a medical school in central Rangoon
>shouted anti-government slogans at the gate of their campus on
>Tuesday and later dispersed, witnesses said.
>
>Police and military personnel manned checkpoints in the vicinity
>of the university and the Rangoon Institute of Technology for the sixty day.
>
>Diplomats said the protests had also spread briefly over the
>weekend to two universities in the northern city of Mandalay.
>
>*****************************************************************
>
>FRANKFURTER RUNDSCHAU: INTERVIEW WITH DASSK
>December 5, 1996
>
>"Nobody Knows How This Will End"
>
>[Spitz] Mrs. Aung San Suu Kyi, has the Burmese junta de facto placed you
under house arrest?
>
>[Suu Kyi] No, I have not been placed under house arrest. On Tuesday and
Wednesday [3 and 4 December], I was not allowed to leave my house, but today
[Thursday, 5 December] I was able to get out. However, it is a fact that
>the street in front of my house continues to be blocked and no visitors can
come to me. And now they have also closed the street in front of our party
headquarters.
>
>[Spitz] Why is the military regime again increasing the pressure on you now?
>
>[Suu Kyi] The reason is the latest student riots, which made the rulers
again very nervous. Now they want to shuffle the riots off on us (National
League of Democracy -- the editors) and hold us responsible for them.
>
>[Spitz] Are you afraid that the situation might escalate as in 1988, when
thousands were killed by the military during protests?
>
>[Suu Kyi] The escalation of the situation does not depend on us. The rulers
have to find a way. They have to bring about a peaceful solution. We
continue to bank on a dialogue. Only in this way can a civilized solution to
the conflict in this country be found.
>
>[Spitz] Are there indications that the junta will give in?
>
>[Suu Kyi] No, so far the rulers have not made us a single concession.
>
>[Spitz] Do you believe that the young people, the students who make a stand
for democracy in Burma, have your patience?
>
>[Suu Kyi] Well, I cannot talk on behalf of others, but, of course, young
people have less patience: Nobody knows how this will end here.
>
>[Spitz] What do you now expect of the world public in view of new increased
reprisals of the junta?
>
>[Suu Kyi] The international community has to realize that the development
in this country is not right and more than ever it has to behave
appropriately. It has to press for the implementation of the Burma
resolution of the UN General Assembly (according to it, the parliament with
its NLD majority, which was freely elected in 1990, would have to be
constituted -- the editors).
>
>[Spitz] Can Germany play a special role there?
>
>[Suu Kyi] Germany should clearly react together with the other EU states.
Joint action is better than isolated steps.
>
>[Spitz] You were attacked by a group of 200 people during a recent
appearance in Rangoon. The attack had apparently been initiated by the
military government. Do you fear for your life?
>
>[Suu Kyi] In an authoritarian state like ours everyone's life is in danger.
I am not an exception.
>
>*****************************************************************
>
>THE ASIAN AGE: STUDENTS FOLLOW GANDHIAN WAY TO PROTEST
>December 12, 1996
>by Thomas Fox
>
>'Now we are thinking of educating people about democracy'
>
>Bangkok, Dec. 11: Students protesting in Rangoon now are a
>different breed from those who took part in the 1988 uprising
>which was crushed by the military, according to Burmese exiles.
>
>Crowds enraged by 26 years of poverty and mismanagement
>under the hated military rule would sometimes leave dead
>soldiers in their wake during the 1988 uprising, one exile
>Burmese student told AFP.
>
>"Today the students are wiser, they have more exposure ... and
>they can listen to Ms Aung San Suu Kyi," Toe Zaw Latt said,
>referring to the Opposition who espouses non-violence in her
>drive to bring democracy to Burma.
>
>A former Rangoon university student, Toe Zaw Latt studies
>business administration in Thailand and is a "weekend activist"
>with the All Burma Students Democratic Front and other
>groups based in Bangkok.
>
>"In 1988, I joined (the demonstrations) without knowing
>anything - because my friends joined and because I hated the
>Burma Socialist Program Party."
>
>The BSPP was formed after a 1962 coup d'etat and served as
>the main political vehicle of Burmese strongman Ne Win until'
>'1988 when all military officials resigned from the party prior to
>the setting up of the SLORC.
>
>"Now we are thinking of reconstruction, economic reform,
>educating the people about democracy and human rights," he said.
>
>The past week has seen numerous protests break out around the
>capital, the largest of which attracted up to 1,000 people and
>was broken up by armed riot police and troops on Saturday morning.
>
>Security has been high in the Burmese capital, with riot police
>and troops stationed on the streets ready to disperse student
>demonstrators, who have been clamoring for the right to form a union.
>
>Analysts in Rangoon say the ruling State Law and Order
>Restoration Council, formed after a bloody crackdown
>following the 1988 uprising, is clearly unsettled by the renewal
>of student unrest.
>
>In March 1988 a scuffle in a tea shop involving students
>sparked nationwide mass protests which were brutally put down
>by the military. Thousands were killed in the crackdown which
>was followed by mass arrests.
>
>However, exiled Burmese students in Thailand say today's
>protests are vastly different from the violence of the 1988 demonstrations.
>
>Before leaving home, I thought there was no way to solve this
>problem without armed struggle," said ABSDF member Myat
>Thu, formerly an undergraduate physics student in a college
>southwest of Rangoon.
>
>After 1988, Myat Thu joined the youth wing of Aung San Sun
>Kyi's National League for Democracy, which swept 80 percent
>of seats in the 1990 elections which never ratified by the State
>Law and Order Restoration Council '
>
>In the subsequent crackdown, along with thousands of other
>students and opposition activists, he fled to the border areas and
>on into Thailand. (AFP)
>
>****************************************************************
>
>AP: AUNG SAN BEGAN HIS CAREER AS A STUDENT LEADER
>December 12, 1996
>
> RANGOON (AP-Dow Jones)--In an ominous warning to student protestors
and other opponents of the military regime, one of Burma's top generals has
vowed to annihilate anyone disrupting his government's work.
> The remarks by Gen. Tin Oo were carried in Thursday's state-run media
following six days of student protests in Rangoon and Mandalay.
> Thousands of students demonstrators, demanding an end to police
> brutality, the right to form a student union and other freedoms have
> staged the most serious show of civil dissent since the nationwide
> democracy uprising of 1988, which was also sparked by student protests.
>
> The protests have diminished to brief demonstrations during the
> last two days as police and intelligence agents have sealed off
> universities and other rallying points such as the thousand-year-old Sule
Pagoda in downtown Rangoon.
>
> Schools remained closed for a fourth straight day Thursday, and
> democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi remained confined to her home by
> the military.
>
> Tin Oo is one of the four most powerful generals in the ruling
> junta that seized power by violently crushing the 1988 uprising.
> More than 3,000 civilians were gunned down by the military,
> thousands jailed and schools closed for three years.
>
> The military government will never allow the recurrence of the 1988
> disturbances and would annihilate any internal elements who are
> trying to disrupt the country,' Tin Oo said.
>
> Tin Oo is viewed as a junta hardliner, having also threatened to
> annihilate Aung San Suu Kyi and her allies in the past. In his
> most recent speech he once again alluded to Suu Kyi.
> Tin Oo blamed the protests on 'internal axehandles under the
> influence of external elements who did not wish to see the country
> prosper.'
>
> Military men frequently refer to Suu Kyi and her followers as
> axehandles of imperialists and claim she is a puppet of
> neocolonialists such as the U.S. and the U.K.
>
> Burma was a British colony from 1824 until 1947, when Suu Kyi's
> father, Gen.Aung San, won the country's independence.
> Aung San, who was assassinated in 1947, began his career as a
> student leader, and students have been carrying his portrait in
> the recent protests.
>
>*****************************************************************
>
>THE NATION: AGITATION WILL END, SAYS CHETTHA
>December 12, 1996
>
>ARMY Commander Gen Chettha Thanajaro said yesterday he did not believe the
Burmese junta would use force to suppress student protests which began early
last week in Rangoon.
>
>Chettha, the first Thai in authority to comment on the situation, said he
>had been following the latest student demonstrations, against alleged police
>brutality, and believed the situation will soon return to normal.
>
>Political unrest in Burma was a domestic affair, not a matter for the Thai
>Army, he added.
>
>The Army chief, who has developed close relations with members of the
>Burmese junta, said he sympathised with international calls for respect for
>human rights in Burma, as they reflected the wishes of the global community.
>
>The ruling State Law and Order Restoration Council (Slorc) certainly had the
>same idea, but it would need time, he said.
>
>Chettha warned exiled Burmese students taking refuge in Thailand against
>making violent protests against Slorc. The Army would not let this happen.
>
>He said the Burmese fugitives should pursue peaceful, legal means of protest.
>
>In Rangoon, sporadic student protests continued to flare up around Rangoon
>yesterday.
>
>A senior Slorc official accused the United States yesterday of trying to use
>the government's current restriction on opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi's
>movements as an excuse to impose sanctions on Burma.
>
>Three days of school closures and a heavy military presence seemed to be
>sapping the new student movement's strength. Their nearly week-long protests
>demanding a student union and end to police brutality have been the most
>brazen challenge to the military government since the nationwide democracy
>uprising of 1988.
>
>With troops guarding the universities, the students' natural gathering
>points have been blocked. Eighteen troop carriers were also stationed near
>the Sule Pagoda in central Rangoon.
>
>The Sule Pagoda was the rallying point for protesters during the uprising of
>1988, and is just a few blocks from the US Embassy, where students have also
>demonstrated during the past few days.
>
>*****************************************************************
>
>FBC: HUMAN RIGHTS AWARD OR HUMAN RIGHTS MANIPULATION
>December 12, 1996
>by Zarni, founder, The Free Burma Coalition
>
>Today, Massachusetts-based Reebok International Limited named as one of its
annual "human rights award" our sister activist Ma Thida, activist, writer
and a physician, I can not but think of a great irony here. While I rejoice
in the publicity it will bring to Ma Thida's solitary confinement and
inhuman treatment she has been subjected, I feel compelled to speak out
against a clear manipulation of human rights by a "bottom-line-institution".
Human rights has become arguable the most sacred organizing principle of
life in today's world.
>
>Reebok sells its image as a human-rights-friendly and "socially
responsible" corporate entity. It has beautifully worded codes of conduct
that recognize human rights and workers' rights. Many "socially
responsible" investors would give Reebok high marks as a corporation that
addresses these rather popular issues. Indeed Reebok does a first rate job
on its PR campaign which culminates in its annual human rights ceremony. The
problem here is not what Reebok says it does or wants its sneaker-buyers in
the "first world" to believe. Rather it is in its day-to-day corporate
practices, which, in the final analysis, crystalizes into the-bottom-line.
>
>A closer look at Reebok's corporate practices would tell a differnt story.
>The Chronicle of Higher Education (September 6, 1996, p. A65) writes,
"(a)lthough Reebok's code of conduct calls for freeom of association, both
it and Nike work with subcontractors in China, where unions are illegal, and
Indonesia, where only the state-controlled union is recognized by the
government and where independent labor leaders have been harrassed,
detained, and, in one instance still under investigation, perhaps tortured,
raped, and murdered." Of course, Reebok management does not have any
leverage over how these Asian tyrants treat their subject populations,
workers or otherwise. Even if they do, the cost of labor in those places,
which according to, Donald Katz's book "Just Do It: The Nike Spirit in the
Corporate World," is about $1.66 for a $70 pair of sneakers. Easier to turn
a blind eye to the abuses of human rights than resist the promise of
$1.66/pair labor.
>
>Well, perhaps Reebok would put into practice its much-publicized and
publicly-professed human rights faith in places where human rights are more
or less a reality of life, its home country the United States. Not so. On
June 28, 1996, The New York Times ran an article "Campus Fight Leads Reebok
to Modify a Show Contract" where Reebok's attempts to include the infamous
non-disparagement clause in its varsity-corporate exclusive marketting
contract with the University of Wisconsin were exposed. Basically, this
contract provision said that the "university will not issue any official
statement that disparages Reebok." Furthermore, it would require the
university to "promptly take all reasonable steps necessary to address any
remark by any university employee, including a coach, that disparages Reebok."
>
>As a Burmese, I was born and lived under Burma's Socialist Programme Party,
the name of Burma's military dictatorship before it changed itself to the
State Law and Order restoration Council, for 25 years. We had a beautifully
written socialist constitution. We were given freedom, citizens' rights,
and civil liberties--in theory. Our collective memories and experiences
diverge radically from these words, as our self-proclaimed "leaders" talked
the talk but did not walk the walk.
>
>Upon hearing Reebok's human rights award to someone like Ma Thida, I am
reminded of a gap between words and actions. I see a clear parallel between
Burma Socialist Programme Party (BSPP) and Reebok International Limited.
BSPP's beautifully worded constitution, our state-sponsored exercise of
freedom of speech and of assembly and the human-rights-friendly Reebok;
Reebok's widely-publicized, but unenforceable code of conducts which
recognizes human dignity, labor rights, etc. etc. and its corporate
practices driven ultimately by its-bottom-line economic rationality.
>
>It saddens me that the Reebok International Limited has come to be seen as
THE human rights leader in the corporate world. Alas, the principle and
concept of human rights for which people such as 1996 "Reebok's Human
Rights Award" winner Ma Thida have sacraficed so much is indeed being
manipulated and appropriated, for the promotion of $70 sneakers.
>
>What kind of honor is it?
>
>*****************************************************************
>
>UPI: REEBOK PRESENTS HUMAN RIGHTS AWARDS
>December 12, 1996(abridged)
>
>BOSTON, Dec. 12 (UPI) _ Four young activists were honored Wednesday in
>Boston as recipients of the 1996 Reebok Human Rights Awards.
>
>Reebok Chairman and CEO Paul Fireman said such young activists over the
>years ``have taught us unforgettable lessons about the true nature of
courage and humanity.''
>
>Honored were:
>
>_ Harvard-educated Julie Su, 27, a staff attorney for the Asian Pacific
>American Legal Center who brought suit against an El Monte, Calif.,
sweatshop where 72 illegal Thai workers were being held in involuntary
servitude. As a result of her efforts, seven operators were sentenced to jail.
>
>_ Jesus Tecu Osorio, 25, of Guatemala, who at the age of 11 survived the
>massacre of 177 villagers, including his baby brother. He later testified
against soldiers involved and was instrumental in getting the government to
exhume mass graves.
>
>_ Ma Thida, 29, of Burma, a doctor who has been in prison since 1993 for her
>pro-democracy and human rights activities.
>
>_ Innocent Chukwuma, 30, of Nigeria, who as project director for Nigeria's
>leading human rights association was twice arrested for calling attention
to abuses by Nigeria's military government.
>
>In addition, Reebok honored Canada's Craig Kielburger, 13, with its
>Youth-in-Action Award for his work against child labor.
>
>***************************************************************
>
>UPI: BURMA PROTESTERS CALL FOR SANCTIONS
>December 12, 1996
>
>WASHINGTON, Dec. 12 (UPI) _ More than a dozen students from Burma and
>their supporters demonstrated peacefully
>outside the White House today.
>
>They are calling on President Clinton to impose sanctions and take other
>actions to protect pro-democracy advocates in their native country.
>
>The protesters warn that political crackdowns, including state-
>sanctioned murder and arrests, could increase after the recent
>incarceration of more than 850 students in Burma who maintain pro-
>democracy positions. Several journalists have also been
>deported recently from Burma.
>
>White House spokesman David Johnson says Clinton on his recent trip to
>Asia called on Burma's neighboring countries to
>take steps to curb any potential actions against pro-democracy activists.
>
>Johnson says ``this is something we are keeping an eye on,'' adding that
>if any improprieties take place on the part of the
>Burmese government ``we would look at it quite gravely.''
>
>The demonstrators circulated petitions during their lunch-hour protest
>asking for Clinton's support for sanctions against the
>Burmese government.
>
>In a statement, a group called the Democratic Burmese Student
>Organization says Clinton should denounce Burma's so-called
>``State Law and Order Restoration Council,'' and it calls for ``strongly
>asserting America's concern for the democracy
>movement in Burma.''
>
>There is currently legislation proposed in Congress that would lead to
>U.S. financial sanctions against Burma.
>
>*****************************************************************
>
>REUTERS: PROTESTERS IN LOS ANGELES AGAINST BURMA PIPELINE
>December 12, 1996
>
>LOS ANGELES, Dec 12 (Reuter) - Police on Thursday arrested 12
>demonstrators who chained themselves to a truck and
>climbed storage tanks at a Unocal Corp oil terminal to protest the
>construction of a pipeline through military-ruled Burma.
>
>About 50 activists, organized by the Los Angeles-based "Free Burma"
>coalition, chanted and waved placards outside the the
>company's Los Angeles Terminal Motor Transport Facility before being
>arrested without incident on charges of unlawful
>assembly and trespassing.
>
>The protesters charged that Unocal's $1.2 billion natural gas pipeline,
>now under construction from Burma to Thailand,
>destroyed rainforests and yielded financial benefits to what they said
>was a repressive Burmese military government.
>
>"I'm protesting Unocal. Unocal has slave child labor in Burma," yelled
>Taw Myo Shwe, a former Burmese national chained in
>front of a Unocal tanker truck.
>
>"I want Unocal out of Burma. They are supporting a violent military
>regime," said Adriana Lubenova, 21, who had chained
>herself under the truck.
>
>Unocal issued a statement calling the charges "false," and said the
>project provides Burmese with good jobs, improved medical
>care and new schools.
>
>"The Yadana natural gas pipeline project in Myanmar (Burma) is already
>providing significant benefits to the 35,000 people
>who live near the pipeline route," the statement said.
>
>"When the project is completed, it will become a vital part of Myanmar's
>energy infrastructure, helping to move Myanmar into
>the world community," it added.
>
>*****************************************************************
>
>STATEMENT: DEMONSTRATION IN LONDON
>December 10, 1996
>
>The Burmese community in the United Kingdom have staged a demonstration in
front of the Burmese Embassy located at 19-A, Charles Street, London W1,
between 12:00 noon to 2:00 p.m. today ( December 10, 1996). A number of
British supporters have also joined the Burmese protesters.
>
>The rally was held to express our full hearted support and solidarity for
the courageous students in Burma who have been daringly protesting against
the brutal military regime for human rights, freedom and the end of injustice.
>
>We would also like to warmly congratulate on the students for their
successful formation of the " All Burma Federation of Students' Union "
through extremely tough circumstances.
>
>Since the military regime is to be blamed for the current situation facing
Burma, they will be held for any unfortunate consequences arising out of
this situation. We also strongly believe that the present difficulties could
have been avoided
>if the regime have kept their promises and honour their commitments.
>
>The protesting Burmese community in the United Kingdom:
>
>--Condemn the regime for arbitrarily suspending classes
> in Universities and Colleges causing unnecessary disruption
> in the students' education. Such action would obviously
> serve only to inflame the present situation. They should
> respect the students' rights and demands;
>
>--Support Daw Aung San Suu Kyi's vision for a solution regarding
> the current problems and strongly urge the military regime to
> urgently begin direct talks with the students as Daw Aung San
> Suu Kyi has pointed out;
>
>--Demand the immediate release of all political and student prisoners;
>
>--Urge the military junta to hand over the power to the elected
> representatives to avoid further violence and bloodshed in our
> motherland; and
>
>--Plans to stage further weekly demonstrations until such time
> as circumstances are progressing better for the students
> and the democracy movement.
>
>*****************************************************************
>
>XINHUA: SLEEPER FACTORY CONTRACT SIGNED WITH BURMA
>December 9, 1996
>
>Rangoon, December 9 (XINHUA) - China National Complete Plant Import and
Export Yunnan Corporation and Myanma Railways [as received] signed here
>today to build, operate and transfer (BOT) contract for a concrete sleeper
producing factory.
>
>The Chinese corporation will invest 12 million U.S. dollars to construct a
concrete sleeper factory in Mandalay in northern Myanmar [Burma], and
produce 300,000 concrete sleepers every year.
>
>Myanmar Minister for Railways U Win Sein, Chinese Ambassador to Myanmar
Chen Baoliu, and Economic and Commercial Counselor of the Chinese Embassy
Lin Jian attended the signing ceremony.
>
>*****************************************************************
>
>BURMANET SUBJECT-MATTER RESOURCE LIST
>
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>in contact with someone who can:
>
>Campus activism: zni@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
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>Pali literature: "Palmleaf": c/o burmanet@xxxxxxxxxxx
>Pipeline Campaign freeburma@xxxxxxx
>Resettlement info: refugee_help@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
>Rohingya culture volunteer needed
>Shan history/culture: Sao Hpa Han: burma@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
>Shareholder activism: simon_billenness@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
>Total - France Dawn Star: cd@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
>Tourism campaigns: bagp@xxxxxxxxxx "Attn. S.Sutcliffe"
>volunteering: refugee_help@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
>World Wide Web: FreeBurma@xxxxxxxxx
>
>Geographical Contacts:
>Massachusetts simon_billenness@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
>
>[Feel free to suggest more areas of coverage]
>---------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
>FREE BURMA WEB PAGES:
>
>http://FreeBurma.org
>
>This single page serves only as an easy to remember URL and departure
>point to resources promoting the establishment of democracy in Burma.
>Please write to FreeBurma@xxxxxxxxx to add a site or for further
>information." - Glen, system administrator
>
>FREE BURMA COALITION:
>
>to get involved in the Free Burma Coalition, send a message to:
>zni@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
>
>or visit their homepage, accessible through: http:// FreeBurma.org
>
>There is also an e-mail list-server especially for Free Burma activists
>
>BURMANET SUBSCRIPTION INFORMATION:
>
>The BurmaNet News is an electronic newspaper covering Burma.
>Articles from newspapers, magazines, newsletters, the wire
>services and the Internet as well as original material are published.
>It is produced with the support of the Burma Information Group
>(B.I.G) and the Research Department of the ABSDF. We are also
>grateful to many other friends around the world who send us articles to post.
>
>The BurmaNet News is e-mailed directly to subscribers and is
>also distributed via the soc.culture.burma and seasia-l mailing lists.
>
>For a free subscription to the BurmaNet News:
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>
>a. For the BurmaNet News only:
> in the message, type: subscribe burmanews-l
>
>b. For the BurmaNet News and 4-5 other messages a day:
> in the message, type: subscribe burmanet-l
>
>(NOTE: all lower case letters, last letter is a lower case "L", not the
numeral one).
>
>Letters to the editor, comments or contributions of articles should be
>sent to the editor at: strider@xxxxxxxxxxx
>
>***************************************************
>
>
>
>
>